Background
Dr. Feng Hsi-ynn was born in 1885 at Tianjin where members of his family have been prominent in wholesale trade and banking circles since the declining years of the Ming Dynasty.
Dr. Feng Hsi-ynn was born in 1885 at Tianjin where members of his family have been prominent in wholesale trade and banking circles since the declining years of the Ming Dynasty.
After graduating from the well-known Tianjin Government Middle School and winning for himself the Chu Jen degree Mr. Feng entered Peiyang University at about the same time that Ex-Premiers Wang Chung-hui and C. T. Wang were students there. The records show him to have been faithful and diligent in every duty. In 1907, having won a provincial scholarship which provided for an advanced education in one or more of the leading American institutions, he set sail for the United States. Entering Harvard University, he won the B. A. degree in three years, and two years later the Doctor of Jurisprudence degree at Chicago University in 1912.
While in the United States Mr. Feng travelled extensively. On Dr. Feng’s return to China in 1912 he was appointed prosecuting attorney in the Chihli Provincial Court and was stationed temporarily at Paotirfgfu. The following year he became Associate Justice of the Zhili Supreme Court, being allocated to the Civil Bench. In 1914 he resigned from the Supreme Court to accept a Professorship of Law in Peiyang University. In this position he served for five years, giving a course in comparative government, until he was invited to take the Presidency of the University.
Since Dr. Feng assumed office many improvements have been made in Peiyang. A large dormitory was constructed, a radio outfit had been installed, and many other material equipments added. A Metallurgical Engineering Department, the only one of its kind in China, had been opened. By his faithfulness to duty, his sterling integrity and his unfailing tact Dr. Feng has continually grown, in the estimation of both students and faculty. He was indeed one of the best products of China’s latter-day education, one of those returned students who by their works have justified the national educational program of the last twenty years.