It was the spring of 1955. A 75-foot sailboat put to sea at Keelung, weathered the storms and tricky currents of the Pacific, and arrived in San Francisco after a 55-day voyage. Chung Yu-lin and four young friends had crossed the biggest ocean in their homemade boat—the Free China—and written another saga of human adventure and courage.
It was late 1961. Teen-age gangs calling themselves the Four Seas, Four Morals, and Flying Tigers were on a rampage of blackmail, robbery, and other crimes. The community was deeply disturbed. By early 1962, the three biggest gangs had been disbanded, and other gangster organizations subsequently broke themselves up.
By March 29, 1962, some 250 ex-gangsters had become members of the Golden Horse Club, signed up in the professional, academic, or recreation sections and on their way to becoming respectable citizens.
As Grace Li Hsiu-ying was competing in the Miss World Contest in London in November, 1962, an identical namesake—Li Hsiu-ying—suffered a torn arm in an industrial accident at the textile mill where she worked.
She was rushed to a nearby hospital. A few days later, the accumulating hospital bills hurt more than her arm. She could never pay them. They were paid for her.
Wu Ching-yun won javelin, discus, and shot put at the 1961 Provincial Athletic Meet in Taiwan.
Athletic distinction exposed her weakness: she had little schooling. A scholarship helped her enroll in the Taichung Institute for Athletes.
Obviously, all these examples have something in common—the China Youth Corps.
Chung Yu-lin and his friends might not have made their voyage if the China Youth Corps had not provided them with encouragement, financial assistance, and technical advice.
Medical aid group provides care for remote aborigines. (File photo)
The gangsters might be behind bars if the Corps had not persuaded them to disband, then established the Golden Horse Club to lead them back to the ranks of respectability.
It was the China Youth Corps that paid Li Hsiu-ying's hospital bills. She became one of the 400 beneficiaries of a welfare program sponsored by CYC during the past decade.
China Youth Corps awarded Miss Wu Ching-yun a scholarship so she could go on to both learning and athletic achievement. She is only one of 12,730 such recipients.
Need for Corps
Why should China need a Youth Corps? Chinese youth is frequently praised for its low delinquency rate. Admirers who are not too close to the scene look at the Chinese family system and Confucist ethics, then conclude that these are meeting youth needs in full. Unfortunately, such is not the case.
The family remains the core of Chinese social organization and control, but it has shown symptoms of breakdown—as has the family everywhere—and no longer has either the old strength or authority. Patriarchs are not all-powerful. Woman has been emancipated. Divorce is uncommon but not unknown.
Economic conditions and the desire for a higher standard of living and for advanced education for the children have forced many wives onto the labor market. Young people are on their own much more than in the past, and they live in a confusing world of political conflict and philosophical uncertainty. Even in Taiwan the calm, slowly changing ways of the farm are giving way to the hurly-burly and excitement of the city. About half of this island's 11,600,000 people are urban dwellers.
Parents are frequently assailed in speech and print for adjourning their responsibility for the disciplining of offspring. Obviously, admonition is not enough. The pattern is the same the world over, not excluding Communist lands, and it is not likely to change. Other means of control must be found.
For China, the schools have been an important instrumentality of keeping some semblance of order among young people. Primary education is compulsory. Teachers are somewhat less inhibited about discipline than in the West. Chinese parents have little or no objection to some corporal punishment by teachers, provided it is neither discriminatory nor cruel.
Competition for middle school entry also keeps many youngsters in line during the sub-teen and early teen years. Only about half of the sixth grade graduates can move on into junior middle school, and the stress on study is very heavy in the fifth and sixth grades. Some Chinese educators believe that cramming goes too far, and a movement is under way to reduce it.
In terms of delinquency, the 50 per cent school dropout after the sixth year poses a crucial problem. It's a case of too young for work, although many do find employment, and not enough room in the schools. With time hanging heavily on its hands, youth is easily bent in the direction of gangs and other violent expression of protest against a world which has not provided a satisfactory place for those in their teens and early 20s.
President's Idea
The China Youth Corps has become an important answer to some of these difficulties with youth.
Inspiration for the Corps came from President Chiang Kai-shek in his Youth Day message of March 29, 1952. The President noted that Chinese youth had rallied behind the leadership of Dr. Sun Yat-sen to overthrow dynastic rule and establish the Republic, and that youth again had come forward voluntarily to save China from the Japanese imperialists.
"Solidarity ensures power, and organization ensures solidarity," the President said. He urged that youth unite to save not only China, but to help prevent the further progress of Communism. Goals of a youth organization, he suggested, should include intellectual, professional, and physical development. He also placed stress on patriotic service to the nation.
Girls' band concert provides recreation for troops. (File photo)
Youth at home and abroad were quick to respond. On October 30, 1952, some 2,000 young people gathered at the Taipei City Hall, exchanged opinions, passed a draft constitution, and formally announced the establishment of the China Youth Corps.
One of the first undertakings was the insertion of a practical, pragmatic atmosphere into "Chinese education, which has given strong emphasis to book learning. The historian Szu Ma-chien said that "To travel ten thousand miles is better than to read ten thousand books." Perhaps because opportunities for travel are limited, the tendency of Chinese education has been in the opposite direction.
The Youth Corps began large-scale, all-year programs to relate what young people were learning with the facts of life. For primary school pupils, CYC sponsors camps to provide education in living and experience in organized recreation. Middle school and college programs are more ambitious. Groups are organized to pursue such special interest studies as industry, mountaineering, swimming, wildlife, engineering, recreation, parachuting, farming, driving, horseback riding, radio, medicine, music, and many others.
Such programs are free "to young people. Financial support is provided by the government and by interested individuals and industries. More than 100,000 youth have participated, and 10,000 of these came from overseas to do so.
Military Service
Military service is an obligation of Chinese young men. CYC has interested itself in two ways. First, it realizes that youth should be mentally prepared, and believes the best approach is through familiarization with the armed services. Second, it is of the opinion that those in service should retain contact with the civilian community to which most will be returning after two years.
Swimming provides excellent recreation and exercise. (File photo)
The Corps therefore sponsors visits to military installations by middle school and college students. Those who have not done service learn that will be expected of them. Those fulfilling their military obligation keep in touch with the rank and file of youth and know that "they are not alone."
To build overseas morale and maintain the interest of overseas youth in the homeland and the anti-Communist cause, almost 7,000 have been brought to Taiwan for visits. The effect is multiplied many times when these young people go back to their homes and schools in Southeast Asia and elsewhere.
Loans are extended to needy students. Dormitories have been built in Taipei, Tainan, and Kaohsiung. Student hostels now number five, located in scenic areas of Taiwan. An employment service is maintained.
Horseback riding group is CYC activity. (File photo)
For the training of future businessmen and professional people, CYC operates the Young Lion Enterprise Co., Ltd., the Young Lion Book Co., Young Lion News Agency, and the Young Lion Broadcasting Co. All are devoted to the service of youth.
Chinese books and magazines are sent to students residing abroad. Buses are provided for student picnics. If young people need something and ·it is within reason, CYC's motto is "can do." It rarely fails.
Close contacts are maintained with youth organizations in other countries. CYC delegates have attended 30 international conferences. The Corps has conducted 30 international student forums of its own, and he received 55 student groups from foreign countries.
Membership is open to young people aged 15 to 30. Membership is 300,000, including 7,000 who reside overseas. A considerable number of applications has been received—and accepted—from youth residing on the Communist-held mainland. They are secret members, of course. Revelation of their names and addresses would bring instant imprisonment or worse by the Communist authorities.
What the Youth Corps is not may be even more important than what it is. CYC has no resemblance to youth movements in Communist and fascist countries. It is not compulsory. Although its philosophy and objectives are patriotic and anti-Communist, it is not organized for chauvinism or even for the principal purpose of carrying out activities that are in the interest of the government.
CYC is organized for and dedicated to youth. Those who operate and support the Corps believe that in the final analysis, this means an orientation toward freedom and peace everywhere. It is trite but undeniable that youth constitutes the world of tomorrow. CYC seeks to see that some big improvements are made by the time its numbers take over.