Introduction By the end of the 19th century, Chinese officials were beginning to realize that their country's educational infrastructure was becoming increasingly anachronistic. Traditional education largely ignored technology – even considered it lower class – and students instead focused on cultivating a sense of moral rectitude. However, the Confucian-centered examination system was beginning to prove ineffective in a world where modern armies predominated in international relations. China learned this painful lesson during a series of lost wars, eventually entering a long period of introspection, particularly looking outward. Foreign education systems were of particular interest to this nation in transition. Foreign universities, especially in Japan and the United States, attracted students of politics and economics, engineering and technology. Perhaps more importantly, however, many of these students later returned to China and became involved in the revolutionary political and cultural developments of the time, as well as the heated debates surrounding this change. “Brain drain,” therefore, works in both directions. For the late Qing and early Republican governments, interaction with foreign ideas not only helped revive China but also helped the nation transition from a multinational empire to a modern nation state. Paradoxically, however, in the course of their contact with foreign ideas, these scholars of Western culture ultimately helped to overthrow the very regime they initially sought to strengthen. After all, new ideas and revolutionary changes often go hand in hand. The historical context Starting from the first Opium War (1839-1842), China was forced to emerge from its long period of isolation and shocked...... ......yes, Carlo. An East Asian History: From the Origins of Civilization to the Twenty-First Century. New York: Cambridge UP, 2011. 295-312. Print.Huntington, Samuel. "The Clash of Civilizations?" Foreign Affairs (1993). The Council on Foreign Relations. Print.Li, Haizheng. “Higher Education in China: Complement or Competition to US Universities?” American universities in a global market. Ed. Charles T. Clotfelter. Chicago: University of Chicago, 2010. 269-304. Print.Orleans, Leo A. Chinese Students in America: Policies, Issues, and Numbers. Washington, DC: National Academy, 1988. Print.Qian, Ning and TK Chu Chinese Students Meet America: University ofWashington, 2002. Print.Rhoads, Edward M. Stepping Forth into. the world: the Chinese educational mission to the United States, 1872-81 Hong Kong: Hong Kong UP, 2011. Print.