Pedro was born in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. In his early years, he came to Yingkou, China to do business and founded Qichang Foreign Firm. 1864, has served as American consul in Yingkou, and has also served as consul or deputy consul in Yingkou of Sweden, Norway, France, the Netherlands, Germany and Japan. 1877 In February, after living in China for 15 years, he wrote to Charles W. Eliot, president of Harvard University, according to his many years of life experience and the needs of American business and missionary work in China, proposing to raise a sum of money to hire a teacher from China to give lectures on Chinese in universities. The purpose is to learn Chinese.
At that time, Chinese learners usually came to China. Inviting teachers to America is a unique idea. At that time, there was also a heated debate in the western sinology circle. But Bede has the courage to stick to his own opinions and is particularly pragmatic. From textbooks to teachers' lives, from the source of Chinese classes to the future prospects, he has considered every detail. In addition, Harvard has a very positive attitude. As the oldest university in the United States, by the second half of the19th century, Harvard had more complete departments and stronger strength. Chinese teaching is still rare in American higher education. It is undoubtedly challenging to explore how much space there is for this kind of teaching in the United States, and it also opens up space for the further development of Harvard. Therefore, Elliot, the principal at that time, vigorously promoted this event with his foresight.
Peide entrusted Hurd, an Englishman who was then the General Administration of Taxation of the Qing Dynasty, to help. Hurd also entrusted this matter to Alejandro Delfino, an American who works in Ningbo tax department. As early as the Kangxi period, Ningbo was one of the four major foreign trade ports in China. After the opening of 1844, foreign trade became more frequent and people's minds became more open. Hurd thinks it is easier to find suitable candidates in Ningbo. After careful consideration, Alejandro Delfino chose his Chinese teacher Ge Kunhua.
Ge Kunhua was selected for several reasons: First, he worked as a translator and Chinese teacher in the British Consulate in Ningbo, and successfully taught a French student, a British student and an American student, Alejandro Delfino, with experience in teaching Chinese to westerners; Secondly, he has worked as a translator in foreign consulates in China for more than ten years and has rich experience in dealing with foreigners. Thirdly, he was a writer, poet and teacher who was familiar with China culture and was quite influential in China cultural circle at that time, and his mother tongue Mandarin with Nanjing accent just met the requirements of Harvard University. Fourth, he was threatened with punishment by the government for publishing an article criticizing the behavior of officials in a Shanghai publication, and was willing to leave the wrong place to teach in the United States. No wonder Mr. Gu Weilin, Ge Kunhua's boss and director of the British Consulate in Ningbo, said, "In my opinion, as a teacher, no one is more suitable than Mr. Ge."
Ge Kunhua and Harvard University signed a contract to teach in the United States in Shanghai on May 26th. 1879. Harvard University signed a representative entrusted by the president, Bode. According to the contract, Ge Kunhua will teach in the United States for three years, from September 1879 to August 1.