Baoying was born into the Liang family, a locally prominent family of occultists.
Life of Baoying Liang
Summary of key known events in the life of Pearl College's founder, Baoying Liang
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1829
17 /4 23:00
Birth in a small town of Jiangsu Province, China
Life, Birth -
1852
10
Arrival in San Francisco
Life, RelocationBaoying accompanied a group of local farmers and laborers to the "gold mountain" in America following the disastrous Chinese crop failures of that year. This also marked the high point of overall Chinese immigration to California and the Gold Rush.
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1877
17 /6
First publication of the Potpourri Hypothesis
Discovery, ScientificFrom the paper "On matters magical and structural: The importance of potpourri":
"...I propose we throw out that method entirely. Instead, we ought come to understand magic as a kind of ineffable potpourri, an unknowable melange of forms, flavors, and forces. By this conceit we can examine and describe individual cloves of significant interest without arousing the anger of Magic by arrogant suppositions of greater understanding."
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1881
21 /6 03:00
Birth of daughter Mingzhu Liang
Life, BirthBaoying Liang and Daiyu Zhu had a daughter, whom they named Mingzhu (bright pearl) "after our first child, Pearl College."
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1882
22 /8
College Founding
FoundingBaoying Liang officially opens Pearl College for its first semester, admitting 18 students who were to be taught by 3 faculty members.
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1884
8 /4 21:00
Birth of son Qiqiang Liang
Life, BirthBaoying Liang and Daiyu Zhu had a son, whom they named Qiqiang (enlightenment) "in hope of his future and ours."
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1903
15 /5
Pearl College Incorporation under the Illinois University of Natural Science
Political eventBaoying Liang negotiates a deal whereby Pearl College joined the new land grant Illinois University of Natural Science, which was (incidentally) granted the College's land by the state. Part of the agreement was that Pearl College continues on as a fully autonomous unit within the broader university structure. Later historians mark this as the moment that magical study truly stabilized, both at the College and in the "New World."
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1912
3 /12 10:00
Baoying dies, passes Pearl College deanship on to his son Tianyu
Life, DeathNo one outside the Liang Family--and perhaps not even outside the Deans themselves--knows exactly why, but the position of college Dean can only be passed on through death. Since this first transfer of power from Baoying Liang to Tianyu Liang, it has been the family tradition that Deans divine the date and time of their death, allowing them to prepare and execute the transition ritual.