In China the teaching of Chinese as a foreign language (TCFL) goes back to ancient times. It is recorded in the historical literature that China accepted foreign students as early as in the East Han Dynasty (25-220 A.D.). In each of the subsequent dynasties, there were many foreigners who came to learn both written and spoken Chinese. TCFL hadn’t been developed into a specialized undertaking prior to the founding of New China in 1949, however. To put it more precisely, it wasn’t until the early 1950s. As China In China the teaching of Chinese as a foreign language (TCFL) goes back to ancient times. It is recorded in the historical literature that China accepted foreign students as early as in the East Han Dynasty (25-220 AD). subsequent dynasties, there were many foreigners who came to learn both written and spoken Chinese. TCFL had not been developed into a specialized undertaking prior to the founding of New China in 1949, however. To put it more precisely, it was not until the early 1950s. As China