[
Visiting Professor Linxiang Jin of
Eastern China Normal
University
talked about Tsai Yuen Pei's contribution to
China's modern education
at AAARI's Conference Room.
Chinese modern education
refers to one hundred and ten years of education in China from
1840 to 1949. Within this 110 years, under foreign influences
and subjecting to the practical needs of China’s social
transformation, there was a tremendous change in Chinese
education. An orientation to look outward began to take shape
in Chinese education, steering away from the developmental
tracks laid down from the past several millennia.
With its active learning
from the West, particularly the educational experience of
Japan and America, and their integration into the actual
social conditions in China, new schools were established to
form a new education system. In contrast to the traditional
experience, we call it the new education. This new education
was given birth through the gestation of traditional
education, and survived mightily despite a series of
obstacles. It grew big and strong, gradually developed into
the main component of Chinese modern education. Among the many
Chinese educators who tirelessly contributed their creative
energies to the important development of Chinese new
education, Tsai Yuen Pei, whom I will introduce, is a shinning
example.
Tsai Yen Pei (1868 – 1940),
from Shao Hsing County in Zejiang province, received an
excellent traditional education while growing up, was a
fortunate product of the selective examination system. Top of
his class at the age of 25, he began his service at the
emperor’s important and promising advisory council at 27. The
failure of the 1898 reformation taught him the importance of
education administration and human resource development, and
led him to devote himself to education, changing his life
course. He developed and directed several new style schools in
Zejiang and Shanghai. At the same time, he actively
participated in the revolutionary activities against the rule
of the Ching Dynasty.
In 1905, he was appointed to
the director of the Shanghai branch of Mr. Sun Yat Sen’s
revolutionary party. Tsai Yuen Pei was a founding member of
the Kuo Min Tang. After the 1911 October 10th
Revolution, he assumed many important posts within the
government of the Republic of China and the Kuo Ming Tang
party. Important posts in Culture and education include: 1912,
he became the first ROC minister of education; 1917-1926, he
was the president of Nanking National Government university;
1928, he established the Central Research Institute and became
its director until his death in 1940. It’s also necessary to
point out that, in this short introduction of Tsai Yuen Pei’s
biography, he has studied, worked, and traveled in foreign
countries for extended periods of time. In the 20 years from
1907-1926, he has left China five times and lived overseas for
almost 11 years. During this period, he has studied or done
research in Germany three times for a period of seven years.
When he was studying and working in France, he advocated for
and organized the work-study program for Chinese students to
go to France. In 1920-1921, he studied higher education in
Europe and America for a year. Tsai Yuen Pei was known within
academia as "someone whose knowledge traverses China and the
West, and his understanding links the ancient to the modern.
Tsai Yuen Pei’s rich
experience can be seen from above, and his contributions to
Modern Chinese society are multifaceted. Within the field of
education, I find his contributions to China’s modern
education distinguishing in the following four areas:
1. Outstanding
representation in the reform of feudalistic education.
From the end of the 19th
Century to the beginning of the 20th Century, this
epoch called for and demanded a criticism and reformation of
feudal education. The history of Chinese modern education was
illustrated by numerous individuals who engaged in such
advocacy. Tsai Yuen Pei distinguished himself from the rest
not only because of his commitment, steadfastness and depth of
understanding in education reform, insisting on the critical
absorption of feudal cultural education instead of total
rejection. His fame rested chiefly on his leadership and
organization of the great reformation of the feudalistic
education system within the entire country. After the 1st
revolution, responding to the demand of the time, when Tsai
became the first minister of education, he abolished the
education principles of "loyalty to the emperor" and "respect
for Confucius", he prohibited the use and study of textbooks
issued by the education department of the Ching Dynasty,
thereby eliminated the traditional process of personal
advancement through the selective examination system. This was
a powerful assault on the feudal education, unprecedented in
its actual impact on education, in its breadth and depth of
the reform. When he became the president of Beida in 1917, he
turned a corrupt, feudal and bureaucratic institution into a
nationally respected university. During his tenure as the
minister of higher education, he abolished the traditional
practice of seasonal ritual of paying homage to Confucius. All
these measures left indelible imprints on the reform of feudal
education, well beyond what his contemporaries proposed.
2. Founder of the New
Education System
Since his decision to devote
himself to education in 1898, Tsai Yuen Pei worked hard to
set up a new education system in China. After the first
revolution, he established a three-tier education
administrative structure, created an educational council that
represented the highest decision making body in education, and
introduced a division of social education, starting a trend of
social education administration, a term that is still used
nowadays. He was the first to suggest the principle of Five
Educations: Military Education, Utilitarian Education Civics
Education, Global View Education, and Artistic Education, a
forerunner to the educational foundation of the ROC:
Under his administration,
new rules and regulations were established for the school
system. He meticulously planned and directed the first
national education conference, which he passed a series of
policies and programs based on which China’s modern education
structure was modeled. In addition, he introduced co-education
to china starting from primary school to the university. If
this is considered to be the developmental mainstream of China
modern education, the river head can be traced to Lin Tsa-Hsu,
Guang Tse Jun, and Wei Yuan, followed by the foreign affairs
party and other early reformers. It was only after the first
revolution that Tsai Yuen Pei became the minister of
education, however, that the dream held dear by so many
heroes, of establishing a relatively complete new education
system in China was realized. No doubt, the times played an
important role in the opening of a new era in Chinese
educational development, but the contribution by Tsai Yuen Pei
cannot be underestimated.
3. Pioneer of modern
university education
The history of Chinese
university education started very early. University
educational structure was set up as early as the western Chou
dynasty (771 BC). The birth of modern Chinese university,
however, was symbolized by the establishment of the Imperial
University in 1898, despite its feudalistic imprint. After
1912, when the ROC was founded, it was renamed Peking
University. Despite reform efforts, the institution was beset
by feudalistic and bureaucratic problems. Only after Tsai Yuen
Pei became president, was he able to install a series of
effective measures to remold the corrupt old campus into an
intellectually challenging and dynamic institution of higher
learning, giving ground to the New Cultural Movement which
later enveloped China. In his reform of Peking University,
Tsai yuen Pei formulated a set of theory on university
education. He believed that the university was a place for
advanced research. In addition to teaching, it was necessary
to create scientific research institutes. He promoted academic
freedom and tolerated a variety of thoughts, as long as they
are reasonable and consistent. He introduced
"interdisciplinary approach" to accommodate the increasingly
merging tendencies of different disciplines and started a
system to allow student to select their own majors. He
demanded that professors manage the university, to establish a
democratic administrative structure by experts and scholars
who understood education. Tsai Yuen Pei’s reform of Peking
University and his theory of comparative education systems
left long lasting influence in the development of Chinese
Modern education. Many of his viewpoints remained
inspirational even now.
4. Champion of Artistic
Education
Tsai Yuen Pei emphasized
greatly the role of artistic education: He was a major
innovator to bring art into the school curriculum. In 1906,
Huang Kuo Wei has written about the merits of artistic
education and included it as a foundation of education. The
impact of Tsai Yuen Pei’s actions, however, vastly exceeded
that of Huang Kuo Wei. During his reign as the minister of
education, he systematically elaborated the effect of artistic
education on intellectual development and the harmony between
mind and body. Since then, artistic education became an
important component of the education enterprise. Later on, he
advocated tirelessly to substitute religion with artistic
education, and introduced practical ways to apply it to
family, school and the society. He was a practitioner of
artistic education. When he studied in France, and was the
editor of a magazine on Chinese workers education, he wrote
many articles concerning art and artistic education.
When he was president at
Peking University, he actively promoted many art-related
groups, such as concerts, drawings and calligraphy. He
introduced art into the school curriculum by hiring experts to
teach, sometimes going to the lectern himself. He was an
ardent supporter of the Peking Art institute and feverishly
championed the development of the Shanghai Artist League.
Most importantly, he founded
the Shanghai National Music Academy when he became its
director in 1927, and established the National Art Institute
in 1928. These two institutes nurtured a large number of art
and music talents and made important contributions to China’s
artistic enterprise.
It is fair for scholars
nowadays to praise Tsai Yuen Pei as the innovator of china’s
artistic education, and the only stalwart of artistic
education in the history of Chinese Modern education.
To sum up, based on the
solid foundation and brilliant achievement of China’s new
education system, his creation of modern education theory, his
innovative development of modern education enterprise, without
question, Tsai yuen Pei occupied a supreme place in the
history of Chinese Modern education. Tsai Yuen Pei was a
forerunner of Chinese intellectuals and a great educator.
Translated by Dr. Thomas
Tam
Q & A
with Professor LinXiang Jin – "Tsai Yuen Pei and Education in
Modern China", Thursday, March 28, 2002
Q (Betty Lee Sung): What is
the legacy of Tsai Yuen Pei after the Communist Revolution?
A: Tsai Yuen Pei died before
the Communist Regime was established. His fate of his rise and
fall is constant. Before the Cultural Revolution, he was
labeled a liberal intellectual. He was not a friend of the
Communist. He was not revered publicly. There was not much
research about him. After the Cultural Revolution, there was
some change in official opinion. There was a conference
commemorating the 40-year anniversary of his death in Beijing.
Tsai Yuen Pei was declared to be an Educator, a Cultural
Patriot, a Revolutionary and a Scientist. Now, there is more
research sprouting about him. I entered this field of research
about him from the perspective of Education.
Q (Don Watson): What is the
impact of education reform on the disciplines of Science and
Technology?
A: In the opening of China,
there was a concentration of Science and Technology
development. There was a tie between Technology and Education.
The blueprint of Education reform came from the Menji
Revolution in Japan. Initially, China wanted to learn from all
countries around the world and translated everything into
Chinese. Students who went to Japan all studied education and
they returned to assume high parts in China. Students who went
to Europe and America however, were not students of Education.
This is why the Japanese model of education has a strong
influence in China. After 1920, the influence changed to
America and now the people who studied there play an important
role in the Chinese education system.
Q (Paul Seto): What is the
relationship between Mao Tse Tung and Tsai Yuen Pei when they
had both worked in the library?
A: Mao was the Assistant
Manager of the library. He must have respected Tsai Yuen Pei.
In 1922, Tsai Yuen Pei gave many lectures in Hunan where Mao
came from. Mao was the recorder of these lectures. Mao created
a school for self-studies in Hunan in 1921. Tsai Yuen Pei had
written articles to promote it. Tsai Yuen Pei must have
recognized Mao’s youth, enthusiasm and energy.
Q (Betty Lee Sung): What is
the philosophy of the Education department of the government
today?
A: In China, modernization
cannot be done without education. Education occupies a
strategic position for economic development. This is the
relationship between socialism and education. Education must
serve the modernization development of the economy. You cannot
have education isolated from this social reality. This is the
directive on education in China.
Q (Betty Lee Sung): Can
education and educators be pushed down again (as in the past)?
A: Teng Xiao Ping, under
him, he wouldn’t let it happen. He believed that education
played a strategic role in modern China. Education must be
looked at the same way as energy, and transportation, etc.
Education must be put in high priority. Some high authorities
put economics before education. But Teng Xiao Ping said that
in order to have a vibrant economy, you have to have
education. If you don’t follow that, you are a bad leader. Not
all leaders are like Teng Xiao Ping in regards to education
but they are now trying to follow him.
Q (Don Watson): In 1999
there was a National Conference for quality oriented
education, moving away from exams and focus on creativity.
How does that affect
China today?
A: In China, emphasis on
creativity is in the children because of the importance of
creativity in social development. Emphasis is on education.
The nurturing of creativity has been talked about for a while,
not just now. With my research on Tsai Yuen Pei, I didn’t
touch this area. College students should not just do well in
school and attend classes, they should also do well in
research. Professors should not be just good professors, but
good leaders in research.
Q (James Lap): Is the
government ready for the change in the economy of China and
face more educators? Since with the two they become more
independent?
A: People who are educators
or economically sufficient are easily independent. New
patterns of thought are not accepted even in the University.
People have different opinions. With more education, you are
more able to accept new ideas. There is an imbalance between
how people accept things. The imbalance comes from the rural
sector vs. the urban sector. Different levels of education
will give you different levels of social status and influence.
Q (Betty Lee Sung): What is
the education system in China now? Is it free or do you have
to pay?
A: There is no tuition for
Primary School and Junior High, you pay for fees only. Before
Primary School and after High School, it is not compulsory
education, but voluntary. Because the kind of education will
determine the future of the child. They want them to get into
the famous schools at birth. Competition would begin at
nursery school. It’s hard to enter some nursery schools in
Shanghai. Parents must compete as well with power, money, etc.
If you go to the famous nursery school, then you continue onto
the famous kindergarten, etc. School depends on where you
live. You can pay to go to another public school in another
district, however. This is particularly serious with the
One-Child family, because with two or more children, if one
fails, there is another chance. Not if you have only one
child. So competition is keen. Exams must be taken in order to
get in High School and college and a fee.
Education system: Nursery
School 0-3 years old
Kindergarten enter at 3
years old for 3 years
Primary School for 6 years
Secondary School for 6 years
(3 for Junior & 3 for Senior)
University for 4 years
Masters for 3 years
Doctoral for 3 years
Q (Lee Stollar): Are there
grants for bright students? Scholarships?
A: There is saying that
"Never let a kid not attend college because of economic
reasons." They have learned from foreign experience. If a
family is poor, they can file for exemption and have the
tuition waived. There are also bank loans that must be paid in
4 years after graduation. Really gifted students get
scholarships, but not as well endowed as in America. With the
rise in Chinese economy, the amount for scholarships will go
up. It is more difficult for students who come from rural
areas.
Prepared
by Anchalee
A.
Pongsrirojana.........................
Dr. Thomas Tam
listened intently to Prof. Jin's talk to prepare for its
translation to the audience.
