A Man of Science and Engineering in Troubled Times Wandering in the Late Qing Dynasty

Chapter 104 Japanese Teaching
During the period of studying at the Imperial University, students’ tuition fees and meals are free, but they still need to pay for paper and pens, Chinese and foreign books, and all living services.

It's okay for the official academy, after all, they all have official status, so they don't have to worry about money at all.

However, there are quite a few poor Confucian students in the normal school who have no means of earning a living at all. Many of them have married and left home thousands of miles away to study for four years. Therefore, they inevitably have internal worries.

However, the standard of the Jingshi University Hall is so high, the local government must be willing to provide financial aid to the students.In order to allow students to study with peace of mind, some provincial governments will subsidize local normal students studying in the Imperial University.

The amount of subsidy varies from province to province. For example, Hubei province gives each normal student 20 taels of silver per month, including 12 taels of Anjia silver, and [-] taels of silver in Beijing.

Guangdong gave the most, directly 25 taels per month.

This kind of subsidy is really very high, 240 taels to 300 taels of silver a year, which is definitely a very, very strong subsidy in the late Qing Dynasty.

After all, an idle Manchu clan would only cost three or four taels of silver for a month.

As for the subject setting of the Jingshi University Hall, it is not much different from the modern one, after all, it is Japan for learning.At this time, Japan was already in line with Europe and the United States in terms of education, and was far ahead of the Qing Dynasty.

The curriculum and difficulty of the Shixue Hall and the Normal Hall are different. Generally, there are courses in mathematics, natural history, physics, chemistry, economics, foreign languages, geography, history, psychology, law, drawing, gymnastics, etc.

In fact, Li Yu basically understands everything. The only possibility is to study Confucian classics, pedagogy, and then painting. Of course, most of the time, he is practicing sketching on his own.Sketching is actually quite useful. Li Yu wanted to learn it before, but now he finally has the time.

There was a foreign professor in the university who impressed him quite deeply, that is, Yuki Hattori Unoyoshi, a professor of psychology from Japan.

Hattori Unoyoshi was not actively hired by the Imperial University, but recommended by Japan.

As early as four years ago, when the Reform Movement of [-] had just established the Beijing Normal University, Japan got the news.Now that the school is officially starting again, Japanese Foreign Minister Komura Kotaro believes: "Japan must seize this opportunity, and must not let Europe and the United States and other countries interfere in the education of the Qing government."

So the Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Japanese Minister to China persuaded Ronglu and Yikuang to hire teachers from Japan.

That's why Hattori Unokichi came to China.

His wife's name is Shigeko Hattori, who is also quite famous. She is very concerned about women's education in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China. At the same time, she and Qiu Jin are also close friends.

Of course Hattori Unokichi knew Li Yu's name, so he found Li Yu to communicate with after class.

"Mr. Li Yu, do you think the academic achievements of the Imperial University can catch up with the West?" Hattori Unokichi asked directly. After all, Li Yu is not an ordinary student, so there is no need to make those detours.

Li Yu said: "The teaching of Hattori is too advanced. It is too early to talk about it in the initial stage of the university. And you should understand that sometimes the level of academic achievement does not depend solely on the level of a school."

Hattori Unoyoshi said: "You mean it depends on the level of the students? Are you referring to yourself?"

Li Yu smiled and said: "You misunderstood me. You can understand that I am also a member of the school, so of course I am not referring to myself. I mean that the strength of the country is often positively correlated with the level of academic achievement. "

"What a positive correlation! From these three words, it can be seen that you not only have a high level of mathematics, but also have extraordinary vision." Hattori Unokichi continued, "Talking about the moment, do you have any suggestions for my "Psychology" class? "

Li Yu said: "Naturally, there is no need to say much about the teaching level of Professor Hattori, but many students do not understand the Japanese textbooks at all. It is too slow to learn while translating. To be honest, I have almost finished reading all the chapters at this time. "

Li Yu's Japanese is good, Hattori Unokichi knows this, but although most of the students can sometimes guess the meaning from the Japanese textbooks, they are still completely confused when it comes to some professional vocabulary.

Therefore, the foreign teachers in Jingshi University often have to do translation in class, which is very inefficient.

Hattori Unokichi nodded: "Your suggestion is very pertinent. I should indeed compile a set of Chinese psychology lectures while learning Chinese."

Fortunately, he really did what he said, and Hattori Unoyoshi's psychology lectures are still preserved in the world.

Moreover, Hattori Unoyoshi was very concerned about the early construction of the Imperial University Hall. He attended work every day as soon as he took office. He helped formulate the subject courses and regulations of the Normal Hall and the Shixue Hall, prepared for the classrooms and dormitories, and assisted in the purchase of machinery. , specimens and books, and plan the entrance examination procedures for the normal hall together.

Li Yu said: "The Chinese taught by Hattori is considered excellent in teaching."

As a Japanese, Hattori Unokichi is still very modest: "Chinese culture has a long history, and the language is also profound and profound. I have only been involved in it since I was a child. Speaking of this, I think it is the relationship between China and Japan, so we Japanese should be Qing court He is the leader who is obliged to do a good job in the education work of the Qing court and to ensure the continuous development of Chinese culture."

Hattori Unoyoshi's thinking is very similar to that of his contemporary Japanese scholar of Oriental History, Konan Naito.

Naito Konan's point of view is that the core of Chinese culture once belonged to the Han and Tang Dynasties, but has now been transferred to Japan.Therefore, Japan has to assume the leading position in the East Asian cultural circle and lead China and North Korea.

It was the source of the so-called "sex circle" in Japan.

Of course Li Yu knew this. He said blankly: "Of course Chinese culture will not be broken, even after various conspiracies and schemes."

Hattori Unokichi did not understand the meaning of Li Yu's words: "What we in Japan are doing now is to let the Qing court know that our Japan has a similar culture to the Qing Dynasty, and we are not the same as the West. Only we in Japan can be emotionally Truly stand with the Qing Dynasty."

Li Yu thought to himself: Yes, your Japan is indeed "different" from the West, and your actions are much more vicious than the European powers.

When Hattori Unokichi took office, Japan’s China policy was: “Focus on the overall situation in East Asia, we should transform the spirit of the Chinese with the spirit of the Japanese, suppress the forces that suppressed the Xinghan Dynasty, and maintain the rule of the Qing government. Help its education reform, Firmly grasp the highest real power in China's education, so as to promote the development of Japan's national destiny."

As a teacher sent to China jointly by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Education, Hattori Unokichi naturally understands the deep meaning of this policy.

Therefore, he had been planning to let the Qing government recruit more Japanese teachers, trying to make more Japanese teachers occupy an important place in the Qing Dynasty's education system.

Even when developing Chinese women’s education, he kept emphasizing that traditional Japanese ideas are more suitable than Western ones, and that Japanese women should be good wives and mothers, in order to keep China and Japan consistent in thought and spirit.

Countries such as Europe and the United States have actually seen Japan’s thinking. Martin Martin once said: “The Japanese professors from other universities and schools, headed by Dr. They came to Beijing under the orders of the Japanese. Their actions must inform Japan, and they must follow the instructions of the legation. They intend to cultivate Japanese influence in China, and should not be underestimated."

However, in the eyes of the high-level Qing court at that time, they really felt that they could only learn from Japan.

Hattori Unoyoshi and some of the Japanese teachers he subsequently recruited have always maintained a good image.But most of the time, it was done for high-level officials like Rongqing in order to continue to gain the trust of the Qing court.

In 1906, he even sent an article directly to the Japanese government to suggest: "We should not only rely on diplomatic means and policies to guide the Chinese to be pro-Japanese, but also start from the social aspect, so that the Chinese realize that the Japanese's feelings for the Chinese are not the same as those of Europe and the United States. People have different feelings towards the Chinese, and this is more conducive to supporting Japan's power in China."

In short, it can be said that Japan began to invade China from the ideological, cultural and military aspects very early.

If the soft ones don’t work, come hard ones, if the hard ones don’t work, go on to the soft ones.

(End of this chapter)