Go back to the past and be a schoolboy

Chapter 28
In terms of the academic system, Cai Yuanpei's thinking is to "emphasize learning and despise art".

The so-called "learning" focuses on basic theoretical subjects, while "art" focuses on applied subjects.

Since the Opium War, we have repeatedly fought and failed with the big powers. The government and literati have attributed the reason to the fact that foreign guns and cannons are not as good as others. Therefore, whether they are studying abroad at the government or at their own expense, the majors chosen by students are all applied disciplines.

Among the most representative three batches of Boxer indemnity students studying abroad in the late Qing Dynasty, most of them chose engineering majors such as civil engineering, mining, electrical engineering, and shipbuilding engineering. The goal was to immediately start production and construction activities after returning to China.

Of course, there are very few people like Hu Shi who choose politics and philosophy.

Over time, the educational circles have generally formed an academic thought that attaches importance to applied disciplines and ignores basic theoretical disciplines.

Cai Yuanpei’s point of view is exactly the opposite of the mainstream. He believes that universities pay more attention to the liberal arts and sciences of pure academic research, so they expand the strength of these two subjects as soon as he takes office, and the newly hired teachers are also from these aspects.

In order to persist in his education reform, he even directly banned engineering and agriculture, the two most valuable disciplines.

Cai Yuanpei was stunned for a moment, and put down the teapot in his hand: "University is an institution for the pure study of knowledge, but most students seldom choose to study after graduating from preparatory courses. Very few choose liberal arts, and very few choose science. How can students be determined to study without banning other disciplines?"

Cheng Nuo shook his head and retorted: "Mr. Cai, you are too radical. No discipline can be dealt with by simply overcoming it. It can be made more scientific and perfect through planned improvement."

Turning to a page in the reform plan, Cheng Nuo pointed to the discipline of law and said, "Among many disciplines, I think you are the most repulsive to the discipline of law. There is a misunderstanding in this."

"Misunderstanding? I don't think so!" Cai Yuanpei trembled with anger when he thought of this: "Ask those students who are going to graduate from the preparatory school, what subject do they want to choose the most, I am afraid that most of them choose law. In order to get promoted and make a fortune, they will do everything they can to get ahead, run counter to the original intention of studying, waste time, and have no knowledge, such subjects will only continue to harm students and the entire society!"

Rather than saying that Cai Yuanpei misunderstood the law of Peking University, it is better to say that the lack and distortion of legal education disappointed him.

When Western-style legal education was introduced into China, it was recognized by all walks of life as a new imperial examination mechanism and an important step in the selection of officials.

Only learning the surface and not seeing the truth has led to the development of legal education step by step off track, and finally evolved into studying law, as if stepping into the officialdom with one foot. But it's too big, the name is law, but it's actually official school.

As a result, as soon as the students graduated from the preparatory course, they squeezed their heads and tried to get into the law. Even if they successfully entered the school, they were busy making connections with gangs, promising each other that they would never forget each other's riches and honors.

Faced with this situation, Cheng Nuo expressed his own point of view: "Cai Gong, it is undeniable that there are indeed reasons for the law discipline to become like this, but the culprit is still in this society, and you can't cut yourself off because of external factors. What's more, there are tens of thousands of means of reform, and it is not appropriate to ask questions based on emotion and reason without trying."

Cai Yuanpei calmed down a little, and asked, "Tell me about it."

Drinking some water to moisten his throat, Cheng Nuo took a pen and paper, and explained: "Nowadays, Peking University's legal studies are too general. In addition to law, it also includes politics and economics. First of all, we have to divide them in the first step. God's to God, Caesar's to Caesar, subdivided into three disciplines of law, politics and economics."

"Secondly, in addition to taking into account the use value of the discipline, some theoretical disciplines can also be added, such as "History of Western Legal System", "History of Chinese Legal System", "Logic" and so on."

"Finally, the three-year undergraduate course of law is adjusted to four years to deepen students' overall grasp of legal concepts. After three years, I believe that after four years, some students with legal spirit will definitely be cultivated."

After Cheng Nuo finished speaking, just as he was about to take another sip of water, he saw Cai Yuanpei standing up suddenly and clapping his hands three times.

"Zhiyuan, your ideas are of great practical value. I think the reform of the discipline of science can be done according to your ideas."

Cheng Nuo was taken aback by this happy look, and almost spit out the tea in his mouth, unlike the righteous indignation just now.

That's right, I finally understood that Cai Yuanpei had a kind personality, so he was so easy to get angry, just to force Cheng Nuo's thoughts out, and he used a provocative method.

Besides, there are so many people in the political and academic circles who are engaged in law, even with Cai Yuanpei's high reputation, the pressure to ban the discipline of law is not easy to bear.

But since the words have been spoken, there is no point in hiding them.

Cheng Nuo shook his head dumbfounded, and continued, "Cai Gong, the discipline of law cannot be abolished, nor can agriculture and engineering be abolished. Even your view that universities are purely research institutes is biased."

It is impossible to use the same trick continuously in a short period of time, this time Cai Yuanpei was not angry when he saw that his point of view was refuted, and said with a smile: "Zhiyuan, don't worry, speak slowly, if you can't, I'll boil a pot of hot water for you. "

Cheng Nuo sighed in his heart and continued: "In my opinion, apart from learning, universities should also care about the national economy and the people's livelihood. The national economy is related to engineering, and the people's livelihood is related to the people's livelihood. Mr. Cai, do you know what we are doing now? The foreign cloth on the body, the light bulb on the head, and the cigarettes in the pocket are almost all made by foreigners, and this is just a sketch of life, because we are restricted by foreigners everywhere, and all the hard-earned money of our countrymen ends up in their pockets."

"Engineering does not just mean making guns and cannons, but also means developing industry, improving the lives of Chinese people, and enhancing national strength. All of these require the cultivation of a large number of industrial talents. Blindly academic research cannot be exchanged for bread."

Historically, after Peking University canceled engineering, it was not until 1946, after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, that the School of Engineering was formally established.

Cheng Nuo, besides pity that he did not continue to train engineering talents during this period, also wanted to use the brand of Peking University to develop his own industry.

History textbooks say that the Republic of China was in turmoil, and the national industry developed rapidly due to the fact that the great powers were busy with World War I, ushering in a short spring.After World War I, the great powers made a comeback, and the national industry fell into decline. It was not until after liberation that new development was achieved.

But whether this is really the case in history is controversial in academic circles.

According to the research of Chinese scholar Zhang Changji, the growth rate of the national industry from 1912 to 1936 was as high as 9.4%, and its growth rate did not change significantly after the end of World War I. It was not until the July [-]th Incident that it ushered in its peak.

Zhang Changji’s research is not isolated. After further research by historian Wu Chengming, he found that the domestic industrial capital from 1920 to 1936 increased by five times compared with 1913. From 1911 to 1920, the growth rate of state-owned industrial capital was 3.44%. The growth rate of private industrial capital was as high as 1913%; from 1920 to 11.9, the growth rate of state-owned industrial capital was 1920%, and the growth rate of private industrial capital in the same period remained at a high level of 1936%.

这是什么概念呢，横向比较该时期的近代工业发展速度也并不输于其他西方国家，例如美国在1912—1937年间工业增长速度仅有2.6%，在其历史上发展最快的1874—1890年间，工业增长率也只有5.2%。英国1921—1937年间工业年增长率为2.2%，历史上发展最快的1851—1873年间增长率为3.3%。纵向比较，甚至高于解放后的某一段时期。

It cannot be said that the national industry has developed rapidly, but it cannot be said in general that it will sink after World War I.

In addition to the rapid growth, there are more and more types of products in the national industry. From the beginning, it was limited to guns and heavy industries. Before the Anti-Japanese War, it was able to produce complex heavy equipment, and light industrial products related to life can basically be manufactured. , and even forced foreigners' products out of the market.

Some book friends may ask, your industry is developing so fast, why haven't you seen the improvement of the lives of ordinary people?

That’s because our domestic fundamentals are too big, the late Qing Dynasty was so bad, and GDP is still the world’s number one.

Decades of industrial development alone are not enough to cover all aspects of national life. Before the market has sunk, Little Japan has come, and this is the real sinking.

It is feasible to set up industry in the Republic of China.

Because of the troubled times, there are still a group of industrious and kind-hearted people struggling.

Engineering, it cannot be discarded!
PS: This chapter may be somewhat controversial. For the convenience of book lovers, I will list the references. You are welcome to discuss and read.

[1] Zhang Zhongli.Selected translations of works on modern Chinese economic history [M].Shanghai: Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences Press, 1987.

[2] Xu Dixin, Wu Chengming.History of Capitalism Development in China (Volume III)［M］．Beijing: People's Publishing House, 1990.

[3] Yan Zhongping.Selected Statistics of Modern Chinese Economic History［M］．Beijing: Science Press, 1955.

[4] Joseph Schumpeter.History of Economic Analysis［M］．Beijing: Commercial Press, 1991.

[5] Lewis.Development plan［M］．Beijing: Beijing Institute of Economics Press, 1988.

[6] Gao Debu.General History of World Economy (Volume II)［M］．Beijing: Higher Education Press, 2005.

(End of this chapter)