Chen Xujing (193 ~ 1967) was born in Wenchang County, Guangdong Province (now Hainan Province). Famous historian, sociologist, ethnologist and educator. He studied at Fudan University, and served as president of Lingnan University, vice president of Sun Yat-sen University, president of Jinan University in Guangzhou and vice president of Nankai University. Basic introduction Chinese name: Chen Xujing alias: Zi Huaimin Nationality: China Nationality: Han Nationality Birthplace: Wenchang County, Guangdong Province (now Hainan Province) Date of birth: 193 Date of death: 1967 Occupation: historian, sociologist, Educator's graduate school: Fudan University Belief: Major achievements of independents: former president of Lingnan University
Former representative works of president of Guangzhou Jinan University: A Brief History of China Culture, A Study of the People, An Overview of Culturology, Nanyang and China, personal resume, introduction, a person and a university, a dictionary of people, admonitions from three mothers and bandu's father, and total westernization. Educational modernization, academic independence, serving education, life experience, personal resume introduction: I went to Singapore with my father in 199, entered Lingnan Middle School in 192, and was awarded a bachelor's degree by the School of Social Sciences of Fudan University in July 1925; In 1926, he received a master's degree from the University of Illinois in the United States, and two years later, he received a doctor's degree from the university and returned to teach in the sociology department of Lingnan University in Guangzhou. On January 15, 1934, the article "The Way Out of China Culture" was published in Guangzhou Republic Daily, which triggered a fierce cultural debate throughout the country. On August 1, 1948, he became the president of Lingnan University. In 1956, he served as vice president of Sun Yat-sen University. In 1962, he served as president of Jinan University in Guangzhou; In 1964, he was transferred to the vice president of Tianjin Nankai University; In 1967, he was accused of "communicating with foreign countries" and "spy" during the Cultural Revolution, and died of myocardial infarction in Nankai University on February 16th. In May 1979, Nankai University rehabilitated it. Chen Xujing devoted his whole life to teaching and researching sociology, especially attaching importance to cultural studies and advocating the establishment of "culturology" in China. He believes that in China, people who want to find a way to save the country from the study of eastern and western cultures have three different opinions: first, they advocate accepting western culture in an all-round way; The second is to advocate the return to China's inherent culture; The third is to advocate a compromise. In this regard, he pointed out that there is no way out for eclectics and retro schools. He once went deep into the rural areas of China, made more investigations and studies on the shipmen in Fujian, Guangdong and Guangxi and overseas Chinese in Southeast Asian countries, and also made more studies on the history of Southeast Asia, overseas Chinese and Xiongnu. Chen Xujing's works in his life mainly include A Brief History of China's Culture, A Study of Miao People, An Overview of Cultural Studies, Nanyang and China, and The Origin of Sociology. The Historical Draft of Xiongnu is Professor Chen Xujing's posthumous work. Since studying in Germany, the author has been paying attention to the research progress of Xiongnu history abroad. In the mid-195s, he took time off from his official duties to write the Historical Draft of Xiongnu with a total of 8, words. In the early 196s, he made some supplements to the first and second chapters, but failed to arrange and revise the whole draft, that is, he died unfortunately. This book is based on the relevant version, revised with reference to the author's manuscript, and at the same time, the style of the manuscript is preserved as much as possible. A person and a university This person is Chen Xujing, a historian, sociologist, ethnologist, educator ... A scholar, and this university is Lingnan University. Chen Xujing was born and raised in Wenchang County, which can be regarded as an authentic Cantonese. But like most Guangdong celebrities in modern times, it seems that they have to go through a process of going out of Lingnan-struggling-becoming famous, and Lingnan has become a place for exporting talents. Different from others, Chen Xujing finally returned to his hometown and left a permanent track on this land. In 1947, when the board of directors of Lingnan University frequently sent invitations to Chen Xujing, Chen Xujing, then dean of Nankai University and dean of the School of Political Economy, did not immediately agree, although he had taught in this school twice before that. Maybe he thinks that his display in Nankai has just begun, maybe he thinks that the world in Lingnan is too small and the education is too backward. Anyway, if Zhang Boling, the president of Nankai, didn't agree to "lend" (two years), Chen Xujing probably wouldn't leave too many memories in Lingnan. This "borrowing" is 16 years. From August 1st, 1948 to the cancellation of Lingnan University in 1952, Lingnan University became the most perfect university in China from the best school in Guangdong (at that time, there were only two universities in Guangdong, and the other was Sun Yat-sen University). Some departments (such as medical schools) had reached the first-class or best level in China, with a number of famous scholars, professors and experts at home and abroad, and Guangzhou suddenly became an academic center in China at that time. If we consider that in recent years, China has spent most of its time in regime change and turbulence (first the War of Liberation, then the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea), then the development of Lingnan University is a miracle. How did the miracle happen? It is not profound: a set of correct school goals, purposes and strategies, a group of first-class talents and an efficient mechanism. What is a university? Chen Xujing's point of view is: "University is a place for seeking knowledge and researching knowledge", and Lingda's goal is to become a first-class academic university in China. To this end, when he took office as the principal's first sermon to the teachers and students of the whole school, he emphasized that academic research was not sectarian, "paying attention to the spirit of free discussion" and advocating respect for personal freedom of thought, belief, speech and scholarship. Under the principle of "inclusiveness and freedom of thought" (this was Cai Yuanpei's school purpose when he was in charge of Peking University), Chen Xujing invited a large number of well-known scholars, experts and professors at home and abroad: historian Chen Yinque, mathematician Jiang Lifu, linguist Wang Li, ancient philologist Rong Geng, wood and soil engineering expert Tao Baokai, surveyor Chen Yongling, medical experts Xie Zhiguang, Chen Guozhen, Chen Huizhen and Mao Zedong. Some of them are Chen Xujing's Nankai colleagues (such as Jiang Lifu), some are his students (such as Duanmu Zheng), some are old acquaintances (such as Chen Yinque, Wang Li and Tao Baojie), and some are invited by him when he was in Tianjin (such as a group of experts from medical college). From a certain point of view, Chen Xujing's 14 years in Nankai (including 8 years in The National SouthWest Associated University) laid a good foundation for his work in Lingda University. Naturally, all this comes from Chen's "personal charm": he doesn't do business, he doesn't be an official, and he keeps his distance from politics (he doesn't join the Kuomintang). He himself is a scholar who has a thorough knowledge of both China and the West. He shows "the spirit of independence and the thought of freedom" in academic research and debates. He respects people, is tolerant and generous, and treats others with sincerity. With people, we need money and a capable management team. The principal responsibility system under the leadership of the board of directors of Lingnan University provides a guarantee for these. Grasping people with one hand and money with the other, Chen Xujing once again showed his prestige and ability. His popularity among overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia and Southeast Asia enabled him to raise a large number of private donations (which is the advantage of running a school in Lingnan), and the school was able to tide over the financial difficulties smoothly (at this time, the teachers of CUHK were protesting to * * * for not getting paid); An efficient management team was established (a decision-making group composed of five professors was set up instead of a vice president), which enabled the school to operate efficiently, while "professors running the school" ensured the academic atmosphere and development of Lingda University. This is reminiscent of The National SouthWest Associated University in those days. Good weather, favorable geographical location and harmonious people have made Lingnan University and Chen Xujing a success in the transitional era, but the times only gave him less than four years. Four years, relative to the growth of a university, relative to the cultural generation and accumulation of a region, is how short! In 1952, the departments of national colleges and universities were adjusted, Lingnan University was cancelled, its engineering school was merged into South China Institute of Technology (now South China University of Technology), agricultural college was merged into South China Agricultural College (now South China Agricultural University), and medical college was merged into Sun Yat-sen Medical College (now Sun Yat-sen Medical University). The economics department and the law department were adjusted out. After the transfer, Sun Yat-sen University actually has only liberal arts and science, and a group of professors, such as Wang Li, have been transferred to Peking University and other institutions. Chen Xujing himself became an ordinary professor at Sun Yat-sen University. Chen Xujing's desire to run a first-class university in Lingnan eventually became a dream. Later, although Chen Xujing served as vice president of Sun Yat-sen University, president of Jinan University (less than two years) and vice president of Nankai University, the world changed, and the president of the university at that time was no longer beautiful. Chen Xujing and Lingnan University, which he painstakingly managed, have become history. But looking back at the depths of history, we can still hear distant echoes: Lingnan needs one or several first-class universities, and Lingnan's backwardness is not in economy, but in education, as it was in the past and still is; Lingnan can be a first-class university in China. The preconditions are: a relaxed environment, a modern education system and a president like Chen Xujing. Bandu Father, the Third Mother of People's Dictionary, admonished Chen Xujing that two people were particularly important in his growth, that is, his third mother and his father. It is said that when Chen Xujing was a child, he was quite naughty and often played truant. He studied in a private school for more than a year. He couldn't read a quarter of the Three Character Classics and couldn't recite it. The teacher said to his father, "You are so stupid. It's useless to open your head with an axe and put books in it. I'd better do business with you in the future." The fortune teller also told his father that if his son could make a living with a pen, he would not be a fortune teller. And this illiterate third mother (the widow of Chen's uncle) made Chen Xujing (and his sister) get the first place in the class (when she was a child in Zhiyuan, Wang Yang) in a short time, and she also urged Chen Xujing to transfer to the county school to avoid his complacency. Sanma's educational methods can be summarized as follows: positive encouragement (not treating Chen as a "stupid boy" or a "bad boy"), mutual encouragement (putting him and his sister in two classes to form competition), side supervision (going to bandu in person every night), and * * * learning together (she learns to read and even write letters from them), which is quite in line with modern educational concepts. Chen Xujing's father is a real businessman. He started as an apprentice, and his business grew bigger and bigger, so as to achieve Nanyang. However, this father is also a person who is generous and generous, and has a special liking for reading and learning (this is not uncommon among businessmen in China). He warned Chen "don't want to be an official in China" and "don't want to go back to Nanyang to do business". Instead of being the president, it is better to be a professor by relying on his own knowledge. After his son obtained a doctorate in the United States, he also sold the shares of Coconut Garden for him to study in France. Perhaps this "cultural complex" of Chen's father, like other fathers, is to make up for his regret that he failed to finish his studies when he was a child. What is valuable is that his knowledge is beyond ordinary people. Chen Xujing and his children have been attached to education since then, and the source should be traced back to this. Overall Westernization Four Debates Chen Xujing has the image of being tolerant, generous and modest, but in his bones there is an "argumentative" and unyielding spirit, which set off four debates in the 193 s and 194 s. At the end of 1933, Chen Xujing crossed the river to Sun Yat-sen University (then in Hebei) to give a speech on "The Way Out of China Culture". Two weeks later (January 15th, 1934), the speech was published in the "Modern Youth" edition of Guangzhou Republic Daily, which triggered a nationwide cultural debate. The first sentence in the article is, "China's problem is basically the problem of the whole culture" and "We should find a way out for China's future". He divided the different opinions on China culture into three schools: "Retro school-advocating the preservation of China's inherent culture", "Compromise school-advocating the combination of Chinese and Western methods" and "Western school-advocating the full acceptance of Western culture". Subsequently, articles refuting criticism appeared in the same page one after another, including Zhang Qing's Answer to Dr. Chen Xujing on the Cultural Movement War Line on February 2, 1934, which even used a vocabulary of "poisonous gas smoke playing machine guns", which made the debate full of gunpowder ignorance. In two months, dozens of articles on cultural issues appeared, "reminiscent of Qian Xuantong and Liu Bannong singing in the New Culture Movement 16 years ago." Guangzhou has played the role of the birthplace of controversy this time, which is rare in modern times, and the fiercest voice of opposition also comes from Guangzhou, "a city with the most westernized management of China people" (Chen Xujing's words). A year later, the China-based Declaration on Cultural Construction (referred to as the "Ten Professors' Declaration" for short), published in the magazine Cultural Construction and signed by ten people including Wang Xinming, He Bingsong, Tao Xisheng and Samengwu, marked the peak of the nationwide debate. Since then, Chen Xujing has been closely linked with the word "total Westernization". His comrades include Hu Shi, Lu Guanwei and others. However, Hu Shi later used a more eclectic term "full globalization" instead of "total westernization", which was criticized by Chen Xujing, because in his view, the words "full" and "as far as possible" are not only vague, but also easy to be used as amulets by eclectics and retro school. Chen Xujing's "decisive" attitude and consistent viewpoint show the other side of his personality: sticking to his own opinions, not going with the flow, not afraid of authority and powerful people. This was the embodiment of a scholar's "independent spirit and free thought" before liberation, but it became an inescapable spell after liberation, which was linked with words such as "foreign slaves" and "enslavement". The debate on rural construction followed closely, and the object of the debate was the rural construction school represented by Liang Shuming. In his articles "Rural Culture and Urban Culture" and "A Way of Rural Construction", Chen Xujing refuted Liang Shuming and others' idea of making China a highly civilized country with the countryside as the main body, pointing out that "building the country by agriculture" in the modern world can only be a kind of folly and fantasy. This can be regarded as a deepening and development of his "total westernization theory". The debate on educational modernization and academic independence in the early 193s involves two aspects: the China or modernization of education and the purpose of university education. The former can be regarded as one aspect of Chen Xujing's theory of "total westernization", that is, his education should be completely modernized, and the so-called "China-oriented education" can easily become a retro movement in education. The latter is related to the proposal put forward by an education conference in Guangzhou in 1932 that "grammar courses should be closed or the number should be reduced, and more vocational schools should be set up at the same time to meet the needs of social life". The supporters were Zou Lu, then president of Sun Yat-sen University, and Zhong Rongguang, then president of Lingnan University. Chen Xujing is categorically opposed to the suspension or reduction of grammar subjects. In the article "Discussion on the Policy of Modern University Education" (published in Guangzhou Republic Daily on May 26, 1932), he pointed out that "the purpose of university education is to seek knowledge and study knowledge for the sake of learning", while "the purpose of vocational education is to seek application" and "seeking knowledge is not necessarily for application, but if it is to be applied, it is necessary to seek knowledge. Subsequently, the debate extended to national newspapers such as Independent Review. The object of the second educational debate was Hu Shi. In 1947, Hu Shi advocated "academic independence" in the Ten-year Plan for Academic Independence, and proposed that five universities (Peking University, Tsinghua University, Central University, Wuhan University and Zhejiang University) should be designated by * * as the first-class university training within ten years.