Tao Xingzhi (October 18, 1891 - July 25, 1946), a native of Shexian County, Anhui Province, was an educator and thinker of the Chinese people, a great democratic fighter, a patriot, and a great leader of the Chinese people. One of the main leaders of the National Salvation Association and the China Democratic League.
Tao Xingzhi was born on October 18, 1891 (September 6, the 17th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty) in a poor peasant family in She County, Anhui Province. He was smart and studious since he was a child, and he attended school for free. In 1906, he entered Chongyi Academy, a church school in this county, and studied for free.
I completed three years of study in two years. When he was 17 years old, he borrowed money to go to Hangzhou and was admitted to Guangji Medical College. He later dropped out of school because he was dissatisfied with the school's discrimination against students who did not believe in religion. At the age of 19, he was admitted to the Literature Department of Nanjing Jinling University and graduated with first place.
After graduation, he borrowed money to travel across the ocean to study in the United States. He first studied municipal administration at the University of Illinois and received a master's degree in political science. Later, he felt that municipal administration was not for the purpose of becoming an official, so he resolutely entered Columbia University Teachers College to study education, hoping to save the country and the people through education.
He returned to China in the autumn of 1917 and successively served as professor and academic director of Nanjing Normal University and National Southeast University. In 1926, the "Declaration of the Chinese Educational Improvement Society on Transforming Rural Education in the Country" was issued.
In 1929, St. John's University awarded him an honorary doctorate of science in recognition of his contribution to China's educational reform. In 1935, inspired by the "August 1st Declaration" of the Communist Party of China, he actively participated in the anti-Japanese and national salvation movement.
In 1945, he was elected as member of the Central Standing Committee of the China Democratic League and chairman of the Education Committee, and chairman of the Education Committee. On the morning of July 25, 1946, he unfortunately died in Shanghai at the age of 55 due to long-term overwork.
Extended information:
Tao Xingzhi has always lived at the bottom of Chinese society, so he has had a deep feeling for the suffering of the people since his childhood. He once wrote "I He is a Chinese and must make some contributions to China."
In 1917, Tao Xingzhi declined the invitation of his mentor Dewey to teach in the United States, giving up the superior living and working conditions abroad and his personal future to get ahead and returned to his motherland. At that time, the new cultural movement under the banner of democracy and science was launched in China.
Tao Xingzhi enthusiastically campaigned in this movement, actively advocating new education and reforming old education. To this end, on the one hand, he introduced Western educational theories, and on the other hand, he opposed the blind "formal education". "Other Countries" proposed the need to use scientific methods to carry out educational reform and innovation.
To pave a new path for the popularization and modernization of education in China. Tao Xingzhi held the aspiration of "coming for a big thing and doing a big thing" in life and devoted his main energy to civilian education. During this period, he deeply felt that the fundamental problem of China's educational reform lies in rural areas.
He said: "China was founded on agriculture, and people living in rural areas account for 85% of the country's population. Civilian education is a movement that goes to the people, that is, to the countryside." Tao Xingzhi called on people to join This movement “dedicates itself wholeheartedly to creating a new life for rural China.
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Baidu Encyclopedia-Tao Xingzhi