Centennial Commemoration of Private Education in China: Yan Xiu's New Private Schools and the Chronology of Modern Chinese Political Culture

Author: Li Dongjun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-04-01
Features: The purpose of this book is to establish Yan Xiu's new private school. Therefore, the research paradigm takes the individual as the vertical axis and the era as the horizontal axis, demonstrating Yan Xiu's cultural individuality in the "synthesis" of new private school and modern Chinese political culture. The historical perspective of this book takes Yan Xiu's new private school as the main thread to connect modern history. Thus, the beginning of modern history is not the usual discussion of the Opium War, but the arrival of missionaries from the East and the spread of Western learning to the East. Its end is the revival of Chinese nationalism. This book is not a chronology, but adopts a chronological writing style, taking years as the vertical axis and events as the horizontal axis, hence the name "systematic chronology." Months and dates are arranged according to the needs of the narrative, without strict chronological order. The notes in this book are all taken from the book, with small notes added alongside references and descriptions. The main sources of historical materials are "Yan Xiu's Diary," "Letters," and his self-edited "Chronology." Any quoted historical materials that are not annotated in the book are of this nature. Due to the excessive number of references, if each were annotated, the entire book would be filled with them, so they are omitted. In China, an accomplished secondary school should be Nankai Middle School. Statistics show that in the past century, Nankai Middle School has produced 48 famous scientists, two presidents of Tsinghua University, three vice premiers (Zhou Enlai, Wen Jiabao, Zou Jiahua), nine vice chairs of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and vice chairs of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and a large number of university presidents, scientists, and literary and artistic talents with slightly less achievements and fame, too numerous to count. Many people know Nankai Middle School now, but few know its founder, Yan Xiu and Yan Fansun. Mr. Fansun's noble character and his great contribution to modern Chinese education are even less known. The greatest feature of this book is that the author does not write about Mr. Fansun's educational endeavors in a straightforward manner. Instead, the focus is on outlining the historical changes in modern Chinese political culture and expressing the author's overall understanding of modern history, with insightful and thought-provoking remarks throughout (due to space constraints, not all are cited). Against this backdrop, the profound significance of Mr. Fansun's educational initiatives is fully revealed, just as the subtitle suggests. The author aims to explore the relationship between Yan Xiu's new private school and modern Chinese political culture. The author's basic view is that Chinese education has shifted from traditional official and private studies to a modern national education system. In this process, the new private school tradition pioneered by Mr. Fansun holds immense significance. Unfortunately, this excellent tradition, which had not yet fully developed, was forcibly interrupted due to dramatic historical changes. The chronic problems in contemporary Chinese education are closely related to the destruction of this tradition. Today, the resurgence of private schools also suggests that Chinese education may have the opportunity to return to the excellent tradition pioneered by Mr. Fansun. The author proposes the concept of "new private school" and explores it in depth in the book. If this issue can attract academic attention and discussion, I believe it will greatly benefit the "rewriting" of modern Chinese education history and the development of contemporary Chinese private education. Running a school is indeed sacred, but it is by no means romantic, nor can it be achieved solely through beautiful fantasies. As the author repeatedly emphasizes in this book, running a school is an "enterprise of thinkers." Without treating schools as enterprises, even with ideas, the school cannot succeed. Liang Qichao's attempt to establish the Eastern Cultural Research Institute but failure to do so is a clear example. If running a school is an enterprise, then investment is the prerequisite. The sources of Mr. Fansun's school funding, apart from donations from his own assets, mainly came from wealthy merchants and warlords, followed by government and foreign support. What enabled Mr. Fansun and President Bo Lin to "convert" support from all sides was their achievements in running the school, their reputation, and their diligent and earnest fundraising efforts, which could persuade the "gods of wealth" to be generous. In contemporary China, the number of people with assets is increasing, and private schools are also experiencing a surge. However, "education industrialization" is being interpreted as a big business, and school founders are naturally expected to be "investment experts." This is a mockery and desecration of education. The essence of education industrialization is to use the flexible, frugal, and efficient operational mechanisms of private schools to attract social resources into education and ensure sustainable development, rather than turning schools into money-printing machines. Therefore, the development of contemporary private schools depends on the emergence of more individuals like Lu Muzhan and Li Xiushan (the two contributed the most to Nankai), more individuals like Shaw Yee-fat and Tan Kah Kee, and more educators like Yan Xiu and Zhang Bolin, who regard running a school and nurturing people as their lifelong mission. Donors can indeed build hundreds of large buildings for universities, but if there are no educators, these buildings are no different from those in commercial centers or hotels. This book takes the individual as the vertical axis and the era as the horizontal axis, with the purpose of demonstrating Yan Xiu's cultural individuality in the "synthesis" of new private school and modern Chinese political literature, and takes Yan Xiu's new private school as the main thread to connect modern Chinese history.