Inheritance, make up lessons, study methods

Author: Fei Xiaotong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-07-01
Features: The book is divided into three parts: 1. Recollections of scholars whom the author studied under, such as Wu Wenzao, Shi Lugu, Malinowski, and Pan Guangdan; 2. Supplementary Notes—Rediscovering Park's Sociology; 3. A review of the author's own journey in rebuilding sociology and anthropology. Through the author's narration of these contents, profound reflections and insights of an elderly scholar who participated in the entire process of sociology and anthropology in China—from its inception, development, setbacks, to its rebirth—are presented, showcasing the different developmental experiences of this discipline in China and the United States. Excerpt: My Time in England I went to England as a government scholarship student from Tsinghua University in 1936. I enrolled at the London School of Economics and Political Science to study anthropology. I graduated in 1938 and returned to China. What I want to recall here is this period of my time in England. However, following the train of thought, many things related to this period of life came to mind, and I wrote them down without being constrained by the title. First, let me tell you how I got the opportunity to study abroad. In the 1930s, when I was studying in university, almost all the young people around me considered studying abroad as an ideal path. This mindset reflected the anxieties of young people in the semi-feudal and semi-colonial old China. The threat of unemployment after graduation was becoming increasingly severe, and relying solely on a university diploma to enter society offered no guarantee of a livelihood or career. To climb up to the more affluent and stable stratum of society, one had to go a step further after leaving university—study abroad. No matter how many foolish things you did in foreign countries, returning after a trip would make others look at you with new respect, and your status would increase tenfold. Studying abroad had become something akin to an alternative imperial examination. Some university students became obsessed with it, losing their sense of direction. These images are perhaps familiar to those who have read The Story of the Stone. However, there was a difference between studying abroad and the imperial examination: in the feudal era, the range of people qualified to dream of achieving the golden dream seemed broader. At least traditional plays reflected that the top scholar, or zhuangyuan, was not so unattainable in the public imagination; enduring ten years of hard study could transform a scholar's plain blue robe into a dazzling purple one. Studying abroad, however, was far from easy. It was a capitalist venture, focused on investment and cost. Studying in Japan was relatively cheaper, costing at least 500 to 600 white yuan per year, while studying in the West required 5,000 to 6,000. If one wanted to earn a foreign doctorate, it would take at least two or three years. Without a few hundred thousand white yuan, one could only sigh in despair. Where could the money for studying abroad come from? There were different types of funding, such as "government scholarships," "self-funded," and "public scholarships." In the early days, the Qing government sent students abroad to cultivate talent in Western affairs, but many people of status were reluctant to leave their homeland or venture into foreign lands. Few were willing to pay for their own children to study abroad. Therefore, the expenses of overseas students were entirely covered by the government, making them "government scholarship students." Upon returning, these students often found success in official careers, with foreign scholars being more prestigious than domestic ones. "Excellence leads to officialdom" was the code of the time for intellectuals, and returning from abroad offered opportunities for official positions, attracting a rush of applicants. Gradually, the opportunities for government scholarships were monopolized by high-ranking officials, who used them to educate their own children and consolidate their power. Those with no connection to the powerful officials who selected students for government scholarships were left out in the cold. Those who had money but no access to government scholarships had no choice but to fund their children's education themselves, becoming "self-funded students."