Cai Yuanpei

Author: Liu Mengxi, Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1996-10-01
Features: Cai Yuanpei was not only a renowned educator but also a broad-ranging scholar and researcher. In addition to engaging in the study and practice of educational theory, he achieved outstanding accomplishments in ethnology, ethics, literature, art, and many other fields. This volume includes his major works such as A History of Chinese Ethics (1907–1911), A Textbook of Self-Cultivation (1907–1911), and The Hidden Meanings of Dream of the Red Chamber (1914), along with fourteen representative essays. Cai Yuanpei (1868–1940), styled Heqing and styled Jumen, was a native of Shaoxing, Zhejiang. He was a modern democratic revolutionary, educator, and scientist. At the age of 17, he passed the county-level imperial examination and at 18, he opened a private school to teach. During his youth, he successively passed the provincial and national examinations, was selected as a Hanlin scholar, and appointed as a compiler. In 1898, he abandoned his official career to pursue education, serving as the supervisor of the Shaoxing Western Learning School and advocating for Western studies. Due to witnessing the corruption of the Qing court, he gradually leaned toward revolution. In 1902, he organized the Chinese Education Association and served as its president, founding the Patriot School and the Patriot Girls' School, both of which he was elected to lead. In 1904, he organized the Restoration Society, and in 1905, he joined the Tongmenghui. In 1907, he went to Germany to study at the University of Leipzig, focusing on philosophy, psychology, and the history of art. After the Wuchang Uprising, he returned to China and was appointed as the Minister of Education in the Nanjing Provisional Government in January 1912. Soon after, dissatisfied with Yuan Shikai's autocracy, he resigned and went abroad again to study and conduct research in Germany, France, and other countries. In 1915, he organized the Work-Study Association in France with Li Shizhen and others, and the following year, he co-founded the China-France Education Association with Wu Yuzhang, promoting the work-study movement. In 1916, he returned to China and was appointed as the president of Peking University the next year. In 1921, the University of Lyon in France and New York University in the United States respectively awarded him honorary degrees in literature and law. At the First and Second National Congresses of the Kuomintang in 1924 and 1926, he was elected to the Central Supervisory Committee. In 1927, in addition to serving as a member of the Central Political Conference, the Standing Committee of the Central Special Committee, the Standing Committee of the National Government, the President of the Supervisory Yuan, and the Acting Minister of Justice, he proposed the establishment of the National Academy as the highest academic and educational administrative organ in the country and was appointed as its president. In 1928, he resigned from all administrative positions and focused solely on serving as the president of the Central Academy for National Research. He also served as the president or director of several higher education institutions, including the Jiao Tong University, the China-France University, and the National West Lake Art Academy (later renamed Hangzhou Art College), as well as the president of the Palace Museum and the director of the Beijing Library. In 1932, he organized the China League for the Defense of Rights and Democracy in Shanghai with Soong Ching-ling and others, becoming its vice president. In his later years, he worked tirelessly for the cause of resisting Japan and promoting cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. In 1938, he was elected as the honorary president of the International Anti-War Conference. On March 5, 1940, he passed away in Hong Kong.