Pan Maiyuan - A Founder of the Discipline of Higher Education in China

Author: Xie Wo
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-10-01
Features: During his time studying at Xiamen University, although he grew up in a poor family, Pan Maoyuan still managed to receive a complete education from basic to higher education. His efforts stemmed from his passion for learning, the support of his parents, and the influence of his older brother. Additionally, he possessed strong self-study and self-reliance skills. What left a deep impression on us was that he still completed his secondary education during the war years. How exactly did Pan Maoyuan complete his higher education during the War of Resistance against Japan? In 1940, although the Communist Party and the Kuomintang had formed a united front, friction often occurred. This posed a dangerous situation for the 20-year-old Pan Maoyuan, as he was actively involved in activities that opposed the Kuomintang. One day, his superior, a Communist leader, advised him to temporarily leave Guangdong for safety. Pan Maoyuan believed that this decision actually provided him with an opportunity to continue his higher education. However, during the war, many schools were forced to move due to fears of Japanese attacks. Pan Maoyuan found it difficult to decide which school to attend. He could have gone to Sun Yat-sen University, but it had also moved to a distant location. Xiamen University had relocated to the border area between Fujian and Jiangxi Province, which was not too far away. Pan Maoyuan and his friends decided to take the entrance exam for Xiamen University together. They walked for a week from Guangdong to Changting, Fujian. Due to insufficient preparation, he failed the entrance exam. Many of the exam topics had not been covered in his high school curriculum. He only had a basic understanding of geometry, chemistry, and biology, while having little knowledge of mathematics, English, and physics. Yet the exam required knowledge of mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology. Pan Maoyuan did not pass, so what should he do? His hometown, Shantou, had already fallen to the enemy. Fate smiled upon him once again. Fujian Province had established a secondary school teacher training program, specifically designed to train high school graduates. The program lasted two years, and upon graduation, students could become junior high school teachers. He was admitted to this training program. The program offered departments such as Chinese Language, Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry, and History and Geography, and students could choose freely. Pan Professor chose the Chinese Language department. The school was located in Yongan, the central part of Fujian Province. Students there did not have to pay tuition, and the school also provided meals, accommodation, and daily necessities like clothing, bedding, and mosquito nets. Because Pan Maoyuan had always wanted to study education and become a teacher, he seized this opportunity to learn. Unlike his classmates in the Chinese Language department, Pan Maoyuan aimed to use the training program as a foundation to further his studies in the Education Department at Xiamen University. While attending classes, he reviewed his high school textbooks and prepared to retake the entrance exam for Xiamen University. In 1941, Pan Maoyuan took the entrance exam for Xiamen University for the second time and was admitted. At Xiamen University, he studied for four years in the Education Department. The conditions for the young Pan Maoyuan were quite good at the time. The school not only waived tuition fees but also provided scholarships for students from occupied areas (money for food). Additionally, there was a Minxi Relief Fund that provided students with some pocket money. Changting was still under the control of the Kuomintang at the time, and many of the teachers at the school had studied abroad in the United States. The head of the Education Department, Li Pei