Modern Chinese higher education

Author: Huo Yiping
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1999-11-01
Features: The history of Chinese education is a fundamental discipline in the education major of normal universities. Since the 1980s, with China's transition from a planned economy to a socialist market economy, people's attitudes toward the value of disciplines have changed significantly. Like other historical disciplines, the history of Chinese education has also faced unprecedented challenges. Reality demands that it shift its original research focus and methods, align with the actual needs of educational reform, seek new growth points for the discipline, explore new research questions, and re-establish its disciplinary value through serving practice. In recent years, a group of young and middle-aged researchers in the history of education have keenly recognized this and have made valuable attempts in this regard. Huo Yiping's Modern Higher Education in China can be said to be one of the results of such exploration. Regarding the study of the history of higher education in China, several works have been published in the past two decades. Compared to previous research, I feel that this book, Modern Higher Education in China, has the following characteristics: Based on a comprehensive collection of materials, the author provides an in-depth analysis and clear outline of the development of modern higher education in China. First, she pays attention not only to government regulations and policies related to higher education but also focuses on analyzing the actual conditions of its development, making the history of higher education more vivid and not just a record of policies and regulations. At the same time, she, using (Cai Yuanpei), (Guo Bingwen), and (Zhu Kezhen) as representatives, points out three stages of the development of modern higher education: before and after the May Fourth Movement, when the European model was adopted, transforming universities from feudal bureaucratic training institutions into true modern universities; the 1920s, when the American model was introduced, leading universities to begin moving beyond scholastic research and engaging more with society; and during the War of Resistance against Japan, promoting the spirit of "nurturing people" from ancient academies, combining patriotism and the scientific spirit, integrating the strengths of both Chinese and Western education, and exploring a higher education model with Chinese characteristics. Whether this summary of the stages and characteristics of higher education is accurate can be debated, but it is indeed very innovative. It is evident that the author has put a lot of effort into this aspect. As far as I know, this book is based on lecture notes the author prepared for training sessions for university administrators. The course has been very well-received by the participants. The selection of chapter content in the book is very relevant to current realities. For example, discussions on whether higher normal universities should be set up separately, standards for university establishment, the geographical distribution of universities, adjustments in the humanities and sciences, whether universities should focus on cultivating generalists or specialists, curriculum design, the rise and management of private universities, and whether higher normal schools should be set up separately—these topics that were not addressed in previous historical works are introduced in the book with a certain amount of detail. Some of these issues remain key topics for higher education reform today. The author's organization and exploration of these issues can indeed play a positive role in today's discussions by providing historical insights and applying lessons from the past. It is worth mentioning that this book highlights the "Movement of University Relocation" and the section on "Zhu Kezhen and Zhejiang University" in the chapter on the War of Resistance against Japan, using facts to reflect the heroic and tragic page of predecessors who, under extremely difficult conditions, continued their scholarly pursuits and maintained the spirit of education without interruption to preserve the lifeline of Chinese higher education. This part of the history, which is rarely mentioned in works on the history of higher education, is deeply moving and thought-provoking. Education requires necessary material conditions, but more importantly, it requires correct educational philosophies and a selfless spirit of dedication. This has been proven by history. Based on the above, I believe that Modern Higher Education in China is a specialized historical work with distinctive features. In a few simple words, the central theme remains the hope to draw attention and foster discussion on the development direction of the discipline of the history of Chinese education.