Chapter 28 third quarter
Soon after the announcement of the appointment, Tsinghua student representatives Liu Hanwen, Lin Wenkui, and Wang Bi went to Nanjing to petition.Chiang Kai-shek received the three petitioners as the Minister of Education. He chatted with the three petitioners for a while, barely listening to the three petitioners, and said that I already knew your opinions, and Mr. Wu Nanxuan had already told me.I hope you go back and tell the students of Tsinghua University that your main task is to study, while our main task is to manage school administration. We will ensure your studies, and please don’t hinder our decision...
The three students who went south to petition met Wu Nanxuan again. Obviously, because Chiang Kai-shek set the tone, Wu Nanxuan should strengthen the idea of "Party-oriented education" in addition to "thank you Lord Long En".He made the following comments:
(1) In accordance with Chairman Jiang's intention to rectify the style of study and the long-term development plan approved by the Ministry of Education, it will be implemented with a fearless spirit and a steady pace.
(2) In terms of understanding, we will treat each other with sincerity in an impartial and selfless manner, and will never play tricks: "Employing people only emphasizes quality and academic ability, and there is no sectarian opinion", without personal interests, and will not easily change current employees.
(3) In terms of governance, we will strictly abide by the spirit of the rule of law, and will not undermine the legal system for personal gain. Teachers and students are welcome to actively suggest, and we will follow the good with an open attitude.
(4) Pay attention to the balanced development of the school and never be biased.
(5) The greatest hope for Tsingda University is to improve the level of disciplines, develop a strong research atmosphere, and pay attention to cultivating the personality of students. "beautiful style", so that talents will come out in large numbers, and the mission of cultivating talents for the party and the country will be completed.
(6) For students, it is emphasized that "students should pay attention to the cultivation of their own learning and morality, and pay less attention to school administration. The principal should be fully responsible for school administration."
Among Wu Nanxuan's six opinions, the last sentence is the key point: "The principal should be fully responsible for building the school's administration." In one sentence, the university education at that time was set back many years.
In 1912, Cai Yuanpei, then the Minister of Education, suggested the introduction of the German university education model, and in 1919, Peking University took the lead in establishing the "Review Council" and "Education Council". This concept of professors participating in university decision-making and management has been deeply rooted. In the hearts of the professors at Tsinghua University.The reason why this system can be persisted and perfected in Tsinghua University has a lot to do with the fact that most of the professors at Tsinghua University come from European and American universities, especially the “young and strong” of Tsinghua University. Most of them have completed higher education in the United States. Social values such as democracy and freedom unknowingly become their judgment criteria and aesthetic standards for society and work units.What they respect is academic independence and free thinking, and what they reject is autocracy and party unity.They often only present an invisible outline on the social coordinates, even as soft as gas and flowing like liquid, but sometimes they are sharper than a blade and harder than steel.They may be squeezed, deformed, and even obeyed, but they will not obey from the bottom of their hearts.Therefore, when Chiang Kai-shek appointed Wu Nanxuan as the president of Tsinghua University, the professors of Tsinghua University did not immediately consider whether to support or not, to obey or not to obey, but to use their own standards to judge Wu Nanxuan to see whether he was suitable or not. In line with or not in line with the traditions and ideas of Tsinghua Park.
In the eyes of Tsinghua people, Wu Nanxuan was mediocre and had no academic status. He was not "excellent in knowledge" as Chiang Kai-shek said. Letting such a mediocre person with great political power be the principal would undoubtedly be a great harm to Tsinghua University.And his principal's school management strategy is a signal of autocracy. The principal has the final say. How is it different from the feudal society in the past when the emperor had the final say?
Sharp antagonisms surfaced again.
In the last confrontation with Qiao Wanxuan, Yan Xishan, commander-in-chief of the National Revolutionary Army's Beijing-Tianjin Garrison, was behind him; this time, in the confrontation with Wu Nanxuan, Chiang Kai-shek, the commander-in-chief of the National Revolutionary Army, was behind him.The backers are getting harder and bigger one by one.
But Tsinghua Park did not give in.
Since Luo Jialun resigned, Ye Qisun appeared as the acting principal. Although Feng Youlan was also appointed as the acting principal, but after Luo Jialun left, some students repeatedly entangled with Feng and Guo Ting because of Feng Youlan's background in Peking University. Had to quit.In this way, during this special period, Ye Qisun had to stand at the forefront of the night ship of Tsinghua University and accept the test of the cusp.
On April 16, 1931, Wu Nanxuan took office at Tsinghua University.The ceremony was just like the inauguration ceremony of Luo Jialun. Representatives of the party, government, military and police from Peking all attended, released balloons and played military music. It was very lively.Wu Nanxuan delivered a speech at the meeting, publicly declaring that his mission is to "cultivate talents for the party and the country", giving people the impression that Luo Jialun is more Luo Jialun than Luo Jialun.
At this time, Ye Qisun was on vacation in Europe, and when Wu Nanxuan made his debut, he and Wu Mi were boating on the lake.
April 16 (thursday)
Morning, rainy.by hotel
Looking out of the ver (territet) window, the lake, mountains, water, and sky are all a piece of dark blue, while the snow-capped mountains are broken by clouds, and the clouds come out from the top of the mountains. They are as gorgeous as puffing smoke, and the colors are all blue and white, more charming than last night.One line of poetry is enough to make yesterday's draft.
After breakfast, it was still light rain.Go out with Qisun, take the tram (0.30franc) to the west, along the lakeside, about ten minutes to a quarter, and arrive at clarens (transliteration Clarens)... ("Wu Mi Diary" 1930-1931 volumes, pages 252-253)
Wu Mi is currently on vacation in Paris, France, and Ye Qisun's academic vacation is at the University of Göttingen in Germany.According to school regulations, he will study here for one year.The two met to visit Lake Geneva, so there was a trip on April 16 recorded in Wu Mi's diary.
More than a month ago, when Wu Nanxuan was still in Nanjing, he sent a telegram to Ye Qisun who was on vacation in Germany.In the telegram, Wu asked Ye Qisun in a gentle tone if he could suspend his vacation and return to China to "cooperate with the school affairs and provide assistance."Wu Nanxuan knew Ye Qisun's academic status and lofty popularity. If he could get his support, Tsinghua's many problems might be solved easily.Wu Nanxuan was originally an arrogant person, but his experience as the deputy director of the Central Political School and Chiang Kai-shek's background made him feel a little smug.But in front of Ye Qisun, he still lowered his posture a bit.He patiently said some soft words in the telegram, even a little humble.He thought it would be safer. Ye Qisun was originally a modest person. As the saying goes, he never hits a smiling face with his hands. I am a virtuous corporal, and I have the support of Commander-in-Chief Jiang. He has to give me this face, right?
Unexpectedly, Ye Qisun really ruthlessly refuted his face.
Ye Qisun replied that he was in the middle of a project, and it was really difficult to obey, so he rejected him coldly.
Ye Qisun's non-cooperative attitude caused a lot of repercussions in Tsinghua University, and to a large extent affected many professors and students who took a wait-and-see attitude. They joined the non-cooperative camp one after another and publicly called out to Wu Nanxuan.
When Wu Nanxuan took office, he upheld Chiang Kai-shek's will, monopolized the power, implemented the autocracy of the principal, abolished many powers of the "Academic Affairs Council" and the "Senior Council", appointed private cronies without authorization, and replaced all the heads of departments and departments, etc. The public outrage of teachers and students...
Ye Qisun dealt Wu Nanxuan a second blow.
Not long after Wu came to power, after discussing with Chen Daisun, the dean of the law school, and Feng Youlan, the dean of the liberal arts school, he suddenly announced his resignation collectively, and announced it in the Beijing and Tianjin media, which became the fuse of the drive to expel Wu.
On May 28th, the Tsinghua University Professors Association passed a resolution, recommending Sa Bendong and other seven members to form a drafting committee of the Ministry of Education's telegram, condemning Wu Nanxuan for "seeking power alone, not seeking to develop academics, contemptuous of the personality of professors, and treating professors as employees." , And called Chiang Kai-shek himself, asking him to "recommend another talented person". If the problem is not resolved, "all professors are scheduled to break away from Tsinghua University in the next academic year."
On May 29, the student union held a school-wide student meeting, expressing firm support for the professor's resolution and demanding the replacement of Wu Nanxuan.The cadres of the student union also organized students to line up in a circle to the principal's residence, shouted expulsion slogans, and ordered them to leave the school immediately.
Wu Nanxuan left Tsinghua University in the midst of being surrounded by enemies. He took his school seal and fled to the Litong Hotel in Dongjiaomin Lane in the city. First, he wanted to work remotely; ; Fourth, want to create public opinion, accuse the professor of "instigating students, intimidating the principal" and other crimes, in order to seek the support of the society.
Tsinghua teachers and students confronted each other.The student union held an emergency meeting, decided to organize a school protection committee, and issued a statement saying, "If Wu goes to the school by force, he will protect the school by force and prepare to bleed."The Professors Association also set up a school affairs maintenance committee, and sent representatives to the Nanjing Ministry of Education to petition.
Wu Nanxuan was finally defeated, and the Kuomintang government behind him was helpless. On June 25, Wu Nanxuan left Beiping with sadness and resentment. Before leaving, he issued a declaration, expressing his extreme disappointment with Tsinghua people——
It is possible to use professors to govern the school, but its essence is to focus on academic research and cultivate the spirit of purely academic research, instead of leading students to interfere in school administration and using it as a tool to overthrow others, resulting in "students governing the school" and "principals not being able to The ethos of "running the school" and "professors don't run the school".
After Wu Nanxuan left, the Nanjing government no longer dared to touch Tsinghua at will.Chiang Kai-shek seems to be busy fighting against the "bandits" in the south, and has no time to take care of the sudden change of Tsinghua University in the north.After the wave of expelling Wu subsided, the Ministry of Education just sent a hasty appointment, appointing Tsinghua professor Weng Wenhao to "temporarily act for the school".Weng Wenhao was once a professor of the Department of Earth Sciences hired by Ye Qisun when he was the dean of the Faculty of Science. At that time, in view of the difficult problems in the school, he resigned soon because he was busy with the affairs of the Nanjing Geological Survey.The Ministry of Education urgently recruited Ye Qisun back to China and appointed him as the acting principal of Tsinghua University to preside over the school affairs of Tsinghua University.
This is the second time that Ye Qisun has served as acting president of Tsinghua University.
Ye Qisun presided over the school affairs again, which made him look forward to Principal Mei Yiqi's mood again.If you want to have a good environment for teaching and educating people, it is obviously impossible to have a leaderless situation.Although the Nanjing Kuomintang government will gradually increase its efforts to promote party-oriented education, in some special areas, the ideal picture of adhering to the beliefs of scholars, truly promoting academic independence, and experts running schools can still be partially realized.In order to achieve this goal, he repeatedly submitted his resignation and put pressure on the Ministry of Education.He said in a telegram, "There are many school affairs, and Qisun is not competent... Qisun will never assume the post of concurrent acting principal from October onwards", creating conditions for Mei Yiqi to be a successful principal.
Among the professors at Tsinghua University, after many tests and comparisons, everyone expressed an unprecedented consensus on Mr. Ye Qisun's nomination of Mei Yiqi as President.Wu Mi, Chen Yinke, Zhao Yuanren, Li Ji from the Academy of Chinese Studies, Chen Daisun from the Law School, Feng Youlan from the Liberal Arts School, Jin Yuelin from the Philosophy Department, etc., all stood up to speak for Mei Yiqi.According to historical data, during this period, Mr. Li Ji recommended Mei Yiqi to Qian Changzhao, the Political Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education, and Li Shuhua, who was the Minister of Education at the time, was also deeply influenced by the internal voice of Tsinghua University, and finally decided to appoint Mei Yiqi.When he commemorated the first anniversary of Mei Yiqi's death in Taiwan, he wrote in an article: "When I was the Minister of Education in the second half of the 20th year of the Republic of China, Tsinghua had no official principal for a long time. I was eager to solve this problem. At that time, I thought twice. I thought that Yuehan was the most appropriate, and when Yuehan was working as a supervisor of students studying in the United States, I called for his consent, and proposed to the State Council of the Executive Yuan on September 23, 2002, to appoint Yuehan as the president of National Tsinghua University. I immediately urged Yuehan to return to China as soon as possible... Looking back on what I did in the Ministry of Education, I was not very satisfied, but I chose this principal for Tsinghua University, which is the one thing I am most satisfied with."
Like many things Ye Qisun has done, historical materials have not shown any trace of him in the matter of Principal Mei Yiqi.If it wasn't for the fast-talking Wu Mi who recorded in his diary that Ye Qisun had appealed to Principal Mei Yiqi five years ago, we would never have focused our attention on him.
He is a person who always makes history forget him.
In fact, Mei Yiqi has concerns about the principal.When Ye Qisun was acting as the principal, he specially wrote to Mei Yiqi for this matter.In the letter, he introduced the situation in the school, eased his concerns, and urged him to return to China to take up his post as soon as possible.Prior to this, Mei Yiqi refused to accept his resignation. According to his wife's recollection, when the news of his principal reached the United States, "many friends advised him not to accept this job", saying that he was not an official. It is good to stay in the United States.Mei himself also "resigned repeatedly." In a sense, Ye Qisun's support gave Mei Yiqi confidence and became an important reason for his determination to return to China to play for Tsinghua University.
Although it is an acting principal, it is also a historical record.In fact, Mei Yiqi took over the scepter of Tsinghua University president from Ye Qisun.
In order to accurately hand over the scepter to a trusted person, Ye Qisun and his "young and strong faction" spared no effort to struggle with the people, worked hard, persisted, and finally achieved their goal and won the victory.
On December 3, 1931, Mei Yiqi returned to Tsinghua University alone.There were no military and police guards, no military and political officials to support him, and no grand ceremony, but he received the warmest welcome from the teachers and students of Tsinghua University.
Mei Yiqi really lived up to expectations.His presidency brought Tsinghua University into an excellent period of steady development. From the end of 1931 to the winter of 1948, in 17 years, Tsinghua University never had any disturbances due to the issue of the president.
Mei Yiqi contributed a lot.His greatest contribution is to consolidate and develop Tsinghua University's professorial school management concept from the system and system, and make the "indigenous system" and "non-mainstream" considered by the Nanjing government's education authorities reasonable and legal.Many of Mei Yiqi's famous sayings are related to his thought of respecting teachers and valuing education.At the inaugural meeting, he said: "The reason why a university is a university depends on whether there are good professors. Mencius said, 'The so-called old country is not just a tree, but a minister'. I am now It can be said, "The so-called great man does not mean that he has a building, but a master." Our knowledge depends on the teaching and guidance of the professor, and our spiritual cultivation also depends on the inspiration of the professor. But in this way A good professor can never be acquired overnight, we just have to pay attention to recruiting them at any time.” For praise and praise, Mei Yiqi always showed his usual modest and gentlemanly demeanor, and he once described himself like this: “…now give Let me tell you a metaphor. You probably also like to watch Beijing opera. There is a character in Beijing opera called "Wang Mao". He never pays attention to the "king hat" sitting in the middle, because he is usually not the one who sings a good show. He is just lucky enough to be in a good team, so people applaud the play, and he also I just feel that I am honored." ("Tsinghua Alumni Newsletter", Volume 6, Issue 9, September 1940)
Mr. Liu Wendian is an expert in classical literature, with a eccentric nature, noble and upright, not many people make him fall in love with him. When he became the president of Anhui University in 1927, he "beat the drums and scolded Cao" and scolded Chiang Kai-shek face to face, causing Chiang Kai-shek to ask the guards to arrest Liu Wendian and insist on shooting him.Lu Xun once said in his article "Knowing Difficulties and Acting Difficultly": "Professor Liu Wendian, the president of Anhui University, was locked up for several days because he didn't call him 'Chairman', and he was released on bail with great difficulty." Zhang Taiyan knew that his disciple Liu Wendian was not Fearing power and hating evil as a vengeful literati, he praised him so much that he specially wrote a pair of couplets as a gift to his students.Liu Wendian is a person who cherishes ink like gold, but he admires Mei Yiqi's management of the school. He wrote a commemorative essay on the 25th anniversary of Mei Yiqi's tenure——
Gai heard that Piyong had something to do, Guangdong called him the honor of the teacher, the preface was grand, and the style marked the distance of teaching. He used to drink for the elderly, served the wine cup of the old man in person, enjoyed the training and respect of Yan, and paid homage to the eminent guest alone.Mei Yuehan, the principal of Tsinghua University, was promoted to Nankai, and used King Bin to study in North America.So he lived in the metaphysics of the heart, never abandoned an inch of yin, and after all studied the subtle words, wonderful and secluded, and became famous in Jueyu, so he returned to the Zongbang.Opening lectures at the beginning, expounding the subtleties of physics, following the elders, being the teacher of human relations, the person who bears the book, the disciple who holds the scriptures, the person who looks at the shape of the instrument and the scenery, and the person who admires the sound and resounds the perfection, like the emperor of Baichuan Yuhai .Teaching the three virtues, transforming and coordinating the four fastings, the blessings are flowing, the wind is high, the government and the public admire his literary talents, and the Chinese and foreign countries admire his voice and charity. He is a model of the generation and a master craftsman of the country.Even though it was censored by the time, soldiers and horses lived in the suburbs, Japanese pirates relied on bullying, and the Central Plains were swaying. Although the doctor leaned on the seat and moved the house repeatedly, the talented people gathered together brilliantly, and they recited endlessly. Solid enough to do things, Mingde enough to convince people, what can make the toast forget the surprise of the dog barking, and the wolves on the border worry about it.The principal of Mianwei, who lectures and attends to affairs, is twenty-five.One hundred years of cultivating people is four parts and one, and the six lines are easy to change, and two are connected and three are combined.The merit is great, the virtue is great, there is no title, it is a grand event.The same people are all acquainted with Kaiser, and the wind and spirit of Xianyi, so the office hereby releases the book, proclaims it and stops it, and asks the generals to ask, spread the fragrance to the infinite, help the virtuous and virtuous, and be smoked by the wind.Preface.
The significance of President Mei Yiqi also lies in the golden period in the history of Tsinghua University under his rule.Because of his position, he gave his right-hand man Ye Qisun a chance to calmly realize his long-cherished wish.During Mei Yiqi’s 17 years at the university, Ye Qisun changed jobs several times, coming in and out, but when he returned to school, he was always at the center of the leadership of Tsinghua University, and Mei gave him enough trust and support.This is mutual feedback and response.At that time, due to the silent support of Ye Qisun and others, Mei Yiqi had a solid "social foundation", so he created an era; and Ye Qisun created a new Chinese physics circle for the era.It is precisely because of their adherence to Tsinghua's traditions that Tsinghua University has not fallen into the vortex of party-oriented education. This super aircraft carrier with the mission of saving the country through science and education has the possibility of sailing safely into the harbor of New China.And this is something Mei Yiqi and Ye Qisun did not expect...