Chapter 59 Cai Yuanpei's Contradictions

On the occasion of Peking University's centennial anniversary, Cai Yuanpei has become a delicate and sensitive topic. Sitting in the auditorium of the office building, watching the play "Cai Yuanpei" performed by the students.Looking around, most of the people who should have a look did not come. Confucius said: "The instigator has no descendants!" In another sense, I deeply appreciate the sadness of this remark. The performance of the students is passionate and childish.I am particularly interested in the childishness, which makes many people on and off the stage mistakenly think that they are living in another Peking University.

And the dry wind outside the building brushed against those unruly branches and leaves. A few days later, I finished reading a book edited by Xiao Xialin, a famous writer in Kyoto: "For the Memory of Forgetting—Peking University President Cai Yuanpei". This is a good book.Closely centering on the grand purpose of "Cai Yuanpei and Peking University", the collected articles are well-opened and closed, and the atmosphere is strict. The two prefaces by Xie Mian and Qian Liqun are particularly impressive.The whole book highlights a "big" character of President Cai and a "sad" character of President Cai that is forgotten by today's people. The word "Da" is full of praise for Peking University, while the word "Ai" contains criticism of Peking University.As a member of Peking University, I am already familiar with this kind of praise and criticism. Ten years ago, when Peking University celebrated its 90th birthday, I wrote an essay in memory of Mr. Cai.Every time I pass the statue of Principal Cai by the Weiming Lake, I will look into Principal Cai's eyes intentionally or unintentionally.However, from those eyes, I saw more and more a kind of misery and contradiction.

Today's people admire Cai Yuanpei, the most concentrated point is "inclusiveness, freedom of thought".I think that Cai Yuanpei's contradiction may arise from his hard pursuit of these eight characters and the fact that these eight characters are not true. Cai Yuanpei's contradictions are first reflected in his views on education.He repeatedly stated that "universities are also those who study advanced knowledge." "Universities are institutions for purely studying knowledge, and should not be regarded as a place to cultivate qualifications, nor a place to sell knowledge." But on the other hand, he also Attaches great importance to practical education, and advocates "military nationalism", "materialism" and "moralism" education.He not only called on students to study independently, but also emphasized that learning should "serve society".Due to the proliferation of practical education today, Cai Yuanpei's "big education concept" has attracted the attention of quite a few scholars.However, it should be noted that strengthening practical education is an inevitable choice for China eager to become prosperous and powerful.China's modern educational institutions, represented by Peking University, have unshirkably shouldered the mission of cultivating "expert talents" for China since the day it was born.The teaching realm of "five or six champions, six or seven boys, bathing in Yi, dancing in the wind, singing and returning" described in the book, from the perspective of the general environment, is gone forever.Cai Yuanpei saw the disadvantages of practical education from the perspective of "creating people", but he could not reverse this general trend.Going to university can pursue knowledge, and you can also get promoted and make a fortune. The two are not always contradictory.Not to mention whether being promoted and getting rich is necessarily a bad thing, but from the very secular point of view, there must always be people who get promoted and get rich in society, and the reason why modern society is "progressive" is that it is more and more inclined to let people with higher education "Get promoted and get rich".Moreover, it is impossible for all the people trained in universities to "do learning".The key here is the combination of knowledge and practicality.Cai Yuanpei himself, his good friends and favorite students are actually "students who excel in learning become officials".What he is worried about is that students "do not ask whether they have knowledge, but only compete for the number of marks".This concern of Cai Yuanpei has actually been repeated in China in the 20th century.The problem of China's education is not that there are too many practical talents and too few learned generalists, but that both are short and shallow.Furthermore, the so-called "pure knowledge" does not exist, it can only be the benevolent pursuit of some scholars.Too much pursuit of the "purity" of learning, but the result cannot be realized, will inevitably in turn prompt more people to simply pursue fame and fortune.The same is true of Peking University today. Some people are doing "objective and fair" knowledge there, but the result is still unavoidably suspected of being "deceitful", "academic inclinations" or "willing to help others" or "catering to corrupt officials". There are also some people who openly betrayed academics, bullied kind school leaders, suppressed honest teachers and students, envied talents, Wu Dalang opened a shop, and took advantage of opportunities such as the centennial anniversary to seek personal gain, which damaged the reputation of Peking University in society. undue damage.I don’t know if President Cai thought back then that a modern university, especially a university in modern China, could not be an “institution for purely researching learning”, but a “knowledge rivers and lakes” where three teachings and nine streams gathered.It is meaningless for us to accuse such universities of being "unreasonable". The important thing is how to face it and transform it.

Behind the contradiction of Cai Yuanpei's education concept is the contradiction between autocracy and freedom.Cai Yuanpei said in "Education Independence Proposal": "Education should be completely handed over to educators, with independent qualifications, and will not be influenced by various political parties or churches." The rights are transferred to the students." In the declaration of resigning the principal during the May 4th Movement, he said: "I will never be a university president who is not free." These remarks are quite exciting today, and the drama is here. At that time, there was applause.Many people believe that the core of the spirit of Peking University should be "freedom and resistance."But it seems that we should not forget that Cai Yuanpei was a loser, and despite his heroism, he still failed.His failure, he had to leave Peking University, and had to see Peking University "become a bureaucratic university again", not because of some moral villains who only made trouble with him.Most of those latecomers who implemented different school governance policies from him respected him very much—including today’s party and government leaders of Peking University, they generally affirmed Cai Yuanpei’s historical achievements.The problem is that in a "catch-up" country that strives for prosperity and modernization, a high degree of organization from top to bottom is the general trend. It is actually impossible for a university to maintain "freedom" alone.Freedom is not beautiful, but it is impossible to seek.The pursuit of "freedom" that exceeds the realistic possibility often results in double despotism and destruction.As Lu Xun said, progress is three feet, reaction is one foot.When Cai Yuanpei was at Peking University, a situation of "compatibility and inclusion" was formed in a short period of time, and that situation has become a myth that Peking University people yearn for today.However, the parties who were compatible with President Cai at that time were not willing to be compatible with each other, and even wanted to put each other to death.The so-called "compatibility" is actually maintained by Cai Yuanpei's personal strength.In other words, the short-term "freedom" of Peking University was caused by the authoritarian power of a great man.Once the great man leaves, that "freedom" cannot continue.I agree with what Xiao Xialin said, "Cai Yuanpei is a giant and saint who inherits the past and ushers in the future in China's ideological and cultural education."But for the further development of Peking University and Chinese education, we cannot pin our hopes on the coming of the saint.This is not what Wen Yiduo meant in "Stadden Water": "Just let the ugliness take over and see what kind of world it creates!" It means that the problem of Chinese education is not "ineffective leadership" or "insufficient freedom".In fact, on the campus of Peking University, teachers and students don't have any serious scruples when talking about politics and leadership.I think the word "freedom" does not need to beg or "fight for". People with a free spirit are free no matter when and where you are.The serious situation is that some aspects of Peking University are too "free".A small number of student aristocrats do not seek knowledge, but focus on "campaign" and "income generation". The students treat some student cadres as if they treat "underworld".Some teachers or leading cadres obviously have little knowledge of other people's majors, but they interfere at every turn, pointing out deer as horses, engaging in literary inquisition, and trying to use other people's disasters to stain their own heads.Some administrative departments are full of bureaucracy and make things difficult for teachers and students for more than 20 years.All of these are clearly contrary to the government's policy on intellectuals and the strategy of rejuvenating the country through science and technology. However, although tens of thousands of Peking University people see it in their eyes and feel angry in their hearts, they have no way to change this situation.The extremely chaotic management led to the theft of 149 precious cultural relics from the library and it took more than a year to find them. The doctoral supervisor of the law department and the director of the teaching and research section were beaten to death by prostitutes while they were prostitutes.Regardless of what should be managed, and what should not be managed indiscriminately.The root cause, I personally think, is not that there is no "freedom", but that there is too little "law of the king".Educational reform, like other fields, has a system at its core.If this lawless system does not change, it will be useless even if Cai Yuanpei is resurrected.Some students complain that the principal is not authoritative enough, but I would like to defend the principals. They are actually scapegoats for this rigid system.Back then, Cai Yuanpei could expel unqualified teachers in batches, but today's principal would not dare to offend an ordinary support staff.Therefore, no matter how much we love Cai Yuanpei, we should ask ourselves, what have we prepared for Cai Yuanpei's coming?In fact, before Cai Yuanpei arrived at Peking University, a new ethos had emerged among the professors and students of Peking University, calling for emphasizing public morality, opposing seeking fame, advocating learning to save the country, and opposing the lordly style. This laid a solid foundation for Cai Yuanpei to transform Peking University. Mass Basis.If today’s president of Peking University proposes to “lay off” those faculty members who are eating vegetarian food, how many people in Peking University can understand and support it?

Cai Yuanpei's contradiction, in the final analysis, is a contradiction between ideals and reality.In an era when the weak Beiyang government was unable to manage culture and education, Cai Yuanpei carried out an ideal transformation of Peking University with his personal courage.This transformation has left a permanent root of disease in Peking University, and it will break out whenever the sky is overcast.And Cai Yuanpei had to resign as the president of Peking University repeatedly because he wanted to defend his ideals, which means that in order to defend his ideals, he must give up the practice of his ideals!I finally seemed to see the misery of Cai Yuanpei from the eyes of the statue.The historical mission of Peking University is to be a fan and a writer for the revitalization of China. It should be determined to sacrifice its "freedom" full of literati popularity, and not waver for at least fifty years.Get closer to the ideal in the enduring suffering of reality, and get closer to freedom in the absence of freedom.This statement is very unheroic and un-Peking University, but I am afraid that this is the true meaning that Cai Yuanpei's path can enlighten us.

Don't expect Cai Yuanpei, let us fight the injustice ourselves, even though we are not very skilled in martial arts.If you play a lot, your skills will naturally increase, and your road will naturally become level. As the old saying goes, as the night grows longer, so does the road.