Chapter 26 Pan Guangdan: Confession of Education (1)

Pan Guangdan (1899-1967), courtesy name Zhong Ang, was born in Baoshan, Jiangsu.He graduated from Tsinghua University in his early years and went to study in the United States. After that, he served as the school affairs leader of Tsinghua University for a long time, and made great achievements in researching sociology, eugenics, sexual psychology, and ethnic history. This is a famous photo. In October 1951, the third meeting of the first session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference was held in Beijing. During the break of the meeting, Chairman Mao Zedong came down from the rostrum and talked with Pan Guangdan, a cultural and educational member of the Government Administration Council.

The researchers interpreted this photo in this way: Pan Guangdan broke a leg due to a sports accident when he was in college, and it was difficult for him to walk.Probably during the break, Mao Zedong saw that everyone left the table and walked around, but Pan Guangdan did not sit upright, so he added a special consultant.Most of the photos of Mao Zedong with other people are in a prominent position and show his face, but this one is a back view, standing aside.Commissioner Pan Guangdan was in high spirits and talking vigorously. There were piles of documents on the case table, and the pipe in his left hand seemed to be still warm.At the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the intellectuals were in a happy mood and wanted to show their ambitions.At the same time, from the humility of the leaders, it is not difficult to see the country's enthusiasm for cherishing and reusing talents.However, just six years later, doom was imminent for intellectuals, and they were classified as "another volume", and the "Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution" brought out the "the more knowledge, the more reactionary".Pan Guangdan was not spared either. He was labeled as a rightist in 1957 and died in 1967 with hatred.These encounters were something that Pan Guangdan in the photo would never have imagined.

To include this old photo, the editor still needs to add a word: "Pan Guangdan may not be well-known, so I will add it here. Pan Guangdan, a sociologist, is a student of Liang Qichao and a teacher of Fei Xiaotong." When Fei Xiaotong passed away this year, someone keenly pointed out: "China's social and cultural changes have lost one of the most keen witnesses." In the history of Chinese sociology, Fei Xiaotong belongs to the second generation of scholars.Although he often stays with the previous generation in actual academic activities, he is always clearly aware of the differences between the two generations in terms of conduct and learning.The "generational" difference he feels is not limited to sociology, but exists more widely between the two generations of intellectuals.

In his later years, Fei Xiaotong wrote a series of articles recalling teachers and friends, constantly trying to interpret the principles of life and the spirit of academic exploration of the previous generation of scholars.He once talked about the difference between himself and Pan Guangdan in life: "People of my generation can think of it, to be a good person in the eyes of others, and to have face when it comes to being a person. Now the question of whether the next generation should have face is already a problem. People of my generation still want to save face, so they are very concerned about how others see themselves. Mr. Pan is deeper than us, that is, he focuses on how he sees himself. This is difficult to do. This problem is very deep. My I don’t have enough strength, I can’t explain it clearly, but I can still feel it. People of my generation can still feel that this problem exists.”

The implication is very sad --- can the next generation still experience it? "I'm afraid it's hard to understand." A long-term education scholar lamented to the reporter, "Ignoring other factors, our education has always been missing this link."