Chapter 9 Section 2 Establish Tsinghua Academy

In November 1910, in order to overcome the difficulty of selecting students to study in the United States, the Qing court requested three measures to reform the Youmei Academy: (1) Increase the number of students in the Youmei Study Hall from the original 300 to 500; (2) The school is divided into eight years, divided into two subjects: higher and middle, each with a four-year system; (3) Higher subject professors, refer to American universities. Graduating students are not limited to studying in the United States. Students who study in the library can also have specialized talents.At the same time, since the foundation of the Youmei Academy was originally the former site of Tsinghua Ciyuan, and the plaque written by Emperor Wenzong is still hanging in the garden, so the old name is still used. Please change the Youmei Academy to "Tsinghua Academy".Tsinghua Academy is located in Tsinghua Park in the western suburbs of Beijing.

On April 29, 1911, Tsinghua Academy officially opened. Zhou Ziqi served as the first general office, Fan Yuanlian served as the first office office, and Hu Dunjun served as the dean.Students applying for Tsinghua University must be over 15 years old and under 18 years old.test subject: (1) National language; (2) English literature composition; (3) German or French composition, English translation; (4) The geography is mainly domestic and foreign; (5) The history of the country; (6) Foreign history, general history of ancient, middle and modern times; (7) Elementary and advanced algebra;

(8) Geometric plane and three-dimensional; (9) triangle; (10) Physics; (11) Chemistry is mainly inorganic and organic; (12) Physiology of animals and plants; (13) Geography and geology. Except for Chinese, geography, and national history, the above-listed subjects are all tested in English. Those who have not studied German or French but can pass the other subjects are also allowed to take the test.Moreover, it is stipulated that after the students enroll, they will have a trial study for three months before screening for admission, and those who fail to pass will be eliminated.It can be seen that the selection is very strict.

Among the more than 30 teachers in Tsinghua Academy, there are more than 10 American teachers, and the more than 400 students in the school come from all provinces and are all paid by the public.Soon, the Revolution of 1911 broke out and the school was closed. Half a year later, on May 1, 1912, Tsinghua Academy reopened, and the "school" was renamed "school" and "supervision" was renamed "principal". One of the 120 young children who accompanied Yung Wing to the United States) served as the first principal of Tsinghua School, and Zhou Yichun was the vice-principal, and reorganized the school and teaching affairs, with the aim of Tsinghua School to train students studying in the United States.

Tsinghua University has strict requirements on students and pays attention to the development of morality, intelligence and physical education.Article 1 of the "Regulations for Selecting Students to Study in the United States" stipulates: "The students selected by Tsinghua University to travel to the United States are qualified by the graduates of the school who are excellent in three aspects of education, and the junior college students and female students temporarily admitted by the school." The school is very Emphasis on English, many courses use English textbooks, even some such as administrative meetings, cultural programs, notices, debates, etc. are all in English.The school attaches great importance to sports, and stipulates that if you fail in sports, you are not allowed to study abroad, and engage in forced sports. The time for forced sports is from 4 to 5 pm every day.So, at four o'clock in the afternoon, the school locked all the classrooms, dormitories, and libraries, forcing the students to exercise on the playground. The physical education teachers also patrolled around, and if they found those students who were hiding from reading, they seized the books. , forcing them to go to the playground for activities. Tang Peisong, a Tsinghua student studying in the United States in 1917, recalled: "The physical education teacher at that time was Mr. John Ma. He was enthusiastic and strict, and he had a strong sense of responsibility. He made some regulations, such as three times of absenteeism, and the physical education score will not be paid. Those who fail the pentathlon exam are not eligible to study abroad; even students who cannot swim are not allowed to go abroad. Therefore, the entire Tsinghua campus naturally has a learning atmosphere of chasing each other Infected by this environment, I also joined the ranks of competitors. In the classroom, I began to become a well-behaved student; on the sports field, I was an excellent athlete. A member of the track and field team and the baseball team." Ma Yuehan often said to the students: "You must exercise your body, be brave, don't be afraid, be energetic, and work hard. Foreigners play baseball, and you also play; When foreigners play football, you should play it too. Don’t go out and embarrass the Chinese. Don’t fall when people push you; get scared when others get ruthless; tremble when others stare.” This spirit was later attributed to In a word: "Fight to the finish, never give in!" (Fight to the finish, never give in!) After such measures and training, the physical and mental outlook of the students has been improved, and the quality of sending overseas students has been guaranteed.

Tsinghua School’s preparation period for going abroad is eight years, which is a long time. However, after such a long period of systematic and solid study, students who go to the United States generally report that they learn easily and have fewer difficulties after arriving in the United States. In 1912, following the first three batches of students sent directly to the United States, Tsinghua School sent 16 graduates of higher education to study in the United States. This was the first batch of international students sent by Tsinghua School after its establishment.After that, every year Tsinghua University's higher education graduates were sent to study in the United States.About every other year, the school also enrolls girls (starting in 1914) and junior college students (starting in 1916) and sends them directly to the United States.In addition, some self-funded students studying in the United States also receive part of Tsinghua's allowance, called "stipend students".By 1929, Tsinghua School was changed to Tsinghua University, and 1,279 international students were sent to the United States.In this way, with Tsinghua as the backbone, the climax of studying in the United States in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China was formed.