Chapter 68 first quarter

Universities in the usual sense today are a product of Western civilization.The word "University" in English is derived from the word "universe". It is controversial which school is the first university in the world. A widely circulated view is that the University of Bologna, Italy, was founded in 1088. It is the oldest university in Italy, Europe and the world. Universities need to accumulate, and today's world-renowned universities generally have a long history. In 1168, the year when Zhao Kuo, Emperor Ningzong of the Southern Song Dynasty, was born, Oxford University was founded; in 1209, the year when the Mongolian army led the third attack on Xixia under the leadership of Genghis Khan, Cambridge University was founded, and in 1638, that is, Qing Shunzhi The year the emperor was born, Harvard University was founded.

In China, the oldest institution of higher learning should be Yuelu Academy in Changsha, Hunan, which was founded in the ninth year of Kaibao in the Northern Song Dynasty (976), but this is not a university in the modern sense; Universities have nothing to do with them. Universities appeared in China in the late Qing Dynasty in the last few years of the 19th century. Which is China's first university in the modern sense? Generally speaking, it is the Imperial University Hall established in 1898, which is today's Peking University.But experts seem to be more inclined to believe that St. John's University, founded by the Anglican Church in Shanghai in 1879, is the real first university in China; Tang, now Tianjin University), is the first public university in China; in 1896, Nanyang Public School was founded in Shanghai.These three universities were established before Peking University.

After entering the Republic of China, China's colleges and universities have made great progress.When Cai Yuanpei first served as the Minister of Education in the Republic of China, he felt that it would be good if the country could concentrate its efforts to run the Peking University in the capital under the national strength at that time. As a result, the development of higher education surprised him. Enthusiasm and ability are even higher and possessed, and no matter who is in charge of the place, they don't hesitate to invest in university education, and private universities continue to emerge.This ancient civilization has attached great importance to education since ancient times, and it continued in the Republic of China.

Among the universities in the first seventeen years of the Republic of China, Peking University was the best university at that time, with the prestige of leading the New Culture Movement; Beijing Normal University, Jiaotong University and other schools also began to gain fame. From 1927, when Chiang Kai-shek established the capital of the Republic of China in Nanjing, to 1937, when the Anti-Japanese War broke out, the social economy of the Republic of China developed to a certain extent, known as the "Golden Decade".In the past ten years, the scale of higher education has continued to expand, and the level of university education has been further improved.

On July 26, 1929, the National Government promulgated the "University Organization Law", stipulating that the university aims to study advanced academics and cultivate specialized talents; universities are divided into four types: national, provincial, municipal and private; the colleges under the university are divided into There are eight kinds of arts, science, law, business, agriculture, medicine, engineering, and education, and no less than three colleges can be called universities. At this stage, the best universities in China were Central University, Peking University, Jiaotong University, and Tsinghua University. University, Nankai University, Tongji University, Shandong University, Soochow University, Zhejiang University, Xiamen University, St. John's University, Yenching University, etc. In 1937, there were 78 universities and independent colleges nationwide, with 6,615 teachers and 37,330 undergraduates and postgraduates.

The university system has matured, and a group of modern intellectuals who live in universities or have university backgrounds have formed. The ensuing eight-year long period of the Anti-Japanese War was a special page in the history of higher education in the Republic of China. Many universities moved to and fro to maintain teaching in the extremely difficult environment: the flames of the war raged, and the flames of universities never went out. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, university education returned to normal. The 1946 "Constitution of the Republic of China" stipulates: "Funds for education, science, and culture shall not be less than 15% of the total budget of the central government, and shall not be less than 25% of the total budget of the province. The county shall not be less than 35% of its total budget, and its legally established educational and cultural funds and industries shall be protected."

By 1947, three years after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War and two years before the fall of the Republic of China, this year was the peak of higher education in the Republic of China. There were 210 universities in China, including 31 national universities and 25 private universities. ; 23 national independent colleges, 24 provincial independent colleges; 32 private independent colleges, 20 national junior colleges; 32 provincial junior colleges, 23 private junior colleges.Universities across the country employ 8,964 teachers at or above teaching assistant level, including 2,700 professors; 155,036 students, including 424 postgraduates and 130,000 undergraduates There are 0,715 students and 23,897 junior college students.Scientific civilization and modern thought spread in Langlang.

Schools are full of shade; each scholar is full of books; each morning and evening is a series of stories.How many students have laughed, cried, loved and hated here.The topic of the university, about the inheritance of knowledge and culture, about the pursuit of truth and wisdom, about the improvement of social civilization, about the progress of national spirit, about the pursuit of human ideals, can never be exhausted. In the vast ocean of the Republic of China University, what I want to talk about here is an unprecedented and fabulous university--National Southwest Associated University.