Until the middle of the sixteenth century, the Chinese had been givers and not recipients of culture. It was the Jesuit missionaries who first aroused Chinese interest in Western learning by displaying scientific gadgets to win converts. Unfortunately, the Vatican insisted that the Chinese converts stop worshipping their ancestors, deities and Confucius. This uncompromising attitude of the Roman Catholic Church incurred the wrath of Emperor Kang Hsi, who issued a decree in 1720 banning further Catholic activities in China. With the departure of the Jesuit priests, the Chinese resumed their cultural isolation.
More than a century was to elapse before the academic curtain in China was lifted again. This time, however, it was the Chinese themselves who took the initiative. China had just suffered a series of humiliating defeats at the hands of the British and French. These disastrous wars convinced scholars and government officials that Chinese culture, with all its glories and refinements, was not enough to assure national survival. In the rude awakening to the invincibility of Western guns and ironclad warships, the Chinese turned to science.
At the head of the modernization movement were Tseng Kuo-fan, viceroy of Kiangsu and Chekiang, and his protege and later Prime Minister, Li Hung-chang. They saw clearly that modern national defense was hopeless without the development of science. Tseng took the first step in that direction by sending promising youngsters abroad for study. Li followed up by opening the Machinery School. Two other institutes, the Tung Wen Kuan at Peking and the Kuang Fang Yen Kuan at Shanghai, also were dedicated to the teaching of Western languages and technology. These three schools were the center of scientific learning in China in those days.
At the same time, European missionaries willingly cooperated in transplanting Western culture to China. Working with the Chinese schools and individual scholars, they translated 468 Western books on mathematics, physics, chemistry and other scientific subjects. In the closing days of the nineteenth century, the new enthusiasm for science seemed to carryall before it.
However, the road to westernization was not strewn with roses all the way. Fearing that the whole system of Chinese cultural traditions would be swept away by the invasion of Western learning, a group of influential scholar-officials called for moderation. Chang Chih-tung, the learned viceroy of Hupeh and Hunan, invented the catch-phrase "Chinese learning for substance, Western learning for function." In plain language, he urged the preservation of the established Confucian traditions while the modernization was being launched to meet national needs. Because of this utilitarian point of view about Western learning, the efforts made to acquire scientific knowledge were not broad enough to pull China completely away from its spiritual past.
Another impediment to the promotion of science in China was the centuries-old court examination system. Since these examinations made it possible for gifted youths to acquire wealth and affluence practically overnight, young scholars found little incentive to attend the few modern schools in existence. Nationwide pursuit of scientific learning was naturally impossible under the circumstances.
The science zealots received a further blow in 1895 when the first military clash between China and Japan ended in the crushing defeat of the proud Chinese empire. In their despondency, the Chinese scholars made a soul-searching review of the science promotion policy. China had tried science and failed. The imperial Chinese navy which lost to the Japanese navy had bigger guns and finer ships built, not in China, but by Britain. Clearly, scientific backwardness was not necessarily the cause of the defeat. Reasoning so, they jumped to the conclusion that what China really needed was a political reform patterned after the parliamentary system of the West.
Reform Movement
Among the proponents of the political reform movement, Liang Chi-chao was the most enthusiastic. Liang, a student of the controversial Kang Yu-wei, worked indefatigably to introduce Western political theories to China. He was supported whole-heartedly by the Chang Chih-tung school of "Chinese learning for substance, Western learning for function." The coalition of these two schools of thought produced a vogue for political science.
Another popular academic field among Chinese intellectuals at the time was Western law. The Manchu court was then asking the colonial powers to waive their rights to extraterritoriality in China. But the latter insisted they would not comply unless China improved its judicial system. In order to meet this demand, the imperial court began revising the Chinese codes of law and setting up a judicial system more acceptable to the Westerners. Many students were sent abroad and a large number of law schools was established in China to train the needed personnel. The trend continued until the early years of the Republic of China.
During this period, translation of Western books flourished. English-educated Yen Fu systematically introduced Western classics, exhibiting unmatched skill in translation. Among his numerous works, T. H. Huxley's Evolution & Ethics produced the most profound effect on Chinese thinking. Another contemporary scholar who did much to open the Chinese mind to Western culture was Lin Shu. He translated into Chinese no fewer than 172 literary works by authors of ten nationalities. The academic fertility of Liang Chi-chao was even more amazing. He wrote and translated more than 12 million words about political science, law and other Western subjects.
The first formal university in China was established in 1898 to train personnel who could not be recruited through court examinations. Attendance was poor due to the fact that most youngsters preferred the court examination system. During the ill-fated court revolution of 1898, Kang Yu-wei, head of the group advocating a constitutional monarchy and who engineered the reform movement, persuaded Emperor Kuang Hsu to abolish the examination system. Unfortunately, the much-needed measure was not carried out after the short-lived political reform was foiled by Tzu Hsi, the empress dowager.
The Manchu court did not actually encourage modern schools until 1905, when it formally decreed the abolition of the court examination system. The educational objectives were officially declared as "respect for the monarch, respect for Confucius, fostering of public spirit, martial ardor and practicability."
In the closing days of the nineteenth century, farsighted scholars in China began urging the adoption of a universal spoken language in place of the diversified dialects used by the people in the vast Chinese empire. Some scholars actually worked out a few spelling systems, but they were discarded by the Manchu court and the language uniformity movement died.
Newspapers and magazines began to appear in China in the 1860's under the influence of the Christian missionaries. Chinese intellectuals and government agencies followed the example. In the last years of the nineteenth century, a number of respectable Chinese papers and periodicals were established in several major cities. The appearance of mass communication media played a prominent role in enlightening the public and hastening the downfall of, the Ching Dynasty,
The founding of the Republic of China in 1911 brought a drastic change in the nation's political system but failed to alter the trend of scholastic pursuits, which continued to place emphasis on political science and law. Many people thought the new democratic system would automatically rejuvenate the country. They were bitterly disappointed by the young republic's chaotic conditions, climaxed in the abortive attempt to restore the monarchy by Yuan Shih-kai, the warlord president.
New Culture Movement
Out of this bitterness was born the New Culture Movement which was destined to exert profound influences in many aspects of Chinese life. That the movement spread quickly was due to two factors. First, the sanctity of the established order was badly shaken with the downfall of the monarchy. Secondly, the Chinese intellectuals who had been sent abroad to study Western culture were returning to China. Their discontent with the existing situation was sharpened by their firsthand experience with Western society.
The leaders of this movement included Dr. Hu Shih, now president of the Academia Sinica, who was a professor at the Peking University, Chen Tu-hsiu, Kao I-han and Chien Hsuan-tung. Their battle cry was "Science and Democracy," popularly referred to as "Mr. S and Mr. D". However, it was on the side of tearing down existing idols that they worked most furiously. They trained their fire on the Confucian traditions with great zeal in the hope that a new order would be built on the ruins of the old. The immediate result of the New Culture Movement, however, was the rise of an intensely patriotic feeling among students. When the warlord government in Peiping bowed to Japan's infamous 21 demands in 1919, the May 4 student movement broke out.
Riding on the wave of the New Culture Movement, Chinese intellectuals launched an all-out assault on old schools of thought and established institutions. They were uncompromising. There were heated arguments about Confucian traditions, women's position, chastity, marriage, metaphysics, science, philosophy of life, democracy, literary reform and whatnot. Many sacred cows of Chinese tradition were unceremoniously butchered.
The intellectuals were victorious. But they had little in common among themselves except that they agreed on the need for democracy and science. As soon as the old institutions were crushed, they started to pursue their own separate ways. Chang Chi, Wu Chih-hui, and Li Yu-yin fell into anarchism; Chen Tu-hsiu and Li Ta-chao turned to socialism; Chou Tsu-jen was obsessed by New Village Movement; Hu Shih championed pragmatism; Liang Shu-min espoused Indian philosophy; Chang Chun-mai and Ting Tsai-chun became addicted to other philosophies of life. Each of them expounded his new beliefs in writing and speech, and each had his own audience.
Although the New Culture Movement did not produce an order acceptable to all, it did inject fresh life into Chinese literature. All respectable literature and official documents previously had been written in the archaic language and its readership was confined to the educated few. The old classical language took years of one's best time to master, leaving him little opportunity for advanced learning. Here was a field in which the zealots of the movement could do something.
In 1917, Dr. Hu Shih published in the New Youth magazine his famous article "A Preliminary Discussion of Literary Reform." He urged the use of pai hua, or the vernacular language, for literary output. His proposal gained wide support among the leading scholars of the day. Nonetheless, a few arch conservatives such as Lin Shu, Yen Fu and Ku Hung-ming vehemently attacked Dr. Hu's "heresy." But they fought a hopeless battle. Their loud protests were drowned out in thunderous cheers of support for Dr. Hu. Since then, the archaic language has been steadily losing ground. Today it is all but forgotten by the younger generation.
Dr. Sun Yat-sun, founder of the republic, also wrote a number of books during this period of intellectual fermentation. Believing that the sad state of national affairs was largely the result of wooly thinking, deep-rooted prejudices and divergence of opinions, he urged the country to undergo a mental readjustment in the period of national reconstruction. In his Psychological Rehabilitation, published in 1918, he maintained that to learn is difficult, while to act is easy. Later he wrote the famous Three People's Principles and A Program of National Reconstruction in which he spelled out the measures to be taken for China's salvation. His followers propagated his views through several new publications and newspapers.
Language Reform Program
In the educational field, the republican government decreed that primary schools should be co-educational and mandatory. In addition to universities and middle schools, vocational and normal schools were established. There were separate schools for girls starting with middle grades. Co-education at the college level began in 1920 when Peking University enrolled two girls.
The uniform language movement was renewed. In July of 1912, the Ministry of Education sponsored a conference at which a proposal for working out pronunciation symbols was adopted. In February of the next year, the ministry convened another meeting attended by linguists from various parts of China and overseas Chinese communities. They selected more than 7000 characters used most often in writing and speaking as the core of the project. The Peiping dialect, being understood by the majority of the people, was chosen as the standard language. They also decided on a set of guiding symbols to standardize the pronunciation. However, the project was pigeonholed because the education minister was changed.
The project again was revived after the New Culture Movement began. In 1917, a group of scholars headed by Tsai Yuan-pei, president of Peking University, formed the National Language Research Association to assist the Ministry of Education in implementing the reform. The association gave great publicity to the pronunciation symbols. Wu Chih-hui followed this by compiling the first Chinese dictionary using the symbols as pronunciation guides. Finally, the Ministry of Education announced that the set of symbols would be revised slightly and used in primary schools.
In ensuing years, the government enforced this language reform with marked success. Although local dialects still hold out, the standard language has become so popular that it can be understood by all except a few illiterates in remote areas.
In the wake of the New Culture Movement. Chinese scholars took upon their shoulders the responsibility of remolding society. But they did not reach agreement on how to do it, nor did they suggest a systematic method of procedure. In the midst of confusion, the national situation worsened steadily. Dr. Sun Yat-sen, who was the only thinker of the day to have systematically put down his ideas in writing, sought to save the country through the Kuomintang (or Nationalist Party), which he founded.
Other leaders of the New Culture Movement also voiced suggestions about politics. While many intellectuals gradually came over to the banner of the Kuomintang, others such as Chen Tu-hsiu and Li Ta-chao turned Communist and sought to rebuild the nation through proletarian dictatorship. With the successful conclusion of the Northward Expedition in 1928, the Kuomintang emerged as the leading political force in China.
In the field of academic research, the New Culture Movement produced its desired effect. Ting Wen-chiang and other scientists made brilliant achievements in geological and paleontological studies. Ethnologists made discoveries about the aborigines in Taiwan, Kwangsi and Manchuria. Historians such as Ku Chieh-kang and Liu Yen-li revolutionized their discipline. Discarding the old practice of distorting facts to suit the chronicler's prejudices, they applied scientific method in a thorough review of China's long history. By studying archeological findings and geological strata, they made startling discoveries and were able to correct many falsified historical accounts. The same methods were used by Dr. Hu Shih and Liang Chi-chao in their study of ancient Chinese philosophy and classics.
Academic Research
Research received a further boost with the establishment of the Academia Sinica in 1928. Headed by Dr. Tsai Yuan-pei, it was charged with the responsibility of supervising both scientific research and study of the humanities. In the next year, the Peiping Research Institute was activated to spur the same work. After 1927 many private research organizations and university graduate departments were established to encourage the quest of knowledge.
When the National Government moved its seat to Nanking, it started expanding social education. Extension schools, literacy classes, libraries, museums, art galleries, lecture halls and sports grounds began mushrooming all over the country. By 1930, the number of schools and enrollment were three to four times as large as in 1912.
Until the strengthening of the National Government at the end of the Northward Expedition, the nation had paid only lip service to natural science. Real attention went to social sciences and the humanities. Realizing that defense could be built only on a foundation of Western technology, the Government began promoting the physical sciences. The educational policy was changed to accord with this new approach.
In 1929, the Government promulgated an organic law of universities which specified a full-fledged university must have a science department. In 1931, the National Conference passed a resolution saying that "college education should emphasize natural and applied sciences." The resolution was adopted by the Government as its new educational policy. The Government took another step forward in 1933 by limiting the college enrollment quota for students majoring in humanities while giving encouragement to science students. The number of students majoring in theoretical and applied science increased year by year until the end of world war II.
The increasing pace of Westernization in the early 30s, especially in the universities, prompted further expressions of fear that Chinese culture might be wholly submerged. In 1935, a group of ten professors, including Sa Meng-wu, Tao Hsi-sheng, Wang Hsin-min and Ho Ping-sung, published in the magazine Cultural Construction a "Declaration for Cultural, Construction on a Chinese Basis." They deplored the prevailing trend and called for a synthesis of Chinese and Western cultures which was to be distinctively Chinese.
Dr. Hu Shih, the champion of western learning, was compelled to protest. He termed the Declaration "a most fashionable expression of a reactionary mood prevalent today." The outbreak of the Sino-Japanese war in 1937 silenced the controversy.
Between the Northward Expedition and the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War, China enjoyed a period of relative stability despite the Communist military rebellion. Educational and cultural progress continued at an accelerating pace. Several big publishing firms, notably the Commercial Press, the Chunghua Book, Company and the World Book Company, devoted their attention to systematic compilation and publication of Chinese and Western classics. Many of the publications consisted of thousands of volumes.
Beneath the smooth surface, however, ran unnoticed a strong adverse current. This was the gradual ascendancy of the left-wing writers. Typical among the "proletarian" works were The Life of Ah Q by Lu Shun, Midnight by Mao Teng and Trilogy by Pa Chin. Books preaching class struggle virtually dominated the literary market. The, leftists also published many periodicals and operated publishing firms to propagate their opinions. Some movies and songs were not, free from Communistic influences. This insidious infiltration of Communism into cultural fields paved the way for the Communist revival during the war years.
In the national preparations for an inevitable showdown with Japan, the press figured prominently. Big metropolitan papers such as Sheng Pao, Hsin Wen Pao and Shih Shih Hsin Pao in Shanghai, Yih Shih Pao and Ta Kung Pao in Tientsin, and the Central Daily News in Nanking backed the Government to the hilt in national affairs. Realizing the importance of the press in shaping public opinion, the Communists spared no effort to set up newspapers and publish magazines after the war broke out. These Red publications proved effective in poisoning public minds.
When war came, there were 91 colleges and universities with a combined enrollment of about 28,000 students. Most of the schools were situated in the seaboard provinces. With few exceptions, these seats of learning and their students were evacuated to the interior. As a result, the culturally backward inland provinces suddenly became a beehive of intellectual activities. When the war ended in 1945, the number of colleges and universities in the interior provinces had skyrocketed to 141 with 83,500 young men and women enrolled.
Physical hardships and material scarcities during the war years did not retard the cultural activities of Chinese intellectuals. Professors and students uncomplainingly shared wartime austerity with peasants. Scholastic pursuits even were stepped up in the face of enemy aggression. The Government, while directing the war, also did its best to encourage education. Cultural contact with the outside was stepped up through exchange of professors and students with Western countries.
All these constructive efforts were offset, however, by the mass infiltration of Communist saboteurs into colleges and universities. Under the name of academic freedom" Communist propaganda materials were openly, distributed. School discipline deteriorated to such an extent that student riots paralyzed some universities, especially in the postwar years. This was exactly what the Communists had worked for.
When the Reds finally seized the Chinese mainland, they started building their "new order" by destroying the nation's cultural heritage. Academic freedom was completely destroyed. Many anti-Communist scholars left for Taiwan or other places in the free world. Those who stayed behind become disillusioned. They were either exiled to labor camps or summarily executed.
Fortunately, the continuation of the Chinese culture was assured by the existence of a free China in Taiwan. A large number of prominent scholars reached the island, as did the priceless art treasures of the National Palace and Central Museums.
Scholarly Activities
For the last 12 years, scholars in Taiwan have been working tirelessly to expand knowledge of ancient Chinese culture. In 1952, the Ministry of Education invited a group of scholars to edit the Four Books and Five Classics. Three years later, Education Minister Chang Chi-yun formed a special committee to compile and edit historical and literary works by both ancient and contemporary writers. More than 100 volumes have been published.
The Ministry of National Defense has compiled millions of words about the Northward Expedition, the Sino-Japanese War and the battles against the Communist rebels. The Academia Sinica has issued some 30 million words dealing with modern Chinese history. Religious bodies and private organizations also have participated.
The National Palace and Central Museums are open to visitors the year round. Special exhibitions are held from time to time. The museums have reprinted many rare books and reproduced hundreds of famous paintings, A selection of the choicest treasures is being shown in the United States.
More than 100 academic groups are sponsored by private scholars. Notable are the Confucian and Mencius Learning Society formed last year and the Chinese Science Promotion Association established in 1953.
Individual efforts are not lacking. Historian Dr. Chien Mu founded the New Asian College in Hongkong to expand awareness of Chinese traditions and culture. He also gives many lectures on China.
Professor Yang Chia-lo is compiling a 200-volume Encyclopedia Sinica. He has spent 35 years in collecting materials. The first volume is already off the press. Professor Yang hopes to complete the 100-million-word task in 20 years.
Former Education Minister Chang Chi-yun has sponsored many cultural undertakings. Since last year he has been working on the history of the Ching Dynasty, which will appear in eight volumes. Under his auspices, the 50-volume Essence of Chinese Culture containing numerous illustrations, is rolling off the presses to commemorate the golden jubilee of the Republic of China.
Science Promotion
The government and educational leaders are equally enthusiastic in promoting science. A six-year program to advance science education in schools was begun in 1958. Major objectives are (1) to modernize and further develop instructional science facilities and improve methods of science teaching, and (2) to provide adequate facilities, equipment, personnel, and funds for pure and applied research.
Early in 1959, the Government adopted a Long-Range Science Development Program. An organization to encourage scientific research has been formed by the Ministry of Education and the Council of the Academia Sinica.
There are several research institutes in free China, including:
* The Institute of Nuclear Science of the National Tsinghua University. Equipped with a 1000 Kilowatt pool-type nuclear reactor and other major research facilities, it serves as a center of nuclear science in Taiwan. Some 40 students in nuclear physics, nuclear chemistry and nuclear engineering have been graduated.
* The Institute of Electronics of National Chiaotung University. It is training scientists in electronics carrying out research projects in electronics and telecommunication for private and public industries and promoting research in electronics.
* The Institute of Mathematics of the Academia Sinica. Thirty topflight mathematicians of Taiwan and elsewhere are studying mathematical logic, analysis, theory of numbers, abstract algebra, differential geometry, topology and applied mathematics.
Educational progress in free China is phenomenal. Under six-year compulsory education, 95.59 per cent of school-age children have been enrolled by the nearly 1800 grade schools. Secondary schools number more than 360 with an enrollment of 355,000. The number of universities and colleges has risen to 29, many with graduate schools. Nearly 40,000 students out of a total population of 11,000,000 are enrolled.
Education is extended to others through radio broadcasts, seminars, extension schools, literacy classes, museums and libraries. Illiteracy is virtually non-existent.
Demand for books and other mass information media has increased tremendously. The island has 507 publishing houses and major book stores, 30 newspapers, 37 news agencies, 573 magazines, and 126 radio broadcasting stations. There is a newspaper copy for every 14 persons and a radio receiving set for every 16. These and other facilities all contribute toward an enlightened public in free China.
The prospect is for a truly new China—democratically athirst for knowledge that is modern, scientific and catholic rather than Chinese or Western—once the mainland has been recovered and the country rediscovers its true heritage of learning and freedom.