Text |Guo Yingjian is the vice president of the Capital Institute of Development and Strategy of Chinese University and the distinguished professor of "Outstanding Scholar" of Chinese University.
Recently, the discussion about liberal arts has been on the hot search again. This simple evaluation of liberal arts does not come from a certain person, nor does it appear by chance, but an inherent prejudice that many people have had against liberal arts for a long time. The re-origin of today's controversy around liberal arts is still the choice of the college entrance examination.
This reminds me of the early 1980s when I was in high school at Luoyang No. 1 Middle School, and I was faced with the dilemma of dividing arts and sciences. At that time, I was very good at math, Chinese and English were my strengths, but I insisted on enrolling in liberal arts because I liked literature. My homeroom teacher, who is also my physics teacher, went to my home and told my parents that they hoped that I would not apply for liberal arts, "because the liberal arts path is narrow." I have always been grateful for the kind advice of my teachers, and I am also grateful that my parents did not force me to choose science. In the end, I chose liberal arts, because I didn't have any career considerations at that time, but my own interests.
Of course, everyone's experience is an isolated case, and it is difficult to be universal, and I will not use this to inspire young students to follow the path I have taken. However, it can be seen from this that the concept of "emphasizing reason over literature" that existed in the 1980s has not fundamentally changed today.
I have always believed that there are historical reasons why the concept of "emphasizing reason over literature" has even become a kind of prejudice. Ancient China emphasized the idea of liberal arts and the establishment of a country, but in modern times, it failed to form a scientific and technological force to adapt to the development of modern society, so there is Joseph Needham's question of "why did the scientific and industrial revolution not occur in modern China". Historically, since the late Qing Dynasty, China has been at a disadvantage in many contests with foreign powers, which has led to the loss of power and humiliation of the country. In the later period, because of backward science and technology and weak national strength, it was also inferior in diplomacy and military affairs. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the state attached great importance to the development of science and technology, and all these lessons were learned from history.
In the 21st century, when China has stepped out of the haze of history and become a world-recognized economic power and a major country with strong influence in the world, while further enhancing its scientific and technological strength, it has become more important to attach importance to cultural construction and strengthen international communication.
It is often said that technology is hard power and culture is soft power. At a symposium on China's scientific and technological innovation and the construction of science and technology culture, which is mainly composed of scientific and technological personnel, I put forward a point of view as a humanities scholar: When the national strength and scientific and technological strength of the two countries are also equal, culture is also a kind of hard power in the contest between the two sides. In other words, the stronger the national strength, the more necessary it is to deepen the development of the humanities and social sciences while continuing to develop science and technology.
Today, it is commonly said that what kind of university you go to is very important, and if you don't graduate from a "double first-class" university, you may not even have the opportunity to interview in the future. I thought that such words should be seen as encouraging candidates to work hard to get into a better university. At the same time, it should also be noted that China's "double first-class" universities are only a few of the few, but there are only 42;Even the so-called 211 colleges and universities in the past are only more than 100;At present, there are more than 3,000 colleges and universities in China, and more than 1,270 undergraduate colleges and universities. As far as undergraduate colleges are concerned, the ratio of good universities such as "double first-class" to ordinary universities is less than 1:10. In this regard, the vast majority of candidates still want to go to a regular university to get higher education.
So, as educators, we are faced with the practical question: how do we convince students who can't get into a good university to study Xi?It can't be said that if you enter a good university, your life will be bright and infiniteIf you can't get into a good university, your life will be bleak. Getting into a good university is the dream of all young students, but not everyone can get it. Even if you graduate from a prestigious university, you will not study any major, and after graduation, you will automatically become an expert in a certain professional field. No one who has studied mathematics is a mathematician;I studied physics and became a physicist. What's more, many people don't pursue the same major they studied in college after graduation. Therefore, the most important mission of the university is to train young students to become physically and mentally healthy people, so that they can master some basic introductory skills in a certain professional field, so as to lay a solid foundation for them to enter the society in the future. Regardless of the science and sciences, it is all the same.
It is normal for people to think about employment before going to university, but young students must also know that no matter what major you study, the more important mission of university education is to train you to become an excellent person, which is the stated goal of your university. From the perspective of liberal arts education, it can help you understand the complex world and promote the cultivation of innovative thinking. After entering the society, the ideological vision, critical thinking ability, communication ability, and social responsibility brought by liberal arts education will also enable you to have good employment opportunities, as well as the opportunity to give full play to your personal talents, and take on the burden of contributing to the country and society.