Before the Opium War, although there were Western missionaries in Chinese mainland, they were few and had no legal protection. After the Opium War, foreign missionaries took advantage of unequal treaties to gain the right to preach freely in China, and began to pour into China on a large scale, trying to conquer China through ** religion.
However, in the traditional Chinese society dominated by Confucian culture, ** religion is regarded as "heretical" and is excluded, and mere preaching and preaching has no significant effect.
Therefore, they turned their attention to the establishment of schools, hoping to use them as a medium to achieve their missionary goals. In this context, missionary-run church schools sprang up rapidly throughout China.
According to statistics, by 1900, the total number of church schools was about 2,000, with a total of about 40,000 students, of which about 10% were church middle schools.
In this context, the Catholic University was born. From the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century, Western missionaries created 16 Christian universities on Chinese territory, of which 13 were established by the ** Protestant Church and 3 by the Roman Catholic Church.
In addition, there are a number of independent colleges and colleges. Most of these schools are run by churches in the United States and the United Kingdom. According to statistics, in the 30s and 40s of the 20th century, 12% and 20% of college students in China were studying at church universities, and in the fall of 1947, this number reached 11,000, and the number of candidates was 10 times higher.
Why, then, did Catholic universities have such a big appeal in old China that so many Chinese students chose to apply? This is mainly due to the fact that these Christian universities have won the recognition of the Chinese people for their excellent teaching quality and teaching results, especially some of the well-known Christian universities.
As a part of the campus culture, the school motto is the soul of the school and the embodiment of the school spirit. It can reflect the educational ideas and philosophy of the school organizers, so it is highly valued by the school organizers.
By reviewing the mottos of several well-known church universities during the ** period, we can find that they reflect the unique educational ideas of the drafters of the school mottos to varying degrees, and have become a special part of the treasure house of modern and modern educational ideas in China.
1) St. John's University Motto St. John's University was founded by the American Episcopal Church in Shanghai. It originated in 1879 as St. John's College on the basis of Pei Ya College, Doen College and Shinto School.
From 1895 onwards, universities began to offer university courses, and English was taught as the main subject. In 1905, the school was officially upgraded to university status and registered in the state of Washington, USA.
The university has four colleges: the College of Liberal Arts, the College of Science, the School of Medicine, and the School of Theology, as well as an affiliated preparatory school, which is recognized as a Catholic University of China by the United States**.
St. John's University began enrolling graduate students in 1913 and has grown into a comprehensive church university with 5 faculties and 16 departments. This university was one of the best universities in Shanghai and even in China at that time, and it was also the first church university in China to use English as the language of instruction, and it was also the only church university named after a foreign country.
The school's motto is "Light and Truth", which was originally expressed in English as "Light and Truth", which is intended to inspire young people to accept the infection of ** education and play the role of "Mr. and Leader of the People" after entering the society.
This motto is the same as that of Yale University, a famous church university in the United States, except that the words "light" and "truth" are placed differently. Principal Bu Fangji chose this motto because he hoped to educate the people, develop the sect, and magnify the doctrine by training pastors.
In June 1888, at the age of 24, he became the superintendent of the College. At that time, he had little interest in working at St. John's College. However, over time, he changed his original intention and devoted himself to church education.
He believed that the church should serve the church directly, and that relying only on direct preaching would result in a house built on the sand, which would not last long. Therefore, he advocated the establishment of a prestigious church university in China to include more young people in his own schools.
He wrote, "With hard work and more support, one day we will build a great church school at St. John's University." The goal is to build a prestigious university like the one in the United States, not a small college with just two professors and facilities.
He believed that the first task of a church university was mission, and then education.
In the aftermath of the May Fourth Movement, anti-religion, the right to reclaim education, and the independence of education broke out across China, and nationalist sentiment was on the rise, putting church schools under tremendous pressure.
China** requires all religious schools to be registered, otherwise they will not be able to enroll. St. John's University has been reluctant to register with China for fear that the filing of the case would damage its religious and missionary status.
However, if the case is not filed, the school may be shut down, which is undoubtedly a huge threat to St. John's University. After weighing the pros and cons, Bu Fangji came to the conclusion that despite all the difficulties, it is better to file a case than to close the school, and he believes that it is more in line with the spirit of the school to persist in the face of difficulties than to give up because of restrictions on freedom.
Therefore, he also took some measures related to the filing of the case, such as changing religious classes to elective courses and increasing the number of teachers in China, in preparation for the filing of the case. Under the stipulation that the Chinese motto must be included in order to file a case, Bu Fangji thought for a long time and decided to revise the original school motto, but he insisted that the Chinese motto should also reflect the missionary nature of St. John's University and serve the church's education.
The founder of St. John's University, Bu Fangji, was fascinated by China's rich history and culture, and was particularly impressed by the purity, dignity and representation of China's highest ideals in Confucian culture.
He is convinced that Confucian culture is memorable and inspiring, especially Confucius's famous saying, "If you learn without thinking, you will be reckless, and if you don't learn, you will perish", he believes that this sentence not only shows the correct way to learn, but also a non-religious, non-political Chinese dialect, rich in dialectics, which helps to understand the teachings of ** religion.
Therefore, when he first applied for registration in 1931, he set this sentence as the Chinese motto of St. John's University, which not only maintained the missionary nature of the school, but also reflected respect and understanding of Confucian culture.
Jinling University is a well-known university founded by the first church in Nanjing, which has an important impact on the development of China's church universities. The history of Jinling University can be traced back to the establishment of Huiwen College in 1888, and in 1910, Yuhong College was merged into Huiwen College and officially renamed Jinling University.
The School of Architecture of Jinling University did not have a motto at the beginning of its establishment, but its purpose was to cultivate students' personality as the goal, emphasizing the cultivation of the spirit of sacrifice and service, love and fraternity.
At that time, the school had a strong religious atmosphere, religious ceremonies were rigorous, and religious courses were compulsory. To this end, the school initially only offered liberal arts and some mathematics and science courses, and Tao Xingzhi and Chen Yuguang became the first batch of students.
In the 20s of the 20th century, after the "Anti-Religion Movement" and the "Movement to Reclaim the Right to Education", Beijing ** stipulated that church schools must be registered, the board of directors must be more than half Chinese, and the principal must be a Chinese.
Therefore, in 1927, Jinling University had its first Chinese president, Chen Yuguang.
The North and South Building was originally the bell tower of Jinling University. Chen Yuguang believes that the church should respect China's sovereignty in running schools in China. Therefore, on the day of his inauguration, he made it clear that preparing for the filing of the case in accordance with China's first law is "the first major event that brooks no delay."
In 1927, the school applied to the national ** for a case, which was approved in 1928. After the case was filed, the school gradually changed its nature and achieved steady and healthy development.
By the time of the Anti-Japanese War, the school had developed into a comprehensive university with arts, sciences and agriculture, with 20 departments, especially agriculture, and the school enjoyed the reputation of "Zhongshan Zhiying" and "Nanguoxiong".
On February 23, 1942, at the "Sun Yat-sen Memorial Week", Chen Yuguang clearly set truthfulness, sincerity, diligence and benevolence as the motto of Jinda. The original text of the "Principal's Motto" that put forward the school motto is as follows: "Today is the day when the school moved to Chengdu four years ago and officially started classes.
When the original August 13 incident began, all schools in Kyoto moved one after another in accordance with the orders of the Ministry of Education, and people were panicked. The school has a long history in Beijing and has not been damaged by bombing, so for the sake of calming the people in the capital, it is decided to stay in Beijing to maintain the weather in the capital.
The teachers and students of the school were able to continue teaching even when enemy planes were still disrupting frequently. The war was approaching Ningyuan, and he quickly tried to move west from Beijing. When boats and cars were scarce and traffic was blocked, fortunately, thanks to the concerted efforts of all colleagues and students in the school, they were able to enter Sichuan in batches.
Time passes, 4 years have passed, recalling the past, you can't help but feel it. There are three things to commemorate you. One is a strong will, and the other is the spirit of hard work, both of which are special experiences in the Anti-Japanese War.
The three are sincere and diligent actions, which is the motto of the school for more than 50 years. The three are in line with the purpose of the new university education. Today's university education is a shell, and the strong will, the spirit of hard work, and the sincere and diligent actions of the husband are the soul; The body and soul are complete, and then the university education is perfected. ”
He believes that "sincerity" is the most important thing in running a school, and can avoid the ambiguity of "sincerity, sincerity" as "sincerity" in "sincerity, sincerity, diligence and benevolence".
He explained this school motto in the article "Gift to the Graduating Students of this Session": "Yi" said: "Faithfulness is so virtuous, rhetoric is sincere, so life is also a career." Confucius said: "Be faithful in your words and respectful in your deeds." ”
The heart is inexhaustible is loyal, the word is untrue is faith, and the faithful are sincere. Wang Yangming said: "The gentleman of the past, who has ignored the world's wrongs, and those who have ignored the world's wrongs for thousands of generations, also seek what it is, how can they ruin their reputation for a while, and mess up their hearts." ”
Truth-seekers, true. The book says: "The industry is wide but diligent." Han Changli said: "Fraternity is benevolence." The school's motto is "sincerity, truthfulness, diligence and benevolence".
I won't forget it after leaving school. ”
Chen Yuguang believes that honesty represents faithfulness, truth represents truth-seeking, diligence represents wide industry, and benevolence represents fraternity. It is worth mentioning that the earliest written record of the school motto of Kim University is this statement.
According to the memories of Kim University alumni, they were:
In the twenties and thirties, when I was studying at Kim University, I often heard President Chen Yuguang mention it"Sincerity, truthfulness, diligence and benevolence"。From this point of view, the school's motto may have been established at the beginning of its establishment, but it was not deliberately publicized at that time.
Yenching University is a Protestant Christian university whose origins can be traced back to Luhe Academy, founded in 1869, and Huiwen School in 1870.
The two schools developed into North China Union University and Huiwen University, respectively, and merged in 1916. In 1919, Yenching University was formally established, with Situ Leiden as its first president.
Due to the same English name as National Peking University, the school was later renamed "Yenching University".
After Stuart took office, in order to better promote the school reform, he first resolved the school name dispute and corrected the name of the school. Next, Stuart Leiden and teachers Charlie Guo and Fu Chenguang discussed the development of the school motto.
The three Chinese-born missionaries shared a similar philosophy, believing that a religious school should be a combination of religious faith, a scientific spirit, and a willingness to explore.
They hope that the new motto will not only reflect the purpose of the school, but also serve as a spiritual motivation for students and alumni. Eventually, they decided to adopt the biblical aphorism as their motto, but because it was suggested that the phrase "man is not meant to be served, but to serve," Stuart Layden thought it was a bit out of step with the idea of a university education, so they decided to adopt the Greek inscription "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free" engraved above the main entrance of the University of Virginia.
Yenching University's motto is derived from the common philosophy of the University of Virginia and the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, which is to "serve for the sake of truth and freedom."
This sentence not only embodies the school's purpose and spirit, but also symbolizes Yenching University's pursuit of truth, advocating freedom, and being service-oriented. Therefore, the school motto is "Serve for Truth and Freedom" and is written in Chinese and English on the school gate to reflect the school's international outlook and multiculturalism.
Through the study of the mottos of many well-known church universities, it is not difficult to find that they are not only concise in language and far-reaching in meaning, but also have both the educational goals of the school and the concern for the cultivation of the personality and character of the educated.
These mottos are like life mottos and have an important impact on the growth of the school and its students. To this day, many alumni who have studied at well-known church universities still remember the motto of their alma mater vividly, and they generally believe that the motto of their alma mater has a significant impact on their lives and inspires them to contribute more to society.
Through an in-depth analysis of its connotation, we reveal the unique pursuit of the sponsors of the school in terms of educational purpose and philosophy, and also reveal the key factors for the success of the well-known church university in the complex and turbulent social background at that time.
Although these missionary universities were founded with the intention of mission, the educational ideals embodied in their mottos, such as academic freedom and service to society, are still of great relevance to this day, and are worth learning and emulating.