Shortly after Chen Lifu became Minister of Education, one day, he inadvertently looked through the "Report" written by the League of Nations Investigation Team after investigating the Sino-Japanese conflict, which contained the content on education.
According to the report, the investigation team inspected a number of Chinese universities and found that Chinese universities are "greatly influenced by foreign education", that most of their research is conducted through foreign Chinese, and that most of the materials and examples cited are taken from foreign countries.
In addition, the history, politics, and economics courses at the university seem to be designed for students who study the West. In particular, in the area of natural science education, the preference for foreign countries is even more severe.
The report touched Chen Lifu very much, and his profound national feelings prompted him to make an important decision: to take back the "cultural concessions" and establish Chinese universities.
Later, Chen Lifu wrote the book "Saving from the Roots", which made a detailed discussion of his mood at that time, he said:
Cultural aggression for the invaded country, first of all, to destroy its history and culture, I did not know much about these conspiracies at first, ** 27 years to the Ministry of Education, suddenly realized.
At that time, the rivers and coasts were occupied by Japanese troops, and all the universities were retreated, and I settled down one by one. I found that these universities were like foreign concessions. This one is completely German, the other is completely French, and the others are not American, that is, British.
The curriculum that adopts the Chinese academic system is varied and non-standard, and the department on Chinese history is the most lacking. Those who study politics or economics do not talk about the history of China's political or economic system, and those who study agriculture do not talk about the history of Chinese agriculture. ”
It is precisely on the basis of this situation that Chen Lifu made up his mind to "put the historical materials of various Chinese departments that Chinese should know into compulsory courses, and reward writing for those who do not have teaching materials, so as to make Chinese universities like a Chinese university." ”
Old photos of Chongqing National University **From the Internet.
In order to build China's universities, Chen Lifu made some major reforms.
First of all, in terms of curriculum and teaching materials. He personally presided over the formulation of the "Ministry" university curriculum and curriculum standards, which required all schools to implement them uniformly.
The curriculum is divided into compulsory and elective, and in the compulsory course, a course on Chinese history has been added, which is particularly emphasized by Chen Lifu.
He believes that some college students lack an understanding of the 5,000-year-old history of Chinese civilization, and this situation is beneficial to the enemy but not to themselves, because if the aggressor wants to destroy his country, he must first destroy his country's history and culture. Such as Chinese legal history, Chinese political history, etc.;
In the language course, Chinese is listed as a basic tool subject equal to foreign language, Chinese requires the ability to read ancient books and write smooth articles, and foreign language requires the ability to read foreign language reference books of the subject studied, and those who do not meet the standards cannot graduate.
At the same time, according to the needs of the war at that time, Chen Lifu also proposed to add anti-Japanese defense courses in some schools, such as "fortress engineering", "military structure", "weapons science", and so on. In the ministerial curriculum, where there are no textbooks, teachers are encouraged to write their own textbooks.
*Old photos of college classes during the period **From the Internet.
At the same time, when determining the curriculum, the Ministry of Education first set a three-principle for organizing the curriculum:
First, it stipulates a unified standard, which is not only in the degree of improvement, but also in line with the national culture and construction policy;
Second, pay attention to basic training, first engage in the cultivation of a broad academic foundation, and do not deviate from the disadvantages of bias due to specialized research;
Third, we should pay attention to the essential subjects and strive to unify and concentrate the subjects set up, so that students can have full cultivation and the spirit of integrating the essential subjects of a discipline.
According to this principle, some useless courses are deleted, and some important ones that are not made up are added. For example, according to the situation that China is an agricultural country, departments such as water conservancy, fertilizer, tea, and silk have been set up, and related courses have been set up.
In addition to reforming the curriculum, Chen Lifu also led the Ministry of Education to further formulate the content of the textbooks for each subject for trial in schools.
In 1940, on the basis of the collection of curriculum subjects for each school, the compilation of textbook outlines began, and at that time, hundreds of professors gathered and worked hard for two years to compile 42 draft textbooks for each subject, and issued them to each school for reference and trial.
First of all, under the direct leadership of Chen Lifu, an editorial committee for university books was set up, and 163 books were identified as university textbooks by means of special writing, open solicitation of manuscripts, and completion of books.
A few years later, all schools were finally able to unify the curriculum standards and textbook standards issued by the ministry, which changed the situation that Chinese university curricula had no Chinese characteristics and no Chinese textbooks in the curriculum, and played a decisive role in recovering the "cultural concession".
Second, unify the evaluation and appointment standards of university teachers.
Chen Lifu believes that teachers are very important in order to run schools well. Through his investigation of some schools, he found that there was no standard for the evaluation of the qualifications of university teachers in the past, and that there was only one principle for the evaluation and appointment of professors and associate professors, that is, they must be returnees from studying abroad.
Therefore, Chen Lifu presided over the formulation of the "Interim Regulations on the Qualifications and Benefits of Teachers in Universities and Independent Colleges", which was promulgated by the Ministry of Education in 1940.
The charter stipulates that the qualifications of faculty members are divided into four levels: professor, associate professor, lecturer, and teaching assistant; There are appropriate provisions on the qualifications and seniority of the promotion, and those who serve as teaching assistants and lecturers with a certain number of years, special achievements and authors should be promoted to professors or associate professors in accordance with the regulations, and are not subject to the restrictions of "returning from studying abroad".
At the same time, the method of rewarding teachers is implemented, and "qualified teachers can be allowed to take a leave of absence for further study, and will be given a research grant, and their senior and respected ones can be appointed as professors of the department after being elected by professors of the same subject".
The implementation of the above measures has mobilized the enthusiasm of teachers to a certain extent, improved the teaching quality and scientific research level of the school, and produced some high-quality academic achievements.
In terms of liberal arts, such as Wen Yiduo's various literary and historical works, Wang Li's grammar theory, Qian Mu's "Outline of National History", He Lin and Tang Yongtong's philosophy and logic courses; In terms of science, such as Hua Luogeng's "Theory of Stacked Prime Numbers" and Wang Zhuxi's "Research on Thermal Problems", etc., all have an important position in the history of Chinese education.
Third, improve examination methods.
Chen Lifu believes that examinations are an important means to promote students' learning and the main way to check students' academic performance, and that there are many shortcomings in previous examinations that should be improved.
In the past, the university entrance examination was a separate proposition for each school, and Chen Lifu believes that this examination method has increased the difficulty for students taking the examination, because during the war, transportation was difficult, and it was very difficult for students to travel around to take the examination of various universities.
Moreover, such tests disparity in the performance of new students admitted to each school.
In order to tidy up the enrollment standards of students and relieve the difficulties of students running around for examinations, Chen Lifu decided to implement the unified examination method for university entrance in 19 provinces and cities in the rear 19 provinces and cities from 1938 onwards, and the Ministry of Education set up a unified admissions committee to implement it. In each examination area, there is an admissions committee to handle registration, examination, marking and admission.
*From the web.
After Chen Lifu became the Minister of Education, he decided to implement the general examination of the three main subjects that students have learned within four years during the graduation examination
This approach allows students to have a general review of all major subjects in the past four years without fragmentation, which is better than that of European and American countries. ”
For the usual examinations, Chen Lifu proposed to hold an "academic competition" examination among students, which students are free to participate in, and the best and second best students will be rewarded and announced in the school.
Through the improvement of examination methods, the students' enthusiasm for learning was better stimulated, and the school not only sent a large number of talents for the Anti-Japanese War and post-war construction, but also cultivated outstanding talents such as Yang Zhenning and Lee Tsung-dao, who later won the Nobel Prize.
Fourth, a loan system should be implemented.
At that time, during the war, some young people were displaced, and it was very difficult for them to study, Chen Lifu believed that these students should not only teach, but also support, so he set up a loan system. That is, students borrow money from the state to maintain their livelihood and study, and repay the loan after leaving school in the future.
However, after the depreciation of the fiat currency, the repayment of the initial loan amount was equivalent to non-repayment, so Chen Lifu instructed the Ministry of Education to apply to the Ministry of Finance to simply change the loan system to the public expense system.
According to statistics at the time, about 1.28 million people completed their education from middle school to university during the war, all on loans or public funds.
Many years later, when Yang Zhenning and Lee Tsung-dao won the Nobel Prize, they both wrote to Chen Lifu to tell them that they had completed the university with loans.
Chen Lifu's reform of China's education was well-intentioned and painstaking, and this reform was not without problems, and at that time, some scholars disagreed, "thinking that it hindered the freedom of teaching and research."
But on the whole, it has laid the foundation for establishing the basic framework of modern university education in China and promoting the development of education in China.
Under the leadership of Chen Lifu and through the arduous efforts of the vast number of people in the educational circles, China's education not only did not shrink in the midst of the fire of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, but staggered forward in the midst of hardships and hardships.
In terms of university education. The original university was relocated and resumed soon after, and it has tenaciously existed and developed. At the same time, in order to meet the needs of medical, engineering and other technical personnel during the war, a number of specialized schools were set up.
The establishment of these schools requires all kinds of equipment and equipment, and the establishment of many specialized laboratories, which requires a lot of funds, and Chen Lifu has raised a huge amount of money for the establishment of the new school through various activities.
Chen Lifu also realized that the most important thing in the development of education is teachers, therefore, first of all, to develop teacher education, in addition to the establishment of teacher colleges in several comprehensive universities, he also founded a male and female normal college, added Guiyang Normal University, Nanning Normal University, Hubei Normal University and other institutions, and the Northwest Associated University of the Normal College was independent and renamed Northwest Normal University.
In order to train social education talents and talents, the Institute of Social Education and the National Academy of Social Education have also been established.
In order to change the vacancy of higher education in some places after the relocation of colleges and universities, the National Chung Cheng University was established in Jiangxi Province and the National Yingshang University was established in Zhejiang Province. These initiatives have enabled the steady development of university education.
Secondary education. The Ministry of Education only determines the policy guidelines and supervises the specific handling of local education administrative departments, but in wartime situations, there are exceptions.
First, due to the war, many secondary school teachers and students were exiled with their families, and after arriving in the mainland, teachers lost their jobs and students dropped out of school.
Chen Lifu believes that it is necessary to properly resettle, and at the same time, it is necessary not to allow the rear provinces to increase funds. As a result, 31 national middle schools, 3 national overseas Chinese middle schools, and 13 national normal schools were established in the hinterland, with the investment of the state, and a large number of teachers and students were placed.
Second, it stipulates that all types of secondary schools are divided into school districts.
In 1938, Chen Lifu presided over the formulation of the "Measures for the Division of School Districts for All Types of Secondary Schools", which was ordered to be implemented by all provinces. This method requires each province to designate three types of secondary schools (i.e., middle schools, normal schools, and vocational schools) according to their population, transportation, economy, and cultural development, and to set up various types of schools in different districts to avoid duplication.
Among them, the school district pays attention to the proportion of children who go on to primary school; Vocational school districts pay attention to the development of the local economy; In the normal school district, attention should be paid to the needs of teachers in primary schools in the district.
The implementation of this method ensured a reasonable distribution of secondary education in terms of regions and proportions during wartime.
Third, unify curricula and textbooks. In 1940, the Ministry of Education promulgated the "Schedule of Teaching Subjects and Hours for Senior Secondary Schools", and in 1941, it promulgated the curriculum standards for each subject, requiring all localities to implement them. The textbooks used are also compiled by the Ministry of Education, printed by various bookstores, and distributed to schools for use.
In the past, national education was mainly sponsored by local **, and during the Anti-Japanese War, the Ministry of Education led by Chen Lifu also actively promoted it.
After the implementation of the new county system, each township is required to set up a central school, and each guarantee is required to set up a national school, and school education is required to have three parts: children, women, and **.
In order to adapt to this change, the Ministry of Education has established the Department of National Education, which is responsible for compulsory education and remedial education for out-of-school populations.
At the same time, the Ministry of Education also specially drafted the National Education Law, which was promulgated and implemented in 1944 after it was passed by the Legislative Yuan.
In order to promote national education well, the Ministry of Education has formulated the "National Education Implementation Outline", which is planned to be implemented in phases, so that the number of children enrolled in school will eventually reach more than 90 of school-age children and more than 60 of the people who are out of school.
By 1944, more than 250,000 national schools had been established in the 19 provinces and municipalities behind the implementation of national education, with an average of two schools for every three schools, which was not far from the requirement of one school per school, and the number of children enrolled in school had accounted for more than 70 of the total number of school-age children.
In terms of social education. Chen Lifu held that although social education is intangible, at the critical juncture of Japanese aggression, social education has a considerable effect on boosting people's morale and arousing the psychology of hatred and hatred for the same enemy.
Chen Lifu attaches great importance to cultural relics related to social education, and at the same time as the internal relocation of colleges and universities, he devotes a lot of energy to preside over the internal relocation of cultural relics.
After the cultural relics arrived in the mainland, Chen Lifu personally surveyed the site of the museum, directed the placement, and requested that the museum be restored as soon as possible and opened to the outside world to educate people.
In addition to the restoration and development of the original museum, the Beiping Library, the Palace Museum, etc., the National Education Center, the National Rite Music Center, and the Art Museum were also established in Chongqing. In Lanzhou, the Northwest Library, the Gansu Science Education Center, and the National Dunhuang Research Institute were set up.
These institutions gradually developed and later became quite large-scale and functioned as a social educator.
In order to inspire people and publicize the Anti-Japanese War, in 1938, the Ministry of Education also organized four itinerant drama education teams to tour around the country, which played a very good role in social education.
Chen Lifu believes that film and broadcasting are the most effective tools for social education, and after he joined the Ministry of Education, he added a new section in the Department of Social Education to manage electronic education, and in 1942, he founded the China Education Film Studio, and set up an electronic education tour team, which went to 19 provinces and cities to tour and demonstrate, which was well received by all localities.
In 1939, the National Education Conference adopted the Program for Promoting Frontier Education presided over by Chen Lifu, and in 1941, the Ministry of Education formulated the Program for the Implementation of Youth Education in Frontier Areas promulgated by the Executive Yuan, which determined that "the people of Mongolia and Tibet and other places whose language and culture have special characteristics" as the scope of implementation of frontier education.
It stipulates that education in the border areas shall be under the supervision of the Ministry of Education, and that the border schools run by the Political School, the Mongolian and Tibetan Committee, and the Organization Department in the past shall all be placed under the supervision of the Ministry of Education.
For frontier education, Chen Lifu feels a great responsibility and has spent a lot of energy.
First of all, they sent personnel to inspect various parts of the frontier.
In addition to sporadically sending personnel to Chahar, Suiyuan, Ningxia, Qinghai, Gansu, Xinjiang, and other places, the Ministry of Education also organized a large-scale southwest frontier inspection group from 1939 to 1940 in Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, and other places to understand the situation and make suggestions.
Second, carry out academic research on the frontier.
In 1944, the Frontier School of Political Science was set up in universities and Northwest University, and in other universities where conditions permitted, courses and lectures on frontier construction were set up, and in 1944, the Frontier School of Politics was also established to conduct research on the history, culture, and society of the frontier.
Third, the translation and printing of teaching materials.
Due to the backward economy in the border areas and the lack of conditions for self-printing of teaching materials, Chen Lifu instructed the Ministry of Education to purchase printing machines, translate and print primary school Chinese and general knowledge textbooks in Mongolian, Tibetan, and palindromic languages, and distribute them for application in various parts of the border areas. In this way, frontier education has developed to a certain extent.
However, while developing education, Chen Lifu tried his best to strengthen the Kuomintang's control over the schools, and tried his best to infiltrate the CC forces into the schools in order to achieve his purpose of party-oriented education.
In 1939, Chen Lifu presided over the formulation of the "Key Points of the Organization of Colleges and Universities", a total of 12 articles, established the system of "governing schools by the party", and set up the Kuomintang district party headquarters and the three youth league branches in each school. From 1939 onwards, a discipline office was also set up, placing the school under the direct leadership and close control of the Kuomintang.
Chen Lifu also instructed CC spies to carry out wanton activities in schools, closely supervising teachers and students with progressive ideas or anti-Japanese theories, and even kidnapping, arresting, and killing.
Although Chen Lifu made some achievements when he was in charge of the Ministry of Education, the expansion of his influence in the educational circles also aroused Chiang Kai-shek's uneasiness and the dissatisfaction of other factions of the Kuomintang, especially the ideological strengthening policy and spy politics implemented in schools, which aroused the opposition of the vast number of teachers and students.
So, at the end of 1944, when the Anti-Japanese War was about to be won, Chiang Kai-shek reassigned Zhu Jiahua as Minister of Education, and Chen Lifu had no choice but to return the power of education to Zhu, leaving the education sector gloomily, and since then, he has never set foot again.