Higher Learning And State Governance

In December 1948, the famous universities in Peking were gradually under military control, which marks the arrival of a new era . From 1949 to 1954, the curriculum operating mechanism of China's universities has changed fundamentally. The loosing and localizing governing right of advanced knowledge was turned into the centralized administration. The right to curriculum development of the subject of the universities has been transferred from professors to government agencies. Why and how can it take place?Based on the theoretical background of the knowledge micro-politics, by employing the concept and method of "pure type" (by Max Web) for reference, and with the premise of the acknowledgement of the ownership of modern nation to legal governing right to the advanced knowledge, this paper analyzes the evolution of curriculum policy and organizational systems of disciplines around 1949 in China, and especially described detailedly the formation of state governance style with the characteristic of centralized and unified curriculum administration, which was accomplished from 1949 to 1954 when the old universities came to be taken over and the first version of discipline catalogue was issued and implemented.With the study of the school knowledge under the specific era and the specific state, this paper describes and reveals the structure under which various forces accomplish, including nation-state, national comparison, classes, ideologies, parties, cultural conflicts, markets, levels of education, collectives, individuals and so on, that how to develop certain teaching system and knowledge system of communism coincidently. By contrast, the paper alsomentions the teaching system of the liberalism that occurred in 1920s.The author points out that the communism is an opposition of the liberalism. But there are some connections. The contradistinction in the concrete aspect right demonstrates the similar framework between them. Hence, the former does not deny modernity of the latter; furthermore the non- modernity does not act against modernity. There are two forms of the modern teaching system and the knowledge system based on ambiguity in understanding the modern principle. Due to the unique historical culture circumstances on the way to modernization, the later developed states usually chose the former. Now the conclusion of this paper is :(1) The communism curriculum operating mechanism of China's university formed in early 1950's was modern instructional institution.(2) The centralized administration system of higher learning has super stability, the changeover road is far and rugged.(3) Because the knowledge of school has marked social-poltics characteristic, the theory of curriculum should develop the culture-critical interest beyond technical interest in order to enforce the power of interpreting reality.(4) It is the logic of modern knowledge growing that act on the combination of politics power and knowledge power. Today the campus is being drawn to society and state as never before. The key which keeping the university's critical function is to ensure the universality of university's knowledge. As far as the current state is concerned, it is noticeable to refrain university from becoming the production place of prejudice and close idea.