Political, Social And Cultural Horizons Of The University "national": For Example In Sichuan University (1925-1939)

Chinese national unification movement in 1920-1930s had attracted attention in the academic world. However, due to lack research of power and society at the basic level, it is very difficult to know exactly the practical performance and complexity of this movement. And present research, for the most part, tends to consider it as a process of political and military struggle. This dissertation describes a particular event in the field of higher education, the nationalization process of Sichuan University, by which I hope to illustrate the complicate forms of this movement and the various attitudes of those who were involved in it, thus an case can be provided to the research of such problems as the modern nationalism of China, state-building etc.In this dissertation, I analyze the nationalization of Sichuan University from the perspective of politics, society and culture. Firstly, at the beginning of 1920-1930s, Sichuan province had formed a distinct political situation, and Sichuan University, which was within this area, was also influenced. The Nationalization process was closely connected with the changes of political conditions. It was not only related with the increase and decrease of the power of the warlords who controlled the politics of Sichuan Province, but also related closely with the "Centralization of the Local Government ". During the late period of the Nationalization Movement, the role of parties could not be ignored.Secondly, in the respect of the society the Nationalization of Sichuan University also concerned the provincial identification of the "Sichuanese" and the identification conflict between Chinese and the "Sichuanese". It was related with the changes of social thoughts throughout Sichuan Province, especially in Chengdu, and with political elements.Thirdly, in the cultural field, the Nationalization contained competition between traditional and new ideas, transformation of the educational system and academic paradigm. Up to the middle of 1930s, comparing to the national higher education, the higher education of Sichuan had a few characteristics, but which were gradually weakened in the nationalization process.From the perspective of the relationship between scholarship and politics, the problem of "academic independence" was also involved in this process. At first, many teachers and students thought that Nationalization meant to free universities from the threats of the local military powers. By the middle of nationalization, this aim did realize to some extent. But with the fulfillment of the Nationalization, the idealism of the academic world to obtain "academic independence" and "intellectual freedom" was given a heavy stroke.The Nationalization Movement of Sichuan University also offers us an example to understand the "national consciousness " and its concrete expressions of modern Chinese intellectuals.