Contemporary Significance Of Cai Yuanpei’s Educational Thoughts

Cai Yuanpei was a great thinker and educator in the history of modern China,Who was praised as "leader for academic,model in the world" by Mao Zedong, His educational thought is our valuable cultural heritage. Modern China was strife-torn, knowledgeable people have to look to the west, saving the nation from subjugation, including Wei Yuan and Lin Zexu taking their first sight on the West. Westernization Movement aiming at learning from West adversaries for the purpose of defeating. However all of the great attempts suffered a crush. After that, the new capitalist class represented by Cai Yuanpei went on searching for the solution to the problem. They set all hope on education. Cai Yuanpei arms “saving the nation by education” belief, and set foot on the way of saving country through education. Although the practice proved that education doesn’t work at national salvation, but Cai Yuanpei’s process in the education thoughts still has an important theoretical reference value and practical guiding significance in our country.This paper discuss the topic in two parts: the first part is studying the developing process of modernity in Cai Yuanpei’s educational idea,which is divided into two sides. The first aspect is the influence of Chinese traditional culture in Cai Yuanpei’s educational thoughts accumulation caused by. The second is from the Cai Yuanpei first contact with western culture, to study in Germany and the old education put forward criticism and formed its own mature education thought;The second part emphasis on the enlightenment of Cai Yuanpei’s educational modernity idea to our contemporary educational practice.