The Controversy Of Hu Shih's "Academic Independence Plan" In Intellectual Circles In 1947

Academic independence——China's academic ability can stand on its own in the world——is the unremitting pursuit of Chinese intellectuals since the end of the Qing Dynasty.The advent of the Atomic Energy Age has made this goal farther and farther,and has also prompted Chinese intellectuals to recognize the urgency of academic independence.The call for Academic Salvation has become stronger and stronger.However,post-war China is still turbulent,education funding is not guaranteed,and schools are struggling on the verge of survival.Under this circumstance,Hu Shih's"small bomb"——"Ten-Year Plan for China's Academic Independence"——has caused tremendous waves in the intellectual circles.At the end of August 1947,when Hu Shih attended the meeting in Nanjing,he proposed to Chiang Kai-shek and Executive Dean Zhang Qun a "10-year education plan"aimed at China's academic independence.The purpose was to save money for studying abroad and to make full efforts in two five-year plans to cultivate ten world-class universities.In early September,Hu Shih disclosed this plan to journalists,sparking heated discussions among the intellectual community on issues such as higher education,study abroad policy,and the relationship between politics and scholarship.Among them,Zou Lu,Chen Xujing and other people's doubts and criticisms have a great influence,forcing Hu Shih to write Ten-Year Plan for China's Academic Independence to respond.The publication of this article promoted the continuation and development of the debate,which ended in January 1948.More than 150 people participated in the debate,mainly from the education,academic and press circles.More than 60 newspapers and periodicals were involved in the debate.The newspaper was the main platform,but the magazine was more important than the newspaper after November 1947.Whether supporting several key universities or developing all universities on average is the most concerned issue in the debate.Hu Shih's list of five key universities based on the public heart of academic salvation and the private thoughts of Peking University has become the focus of attention.The presidents,provosts and scholars of the major universities stand in their respective positions to support or oppose.A small number of people think that universal relief is a top priority,and some people call for the basic education to be completed first.Although most of the reviewers start from their own interests,they do reflect the contradiction between schools and departments,national and private universities,higher education and basic education,and the imbalance of the geographical distribution of China's higher education.Almost everyone recognizes that as an important means of achieving academic independence,study abroad should not be abolished but the current study abroad policy should be improved.However,some people mistakenly believe that Hu Shih advocates abolishing the study abroad,so they criticized him.Others believe that Hu Shih should not use the term "academic independence",which reflects the profound understanding of the importance of international academic exchanges by the intellectual community.In the mid-October appraisal of the Academia Sinica,Hu Shih and Li Shizeng had a conflict because of studying abroad.Their contradictions have been in existence for a long time.This is just the epitome of the two people fighting for the hegemonic struggle of the academic circles.The relationship between politics and scholarship is also a problem that is highly valued in the debate.Liberals pay more attention to university autonomy and academic freedom,and call for politics not to interfere in academics.The left-wing intellectuals and Communists mostly believe that the fundamental political and economic changes are the basis of academic independence,but they are only a very small number of commentators,and their views are not monolithic.Although the misunderstanding between Hu Shih and Feng Yuxiang reveals the increasingly obvious political divide in Chinese society,the debate on the "Academic Independence Plan" itself suggests that the ideological and cultural world is far from the level of one or the other.In 1947,the debate in the intellectual circle around Hu Shih's "Academic Independence Plan" was a splendid event.Principals,professors,students,and editors of newspapers and periodicals frequently vocalize.Under the banner of saving the country by academics,there are competitions for educational resources,differences in educational concepts,and struggles among academic factions,and there are some differences in ideology.This debate not only reveals the various drawbacks and contradictions of Chinese education,but also highlights the complexity of Chinese society after the World War ?.