Cai Yuanpei's life is a life of challenging the old morality. He not only transformed Peking University and cultivated the atmosphere of the new cultural movement in the May Fourth period, but also boldly broke through the barriers of feudal old-style marriage on personal issues, pioneering the times.
Cai Yuanpei in film and television dramas
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > Cai Yuanpei governed Peking University</h1>
In January 1917, Cai Yuanpei became the president of Peking University. At that time, Peking University was not a temple of thought and an academic temple in people's minds, as it is today, but a feudal institution.
The predecessor of Peking University was the Beijing Normal University Hall, which was established in 1898, and is the only result of the reform that has been preserved during the Guangxu period.
After the establishment of the Republic of China, the Hall of Beijing Normal University was renamed National Peking University. At this time, the teachers of Peking University were still the former Qing Dynasty's juren, jinshi, and Hanlin. Most of the students are the children of dignitaries and dignitaries. The purpose of their schooling is to get rich in order to rise to the top of the government, not to learn knowledge and do learning.
Peking University before the May Fourth Movement was full of feudal bureaucracy.
Take, for example, teacher-student greetings.
Before the teacher went to class, he said, "Gentlemen, please stand up, sir." ”
The student responded: "Hello adults. ”
The teacher said, "The masters have worked hard. ”
The student said, "Get rich by getting promoted." ”
Such a greeting can be described as full of officiality.
It is no exaggeration to say that peking university in the old days was a bureaucratic training center.
Cai Yuanpei was appointed president of Peking University, and many friends advised Cai Yuanpei not to take office. However, Cai Yuanpei took it as his duty to establish education. He considered that schools were corrupt and needed to be governed. So he decided to accept the appointment.
After taking office, Cai Yuanpei called on students to "take research and scholarship as their vocation, and should not use universities as a ladder to rise to higher ranks and make a fortune." He also initiated various societies and seminars in the school, organized sports clubs, concerts, etc., and guided students to focus their energy and interest on reading and cultural and sports activities.
The biggest feature of Cai Yuanpei's governance of Peking University is the implementation of the policy of "freedom of thought and inclusiveness". He was a strong advocate for academic freedom. He advocated that no matter what school of thought it was, as long as it was reasonable and justified, it should be allowed to exist and allowed to develop freely.
Thanks to Cai Yuanpei's efforts, Peking University has gradually become an exciting institution of higher education.
On the 9th day of his appointment, Cai Yuanpei hired Chen Duxiu as the chief of liberal arts. After Chen Duxiu took office, he did not start classes, but concentrated on liberal arts reform.
The editorial board of New Youth was also moved to Beijing. Li Dazhao, Lu Xun, Hu Shi and others joined the editorial department and became the main contributors. New Youth magazine and Peking University became the main fronts of the New Culture Movement.
It was Cai Yuanpei, the outstanding president, who followed the principle of freedom of thought and adopted an inclusive approach to running a school, which created an unprecedented era for universities.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > Cai Yuanpei's three marriages in his life reflect the changes in his thinking and confirm the changes in modern Chinese society</h1>
1. Cai Yuanpei's first marriage
In 1889, Cai Yuanpei married for the first time. This marriage is completely an old-fashioned marriage at the behest of parents and the words of a matchmaker. Before the wedding, Cai Yuanpei had never met his wife Wang Zhao. After marriage, the two personalities have many discordants. Wang Zhao lived a very frugal life and had a habit of cleanliness. However, Cai Yuanpei is bold and informal, and some have machismo. As a result, the two often contradict each other.
In 1900, Wang Zhao died of illness.
2. Cai Yuanpei's first marriage notice and second marriage
When Wang Zhao died, Cai Yuanpei had just turned 33. At this time, Cai Yuanpei was already quite famous in the cultural circles. Matchmakers flocked to the scene.
Cai Yuanpei opposed this old marriage of parental order and matchmaker's words. He boldly wrote the first "marriage notice" in Chinese history, which was posted on his own door:
"A woman must not have her feet tied; she must be literate; a man shall not marry a concubine; a woman may remarry after a man's death; and a husband and wife may divorce if they are not compatible."
In fact, most of these 5 conditions are constraints on the man. It is equivalent to the man's self-limitation, reflecting the modern concept of marriage where men and women are equal. This move was a powerful blow to feudal etiquette and was invaluable at the time.
When the relatives saw this notice, they all withdrew. Because, this was in 1900, requiring women not to tie their feet was a great rebellion; they had to be literate, and the vast majority of women were barricaded. The last two points in the conditions for marriage were even more appalling in the feudal and conservative social environment at that time.
After dissuading the matchmaker, cai Yuanpei once saw a painting at a friend's house while lecturing in Hangzhou. The painting has beautiful lines and beautiful inscriptions. Cai Yuanpei was deeply attracted. He inquired from a friend and learned that the painting was from the daughter of Huang Erxuan, a famous scholar in Jiangxi. Cai Yuanpei asked a friend to introduce him to the lady.
Huang Zhongyu is literate and proficient in calligraphy and painting. She is the woman that Cai Yuanpei admires, and she fully meets his criteria for choosing a mate.
On New Year's Day 1902, Cai Yuanpei held his second wedding in Hangzhou. This wedding is different, and it is the first to open the atmosphere. Not only is the East and the West combined, but also the old-style cave house is replaced by a speech.
At the end of 1920, Huang Zhongyu died of illness.
3. Cai Yuanpei's third marriage
When Cai Yuanpei was 54 years old, he decided to remarry. This time, his mate selection conditions are:
1. Have considerable cultural qualities;
2. Slightly older age;
Third, proficient in English, can become a research assistant.
At the age of 33, Zhou Jun became Cai Yuanpei's third wife.
Zhou Jun was a former student of Cai Yuanpei in Shanghai. After graduation, she worked as a teacher at Shenzhou Girls' School and Anhui Women's Normal School. Zhou Jun has always had feelings of respect for Cai Yuanpei. Once, every time there was a lecture by Cai Yuanpei, she listened carefully. She also visited Cai Yuanpei and his wife Huang Zhongyu in Beijing. He also asked Cai Yuanpei to write poems on his paintings.
Zhou Jun admired Cai Yuanpei, but due to the age gap, the key was that Cai Yuanpei was already married. She could not win the love of others, but she delayed herself and did not marry until the age of 33.
On July 10, 1923, 55-year-old Cai Yuanpei and Zhou Jun held a new-style wedding ceremony at the Suzhou Lingering Garden.
Cai Yuanpei and Zhou Jun's wedding souvenir
After marriage, the couple went to Europe to study together.
In addition to xiangfu's teaching children, Zhou Jun studied Western art courses.
In the former residence exhibition hall of Cai Yuanpei in Shanghai, there is an oil painting of Cai Yuanpei. This portrait is from Zhou Jun's hand.
Cai Yuanpei also painted a poem:
"Only Qing Qing can know me first, and leave traces of the heart that will never be worn."
Cai Yuanpei oil portrait
On March 5, 1940, two days before Zhou Jun's 50th birthday, Cai Yuanpei died of illness in Hong Kong.