From the late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China, there are two main lines in the formation and evolution of the image of international students: one is the international students in the real historical scene, the other is the international students in literary works, and the image of the international students in the two is sometimes combined into one, and sometimes they are diametrically opposed. In the literature of international students, researchers believe that with may fourth as the boundary, international students in the May Fourth period are the humble image of the "people of weak countries", and after the May Fourth period, they are "'Chinese people" who have returned from overseas and have forgotten their ancestors and are full of foreign slaves, and international students always seem to show a negative image in literary works; and in the history of modern study abroad, international students are the key roles expected by social change, and there is a strong contrast between the two. Although the attitude of praise or disparagement towards international students is two kinds of objective existence in the same time and space, and the image of the same period is not the same, on the whole, the image of international students has a tortuous evolution process from the late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China. This article does not discuss the image of international students from the perspective of literary works, nor can it expand this discussion to the construction of the image of Chinese students in the eyes of the people in the destination countries, but focuses on the formation, development and evolution of the social image of international students (including the self-image of international students) under the field of social changes in modern China.
From Blur to Clarity: The Formation of the Image of International Students in the Late Qing Dynasty
Before the young children in the United States went abroad, the number of international students was very small, and their images were blurred. The history of modern study abroad often begins with Rong Hong, Huang Kuan, and Huang Sheng staying in the United States. In the winter of the twenty-sixth year of Daoguang (1846), when Rev. Samuel Robbins Brown, the principal of morrison school, offered to take the students to the United States to study, "the whole class listened to his words, calmly lost, silent ... Only Rong Hong and the three of them were willing to go abroad, and Rong's mother learned that she was "weeping bitterly", and studying abroad in the 1840s was not only unknown, but also regarded as a dangerous way.
Rong Hong graduated from Yale University in the fourth year of Xianfeng (1854) and immediately set off to return to China. Although Rong Hong cherished the ideal of "instilling Western scholarship in China and making China more and more civilized and strong", he made a living in Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Shanghai and other places for a long time after returning to China, and finally gained a reputation for translating in the seventh year of Xianfeng (1857), "everyone knows that he is a Chinese student who has been educated in the West" and "almost everyone knows that he is an American graduate", but this did not change Rong Hong's situation. The turning point came after Rong Hong became an aide to Zeng Guofan. Rong Hong took the initiative to enter the Zeng Guo Guo curtain through the letter of recommendation of Zeng Guofan's staff: "Jin Zixiang and Guangdong friend Rong Jun Chunfu (Guangzhao, Xiangshanren, Tongyi Yan, Yizi, once lived in Citi for eight years. It should be honored by its national tribute. Last year, Zuo Mengxin wrote to me, which was introduced to Shuai Shuai, so I came). And Rong Hong's "Tongyi Yan, Yi Character, lived in Citi for eight years" is the impression of The recommender Zhao Liewen on Rong Hong. After that, Rong Hong was mainly used to recruit foreign craftsmen. When Rong Hong was entrusted by Zeng Guofan to buy machines in the United States and returned to Shanghai, in December of the fifth year of Tongzhi (January 1867), Zeng Guofan asked rong Hong for an award, and only "Hua Lingyun has the same title rong Hong, familiar with the words and characters of the taixi Chinese, the longest time to and fro citi, quite courageous... With the same knowledge to stay in Jiangsu when it is missing, it will be supplemented", Rong Hong's identity of "staying in the United States" is vague, and Zeng Guofan pays the most attention to the advantages of Rong Hong's language. In the seventh year of Tongzhi (1868), Rong Hong, through The Inspector of Jiangsu Ding Richang, submitted to the Qing court and suggested that overseas students be sent: "The government should send Young Yingxiu young people to study abroad, so that the country can save talents." "In order to prevent opposition, Rong Hong deliberately listed this education plan as the second article and drafted three more." This article Chen Zhi first, third, fourth, especially pretend to be a foil... It is not obvious that there is a biased meaning also. Rong Hong's education plan to stay in the United States was actually proposed in this way, and the potential resistance to "studying abroad" was very large, especially after Ding Richang and Ding Worried returned home. Until the Tianjin teaching case occurred, Rong Hong was recruited by Ding Richang as a "parliamentarian", and the identity of the international student was mainly the role of "translator" in the eyes of the governor.
After the Tianjin teaching case, Rong Hong got the help of Ding Richang, and the plan to send students to stay in the United States was finally agreed by Zeng Guofan, and on the third day of the first month of the Tenth Year of Tongzhi (August 18, 1871), Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang and others jointly played the "proposed selection of clever children to go to the countries of Western Thailand to perform their careers", and deliberated on the "Regulations for Selecting Young Children to Go to Western Thailand", which opened the history of young children staying in the United States. On the 22nd day of the first month of the eleventh year of Tongzhi (March 1, 1872), Zeng Li and Li re-played, and Rong Hong was appointed as a vice-chairman, on the grounds that "he had lived in Citi for the longest time before, and his wisdom was far-reaching, and he was not confined to customs... The officer practiced foreign customs and customs, the United States is especially familiar with the place of travel, and with the key to joint diplomacy and peeping at the key", Rong Hong's identity as a graduate of the United States is still unclear. At the same time, the main supervisor of the Bureau of Foreign Industry was Chen Lanbin, as Ding Richang said, "If you want to use Chen Zhihanlin's qualifications to work with the old school, you can kill the resistance a little." Rong Hong did not have the complete trust of the Qing government. Even at the end of the nineteenth century, when the late Qing Dynasty wanted to mention Rong Hong, he still remembered only vague words such as "long residence in the foreign ocean". For example, on the third day of the first month of April in the twenty-second year of Guangxu (May 15, 1896), Weng Tonggong's diary recorded the scene of seeing Rong Hong, "Jiangsu alternate Dao RongHong, number Chunfu, lived in the United States for a long time, actually foreigners, but talking about banks is quite important." The understanding of international students is a very vague concept, while his official position is recorded in detail, and the evaluation of Rong Hong is sarcastic.
In the process of selecting young children to stay in the United States, Rong Hong encountered unexpected difficulties: the people regarded going abroad as a fearful way. Taking Zhan Tianyou, one of the first young children who stayed in the United States, as an example, the conclusion of the foreign trip must be completed, and the content of the conclusion is as follows: "I hereby send a son Tianyou to the Constitutional Bureau (referring to the young child leaving the Foreign Industry Bureau) to be taken to the Citi State Industry to learn skills, and on the day of return, listen to The Chinese dispatch, and are not allowed to stay in foreign countries for physiology, if there is an illness and life and death, each of them has a destiny, and this knot is true." "After many efforts, the first batch of young children in the summer of the eleventh year of Tongzhi (1872) were selected and sailed to the United States from August 11. From 1872 to 1875, the Qing government successively sent four batches of 120 official-funded students to set foot on American soil.
The situation after Huang Kuan and Huang Sheng returned to the United States at the same time as Rong Hong is also noteworthy: after huang kuan graduated from the university in Edinburgh, he returned to Hong Kong in January 1857 as a doctor of the London Missionary Church, first working at the London Guild Hospital in Hong Kong, "even in the medical and religious circles, there are some Westerners who regard Huang Kuan as a dissident." Due to discrimination and exclusion, Huang Kuan quit his job as a missionary and returned to Guangzhou to practice medicine in 1858. Huang Kuan runs his own hospital, and also works part-time in Hui'ai Medical Center and Boji Hospital, treating patients and saving people while "compiling Western medical works on the one hand, and organizing training courses on the other hand, training a small number of Chinese young people to serve as assistants to doctors." According to Chen Bangxian's "History of Chinese Medicine", Huang Kuan was invited by Li Hongzhang to go to Tianjin in 1862 as a medical officer, but within half a year he resigned and returned to Guangzhou to continue practicing medicine, and then served as a medical officer of the Guangzhou Customs Medical Department (1863) and the director of the Southwest Medical Bureau (1875). Huang Kuan's background in Western medicine in the UK was the starting point of his career, as a rare Western medical talent in the 1860s and 1870s, Huang Kuan was valued, but he was also ostracized by Westerners within the London Missionary Society. Huang Kuan's tenure in Li Hongzhang's shogunate was short, and Li Hongzhang did not pay enough attention to Western medicine, especially Chinese Western medical talents, and Huang Kuan's image as China's earliest Western medical talent in Britain was not constructed in the eyes of scholars and doctors headed by Li Hongzhang.
When Huang Sheng returned from the United States due to illness in the autumn of 1848, he first worked as a printer at the Anglo-Chinese College in Hong Kong, and assisted Li Jacob in translating the Bible and translating the "Four Books" into English; in 1860, together with Wu Tingfang, he founded Hong Kong's first Chinese newspaper, "Sino-Foreign New Paper", which was very influential in Hong Kong. In the 1860s and 1870s, Huang Sheng actively participated in the cause of foreign affairs, but encountered setbacks. In 1864, Huang Sheng accepted Ding Richang's invitation (recommended by Huang Kuan) to serve as an English teacher at the Shanghai Cantonese Dialect Hall, but three years later (1867), Huang Sheng resigned and returned to Yinghua College for unknown reasons. After 1871, he co-founded the China Printing Bureau and the Circulation Daily with Wang Tao and others. After the matter of young children staying in the United States was launched, Huang Sheng was responsible for leading the second batch of young children studying in the United States to the United States in 1873, but he soon returned to China - "he had returned to China by the end of the first year of Guangxu", and after returning to China, he enrolled in the English class of Fuzhou Ship Administration School in Hong Kong. After 1878, he went to the United States for the third time, and served as a member of the Bureau of Foreign Industry and an interpreter at the Embassy in the United States. During this period, Chen Lanbin, the minister in the United States, had a bad impression of Huang Sheng, and when Rong Hong planned to give him the post of deputy, Chen Lanbin said that Huang Sheng was "too heavy in foreign habits, and it was not appropriate to investigate the situation, so when he went to France in March of the leap year, he was sent to be an interpreter for the Consul General's Office of Jinshan, and the distance between Jinshan and Jinshan was 14,000 kilometers, which could prevent him from getting involved in the affairs of the bureau." In November of the sixth year of Guangxu (December 1880), he was also consulted by Li Shibin, the superintendent of Jiangnan Province, "The assistant translator of the bureau, Huang surnamed Huang, has long been a believer, and secretly lured each student to enter the religion." "The above unpleasant experience, as well as the subsequent withdrawal of young children, were extremely serious setbacks for Huang Sheng, because after returning to Hong Kong around the seventh or eighth year of Guangxu, he was naturalized as a British citizen in December of the ninth year of Guangxu (1883) and has since ceased to participate in the foreign affairs movement." The understanding of Huang Sheng by the officials of the Western affairs faction is only "translation", not only will not be entrusted with heavy responsibilities, but also vigilant everywhere, which is the common fate of those who returned from overseas in the early days.
After the withdrawal of the young children who stayed in the United States in the seventh year of Guangxu (1881), although the report on the young children in the "Declaration" quoted the Japanese newspapers, the evaluation was very negative: "The first time he went abroad, there was no family lineage, the son of the giant businessman Jia, and his recruits were the sons of Duo Shilu, and the products were particularly mixed, how could such people be enough to learn from Yan Xi? How can it be enough to talk to the Art of War of the Sailors and so on? Temperament is more obedient, endowment is more dull, hearing that this generation in the United States and talking about the major affairs of the country and all the arduous tasks are sleepy, taking care of him, then what will be the future of his creation. "Young children in the United States are criticized, even fundamentally denied from their families." Those of us who are college graduates, who have received college medal winners and all of us, when we return home, no matter what we do, receive a low salary of 4 taels of silver ($5.5) a month, which is equivalent to the salary of an office worker. "What is reflected is still the experience of international students being slighted and denigrated." Some young children in the United States had to take temporary shelter in church schools: "In the 1880s, when they returned home, they found it difficult to find a satisfactory position, and some committed themselves to teaching positions at St. John's College (with a monthly salary of about 30 taels) until they found a better position in the eunuch or business world. ”
The fate of the ship administration students and the young children who stayed in the United States was diametrically opposed, and they not only received rewards from the Qing court one after another, but also were soon sent to the Fuzhou Shipping Bureau or the appointment of various marine divisions according to their profession. As the late Qing Dynasty westerners expected, the social image of the ship's retainers was consistent with their professional skills. However, after the Sino-French War and the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War, the ship administration left european students lost most of the half, and the fiasco of the war was not of great use to this group in the eyes of the Qing government, which made the late Qing governor have a low evaluation of the ship administration students who stayed in Europe.
Among the diplomats, the earliest to be appointed was Wu Tingfang. When Li Hongzhang recommended Wu Tingfang to Premier Yamen, he said: "I have long heard that he is familiar with Western laws and regulations, and he once passed the examination in the British Academy. Wu Tingfang, with his background in Britain and his familiarity with Western laws, was used by Li Hongzhang to run foreign affairs until the twenty-second year of Guangxu (1896) as a minister to the United States, Spain and Peru, and presided over the revision of laws during the New Deal at the end of the Qing Dynasty. Prime Minister Yamun recognized the value of international students in the diplomatic field and entrusted them with diplomatic duties. Before the Penghu Restoration, there were also a type of international students who traveled abroad with graduates of the Western Literature Hall, such as the Jingshi Tongwenguan, the Shanghai Cantonese Dialect Museum, and the Guangzhou Tongwenguan, most of whom became active diplomats on the diplomatic stage of the late Qing Dynasty, and traveling abroad or studying abroad was an essential experience for their identity, which became the main force of diplomats after the 1870s. In the field of diplomacy in the late Qing Dynasty, the role of international students was valued earlier, and there was a natural association between the image of international students and diplomats.
In the process of sending young children to study in the United States, shipping administration students to stay in Europe, and tongwenguan students to travel overseas, the Qing government gradually formed an understanding of international students, from only recording the early international students' words and yiyi characters, to emphasizing that international students were "superior in foreign schools", and the social image of international students was initially constructed. Although the social image of international students has been established, it has not yet been universally recognized by the society of the late Qing Dynasty. International students tried to bridge the gap between marginalized outsiders and scholars, but encountered many setbacks in the 1880s and 1890s.
From Expectation to Respect: The Establishment of the Elite Image of International Students in the Late Qing Dynasty and early Qing Dynasty
After the Sino-Japanese War, stimulated by the defeat, the enthusiasm of the Chinese people to study in the East was high. During the Reform and Reform Movement, Yang Shenxiu, Kang Youwei, and others successively went to the table to invite students to study in Japan, pointing out that "non-talented people who have traveled abroad to study are not enough for the purpose of changing the government." Prime Minister Yamen then went to the "Film on The Matter of Selecting Students and Apprentices to Study in Japan" to open the floodgates of education in Japan, and the local governor took the lead in dispatching students studying in Japan. Although the Penghu Restoration failed, education in Japan still developed rapidly.
During the Restoration Movement, international students had a new image as a new social group. In the twenty-third year of Guangxu (1897), Liang Qichao published a biography of Ms. Kang Aid, Jiangxi, in the "Times": Kang Aid was a graduate of the University of Morgen Province (that is, the University of Michigan) in the United States, and he specialized in studying medicine because of his desire to save sentient beings from their diseases and sufferings... Taking China's weakness as a deep shame, spontaneous and big-hearted, asking for the lives of 20 million people, thinking of the new female image. It is particularly noteworthy that this new woman received a modern Western education and obtained a medical degree, and Liang Qichao believes that if she had not been adopted by American missionaries since childhood, "it would not be suitable for the United States and would not have entered the University of Morgen, and it would still be indistinguishable from ordinary women." This is the image of the new woman constructed by the Reform School, and it is also the image of the international student.
In March of the 24th year of Guangxu (April 1898), Zhang Zhidong wrote the "Persuasion Chapter", and in his outer chapter "Study Tour II", Zhang Shi vigorously advocated sending students to Japan. Because the "Persuasion chapter" was appreciated by the Qing government and widely published, studying in Japan became the trend of the times, which led to the upsurge of study abroad education in the late Qing Dynasty. Although there is no phrase in the "Persuasion Chapter" to discuss the image of international students, studying in Japan as one of the key measures for social reform and national prosperity has in fact had a strong positive expectation for international students, which is a very important time point in the formation of the image of international students in the late Qing Dynasty.
In the short time since, international students have quickly become a group of high hopes in late Qing society. In 1902, Liang Qichao said that "the survival of China and other days is extinct, and all the Japanese students will be Lai." To get one more person is to receive more than one person. China's major events today have never been so." Since Cai Jun, then minister in Japan, sent a letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs opposing the dispatch of students studying in Japan, Liang proposed to "prevent those who send students abroad, that is, the public enemies of our civilization." International students, especially those studying in Japan, have become the force on which China's "survival and survival" depends. As Liang Qichao said: "Between the past and the last year and two, and the kings are respected and expected, and the point of reaching this height is the highest and heaviest vocation of a country, and it is clear that it has fallen on the heads of the kings." In "Greetings to the Scholars", Liang Qichao regards the international students as "the most respectful and beloved future masters of China", and pins his hope that "it is not just the foundation of national politics, but also the foundation of social morality", and international students become the hope of the future of the country. "Foreign Affairs Daily" said that "today's international students have appeared in their heads, as a new kind of figure in the country, and their clothes, their actions, their remarks, and their habits are all admirable and not confused with others." Expectations are palpable.
What played a key role in establishing the image of international students was a series of policies promulgated by the Qing government to encourage study tours.
On the fifth day of the first month of August in the 27th year of Guangxu (September 17, 1901), the Qing court issued an edict encouraging the provinces to send students abroad, saying: "If they have the honor of completing their studies and return to China with a certificate, they will send students to be rewarded with a test as a whole, and the waiting orders will be rewarded separately to the jinshi and the various origins of the people, in preparation for appointment and encouragement." Let this encyclical know it.". On this basis, in August of the 29th year of Guangxu, Zhang Zhidong separately drafted "ten paragraphs of the binding charter, ten paragraphs of the encouragement charter, and another seven paragraphs of the charter for filing the case at his discretion" to restrain and encourage international students. The Qing government soon promulgated various statutes, among which the ten articles of the "Charter for Encouraging Study Tour Graduates" rewarded and appointed students who had obtained graduation certificates at all levels of study in Japan, and were given births from Bagong, Juren, Jinshi, and Hanlin respectively, and those who had original origins were given equivalent official positions according to the degree of study. At the same time, for those who have prepared their own axes to study abroad, "they should be awarded to all graduates of the official academy, and should not be distinguished." In the era when the imperial examination system was still implemented, this system played an important role in promoting the enthusiasm of scholars to study abroad, and the reward method for obtaining a diploma at all levels when studying abroad was undoubtedly a booster for the great development of study abroad and the positive image of international students. Later, in November, Zhang Baixi, Rongqing, and Zhang Zhidong jointly played "Please reward officials for traveling to study films", hoping that "internal and external officials, willing to travel abroad and scholars, will follow one after another", and encourage officials to go abroad. Under the policy of encouragement from the Qing government, studying abroad became a boom in the late Qing society, and international students were placed high hopes on the whole society, "Their future is the most promising, and those who can afford the future of China must know that international students ... The future master of international students is also the future ruler, and the future ruler is also. Those who ask about China's future and can serve as state affairs are only international students. "The positive, tall image of international students was formed in the first two or three years of the 20th century.
From the thirty-first year of Guangxu (1905) to the third year of Xuanun (1911), the Academic Affairs Office (Faculty) presided over seven examinations for graduates of studying abroad, and held four court examinations. At the time of the first faculty examination, the examination and the first person will be awarded the title of the section and the official position. After the abolition of the examination system, the academic examination is the academic completion examination, and the international students who pass the examination are issued a unified diploma by the faculty, which is awarded to Hanlin, Jinshi, juren, etc., respectively, without giving official positions, and the faculty examination is held regularly; students who pass the faculty examination then pass the court examination, that is, the entrance examination, the official position is awarded, and the court examination is held irregularly. Both the ministry examination and the court examination open up avenues for international students to become officials, which is very attractive to international students.
The Qing government also adopted the method of "visiting and recommending graduates of study tours" to give the origin of international students who graduated and returned to China in the early years as a reward. As early as October 31, Zhang Zhidong had called the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to ask for an award for Gu Hongming: "Cha Sanpin Top Wearer Foreign Lang Rank Gu Tangsheng, Number Hongming, and three Chinese of English, French and German, must have a doctoral diploma in Roman and Greek economics from British universities (more than Chinese scholars), and a diploma from the German National Engineering Academy." The officer is well-intentioned and knowledgeable, and is well known from all over the world. "I request that Gu Hongming be given the birth of a jinshi." Although it was not implemented in that year, it provided ideas for rewarding "old international students". In the thirty-third year of Guangxu (1907), Yuan Shikai, the governor directly under the direct subordination, also asked for exemption from the examination to grant four students who had returned to China for more than ten years and had outstanding political achievements, Zhan Tianyou, Wu Yangzeng, Qu Yongqiu, and Kuang Rongguang, who had entered the army, and obtained permission from the imperial court and promoted this method. The Faculty of Science asked the governors of the provinces to extend the visit, "those who have returned to China after completing their studies for ten years, who have excellent academic ability and experience", and give birth. After obtaining the consent of the Qing court, the Faculty formulated five articles of the "Statutes for The Examination of Each Province's Interview and Study Tour SpecialTy". According to this charter, in December of the first year of Xuantong, it was finalized that 19 returning students would receive birth awards. Although such an award is only a medal of honor for the international students themselves, this incident means that the Qing government's summary of the study abroad education at the end of the 19th century placed the study abroad and the merits of the imperial examination on the same footing, which played a role in promoting the study abroad education.
The Qing government's system of recommending international students lasted until three years after the reunification, and in March the Faculty gave Wu Liande an award for medical scholars, saying that "this member studied medicine in the University of Kanbury [Cambridge] in the United Kingdom, graduated from Guangxu twenty-five years, obtained excellent grades in examinations, obtained a bachelor's degree, and went to the Pasteur School in Paris, France, to have a master's degree, to regain a doctorate degree on thirty-one, and to study cholera diseases and write various medical books... He has great experience in the research situation, is appreciated by British and American medical personnel, and has a very good reputation", please give a degree in medicine. "Fame and fame" is the embodiment of the good image of international students, whether it is the supervision or the department of the recital, all detail the foreign schools, majors, degrees obtained, etc. The content of study abroad, which is very different from the evaluation of "Tongyi yan, Yizi" used by Rong Hong and others more than forty years ago!
Overall, the system of granting international students in the late Qing Dynasty was a key step in the Appointment of International Students by the Qing Government, and it became a shortcut to the advanced officialdom in the context of the abolition of the imperial examination. In the New Deal at the end of the Qing Dynasty, the Qing government needed talents, and international students became the talents relied on by the New Deal: in the five ministers who went abroad to investigate the constitutional government, in the constitutional compilation and inspection museum, in the new policy of education in the late Qing Dynasty, in the process of the establishment of the Senior Government And the LuoHui Bureau, international students participated in it, international students had a close relationship with the New Deal, and international students became the objects of appointment by the Qing government. Directly equating the diploma obtained by studying abroad with the entry of scholars at all levels, and granting official positions according to their origins not only enhances the good reputation of international students, but also lays the groundwork for the criticism of international students entering the army at the beginning of the people.
At the beginning of the 20th century, international students were regarded as the force of social change, "those who have infinite responsibilities, who are treated with no difference, who have infinite hopes, who are infinitely blamed?" International students are also. It is not only the Qing government but also the revolutionaries who have high hopes for international students: "International students, the most beautiful term of the twentieth century, and the master of the new world." His every move is not to save his compatriots as an obligation, not to despotism as the goal, not to build a new China, so that the race is not destroyed by the strong countries. All sectors of society have high hopes for international students: "Today, the people of the whole country are eager to go to the hopes, no more than international students, no choice of talents, Shesmodangye." "International students became a respected social force in the late Qing Dynasty, and international students were regarded as the masters of the future society, and the change in image further promoted the rise of study abroad education."
In response to the Wuchang Uprising, the provinces played a key role in the Wuchang Uprising, and "all the successes and failures of the Xinhai Revolution have a direct and indirect relationship with the students." At the beginning of the Republic of China, international students accounted for the majority of the general directors and vice presidents of the various ministries of the Nanjing Provisional Government, and among the nine ministries of the first cabinet of the Nanjing Provisional Government, except for the ministers of internal affairs, the industry and the ministry of communications, who had no background in studying abroad, the directors and vice presidents of the remaining ministries were all students studying in the East and the West.
On February 15, 1912, Yuan Shikai took over as provisional president of the Republic of China and took office in Beijing on March 10, marking the beginning of beijing government rule. After the establishment of the Beijing government, the selection of officials and staff of various ministries has become the focus of social attention.
In April 1912, the "Declaration" quoted Western newspapers as saying: "The ministries in Beijing must now explain the future recruitment of staff, and President Yuan Da intends to divide them into four categories: those who have studied abroad in the old people of the Nanjing government are the first category; those who have rich experience in the southern province are the second category; the graduates and former scholars of the northern schools are the third category; and the old figures of the northern government are the fourth category." ”
On the surface, Yuan Shikai attached great importance to the appointment of members of the Nanjing Provisional Government, with special emphasis on those with a background in studying abroad. Under such a background, the overseas students in the various ministries and departments of the Beijing government account for a considerable proportion and have a prominent position. In 1914, when the Constitutional Convention was organized to elect delegates, "the majority of the members of the Political Council are now in favour of three members of each province electing three members of the Constitutional Assembly, one of whom must be members of the old Parliament, one of whom shall be foreign students, and one of whom shall have practical political experience." Judging from the situation of central government employees in 1916, the total number of employees in various ministries and institutes in that year was 3580, and there were international students in each ministry, and the total number of international students reached 806, accounting for 22.51% of the total number, which was quite high. In particular, the proportion of international students in the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce is as high as 49.78%, and almost half of the personnel are international students. Followed by the Ministry of Communications and dali institute, the proportion of international students is more than 40%. A considerable proportion of international students in the Beijing government: "International students are the leaders of a country and the saviors of a country... Today, we have a good view in a corner of Beijing: there are no less than a hundred people who hold high positions in political circles and have prestige... The study tour is actually the ultimate shortcut to today's Dengshi version of the political position, the future official, today's international students. "International students have received attention and appointment from the Beijing government, which shows that the demand of the Minchu government for talents who have received Western-style education is one of the results of the absorption of international students by the Minchu society." From the perspective of international students, the fact that there are so many international students in the political circles is related to the people's concept of "only honoring the career", "Now that the imperial examination has been abolished, the rank of enterprising Shilu, but studying abroad is the most successful." Still following the tradition of traditional knowledge "learning and excellence", international students are the hot image of social elites. So much so that Cai Yuanpei had a manifesto in 1923 that "now the government [which] organ can leave the international students?" If students resign, will the government be able to afford it? The rhetorical question is that the position of international students in the Beijing government is very important and is an indisputable fact.
In 1922, Ding Wenjiang, Hu Shi and others founded the "Effort Weekly" and published a large number of articles urging "good people" to come out and enter politics. On May 14, 1922, "Effort Weekly" published "Our Political Propositions", which put forward the proposition that "political clarity depends on good people to come out and struggle", which was called "good governmentism" by researchers. Among the sixteen people who signed this "declaration", only Liang Shuming was not an international student, and the other fifteen were all students studying in Europe and the United States, which can be regarded as a declaration of international students. In 1923, Ding Wenjiang published an article entitled "Advice of a Foreign Friend to an International Student" in the "Effort Weekly" under the pseudonym of "Zong Yan", and even said that "international students are the most complete people with chinese knowledge and also enjoy the greatest power in society", the more knowledge, the greater the power enjoyed, the heavier the responsibility, and I hope that international students can shoulder social responsibility. On August 26 of the same year, Ding Wenjiang's "The Responsibility of the Minority" proposed that "the chaos in Chinese politics is not due to the naivety of the people, not because the politicians and bureaucrats are corrupt, not because the warlords are arbitrary; it is because the 'minority' has no sense of responsibility and does not have the ability to be responsible." International students are becoming more and more self-aware: a small number of outstanding elements, including international students, have social responsibilities and the ability to be responsible.
Outside the political circles, the students of the First People's Republic of China have a prominent position in the military, academic, industrial and commercial circles and other fields. "In the military academy circles, there are also many people who have strong points. Since the Gai zi keju has been abolished, the political, military, and academic circles of our country have all drawn materials from international students. "You must know that today's China is the era when students are needed." Voices from all walks of life express that international students are the hope of society. "Studying abroad is the best kind of origin. At present, the most 'proud' people in the political circles are most active, although not all of them are international students, but also the number of international students. The titles of international students can be worth the right path of the Former Qing Dynasty's juren, jinshi, Hanlin, etc., so those who have been tested by civil servants, who have been certified as lawyers and accountants, and who are candidates for membership in the provincial councils and congresses, often use a certificate from a foreign school to verify their qualifications. In short, international students have become a special social class in today's society, that is, the most excellent and noble class. International students have become one of the focal points of the whole society, and the society has high hopes for international students, hoping that international students will "return to China, pool their wisdom and efforts, and exert their embrace to save this China that is dying."
Not only did society have high hopes for international students, but also the self-perception of international students gradually became clear in the early years of the Republic of China. Although as early as 1914, Hu Shi, a student in the United States, published the "Non-Study Abroad Chapter", saying that "students studying abroad, the great shame of our country is also!" For students, the boat of transition is not a knock on the door. Students who study abroad, waste time and hurt money and half the work also. Students, emergency solutions rather than long-term plans also." However, Hu Shi also said that "studying abroad cannot be abolished": "Overseas students, the best strategy for emergency, the boat of transition." If our country has not come out of the era of transition for a day, it cannot be abolished for one day. When it comes to the responsibility of international students, we should not rush to "take the strengths of others, make up for our shortcomings, compromise the old and the new, and connect the east and the west to become a new civilization of a new China." The purpose of Hu Shi's criticism of international students is precisely to clarify the responsibility of international students - to rebuild a new civilization. Ren Hongjun pointed out that "those who study abroad, our country looks up to Lu Bianye who has come back from the dead", hoping that after returning to China, international students will "pay a little attention to social undertakings, and do not take the examination as a shortcut to the south, as a golden horse gate to avoid the world". Later, in 1917, Zhang Hongxiang, a student studying in the United States, said that "everything can be humble, but in terms of responsibility, there should be the courage to do it... The responsibility of innovating the trend of thought is shared by all of us." All these reflect the enhancement of the self-awareness of American students, and since then, "responsibility" has become a self-proposition that international students attach great importance to. In the same year, Li Shuhua, a student studying in France, also wrote an article to warn the international students, hoping that the international students would "pay attention to the self-consciousness (responsibility and personality) of the individual and the combination with the group, which has a major relationship with our future return to China." "The four-thousand-year-old country has a glimmer of light and infinite hope, and is indeed a student of my generation. Therefore, those who make China immortal are students. To China's rich and powerful, but also for students. Among the students, especially international students seem to be the most promising... The Chinese people really think that they are looking forward to international students, and the international students have to think that they are self-appointed... It is the duty to turn the country into a crisis, and the responsibility to maintain and improve society... To be able to do my best is to fulfill my responsibility. Those who study politics and law can enter the political circles, and those who learn science must not abandon what they have learned and engage in other professions. "After calling on international students to return to China," the General Society was established, which was carried out in different disciplines, and those who studied a certain subject gathered the same kind, engaged in the research of a certain subject, disseminated knowledge, and developed scholarship. "This is the understanding of responsibility of an international student who is about to become a scholar. After the 1920s, Tsinghua students who were about to study abroad also made clear their responsibilities: "Revolutionary events are not empty words that can work, there must be leaders, and there must be people who have the courage to learn and sacrifice, and all this heavy responsibility is not for international students." "The emergence and enhancement of international students' sense of responsibility reflects the further clarification of international students' understanding of self-image.
From Reverence to Questioning: The Transformation of the Image of International Students in the 1920s
While society has given high hopes to international students and international students themselves have emphasized the sense of responsibility, there have been various voices of doubt about international students from society and within international students.
Overall, the performance of international students in politics is not satisfactory. On February 17, 1917, Lu Zhengxiang warned international students in a speech at the European and American Returned Scholars Association: "Beijing occasions are like a furnace, the most easy to sell will, once returning students enter it, they are rarely discouraged... The trainees were encouraged to shake up their spirits, practice and dye with all their strength, and take the four words of 'settling down and establishing a life' as the foundation of their feet. The Beijing Youth Association commented on the phenomenon of international students entering politics: "There are many international students who have the heart of patriotism and love for the people, and who have the ambition to improve political society, but once they enter the political circles, their mentality will change, their moral learning, and their daily regression." For the sake of one's own position, for one's own interests, one does not have time to take into account the security of the country and society. Covering the political circles of Beijing, a flood furnace, its ability to consume ambition and degenerate morality is really incredible. "The political circles are likened to a flood furnace, in which international students are involuntarily wrapped up in politics and floating in the chaotic political situation of the early ming. Cai Yuanpei expects that international students can also learn from the strengths of various countries: "Any society that has the ability to be ronged can be used as a furnace view, such as the British social monopoly class, so students studying in Britain tend to the political circles; German society is dedicated to military personnel, so students studying in Germany like to talk about strategy; French society is focused on civil rights, so students studying in France are extravagant about revolution; American society is focused on business, so students studying in the United States pay attention to trade; society in Belgium specializes in industry, so students study in France compete to make." If China can combine all kinds of furnaces into one side, it will be a good learner. Gu Weijun analyzed the "reasons for the failure of international students to be attacked by the people" caused by factors such as excessive self-esteem, disdain for small things, neglect of small sections, impatience, and lack of determination after returning to China, hoping that international students would "first the country and then the family, first the society and then the individual"... The admonitions are constantly heard, reflecting the crisis in the reputation of international students.
At the same time, the political students studying abroad are clearly distinguished according to the different countries, especially the contradiction between the Oriental and Western students who study in the East and the West has already appeared at the beginning of the establishment of the government: "I see that the students who have entered the political circles are divided into the British and American factions and the German faction, and especially the Oriental faction and the Western faction are the big differences. Factions are divided, suspicion arises, and even despises and dumps each other, and the misfortune is hidden in the country. In fact, students who study abroad also learn from their own country, return to their studies to seek the country, and do their best for the motherland, and there is a so-called national border. How can "how can" the heart of a field be stored in different countries because of the different countries of study? "The most bizarre thing is that the students who return to China are divided into Eastern and Westerner schools, and they do not call for learning, but divide their parties according to the place of study." In the central government, students studying in Japan account for two-thirds of the share, and the large number of students studying in Japan are quoted from each other, quoting the "Zi lin xi bao" news agency in 1919 that "students who return to the United States are eliminated at the moment, and they are not allowed to be placed in the political circles, while students studying in Japan are given preferential treatment." Although the tone is exaggerated, it reflects the fact that the number of Japanese students in the political arena is large and the participation of other international students is excluded.
Not only in the political circles, but also in all fields of social life, the prestige of international students is also declining: "Since the beginning of the year, the prestige of international students has gradually declined, and the psychology of social envy of international students has gradually faded. And those who return from their studies may not be able to be as famous as ever, one also. The knowledge of international students often does not live up to their name, and they may not be able to drive the students of the schools in their own countries, and the tricks are easy to be poor. In Western culture, international students return home, most of them are not our country, they are easy to take, they are uneven, they are both tainted with vices, eccentricities, or proud of their motherland, they cannot be a lifetime, and the Chinese people are afraid of it. This is a reflection on the decline in the prestige of international students in 1917. At that time, international students were still the darlings of society as a whole.
Since the 1920s, society's evaluation of international students has changed, and the voices of doubt and criticism have increased day by day. "There are thousands of returning students, doing nothing, waiting for placement, which is a major problem in today's education." The purpose of studying abroad is to seek a good birth, develop a new career and open up new insights, but due to immature preparation and vain name, unsteady and arbitrary choice of career, no lack of group spirit and organization, and no investigation of domestic social affairs, international students face negative evaluations after returning to China. "Today's international students have great ambitions and high prices. To enter the political circles is to leap to become a chief executive, and to enter the business and industrial circles is to leap to become a manager and engineer, and no matter how many chiefs, managers, and engineers in the country are limited, they cannot be supplied to the needs of international students, that is, if they jump to become chiefs, managers, and engineers, they can only be puppets. And no matter what international students learn, they may not be advanced, that is, what they have learned is also partial to theory and not to experiment. Among the "international students" who hold the despicable concept of going abroad and saying that it is ten times the price, the majority of them live... Even there are high school and secondary school graduates, who are also sailing to Europe and the United States, and these people have neither profound observation of the national conditions; they have a considerable foundation for learning. After returning to China, his thinking is contrary to the national conditions, and his actions are even more incomparable to his family and state." "The degeneration of young people who have returned to China from abroad is particularly severe", "Just look at today's returning students, who have no organization, no advocacy, lack of sacrifice spirit, and are willing to live in the number of degenerate people, which makes people sad and cry."
In particular, the issue of international students entering politics has been questioned by the public: "The old bureaucracy is gradually eliminated, and the new bureaucracy is still endless." Most of the most prominent bureaucrats today belong to international students in their twenties and sixties. To put it mildly: China's bureaucratic politics is the 'politics of international students'. The author also states: "To ridicule international students for becoming bureaucrats is either to oppose them becoming officials." Of course, it is better not to study engineering and manufacturing; is it not their duty to study law, finance, and political implementation? Therefore, international students are irresponsible for what they have learned and become officials of the state, but they should not be bureaucratized! ...... International students regard learning as a stepping stone to open the door of bureaucracy, which is the saddest thing. ”
What is the reason why international students face more and more questions and ridicule after the 1920s? This should not be the issue of this article, but it is closely related to the transformation of the image of international students.
The cause of the discussion on the issue of studying abroad seems to be accidental: in 1923, Li Yuanhong's daughter went to the United States to study, and several newspapers published a special article, and his secretary and accountant, who supported him before and after, triggered Shao Lizi's criticism, saying that "such a pomp and circumstance is used for study tours, is it a big fuss, or is it ugly?" "But we must know that the hidden worries about the future of education are monopolized by the rich, and the serious illness of educators is also to charm the rich and hate the poor." This article was considered by the Education Magazine to be the earliest and most painful article to criticize education in 1923. The "Education Magazine" has made clear its position: "We feel that the issue of studying abroad in China is not only one of the important issues in the educational circles, but is simply closely related to the fundamental organization of society; we intend to reprint the articles of various newspapers and magazines criticizing the issue of studying abroad, and if we have any special feelings or opinions, we intend to continue to publish them; we hope to attract the attention of the Chinese people, and also to correct this erroneous phenomenon as soon as possible, and to seek a more effective method." At the same time, the Education Magazine reprinted two articles by Shao Lizi and Chen Tingrui commenting on the issue of studying abroad. Since then, the issue of studying abroad has become a very concerned topic in major education magazines, and publications such as Oriental Magazine, Education and Life, Chinese Education Circle, and New Education Review have all devoted themselves to this discussion.
In April 1924, "Chinese Education Circles" published Anyi's article, which directly poked at the crux of the international students - studying abroad should be aimed at "academic independence and academic improvement", and international students often failed to meet such requirements, resulting in the problem of international students: "Now the domestic large schools, that (which) school is not the head of international students, and then investigate the resumes of professors in famous universities, at least 80% of international students are at least 80% or 90%. However, the majority of them, in addition to transferring the textbooks taught by teachers in the countries they studied abroad to the students in the lecture hall, several of them actually studied and wrote their experiences into several books that could only be used as textbooks for universities and even secondary schools without having to hide the famous mountains. The reason for this problem is that international students do not understand Chinese and English, take learning as a stepping stone, and purely foreignization, thus "leaving a lot of bad impressions in society." In further criticism, Yi Yi focused on the negative impact of international students on material life and scholarship, which led to the disgust of most ordinary people in society for the new education.
Commentators have discussed the reasons for the criticism of international students: "Although in recent years, the indoctrination of national Chinese and the promotion of industry have all been the merits of international students. However, in terms of the overall situation, the results are really minimal, and the gains are not worth the losses. And because of the hidden worries caused by studying abroad, it is related to the 'national nature' and 'national is', and there are many restorations. Specifically, there are four aspects: destroying the opportunity of education and cultivating dependence on the root nature; eliminating the national nature and promoting disputes; arbitrarily dividing factions and turning to each other; and increasingly "westernizing" it. "Westernization" means that in terms of schools, the university is a professor of Western language, that is, secondary schools and primary schools also regard the degree of Western language as the best in the school. In the past, Zhang Zhidong's middle school was the body, and the Western learning was used, and now it has changed to 'Western learning is the body, and western learning is used'. "For example, those who study in the West and those who study in the East are regarded as the same as water and fire." Even if you study in a country, it is also difficult to cooperate due to the differences in school, geography, and before and after. Depending on the undertakings organized by international students, they can be implicitly divided into districts. Society often regards a certain district as a place to study in a certain country. "Its analysis is insightful.
By 1926, the "Chinese Education Circle" launched the "Study Abroad Problem Number" to discuss the problem of studying abroad, introduce the history of study abroad, and comment on the problem of studying abroad in various countries for reference. The fact that studying abroad has become a "problem" and has been paid attention to and discussed reflects the urgent need for improvement in study abroad education and the deep doubts about international students. Of course, the more important background of the discussion on the issue of studying abroad lies in the trend of academic independence in the 1920s, and in the discussion of striving for academic independence, the improvement of the academic level of domestic higher education is emphasized, and the purpose of studying abroad is to serve academic independence.
After this, public opinion discussed the issue of studying abroad in many aspects. From the overall situation, the issue of social commentary on studying abroad after the 1920s mainly involves three aspects: the faults of the state and society, the failure of the study abroad policy, and the problems of international students themselves. From the perspective of the state and society, "unfortunately, the politics is not clear, the society is chaotic, and it is impossible to accommodate talents, so that the aspirants are depressed for no reason to see themselves, and the able people cannot show their ambitions. From the perspective of formulating the study abroad policy, commentators have realized that "in the future, if our country's laissez-faire study abroad policy is not changed, then the real disease of China's death in the future will probably be the study abroad madness of the Chinese people!" This article focuses on the criticism of the international students themselves.
In 1925, Sun Baiqian wrote an article about "What International Students Should Do", emphasizing that international students "have left the motherland behind, can they get rid of the suspicion of 'foreign enslavement'?" In 1926, Chang Dao directly criticized the six problems of international students: the poor level of Chinese language; the lack of understanding of national conditions; the lack of large group spirit; demoralization; lack of discernment from Western civilization; and short-sightedness. International students only pay attention to the study of Western languages, and the degree of Chinese language is not enough to make smooth letters; international students do not understand the national conditions, so their concept of loving the country is weak; in addition to the foreignization of behavior and language, international students especially have a negative impact on the localization of thoughts and feelings. For international students who do not have a large group spirit, Chang Daozhi mainly criticizes american students, and he specially wrote an article entitled "Students Studying in the United States and The Problem of Secret Associations" published in the "Chinese Education Circles", criticizing the Brotherhood in the United States, which had a greater impact on researchers in the fields of sociology and education in the 1920s. Sociological researchers regard the fraternity as a new secret association: "Among the international students in the United States, because they have inherited the habits of secret associations in China and the brotherhood in American universities, coupled with some motivations for aid and collusion, many secret associations have occurred, and they will transplant these associations from the United States to China, which may become a gang in the international student community in the future!" Shu Xincheng in 1927 the founding work of the study of the history of studying abroad - "The History of Studying Abroad in Modern China", there is also the accusation that "American students have secretly organized fraternities, etc., thinking that they are the basis for returning to China to take over their careers", this criticism has a far-reaching impact on the history of modern study abroad, and later generations often quote this sentence as ironclad evidence when talking about students studying in the United States, which is the most important "crime" criticized by international students, but due to the arbitrariness of Shu Xincheng's conclusion, this issue has a lot of room for discussion.
In the face of social comments and even criticism of international students, international students have a self-understanding: some students studying in the United States believe that society "is too luxurious for those who want international students, and those who are responsible for international students are too urgent." The small test does not respond to each other's criticism, and there is no sincerity to always trust. Some people also believe that international students should be viewed objectively: "For international students in our country, there are admirers and ridiculers. My international students do not pride themselves on praise and worship, nor are they discouraged by ridicule and contempt. International students should establish the aspiration to study abroad: "Aspiring students, you must know that today's China is the era of the need for international students, and China's various knowledge is far inferior to that of people." If you want to reach it, it is not an international student. Therefore, a strong China has the progress of all kinds of knowledge, and the responsibility of improving knowledge cares about international students. International students, the origin of a strong country. Patriots of my students cannot study abroad. Regarding the criticism of international students, a student who is about to study medicine abroad said: "No matter what the psychology of others is, I should go my own way, and I must study my own problems thoroughly." On the one hand, I intend to absorb the essence of other countries, on the other hand, I intend to introduce the culture of my home country, that is, to return to China in the future, if I want to make a living, I will make money and be bright, so as not to lose my scholarly personality. For the country and society, it is willing to do it in the spirit of sacrifice. Because the new society should be transformed by our young people, it is my will. As a student studying in the United States, Hu Xianxiao received his doctorate from Harvard University and successively taught at Nanjing Higher Normal School and Southeast University, responding to scholars' criticism of international students, both in terms of recognition and for "the responsibility of studying abroad students is also too harsh, and here is also a slight defense." He believes that "the best part of American education is that it pays attention to internships and experiments, so the students studying in the United States do have considerable academic and experience in business and science." "You can't completely think of studying abroad as a lack of achievement.
In the 1910s and 1920s, international students were initially seen as a force to save society, and when society faced various problems, international students became one of the targets of questioning. The social evaluation of international students is high and low, and the contrast is huge, which is not only a disappointment after high hopes, but also the inevitable result of a deeper understanding of international students after their image becomes clearer, and increases the criticism of international students in the context of domestic academic independence.
Rational evaluation and blind obedience coexist: the dual characteristics of the image of international students
In the late Qing Dynasty, international students set up a large number of internal groups of international students, from the Huanqiu Chinese Students Association established at the end of the Qing Dynasty, the European and American Returned Scholars Association established in 1913, the National Federation of International Students planned to be established in 1914, and the Study Abroad Department organized by the Youth Association in 1915.
After the early years of the Republic of China, international students were criticized from all aspects of society, which further highlighted the importance of studying abroad and conducting research on international students. As early as 1919, Tao Lugong mentioned that "if someone gives a detailed account of the changes in Chinese students, it will become a very useful history of study abroad, which can be used as a reference for us." "Unfortunately, no one had sorted out the materials at that time. On the basis of the discussion of the issue of studying abroad in various newspapers and magazines around 1925, Shu Xincheng completed the writing of "History of Studying Abroad in Modern China" in 1926 and officially published it in 1927. In this pioneering work of studying the history of studying abroad, although Shu Xincheng criticized international students, Shu Xincheng believed that "without international students, China's new education and new culture will never be what it is today... At present, the educational curriculum, the commercial banking company, the industrial machinery manufacturing, all of them are imitated from Europe, america and Japan, and all of them are directly or indirectly transmitted by fake international students." The objective evaluation of study abroad and international students is the basis for Shu Xincheng's writing of "History of Studying Abroad in Modern China", and it also marks that international students have become research objects as a social group, and the rational study of international students has since begun.
After the discussion of the issue of studying abroad from 1923 to 1926, the society's understanding of international students gradually became rational. John Dewey returned to the United States in 1920 and in 1925 gave a speech in New York to Chinese students studying in the United States, "The Value of Foreign Studies to Chinese Students," arguing that "degrees are only of commercial value," which "most students who have returned or are currently in foreign countries and who are in the future are dissatisfied." Dewey's original intention was that international students should not pursue degrees for the purpose of pursuing a degree, but should pay attention to the practical contribution of individuals to society. This concept was relayed back to China by Liu Meisheng, prompting the country to reverse the blind worship of foreign diplomas. By 1926, "during the Northern Expedition and beyond, the political and social differences between international students and non-international students were almost gone." In 1929, Weng Wenhao proposed in a commemorative article for the twentieth anniversary of the founding of Tsinghua University that "the size of talent ability is by no means the difference between studying abroad and not studying abroad", "taking a diploma and thinking that you have exhausted the world's work, no longer continue to work hard, and will eventually destroy the credit of foreign diplomas." Educators and sociologists have gradually got rid of the superstition of international students and have a more sober understanding and view of international students.
At the same time, "society in general is still blindly obedient [to international students]." The phenomenon of blind obedience, such as "There are many business-oriented schools in Shanghai, advertising admissions always say, 'This university hires a doctoral master's degree in Europe and the United States as a professor...", this sentence is a confession of deception - there is really no such person as a teacher, as long as they know a little about the social situation - but he provides us with a lot of researchable information. The purpose of advertising this kind of school is to cater to the psychology of ordinary students and seek to overcharge students. We don't know exactly how effective this kind of advertising is, but those who come out of this and often do it must have the concept of worshipping international students in the consciousness of the masses... Secondly, some schools have a trend of fewer teachers and fewer students, and the new principal enters the school by hiring a number of international students, such as a teacher in a certain province, in the hope of winning the hearts and minds of students. This is also a manifestation of the promotion of international students... In addition, people who have a little performance in society, the average person always thinks that they are international students... The average person respects international students, not only respects only, and mixes international students with learning, the so-called international students are synonymous with learning, so the faculty of a certain university, non-international students are not hired, the teachers of the Ministry of Culture and Culture can not find international students with titles, and people in the school regard it as a pity. "Whether it is a government agency or an academic community, when employing people, the treatment of foreign students is always higher, and the treatment of domestic graduates is lower; even it is often said that something more important must be done by an international student, and if something is less related, it is better to ask domestic graduates to do it; Changyan is not secretly regarded as a matter of course." "Foreign graduates become professors as soon as they come, and those who graduate from home are always teaching assistants, and it is extremely difficult to obtain professor qualifications." Between the professor and the teaching assistant, it seems that the difference between studying abroad and not studying abroad is completely different, and the status is very different. "The promotion of international students remains a deep-rooted attitude in higher education and social life.
Some people called for not blindly worshipping international students: "We earnestly petition the general people of society, you should not blindly worship idols, thinking that the international students with the title of master's and doctoral students are all experts and scholars; you must know that learning is not idle, and after eating butter bread in foreign countries for a few years, you will be full of learning, and there is this matter between heaven and earth. Your blind obedience mentality is not tight, but it has harmed a group of young people, and studying abroad is a shortcut to promotion and wealth." However, this kind of blind worship psychology continued to be the same until the 1930s: "Until recent years, whenever the summer vacation arrived, from the newspapers in Shanghai, you can always see the news about a large number of students going abroad. What a certain month and day, the first few batches of international students, how many people, by a certain boat, from Shanghai to release the ocean, a certain month and day, an arrival in a certain country. From time to time, I can always read optimistic statistics on the number of international students in each year from the newspaper... According to the above records, we can at least tell us that the average Chinese people are trusting, optimistic, and willing to encourage and publicize the opportunity to study abroad today; it can also be said that many people think that the number of international students is better and better, and the more the more favorable. This concept goes hand in hand with the rational understanding of international students in the 1920s and 1930s, reflecting that the changes in social psychology are slower than the changes in academic cognition.
epilogue
In many international student literatures in the late Qing Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty, the negative image of international students jumped on the paper. Although its literary image expresses "the trajectory of the conflict and integration of Chinese and foreign cultures in modern times", people also admit that the literary image is different from the real situation, but when these materials are constantly quoted, the literary image is confused with the real image, and when the misreading expands, the misreading is regarded as a fact, so that there is a clear negative tendency to the history of studying abroad or the cognition of international students. Therefore, clarifying its true image and its transformation context is conducive to the in-depth study of the modern international student group.
In the late Qing Dynasty, the social image of international students changed from vague to clear, and society gradually accepted this new group. When international students became a vast army rushing to the East and west, when a series of policies to reward the origin of study tours and the implementation of official positions, from the official to the people more and more attention to the power of this group, the image of the social elite of international students became an indisputable mark of the entire society at the beginning of the 20th century, study abroad gradually became one of the focal points of modern society, and society placed high hopes on international students. In the early years of the Republic of China, the society still entrusted the group of international students with the heavy responsibility of curing China's decline, and the international students were in the political science, academia, industry and commerce circles; international students also carried the huge expectations and pressures of society and families on themselves, and further completed the shaping of self-image. However, the turmoil in the political situation in the early years of the Republic of China, the unsatisfactory performance of international students in politics, the growing call for academic independence, and the accumulation of their own problems have made it impossible for international students to meet the expectations of the whole society, and the huge disappointment has led to a large number of criticisms and doubts for international students. In this context, in the 1920s, researchers rationally discussed the problem of international students, the blind worship of international students in society gradually broke, and rational cognition became the consensus of the academic community, but the image of the elite of international students was still the same, while the ordinary people were still blindly obedient to international students.
In the modern social field, the change in the image of international students reflects the process of acceptance, expectation, disappointment, doubt and expectation of international students in society. In the process of the evolution of the social image of international students in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Ming Dynasty, international students went from the fringes of society to the center of the stage. Of course, within the international student community, due to different countries and genders, the image of the group is also different, which is worth further study.
The author is an associate professor at the School of History, Nankai University;
The original article is published in the Monthly Journal of History, No. 4, 2019, and the annotations are omitted. The article is reproduced from the "History Monthly" WeChat public account.