When it comes to Fudan University, a well-known institution of higher learning at home and abroad, almost everyone knows it. But as you know, the predecessor of Fudan University was Fudan Public School founded in Wusong, and in the process of its establishment, it was fully helped by a Baoshan person.
Click to watch the video
Yuan Xitao (1866–1930)
The character Guanlan, also known as Heling, Qing Guangxu juren, was an educator in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Ming Dynasty. Jiangsu Baoshan (now part of Shanghai) Chengxiang people.
In 1897, at the age of 32, Yuan Xitao passed the examination and went to the Shanghai Cantonese Dialect Museum to teach Chinese. He was introduced to new learning and soon realized the importance of educating a strong country. Yuan Xitao returned to his hometown of Baoshan and founded the Baoshan County Academy, Mengxuetang.
In June 1905, the Times published a news article announcing the dissolution of the former Aurora College. Aurora College was originally a new type of university created by the famous educator Ma Xiangbo who donated his family property and used the power of the French church. In order to oppose the oppression of the church, all the teachers and students left the school in anger and decided to build a new school, which was renamed "Fudan Public School".
At that time, Yuan Xitao of Baoshan County was known for his enthusiasm for running schools in the education sector because he advocated new learning in his hometown. Therefore, Ma Xiangbo found Yuan Xitao and other enthusiastic people to organize the "Fudan Public School". In the dilemma of no school site and no funds, Ma Xiangbo, Yan Fu, Yuan Xitao and others ran to appeal in many ways. Zhou Fu, the governor of Liangjiang, allocated 10,000 taels of silver, allocated 70 acres of Wusong camp as the school establishment address, and temporarily borrowed WuSong's Governor Xingyuan as a temporary school building, and in the Mid-Autumn Festival of 1905, Fudan Public School finally officially opened in Wusong Town.
In the process of assisting Ma Xiangbo in preparing for the establishment of Fudan Public School, Yuan Xitao personally accumulated debts of more than 6,000 taels. All are paid back silently by him year by year. Born in Baoshan, this educator has devoted his life to the cause of education and spared no effort for the concept of an educational power.
From 1905 to 1937, there were Fudan Public School, China Public School, Tongji University, National Shanghai Medical College, Wusong Chengchi University, Wusong Merchant Marine College, Wusong Aquatic Products School, National Labor University Agricultural College and many other colleges and universities in the Wusong area, which had an important impact on the century-old development history of China's higher education. The reason for the formation of Wusong's "university town" is inseparable from a group of benevolent people who are determined to educate and save the country, and with the help of Wusong's unique geographical and location advantages, they are angry and try to be strong and set up education. This is also a precious spiritual wealth left to Baoshan by the ancestors.
Source: Baoshan, Shanghai