Cai Yuanpei (1868~ 1940) was born in Shaoxing, Zhejiang. He was a famous democratic revolutionist and educator in modern China. He made great contributions to the progress and development of the Chinese nation, the establishment of the bourgeois education system in China, and especially to the reform and development of higher education in China.
Cai Yuanpei's thought of "five educations" takes civic moral education as the core at the same time, which is the first time in the history of modern education in China. However, it also has its limitations. First of all, he divided the world into two parts: the phenomenal world and the substantive world, and divided education into political education, civic moral education and utilitarian education. This division is unscientific. Secondly, it is believed that the ultimate goal of education is not for the happiness of this world, but to achieve a material world that is not worthy of its name, and if it is necessary to insist on its name, it is "Tao, Tai Chi, dark consciousness or ignorant will". In addition, when he elaborated on civic moral education, world outlook education, aesthetic education and other issues, there were also some shortcomings such as being super-class, surreal and far-fetched.
In the whole education system, Cai Yuanpei's university education thought occupies a very prominent position, which is closely related to his emphasis on higher education. He believes that this is the key to the development of education in China. So he said, "His interest is in higher education, and he should take part in more opinions about higher education.". Therefore, he has presided over Peking University for a long time and has rich practical experience in university education. As a result, a more systematic idea of university education has been formed. ?