In the fifth year of the Republic of China (19 16), Li Zongwu became the inspector of Sichuan province, which is roughly equivalent to the current education researcher. In the tenth year of the Republic of China (192 1), he held this post again. During his second term, he went to various provinces for investigation and education. After investigation, I deeply felt that the academic system at that time restricted people's freedom of learning, "bound people tightly" and "somehow lost some talents", so I advocated "breaking the existing academic system and establishing an examination system" so that "everyone's ability can be developed as much as possible and national culture can be improved day by day".
In the book On Examination System, Li Zongwu systematically expounded his educational thoughts. Li Zongwu believes that the disadvantages of the old school system can be collectively called "iron bed doctrine" education. This "uniform" education is extremely arrogant. As soon as the time comes, the teacher will come to teach, whether the students are interested in what they are talking about or not; As soon as the bell rings, the books are put away and left, regardless of whether the students have understood what they have been taught. Poor students are at a loss after listening to it, so they can't connect with Mr. Wang's ideas next time; Excellent students, who have understood what they are teaching in advance, sound boring. Sacrificing students' energy and time for formal unity is no different from "prison"
Li Zongwu also talked about the ancient imperial examinations. He thought that although the imperial examination had many disadvantages, "there was an excellent spirit at that time." As long as you are determined to study, you will have books to read. Moreover, in the imperial examination era, the poor can make a living and study hard at the same time. When the state exercises the examination, they are treated like university dropouts, and there is no discrimination. At that time, the school system shut out those gifted but poor children.
Li Zongwu's remedial measure, namely "the theory of examination system", actually originated from the imperial examination and was based on that time. His educational proposition is simply "freedom of learning", that is, students with superior talents are not limited by the academic year, so that their creative talents can be fully developed, and at the same time, schools are opened so that students outside the school can take exams. In this way, private schools can develop in parallel with public schools, and education is not easily monopolized by a few people. Li Zongwu believes that the state should not only develop private schools now, but also provide favorable conditions for their development. The existence of private schools is a powerful promotion to public schools. This thought didn't get due attention at that time, and it became a masterpiece in the later years of the Republic.
Li Zongwu advocates the implementation of the examination system, the focus of which is to realize the equality and popularization of education and cultivate real talents through this system. Therefore, he not only pays attention to students' grades, but also makes necessary investigations on students' usual morality.
During his time as inspector in Sichuan, Li Zongwu actively advocated and practiced the imperial examination system, and actively advocated civilian education. He once wrote an article entitled "The Plan of Promoting Civilian Education", which expounded the problems not involved in the discussion of the examination system. He believes that civilian education should be extended to educate the general public, not just the illiterate. According to the uneven reading level of the people, he advocated collecting some works that are "colloquial", "shallow in classical Chinese" and "always interesting", together with the fact that some foreign countries oppressed China and small and weak ethnic groups were invaded, and sent them to people who spread proverbs in the streets and teahouses to comment on books. Because "the language and attitude of these people are consistent with those in the market, and everyone is willing to listen to what they say; People in the upper class will feel that their words are different and their words will not be deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. "
When Li Zongwu put forward and published these educational thoughts, Cai Yuanpei was in charge of Peking University and Hu Shi returned to China, and the ideological trend of "total westernization" permeated the ideological and educational circles throughout the country. It is conceivable that Li's thoughts can't be ignored. Even in Sichuan where Li was the governor, the implementation of these ideas was only a flash in the pan. In the twenty-fifth year of the Republic of China (1936), all counties in Sichuan were ordered to stop primary school examinations, and students in private schools had no other examinations. The traces left by Li Zongwu in Sichuan education have even been "completely eliminated". At that time, Li Zongwu had worked in Liu Xiang's department of warlord Liu for nine years. At that time, Li Zongwu was no longer willing to make friends. He often sits alone, sits in teahouses, visits parks, and occasionally meets acquaintances, so he "seems to hide casually" and leads a wandering life.
It was not until Li Zongwu died in 32 years of the Republic of China (1943) that Li Zongwu's name was more associated with larded school.