Dean Pi Zongshi, who was in charge of reception, walked behind him, patted him on the shoulder and said, "Director Pan, students are young and easily excited. Never mind, you have worked hard enough. Well, come to the office with me and have a rest! " Director Pan found the "steps" and retreated safely behind the provost.
This is a story about the Dean of Master Pi in the memoirs of Wu Da alumni. Master Pi, alias Haihuan,/kloc-went to Changsha, the provincial capital, to study at the age of 0/5, and received official fees in Hunan the following year. On 1903, he went to Japan as an industrial student, where he studied middle school first, and then was admitted to Imperial University of Tokyo to study politics and economy. 1905 In August, the inaugural meeting of the League was held in Tokyo, and Pi Zongshi officially joined the organization. 19 12 At the end of the year, Pi Zongshi, who returned from studying in Japan, co-organized the Republic of China Daily with Yang Duanliu, Zhou Yusheng and Zhang Bingwen in Hankou, and devoted himself to the struggle against Yuan Shikai, which not only became Yuan's public opinion position, but also became the contact point of Hankou revolutionaries. Because the secret of planning an armed counterattack against Yuan Shikai was leaked, the newspaper was quickly sealed up, Yang Duanliu, Zhou Yusheng and others were arrested and imprisoned, but Pi Zongshi survived because he went to Jiujiang to get the explosives needed by the armed revolutionaries.
Later, 26-year-old Pi Zongshi and other journalists moved from Shanghai to Britain to study with the support of Huang Xing. In Paris, they also took part in the struggle to prevent the Beiyang government from signing the Paris Peace Conference Treaty, and joined the May 4th Movement with high patriotic passion. Revolutionary activities closely linked Pi Zongshi and Cai Yuanpei. 1In August, 928, Cai Yuanpei, who resigned as Minister of Education, left Beijing with his family and settled in Shanghai. Before he left, he invited Pi Zongshi, Wang Shijie, Wang Xinggong, Zhou Yusheng and others to go to Hubei to co-establish the National Wuhan University. Master Pi came to Wu Da for the first time. As a member of the school committee, he devoted himself to making suggestions and suggestions for the construction and development of Wuhan University. During his nine years at Wu Da University, in addition to teaching finance and other extracurricular activities, he also served as the president of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the dean of the Law School and the librarian. He successively assisted two presidents, Wang Shijie and Wang Xinggong, making Wuda a famous school in China, which is on par with Peking University, Tsinghua, Central University (predecessor of Nanjing University) and Zhejiang University. The achievements of Wuda University are closely related to the contributions of a group of educators such as Master Pi, Wang Shijie, Wang Xinggong and Zhou Yusheng.
1August, 936, Master Pi went to Japan for a holiday. During this period, Huang, acting president of Hunan University, resigned and the post of president was vacant. Based on various factors, people from all walks of life in Hunan think that Master Pi is the best candidate. In July of the same year, the provincial Hunan University was changed to the National Hunan University, and Master Pi was appointed as the first president, leaving Wu Da.
194 1 year, the executive yuan of Chongqing National Government held a meeting without Pi Zongshi's knowledge, decided to switch him with Hu Shuhua, president of Northwest Associated University, and urged him to take office as soon as possible. This is obviously Chen Lifu's intention to crowd out, while Pi Zongshi, who is honest and frank, is unyielding to evil forces. Coupled with CC's interference in school affairs, he felt that there was no education at all, so he resolutely resigned and left the field of education. Nevertheless, Pi Zongshi's social fame remained, and he immediately joined the National Political Council and became a political commissar. The National University is directly under the Ministry of Education of the National Government, its president is appointed by the Executive Yuan of the National Government, and its funds are mainly allocated by the Ministry of Finance of the National Government. Because the funds are guaranteed, the experimental equipment of the school is relatively complete, the books and materials are sufficient, and the teachers are well paid. You can hire a group of professors with real talents and high reputation to teach, and the teaching quality is guaranteed. The graduated students have a good response in the society. Especially before War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, there were less than ten national universities, all of which were famous universities.
Provincial colleges and universities are led by the province where the school is located, and the president is appointed by the provincial government. Funds are generally insufficient and school buildings are generally old. Due to geographical restrictions, the development has been affected to some extent, and few provincial universities have no reputation at all.
Private universities, as the name implies, are run by private individuals, and the president is hired by the board of directors. Among them, some universities run by the church have sufficient funds and good buildings, while others run well, such as Yanjing, Furen and Xiehe in Beijing. St John in Shanghai; Jinling in Nanjing; Guangzhou Lingnan; Changsha Xiangya Medical College and so on. It's not run by the church, and Tianjin Nankai University has also done a good job.
Hunan University was founded in 1926, located in the former site of Yuelu Academy in Yuelu Mountain, Changsha. Yuelu Academy is an important historic site of Yuelu Mountain in Changsha, which not only reflects the long cultural history of China, but also has a far-reaching historical impact on the educational development in Hunan. Yuelu Academy has been destroyed by many natural and man-made disasters for more than 1000 years since the establishment of the Northern Song Dynasty, and it is still being rebuilt, and has always been the base of higher education in Hunan. Hunan University inherited this fine tradition and became one of the earlier and better provincial universities in China.
However, Hunan University, a provincial university, is relatively isolated due to geographical restrictions, lack of funds, low salaries of faculty and staff, and limited development prospects. Teachers and students of Hunan University have long wanted to change into a national university, and established the National Sports Promotion Association of Hunan University. They went to the Ministry of Education of Nanjing National Government to ask about their wishes and urged Hunan celebrities to support them. But it is not very simple to turn a provincial university into a national university. The state should consider the relationship with local governments and whether the province is willing to give up its own universities. Some provincial universities have poor foundations and the state does not want to accept them. The state should also consider the budget and other issues. Therefore, before War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, there were almost no universities that changed from provincial universities to national universities. 1in the winter of 936, Huang, president of Hunan University, resigned. In the process of selecting successors, Hunan Province proposed that Pi Zongshi, then the provost of National Wuhan University, should succeed him. People from all walks of life in Hunan recommended Chen Changqun, then president of Hunan High Court, to write to Pi Zongshi, urging him to take over as president of Hunan University. When Chen Changqun and Pi Zongshi were in the Qing government, they were admitted to Japan to study in the same list, and joined the league together in Japan, and they had a good personal relationship. When Chen Changzu's letter arrived at Wuhan University, it happened that Pi Zongshi had gone to Japan for a holiday. After Pi Zongshi's wife opened the letter, the letter was seized because she disapproved of her husband's work in Hunan. After a while, Chen Changqun was very dissatisfied with his old friend's failure to reply, and wrote another letter asking him why he didn't reply. Mrs. Pi Zongshi, together with the previous letter, sent it to our embassy in Japan and handed it over to Pi Zongshi.
Pi Zongshi had planned to spend a year in Japan. When he arrived in Japan, he found that Japanese militarists were actively preparing to expand their aggression against China. The situation was tense, and I had to come back to make an appointment with business people at Hunan University, so I returned to China at the end of 1936 six months in advance. After returning home, Pi Zongshi called on his old friend Wang Shijie, then Minister of Education of the National Government, and asked Wang about Hunan University. Wang Shijie and Pi Zongshi both studied in Britain. After returning to China, they were hired as professors of Peking University by Cai Yuanpei, then president of Peking University, and worked together for many years. Cai Yuanpei left Peking University to work for the Nanjing government, and Wang Shijie and Pi Zongshi went to Nanjing together. Cai Yuanpei asked them to build the National Wuhan University together, with Wang Shijie as the first president and Pi Zongshi as the dean of the Law School. They worked together for several years and became close friends.
Wang Shijie is in favor of Master Pi going to Hunan University. Pi Zongshi suggested whether Hunan University can be changed into a national university or not. Wang Shijie said that this issue is not for that party to decide. Although Hu Da teachers and students petitioned Nanjing for national affairs, is the Hunan provincial government willing to hand over this university? There are also personnel issues. It is difficult to reach an agreement on the choice of principals when the province changes to the state. What the province agrees may not necessarily agree with the central government, and what the central government decides may not necessarily be accepted by the province. Now Hunan wants you to go, and the central government agrees to let you be the principal. The personnel problem has been solved, and other problems will be discussed when you go to Hunan.
Pi Zongshi returned to Wuhan from Nanjing for a short stay, that is, he went to Changsha to learn about the situation. At that time, the chairman of the province was He Jian, whom Master Pi once knew. Zhu Jingnong, director of Hunan Education Department, is an old acquaintance. Many influential people in education are mostly old friends. After all aspects of understanding and discussion, for the future development of Hunan University, everyone is in favor of changing it into a national university. The Hunan provincial government is also willing to hand over the provincial university of Hunan, but it has not communicated with Nanjing in the past. Pi Zongshi got this promise and immediately went to Nanjing to discuss with Wang Shijie, which went smoothly. Wang Shijie asked Pi Zongshi to be the president of Hunan University, which is a provincial university and will become a national university in the summer vacation.
At the suggestion of Wang Shijie, Pi Zongshi took over as president of Hunan University in February 1937. At that time, the handover ceremony was held by Huang in Changsha Street of Hunan University, and the customs clearance of Huda was handed over to Pi Zongshi.
In July of the same year, the Executive Yuan of the National Government officially ordered that the provincial Hunan University be changed into a national Hunan University. Pi Zongshi was appointed as the first president of National Hunan University. Hunan University was the first university to change from a provincial university to a national university before the Anti-Japanese War. 1On July 7, 937, after the Lugouqiao Incident, especially after the fall of major cities such as Beiping, Tianjin and Shanghai, the National Government decided to move from Nanjing to Chongqing. China's cultural center of gravity has moved rapidly from south to west. As the rear area of the anti-Japanese war strategy, Hunan once became the focus of the anti-Japanese cultural movement. Peking University, Beiping Tsinghua University and Tianjin Nankai University all moved to Changsha and merged into Changsha National Temporary University. Changsha became an important city in the rear area for a while.
However, the good times didn't last long. With the defeat of the Kuomintang and the fall of Wuhan, Hunan changed from a strategic rear to an outpost of the frontal battlefield. Changsha is not a stable place either. The Japanese invaders often bombed Changsha, and Changsha Temporary University has moved to Kunming to establish the National Southwest Associated University. National Hunan University should also consider moving. Most universities in northern and coastal areas have moved to Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Shaanxi and other provinces. Will Hunan University also move to these places? At that time, the school leaders thought it was unnecessary to move so far, and the terrain in western Hunan was steep, so the Japanese invaders might not be able to arrive. Decided to move to Zhijiang, the farthest place in western Hunan, which is adjacent to Guizhou Province (there was no Huaihua at that time, but Huaihua was just a small town called elm bay, which belonged to Zhijiang). There is a newly established private Hongyi Middle School. The headmaster's surname is Liu He is a graduate of Peking University. When he was teaching in Peking University, he was a student of Pi Zongshi, president of Hu University. He was also a classmate of Li Shouyong, then dean of literature at Huda University. After negotiation between Li Shouyong and President Liu, Hunan University moved to Zhijiang, relying on Hongyi Middle School. Due to the development of the war, Hunan University began to prepare for relocation in the spring of 1938. Pack the books and instruments that can be packed first. 1April, 938 10, Japanese planes bombed Hunan University, and the library was set on fire, leaving only one body. However, the loss of books is not heavy, because the rare books and rare books in the collection have been packed in advance and moved to the ravine next to Aiwan Pavilion.
In early August, President Pi Zongshi's wife and son Pi Gongliang and Li Shouyong, the dean of literature, first moved from Changsha to Zhijiang. But things change quickly. The Kuomintang decided to build a large airport in Zhijiang as an air base. At present, construction has begun and Zhijiang has become a military stronghold. Japanese invaders' planes also began bombing Zhijiang. Hunan University has to consider choosing another place. The books and instruments of Hunan University have already been transported to Yuanling by water, so the first thing to consider when choosing another address is Xiangxi. At this time, President Pi Zongshi and Dean Ren Kenan met Xiang Shaoxuan who had studied in Japan for many years and participated in the League together. Xiang is a native of Chenxi. He suggested that Huda move to Chenxi County. Chenxi is between Zhijiang and Yuanling, belonging to Yuanling area. It's a small county town, and there isn't even a middle school. This kind of emergency, after investigation, was located in Longdoutou, Chenxi County, across the river. The dragon's mind is a hill and there is no house. As the person in charge of the school relocation, Dean Ren Kenan adopted the wooden house model where they lived when studying in Japan. He used Chenxi's rich wood and stones, used local materials and used stones as the foundation of his house. All offices, classrooms, student dormitories, etc. They all took the form of fish boards, and soon they built houses on this mountain and started classes. Under this mountain, it is Yuanshui. The water is crystal clear and there is no problem with drinking water. In summer, students swim in the river, which is an ideal place for wartime university campus.
1939, Xue Yue succeeded Zhang Zhizhong as the chairman of Hunan provincial government and commander of the ninth war zone, and the wartime capital moved to Leiyang. At that time, the war zone was divided into the ninth war zone east of the Guangdong-Han Railway, and the administrative division of Chenxi belonged to Hunan Province, but not to the ninth war zone, but to the sixth war zone. The commander of the Sixth Theater is Chen Cheng, chairman of Hubei Province.
Shortly after Xue Yue took office, he invited Master Pi to meet him in Changsha. Master Pi didn't know Xue Yue in the past, and Xue Yue probably didn't know that National Hunan University was not under the leadership of Hunan Province. After they met, Xue Yue asked Hunan University to move to Lingxian County near Leiyang on the grounds that there was no university in the ninth war zone, but Master Pi immediately refused politely. Pi Zongshi said that universities, unlike the army, can leave as soon as they are ordered. The university has family members of faculty, books and equipment, so it is very difficult to move at one time. Huda is a national university, and major issues need to be referred to Chongqing Ministry of Education.
Finally, Pi Zongshi talked about his friendship with Chen Cheng. Before War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, when Pi Zongshi was working in Wuhan University, Chen Cheng was the director of Wuhan Hangying. Chen Cheng often visited a group of Kuomintang elders in Wuhan University, including Pi Zongshi. Mrs. Chen Cheng is Tan Xiang, Tan's second daughter, and Master Pi has an old friendship with Tan. Because of this, Mrs. Pi Zongshi also has contacts with Mrs. Chen Cheng. Master Pi also entrusted Xue Yue to greet him when he had the opportunity to meet Chen Cheng. Xue Yue was once a subordinate of Chen Cheng. After listening to this relationship, Pi Zongshi stopped talking about Hunan University. He only hopes that more graduates from Huda will be sent to the Hunan Provincial Government and the Ninth Theater in the future. Pi Zongshi readily agreed.
1944 1 month, the Japanese aggressors launched a powerful offensive, opened the Guangdong-Han Railway and the Xianggui Railway, and all the southern Hunan areas were turned into rivals, including Leiyang and Lingxian. Xiangxi is a place that Japanese invaders have never occupied. National Hunan University spent several years in War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression safely in Chenxi, and preserved its strength. If you move to Lingxian according to Xue Yue's opinion, the consequences will be unimaginable.