September11,2065438 is the 40th anniversary of the death of Mr. Chen Liushi, the founder of Nanyang University.
From a poor farmer in rural China to a wealthy businessman in Southeast Asia, from a primary school dropout to a university founder who has cultivated tens of thousands of social pillars, Chen Liushi's life is closely related to the Chinese society in Singapore and Malaysia in the 20th century and Chinese education in Southeast Asia. However, his life's honor and disgrace lies not in his career, but in his learning, especially in Nanyang University.
The rise and fall of Ambassador Liu Chen and Nanyang University reflected the contradictions of that era and the complexity of the environment. After the Second World War, Southeast Asia needed and rejected Chen VI. Universities in China are needed and excluded. Southeast Asia is the most concentrated area of overseas Chinese in China. Chinese education in this area flourished in the colonial era, and even after experiencing the adversity of Japanese rule, it quickly recovered in the years after the end of World War II. However, with the advent of the Cold War and the variation of political atmosphere in Southeast Asia, the development of Chinese education has fallen into a dead end.
First of all, the estrangement between China and Southeast Asia has led to the interruption of teachers' resources in this region, and schools in China have no way to pursue further studies. China schools need to adapt to the situation in order to achieve breakthrough development; But at the same time, in Singapore, where Nanyang University is located, the proportion of primary school students enrolled in Chinese schools in four major languages (Chinese, English, witchcraft and Hindi) is declining, and the prospect of Chinese education is bleak. Secondly, the ideological struggle between the East and the West has strengthened the racial contradictions and language group opposition that have been formed in the colonial era. On the road to independence, the national identity of Chinese in Southeast Asia is deeply questioned because of the persistence of national culture. Coupled with the struggle for rights and interests of all parties, the problem is more complicated. China culture and China education have been repeatedly baked on the political stove. Chen Liushi founded Nanyang University under such a strange historical situation. He not only encountered many obstacles in the preparation process, but also faced many obstacles in the development stage.
Education and politics are intertwined.
Chen Liushi's road to Nanyang University is difficult. It is influenced by many factors, two of which can not be ignored. One is the objective factor-the political and educational entanglements interwoven by historical issues and realistic patterns, and the other is the subjective factor-the protagonist's cognition, behavior and political sensitivity.
The entanglement between education and politics is a long-term problem faced by Nanyang University. The Chinese community led by Ambassador Liu Chen believes that spreading Chinese culture and developing Chinese education will contribute to the development of Malay subculture and the cultivation of local talents. However, the colonial government, Malay ethnic groups and some English educators disagreed, insisting that it would destroy racial harmony and national construction. The latter even tied "China consciousness" and "* * * productism" to Nanyang University repeatedly. In order to dispel political doubts and for the healthy development of the school, Ambassador Chen repeatedly stressed that teachers and students in the school should not engage in political activities. But the objective development is not determined by Chen Liushi, and Nanyang University has been entangled in politics. When the government takes the university reform as the funding condition, the contradiction between the student union and the government appears, and it has evolved from an educational dispute to a political confrontation in a short time. Singapore's September 2 1, 1, the general election in 1963 was the climax of the struggle. Ambassador Chen, the Student Union and South University students are all mired in political quagmire. On the second day of the election, Chen Liushi's citizenship was taken away by the government. In the second year, he resigned from the leadership of the university and left Nanyang University, which had been struggling for 14 years.
Chen Liushi is a successful businessman. His courage, courage, experience and opportunities make him stand out in the market. Running excellent schools is the only way for ordinary Chinese community leaders. However, it is not easy for a businessman who didn't finish primary school to run a China University outside China during the Cold War, but also to deal with school affairs, deal with scholars and compete with politicians. Moreover, the staff around him also lack relevant university experience. When Chen Liushi transferred his business philosophy and style to the establishment and development of Nanyang University, many problems appeared. The most obvious example is the contradiction between him and Lin Yutang, the first principal. In order to successfully employ Lin Yutang, who is quite famous in the United States, he repeatedly agreed to the terms of "money" and "power" proposed by the other party. However, shortly after Lin Yutang came to South China, the two sides failed to raise enough funds of 20 million yuan for running a school, and the functions and powers of the principal and the school board could not be divided. Internal friction for nearly half a year, and finally broke up in discord. This debate did great harm to the image of the university in the early stage, and also had a bad influence on the construction and development of the administrative system later. Another important example is Chen Liushi's cognition of university degree. He failed to realize that the government realized the importance of Nantah degree and the colonial government's intention to use it as a "killer" to influence the development of universities. He missed the opportunity to get the degree recognition during the Marshall government-the honeymoon period between the university and the government-and finally made the degree issue become the focus of controversy between the university and the Labor Front government and the People's Action Party government.
Blank pages in history are waiting to be filled.
Chen Liushi's road to Nanyang University is difficult. Ambassador Chen, on the other hand, passed by with a heroic spirit of "giving up who I am", showing the determination and courage of successful businessmen and the courage and spirit of entrepreneurs to take risks. Lin Yutang once said, "Nantah can live without Lin Yutang, but it cannot live without Ambassador Chen VI". We can't help asking: Without Ambassador Liu Chen in Southeast Asia in the 1950s, would another China leader lead a group of people to establish a China University? Or, if there was no Nanyang University in the 1950s, would there be China University in the 1960s? There is no "if" in history, but making some assumptions helps us to evaluate historical figures.
The establishment of Nanyang University by Ambassador Liu Chen not only prevented thousands of Chinese sons and daughters from pursuing further studies, but also trained talents urgently needed in industry and commerce, literature, education and politics for Singapore and Malaysia. At the same time, in just a few years, it has helped many famous universities and research institutions around the world to train hundreds of scholars and researchers. According to statistics, among the 3324 graduates of Nanyang University in the first eight sessions (that is, from 1960 to 1967, Nanyang University's degree was only recognized by the government in 1968), 4 14 (12.6%) were famous abroad. For a newly established private China University, this is indeed a beautiful report card.
Chen Liushi is a legend, and Nanyang University is a fairy tale. In the era of the Cold War between the East and the West, in Southeast Asia where capitalism and racism were rampant, and in Singapore where English was paramount, it was a historical foresight for Ambassador Liu Chen to establish the Chinese University? Or neglect of time and space? What are the benefits of Chen Liushi's personal concept and cognition of running a school and the style of businessmen to the establishment and development of a university? What are the disadvantages? What are the gains and losses of the conflict between Chen VI and Lin Yutang and the game between Chen VI and the Singapore government? What is right and wrong? The establishment of Nanyang University by Ambassador Chen has created a large number of frustrated and injured "silent majority", but it has also cultivated many talents in various fields for Singapore and Malaysia and Chinese society, leaving a precious historical legacy-"Nantah spirit". How should history give him a fair evaluation?
It has been 60 years since Ambassador Chen initiated the establishment of Nanyang University. He has always lived in the hearts of Nanyang University alumni and sometimes appeared in their works. Some scholars (alumni or non-alumni) also try to analyze his business achievements, national identity or educational contribution from a certain angle. As for the works on Liu and Nanyang University, although many articles have been published one after another, there are almost no academic monographs. This phenomenon is completely different from Chen Jiageng, the Singaporean sage who founded Xiamen University. Is this caused by political taboos? Or is it caused by emotional entanglement? Or is it the result of insufficient historical materials? In any case, the blank pages in history are waiting for scholars to fill. Today, 60 years later, China Language and Culture Center of Nanyang Technological University will soon publish Li's monograph Six Ambassadors Chen and Nanyang University as a gift to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the death of Six Ambassadors Chen. This article is excerpted from the first half of the preface written by the author for the book, and it is published first, in memory of Mr. Chen Liushi, the founder of Nanyang University who left us for 40 years.