Tsinghua and Peking University, which are close at hand, have almost the same popularity at home and abroad, but they look quite different. The following story vividly shows the style differences between Tsinghua and Peking University.
Two people-a student from Peking University and a student from Tsinghua-went camping in the mountains together. When sleeping at night, Tsinghua people asked Peking University people, "What do you see?" Peking University people replied: "I saw the stars all over the sky and deeply felt the vastness of the universe, the greatness of the creator, how small and short our life is ... what do you see?"
Tsinghua people replied coldly, "I saw someone steal our tent."
You may ask, "Which of these two people is more correct?" My answer is: "Both are right." We will encounter many situations in life, especially difficult things, and we should take into account the contradiction between ideal and reality. A student in Tsinghua University pointed out: "If we only focus on our ideals and talk about the philosophy of life, and forget that people still need rice, oil, salt, sauce and vinegar tea to open the door, we may think we are happy, but we may starve to death. But if we live just to see the real life in front of us and ignore that besides filling our stomachs, we have to rely on some distant and abstract things to satisfy our curiosity, then our life will be boring! "
To know the difference between Tsinghua and Peking University, we should analyze it from the historical perspective.
(1) From "You are you and I am me" to "I have you in me and you have me in you"
Judging from the history of the two universities, Peking University is one of the "New Deal" left by the Reform Movement of 1898. Its original purpose was to train senior officials of the Qing Empire. Tsinghua, on the other hand, started from boxer indemnity, which was returned by the United States. Its original intention is to cultivate "extroverted talents" as a preparatory school for studying in the United States. So some people say that the original Peking University was the bridgehead of "feudalism"; The original Tsinghua was a test-tube baby of colonial capitalism in China. Until today, the residual influence of these two different forces can still be found in two schools.
Both schools have undergone two major changes in modern times.
The first time was around the May 4th Movement. In Peking University before the May 4th Movement and in Tsinghua after the May 4th Movement.
The revolution in Peking University was initiated by Cai Yuanpei. 1917 65438+10. Before Cai Yuanpei became the president of Peking University, Peking University was an institution with strong feudal thoughts and bureaucratic habits. Students have no interest in learning, playing mahjong and drinking all day, and taking going to college as a stepping stone; There are still many teachers who are unlearned and muddle along. Great qualitative changes have taken place in Peking University since Mr. Cai Yuanpei came to Peking University. First, he explained that "college students should take academic research as their bounden duty, and should not take universities as the ladder for promotion and wealth", which completely changed students' concept; He hired Chen Duxiu, Li Dazhao, Lu Xun, Ma Xulun, Gu Hongming and other outstanding teachers with real talent and practical learning. He advocated "the inclusiveness and freedom of thought" and initiated many societies and seminars, so that students' spiritual hobbies were concentrated on academic research and appropriate cultural and sports activities ... Under the auspices of Mr. Cai, democracy and science became a common practice, and Peking University really became the leading institution of higher learning in China. Later, Chen Duxiu and the innovative intellectuals of Peking University launched the New Culture Movement, and through the May 4th Movement, the revolutionary tradition of "direct action and dedication" was created in Peking University. The "spirit of Peking University" gradually took shape.
Tsinghua's reform began at 1928 when the Nanking Kuomintang government took over. According to the original system and ethos in Tsinghua, western learning is above middle school, American teachers are above China, and staff are above teachers. This is also the educational reflection of semi-feudal and semi-colonial China society. After the Kuomintang government took over, it changed the Tsinghua School into the National Tsinghua University, advocated the so-called "generalist education" and allocated a large sum of money for its construction. When Luo Jialun was president, he put forward "four modernizations", namely "academic", "democracy", "revolution" and "discipline". Although the latter two "modernizations" disguise the revolutionary spirit, the first two "modernizations" embody the new ideas of "science and democracy". Since then, Cai Yuanpei has realized "professor running the school". President Mei Yiqi also often said: "A great scholar is called a master, and the principal's duty is to lead the faculty to serve the professors." Since then, Tsinghua University has transformed.
After 1928, Peking University and Tsinghua tended to learn from each other, so they were called "Tsinghua of Peking University and Peking University of Tsinghua". During his stay in War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, Peking University, Tsinghua University and Nankai University formed Southwest Associated University. At this time, undergraduate students are the same, but they maintain their own basic teachers and administrative composition, especially graduate schools and graduate students, and still have their own academic styles. Therefore, as soon as War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression ended, the three schools immediately returned to their original sites and rebuilt their campuses.
The second big change is the national college adjustment of 1952. Tsinghua's arts and sciences were merged into Peking University, and Peking University's engineering was merged into Tsinghua. Since then, Peking University has become the "vanguard" of comprehensive universities, while Tsinghua has become the "leader" of "higher industrial schools". At this time, Peking University and Tsinghua can be described as "you have me and I have you", but they still maintain the original campus cultural spirit.
(2) Tsinghua reality, Peking University ideal.
Students in old Tsinghua speak English and wear suits and ties, unlike students in Peking University who like robes. They also copied many habits of American Ivy League universities. In Peking University, more impassioned revolutionary fighters have a special liking for politics and become pioneers and leaders of previous student movements. So many people think that Peking University's idealism and Tsinghua's realism. Peking University is humanistic and Tsinghua is scientific; Peking University pursues romance, while Tsinghua pursues practicality. ..... Some people even borrow Weber's concept, saying that Peking University is value rationality and Tsinghua is instrumental rationality. Although these statements are not completely in line with the facts, they are also reasonable.
Walking in the campuses of Peking University and Tsinghua, we can clearly feel two different cultural landscapes: noise and loneliness. The campus of Peking University is full of ancient charm, like the traditional gardens in China, giving people a heavy sense of history; Tsinghua's campus is a standard chessboard, well-behaved, mostly western-style buildings, giving people a realistic sense of pleasure. At Peking University, I feel that people are everywhere. In Tsinghua, however, there is a feeling that the land is vast and sparsely populated, especially it is almost difficult to meet girls. The gymnasium of Peking University is always very lively, the study rooms are overcrowded, and even there are frequent "seat-occupying disturbances", while the dormitory is either a lively place for rest and entertainment or empty; The stadium in Tsinghua is usually empty, but it boils after 4: 30 in the afternoon. Obviously, there are not many people in the study room, while the dormitory is immersed in hard study and silent. So many students in Peking University envy Tsinghua's self-taught examination conditions and lament that if the two schools were exchanged, Peking University would not have a seat crisis for self-taught examination.
The personalities of Peking University people and Tsinghua people often contrast. Peking University people are active, while Tsinghua people is quiet. Peking University people are flexible and Tsinghua people is practical; Peking University students are competitive and Tsinghua people is modest and prudent ... This may be related to the differences in disciplines. Peking University campus has a strong humanistic atmosphere, which brings together the essence of social disciplines and forms an ideological atmosphere of "inclusiveness" and extensive participation, emphasizing individuality and ignoring authority; Attach importance to ideals and despise reality; Pay more attention to theory than practice; Often full of self-confidence, unyielding, always gushing, can be called a group of "Kan" generals. Tsinghua's campus, however, has a strong scientific atmosphere, concentrating on various industrial disciplines, forming an ideological atmosphere of "specialization in technology", which has no time to look east, emphasizing authority and ignoring individuality; Pay more attention to reality than ideal; Emphasis on practice, light theory, mutual respect, but sometimes self-esteem, sometimes inferiority, always hard work, can be called a group of "hands-on."
(3) "Start with small things" and "Focus on big things"
Peking University people are often used to focusing on the overall situation, but they often refuse to start small. Relatively speaking, students in Tsinghua often attach importance to starting from small things. This can be seen from the slogan put forward by Peking University: "Unite and revitalize China". Tsinghua, on the other hand, put forward the concept of "starting from me, starting from now", which is obvious.
Although 1952 was adjusted, Tsinghua Campus always felt something was missing and became a "one-legged giant". However, after twists and turns and storms, the inherent cultural destiny of the two campuses does not seem to have changed. Some people compare Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard and MIT to Tsinghua at Peking University. Although their strength is not as good as others, if we really compare their academic and social status with those of western universities, I'm afraid it's the only thing China can do. In recent years, many domestic colleges have been renamed as "universities" (some people call this a small shop as a supermarket); Colleges and universities have started to run schools jointly, but the truly first-class universities have their own profound cultural heritage, which cannot be achieved overnight, nor can they be impersonated by changing their names or simply merging. Tsinghua of Peking University is incomparable to ordinary schools.
Peking University and Tsinghua, as two dazzling pearls of China's higher education, seem to be two surrounding stars. A simple comparison between them is often meaningless, because they are more like a pair of brothers or sisters, learning from each other's strong points and building China's culture and science together. On the development road of China, Peking University and Tsinghua will join hands; In the history of national rejuvenation, Peking University and Tsinghua, these two names will be linked together forever.