Mr. Cai Yuanpei’s great ambition lies in his lifelong desire to cultivate talents for China, and the path he has taken throughout his life is the path of education and patriotism. He educates without forgetting patriotism, and patriotism never forgets education.
In modern Chinese history, Cai Yuanpei is the first intellectual with the noblest personality. He had a huge influence in education, academia, thought and politics. He fulfilled his responsibilities as an intellectual throughout his life, often tended to innovative and enterprising things, and had pioneering and leadership qualities. He was worthy of being a great master.
Without Cai Yuanpei, there would be no May Fourth Movement. When talking about the "May 4th Movement", Cai Yuanpei will be thought of. Without the students of Peking University advocating the trend and promoting cultural reform, there would be no May 4th Movement; without the enlightened and enterprising president of Peking University and supporting the students' actions, there would be no May 4th Movement. May Fourth Movement. The president of Peking University at the time was Cai Yuanpei, who was also the first director-general of education in the Republic of China after the Revolution of 1911.
Cai Yuanpei’s activities after he became the Director-General of Education are relatively well known. Few people know about Cai Yuanpei before the Revolution of 1911. Undoubtedly, his contribution mainly came after entering the Republic of China. However, if we want to explore his cultural, ideological, and political activities in the second half of his life, his ideological tendencies and political activities in the first half of his life cannot be ignored. Cai Yuanpei is a successful and typical representative in the transitional period between the old and the new in modern Chinese history.
Cai Yuanpei was born in the sixth year of Tongzhi (1867). His hometown is Shaoxing, Zhejiang, the same hometown as Lu Xun. Shaoxing is the well-known origin of "Shiye". Shaoxing has a strong cultural atmosphere and is a place rich in literati. Cai Yuanpei's nickname was Apei. When he entered the private school, he was called Yuanpei and his nickname was Jiemin. His father is a bank manager, and the Cai family has been in business for several generations, and none of his ancestors has studied or passed a college degree.
Cai Yuanpei entered a private school at the age of six, starting with "Hundred Family Surnames" and "The Thousand-Character Essay" and finishing the "Four Books" and "Five Classics". Later, the teacher taught him "Eight-Part Essay", also known as "Zhiyi" or "Shiwen", for the purpose of preparing for the imperial examination. In the third year of Guangxu's reign (1877), when Yuanpei was eleven years old, his father passed away. Because his father was a generous man and always responded to loans, he was heavily in debt after his death, and his employer ordered him to pay compensation. World friends raised funds separately to help, but Yuanpei's mother, Zhou, refused. It can be seen from this that Yuanpei's generous temperament was inherited from his father, and he was taught by his mother to not be unreasonable or to speak nonsense.
For three or four years when Cai Yuanpei was 14 to 17 years old, Yuanpei studied under Wang Maoxiu, an old scholar in the same county. Under the influence of Teacher Wang, he admired Song Confucianism the most. During his career, in the ninth year of Guangxu (1883), at the age of seventeen, Yuanpei enrolled in school to supplement scholars (scholarships), gave up his career as a scholar, specialized in primary school and Confucian classics, and read extensively freely, so he no longer studied at Wang Maoxiu. . After leaving private school, he set up a teaching school at home for two years, and went to Hangzhou to take part in the provincial examination (examination for candidates), where he failed for the first time. He stopped teaching at the age of 20 and studied at the home of Xu Shulan, a fellow villager. The Xu family built the "Guyue Library" with many books, so you can have the opportunity to read extensively. In his scholarship and classics, he focused on exegesis and philosophy, and in his history he focused on scholarly biographies, Wenyuan biographies, Yiwenzhi, etc. This was also a popular method of studying at the time.
In the fifteenth year of Guangxu (1889), at the age of twenty-three, Yuanpei took part in the Zhejiang Provincial Examination and won the imperial examination. The following year, he went to Beijing to take the imperial examination. He passed the exam and became a tribute scholar. He had to pass the palace examination before he could become a Jinshi. However, Yuanpei did not take the undergraduate palace examination immediately, and it took two years before he became a Jinshi. Liang Qichao passed the provincial examination in the same year as him, but failed in the general examination. This shows that Cai Yuanpei went much more smoothly than Liang Qichao in the imperial examination. It turned out that the examiner Wang Haoyin admired his article and admitted him, so some people called Yuanpei "a member of Haoyin's disciple". He was the 34th Jinshi in the Second Class of the Secondary School. The examiner Weng Tonghe admired him very much and praised him as "a proficient in classics at a young age, with extremely ancient writings and valuable talents."
In the 19th year of Guangxu (1893), which was the second year of becoming a Jinshi, at the age of 27, Cai Yuanpei was awarded the title of Shujishi of the Hanlin Academy and was in charge of compiling the history of the country. Xinke Hanlin is qualified to sell writings to various provinces for money. This is called "fighting the autumn wind". In July, Cai Yuanpei traveled to the south. He first stayed in Guangzhou for a short time. After winter, he went to live with relatives in Chaozhou and lived in the Yuanfa Shop at No. 10 Wenham Street. He once wrote a couplet for his master, which goes like this: "Be open-minded and observe the first thing when things happen, and be kind to people and observe what others say." This shows that Cai Yuanpei's attitude towards others has always been open-minded and kind.
The following year, he went to Beijing to take the "dismissal" examination. Because after a certain period of time, Shujishi must take a screening examination, called Sanguan. Those who pass the exam will be appointed editors, and those who fail will be appointed as county magistrates. Cai Yuanpei successfully passed the examination and was promoted to editor of the Hanlin Academy.
In June of the same year, the "Sino-Japanese War" broke out, and the capital suddenly became nervous. He signed the memorial together with Wen Tingshi on the memorial to unite Britain, Germany and Japan to control the Japanese. This year he worked as a private school teacher in Li Ciming's residence in Beijing for half a year. In November, the great writer Li Ciming passed away, and Yuanpei published his posthumous work "Yuemantang Diary".
At this time, the reform reforms of Kang and Liang were in their heyday, and Cai Yuanpei's thoughts were also biased towards the reform. During the Wuxu period, he co-founded the "Eastern Literature Society" with his friends to study Japanese. Learning Japanese is a quick way to acquire foreign knowledge. Cai Yuanpei's early Western knowledge was mainly obtained from Japanese books, except for part of it from Chinese translations of Western books.
At that time, people from the Kang and Liang families came one after another. He admired Tan Sitong the most, and he had a relationship with Liang Qichao, who was elected in the same year. It was said that he would follow the reform route with Kang and Liang. The situation was dire. material. However, because of his character, he was ashamed to be attached to a popular person. Yang Rui, a reformer, wanted to win over him, but he refused. In September, the 1898 Coup of 18 took place, and the conservatives took control of the entire situation. All the new policies of the Hundred Days Reform, except for the Imperial University, were all overthrown in the blink of an eye.
Cai Yuanpei sympathized with the reformers. He deeply felt that the failure of the reform was "due to not cultivating innovative talents first, but wanting to seize power with a small number of people, rejecting the stubborn, and having to accept the situation." ". Although he was not a member of the Kangxi Party, he was arrested because he sympathized with the reform and had close friendship with him. He was inevitably suspected of being a reformer, so he had to resign and return south. This was a turning point in Cai Yuanpei's life. He had seen that the Manchu government had no hope.
After Cai Yuanpei returned to the south, he served as the school supervisor (principal) of a middle school called "Chinese and Western School" run by Shaoxing gentleman Xu Shulan. This was the beginning of Yuanpei’s service to new schools. The school is divided into upper primary school, junior high school and high school "Three Schools". The subjects are divided into liberal arts, mathematics and science, etc. The foreign languages ??include English, French and Japanese. Cai Yuanpei, Huang Zhongyu and their children's teachers were the first choice of Shaoxing at that time, and their students would become more talented in the future. For example, Jiang Menglin, who later served as the president of Peking University and was Cai Yuanpei's successor, and Wang Lie, professor of geology at the school, were primary school students in the first class at that time; Ma Jiguang, secretary of the Academia Sinica, and Shen Guanglie of the Zhejiang Education Department were students in the third class. top students.
In the Chinese and Western schools, the opposition between the old and the new is very obvious. Cai Yuanpei was too supportive of the new school, and the old school directors often put pressure on him. Finally, he resigned angrily to show his unwillingness to compromise with the old forces.
When Cai Yuanpei was still serving as the supervisor of the Chinese and Western School, his first wife gave birth to his second son, named Wuji. However, Wang died soon after due to postpartum disorders. Before the first anniversary, there were many matchmakers asking for a renewal. Yuanpei put forward five conditions: 1. The woman must not bind her feet; 2. She must be literate; 3. The man must not take a concubine; 4. After the man dies, the woman can remarry; 5. If a couple is not compatible, they can divorce.
At that time, it was considered natural for a man to take a concubine, but remarriage and divorce were shocking. From this incident alone, we can already see how much Cai Yuanpei's emphasis on gender equality and breaking traditional social bad habits was greatly influenced by the reform movement. Due to the harsh conditions, it was difficult to find a suitable woman as a stepmother after many matchmaking discussions. A year later, he first visited Huang Erxuan's daughter Huang Zhongyu from Jiangxi. She was talented, skilled in craftsmanship, and talented in learning, so she got married in Hangzhou.
Their wedding was unique, with a unique form, and the congratulations were also humorous. Some people knew that he advocated equality between men and women, and deliberately said at the banquet: "If Mrs. Huang is better than Mr. Cai in learning and practice, Mr. Cai should learn from her." If Mrs. Huang's academic performance is not as good as Mr. Cai's, how can Mr. Cai treat her as a disciple? "Cai Yuanpei replied: "There is an inherent priority in learning and conduct, but in terms of personality, there is always equality. "Everyone in the audience agreed.
After Cai Yuanpei left the Chinese and Western School, he still devoted himself to education. Between Gengzi and Xinchou, that is, from 1900 to 1901, a primary school was established for overseas Chinese farmers in Shaoxing. There was also a proposal to transform an academy into a normal school in the city of Zhejiang Province, but was blocked by the local gentry and the authorities and failed. In the spring of this year, he transferred to Nanyang Public School as the head teacher of a special class.
Shanghai Nanyang Public School was the predecessor of Jiaotong University. It was founded in the 23rd year of Guangxu (1897). It is divided into four departments: Normal College, Upper College, Intermediate College and Outer College. The outer college is the primary school. In the spring of the 27th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu (1901), a "special class" was opened in the spring of 1901, which admitted 42 scholars and scholars who were studying in private schools and were interested in Western learning. They were scheduled to be taught foreign languages ????and economics. Teco". Cai Yuanpei serves as the chief instructor of this special class.
At that time, all the students in the special class wanted to learn Japanese, so Yuanpei used his half-baked Japanese to teach the students to read professional books in politics, law, diplomacy, finance, economics, philosophy and other categories, and required the students to write every day notes. Its main purpose is to inspire young people's thirst for knowledge, so that they can absorb it, introduce their own ideas to the country, and expand it into the world. It also believes that the foundation of the country lies in the people, and the people are still ignorant, so that the young people can cultivate themselves and develop the masses. Talent, one person is aware of it, and his instructions reach out to everyone. Among many students, he admired Shao Lizi, Li Shutong, Huang Yanpei, Wang Shicheng, Hong Yunxiang and others the most.
Cai Yuanpei has become increasingly active in Shanghai’s cultural and educational circles. He was engaged in two things related to new education: one was to organize the "Patriotic Girls' School" and the other was to launch the "China Education Association."
The Patriotic Girls School was initiated by Huang Zhongyu, wife of Cai Yuanpei, and received the sole support of Ms. Luo Jialing, wife of Shanghai Jewish businessman Hartung. Cai Yuanpei, Jiang Guanyun and others rented the school building and opened it in the winter of the 27th year of Guangxu (1901). Officially established. There were only about ten students in the early days. The China Education Association was jointly planned by Yuanpei and Shanghai cultural and educational figures Ye Han, Jiang Guanyun, Huang Zongyang and others, with Cai Yuanpei as president. It was founded in the 28th year of Guangxu (1902). It advocated innovation, but had no financial support. , in the early days, he was only engaged in advocacy of writing.
In the twenty-eighth year of Guangxu, Yuanpei was thirty-five years old and began to learn Latin. Ma Xiangbo, a Catholic, was his teacher. Cai Yuanpei believes that Latin is the foundation of the languages ??of various European countries. Most of the languages ????in various countries are derived from Latin. If you are not familiar with it, you will not be able to understand all the ancient Western cultures. He also selected 24 students to learn from Ma Xiangbo with him. Later, Ma Xiangbo used these students as the basis to found Aurora College, which is the origin of Aurora University.
This year, Cai Yuanpei traveled to Japan during the summer vacation, but encountered the "Seicheng School Incident" in the Tokyo study abroad community. Chengcheng School is a military academy preparatory class specially designed for Chinese students. On the order of the Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, Wu Jingheng led accelerated normal students to study in Japan. Nine of them planned to enter Chengcheng School, but the Qing minister in Japan refused to recommend them. Wu protested to the minister and was deported by the Japanese police. Wu Jingheng met Cai Yuanpei on the ship returning home.
The two men "talked about the impossibility of establishing a constitution, and both knew that revolution was inevitable." When the ship arrived in Shanghai on July 10, colleagues from the China Education Association held a welcome meeting. During the meeting, it was decided that the Education Association would set up its own school to teach its own children without having to go to Japan to study.
So the Education Association had plans to run its own school.
Wu Jingheng joined Nanyang Public School to teach, but he had a sensational incident of dropping out of school. On October 17 of the same year, the fuse was a small ink bottle, which caused special class students to sacrifice their qualifications to be recommended for economic special subjects and drop out of school. Cai Yuanpei also took the blame and resigned. The reason was that Wu Jingheng had a conflict with the school. More than a dozen students were expelled, and Wu also resigned.
This incident had an extremely significant impact on the academic circles in the late Qing Dynasty. Cai Yuanpei, Wu Jingheng, Zhang Taiyan, Jiang Weiqiao and others established the "Patriotic Society" on the second floor of the China Education Association, with 55 members, all dropouts from Nanyang Public School.
The club members persuaded their sisters to enroll in school, and since then the number of students in the girls’ school has increased. After the establishment of the Patriotic Society, Cai Yuanpei and several other people with progressive and innovative ideas began to live together day and night with a group of enthusiastic young students. They influenced each other, and their opinions and thoughts developed rapidly, which soon aroused greater enthusiasm. The wave shook Shanghai and even the whole of China.
In January of the 29th year of Guangxu's reign (1903), the China Education Association's very heated remarks caused conservatives to use "Shenbao" to ridicule it. Wu Jingheng advocated that Yuanpei, Zhang Taiyan and he take turns writing articles to confront them in "Su Bao". In March, when Zou Rong died, 31 Nanjing Lu Normal School students including Zhang Shizhao dropped out of school en masse and joined the Patriotic Society with the help of Cai Yuanpei. At the same time, a student unrest also broke out in Zhejiang University Hall. Students dropped out to establish their own "Xinmin School" and called Cai Yuanpei and Wu Jingheng to support them.
At that time, Qiu Man's emotions were rising day by day, and Cai Yuanpei published an article "Relieving Qiu Man" in "Su Bao". It is believed that the differences between races are due to blood and customs. The Manchu bloodline has been mixed with the Han people for a long time, and their language, writing and customs have also been assimilated by the Han people. The so-called Manchus are just a sign of having a hereditary title in politics and the privilege of sitting and eating regardless of industry. As long as the Manchus consciously give up their privileges, there is no need for the Han to kill all the Manchus.
At the end of March, as another anti-Russian movement unfolded, Cai Yuanpei cut his hair, and 96 students who volunteered to join the "Anti-Russian Volunteer Team" put on uniforms and trained morning and night to prepare to resist Russia's invasion of China. The three eastern provinces. However, the Qing government not only failed to understand the patriotic enthusiasm of the young students, but instead believed that they were plotting to rebel, and suppressed them vigorously. The result was that they only forced the aggressive young people to go against the Qing Dynasty.
In May, two huge works, Zou Rong's "Revolutionary Army" and Zhang Taiyan's "Refutation of Kang Youwei's Theory of Revolution" were published successively, which caused a particularly sensation.
The president of the China Education Association was changed to Huang Zongqing at this time, but a dispute arose over who should be the main body between the association and the society. Zhang Taiyan advocated not cooperating with the society, while Wu Jingheng was more protective of the society members. Cai Yuanpei originally had a gentle attitude and would not take sides casually, but Cai Yuanpei, who had always maintained a peaceful attitude, was angered by Wu Jingheng's harsh words and said angrily: "I was going to study in Germany, but I resigned from the Huihe Society."< /p>
After saying that, he left. Although everyone tried to persuade him to stay, he had already decided to leave. After packing a little, he left Shanghai by boat on the 20th. Everyone went to see him off before leaving.
About half a month after Cai Yuanpei left Shanghai, the sensational "Soviet Report Case" occurred. Zhang Taiyan and Zou Rong were arrested, Wu Jingheng fled, and the Patriotic Society was also affected and disbanded. At the time of the incident, Cai Yuanpei arrived in Qingdao and received a telegram from his brother Cai Yuanjian, saying that "the Qing government has agreed with the envoys to telegraph Qingdao officials to arrest Cai." Yuanpei had no choice but to return to Shanghai and participate in the activities of Shanghai patriots again. At this time, the Russians invaded Fengtian, so Cai Yuanpei, Liu Shipei and others launched the "Comrades Against Russia Association", with more than a hundred members participating.
In the 30th year of Guangxu (1904), Yuanpei published an article "New Year's Dream" in "Russian Police News", arguing: "There is naturally a China in our minds, but we don't have it now. To truly build a country, I am afraid we will never have a chance." He also proposed three things that should be done in diplomacy: 1. Restore the three eastern provinces. 2. Eliminate the spheres of influence of various countries. 3. Remove the concession. This article reflects his thoughts at this time.
The Comrades Association Against Russia also used "Alarm Daily" as its official newspaper. The editing work of the newspaper was initially taken by Wang Xiaoxu and later by Cai Yuanpei. He was in charge until June of this year, when Wang Deyuan took over the editorial work because he took over as the principal of the Patriotic Girls' School. "Alarm Daily" later exposed the German conspiracy to run Shandong, which angered the German consul. The newspaper was banned and five people were detained. Shanghai's revolutionary speech organ suffered another setback.
After Cai Yuanpei regained control of the girls' school administration, in addition to advocating hard in literature and education, he also established a deep relationship with the secret revolutionary movement in the country. The "Military-National Education Association" established in Tokyo in 1903 originally originated from resistance to Russia, but was later reorganized into a group secretly engaged in revolutionary activities, and also had an "assassination group" organization, with Yang Dusheng in charge.
After Huang Xing, a member of the Military National Education Association, returned to China, he founded the "Huaxing Association" and planned to launch uprisings in Changsha and other places on the 70th birthday of Empress Dowager Cixi in 1904. Yang Dusheng returned to Shanghai and established a "Patriotic Association" with him as president, Zhang Shizhao as his deputy, and Cai Yuanpei, Chen Duxiu, Cai E, etc. also joined at the same time.
The original "Zhejiang Society" organization in Tokyo was chaired by Tao Chengzhang. After Tao Chengzhang returned to Shanghai, he, Yuanpei and others established a new revolutionary group in Shanghai called the "Guangfuhui" with the purpose of expanding the assassination group organization. With the establishment of the Tokyo branch of the Liberation Association, Lu Xun and others also joined. After Yuanpei joined the Guangfu Meeting, he invited Xu Xilin to join the meeting and introduced Xu and Tao to each other.
Cai Yuanpei participated in the assassination organization, specialized in making bombs, rented a house and purchased equipment and medicines. Huang Xing brought more than ten bullet casings and filled them with explosives. Wu Yue hid a bomb and planned to assassinate five ministers at Beijing Station. Unfortunately, the explosive was accidentally released and he died.
In August 1905, revolutionary patriots from seventeen provinces in Japan launched the "China Alliance" in Tokyo, with Sun Yat-sen as prime minister, vowing to "expel the Tartars, restore China, establish the Republic of China, and equalize land rights." Under the headquarters, provincial branches are established. Cai Yuanpei serves as the branch president of the Shanghai branch, and most of the members of the Guangfuhui also join the alliance. Cai Yuanpei used the Patriotic Girls' School as a contact organ for revolutionary comrades, and provided teaching qualifications to revolutionary comrades such as Xu Xilin, Tao Chengzhang, Yang Dusheng, and Huang Xing as a social identity for revolutionary activities.
In the same year, Zhang Taiyan was released from prison, but Zou Rong died of illness in prison. At the memorial meeting for Zou Rong, Cai Yuanpei made a speech in public, denigrating the Qing court's tyranny and contempt for human rights, which moved everyone who listened.
The memorial tower in front of Zou Rong's tomb was completed, and Cai Yuanpei gave another speech, which was particularly warning. Chen Yingshi felt sorry after hearing this, and returned home to sell his real estate and determined to engage in revolutionary work. This is where his later career actually started.
At that time, domestic revolutionaries mainly concentrated on planning assassinations and riots. However, the assassination work could not be carried out smoothly, and the policy and steps of the revolution could not be determined. Therefore, everyone was still very bleak about the prospects of the revolution. Cai Yuanpei could not help but feel a sense of loss in his heart, so his desire to change his living environment became stronger and stronger. In the autumn of this year, when I heard that the Qing government was planning to send editors and reviewers to study abroad, I decided to go to Beijing to cancel my leave and apply to study in Europe. Before leaving, he entrusted his disciple Huang Yanpei with the position of director of the Tongmenghui, and handed over various secret documents and lists to him for safekeeping. Cai Yuanpei left Shanghai and went alone to Beijing, where he had been away for 8 years.
In the autumn of the 32nd year of Guangxu (1906), Cai Yuanpei ran to Beijing, intent on applying to go to Germany, but because the government was short of funds, he was unable to send him. Later, he taught at the Institute of Translation Studies and waited for the opportunity to go abroad. The Institute of Translation Studies was later merged into the Beijing Normal University, and in 1912 the Institute of Translation Studies was changed to Peking University. Therefore, Cai Yuanpei’s teaching at the Institute of Translation Studies was actually the first time he served Peking University. His book "History of Chinese Sun Baoqi Statue Ethics" was written during this period.
In April 1907, the Qing government sent Sun Baoqi as its ambassador to Germany. Sun Baoqi agreed to subsidize Yuanpei's tuition fees of 30 taels per month, and the Commercial Press also agreed with Cai Yuanpei to provide 100 yuan per month for translation fees. Now that the problem of basic living expenses has been resolved, Yuan Pei followed Sun Baoqi to study in Germany. Cai Yuanpei was forty-one years old this year. As an international student, he seemed a little older. However, he often wanted to seek opportunities for further study to enrich his knowledge. This eagerness to learn is really admirable.
Cai Yuanpei studied in Germany until the Revolution of 1911 (1911), when he returned to China, which lasted four years. He entered the University of Leipzig and majored in philosophy. While at school, he translated "Principles of Ethics" written by the German philosopher Paulson and published it by the Shanghai Commercial Press. When he first arrived in Berlin, he heard that Xu Xilin had revolted in Anqing and was executed. Soon after, Qiu Jin conspired to start an uprising in Shao and was also arrested and killed. The strength of the Guangfuhui was greatly destroyed.
At that time, Wu Jingheng, Li Shizeng, Zhang Jingjiang and others published the "New Century" weekly newspaper in Paris, France, promoting anarchism, opposing constitutional monarchy and advocating revolution. Cai Yuanpei was influenced by anarchist thought and also made spiritual echoes in Germany. On April 27, 1911, the Guangzhou Uprising led by Huang Xing failed, but it caused a sensation across the country, and revolutionary sentiment became even higher since then. The Wuchang Uprising occurred on October 10. After the recovery of Wuchang, the Hubei Military Government was established.
Cai Yuanpei got the letter from Wu Jingheng in London and learned about the news in Wuhan. In his letter to Wu Jingheng, he included the words "I'm afraid I won't be able to stay here for long," implying his intention to return to the country to fight and fight with the Communists. Later, he received a telegram from Chen Yingshi urging him to return to China. So I ended my four-year study abroad career and returned eastward via Siberia. The day he arrived in Shanghai was when Huang Xing arrived in Shanghai from Wuchang, that is, around December 1, Sun Yat-sen had not yet returned to China. He had no place to live for a while, so Jiang Weiqiao asked him to live in the Patriotic Girls' School.
On December 4, representatives from each province decided to make Nanjing the seat of the provisional government. Huang Xing was elected as Grand Marshal and Li Yuanhong was elected as Deputy Marshal. Sun Yat-sen also returned to China at the end of the year and was immediately elected as the interim president. January 1, 1912 was designated as the New Year's Day of the first year of the Republic of China, and thereafter the Gregorian calendar was used. On that day, Sun Yat-sen took office in Nanjing and began to organize the cabinet. The provincial representative conferences formally met and approved the list of state ministers. The chiefs of each department were: Huang Xing of the Army, Huang Zhongying of the Navy, Wang Chonghui of Foreign Affairs, Chen Jintao of Finance, Wu Tingfang of Justice, Cheng Dequan of Internal Affairs, Cai Yuanpei of Education, Zhang Jian of Industry, and Tang Shouqian of Transportation. This was the first time in the Republic of China. The Provisional Government was now fully established.
After the candidates for various ministries were decided, the Director-General of Education Cai Yuanpei, who had lived in Europe for a long time and was extremely alienated from the domestic education situation, specially asked Jiang Weiqiao for help. Together with another accountant and general affairs clerk, the two arrived in Nanjing on the evening of January 4 and stayed in a small hotel. On the 5th, Cai Yuanpei officially took office and attended the first state meeting of the interim government. After the meeting, Cai Yuanpei went to see Sun Yat-sen and asked for instructions on the location of the Ministry of Education's office. Sun replied: "You have to find the office yourself." After running around for days, there was nothing he could do. By chance, he met Ma Xiangbo, the director of the Internal Affairs Department of the Jiangsu Governor's Mansion, and negotiated to borrow three vacant rooms above the Internal Affairs Department in Beiting Lane as offices, and then moved in. One can imagine its crude condition.
On January 19, the Ministry of Education was formally established. At that time, there was still chaos across the country, peace negotiations between the north and the south were ongoing, the Qing emperor had not abdicated, and the decrees of the provisional government failed to be effectively implemented. In this situation, Cai Yuanpei took the first step in education in the Republic of China.
Since the age of 45, Cai Yuanpei returned to China as the Director-General of Education. Later, during the Beiyang Government, he stayed in Beijing as a member of the Kuomintang and served as the president of Peking University. His most important contribution in his life was during his tenure as the president of Peking University. The democratic school spirit of Peking University he established has a long history and huge influence.
As the epicenter of the May 4th Movement and the birthplace of New China, Peking University’s influence on modern China is self-evident. The "spirit of Peking University" is the "spirit of Cai Yuanpei", the father of Peking University, who passed away in 1940 at the age of seventy-two. His career before the Revolution of 1911 is simply a record of China’s struggle before the dawn. He is a typical figure who has passed through the transition period between the old and the new. His exemplary words and deeds and great personality are so touching that no one will have any doubts today. Wu Jingheng once said:
Mr. Cai always treats people with no disrespect for good people, and he does not show unforgiveness to bad people. As long as this person has any redeeming qualities, he is always treated well. His only wish is to hope that China will produce some great scholars. Because he had this kind of ambition, he had done many things that he had to do in the past.
As for Cai Yuanpei's personality, Wu Jingheng also said:
Mr. Cai's character is really what is called "a gentleman is harmonious but different". He is friendly with everyone, but he has one "Own". It is definitely not because you are popular that you will follow others' opinions. Wherever Mr. Cai goes, whoever gets along with him is like sitting in the spring breeze as if he had made friends with Cheng Mingdao in the past. But even though I was sitting in the spring breeze, I felt a serious air. If we compare him with the ancients, Mr. Cai is very similar to the Duke of Zhou, who is "neither arrogant nor stingy", "holds his hair three times in one shower, spits out food three times in one meal". No matter what happens, it is also "looking up and thinking about it, day and night, luckily getting it, sitting back and waiting for it". Just like Zhou Gong's demeanor.
Wu Jingheng said that Cai Yuanpei's attitude towards himself is "neither arrogant nor stingy" towards himself, and "harmony but different" towards others. As long as this person has a skill, he will learn from his strengths and never ask questions. What are its shortcomings. However, what he never forgot was his own idea: to encourage the cultivation of scholars in universities. There is an example to prove this.
During the May Fourth period, there were debates between old and new literature and resistance to vernacular and classical Chinese. People from both groups served Peking University. Hu Shi and Chen Duxiu, who advocated the vernacular school of literature, and Lin Qinnan and Yan Fu, who advocated classical Chinese, both taught at Peking University. The principal at that time was Cai Yuanpei. Although he tended to be innovative and enterprising, he believed that these old antiques did have skills, so he hired them to teach at Peking University. Therefore, when Cai Yuanpei was the president of Peking University, he did not ask whether the person had braids or not, but only whether he was knowledgeable. As long as he had some merits, he would not fail to value him. This attitude is what is called "respecting the virtuous but tolerating others, praising the good but being reserved".
Mr. Yuanpei’s great ambition lies in his lifelong desire to cultivate talents for China, and the path he takes throughout his life is the path of education and patriotism. No wonder the first girls' school he founded was named "Patriotic Girls' School" and the first society he established was named "China Education Association". He educates without forgetting patriotism, and patriotism never forgets education.