Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T12:34:22.723Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Meritocracy and the Making of the Chinese Academe, 1912–1952

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 January 2021

Bamboo Yunzhu Ren ,
Chen Liang  and
James Z. Lee Open the ORCID record for James Z. Lee [Opens in a new window]
Bamboo Yunzhu Ren
Affiliation:
School of Humanities and Social Science, HKUST, Hong Kong SAR, People's Republic of China. Email: yrenae@connect.ust.hk.
Chen Liang
Affiliation:
College of History, Nanjing University, Nanjing, People's Republic of China. Email: liangchen@nju.edu.cn.
James Z. Lee*
Affiliation:
School of Humanities and Social Science, HKUST, Hong Kong SAR, People's Republic of China.
*
Email: jqljzl@ust.hk (corresponding author).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article takes advantage of three new big historical datasets to identify four salient features of the Chinese academe during the Republic of China. First, it was highly international in terms of training. Second, the proportion of female students was unexpectedly large. Third, there was a heavy emphasis on STEM subjects. Finally, the social and spatial origins of China's university students and university faculty members changed from a national population of civil servant families to business and professional families largely from Jiangnan and the Pearl River Delta. The datasets are the China University Student Dataset – Republic of China, which includes almost half of all students to graduate from a Chinese university during the first half of the 20th century; the China University Student Dataset – Overseas, which includes the vast majority of all Chinese students to graduate from a North American, European or Japanese university during this same period; and the China University Employee Dataset, which includes almost all university faculty members in China, 1941–1950.

摘要

摘要

本文旨在利用三个新建的量化历史数据库，探索民国时期中国学界知识群体的特征。三个新建的量化历史数据库分别是：1）涵盖民国时期大学毕业生人数一半以上的民国大学生量化数据库、2）包含绝大多数留欧、美、日学生的民国留学生量化数据库和 3）囊括 40 年代大学教授及教员的民国大学教师数据库。分析表明，民国知识群体存在着四方面的显著特征：高度国际化的训练模式、极高的女性参与程度、对科技地持续重视、社会与地理来源的结构性转变，即从帝国时期全国性的科举家庭到民国时期地区性的商人及专业人士家庭，并以长三角和珠三角地区为主。当代中国高等教育很多重要的特征，如国际化、偏重理工科、城市化和区域集中等，都可以追溯到这一时期和这一群体。

Keywords

higher educationoverseas studentsgenderSTEMsocial and spatial originsChina高等教育留学生社会性别科技教育社会及地理来源中国
Type
Research Article
Information
The China Quarterly , Volume 244: Change, Contradiction and the State: Higher Education in Greater China , December 2020 , pp. 942 - 968
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © SOAS University of London, 2021

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderson, Robert David. 1995. Universities and Elites in Britain since 1800. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Asada, Kyoji. 1997. 1937–1945 Riben zai Zhongguo lunxianqu de jingji lüeduo 1937–1945 (The Economic Plunder of Japanese Occupied Territory in China 1937–1945). Shanghai: Fudan daxue chubanshe.Google Scholar
Bailey, Paul. 1988. “The Chinese work–study movement in France.” The China Quarterly 115, 441–461.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bengtsson, Tommy, Campbell, Cameron and Lee, James. 2004. Life under Pressure: Mortality and Living Standards in Europe and Asia, 1700–1900. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bolton, Paul. 2012. “Education: historical statistics.” House of Commons Library, Standard Note SN/SG/4252, https://dera.ioe.ac.uk/22771/1/SN04252.pdf.Google Scholar
Chen, Dongyuan. 2017[1937]. Zhongguo funü shenghuo shi (History of the Life of Chinese Women). Shanghai: Shangwu yinshuguan.Google Scholar
Chen, Shuang. 2017. State-sponsored Inequality: The Banner System and Social Stratification in Northeast China. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Chen, Xinren. 1997. Xiandai Zhong-wai wenhua jiaoliu shilüe (A History of Chinese–Foreign Cultural Exchange). Beijing: Zhongguo shuji chubanshe.Google Scholar
Chen, Yilin. 1930. Zuijin sanshinian Zhongguo jiaoyushi (History of Chinese Education in the Recent 30 Years). Shanghai: Taipingyang shudianGoogle Scholar
Cheng, Zhefan. 2016[1936]. Zhongguo xiandai nüzi jiaoyushi (History of Women's Education in Modern China). Zhengzhou: Henan renmin chubanshe.Google Scholar
Davies, Catherine (ed.). 2000. Spanish Women's Writing, 1849–1996. London: A and C Black.Google Scholar
De Witt, Nicholas. 1955. Soviet Professional Manpower: Its Education, Training, and Supply. Washington, DC: National Academies.Google Scholar
De Witt, Nicholas. 1961. Education and Professional Employment in the USSR. Washington, DC: National Academies.Google Scholar
Deng, Zhengbin. 1998. “Lüe lun minguo de huzheng” (On the household registration system in the Republican period). Huaibei shifan xueyuan xuebao 1, 24–25.Google Scholar
Dong, Hao, Campbell, Cameron D., Kurosu, Satomi, Yang, Wen-shan and Lee, James Z.. 2015. “New sources for comparative social science: historical population panel data from East Asia.” Demography 52(3), 1061–88.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fitzpatrick, Sheila. 1978. “Sex and revolution: an examination of literary and statistical data on the mores of Soviet students in the 1920s.” The Journal of Modern History 50(2), 252–278.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Flecha García, Consuelo. 2011. “Education in Spain: a close-up of its history in the 20th century.” Analytical Reports in International Education 4(1), 17–42CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fleisher, Belton, Li, Haizheng and Zhao, Min Qiang. 2010. “Human capital, economic growth, and regional inequality in China.” Journal of Development Economics 92(2), 215–231.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Graham, Patricia Albjerg. 1978. “Expansion and exclusion: a history of women in American higher education.” Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 3(4), 759–773.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guoli daxuexiao tiaoli (Regulations regarding national universities). 1924. Anhui jiaoyu yuekan 58, 1–4.Google Scholar
Hayhoe, Ruth. 1996. China's Universities, 1895–1995: A Century of Cultural Conflict. New York: Garland Press.Google Scholar
Ho, Ping-ti. 1962. The Ladder of Success in Imperial China: Aspects of Social Mobility, 1368–1911. New York: Basic Books.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hu, Shih. 2003. Hushi quanji (Selected Writings of Hu Shih). Hefei: Anhui jiaoyu chubanshe.Google Scholar
Hu, Xiangdong. 2008a. Minguo shiqi Zhongguo kaoshi zhidu de zhuanxing yu chonggou (The Transformation and Reconstruction of the Chinese Examination System during the Republic of China). Wuhan: Hubei jiaoyu chubanshe.Google Scholar
Hu, Xiangdong. 2008b. “Minchu xuexiao xiaonei kaoshi zhidu de jianli yu shishi” (The establishment of internal school testing in early Republican schools). Hubei zhaosheng kaoshi 24, 49–53.Google Scholar
Hunt, Michael H. 1972. “The American remission of the Boxer Indemnity: a reappraisal.” Journal of Asian Studies 31(3), 539–559.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kelly, Gail P., and Slaughter, S. (eds.). 2012. Women's Higher Education in Comparative Perspective. Dordrecht: Springer Science and Business Media.Google Scholar
Klineberg, Otto. 2015. International Educational Exchange: An Assessment of its Nature and its Prospects. Den Hague: Walter de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Kai, Koa. 1940. Nippon ryogaku chuka min koku jinmei cho (Name List of Students Studying in Japan from the Republic of China). Tokyo: Koa Kai.Google Scholar
Kosmann-Schwarzbach, Yvette. 2015. “Women mathematicians in France in the mid-twentieth century.” Journal of the British Society for the History of Mathematics 30(3), 227–242.Google Scholar
Lee, James Z., and Wang, Feng. 1999. One Quarter of Humanity: Malthusian Mythology and Chinese Realities. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Li, Xiaochao, and Yan, Jianhui (eds.). 2010. Xin Zhongguo liushi nian tongji ziliao huibian (A Collection of 60 Years of Statistical Tables on the New China). Beijing: Guojia tongjiju guomin jingji zonghe tongjisi.Google Scholar
Liang, Chen. 2015. “Minguo daxue congye qunti de jieceng jiegou yu liudong yanjiu – yi Qinghua daxue weili de kaocha” (Class structure and social mobility of university employees – a case study of Tsinghua University). Zhongshan daxue xuebao 3, 74–84.Google Scholar
Liang, Chen, Dong, Hao and Lee, James Z.. 2015. “Lianghua shujuku yu lishi yanjiu” (Big data and historical research). Lishi yanjiu 2, 113–128.Google Scholar
Liang, Chen, Dong, Hao, Ren, Bamboo Y. and Lee, James Z.. 2017a. “Jiangshan dai you rencai chu, geling fengsao shushinian” (Changes in the social and geographical origins of China's educated elites, 1865–2014). Shehuixue yanjiu 3, 48–70.Google Scholar
Liang, Chen, and Lee, James Z.. 2014. “Dashuju xin shishi yu lilun yanjin yi xuejika ziliao de shiliao jiazhi yu yanjiu fangfa wei zhongxin de taolun” (Recent advances in big data, new historical facts and social theory: a discussion based on new research using university student records). Qinghua daxue xuebao zhesheban 5, 104–113.Google Scholar
Liang, Chen, Lee, James Z., Zhang, Hao, Li, Lan, Ruan, Danching, Campbell, Cameron and Yang, Shanhua. 2012. “Wusheng de geming: Beijing daxue yu Suzhou daxue xuesheng shehui laiyuan yanjiu” (Silent revolution: the social origins of Peking University and Suzhou University undergraduates, 1952–2002). Zhongguo shehui kexue 1, 99–119.Google Scholar
Liang, Chen, Ren, Bamboo Y., Wang, Yuqian and Lee, James Z.. 2017b. “Minguo Shanghai daxuesheng shehui laiyuan lianghua yanjiu, 1913–1949” (Some thoughts on the quantitative study of student backgrounds in Republican Shanghai, 1913–1949). Lishi yanjiu 3, 76–92.Google Scholar
Liang, Chen, Zhang, Hao, Li, Lan, Ruan, Danching, Campbell, Cameron and Lee, James Z.. 2013. Wusheng de geming: Beijing daxue yu Suzhou daxue xuesheng shehui laiyuan, 1949–2002 (Silent Revolution: The Social Origins of Peking University and Suzhou University Undergraduates, 1949–2002). Beijing: Sanlian shudian.Google Scholar
Lin, Justin Y., Cai, Fang and Li, Zhou. 1994. Zhongguo de qiji: fazhan zhanlüe yu jingji gaige (China Miracle: Development Strategy and Economic Reform). Shanghai: Sanlian shudian.Google Scholar
Liu, Zhen. 1980. Liuxue jiaoyu: Zhongguo liuxue jiaoyu shiliao (Materials on Chinese Overseas Education). Beijing: Guoli bianyiguan.Google Scholar
Luo, Jialun. 1938. “Kangzhande guoli yu wenhuade zhengtixing” (State and culture of China during the war). Xin minzu zhoukan 1(11), 1–5.Google Scholar
Mei, Yiqi. 1954. A Survey of Chinese Students in American Universities and Colleges in the Past One Hundred Years in Commemoration of the One Hundredth Anniversary of the Graduation of the First Chinese from an American University, Yung Wing, BA Yale 1854. New York: China Institute.Google Scholar
Ministry of Education. 1948. Di erci Zhongguo jiaoyu nianjian (The Second Yearbook of Chinese Education). Shanghai: Shangwu yinshuguan.Google Scholar
Naughton, Barry. 1996. Growing out of the Plan: Chinese Economic Reform, 1978–1993. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Naughton, Barry J. 2006. The Chinese Economy: Transitions and Growth. Cambridge, MA: MIT press.Google Scholar
Gakkai, Nikka. 1927–1940. Ryunichi Gakusei Meibo (Name List of Chinese Students Studying in Japan). Tokyo: Nikka Gakkai.Google Scholar
Piketty, Thomas. 2020. Capital and Ideology. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Polanyi, Karl. 2001[1944]. The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of our Time. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.Google Scholar
Qian, Mu. 2001. Zhongguo lidai zhengzhi deshi (Chinese Political Gains and Losses during the Past Dynasties). Beijing: Sanlian shudian.Google Scholar
Sanetou, Keishuu. 1960; 1983. Chugoku Jin Ryugaku Nippon Shi (History of Chinese Students in Japan). Beijing: Sanlian shudian.Google Scholar
Second Historical Archives. 1940. “Minguo shibanian zhi ershiqi nian liuxuesheng tongjibiao” (Statistics of Chinese overseas students). No. 5–2–1412.Google Scholar
Second Historical Archives. 1946. “Jiaoyubu 1946 nian zifei chuguo liuxue kaoshi baomingshu” (Application form of self-funded overseas studies). No. 5–15469.Google Scholar
Snyder, Thomas D. (ed.) 1993. “120 years of American education: a statistical portrait.” US Department of Education, National Center for Statistics, https://nces.ed.gov/pubs93/93442.pdfGoogle Scholar
Stephenson, Jill. 1975. “Girls’ higher education in Germany in the 1930s.” Journal of Contemporary History 10(1), 41–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stephenson, Jill. 1990. “Women and the professions in Germany, 1900–1945.” In Cocks, G. and Jarausch, K.H. (eds.), German Professions, 1800–1950. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Tilly, Charles. 1998. Durable Inequality. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tournier, Michele. 1973. “Women and access to university in France and Germany (1861–1967).” Comparative Education 9(3), 107–117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, Qisheng. 1992. Zhongguo liuxuesheng de lishiguiji, 1872–1949 (The Historical Trajectory of Chinese Students Who Studied Abroad, 1872–1949). Wuhan: Hubei jiaoyu chubanshe.Google Scholar
Wang, Yi Chu. 1966. Chinese Intellectuals and the West, 1872–1949. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press.Google Scholar
Xie, Yu, Zhang, Chunni and Lai, Qing. 2014 “China's rise as a major contributor to science and technology.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 111(26), 9437–42.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yang, Tongfang. 1940. “Tichang daxue yanjiu fengqi” (Promoting research in university). Shidai jiaoyu 1(2), 56–58.Google Scholar
Yao, Shuping. 2017. Huishou bainian luyao: bansui Zhongguo xiandaihua de shici liuxuechao (Looking Back on the Century-long Journey: Ten Waves of Studying Abroad Accompanying China's Modernization). Shanghai: Shanghai jiaoyu chubanshe.Google Scholar
Ye, Weili. 2002. Seeking Modernity in China's Name: Chinese Students in the United States, 1900–1927. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Yeh, Wen-hsin. 1990. The Alienated Academy: Culture and Politics in Republican China, 1919–1937. Harvard, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Zhang, Zixin. 2019. “The spatial and social origins of China's educated elite, 1865–2014: Chinese doctoral students in the United States, 1905–1960.” Unpublished manuscript.Google Scholar
Zhou, Gan. 1937. “Daxue zhaoshengde jige wenti” (Problems of university admission). Zhongxing 2(5), 11–14.Google Scholar
Zhou, Yichuan. 2008. “Jindai Zhongguo liuri xuesheng renshu kaobian” (An estimate of overseas Republican Chinese students in Japan). Wenshizhe 2, 104–112.Google Scholar