Front. Educ.

China 2021, 16(1): 126–154

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11516-021-0006-3

RESEARCH ARTICLE

LIU Baocun, KANG Yunfei

How Far Can We Learn Anything of Practical Value

from Our Pioneers? Reconsidering Wu Yifang’s
Legacy of Higher Education
Received: 10 October 2020/Accepted: 12 February 2021
© Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany 2021

Abstract The dilemma confronting modern university development presents a

challenge to the management ability of university presidents, hence a need to
review how successful presidents of the past managed. Wu Yifang, the first
Chinese woman president with remarkable achievements in education, has thus
come to our attention. As President of Ginling College (GC), she was confronted
with a preponderance of contradictions, including the conflicts between the ideas
of Western universities and Chinese traditional culture, between Christian spirit
and social responsibility, between educational logic and the political environment,
between traditional inheritance and innovation, and between universal university
governance experience and the unique needs of GC. She eventually succeeded in
balancing these contradictions with her superb management wisdom, with the
management ideas in China’s classical text, the Mean playing an important role
in facilitating GC’s development. Wu Yifang’s management style demonstrated a
remarkable balance in prioritizing both the pursuit of talent cultivation and social
services, based on carefully catering to core principles pertaining to the
development of universities and students. Wu Yifang’s management practices
and philosophy can thus provide important inspiration for university presidents.

Keywords Mean, university management, university president, Wu Yifang,

Ginling College (GC), housheng

LIU Baocun, KANG Yunfei ( )

Institute of International and Comparative Education, Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal
University, Beijing 100875, China
E-mail: 13051590002@163.com
How Far Can We Learn Anything of Practical Value from Our Pioneers? 127

Introduction

The president of a university can be seen as a helmsman, the heart of its spirit
and temperament as well as the key to its success. This is true of Charles William
Eliot at Harvard University, Andrew Dickson White at Cornell University, Cai
Yuanpei 蔡元培 at Peking University and Mei Yiqi 梅贻琦 at Tsinghua University.
These great presidents have all made considerable contributions at critical
moments such as the establishment or development of their universities, and even
diverted universities’ development direction in ways that reversed their fate. This
laid a solid foundation for these universities to be top-tier global higher education
institutions. Universities are now faced with both more attractive opportunities
and more arduous challenges than ever before. Experiencing increasingly close
international ties and frequent international exchanges, advances in scientific and
technological level and abundant digital resources, as well as rapidly expanding
education markets at home and abroad, universities harvest a series of advantages
in economic, reputational and resource terms, yet also encounter a great many
contradictions and conflicts. In the context of limited resources, numerous and
diversified demands and subjects of interest, university presidents have to work
out ideas and ways to govern universities out of relevant dilemma. In this regard,
Zhang Kaiyuan 章开沅 (2004), a noted historian and former President of Central
China Normal University, said in the preface of his Book Series of Famous
Chinese University Presidents that,

In the century-old course of higher education development in China, there

are a large number of pioneers who painfully blazed a trail and made
indelible contributions to the foundation and growth of modern Chinese
universities, whose achievements we should never forget. Particularly, those
accomplished presidents have erected monuments one after another in the
history of Chinese higher education with the hard-earned renown won for
their universities. They are now still affirmed and valued by scholars at
home and abroad for the rich essence of their educational thought, the
excellence of their institutional leadership ideas, and the far-reaching
influence of their practical achievements. (p. 1)

Contemporary Chinese university presidents may surpass their predecessors in

128 LIU Baocun, KANG Yunfei

terms of knowledge, vision and scientific management, but they should learn
from their pioneers in terms of the pursuit of ideal university models, and their
firm adherence to these ideals and ethics. Especially nowadays when many sense
that the university spirit is being lost and its awareness of social accountability is
being weakened, there should be more considerations of the social and
educational responsibilities of the university. This applies not only to China but
also the world at large.
In modern China, with its wars and frequent disasters, many university
presidents insisted on the role of the university in enlightening society,
cultivating talent to have broad minds, profound knowledge and social
responsibility, and on producing responsible graduates with courage and integrity.
It is with such spirit and ideas that they have overcome incredible hardships and
built their universities into noted higher education institutions globally. Their
spirit and ideas in running universities have important instructive value that
could reverse the decline of university spirit in some contemporary universities,
correcting their utilitarian tendencies, improving the cultivation of contemporary
college students, and enhancing students’ pursuit of lofty ideals and a higher
level of humanity (Cheng, 2007, p. 3); hence they have not only philosophical
value but more importantly practical value in shaping contemporary higher
education.
Wu Yifang 吴 贻 芳 is a noted educator and the first female university
president in China. She brought accomplished achievements to Ginling College
(GC, 金陵女子大学 [1913–1930] and 金陵女子文理学院 [1930–1951]). During
her 23-year career as President in the College, she trained 760 undergraduates
and 113 junior college students, outnumbering the other women’s universities
over the same period. Nearly one third of the graduates pursued further study and
the majority of them have become scholars and practitioners from all walks of
life who later made outstanding contributions to the country’s development. The
graduates were spread across education, domestic service, social service,
scientific research and included civil servants, doctors, nurses and professionals
in other fields (Cheng & Sun, 2004, pp. 267–269), which was rarely seen before
1949 when women were largely fettered in terms of their social roles.
In the war-torn Chinese society of the time, GC was inevitably affected by the
then political and social environments, and had to handle the relations between
tradition and innovation, between religion and society, between local culture and
How Far Can We Learn Anything of Practical Value from Our Pioneers? 129

Westernization. However, Wu Yifang took housheng (厚生 abundant life) as the

college motto, whose connotation emphasized contributing to society as well as
an enriching life at individual level. Based on such an educational philosophy,
she carried out a series of practical activities, which helped to balance well the
aforesaid contradictory and antagonistic relations, and turn those unfavorable
factors into favorable ones to make the College distinct and successful. This
paper is focused on the following three research questions: What is the
philosophical basis of Wu Yifang’s idea of the university? How did she handle
various contradictions in running a university with her philosophy? How did her
initiatives relate to her background and what kind of university ideas lay behind
the scene? It is expected that answers to the above questions will provide
practical lessons for university presidents and university administrators today.

Literature Review

Wu Yifang’s Major Life Events and Her Educational Legacy

Wu Yifang made remarkable achievements in education. Her educational thought,

educational practices and personal experience have been widely studied by later
generations. Amid the plentiful studies, some scholars have outlined her whole
life, from which a brief picture of her life is presented here (Feng, 2006; Gong,
2015; Lou, 1996; Luo, 2006; Lü, 2015; Ren, 1996; Wang, 2012). Wu Yifang was
born in Wuchang, Hubei province. Unfortunately, her father, elder brother,
mother and elder sister died one after another in 1909, giving her a heavy blow.
Her uncle-in-law brought her home and they moved to Beijing in 1914. In 1916,
she entered GC and studied hard, receiving her bachelor’s degree as a student of
the first cohort in this Chinese women’s university. From 1922 to 1928 during
her doctoral studies in biology at the University of Michigan in the United States,
she remained concerned about the changes in China and openly expressed her
identity as a Chinese student with a strong sense of patriotism. Later back in
China, while in charge of the work of GC from 1928 to 1951, her work was
afflicted by floods, epidemics, war, political unrest, a shortage of funds and other
challenges, as well as difficulties that resulted from church-government
contradictions. With courage, tenacity, and wisdom, Wu Yifang addressed all
these challenges and developed the College into a Christian women’s university
130 LIU Baocun, KANG Yunfei

with the great influence, the distinctive features and a high reputation in China
and abroad. She created a hallmark in the modern history of Chinese education.
After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, she continued to serve as a
leader in education. Success fully, she assumed the post of Director-General of
the Jiangsu Provincial Education Department and Vice Governor of Jiangsu
province, delivering lectures and holding discussions at grassroots level, to
appeal to the society to respect teachers and value education, and to propose
insightful educational ideas and initiatives based on her years of practice. Her
passion and contribution to China’s education concluded only after the end of her
life. He (2017) explores the influence of Wu Yifang’s trajectory of thought and
practice, and points out that Wu Yifang’s educational background in China and
abroad empowered her to be open and inclusive. This remarkable quality enabled
different ideas and cultures to coexist and collide in GC and made possible
continuing vitality of development even in very tough times. Another factor that
prevented the College from being infringed on and harassed in these turbulent
times lay in Wu Yifang’s excellent capability in handling social events.
Most scholars have focused on Wu Yifang’s feminine educational ideas.
Specifically, she attached great importance to the area of social service and
patriotism, calling for women to be educated in order to unleash their strengths
and enable them to be socially useful (Pu, 2014; Yang & Wang, 2010). Her idea
about higher vocational education for women was to focus the curriculum and
establishment of specialties in women’s education on social needs and to value
students’ practical ability (Li, 2009). Women’s physical education made
improving students’ physique its guiding ideology and goal with academic design
and practice oriented towards women. Thus she suggested that educators and
education settings pick appropriate physical education teaching content, methods
and approaches suited to women’s physical and mental development
characteristics, equip teachers with a comprehensive foundation, pay equal
attention to moral, intellectual and physical and mass education, and focus on
developing good living habits and courteous and graceful manners (Dong et al.,
2017; Meng & Wang, 2011). The holistic education encouraged by Wu took the
spirit of housheng as the cornerstone, emphasizing the full development of “five
educational areas” (moral, intellectual, physical, mass and spiritual education)
and patriotism based on appropriate teaching methods. Furthermore, she called
for the implementation of effective management measures to strengthen
How Far Can We Learn Anything of Practical Value from Our Pioneers? 131

educational practice and cultivate highly competent talent, such as devising

systems for major and minor courses, arts and science courses, strengthening the
basics and valuing social practice (Yang & Wang, 2009). The college motto
housheng itself is the embodiment of Wu Yifang’s educational philosophy. Some
have explained this educational philosophy as helping students develop a
patriotic and professional outlook on life, cultivating talent able to engage in
rigorous scholarship and all-round development, caring about the construction
and development of teachers, valuing the exploration of a variety of teaching
methods, and valuing educational praxis (Xiang, 2007; Zheng & Yan, 2003).
Overwhelmingly, most scholars judged Wu Yifang’s education for women as
addressing social needs by catering to women’s unique characteristics.
As a matter of fact, Wu Yifang has left other educational legacies as well
during her 24 years’ management experience as the GC President. Zhan (2013)
and Peng and Du (2010) summarized her thoughts on higher education. Liu and
Ren (2015) systematically described her view on teacher education, including
democratic and equal teacher-student relationships, the teacher as an example,
individualized teaching methods and a concept of lifelong learning in teacher
development. Xu (2007) maintained that the core of her educational thinking was
educating qualified personnel for society, and the main theme of her gender focus
was striving for equal educational opportunities for women from a sociological
perspective. Cheng (2004) focused on education measures taken by GC for first
and second year undergraduates, including a first year students’ admission week,
first year month events, a sisterhood class system, a senior class retreat system,
and so forth. These measures were in place to help first year students overcome
maladjustments that might arise in learning, communication and independent
living, bolster instruction for senior undergraduates who found themselves at a
loss, and establish a virtuous circle between undergraduate and graduate
education. Other studies looked into Wu Yifang’s educational thought from the
perspective of her management practice as President of GC, in an attempt to
reflect on China’s then higher education thought and practice (Cheng, 2004; Qian,
2012; Thurston & Chester, 1955; Zhang, 2015; Zhou, 2013). Among them,
Pragmatic Female Model: President of Women’s College Wu Yifang, one of the
books in the Book Series of Famous Chinese University Presidents, explores the
factors promoting the development of GC, with a special focus on Wu Yifang’s
role (Cheng & Sun, 2004). This book is devoted to Wu Yifang’s aims and
132 LIU Baocun, KANG Yunfei

characteristics in running the College, particularly her institutional and practical

contribution to GC, with her educational thought given less attention. Huang
(1996) and Jin (2005) analyzed Wu Yifang’s educational thought by treating
educational practice as an important means for the analysis of educational
thought. The difference between these two authors is that Huang focuses on the
Christian educational ideas, while Jin explored educational thinking in a general
sense.
These studies have given a broad picture of Wu Yifang’s upbringing, practical
life experience, and educational thinking when she took charge of GC. Other
studies on Wu Yifang’s tenure as GC President cover the whole process starting
from her initial appointment to the end of her presidency, including her routine
management style, as well as the challenges facing her and the choices she made
at those critical historical moments. However, there is still a gap in how Wu
made choices and struck a balance in addressing the multiple real problems and
contradictions faced by GC when she served as President in the context of
tumultuous times. This study therefore aims to fill that research gap.

Chinese Traditional Culture and the Impact of Its Inheritance

China’s long history has bred a wide range of ideologies and ideas, such as
Confucianism, Taoism, Legalism, and Mohism in the Spring and Autumn period
and the Warring States period (Guo, 2011), as well as Buddhism, which was
introduced into China and adapted to the local context (Banbanduojie, 2004).
These cultural patterns were shaped and developed under specific historical
environments and characteristics, which in turn shaped the people and the times.
Among these cultural traditions, Confucianism has always occupied a dominant
position. Since the Han dynasty, Confucianism has become the most important
education influence in Chinese society, while the content of other cultures and
ideologies have had to adapt to the cultural norms of Confucianism (Li, 2011).
The establishment of Confucianism’s revered status is closely associated with the
government’s upholding of Confucianism as the main intellectual pillar to be
passed on from generation to generation, as well as the way of selecting scholars
to enter the bureaucratic system. With the imperial examination system taking the
Confucian classics as the mainstream thought, the ancient Chinese formal
education system linked the studying of Confucianism with assuming official
How Far Can We Learn Anything of Practical Value from Our Pioneers? 133

positions, thus strengthening the supreme political and academic status of

Confucianism in the society (Li & Guo, 2006). Since its birth, Confucianism has
played two different roles in the historical development of the Chinese nation:
One is Confucianism as an academic field, and the other is Confucianism as an
ideology. Since the Han dynasty, the social status of Confucianism has risen to
hold an exclusive position in the arena of national ideology. Its influence is not
limited to people’s morality and culture, but influences the operation of the
whole country, including people’s behavioral norms, the etiquette system and
other arenas of social life (Xu, 2014).
With the promotion of a feudal education system and the formation of
Confucian teachers, the scope of Confucianism expanded and developed, with
the Confucian classics increasing from six classics to 13 classics. Among them,
The Six Classics constituted the original system of Confucianism, which covered
four types of content: behavioral norms, music theory and scores, poetry and
literature, historical archives (Shu, 2011). As for the main contents of the Six
Classics, Zhuangzi 庄子 once noted that: The Book of Songs (Shi 诗) is used to
express thoughts and feelings, The Book of History (Shu 书) is used to record
political affairs, The Book of Rites (Li 礼) is used to express behavior norms, The
Book of Music (Yue 乐) is used to convey a harmonious temperament, The Book
of Changes (Yi 易) is used to clarify the mystery of the changes of Yin and Yang,
The Spring and Autumn Annals (Chunqiu 春秋) is used to depict the hierarchy
and sequence of prestige (Zhuangzi, n. d.). Among these classics, The Book of
Rites has an important position. It fully and systematically explains many
Confucian viewpoints, including social and political thought, the concept of
heaven and human relations, and the ways and principles of mind and nature
education. The book can be said best reflect and reveal the essence and core
values of Confucianism (Ding, 2017). The Great Learning (Daxue 大学) and The
Doctrine of the Mean (Zhongyong 中庸 ) in The Book of Rites (Liji 礼记 ),
together with the other two books, are called The Four Books, which are greatly
emphasized and regarded as the core texts for understanding Confucianism by
Zhu Xi 朱熹, a scholar of the Song dynasty and a master of Confucianism (Li,
1986, p. 249, p. 429). Among the two books, The Doctrine of the Mean is
regarded as the theoretical cornerstone of Confucianism, representing the
fundamental spirit of Confucian culture (Yang & Zou, 1998). The Doctrine of the
Mean first appeared on the stage of history as a political formality, then evolved
134 LIU Baocun, KANG Yunfei

into methodology and social morality, and finally rose to a philosophical status.
The political and moral dimensions of the Mean (Zhongyong 中庸) play an
irreplaceable role in the harmonious development of Chinese society and the
unity maintained over thousands of years. The Mean in the form of philosophy
has also made great contributions to the development of the theoretical thinking
of the Chinese nation (Song, 1991).
Under the influence of the Confucianism, Chinese ideology and culture have
formed distinct characteristics in terms of moral ethics, educational philosophy,
politics, mind and nature; Confucian culture also plays an important role in
shaping the national character of Chinese people (Hong, 2010). Confucianism
has become the main component of the psychological structure of the Chinese
people, and plays a normative role in the ideological, emotional, and behavioral
activities of the whole society. It includes a positive and enterprising attitude
towards life, concern for the prosperity of the country and the people’s livelihood,
and an emphasis on moral cultivation for living in the world (Li, 2010). Lin
Yutang 林语堂, a famous modern Chinese writer, summed up Confucianism as a
kind of humanitarianism, which has a positive attitude towards life, requiring
people to take responsibility for human society (Yao, 2005). Confucianism urges
people to be kind, to enrich and improve themselves, and to be gentlemen (Wang,
2008), which has internal similarity with the ideal of offering oneself to others
and serving the society advocated by GC’s motto of housheng (Zhu, 2002,
p. 230).

Housheng and Ginling College

As the motto of GC, a missionary college, housheng is believed to have its origin
in Christianity. The Bible clearly states that Jesus came to give us abundant life.
In one translation, the verse says “… more and better life than they ever dreamed
of” (The Message, 2016, John 10:10). Abundant life does not consist of an
abundance of material things. The biblical definition of life—specifically eternal
life—is provided by Jesus Himself: “Now this is eternal life: that they may know
you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (Holy Bible, 2015,
John 17:3). This definition makes no mention of length of days, health, prosperity,
family, or occupation. As a matter of fact, the only thing it does mention is
knowledge of God, which is the key to a truly abundant life. According to the
How Far Can We Learn Anything of Practical Value from Our Pioneers? 135

content “grow[ing] in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ” (Holy Bible, 2015, Peter 3:18), abundant life is a continual process of
learning, practicing, and maturing, as well as failing, recovering, adjusting,
enduring, and overcoming. True abundant life consists of an abundance of love,
joy, peace, and the rest of the fruits of the Spirit (Holy Bible, 2015, Galatians 5:
22–23), not an abundance of “stuff.”
In the context of GC, housheng means that one should not live only for himself
or herself; instead, he or she should help others and contribute to society with his
or her own abilities and wisdom, which not only benefits others, but also
enriches his or her own life (NNU, n. d.). For instance, He and Shi (1996)
illustrated the important contribution of missionary women’s education to the
emergence of modern women’s institutions and the establishment and
development of an education system for women in China. Zhu (2002) introduced
and compared GC and Hwa Nan College from the perspective of presidential
management, motto connotation, function orientation, safeguarding women’s
rights and alumni evaluation. It contains rich historical materials about Wu
Yifang’s tenure as President, and helps to understand the background, challenges
and problems of modern Christian women’s higher education as well as their
actions in response. Liu and Liu (2003) described the overall picture of Christian
universities during the Anti-Japanese War, covering many Christian universities’
active anti-Japanese actions and cooperation, including GC and Wu Yifang’s
initiatives. Although missionary institutions were by-products of the Christian
movement since their inception, their later development has proven the
significance of their existence as educational institutions. Missionary institutions
have produced many intellectuals who have a solid foundation in Western
learning while striving to promote China’s modernization in the fields of culture,
education, industry, and politics. The vast majority of these people did not focus
on Christianity as a belief system and life value. Instead, they strengthened their
awareness of the importance of protecting the nation and their patriotic
commitment to rejuvenating China with the unique sensitivity of intellectuals
(He & Shi, 1996, p.12).

Theoretical Basis and Research Methods

The Mean is the philosophical, ethical, and moral approach, also the ideological
136 LIU Baocun, KANG Yunfei

methodology advocated by Confucianism, for regarding the world, society, life,

and oneself. It is one of the guiding ideologies of ancient Chinese society (Wu,
2004). The Confucian Mean particularly has two meanings: zhong and he. Zhong
中 means to be moderate, avoiding “too much” or “too little,” knowing what to
do and what not to do, and holding to a sense of propriety. Furthermore, it
denotes a very important state of equilibrium or balance. As James Legge, a great
translator of the Chinese classics, argues, the ultimate purpose of the Mean is to
maintain balance and harmony by directing the mind to a state of constant
equilibrium (Confucius, 1893). In the case of higher education management,
students need appropriate retribution in the light of the seriousness of the
consequences of their behavior, with too severe or too light punishments to be
avoided by all means (Zhang, 2015). He 和 means a state of harmony where
different things are coordinated and complement each other, with differences
coexisting peacefully and harmoniously (Wu, 2004). While achieving the two,
benevolence, righteousness, and propriety are the criteria in judging whether a
behavior is good or not, and motive is an indispensable factor for constantly
adjusting behavior according to the changing environment and conditions. Thus
the educational application of the Mean is embodied in a perfect combination of
these elements (Yu, 2008).
Zhong and he are concepts that derive from empirical observations and the
rational insights of ancient ancestors, and the Mean offers a methodology that
summarizes, condenses and sublimates the two concepts. Zhiliang-yongzhong 执
两用中 is one of the basic principles of the Mean and an important rule for
guiding action. Liang 两 refers to two sides, implying that everything has two
opposite sides that contradict each other. Yongzhong 用中 denotes a way to make
things correct, rational and harmonious, i.e., taking account of the two
contradictory sides concurrently. Confucius claimed that, the opposite state of
zhiliang-yongzhong, listening to one side and ignoring the other when examining
and treating an issue, inevitably falls into extremes and goes wrong. In this
regard, the Mean offers a reflection on how to move away from one-sided
cognition and practice. Furthermore, Confucius advocated not holding any
preconceived ideas. In this respect, zhong in Confucianism looks at the
complicated, diverse and variable basis of subjective and objective conditions,
and thus zhong does not have a unified standard for definition. The optimal
zhong and he states are dependent on time, place, condition and scenarios (Ding,
How Far Can We Learn Anything of Practical Value from Our Pioneers? 137

2004). It thus can be seen that the Mean bases itself on the inherent
contradictions of things, and stresses the relevance and non-binary opposition of
contradictions, as well as the complexity and contextuality when addressing
contradictions.
Social science and human events of historical creation show the unity of the
conformity of law and the conformity of aim (Pei, 2018; Zhang, 2008). The
objective facts underlined by the former and the value orientations by the latter
are not only the two essential factors for enhanced social science and human
society, but also important criteria in applying the philosophy of the Mean.
Balance or equilibrium constitutes a central idea in the Mean. For education, the
Mean requires educational behavior to follow the concept of value neutrality and
seeking truth from facts, basing itself on the law of educational development in
the real world, and engaging in correct and reasonable practice. The behaviors
that go against the laws of education, teaching and students’ development are not
allowed. On the other hand, educational behavior is still obliged to be instructed
and driven by educational aims and value pursuits, as the Mean educational
behavior is also a compromise approach to attain a certain educational goal. The
conformity of law in terms of investigating whether tools, means and methods
are rational falls within epistemology, and the conformity of aim, checking
whether motivation and aim are justified and reasonable, belongs to axiology
(Zhang, 2008). The two together constitute the two criteria of educational
practice, so the educational behavior following the Mean has to concurrently
accommodate both for a better management outcome.
From the perspective of the Mean and based on related studies, this paper
intends to analyze how Wu Yifang handled the seemingly contradictory and
antagonistic challenges in reality when she served as President of GC, and tries
to clarify the educational logic that underpinned her philosophy of the Mean by
exploring how the principles of the conformity of law and the conformity of aim
are applied in her educational practice. There are two reasons to use the the Mean
in the analysis of this paper. One is that Wu Yifang had well balanced so many
contradictions in practice, which provided smooth internal and external
conditions for the development of GC and made the College distinctive among
others. The other is that Wu Yifang herself appreciated Confucianism and the
philosophical thought of the Mean. Delivering her speech titled Christianity and
the World Order in 1943, Wu Yifang said: “Chinese Confucianism values
138 LIU Baocun, KANG Yunfei

tolerance and the Mean. Confucianism has always been inclusive of all religious
doctrines, so Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism and Christianity can coexist. The
Mean teaches people not to go to extremes. Every culture and country has its
own set of beliefs and goals. If our Mean brings together the beliefs of all
countries and finds the central point, the world can take a big step forward” (Qin,
2015). A review of Wu Yifang’s educational practice in managing GC based on
the perspective of the Mean is helpful to understand and apply the educational
philosophy of the Mean better.
Based on a review and comprehensive summary of previous materials related
to Wu Yifang, this paper adopts the method of documentary analysis and selects
five core dimensions closely related to the development of university
management for analysis, namely, the cultural foundation, value pursuit,
institution-running logic, path selection, and governance model of the university.
The selection of the documents includes not only relevant Chinese classics
themselves, such as The Doctrine of the Mean, but also various types of Chinese
and English monographs, dissertations, journal articles, and archives relating to
the explored theme. However, it is worth noting that since the present study is
not an empirical study based on explorative qualitative approaches such as
semi-structured interviews or ethnography, we have not carried out coding of
transcripts as done in qualitative empirical studies. It is hoped to figure out how
Wu Yifang properly handled the following pairs of relations in the process of
running the College from the said five dimensions, including the ideas of the
Western university and Chinese traditional culture, Christian spirit and social
responsibility, educational logic and its political environment, tradition
inheritance and innovation, universal university governance experience and the
unique needs of GC.

Wu Yifang’s Practice of the Mean Spirit in the Manifestation

of “Five Balances”

Balance between the Ideas of the Western University and Chinese

Traditional Culture

Wu Yifang was born and raised in China. She received her bachelor’s degree at
GC in China in 1919 and went abroad for further study in 1921. In 1928, she
How Far Can We Learn Anything of Practical Value from Our Pioneers? 139

received her Ph.D. degree at the University of Michigan in the United States
(Wang, 2012). This studying experience empowered her with a deep
understanding of education and culture in China and the West. At the point of its
establishment, GC was a traditional Western college featuring a combination of
general education, academic freedom, university autonomy, disciplinary
management, liberal education and teaching, research and social service, where
Chinese elements were missing. Wu Yifang affirmed the value of the Western
university ideology in the development of universities, but still stressed the
importance of learning from Western culture and combining it with Chinese local
culture.
Classical Western university thought involves education towards the formation
of a holistic personality. According to John Henry Newman (2001), university
education is the means “to raise the intellectual tone of society, cultivate the
public mind, purify the national taste, supply true principles to popular
enthusiasm and fix aims to popular aspiration, and to give enlargement and
sobriety to the ideas of the age” (p. 78). Wilhelm von Humboldt regarded
self-cultivation as the core content and fundamental goal of university education.
Those receiving university education are supposed to be infused with both
specialized scientific knowledge and general knowledge for better understanding
the significance and value of human life and events (Chen, 2002, pp. 38–39). In
this regard, Wu Yifang valued personality education as well. Aiming to develop
and forge women’s sound personality, she emphasized the cultivation of personal
morality and character while respecting the individuality and distinctive features
of students, and advocated women’s independence and self-improvement (Deng
& Zhang, 2018). Moreover, she added patriotism into her philosophy of
personality education, taking sound personality as the core and the key for
individuals to serve the country. The aim of GC under the leadership of Wu
Yifang was to nurture valuable women who would have noble thoughts, without
selfishness, proficiency in basic professional knowledge, a spirit of hard work
and an attitude of sincere service toward society (Zhu & Wu, 1993, p. 59). Wu
Yifang also tried hard to make a culturally diverse faculty team. Frustrated by the
Regaining Education Rights Movement that drove away so many foreign
teachers, Wu Yifang had to train more Chinese teachers rather than foreign ones
and engaged teachers from other universities to work part-time at GC, which
eventually stabilized the faculty team. She also invited scholars, professors and
140 LIU Baocun, KANG Yunfei

celebrities abroad to China in the form of vacation, visits and lectures for
ensuring ongoing communication between students and foreign teachers (Cheng,
2004, p. 136). Ginling College students were immersed in a campus atmosphere
that combined Chinese and Western elements: The building adopted the roof
unique to the classical Chinese building, Western walls, and a quadrature layout
which is a combination of Chinese and Western styles (Cheng, 2004,
pp. 227–228); students’ recreational events included drama performances in both
Chinese and English (Cheng, 2004, p. 182); student societies ranged from
Western choral to folk song and Chinese opera study; the annual sports
performances incorporated folk dances from different countries, as well as
Chinese ancient costume dances and national art performances. Ginling College
students were fortunate to absorb the best of Chinese and Western cultures.
Therefore, the GC students had a sense of freedom, democracy, power and
social obligation, while they stood in awe of traditional Chinese ethics. They
valued etiquette and had a reputation for not easily challenging the social norms
and moral standards. They were gender aware, yet not strongly feminist. They
were career-minded and professional, yet to a certain extent, agreed on traditional
family responsibilities. Many seemingly contradictory qualities are harmonized
in them, largely owning to Wu Yifang’s governance model of combining Western
university values with traditional Chinese culture.

Balance between Christian Spirit and Social Responsibility

As a Christian women’s higher education institution, GC found it hard to erase

the Christian spirit despite the weakening of Christian identity at the time of
registration. In order to coordinate the relationship between the College and
church organization, Wu Yifang adjusted the religious courses and events offered
to maintain their influence on students. The religious course was changed from a
compulsory one to an elective one and was offered under the Department of
Philosophy. It was optional for faculty members and students to attend the daily
morning prayers and the religious ceremonies on Sundays as they used to do.
Religious teachers were allowed to preach among non-religious students without
coercion. Mr. Shi Yifa, a missionary graduating from Oxford University, engaged
in religious education in the College, offering courses such as religious
psychology, basic principles of Christianity, and Christian history. The Young
How Far Can We Learn Anything of Practical Value from Our Pioneers? 141

Women’s Christian Association (YWCA), a student organization that carried

forward the spirit of Christianity, paid increasing attention to social services and
less to religious propaganda. Wu Yifang still maintained support for her religious
research, events and preaching (Cheng, 2004, pp. 55–57, 172–174).
In fact, valuing social services was a guiding ideology of the Christian college
since its inception and generalized into a principle for every part of the College’s
work in practice. In this regard, the Christian spirit and social responsibility were
concentrated in the College, and what Wu Yifang did was to put the two together
to coin housheng as the motto of GC. The idea of housheng means that the
purpose of life is not only to live for oneself, but to help others and society with
one’s own wisdom and ability (Cheng, 2004, p. 35), which equally values a
dynamic life for women and the awareness of the need to serve the society. Wu
Yifang succeeded in shifting the aim of the College from expanding the influence
of Christianity in China to cultivating learned and virtuous talents who are
capable of serving the society. To this end, she stressed patriotism in promoting
Christian education and attempted to Sinicize it (Cheng, 2004, p. 36).
Wu Yifang did not turn to Christianity for emotional sustenance, but to serve
real needs with the values of Christianity, and to serve and transform the society
(Cheng, 2004, p. 53). She applied education of love by giving great care to
students (Cheng, 2004, p. 253), she aimed at cultivating sound personality of
students by infusing the Christian spirit into personality and emphasizing
patriotism, sacrifice and risk aspects in personality (Cheng, 2004, pp. 37–41).
Moreover, she incorporated Christian spirit and Christian personality
requirements in her speeches toward students and appealed for the students to
serve society with a Christian moral spirit and sacrificial spirit (Cheng, 2004,
p. 57). The close combination of Christian spirit with social responsibility is best
represented by the practice of GC teachers and students. During the
Anti-Japanese War, GC sent rescue teams to the front line to rescue the wounded
and went to the countryside to appeal for resistance against Japan (Cheng, 2004,
p. 154); the YWCA participated many social services, such as education of
children, training and assistance to poor women, promotion of health, prevention
and treatment of diseases, and civilian education (Cheng, 2004, pp. 170–174);
under the advocacy of Wu Yifang, GC students launched a number of charity
relief events, including free service for women and children and fundraising for
victims (Cheng, 2004, p. 185).
142 LIU Baocun, KANG Yunfei

The educational value of the doctrines of Christianity, the moral aspect in

particular, has been supported by a great number of presidents and teachers from
Christian universities. Wu Yifang did not place the Christian spirit and social
responsibility at opposite ends, instead, she integrated the two and mutually
promoted them to attain the goal of cultivating women that serve the society.

Balance between Educational Logic and Its Political Environment

To be influenced by an internal educational logic or an external political

environment is a universal problem in universities globally. Eric Ashby, a British
educationist, believes that: “Any type of university is the product of heredity and
environment.” Heredity is the internal logic that influences the development and
reform of a university. It means that a university may decide its own affairs and
development trends as per its self-understanding, which is manifested in the
shared understanding of “university values” held by university teachers. Whereas
environment is the external logic having the same influence, i.e., the social
system and political system underpinning the university’s surroundings (Ashby,
1974). Both logics are similar to epistemology and political theory, the
philosophical bases of higher education proposed by John Seiler Brubacher. In
the case of GC, however, the function of talent cultivation outperformed the
function of academic research. The educational logic of GC was about talent
cultivation, and the College’s development trend was based on the understanding
and needs of the whole body of teachers and students. By contrast, the political
environment required the College to be managed and train students pursuant to
regulations and requirements of the administrative authorities.
At a time witnessing political turbulence and changing political requirements
and needs for education, Wu Yifang as President of GC had to address the
challenge facing presidents nationwide, that is how to deal with the relation
between educational philosophy and regulations of the political environment.
After taking office, she actively sought the support of the government in many
aspects and tried hard to establish connections with the government. This
generated a positive outcome in enhancing the status and honor of the College
and maintaining the College order in the time of war and chaos (Cheng, 2004,
p. 49).
How Far Can We Learn Anything of Practical Value from Our Pioneers? 143

In the early days working as President, Wu Yifang did well in balancing

educational needs and government regulations concerning university aim. In
1925, the Ministry of Education in the Beiyang Government clearly stipulated
that foreign-funded universities were not allowed to register if they aimed at
spreading Christianity and included Christian courses as compulsory ones. As a
women’s college set up in China by a foreign Christian church, GC aimed to
“train Christian women leaders,” which ran counter to the government’s
regulations. Wu Yifang made this clear to the GC Board, including the
government’s regulations and reasons, and developed a compromise proposal
that managed to accommodate the Christian aim, such as retaining Christian
courses and merging the Philosophy Department and the Christian Studies
Department. Meanwhile, she constantly communicated with the Education
Bureau to fix a university aim approved by both the Education Bureau and the
university board, which ended with GC’s successful registration in 1930.
Although GC deleted specific Christian education objectives and Christian
education content was largely abolished or reduced to be non-compulsory, at the
request of the government, Wu Yifang believed it would in no way hamper GC
from educating citizens and female leaders who could benefit the society, and
have lofty ideals and noble personalities. It turned out that, Wu Yifang continued
the fundamental education objective of GC by means of perfecting the
management system, consolidating curriculum construction, introducing foreign
teachers, promoting student mobility and much more (Cheng, 2004, pp. 45–49).
Wu Yifang did not comprise for the sake of a stable relation with the
government, but treated the relation in a friendly and firm way while sticking to
the educational ideal of housheng. Though being very close to Soong May Ling,
Wu Yifang did not endorse the Kuomintang’s administrative style and conduct
and declined invitations to serve in the government as Minister of Education or
to withdraw to the Taiwan region twice (Cheng, 2004, pp. 76–77). She opposed
government control of universities. Despite the education administration’s tighter
control and management over the College upon registration, Wu Yifang did not
manage the College and educate talents as required by the Ministry of Education.
Instead, she cultivated talents who were useful to and capable of serving the
country according to the educational aim she thought fit (Cheng, 2004, p. 51).
She warned students to neither participate in political activities nor interfere with
144 LIU Baocun, KANG Yunfei

the current situation, but also stood out for those injured or arrested students who
got involved in the student movement to give them maximum protection (Cheng,
2004, pp. 157–158).

Balance between Tradition Inheritance and Innovation

Ginling College was led by two presidents during its near 40-year history. A
stable president and core faculty team composition helped to maintain and unify
its educational philosophy, campus culture and management system. However,
management methods were quite different, due to the varying upbringing,
cultural context, understanding of Chinese culture of both presidents.
In its early years, the College was modeled after the liberal arts college in the
United States, where its first President, Mrs. Lawrence Thurston, studied. With
the goal of shaping a complete Christian personality, GC valued basic education
and scientific experiments in its comprehensive arrangement of disciplines,
pursued freedom, democracy, rigorism and realism in its academic study, and
adopted such management measures as family-style management, sisterhood
classes, freshman weeks and a tutorial system. Considering these measures
represented GC’s tradition and characteristics and were conducive to educational
objectives and student management, Wu Yifang retained a large number of them.
Specifically, her “holistic personality education” was evolved from “Christian
personality.” She set out clear requirements for teachers and students in teaching.
The first was to advocate proficiency in both arts and science for an extensive
knowledge training. Students majoring in arts had to take 4-credit natural science
courses and those majoring in science had to take one social science course. The
second was to value basic education so as to pave the way for further study and
development in the future. None of the pre-medical and pre-nursing students who
applied for admission to Peking Union Medical College and the Senior Nursing
School of Peking Union Medical College failed (Cheng, 2004, p. 96). The
student management approach was continued and innovations were made as it
progressed, such as freshman week being changed to “freshman month” in 1938.
At first, freshmen were required to listen to reports on domestic and international
situations, visit educational institutions or investigate life in the countryside, then
present summaries and have discussion in the first four weeks. The freshman
enrollment education was increasingly enriched later to include GC history, the
How Far Can We Learn Anything of Practical Value from Our Pioneers? 145

Three People’s Principles (Nationalism, Democracy, the People’s Livelihood),

library use, short trips, president’s office reports and other extensive information,
and all was systematized and normalized (Cheng, 2004, pp. 176–177).
Besides, Wu Yifang incorporated Mrs. Thurston’s core spirit and educational
philosophy inherited from American Christian culture into Chinese culture,
which propelled GC forward in China. Regarding educational philosophy, Wu
Yifang perpetuated the holistic personality education and liberal education with
Christian features and meanwhile stressed vocational education and instrumental
rationality combined with social needs, shifting the focus on basic disciplines to
include both basic disciplines and practical disciplines. With the aim of
“educating leaders in all fields that women can engage in,” Mrs. Thurston sought
to cover all disciplines available in comprehensive universities. Wu Yifang
adhered to an equal right to education between men and women and emphasized
female characteristics as well. With view to female employment opportunities at
the time, she opened a series of disciplines with gender characteristics, such as
sociology, medical and nursing preparatory classes, as well as home economics
and minors in pedagogy, contributing to some influential key disciplines at GC,
especially sociology and home economics (Cheng, 2004, p. 83). As for services,
Mrs. Lawrence Thurston held Christian activities frequently and rigorously
during her presidency, serving Christian communities for the purpose of
preaching. During Wu Yifang’s tenure, she took social service as a practice of
faith rather than a missionary tool. The purpose of service was changed from
exporting Christian concepts to transforming the society, serving the public,
risking oneself and saving the nation in danger. The focus of service shifted from
neighborhoods to the countryside, especially women and children there.
Be it tradition inheritance or innovation, both worked for the educational idea
of housheng.

Balance between Universal University Governance Experience and the

Unique Needs of Ginling College

The development of modern industrial civilization has given birth to the

management-oriented social governance model, which advocates empirical
thinking, highlights practice and utility of scientific technology and breeds a
bureaucratic management system based on bureaucracy (Liu, 2016). The board
146 LIU Baocun, KANG Yunfei

of directors or the council has the final say in universities, electing the president
as the executor of decisions. The president is responsible to the board and the
leadership team under his or her leadership has the characteristics of a
bureaucracy. An academic senate composed of teachers dictates on academic
affairs on the campus, and its governance structure presents both academic and
administrative characteristics (Jiang, 2015). It is also common in Western
universities, American universities in particular, to have professional university
administrators, democratic management methods and performance-oriented
management standards since the 20th century. It is in this context that GC was
founded and developed.
After Wu Yifang served as President of GC, she affirmed the management
characteristics emphasized by the common development of universities to a large
extent, and formulated a complete management standard according to the
provisions of the University Organization Law issued by the National
Government. The president was still selected by the board and took charge of the
administration of the university. He or she was responsible to the board as well as
the faculty and students. Each department had one dean, who was responsible for
the academic affairs of the department. There were four administrative
departments including an Accounting Office, Discipline Office, Academic Affairs
Office and General Affairs Office, and professional full-time personnel were
responsible for relevant management matters (Cheng, 2004, p. 120). She also
embraced the democratic management form of multi-party participation, by
launching a university assembly as the highest authority to discuss major
decisions related to university management, with all stakeholders in the College
present, including the president, deans of departments, directors of administrative
departments, teacher and student representatives. Also the College convened
faculty meeting to reports on college affairs or to seek advice (Cheng, 2004,
p. 121). Department deans organized discussions about corresponding
department affairs and had much say in internal affairs (Cheng, 2004, p. 121).
While considering and respecting the college characteristics, Wu Yifang
succeeded in building a unique model for the college management. Firstly, she
managed to develop complete and institutionalized management regulations to an
extreme in this small-sized college, based on which the College could operate in
an orderly manner. With improvement of the organizational structure,
establishment of rules of debate and procedures, GC was subject to a legalized
How Far Can We Learn Anything of Practical Value from Our Pioneers? 147

and standardized management mode, to such a degree that it worked well when
Wu Yifang attended social events off campus. Secondly, she created a strict and
warm family-style atmosphere with the women’s college identity in mind. In
order to facilitate each other in study and in life, to make senior students more
accountable and caring, and to expedite the junior students’ understanding and
adaptation into the College, GC implemented the “sisterhood class” system,
pairing juniors with freshmen, and seniors with sophomores (Wang, 2012).
Besides academic lessons, teachers had to manage students, shoulder parental
style responsibilities in daily life, have knowledge of students’ characters and
living as well as study conditions, and give them particular instructions and
assistance via informal communication with them (Cheng, 2004, pp. 139–140).
Teachers themselves also actively held intimate and informal exchanges. The
entire college was committed to the GC family. However, the College applied a
rigorous set of “Dormitory Rules” to regulate students. As some complained the
rules were too strict for interaction with males, Wu Yifang directed the opening
of a “common room” in the dormitory for girls to meet and talk with male friends.
The College’s third management characteristic was relevant to Wu Yifang’s
personality trait. In the eyes of all the teachers and students, Wu Yifang was a
strict and serious yet kind and tolerant elder. She followed close to rules and
regulations of the College in managing teachers and students and criticized
violators unsparingly. In life, however, she treated students as her daughters and
gave them thoughtful care at all times. Although enjoying a very high academic
title and social standing, Wu Yifang maintained an equal relationship with
teachers and students and treated social events with impartiality. In times of
social turbulence, she always spoke out for justice and sheltered her students and
their interests (Jin, 2005, pp. 249–250). Wu Yifang was admired and respected by
teachers and students, and thus another management characteristic of GC was
Wu Yifang’s spiritual leadership.
In the management practice, Wu Yifang balanced well the universal trend of
university development and the unique needs of GC, and assimilated the previous
management modes, concepts and experience into her own to build a unique
management mode for women’s Christian universities in China. This mode is
another example of Wu Yifang’s integration of the traditional essence of Chinese
and Western universities and balance between inheritance and innovation.
148 LIU Baocun, KANG Yunfei

Conclusion

The management practice of Wu Yifang as President of GC is the best

representation of the educational philosophy of the mean applied in the field of
university management. During her university governance, Wu Yifang has
always been caught between adherence and comprise. In the face of proactive
change and forced change, she maintains a firm sense of the Mean in finding the
balance point among multiple parties and pushing GC forward in the change
dilemma (Jin, 2005, p. 112). This is not only instructive for the management
practice of Chinese universities, but also enlightening for universities globally.
While revering the holistic personality education stressed by the Western
university’s educational philosophy, Wu Yifang valued the edificatory and
enlightening role traditional Chinese culture played on students. So she made
great efforts in integrating and balancing Eastern and Western university ideas
and cultural traditions in teacher recruitment, campus environment and student
events. Wu Yifang believed in Christianity and was also concerned about the
society. With the Christian spirit and the truth, kindness and beauty of the
doctrines of Christianity as a bridge to communicate ideals, belief and practical
actions, she found a development path that synergized the religious
characteristics of Christian universities and the social responsibilities entrusted to
universities. Well aware of how political environment influences the College, Wu
Yifang strove to maintain social relations for the College, so as to win it a stable
political environment to the greatest extent possible. When doing this, she never
made concessions on the principal issues related to the interests of teachers and
students, and stuck to the internal logic of educational development with wisdom.
Wu Yifang passed down a large part of Mrs. Lawrence Thurston’s traditions,
such as systems and teaching contents that are conducive to college management
and student education, and localized any inappropriate aspects in combination
with the times and the needs of talent cultivation. She has succeeded in balancing
the relationship between inheritance and innovation by centering on student
education. Based on a profound knowledge of the universal trend of university
development and the uniqueness of GC, Wu Yifang formulated and devised the
college management system and conduct, and distinguished the college
management from others, by following the criteria of whether any change was
helpful to institutional management and talent cultivation or not.
How Far Can We Learn Anything of Practical Value from Our Pioneers? 149

It is clear from Wu Yifang’s management of GC that, her philosophy of the

Mean is based on two criteria, talent cultivation and social service as the primary
aim of GC, and development laws of colleges and students as the primary basis.
This core pursuit of social service and talent cultivation infiltrated several aspects
of GC under the leadership of Wu Yifang, such as curriculum, management
system and faculty requirements. The aim of serving society is attained by
educating patriotic and devoted students with professionalism and a spirit of
dedication, while the aim of talent cultivation was guided by the philosophy of
housheng with the spirit of serving society. Accordingly, the two overlapping
aims dictated the direction and boundaries in the way Wu Yifang balanced pairs
of contradictory relations. What she has done in integrating Western and Chinese
cultural traditions, upholding social responsibility by virtue of the Christian spirit
and balancing tradition and innovation worked for one ultimate goal, i.e.,
cultivating people to serve society. In case educational logic contradicted the
political environment, the baseline she invariably defended was that social
interests and student interests can not be jeopardized. The two aims drew the line
for her choice of balance. On the other hand, the curriculum, discipline patterns
and management system at GC are in line with the College and student
development laws and the development needs of teachers and students. Wu
Yifang did not totally neglect the previously available college traditions, Chinese
and Western cultural traditions, university development traditions and laws in
China and Western countries. Instead, she tried to seek something new while
respecting the laws, which was exactly in order to inherit the previous traditions
to a certain extent and make innovations and initiatives responsive to emerging
needs. This measured conformity to law is embodied in her balance between
tradition inheritance and innovation, also her balance between universal
university development and the unique needs of GC.
Wu Yifang leaves valuable management experience for future university
presidents. The philosophy of the Mean applied by her to balance contradictory
relationships can be referred to by current presidents to address similar
management issues. Moreover, the logic of balance behind the philosophy that
primarily pursues talent cultivation and social services and respects university
education development laws should provoke reflection and reconsideration
among university administrators.
150 LIU Baocun, KANG Yunfei

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