When it comes to university presidents, we often stand in awe and have a feeling of admiration.
To be false, they are the model of intellectuals, to be true, they are solid state cadres, to Tsinghua, Peking University President, for example, they are enjoying the state vice ministerial treatment.
Looking back, at the beginning of the twentieth century, Cai Yuanpei and Jiang Menglin of Peking University, Mei Yiqi of Tsinghua University, Zhu Kezhen of Zhejiang University and Zhang Boling of Nankai University were all symbols of the country, the nation and the times.
However, nowadays, the quality and prestige of some university presidents do not match the status and influence of top universities, and they even make a lot of foolishness, which is enough to make a “Chinese University Presidents Joke Book”.
Let’s take a look at one or two examples.
First time.
The calligraphy sent by the president of Tsinghua to Song Chu-yu
He didn’t even recognize all the characters on it
A few years ago, the chairman of Taiwan’s Pro-Democracy Party, James Soong, was invited to give a speech at Tsinghua University, and during the exchange of gifts, Gu Binglin, then president of Tsinghua University, presented Soong with a piece of calligraphy in small seal script.
Inch by inch, the river and the mountain are golden, who is responsible for the splitting of the gourd?
The cuckoo worships the tears of the sky again, and the heart of Jingwei is endlessly reclaimed!
Gu Binglin (right) and Song Chu-yu (left)
Among them, the first word of the second line “gourd” is pronounced as hù, which is called “gourd” in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, an annual herb with sprawling stems, white flowers in summer, and oblong fruits, which can be used as a scoop after being cut open at maturity.
The word “gourd” means to cut open the gourd, which is similar to the meaning of dividing a melon into beans.
Therefore, the first two lines of the poem describe the sorrowful separation between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, and the second two lines express the need to take up the great task of saving the country, just like Jingwei reclamation.
When President Gu was reading the poem, he was stuck on the word “gourd” when he got to the line “who should be responsible for the separation of the gourd”. It was only after a reminder that he was able to round up the situation, which caused the students to laugh and made the scene quite embarrassing.
It was a gift from him to someone else, but he didn’t even recognize all the words on it, how embarrassing!
In addition, in the process of hosting, Gu Binglin also stammered, interrupted several times to correct, and at the end of the day, it was even more embarrassing, the gift to Song Chu-yu said “donated” gifts, the scene a boo, embarrassed to the freezing point.
The embarrassment was even greater when the whole process of President Gu making a fool of himself was televised live, throwing people in front of hundreds of millions of viewers.
Of course, the word “gourd” is indeed a rare word, President Gu as a science and technology background does not know it is normal, but do not know can also be prepared in advance ah! Can not read this word on the spot, what does it mean?
Can only explain.
A, the gift is not selected by the principal Gu.
Second, this gift is not the president of the Gu himself chose even if the secretary to help choose after the president Gu did not even look at.
Third, after the secretary helped to choose, President Gu did not even look at it, and even the rehearsal of the gift ceremony was not at all.
The Tsinghua University, which advocates the compatibility of East and West, the penetration of literature and science, and the integration of the ancient and modern, has produced four masters of Chinese studies, namely, Wang Guowei, Liang Qichao, Chen Yinke, and Zhao Yuanren, so I don’t know if the masters will come to life when they see this.
After this incident, Gu Binglin again in the Tsinghua President’s post for seven years before retiring to the second line.
Second time.
The president of NPC welcomes friends from Taiwan
An excited use of the wrong idiom to make jokes
It was also 2005, a year of disaster for many Chinese university presidents.
Shortly after Gu Binglin made a fool of himself, Yu Mu-ming, chairman of Taiwan’s New People’s Party, came to town. The university where he delivered his speech was Renmin University of China.
In his speech welcoming Yu, NPC President Ji Baocheng said excitedly, “July is on fire, but is it not just the weather that is full of enthusiasm.”
Ji Baocheng (far right) and Yu Muming (far left)
The phrase “Fire in July” comes from the Book of Songs. “The fire flows in July, the clothes are given in September.” The word “flowing” in “July fire” means moving, falling. The “fire” referred to here is not the weather like fire, but the name of a star. The exact meaning of “fire in July” is “the weather has turned cooler”, not “the day is really hot”, nor does it describe enthusiasm.
The president of a university known for its humanities and social sciences has fallen in front of his Taiwanese compatriots.
However, President Ji is different from President Gu, who founded the first Chinese Academy since the founding of New China and is known as the “President of Chinese Studies”.
But even the most common idioms are not good, this is still a good national education? This face, slapped straight ah!
This principal Ji also published a personal poetry collection “poetry marks of the years”. Unfortunately, I have not read this book of poems so far.
At the end of 2014, Ji Baocheng was announced the disciplinary action: two years of probation, the abolition of deputy ministerial treatment, and ordered to resign from all part-time social positions.
Third time.
Lien Chan was invited to inscribe after his speech
The president of Xiamen University is so ignorant that it is shameful
It is probably a common problem for many presidents to be “illiterate”.
In 2006, the honorary chairman of the Kuomintang, Lien Chan, came again. Sensing that he had been awarded an honorary doctorate in law from Xiamen University, an elated Lien delivered an impromptu speech. After the speech, the president of Xiamen University, Zhu Chongshi, asked Mr. Lien Chan to write an inscription, and Mr. Lien Chan wrote “The great university stops at the best, and the majestic hongs stand in the southeast”.
As a result, the law school president Zhu Chongshi read the white words on the spot. The “hongsong stand southeast” mispronounced as “palace stand southeast”, the stage also a round of applause, praise.
Zhu Chongshi (right) and Lien Chan (left)
“hon” is the ancient name of the school, “hon” ancient sound and “Hong” homophone, Mandarin pronunciation and “red” homophone. . There is an ancient saying that “the body into the hongs, the son of heaven’s disciples”. It is a shame that the president of the university has no knowledge of the ancient name in the field of education. The two sides of the Taiwan Strait are geographically separated by water, but culturally they are really a stone’s throw away from each other.
Fourth time.
The president of Peking University created his own network of divine songs
Netizens are angry and bad comments “incestuous”
Peking University as the birthplace of the new cultural movement, and even the president of the set of scandals are not the same!
In 2011, the then president of Peking University, Zhou Qifeng, wrote a song called “Chemistry is you, chemistry is me”, which was sung by the Peking University Chinese Music Society.
What is chemistry, chemistry is you/
What chemistry really is, chemistry is me ……/
Parents give birth/ to you and me/ lalala/
Is the result of a chemical process / you me you me /
of the digestive system / lalala/
is the place where the chemical process ……
/ you me you me / to eat and drink well /
lalala/
Chemistry provides much nutrition ……”
Principal Zhou wanted to compile a song, the starting point of education and fun is good, the arrangement, accompaniment, singing skills are also said to be in the past, is that the lyrics are really too bullshit.
No wonder this song came out, a tidal wave of online and offline comments, basically no good to listen to.
The netizens commented as follows.
“incestuous, the sky thunder rolls, scribble, only for entertainment”.
“The president of Peking University, please have a little self-love, okay? The University of Beijing, please have a little self-respect, okay.” (a)
“If the periodic table of chemical elements into a song, at least have to have knowledge of junior high school chemistry can sing, but Peking University’s “chemistry song”, as long as there is a mouth, have intestinal digestive experience of people can sing”.
This divine song, comparable to “Disturbance”, definitely test your mental capacity.
President Zhou’s end and the above Gu Binglin similar, in Tsinghua President was removed from office, the reason is unknown, before being removed from office, President Zhou also left us the following picture of the burgeoning network, I believe we all remember.
The president of a university, and a president of a prestigious university, is not only a leader, but should be a scholar and educator. They are burdened with responsibilities and missions, symbols of social culture and social virtues, embodiments of knowledge, models of education and banners of morality. Why did the above unbelievable and hilarious situation occur?
Benoit Schmidt Jr., former president of Yale University, once wrote a public article in the Yale Journal criticizing the growing “officialdom” of Chinese universities. Zeus has been driven out of heaven and power rules everything,” he said bitterly.
Chinese universities have a strict hierarchy, generally divided into deputy ministries, main departments and deputy departments. Vice ministerial appointments, the level of rank, implies the amount of power and the degree of importance by the central government.
At present, China has a total of 32 vice-ministerial universities, and with 32 vice-ministerial universities, 64 vice-ministerial cadres need to be allocated. By analogy, the main department level, deputy department, main office, deputy office ……
Therefore, the university, which should be an academic highland and inclusive, instead forms a strict serialized official rank, with clear hierarchy and strict hierarchy. Sometimes it’s even more important to address the treatment of cadres and balance interests to provide a wide world. Some people ridiculed that the first-class university has become a first-class “government office”. A number of Secretary parachuted into the university, the Secretary of the Department of Education for many years, but also in the university to seek a deputy ministry, and live out the rest of their lives.
The so-called “professor sitting at home, the president of the sky to come” is the meaning of this. Then, it is not surprising that in individual universities there is a director of 40 professors to compete for the lively scene. Since the president’s appointment, assessment and evaluation rights are in the superior, therefore, only in accordance with the intention of the superior to run the school.
In the long run, it is inevitable that the leaders will be subservient to their superiors, and the intellectuals’ bones and courage are basically non-existent.
As the university president is a senior official, holding the power of people and property, people’s children for the desire to go to university and very strong (rich children are abroad), this position has become hot. Because administrative power can divide academic power, administrative resources can monopolize academic resources, administrative energy can reflect academic charm. When being an official as a pursuit of the university, the ethos of its university and the quality of talent training can be speculated. Some presidents are keen to make instructions, issue documents, official voice.
For example, the “gift” said “donation”, may have been used to the condescending, abuse of public power of the official thinking. They are not able to quietly do systematic and deep theoretical thinking, what university autonomy, professor rule, academic freedom, sound personality has been thrown to the clouds. Some university presidents have published articles and speeches, but they are only summaries of their work experience and feelings, or they are written by others, and they only sign their names or read them out.
In some important occasions, people listened to the speeches of these big names and could not help but whisper: Is this the level of China’s top university presidents? Some presidents are so confident that they are the only ones who can do almost anything, so misreading one or two words or making a few crooked poems will not affect their future, nor will they feel disgraced. This in turn reminds one of a bridge.
The host Li Xiang was hired as a professor at a university in Sichuan. She spoke eloquently in a class called “On the comprehensive quality of the host”, and when it came to the importance of practice, Ms. Li Xiang said, “Only more practice will make progress, otherwise things will be very hot when looking for a job.” Immediately, many people whispered: “It’s ‘tricky’!” In a class on “comprehensive quality of facilitators”, the word “tricky” was said to be “hot”, this “comprehensive quality The “comprehensive quality”, really some face ah!
After all, Christina Li is an entertainment star, said the wrong just affect a class of students. But our university president is a professor in the professor, the elite of the elite ah! In educational occasions and time, our principals give students a kind of governance spirit, what kind of humanistic qualities?
Reading a few typos doesn’t mean they can’t be university presidents, at least it means they are not well prepared for it and don’t do things carefully and seriously. In the final analysis, or the lack of competition in the university, a single, all-inclusive government. If, as in the early 1900s, public universities, private universities and church universities were divided into three worlds, side by side, open to the school, according to the rules, these presidents can still be so mixed? Or to hold back into the study to do learning it.
The average term of the president of the United States is 12.2 years, while China is generally 5.2 years, the reasons are very complicated. But the diligence of China to change the president, giving people the feeling of walking. Ten years of trees, a hundred years of trees. How can we talk about the trees when there is not even enough time for the trees to grow?
The idea is to accumulate for a long time, to form their own logical development of the university’s philosophy of governance, discourse system, value orientation, personality qualities, that is the need to dive into the quiet, without distractions, in-depth thinking, is to sit on the “bench for ten years”.
So, what comes quickly? By running a comprehensive university (a mandatory requirement for 985), by affiliating with a university in Europe, the United States or Australia, by changing the name of the university, expanding the campus, increasing the number of majors, by short and fast scientific research results …… quick success, short-sighted and impetuous, can run a good university?
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