From an Education Perspective, Post-1949 Is Far Inferior to Pre-1949!

2006/3/31 12:00:21

I have always detested the so-called science, democracy, vernacular Chinese, and other Westernized education that followed the May Fourth Movement. But even when picking the tallest among dwarfs, from an education perspective, post-1949 is far inferior to pre-1949. This must be faced squarely.

Whether in science, art, literature, or any other dimension — picking the tallest among dwarfs — China's most outstanding people of the last century were all cultivated before 1949. Even following the logic that "practice is the sole criterion for testing truth," this alone sufficiently proves that post-1949 education is inferior to pre-1949 education. And looking at the post-1949 period itself, 1979 is another dividing line. Probably only someone whose brain has been waterlogged would hold out hope for post-1979 education, especially the education after the so-called "education reform."

"When the nation is in misfortune, poets thrive" — education generally fails in societies with good conditions. Throughout history, formidable figures have mostly emerged from turbulent times, and this is even more apparent in art and philosophy. So the fact that post-1949 education is inferior to pre-1949 education probably also indicates that the social environment after 1949 was better than before 1949. Likewise, the current mess of education probably also proves that we are indeed in a prosperous age.

Of course, history has also seen another kind of prosperous age — one where society, economy, military prowess, and culture all flourish together. These are the great eras that posterity endlessly commemorates, such as the Han, Tang, and ancient Rome. Such a truly great era can probably be called the prosperity among prosperities. This kind of true prosperity is the real pillar of human civilization, still commemorated, admired, and memorialized even after tens of thousands of years.

Obviously, without education, there can be no simultaneous flourishing of society, economy, military prowess, and culture — no true prosperity like the Han, Tang, or ancient Rome. Without great figures, there can be no great era, and without a great era, the true rise of a nation is simply out of the question.

History cannot be severed. No era is perfect, and no era is truly worthless. From an education perspective, pre-1949 was simply better than post-1949, and it is absolutely necessary to draw useful lessons from it. The kind of thinking that starts purely from ideology will only make the nation's true strength an ever-distant prospect.