In 1948, the Academia Sinica of the Republic of China held its first academician election. During the academician election, Xia Nai worked at the Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica, and he happened to participate in the academician election from 1947 to 1948. On October 15, 1947, Xia Nai attended the fourth meeting of the second session of the Academia Sinica Council as a representative of the Institute of History and Language. In the afternoon, he "discussed the review method for the list of academician candidates. After several discussions, it was decided that the academician candidates should not exceed the quota (i.e. 88 to 100 people)”.
Difficulties in Nominating
Before this meeting, universities, colleges, specialized societies, and research institutions across the country stipulated two qualifications for recommending academicians in accordance with Article 5 of the "Organic Law of Academia Sinica", one for mathematics, physics, biology, There were more than 400 nominations for the Humanities Group 3. Hu Shi's diary on October 13, 1947 recorded as many as 510 nominations, and 402 people were left after preliminary review. Not only the number of nominees but also the selection methods were discussed several times by the Council. Hu Shi’s diary recorded on March 15, 1947: “Went to the Council of the Chinese Academy of Sciences to discuss the draft election law for academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Sa Bendong and Fu Mengzhen Each has drafted a draft. "On the 17th, Hu Shi went to the second meeting of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Council to discuss the academician election law. Meng Zhen prepared a second draft, which is very good and will be used as a basis for discussion." It can be seen that the academician matter has been carefully examined.
Before the official list of academician candidates was announced, Hu Shi, who was in charge of the convener of the humanities group, had already listed the proposed nomination list for the humanities section in his diary on May 22, 1947: Philosophy: Wu Jingheng, Tang Yongtong , Jin Yuelin . Chinese literature: Shen Jianshi , Yang Shuda , Fu Zengxiang . Historiography: Zhang Yuanji , Chen Yuan , Chen Yinke , Fu Sinian . Linguistics: Zhao Yuanren , Li Fanggui , Luo Changpei . Department of Archeology and Art: Dong Zuobin , Guo Moruo , Li Ji , Liang Sicheng . Human Geography and Ethnology cannot think of names. Among them, the Chinese literature section does not include literary and artistic creators. In a letter that night to Sa Bundong, Director General of Academia Sinica, and Fu Sinian, Director of the Institute of History and Linguistics, Hu Shi specifically mentioned four elders: Wu Jingheng, Zhang Yuanji, Fu Zengxiang, and Yang Shuda, and hoped that these four people would be included in the proposed nomination list.
In Fu Sinian’s letter to Hu Shi, he also drafted a list of 20 people in the humanities group and gave a brief description: "Chinese literature: (1) Wu Jingheng. (2) Hu Shi, the one who is related to the literary atmosphere. (3) Yang Shuda, textual research and editing of classics . (4) Zhang Yuanji has been circulated in ancient times, so it is not published in the original version. Historiography: (1) Chen Yinke (3) Fu Sinian. Gu Jiegang . (5) Jiang Tingfu , there is no second person in modern history. (6) Yu Jiaxi or Liu Yizheng are not as good as Yu, but there is still no one in the history of archeology and art: (1) Li. Ji. (2) Dong Zuobin. (4) Liang Sicheng. Language: Zhao Yuanren, Li Fanggui, Luo Changpei. "Fu Sinian's opinion is: First, it is better to be lacking than to be excessive; Second, group quotas should be carefully discussed, and candidate lists should be reasonably allocated and selected based on the number of people in each group. Third, younger candidates should be elected but with good academic performance. Fourth, it seems that the election should not be concentrated on one party or one school (or one or two schools). It seems that this must be considered. If there is any regret, there will still be a way to elect next year.
The Difficulty of Judgment
Hu Shi and Fu Sinian have their own considerations on the candidates for academician nomination. However, making a decision based on comprehensive considerations is not an easy task. The proposed candidates will be subject to many changes and adjustments during the subsequent review by the Council.
On the morning of October 16, 1947, Academia Sinica held a group discussion on the candidate list. The meeting did not end until after 6 p.m.
was not eligible to participate in the group discussion. Xia Nai, who had returned from shopping, was dragged by Hu Shi to represent the Institute of History and Language. Rong Geng, who was a pseudo-official, was not considered at first. In the final review of each subject, 31 people were selected for literature and history, Ma Yinchu, Liu Dajun, He Lian, Fang Xianting, Yang Ximeng, Wu Baosan, Wu Dayehtml were proposed for the economic aspect, and Wang Chonghui, Wang Shijie, were proposed for the legal aspect. Five people, including Yan Shutang , Guo Yunguan and Li Haopei, did not break up until 12 noon.
The review continued in the afternoon. The chemistry group added Sun Xuewu , Zhu Ruhua, Huang Ziqing , Ji Yufeng 4 people. The physics group added Gui Zhiting. Biology and agriculture deleted Chen Zongyi and Hou (sic). Mineralogy was added. Chen Kehui. Hu Shi worked late at night to draw up the "qualification basis" for everyone in the humanities group, and worked until 4 a.m. before going to bed. You can imagine the effort involved in the academician election.
about candidacy. One is academic attainments. Regarding the candidate issue of Liu Wendian, Fu Sinian pointed out that "for any scholar, in terms of his contribution, his last work is the most important," and Liu Wendian's collation of " Zhuangzi" was singled out by Wang Shumin, an assistant researcher at the Institute of History and Language. " "Infinite mistakes." In addition, Liu Wendian claimed to be "Eryun layman" and was dismissed from the United Nations General Assembly for smoking opium. This means that he must not be included in the candidate list. In Fu Sinian's view, Liu Wendian had poor academic and personal ethics, and it would be a joke if he was selected. The Senate has been meeting for several days to discuss the election of academicians, making the atmosphere in the venue "very lively" according to Hu Shi. The final list of candidates was announced at 7 o'clock that night: 49 people in the mathematics group, 46 people in the biology group, and 55 people in the humanities group, a total of 150 people. . Difficulties in
assessment. In addition to announcing the
candidate list, there must also be candidate comments for reference and disclosure. Some of the candidate comments for the archeology and art history in the humanities group were drafted by Xia Nai, while the other comments for the humanities group were drafted by Hu Shi. Xia Nai's diary recorded on October 23, 1947, that Hu Shi spent a whole day testing the language of academician candidates. Hu Shi gave his own testimonial: "Studying the history of Chinese thought and culture has contributed to creating a new trend." Hu Shi initially planned to change the last sentence to focus on academic methods, but later simply deleted it. Chen Yinke's test quote originally read: "The genius is the highest, and the skill is also the most diligent. He can often use materials that everyone knows to answer questions that the predecessors could not think of. He is the best in studying the history of the Six Dynasties, Sui and Tang Dynasties." It was finally changed to: "Studying the history of the Six Dynasties, Sui and Tang Dynasties, Treating both religious history and literary history. "Gu Jiegang's original quote is: "Studying ancient history with a skeptical spirit has made great contributions to clarifying ancient traditions, and has also made great contributions to advocating the study of paleogeography." Fu Sinian's original quote is: " When studying ancient Chinese history, one can use new materials and new perspectives to examine old historical materials and provide original insights or fresh explanations on ancient systems, geography, and literary systems." Feng Youlan's original quote was: "Studying Chinese and Western philosophical thoughts. He once tried to make a comprehensive discussion. "Xu Bingchang's original comment is: "When dealing with ancient history, he often makes bold assumptions, and his book "The Legendary Era of Ancient Chinese History" is quite original. "Chen Yuan's original comment is: " Specializing in Chinese religious history, he is the most diligent in collecting materials, the most rigorous in textual research, and the most accurate in making judgments. The rest of his studies include collation, almanacology, and translation studies, which are all useful tools." Chen Yuan believed that they were not only useful tools, so he changed it. "They all have special contributions." It seems that Chen Yuan is quite confident in his academic performance. However, these test terms were eventually revised to be consistent with the mathematics and biology groups. Except for Xu Bingchang, all the above-mentioned people were eventually elected as academicians of the Academia Sinica. After Hu Shi drafted the examination, Xia Nai and Li Ji agreed to revise it. The English draft of the review committee also had to be revised. Finally, these materials were compiled and archived. Difficulties in selecting
. The first academician election of
involves discussing the academician candidates and evaluating the language, and then publicizes it. The last step is to determine the list of academicians. Xia Nai recorded that a meeting was held on the afternoon of March 25, 1948 to review the election of academicians, and the list of academicians was not finally released until the 27th. Hu Shi recorded that day, “The results of the Academia Sinica’s election of academicians—the results of five consecutive votes—eighty-one academicians were elected.” On the same day, Xia Nai’s diary recorded, “The council adjourned in the evening and the academician election was completed. A total of five votes were cast for the Mathematics and Biology Group. There was no increase after the second time. However, the Humanities Group added Liu Yizheng for the second time, Gu Jiegang for the third time, Yu Jiaxi for the fourth time, and Wu Jingheng for the fifth time. The number of eighty-one (the fourth time was eighty people, but at that time, the team members had 28 people in the mathematics group, 27 people in the humanities group, and only 25 people in the biology group. It was hoped that the biology group could be increased, but in the end it was not possible. Yes. Wu Jinghengzhi joined, and Dean Zhu’s repeated requests led to the last election.) "The election of the humanities group among the three groups in
was the most upbeat. So far, all 81 academicians of the first session of Academia Sinica have been elected.It is undoubtedly a high honor for the candidate. Gu Jiegang recorded on March 28, 1948: "I was proposed as a candidate for academician of the Academia Sinica last year. Today, I read the newspaper and reported that there were 150 candidates. Eight were elected this time. Eleven people, I was also elected. This is really more than the number of political representatives and National Congress representatives. However, I feel ashamed that I have been busy with life and unable to engage in research." The attentive Gu Jiegang also pasted a newspaper clipping. Keep a detailed record of the list of elected academicians. After the
academicians are selected, there will be evaluation and analysis. Xia Nai's diary recorded on November 2, 1948: "In the evening, I wrote "Statistical Analysis of the First Academician of Academia Sinica." "Analysis of the first academicians of Academia Sinica" published in "Observation", Volume 5, Issue 14, 1948, uses charts and data to compare age, region, education, position, etc. The elected academician made a macro analysis. There are two points worth noting in this article: First, for some people who were not selected as academicians, Xia Nai explained that the reason was that the nomination method was poor and therefore they were not nominated. Second, in general, the mathematical and biological groups have a weaker foundation, while the humanities group has a stronger foundation. There are 8 elected academicians over 60 years old in the humanities group. Two of the 8 are from the social sciences and the rest are from the liberal arts and history sciences. This situation arises because "literature, history and science have inherited a system of simple learning from the Qing Dynasty, which already has a considerable foundation. It does not completely need to learn from the West before it can begin to develop, so there are still a few old people who serve as models for future generations."
has limited role
Judging from the first academician election process, Academia Sinica established the National Academia Sinica Council’s first academician election preparatory committee in accordance with the "Academia Sinica Organization Law" and the draft academician election regulations. The purpose of these constitutional practices is to institutionalize and standardize the election of future scholars. On April 14, 1948, the Academia Sinica sent a letter to academician Chen Yuan: "In accordance with the provisions of the Organic Law, this academy has 80 to 100 academicians. It will be held from March 25 to 27 of this year. The fifth annual meeting of the second council elected 81 academicians from the 150 first-time academician candidates announced on November 15 last year in accordance with the law, and on April 1 The list of elected academicians will be announced in the National Government Bulletin at the same time, and will be reported to the National Government for record. Mr. Jingcha has been elected as an academician of the Academy, except that the certificate and badge of the elected academician are being designed and will be sent to the academician accordingly. Please send me a copy of the list. If your address changes in the future, I would like to inform you at any time for communication. Sincerely, Mr. Chen Yuan. Attached is a list of the procedures and results of the first academician election of Academia Sinica. It has a paradigmatic significance, but due to the current situation, its role is not grand. As for the Academia Sinica after it was moved to Taiwan, that is another matter.
(Author's unit: Changshu Institute of Technology, originally titled "The First Election of Academicians of Academia Sinica")
