Revisiting the institutionalization of Tongshi education in Chinese universities: a comparative-historical lens
本文梳理了中国大学通识教育在历史上的兴起、衰落与复兴，揭示其背后的本土化特征，如复兴国学与面向世界并重、培养集体政治意识以及经济驱动的实用主义取向。
This paper delineates the rise, fall and re-emergence of tongshi education in Chinese higher education history, and in doing so hopes to reveal the underlying forces behind the two waves of tongshi education and capture their important ‘Chinese’ characteristics. Based on a comparative-historical examination of the Chinese knowledge traditions and their modern developments across different time periods, this paper argues that despite deliberate efforts to borrow from the American general education model, tongshi education in China stands out as an evolving, localized educational ideal embedded within the changing socio-cultural, political and institutional environments that Chinese universities are situated in. Three salient ‘Chinese’ features are put forward, i.e. a dual focus on reviving the Chinese learning and opening to the world, an underlying rationale to foster a collectivistic, political consciousness, and finally an economic-driven, utilitarian orientation to produce innovative talents.