从“人文科目”到“实用科学”:“文科”概念的内涵演变

From“Humanistic Subject”to“Practical Science”:The Connotation Evolution of Chinese Wenke

“文科”的说法虽在中国古已有之,但从学科角度去理解“文科”却是“西学东渐”的产物。清末以来,随着中国高等教育的现代化发展,“文科”从一门外来的“人文科目”转变为观照中国现实的“科学领域”,成为中国特色教育学科的标志性概念之一。“文科”概念在中国的形成和演变是中西方文化不断融合的结果。文科教育的未来发展应在关注外部社会需求的同时,在更大的文化整体中去理解中国文科的职责和使命,为世界文化繁荣贡献中国智慧。

The term wenke,which means a kind of disciplines rather than a kind of imperial examinations in ancient China,was originally introduced from Japan as a western discourse in the early 20th century.Since then,along with the modernization of Chinese higher education,the connotation of wenke has already turned from an alien“humanistic subject”to a“practical science”with Chinese features.Nowadays wenke is one of the core concepts of Chinese pedagogy.Based on the historical experience revealed by the connotation evolution of Chinese wenke,the talent cultivation of majors belonging to humanity and social science should not only pay attention to social demands,but also stick to the humanistic characteristics especially endowed by Chinese excellent traditional culture.Only by this way,wenke or majors of humanity and social science could take on the responsibility to contribute Chinese wisdom to the greater prosperity of world culture.