严复与复旦公学

Yan Fu and Fudan College

由于材料缺乏,严复与复旦公学的关系一直没有得到全面梳理。从新发现的严复四篇佚文以及报章文献等资料考察,自复旦公学初创担任董事,到后来充任监督,严复对复旦早期的发展曾做出不少贡献,将私立复旦朝向官办化发展尤有功绩。但由于他同时兼任安徽高等学堂监督,加之名望日隆,社会交往繁杂,在管理校务方面精力不济,结果出现任用私人、遥控校务的情况,并由此与公学职工叶仲裕等人发生激烈冲突,最终导致辞职。重新梳理严复与复旦公学的关系,可纠正以往研究中存在的讹误,弥补复旦大学校史研究的空白,揭示在近代复杂的社会中士人生活与思想的一个方面。

There has so far been no comprehensive study of the relationship between Yan Fu and Fudan College (复旦公学) due to lack of materials. A scrutiny of four newly discovered essays by Yan Fu and of newspaper reports shows that Yan made a great contribution to Fudan College’s early development, from its first years, when he was Chairman of the Board, to his later position as Superintendent. His contribution to Fudan’s shift from being a private to a public institution was particularly great. However, as he was concurrently Superintendent of Anhui Higher School, and as his reputation grew, he became too busy with outside activities to take care of business at Fudan. As a result, he entrusted Fudan’s business to his private connections and ran its affairs from a distance, a situation which led to sharp conflicts with a Fudan staff member, Ye Zhongyu, and ended with Yan’s resignation. A re-examination of Yan Fu’s relations with Fudan may correct errors in previous studies, fill gaps in the history of the Fudan University, and show one facet of the prism of scholarly life and thought in early modern China.