蔡元培的文化品格和民初中国的新文化

CAI Yuan-pei's Cultural Personality and the New Culture in the Early Years of the Republic of China

民初中国的文化潮动,立场与政治取向纷杂其间。而蔡元培以其"不尚偏激"的文化人格涵育了"学术自由,百家争鸣"的北京大学,也使得二千多年里儒学以克己成就"修己"的道理与新学达成了交汇。在混杂着中西之争、古今之争、新旧之争,以及十数年政争不断、政潮起伏的纷乱时势中重造了一种"为学问而求学问"的纯粹和明净。在他所坚持的以学术为本位的取则中,学术、人物、学风、群体,形成了别开生面而自为恢张的宏大场面。在一个知识分子主动或被动地大幅度趋向政治化的时代里,蔡元培显示的这种个体的文化品格,既区别于"政客生涯"中的人物,也区别于同时的新文化人物。他为北京大学造就了民初中国无可匹比的文化高度,蔡元培时代的北京大学因此而成为了民初中国的一个文化象征。

Concerning the cultural trends in the early years of the Republic of China,cultural positions were always tangled with political ones. With his cultural personality of 'being mean',CAI Yuan-pei helped to create the 'freedom for academic studies and intellectual disputation'in Peking University,integrating the new culture with the over-2,000-year-old doctrine of 'cultivating self'by 'restraining one's selfishness'in Confucianism. A pure sprit of 'learning for learning's sake'was created in the debates over the West versus China,the past versus the present,and the new versus the old,and the frequent changes of the governments and nonstop political chaos for over a decade. Thus,there was a spectacular scene with novelty at the various levels of academic studies,styles of study,and intellectuals as both individuals and groups. In an age when intellectuals were actively or passively involved in politics,CAI's cultural personality made him distinct from both 'politicians'and his contemporaries embracing new culture. He promoted the culture in Peking University to an unrivaled level so that the university has been reputed as the cultural symbol in the early years of the Republic of China.