20世纪50年代中期中国农业遗产研究室成立纪实

Why and How was the Institute of Chinese Agricultural Heritage Established in the 1950s

中国农业遗产研究室成立于1955年7月,是国内唯一的由政府直接设立的农史研究机构。新中国建立初期,党和政府极为重视民族优秀文化遗产,积极营造了中国近代以来少有的自觉弘扬民族文化的社会氛围,为成立专门的农史研究机构提供了前所未有的历史契机。从学术史上看, 1924至1937年,万国鼎等学者在原金陵大学大规模收集整理中国农业史资料,以及此后万国鼎个人长期坚持的学术积累,为农遗室的成立打下了坚实的学术基础和文献基础。1954年夏秋,万国鼎先生对整理祖国农业遗产的工作内容、方法做了详细的阐述;在此基础上,1955年春夏,南京农学院金善宝院长与农业部就开展整理祖国农业遗产工作进行了卓有成效的沟通磋商。金善宝院长和万国鼎先生从行政与学术两方面共同促成了这一国家级农史研究机构的建立。

Established in July 1955, the Institute of Chinese Agricultural Heritage is the only organization aiming at researching Chinese agricultural history, its establishment is the result of the government’s positive arrangement. During the early 1950 s when New China just founded, the Communist Party of China and the government paid great attention to excellent Chinese classical culture, and created enthusiastic social atmosphere of promoting traditional Chinese classical culture, so establishing special Institution for researching Chinese agricultural history achieved an unprecedented history opportunity. From the perspective of academic history, from 1924 to 1937 Professor Wan Guoding and the other scholars collected extensive materials of Chinese agricultural history, which laid solid foundation of academy and literature for the establishment of the national Institute. In 1954 Professor Wan Guoding stated how to research Chinese Agricultural history and explained the contents and methods in detail, based on these President Jin Shanbao of Nanjing Agricultural College carried out efficient communication with the Agricultural Ministry for promoting the work of collating Chinese Agricultural Heritage in 1955. So through the administration and the academic achievement, they helped to facilitate the establishment of the Institute of Chinese Agricultural Heritage.