马相伯和震旦大学的建立
魏扬波
论文摘要
在十九世纪末和二十世纪的前二十年里，新教和罗马天主教的传教士在中国所做的工作的明显区别之一就是新教的传教士更强调在中国发展基督教的高等院校，而天主教的传教士则对中国的普通大众而不是对知识分子更感兴趣。直到1924年在上海举行第一届全国主教会议前后，天主教会的上层才重新开始重视高等教育，但这时候，上升的民族主义使得开办西方主办的学校非常困难。1949年，在中国的16所基督教的高等院校中，只有3所属于罗马天主教。有趣的是，在这3所高校中最古老的震旦大学是在20世纪20年代前就已成立的，这表明在当时天主教传教士对高等教育普遍漠视的情境下，法国耶稣会是一个重要的例外。震旦大学的诞生同三位杰出的中国学者密不可分。他们是梁启超、蔡元培和马相伯。梁启超和蔡元培极力倡导教育改革，认为这是实现中国必需的现代化的关键。他们深信，马相伯具有出众的资质且与他们志同道合；于是就找到马相伯，敦促他完善并具体实现其教育理念。马相伯最终证明他能担起这一重任。他不仅设想了一种新型的学校，而且将他的梦想变成了他称之为震旦的现实。
在马相伯心中，震旦应该是“一种与中国国情相适应的西式大学”。它将是一所专门翻译中国现代化所必需的西方书籍并且编写中国大学所需的文理科教材的高等教育机构。然而，马相伯心中的震旦并不是那种自19世纪60年代以来随着新学术精神兴起而变得如此流行的那种翻译书局。对他以及一些像梁启超、蔡元培、严复那样的知识分子而言，翻译西方书籍不仅仅意味着引进了新的技术和现代科学。他是要使他们的国家向不同的现实观，向新的观念和价值开放。震旦远远不止是中法两种教育体制的结合。同改革和革命环境密切关联无疑是其显著特点之一。这反映了马相伯通过现代化来救国的整体教育哲学理念。
马相伯渴望将震旦作为站在中国教育改革前沿的优秀样板，并要求法国耶稣会从中发挥作用。尽管这种尝试没有成功，但他仍然是中国现代高等教育发展中的一个重要参与者。马相伯决不是一个躲避政治和社会环境的象牙塔中的学者，而是一个在重建祖国并使之现代化的过程中的开拓者，他激励了许多后来者的效仿。
马相伯是一个新教育体系的推动者和实践者，这种体系的设计，是为了使中国走向现代化。在这篇论文中，我对马相伯扮演的这种角色做了一定的阐明。他的教育理念可能太乌托邦化了，但它却是今天仍然存在的三所高校缘起之火花。在很多方面来看，马相伯的一生就是一位开拓者的一生，他那些尤其有关教育领域的理念和努力使他最无愧于这样的称号。在他逝世很多年之后，他的理念和努力激励着后人承担改革、改善中国教育体制的重任，至今仍给我们以鼓舞。
（原文）
MA XIANGBO AND THE FOUNDING OF AURORA UNIVERSITY
By Jean-Paul Wiest （魏扬波）
During the late nineteenth century and the first two decades of the twentieth century, one of the striking differences between the work of Protestant and Roman Catholic missionaries in China was the greater emphasis placed by Protestants on developing Christian institutions of higher education. Catholic missionaries became mostly interested in the masses of China not in its intelligentsia. It was not until around the time of the First Plenary Council held in Shanghai in 1924 that the hierarchy of the Catholic Church again began to attach importance to higher education, but by then rising nationalism made the opening of colleges under Western auspices very difficult. In 1949, among the sixteen Christian colleges and universities in China only three belonged to the Roman Catholic denomination. Interestingly enough, Aurora (Zhendan) the oldest of the three, came into existence before the 1920s, pointing to the French Jesuits as a major exception within the generalized disregard of Catholic missionaries for higher education. The story of how Aurora came into being is inherently linked to three eminent Chinese scholars Liang Qichao, Cai Yuanpei, and Ma Xiangbo. Liang Qichao and Cai Yuanpei were strong supporters who view educational reform as the key to the much-needed modernization of China. Convinced that Ma Xiangbo possessed outstanding qualifications and shared their goals, they sought him and urged him to refine and concretize his ideas on schools. Ma proved to be up to the task. He not only envisioned a new type of school but turned his dream into a reality he called Aurora.
In Ma’s mind, Aurora would be "a Western type of academy modified to fit the Chinese situation." It was an establishment for advanced education that would specialize in the translation of Western books necessary for the modernization of China and develop textbooks in sciences and liberal arts needed by Chinese universities. Yet Aurora in Ma's mind was not just another of those translation bureaus that had become so popular since the rise of the New Learning spirit in the 1860s. To him as to a handful of other intellectuals like Liang Qichao, Cai Yuanpei and Yan Fu, translations of Western books meant more than bringing in new technologies and modern sciences, he meant opening up their country to a different vision of reality, new ideas and values. Aurora was much more than the marriage of two educational systems, one French and the other Chinese. A strong connection with reform and revolutionary milieus was certainly one of its salient characteristics. It reflected Ma’s overall educational philosophy of saving the country by modernizing it.
Ma Xiangbo aspired to use Aurora as the showpiece that would spearhead the educational reform of China, and he wanted the French Jesuits to play a role in it. Although he failed in this attempt, he remained an important player in the development of modern higher education in China. Ma, far from being an ivory tower scholar who shunned political and social involvement, became a pioneer in the process of rebuilding and modernizing his country and he inspired many others to follow suit.
In this paper, I shed some light on Ma Xiangbo’s role as a promoter and artisan of a new educational system designed to bring China into the modern age. His ideas on education were probably too utopian but they were the sparks at the origin of three academic institutions still in existence today. In many ways the life of Ma Xiangbo can be considered that of a pioneer and he best deserves this title for his ideas and endeavors, especially in education. Long after he passed away, they motivated others to carry on with the task of reforming and improving the Chinese educational system and they continue to inspire us today.
