In this last month of 1927, Dai continued to apply his mind to the problem and to refine his suggestions further. The result was a written proposal on the "Maintenance of Education and Relieving of Youth" which he submitted to Cai Yuanpei's University Council (Daxueyuan ^ Jjq ), then the highest educational authority in the country. This was Dai's first written official proposal spelling out his evolving ideas. In it, he reiterated his distinction between students of primary and secondary schools and those from institutions of higher learning. The former were to be denied all political involvement while the latter were to be permitted to participate in political parties and activities so long as they did not hold official appointments. However, at this point Dai added a new demand that tertiary students should participate in political activities only on an individual basis and should not be permitted to act in the name either of their schools or of their student organizations.22
In the remainder of his proposal, Dai attacked the way student organizations had been organized in the past and put forward a programme
21Ibid., preface pp. 10-11. 22
"Proposal on the Maintenance of Education and the Relieving of Youth," in Dai Jitao, Dai Jitao xiansheng wencun ^ 57
(Documents of Dai Jitao), Vol. 2 (Taibei, 1959), p. 429.
This proposal also contains introductory statements which were very critical of student political activism. Some of these statements were later incorporated into the fourth plenum declaration of February 1928 which was also drafted by Dai. They have been partly quoted and discussed in pp. 52-53 below.
to restructure them. His basic contention was that student unions had hitherto been weakly supervised and managed. Often they were allowed to disrupt the educational system, a fault which Dai believed in need of correction. He argued that China must have a clearly defined set of regulations governing student unions, such as those applying to other public organizations. To begin with, he suggested that all student unions should be renamed "student self-governing associations" (xuesheng zizhihui ^ J 0 '/D ^ ) (SSGAs). He bluntly declared that the purpose of this was to make these student organizations conscious of their limitations as purely student self-governing units, having no right to meddle in the administration of schools, let alone questions of national
23
politics. He also strongly criticised the existing internal structure of student unions, which often imitated those of political parties by having individual departments to take charge of non-student matters such as those concerning workers and peasants. To him, this imitation was unnecessary and erroneous. He demanded that future SSGAs should only have the following departments: a "self-governing department" to take care of order within the school and training of students in debates and gatherings, an "intellectual-development department" to encourage matters such as science education, a "moral-education department" to promote moral values, and a "physical-education department" to handle sporting activities.24
Another feature of past student organizations which incurred Dai's displeasure was the forging of linkages between schools. In the past,
23Ibid., pp. 431-432. 24Ibid., p . 432 .
individual student unions often joined together to form a city or county student union, then a provincial student union, and finally a national student union. To Dai, this was a "serious danger" as it created the opportunity for the entire student population to be easily manipulated by "a few student politicians." If this system were not reformed, Dai argued, "then the nation would not be able to set an educational policy; there would be no social order; education, knowledge, and life in general would then be bankrupt and the nation destroyed." In this proposal, however, apart from pointing out the dangers and implying that limitations were necessary, Dai did not make any specific recommendations on what ought to be done about these inter-school linkages. Regarding the overall supervision and direction of SSGAs, Dai thought it would be best to leave the task to the principals of individual schools while the initial official approval for organizing SSGAs should come from relevant
2 R
government authorities.
When Cai Yuanpei's University Council convened its third plenum on 24 December 1927, with Dai attending as a Council member, it merely resolved to adjourn the discussion of his proposal until the next meeting
27
so that other Council members could have the time to study its details. There was then no indication as to whether the Council or any of its members would endorse Dai's ideas. Up to this time, it was also uncertain as to whether support would be forthcoming from other sections
26Ibid. 27
Daxueyuan gongbao
Council) 1.3 (Mar 1928): 79-80.
of the GMD party and government.
The political situation at the end of 1927 was still in flux. The GMD Central Special Committee dominated by the Western-Hills faction was in its last month, and had been crippled since the November Twenty-Second Incident. Wang Jingwei was implicated in the Guangzhou communist uprising of 11 December and therefore had remained out of the political
28
centre. Chiang Kai-shek was slowly emerging as the only effective force likely to resolve the GMD internal disunity. He was successful to a certain extent when the Party managed to reconvene the long-delayed fourth plenum of the second GMD CEC.
Later Discussions and Refinements
The fourth plenum of the second GMD CEC was held in the first week of February 1928. Apart from striving for some measure of internal unity, the plenum set the line against mass mobilization followed under the GMD leadership of Chiang Kai-shek for the next two decades. A key outcome was that plenary members heeded Chiang's call for an immediate temporary suspension of all mass movements. On the grounds that the party purges of 1927 had not entirely eradicated the Chinese Communists, mass movement personnel had not been properly trained and the Party had not yet carefully thought out a new mass movement plan, all mass
pQ
movements were to be halted temporarily. It was also indicated that future mass movements would put less emphasis on conflict, or the "destructive approach." Instead, the new emphasis would be on the "constructive approach" such as improving the welfare of the various sectors of the masses. As for the student movement, Chiang expressed the wish that it would "help to raise the standard of science as well as spur
on
students to work on constructive tasks."
For reasons not known, the declaration (xuanyan ^ ^ ) issued at the end of the fourth plenum did not mention the temporary suspension of all mass movements. However, it was unequivocal about the direct involvement of students in politics being extremely harmful and implied
29Chiang's personal proposal calling for a "temporary suspension" (zanting jinxing ) of all mass movements can be found in GMD-ZZW (mishu chu) ed. , Zhongguo Guomindang dierjie zhongyang zhixing weiyuanhui disici quanti huiyi jilu ^ ^ "fj
^ fU7 ^ 'fi" 'zj 1>£ T& (Minutes of Meetings of the Fourth Plenum of the Second Central Executive Committee of the Guomindang)
(N.p ., Feb 1928), pp. 127-135.
The plenum had not drafted any specific resolutions clearly approving a temporary suspension, and instead had opted to "reflect the main points of its mass movement plan through the plenum declaration." See Ibid., pp. 39-42. Yet the declaration issued at the end of the plenum again made no explicit mention of the suspension.
Documentary proof that it was indeed a fourth plenum decision to suspend mass movements came from remarks contained in a proposal submitted at the following plenum. See the preface of the GMD Standing Committee's "Proposal on Mass Movements," in GMD-ZZW (mishu chu) ed., Zhongguo Guomindang dierjie zhongyang zhixing weiyuanhui diwuci quanti huiyi jilu tp g] ( D Ä ^ ~
M
^ ^ ^ ^ J2.^ ^ (Minutes of Meetings of the Fifth Plenum of the Second Central Executive Committee of the Guomindang) (N.p., Aug 1928), pp. 120.
30GMD-ZZW (mishu chu) e d . , Zhongguo Guomindang dierjie zhongyang zhixing weiyuanhui disici quanti huiyi jilu, pp. 136-142.
that it ought to be stopped:31
Youth from all over the nation are now misled onto erroneous paths. Some are not even aware that they are trapped in the monster den (moku ^ ), while there are those who are aware but cannot extricate themselves. Many are peace-loving and sincere by nature, but they have all been led astray. Like blind men on blind horses galloping near the lake in the middle of the night, a slight misjudgement would land them with lifelong regrets. Educational institutions are not only badly affected by wars and political changes, but are suffering from student tides (xuechao ^ ) and the lack of talent. Almost no one can study in peace and no school can maintain order.... Given this situation, the poison will only seep deeper if remedy is not quickly rendered, thus bankrupting the educational system and endangering the whole society. The most deplorable fact today is the participation by immature students in our political and social strife...to permit these young boys and girls, who have yet to attain maturity and sufficient knowledge and experience..., to participate freely in the affairs of the nation, is not only to sacrifice the precious lovely life of our race in the future, but also to allow them to treat the entire nation and human society as playthings.
It is no coincidence that the wording of this fourth plenum declaration sounded so much like what Dai Jitao had long been advocating.
Op In fact, Dai was personally responsible for drafting this declaration. Moreover, the above quotation opposing student political activism was actually copied entirely from the introductory paragraphs of his "Proposal on the Maintenance of Education and the Relieving of Youth," which he had previously submitted to Cai Yuanpei's University Council in
31"Declaration of the Fourth Plenum of the Second GMD CEC," approved on 7 Feb 1928, in GW, Vol. 69 (Taibei, 1976), pp. 187-188.
32See his own remarks in Dai Jitao, Dai Jitao xiansheng wencun sanxubian
Jff
-^p:fij
It |~jr-
^
(The Third Collection of Documents of Dai Jitao) (Taibei, 1971), pp. 107-108.the last week of 1927.33
As discussed previously, this late 1927 proposal by Dai had not been acted upon immediately by Cai's University Council. The delay could have been due to normal bureaucratic inertia, but it could also have resulted from political caution on the part of the Council. Dai's recommendations were after all ahead of his time. Whatever the case might be, the Council acted decisively on Dai's proposal only after the February 1928 fourth plenum decision to suspend temporarily all mass movements and to declare student political activism as very harmful. Using Dai's submission as a guide, the Council soon appointed a sub-committee to draw up a proper set of regulations to govern SSGAs.34 On 24 April 1928, Cai Yuanpei's University Council met and approved the sub-committee's recommended "Organizational Outline for Student Organizations," just in time for the First National Education Conference. In so acting, the Council officially endorsed many of Dai Jitao's ideas, and added a few
35 proposals of its own.
In the first place, Cai's University Council agreed that all student
o o
°°Compare the quoted passage of the fourth plenum declaration with Dai's late 1927 proposal in Dai Jitao, Dai Jitao xiansheng wencun, pp. 427-428.
For other points of significance in this proposal, see the previous discussion in pp. 48-50 above.
34See the brief notes on the 4th, 5th and 6th meeting of the University Council, in Daixueyuan gongbao, 1.3 (Mar, 1928): 80-83 and 1.5 (May 1928):60-61.
O C
See the brief note on the emergency meeting of the University Council, in Daixueyuan gongbao, 1.6 (Jun 1928): 75-76;
The complete document on "Organizational Outline for Student Organizations" can be found in GMD-ZZW (mishu chu) ed., Zhongguo Guomindang dierjie zhongyang zhixing weiyuanhui diwuci quanti huiyi jilu, pp. 145-150.
unions should be renamed "student self-governing associations" and that their future role should be educational and non-political. These SSGAs would not be allowed to concern themselves with national politics, nor be permitted to represent either the schools or the students in any political activities. Although SSGAs were also forbidden to meddle with the general administration of schools, a concession was made to allow them to present their opinions at school meetings. Second, the Council followed and expanded upon Dai Jitao's proposal to do away with student unions' imitation of political parties, by eliminating traditional politically-oriented departments such as the organization, propaganda, workers and peasants departments. They were to be replaced by departments which were internally-oriented and academically-biased, such as the hygiene, food, library, physical education, moral education, and aesthetic education departments. Third, picking up Dai's passing suggestion to put the principal in charge of the school's SSGA, the Council recommended the setting up of a powerful Committee for the Guidance of Student Self-Government in every school. This Committee was to be comprised of the principal, the disciplinary head and a number of teaching staff appointed by the principal; it was to be vested with the right to attend all meetings of the SSGA and provide guidance. The SSGA Supervisory & Judiciary Committee and the Executive Committee were to be made up of students directly elected by all students of the school, but candidates had first to be vetted by the Guidance Committee on the basis of "school examinations and everyday observation." Finally, regarding the inter-school linkages of student unions or SSGAs, the University Council went beyond Dai's general call for reform. It ruled that all such formal linkages were to be banned, but that when the need should
arise to "discuss certain important common problems of politics or education," the national or provincial government could convene a
O £> gathering of students from all schools.
When the First National Education Conference was convened by Cai Yuanpei in May 1928, the University Council tabled this "Organizational Outline for Student Organizations" for discussion and endorsement by the conference delegates. Although the Council's Outline was based upon the early initiatives of Dai Jitao, Dai decided to have a piece of his own action at the Conference. He packaged a major educational plan and presented it to the Conference as a joint proposal from the Zhongshan 37 University and the Educational Commission of Guangdong-cum-Guangxi. Section three of this educational plan, entitled "Relieving Modern Youth: Defining the Organization of Student Unions and Their Legal Status," was inevitably posed as an alternative to the University Council's Outline.
At least two thirds of the text in this section were recopied word for word from Dai's December 1927 proposal on "The Maintenance of Education and Relieving of Youth" which we have discussed. The only notable change introduced by Dai in his latest proposal was the issue of inter-school connections. Refining his 1927 call to reform such
361 bid. 37
Defining the Direction of Education and Implementing the Three People's Principles Education In Order to Draw Up a National Salvation Plan," in Daxueyuan ^ ^ ed., Quanguo jiaoyu huiyi baogao
^ T>L *£§ (Report on the National Education Conference) (Shanghai, 1928), pp. 57-59;
Also available in Dai Jitao, Dai Jitao xiansheng wencun, Vol. 2, pp. 436-453;
Dai's primary role in packaging this proposal is mentioned in his speech at the Conference and is also obvious from the proposal's contents.
linkages, Dai now put forward the specific idea that although SSGAs of tertiary institutions should be forbidden to link together at the county, provincial and national levels, they could be connected at the city or village level. This concession was to be denied to all secondary school students. In so doing Dai was not suggesting any relaxation of his proposed barrier between student unions and politics. He merely recognised that some degree of inter-school connections had to be allowed for the purpose of "achieving cooperation in matters of self-government,
O O
intellectual development, as well as moral and physical education."
Faced with these two sets of recommendations from Cai Yuanpei's University Council and Dai Jitao, conference delegates resolved
OQ
ultimately to adopt a compromise. The joint call to rename student unions as "student self-governing associations" was accepted. So was the basic principle of barring SSGAs from becoming involved in national politics and school administration. The University Council's proposal for a powerful Committee for the Guidance of Student Self-Government was also accepted by the conference delegates. In terms of internal organizational structure, the Conference resolved to follow closely the form proposed by the University Council. On the issue of inter-school linkages, Conference delegates rejected the Council's call for a complete ban and instead accepted Dai's idea that some inter-school connections were necessary for the purpose of promoting cooperation in non-political activities. They agreed that such connections should be confined to the
38I bid.
OQ
Regulations on Student Self-Government," in Daxueyuan ed., Quanguo jiaoyu huiyi baogao, pp. 65-69.
city and village level and not be permitted at the county, provincial or national level. However, they went beyond Dai by extending this privilege to SSGAs in secondary schools, in addition to tertiary
institutions.
On the whole, the mood of the First National Education Conference was positive towards the initiatives of Dai and the University Council. Conference delegates generally felt that the time had come to define clearly the relationship between students and politics. Indeed, a number of them had come up with their own recommendations on student organizations and programmes of political education and participation.4^ Therefore, in the end, apart from working out a compromise about a set of SSGA regulations, conference delegates also put forward a set of criteria to govern future student participation in mass movements.41 In principle, Conference delegates accepted student political participation provided several restrictions were in place: first, such participation had to be guided by the school authorities; second, students must be forbidden from taking on any appointments or tasks outside their schools; and third, students were not to disrupt classroom lessons for the sake of mass movement participation.
The efforts of Dai Jitao and the University Council of Cai Yuanpei from December 1927 to May 1928 culminated in the passing of these two documents at the Conference, one restricting SSGAs and the other governing student participation in mass movements. A consensus, at least
40For the other various proposals, see Ibid., pp. 71-86.
41,,Criteria for Student Participation in Mass Movements," in Ibid., p.