Revisiting religious higher education in China: comparative analysis of Furen University narratives

Abstract

Established in the 1920s, Furen University was a private Catholic university in China. Just as in the case of other Christian colleges in modern China, Furen was taken over by the communist government soon after the establishment of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949 and incorporated into the new state-controlled higher education system. Since the beginning of China's reform and opening up, Chinese scholars have shown growing interest in exploring the religious history of the country's pioneering higher education institutions. Focusing on Furen University, this study draws data from various sources to examine critically some popular Furen University narratives proposed by contemporary Chinese scholars in China. These narratives suggest that this Western Catholic university underwent substantial changes during its decades-long operation in Chinese society, becoming more Sinicized, secular, and patriotic. However, our analysis indicates that Furen University's history in modern China might be more complex than these narratives suggest.

Dilemma and countermeasure of sustainable leadership in physical education development in southern rural Ningxia, China

“…In 1904, the Qing government issued an instruction to develop a structured curriculum for PE development ( Quennerstedt, 2019 ). In the same way, during Xinhai Revolution, in 1902 and 1903, the government of the Republic of China reformed the PE curriculum, started PE classes at all levels, and aligned them with the culture and history of China, which bolstered the PE in the region ( Zhao and Sun, 2020 ; Meng et al, 2021 ). PE education was gradually reformed, gymnastics was changed to PE, and comparatively less concentration was given to PE ( Zhang et al, 2021 ).…”

“…Kirk (1999) stated that education reforms in urban cities are more systematically implemented than in rural areas; additionally, the Education department and general administration are more proactive in the urban cities compared to the rural districts of China. The growing economy of the country and spending more on the education and development is the main goal he China's government (Zhao and Sun, 2020). The reformers tried to align it with local culture and 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.947694 tried to develop them independently.…”