"Treasure of the Think Tank"
"In 1958, I decided to leave my second hometown of Seattle and return to my first hometown of Shanghai, hoping to contribute to the economic development of New China. Looking at today, what I have had since I was a child and The nation's desire to serve the people has been fulfilled! "He did realize his lifelong aspiration. Starting from participating in the decision to open Pudong, the Academy of Social Sciences was given the functions of a think tank and a think tank, and Zhang Zhongli also had a better stage to play a big role: he chaired a number of research projects for consulting, and helped Shanghai develop Strategic positioning and Pudong development provide intellectual support.
Zhang Zhongli pays special attention to the combination of theoretical research and applied research. He uses his own academic research to make a sound think tank on the major national strategies and play a role of decision-making and consulting in philosophy and social sciences. Some scholars believe that although it was not called a "think tank" at that time, in fact, he has been doing this consciously since the 1980s and 1990s.
"Treasure of the think tank", Zhang Zhongli also has such a reputation in the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.
[Academic Archives]
Zhang Zhongli (1920.4.10-2015.9.19), economist and economic historian. Born in Wuxi, Jiangsu, he graduated from the Department of Economics of Shanghai St. John's University in 1941, and obtained a master's degree and a doctorate degree in economics from the University of Washington in 1948 and 1953, respectively. Received the American Social Science Research Council Award in 1952, the Chinese Scholar Award of the Ruth Foundation in 1982, and the "Outstanding Contribution Award of Asian Studies" of the American Institute of Asian Studies in 2008. Representatives of the 6th to 9th National People's Congress. Served as associate professor of the Department of Economics of Washington University, researcher of the Far East Institute, deputy director of the Institute of Economics of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, and dean of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences. During the American period, he wrote in English "Chinese Gentleman", "Chinese Gentleman's Income", etc .; and "British American Tobacco Company Information in China" (four volumes), "Saxon Group in Old China", "Modern China", "Modern China" More than 30 books and edits including Shanghai Urban Studies were published in China.
Grandmaster
["Having the habit of sitting on a cold bench"]
◆ The readers who read "The Chinese Gentleman" today are hard not to be impressed by the historical materials cited in it. Regarding the writing process of the book, Zhang Zhongli recalled that the abundant material reserves of the University of Washington Library provided convenient conditions for his research. If he was awarded the treasure, he would soak there almost every day and read and extract a copy. "Doing academic research must be able to sit down, be serious, rigorous, and understand the national, world, and historical conditions." This has become his motto for academic research in the future.
[The "Motion King" who loves to go shopping]
◆ In the past 20 years, as a representative of the National People's Congress, Zhang Zhongli submitted 61 bills, 8 of which were annual "No. 1 bills", and thus won the title of "King of Bills". He said, "Social science workers mainly study the humanities and social sciences. This involves human issues, people's livelihood issues, and the rule of law. They need to be continuously promoted. The People's Congress will have a good opportunity to realize their potential. "When he was more than 80 years old, he insisted on going to the grocery store to buy vegetables and conducting field investigations on people's livelihood issues.
["Transformed into spring mud to protect flowers"]
◆ In 2004, Zhang Zhongli won the Shanghai Philosophy and Social Science Academic Contribution Award with a prize of 50,000 yuan. He lived frugally and contributed all the rewards, and established the "Zhang Zhongli Academic Award Fund" to reward young and middle-aged scholars engaged in social science research and promote the growth of scientific research reserve forces. The scholars who have won the "Zhang Zhongli Award" on the academic path, as he wishes, most of them have grown into today's academic backbones and subject leaders.
"Chinese Gentleman": Telling Chinese stories in a way that the West can understand
"He is a Chinese scholar with real world influence." This "he" is Zhang Zhongli. In 2008, he won the "Asian Research Outstanding Contribution Award", the highest honor awarded by the American Asian Studies Association, and was the first Chinese scholar to receive this award. In fact, back in the 1950s, when he was studying for a doctorate at the University of Washington in the United States, with his groundbreaking research on the academic debut "Chinese Gentleman", he established his unique position in the field of Chinese studies in one fell swoop.
For many years, the study of Chinese studies abroad, especially Chinese studies in the United States, has hardly made reference to Zhang Zhongli's work. Its influence is immeasurable. Why does a book have such a wide international impact? "The Chinese Gentleman" uses western research methods to combine the study of economic history with econometrics. Some scholars believe that this is to tell Chinese stories with methods and terminology that can be understood by the West, thus giving Chinese scholars the right to speak and influence in the study of Chinese studies abroad.
Zhang Daogen, the dean of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, further analyzed that "The Gentleman of China" specializes in studying the unique social stratum of Confucian scholars, especially the system of scientific and technical achievements, and analyzes the role and income of this social stratum in the late feudal society of China. Although Chinese and foreign scholars pay close attention to this unique and important group and have written about Chinese gentlemen, in-depth systematic research is still blank. Mr. Zhang is a deep pioneer and a systematic researcher. He consulted a large amount of historical data of China in the 19th century and even the entire Qing Dynasty, including official documents, Chinese provinces, prefectures, counties, genealogy and genealogies, and many books by Chinese, Japanese, and Western scholars. , Into its masterpiece. "To learn from Mr. Zhang Zhongli, we must study as hard as he does. In contemporary China, more than ever before, we need philosophical and social science theories with solid foundations, profound thoughts, and innovative ideas. Philosophy and social science workers must focus on new things like Mr. Zhang Zhongli The major practical and theoretical issues of China's modernization in the era have refused to be impetuous, dedicated and innovative, and have produced research results in philosophy and social sciences with Chinese characteristics, Chinese style, and Chinese style. "He said.
Historian Wang Jiafan also believes that choosing "gentleman" as the research object is very intelligent. "Under the special social background of China, gentlemen are a key and pivotal social class in traditional Chinese society. This group can move up and down and move around. It is undoubtedly an ideal research object to study the issue of 'social operation.'" It is quite courageous to carry out group research. It must be expanded to as many people as possible, and all important materials of this subject must be sorted out. In Zhang Zhongli's time, it was not common to apply quantitative analysis to the processing of rich and complicated Chinese historical materials. Therefore, readers who read this book today are hardly not convinced by the historical materials cited in it. Every look used in the research The seemingly simple data is actually based on "careful hooking and raking and combing" of the history of the voluminous area.
Regarding the writing process of "The Chinese Gentleman", Zhang Zhongli recalled that the abundant data reserves of the Washington University Library at the time brought convenience to his research. For example, he was soaked there almost every day, reading through excerpts. In 1952, Zhang Zhongli was awarded a prize from the American Social Science Research Council. He was able to visit major academic institutions in the United States as a national scholar, and obtained a richer collection of historical materials. "Doing academic research must be able to sit down, be serious, rigorous, and understand the national, world, and historical conditions." This also became his motto for academic research in the future.
Because of this, such an academic result with novel research objects, informative materials, and advanced methods, once published in 1955, has aroused a great response from the international academic community—
"These studies outline some outlines of the position of Chinese gentlemen in society in the 19th century." His mentor Franz Michael pointed out in the book's introduction that it had a historical status as "the work of a mountain". Later, Professor Fei Zhengqing, a well-known American expert on Chinese issues, also praised the book in the selected literature attached to "America and China": "The Chinese Gentleman" is a study of China from the meaning of meritorious people Gentleman's most thorough statistical research work. "American History Review even called this book" a research work that has made a significant contribution to the history of modern Chinese institutions. "
His fame in academia quickly made Zhang Zhongli a professor at the University of Washington, and became a mainstay of Chinese studies: the first four books on Chinese issues published by the University of Washington Press "Chinese Gentleman", "History of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom" "," Synopsis Abstracts of Important Chinese Officials of the 19th Century, "and" The Income of Chinese Gentlemen, "all come from his own hands. By the end of 1958, at the age of 38, he had been promoted to associate professor and received a tenure. In the same year, the U.S. Congress passed the National Defense Education Act, and many U.S. foundations began to vigorously sponsor a full-scale investigation and study of China in order to cultivate the "China Pass" for its service. It is foreseeable how brilliant Zhang Zhongli's future academic prospects will be.
But also this year, he made an "amazing" decision: returning home.
Promote the Internationalization of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
Many years later, young people always asked Zhang Zhongli: "You are well-known in the United States, why do you want to return to China?" For him who has gone through the old society and longed for the prosperity of the motherland, this young man today may be difficult to understand It is not difficult to make a choice and answer the question.
"Knowledge can always serve the motherland", which is his lifelong belief. He said that when he was in middle school and university in Shanghai in his early years, he had already set his mind to serve the country. The middle school is Yucai Middle School, and the university is St. John's University. These are "prestigious schools co-organized with foreigners. I studied foreign languages at school, but I did not forget that I am Chinese." After graduating in 1941, he ran energetically Society, but found that the economically backward old China did not need university graduates from the economics department. For five years, he had not dealt with economic theory. Exactly in the summer of 1946, the National Government held a selection test for foreign students in the United States in Shanghai. Zhang Zhongli took the test. "If I can study abroad and get a master's degree and a doctorate, maybe my economics major can be used. Come on. "At the beginning of 1947, he took the freighter to the United States and went to the Department of Economics of the University of Washington in Seattle to study for a master's degree, a doctorate, and stay on to teach ...
But Zhang Zhongli, who is far away from home, always misses the other side of the ocean. New motherland! In order to understand the situation in New China, he often went to the library to read the Huaqiao Daily, which often reported information about the motherland. With a longing for New China, he and his wife added two new children to the family, named "Guo Liang" and "Guo Qiang". After 1955, Sino-US relations were loosened. Zhang Zhongli received a letter from his father detailing the changes in New China and the call of the Party Central Committee to "advance into science." Since then, he has made up his mind to return to the motherland. .
At the end of 1958, Zhang Zhongli, who had completed all the work in the United States, disregarded the school's persuasion, gave up the position of a tenured professor, sold the house just purchased by installments, and spent only three days to organize his packing. With all the historical materials, he and his wife embarked on the journey home with three children. At that time, the returnees were rare. His colleagues and friends in the United States were puzzled, and even the immigration officer felt incredible, so that there was an episode before returning to the United States: The US immigration officer separately asked their couple whether they really "voluntarily" returned to the country, as long as one party acknowledged Involuntary ", let go.
Shortly after returning to China, Zhang Zhongli joined the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, which was just three months old. Since the establishment of the Academy of Social Sciences was almost before and after his return, he said more than once in his later years that he seemed to return for it. In the development of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences from scratch to childhood, Zhang Zhongli also started as a researcher at the Institute of Economics, and has been the vice president and dean, and spent the "half century of the same storm."
At first, Zhang Zhongli was assigned to arrange historical materials. At first, he began to research the historical materials of the Wuxi Rong family business. Later, he began to organize the archives of British American Tobacco's companies in China. Faced with boxes of dusty historical materials, the whole day's work is the infinite repetition of recording, reviewing, and re-recording. Someone seems very boring, but Zhang Zhongli said that he must have the habit of sitting on a cold bench. At the time, Professor Chen Yi, who participated in the collation of historical materials with him, recalled that he also passed on the experience and methods he had obtained while studying "The Chinese Gentleman" to his colleagues, applied the historical materials of the company at that time, improved efficiency, and studied China more practically. Development track of modern economic history.
During the "Cultural Revolution", Zhang Zhongli was more affected than ordinary people. Even so, the faith to return to serve the motherland has never diminished because of the unfair treatment they have received.
In 1978, Zhang Zhongli returned to the restored Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences. Picking up the file of "British American Tobacco Company's Historical Materials in China" again, it has been covered with a thick gray layer and wasted for a whole decade. But "regret is useless. The only way out is to make up for lost time." At the time, the Academy of Social Sciences advocated collective work to do data work. To complete the task collectively, no one is allowed, but Zhang Zhongli did not care about reputation and worked all night long. Soon, they worked on the "British American Tobacco Company Information Collection in China" and "Saxon Group in Old China" before the Cultural Revolution. Other historical data finishing work has been completed and published one after another.
In January 1984, Zhang Zhongli served as deputy dean (presided over the work) of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences; in June 1987, he was promoted to dean. Looking forward to the future, he is very excited, not because of his personal ambition, but because this new position can better fulfill his desire to contribute hard to the revival of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences-
He also injected new vitality into the Academy of Social Sciences, allowing it to reach its full academic potential. After serving as the dean, he mobilized young and middle-aged backbones of the Institute of Economics and History to organize a long-term cooperative research team to carry out "modern Shanghai urban studies", comprehensively studying Shanghai's economic, social, and cultural issues. The results have been consistently recognized by the industry as the first batch of masterpieces of individual city research since China's reform and opening up. Taking Shanghai as a starting point, he extended his research to coastal cities in the southeast and further along the Yangtze River. He has published "Modern Shanghai Urban Studies", "Research on Southeast Coastal Cities and Modernization of China", "Cities along the Yangtze River and Modernization in China" ". These three books have been called the "China Urban Studies Trilogy" by academic circles at home and abroad. "Doing research requires teamwork", and the "cross-institute" team research method he initiated has become the tradition of the Academy of Social Sciences.
At the same time, he spared no effort to promote the academic internationalization of the Academy of Social Sciences, using his influence and academic achievements abroad to become a "matchmaker" of Chinese and foreign scholars. He said, "Young scholars often go to better colleges and universities around the world, contact their outstanding professors, face-to-face lectures, and participate in their academic seminars, which will help to further improve their academic level and research capabilities. Especially when studying abroad How to study the problem, learn from their spirit of inquiry, and draw lessons from it, it will definitely be beneficial for young people to carry out further research. "At that time, the conditions for going abroad were limited. In order to send more young people abroad, Zhang Zhongli was determined not to take a business class "Every time I take an economy class, it means that three people can go abroad. I want to save this money and use it for our young people in the United States."
Academic exchange is two-way. While encouraging and sending Chinese scholars to communicate with other countries, Zhang Zhongli also strongly invited foreign scholars to come to China to visit China on the spot and strengthen cooperation. In the commendation letter awarded by the Asian Studies Society to Zhang Zhongli's "Outstanding Contribution to Asian Studies 2008", in addition to mentioning his studies of Chinese gentlemen and later studies of foreign companies in Shanghai, he also stated: "Appointed as Shanghai After the Dean of the Academy of Social Sciences, under his generous and tolerant, passionate, and forward-looking leadership, the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences opened the door to foreign scholars, extending the glory of Shanghai studies from Berkeley to Cambridge and Paris to Tokyo. "
In the United States, he let the world know China; in China, he brought Shanghai to the world.
Let the social sciences sound like think tanks on major real-world issues
"In 1958, I decided to leave my second hometown of Seattle and return to my first hometown of Shanghai, hoping to contribute to the economic development of New China. Looking at today, what I have had since I was a child and The desire of the country to serve the people has been fulfilled! "In 2008, Zhang Zhongli, who was too old, went to receive the" Outstanding Contribution Award for Asian Studies "in person. He said so emotionally in the recorded thank-you note.
He did fulfill his life's longing. After all, for Zhang Zhongli, who was aspiring to strengthen the country from an early age, he was "destined to create history, not just study history."
In 1984, Zhang Zhongli, who had just been "appointed as a new official," received the task assigned by the then mayor of Shanghai, Wang Daohan, to receive a central economist think tank that came to Shanghai to inspect economic development. It was at this meeting that they first proposed the idea of opening up Pudong. He recalled, "At that time, we held a full two-day seminar and the discussion was very enthusiastic. At that time, Pudong was still a farmland, and we insisted that it was much better to build a new center than to rebuild it in Puxi."
That is, starting from participating in the decision to open Pudong, the Academy of Social Sciences has been given the functions of a think tank and a think tank. Its role is not just a "big discussion", but directly drawing development sketches for the government. This means that Zhang Zhongli also has a better stage to show his fist: he chaired a number of consulting project studies and provided intellectual support for Shanghai's development strategy at the time and Pudong development, such as the 1994 Pudong Development and Shanghai "Reconstruction of the Trade Center", "Proposal No. 1" of "The Bonded Area Management Law" should be promptly formulated in 1996, and it also "screamed" for the construction of an ecological city in Shanghai and put forward the idea of hosting the World Expo ... These visionary Suggestions and suggestions are undoubtedly integrated into the rapid development of Shanghai.
In the acknowledgment of the "Outstanding Contribution to Asian Studies", Zhang Zhongli also mentioned his experience as a deputy to the National People's Congress from 1983 to 2003. He said with satisfaction that he finally "fulfilled my ideal of serving the country when I was young" . In 20 years, he submitted 61 bills, of which 8 were annual "motion bills", and he was also awarded the title of "motion king".
In retrospect, some of the bills proposed by Zhang Zhongli that year have been translated into the law and some have become the general social consciousness of citizens, which have far-reaching effects. But he also frankly stated that participating in politics is a learning process. At first, he also thought that the elected NPC deputy was "a sense of honor" until he first submitted the bill in 1987-at that time, the aging of the intellectual team was very serious, due to the uncertainty of the evaluation cycle of professional titles. . At the fifth meeting of the Sixth National People's Congress, Zhang Zhongli submitted the "Proposal on the Regularization and Institutionalization of the Appointment of Professional Posts in Science and Technology", which was later listed as "No. 1 Proposal". Not long after the proposal was made, the relevant departments implemented the decision, and the professional title evaluation will be carried out once a year. This made him truly realize that "being a deputy to the National People's Congress is a duty."
In the past 20 years, he has been asked many times about his feelings as a deputy to the National People's Congress. Zhang Zhongli always said: "Social scientists are mainly engaged in humanities and social sciences. This involves human issues, people's livelihood issues, and the rule of law. Construction, the National People ’s Congress will have a good opportunity to realize their potential. ”Because of this, people have also seen another aspect of his extremely“ grounded spirit ”: in order to better understand public opinion, he also returned to his 80s. Insist on going to the grocery market to buy vegetables, and investigate the livelihood issues on the spot.
Zhang Zhongli pays special attention to the combination of theoretical research and applied research. He uses his own academic research to make a sound think tank on the major national strategies and play a role of decision-making and consulting in philosophy and social sciences. Some scholars believe that although it was not called a "think tank" at that time, in fact, he has been doing it consciously since the 1980s and 1990s, which has opened up a precedent and a speed for us to speed up the construction of new think tanks with Chinese characteristics. First. "Treasure of the think tank", Zhang Zhongli also has such a reputation in the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.
Even after retiring from the post of dean, Zhang Zhongli still insists on going to the Academy of Social Sciences for two days a week to personally arrange and discuss academic matters. In his later years, he was most concerned about the training of talents. Talking about the development of young scholars, he made no secret of his requirements: "You can't start writing without much effort and thinking. You must conduct research in a down-to-earth manner, and you must have an innovative spirit. Only new materials, new research methods, and new ideas can begin to be written. It is certainly untenable to copy from the west and rush. Since it is written, we must write a vital work. "
Zhang Daogen believes that in order to learn from Mr. Zhang Zhongli, he must be a real person like him. He is kind and simple, and very caring for young people. He is forgiving, loving, and guiding with young researchers. He recalled that in the late 1980s, he had the opportunity to visit Stanford University as a visiting scholar while he was studying for a PhD at Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences and during his economic research, and he had the opportunity to meet with internationally renowned scholars including Nobel Economics many times. The academic exchange of the prize winners all depended on Mr. Zhang Zhongli's support, assistance and arrangement.
In carrying the younger generation, Zhang Zhongli also did something that moved everyone. In 2004, Zhang Zhongli won the Shanghai Philosophy and Social Science Academic Contribution Award for "the international reputation of the original research and academic achievements of the Chinese gentleman class in the 19th century", a prize of 50,000 yuan, which was a significant income at the time. . With a thrifty life, he contributed all the rewards. With the support and donation of the leaders of the hospital, the staff of the hospital and some people outside the hospital, he established the "Zhang Zhongli Academic Award Fund" to reward young and middle-aged scholars engaged in social science research and promote scientific research Growth of Reserve Forces. The scholars who have won the "Zhang Zhongli Award" on the academic path, as he wishes, most of them have grown into today's academic backbones and subject leaders.
Every year, the opening ceremony of the graduate school of the Academy of Social Sciences, Zhang Zhongli will be invited to speak for the freshmen. Every year, he encourages teachers and students to "love the motherland, Shanghai, and the social sciences." In this "three loves", he contains all his life choices, and his expectations for future generations and the future social sciences in China, It is completely condensed in this simple motto.
■ Reporter Chen Yu