Factory of Nation's Leaders

• Source: The Global Times
• [01:22 April 27 2009]
• Comments

How Tsinghua University manufactured a new generation of talent

By Wang Weilan and Jiang Xueqing

The graduates of Tsinghua University in 1965 are today acknowledged as a unique class that included not only future State leaders such as Hu Jintao and Wu Guanzheng but also a new generation of talented architects, scientists and teachers who would go on to change the face of China.

The 1965 alumni gathered Saturday at Tsinghua to commemorate the 50th anniversary of their matriculation. Unable to attend, President Hu telephoned and left a personal greeting, according to Tsinghua.

The class of ’65 also celebrated publication of Tsinghua Complex for Half a Century: A Collection of Essays by the 1965 Graduates in a magnificent domed hall modeled on the architecture of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, US. MIT was heavily involved in the founding of Tsinghua. Its creation would go on to become a national factory of future political, economic and scientific leadership.

Part of the reason for the success was essentially a historical coincidence. Studying in a rare window of relative calm between the turbulence of the Anti-Rightist Movement of 1957 and the Cultural Revolution of 1966-76, the future engineers, teachers, mayors and leaders of modern China studied under a “revisionist” policy that emphasized pragmatic, scientific, problem-solving values.

“We were fortunate enough to escape two political movements and had a rather quiet time on campus,” said Xi Hequan, a Tsinghua alumnus who graduated from the Automatic Control Department in 1965, also chief compiler of the book.

Asked if he felt honored today to be among such illustrious alumni as the future president, Professor Wang Wenyuan from the Department of Automation at Tsinghua, said “Not really, no. I am just a humble professor who just tended to focus on my own major.

“To be honest I dined with Wu Bangguo at the same canteen for years, but I had no idea who he was until around the time he became a top Shanghai leader.”

During the three years of famine (1959-61), the hungry students could hear each others’ stomachs gurgling during class. And despite being instructed to return to their rooms and rest during the desperate food shortage, many continued to pursue active physical exercise and study at the library.

New China in the early ’60s suffered from relative economic and industrial backwardness, creating a critical need for scientists. To address this shortfall, it was standard practice for the most talented and adaptable students to be assigned majors in scientific subjects. For this reason, said Wang Wenyuan, China’s current ruling generation shared an atypical passion for objectivity that served them well in politics.

The book, which collected more than 70 alumni memories of their campus life and work experience, is filled with positive outlooks on life, warm collectivist spirit and an innocent patriotism. Of the 2,079 who enrolled in 33 majors at 12 departments in 1959, 2,021 students went on to graduate in 1965.

Thanks to the comparatively peaceful campus life, many high achievers emerged from the 1965 graduates. Among them were three academicians with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, four academicians with Chinese Academy of Engineering, engineers and professionals.

“All my life, I was doing only three things: drawing, calculating and writing reports,” said a graduate of the Water Conservancy Department.

Those who graduated in 1965 were regarded as among the most successful Tsinghua alumni. Among the outstanding graduates were also those promoted to State leaders when the country shifted its emphasis from class struggle to economic development and pragmatism. They included Hu Jintao, Chinese President, Wu Guanzheng, Secretary of CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and three ministers. Hu graduated from the Water Conservancy Department, and Wu from the Department of Power Mechanical Engineering. Quite a number of 1965 alumni became senior officials in the 1980s with similar backgrounds.