(浴火鳳凰：華人大學理念)
ISBN : 978-988-8754-29-8
In this book, The Chinese Idea of a University: Phoenix Reborn by Hong Kong University Press, Rui Yang conceptualises the cultural foundations of modern university development in Chinese societies. Instead of focusing on the uniqueness of the societies, this book aims to prove that one educational purpose could be fulfilled via many paths, and that most of the characteristics the university had could be found in other institutions of higher learning. Citing the practices of four selected Chinese societies, namely Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore, Yang opposes the existence of an impassable chasm between Chinese and Western ideas of a university and argues that it is possible to combine Chinese and Western ideas of a university. Also, Yang’s book is one of the first in English to theorise the Chinese idea of a university. It links the historical to the present in a context of an enormous impact of Western academic models and institutions from the beginning of modern universities in Chinese societies all the way to the contemporary period.
Author Bio
Rui Yang is a professor and the associate dean (research) in the Faculty of Education at the University of Hong Kong. His books include Governance Reforms in Higher Education: A Study of China (2014), Third Delight: Internationalization of Higher Education in China (2002), A Study of the Macro Background of Higher Education Development in China (in Chinese, 1995) and On Contemporary Educational Reforms (in Chinese, 1994).