Pan Maoyuan - Founder of Higher Education Studies in China

Abstract

Pan Maoyuan was born in 1920 in the city of Shantou, on the eastern coast of Guangdong province to a family who lived in extreme poverty. The fact that he was able to gain a basic education was remarkable, given the family’s circumstances. His love of teaching led him to apply for studies at Xiamen University on its war-time campus in Changting on the border of Jiangxi province in 1939, and his subsequent educational career has been closely linked to the historical development of Xiamen University. The first part of this chapter will therefore tell the story of Xiamen University, which had its own unique development trajectory in the city of Xiamen, traditionally called Amoy, on the south-eastern coast of Fujian province, facing Taiwan.