The
Fine Example Set by Ke Lin Lives Forever in the Hearts of People
Ke Lin, who was born in the same year
of the beginning of the 20th century, was a revolutionary, medical expert
and educator. After liberation, he became president of the Medical College
of Sun Yat-sen University and of the newly-form South China Medical
College. In 1980, he resumed the presidency at the age of 80. He made
distinguished contributions and meritorious service to the development
of medical education in the university.
Engaged
in secret work for the Party under cover of a doctor
Devoted
to the cause of medical education
Good
at uniting, relying, training and using intellectuals
Concerned
about young students
Resuming
the Presidency at the age of 80
Engaged
in secret work for the Party under cover of a doctor
As early as
his high school days, Ke Lin had become good friend of Peng Bai, famous
leader of peasants¡¯ movement and early leader of the CPC, working together
in fighting Yuan Shikai and restoring the Republic. He joined the Chinese
Communist Youth League in Guangdong Medical College (one of the predecessors
of Sun Yat-sen University) in 1924, later the Communist Party. Being
an active student leader, he was the secretary of the Youth League of
the college. After graduation, he was once a military doctor at Ye Ting¡¯s
Coaching Brigade and Director of the Medical Department of the Fourth
Army under the National Revolutionary Forces, and he participated in
the renowned Guangzhou Uprising. Beginning from 1928, he was engaged
in long-term secret work for the Party in Shanghai, Shenyang, Xiamen,
Hong Kong and Macau under cover of a doctor. He was once involved in
the action to rescue Martyr Li Shuoxun, father of former Premier Li
Peng. He was alone in the heart of the occupied areas, and accomplished
one after another tasks entrusted by the Party in the changeable, unpredictable
and mixed environment.
Devoted
to the cause of medical education
After liberation,
Ke Lin, who was director of Jinghu Hospital in Macau, received transfer
order from the South China Bureau of the Central Committee of the CPC,
asking him to assume position of Director of the Medical College. He
moved to Guangzhou together with his family in spring, 1952.
China at that time was under reconstruction after years of war and natural
calamities. Medical education left over by the old China was on a backward
stage. Facing the new situation, Ke Lin felt that his job was both glorious
and heavy. He first handed over 100,000 HK$, the money he made in the
past years, to the Party, half as the Party fee and half as contribution
to the school. He also persuaded medical personnel of Jinghu Hospital
to work in the Medical College of Sun Yat-sen University.
How to develop medical education in a faster way and cultivate medical
personnel needed by the Nation faster and better? Ke Lin thought that
all the advantages, forces and intelligence should be united so as to
achieve greater results, hence the Medical College of Sun Yat-sen University
should be amalgamated with that of Lingnan University and Guanghua Medical
College. His ideas was supported by the departments concerned in the
Central Government, and the three school was consolidated into one in
1953 after repeated consultation and preparation.
Ke Lin became the president and party secretary of the new college.
Aiming at resolving the differences in the original political background,
historical evolvement, academic schools and characteristics of the three
medical colleges, Ke Lin presided over several meetings with members
of the colleges. He emphasized that all should be united for development
of medical education in new China. He tried his best to consult all
parties about the positions to be filled, and treated all on an equal
base according to their abilities. In this way, the estrangement among
the original schools disappeared gradually after the founding of South
China Medical College; a batch of talented people with academic achievements,
teaching experience and special clinical skills were brought out. Ke
Lin was good at mobilizing people, and had steady confidence in the
intelligentsia. He seized the time in re-structuring the 33 teaching
and research groups, emphasizing collectivism in organizing the groups.
He openly supported the opinions of some senior professors, respected
the teaching experience of experts, and advocated critical absorption
of advanced technology where it comes from, while guarding against self
conceit or underestimation of one¡¯s own abilities.
In order to bring up talented young people with all-round developments
in morale, intelligence and health, Ke Lin laid special emphasis on
cultivating the Communist moral and character. He stressed that it was
an important issue related to the success or failure of education to
combine theory and practice. He believed that, if clinical teaching
was not carried out in practice, the students couldn¡¯t master the needed
skills and learn useful knowledge. In order to solve the problem that
the hospital for field practice was very small, Ke Lin worked together
with other officials and set up the Guangzhou Medical Education and
Sanitary Technology Cooperation Center and established a cooperative
relation with 10 hospitals in the city, which provided 3000 beds for
clinical practice.
In 1957, educators at home and abroad were thinking about curriculum
combination and adjustment so as to improve the teaching quality. Ke
Lin took a cautious attitude toward this. He believed that changes in
the curriculum had happened before due to different historical reasons
and against different social background, and there were advantages and
disadvantages, experience and lessons, hence it was inappropriate to
take any hasty and reckless actions. He proposed that it must be carried
out through planned and guided experiments. Thus, the teaching reform
avoided negative effect, gained some experience and achieved better
results under Ke Lin¡¯s leadership.
After 1958, there was a tendency in various parts of Guangdong to set
up more medical schools. Ke Lin thought that it was of course a good
thing to build more medical schools, yet it must be under overall scientific
planning. He claimed that the just conglomerated forces should not be
dispersed, instead, new schools should be opened when time is ripe.
According to this principle, he sent some officials and teachers to
open the Zhangjiang Branch College and train teachers for other schools.
In this way, the College was able to preserve its faculty and also provide
for setting new branches.
Good
at uniting, relying, training and using intellectuals
Ke Lin insisted
on carrying out the Party¡¯s correct policy concerning the intellectuals.
He believed that it was an important issue in running a school to carry
out the Party¡¯s policy of uniting, educating and transforming the intellectuals
in an all-round way. He continuously looked for and recommended senior
intellectuals with specialty, ambition and patriotic enthusiasm to assume
leading positions of all departments.
At the Conference on Science Work in 1962, Zhou Enlai, Chen Yi and Nie
Rongzheng gave important instructions concerning Sun Yat-sen Medical
College, which inspired greatly the intellectuals in the College. Of
special importance are Premier Zhou¡¯s instructions that most of the
intellectuals in our country were already working people¡¯s intellectuals,
that science and technology played a major role in our construction
for modernization. In view of the instances of the College, Ke Lin didn¡¯t
conduct the debate on the relation between political correctness and
academic excellency in a dramatic and showy way, rather, he conducted
it in a mild and gently way and relied on the self-consciousness of
people. Members of the Party Committee of the College were assigned
to study groups and joined their discussion on persisting in truth and
rectifying mistakes. They took measures in waiting and protecting those
who couldn¡¯t understand and accept the fact at the moment, and in helping
those who couldn¡¯t draw demarcations among political, ideological and
academic problems. Some regarded intellectuals¡¯ ambition in scientific
research as seeking fame and profits, and used it as excuse to criticize
them. Ke Lin stressed that the purpose in transforming the intellectuals
lay in improving the ideology, rather than labeling them as counter-revolutionaries
and criticizing them harshly. He firmly stopped the practice of ¡°uprooting
white flags¡± and didn¡¯t arrest or lay off anyone with ideological problems.
Ke Lin understood the intellectuals quite well. He knew well that their
amour-proper was strong, worrying too much about not being trusted politically
and valued academically. He thought that it was normal, understandable.
They were not only the main force in teaching, treating patients and
conducting research, but dared to air their opinions so that fewer mistakes
were made. If we didn¡¯t understand, trust, rely on and help them, what
should we do to progress in medical education and research in the capacity
of leading officials of the College? It was just because Ke Lin insisted
on the correct policy on the intellectuals and established an harmonious
relation between the officials of the College and the intellectuals
that the initiative of the masses was brought into full display and
fundamental guarantee was achieved for completion of various targets
set by the College.
In the early 1960s, a lively and flourishing political situation appeared
in the Sun Yat-sen Medical College, and the College¡¯s Party Committee
was wholeheartedly supported by the masses. A prosperous scene in teaching
and learning was also seen on the horizon since the founding of the
College, with teaching quality improving steadily. 70% of the faculties
of the College participated in scientific research, and the academic,
teaching and clinical levels were obviously raised during completion
of tasks set by the nation. On the anniversary of the founding of the
College in 1962, 319 papers were received, and 466 papers were received
in the following year, 15% of which were up to the higher level in the
nation.
Concerned
about young students
On training
young students, Ke Lin proposed the requirements of cultivating socialist
new style of learning, giving display to the fine traditions of hard
working and simplicity, seeking truth from facts and becoming both politically
correct and academically excellent. At that time, Tao Zhu and Fu Lianzhang
once came to the College to inspect and deliver reports to the students,
which inspired them a lot. Through a series of education activities
and evaluation of excellent students and advanced classes, a brand-new
atmosphere of learning appeared in the College. At the same time, Ke
Lin stressed the need of a relatively stable order for teaching and
learning, the combination of ideological work with all teaching steps,
an appropriate proportion and suitable measures between major education
and physical education. He suggested that the faculty and students should
be effectively organized to go into the mountainous areas or the countryside,
that physical labour and life experience should be combined with study
in the major; and he was opposed to the practice of canceling classes
randomly.
During the ¡°Four-clear Movement¡±, many college students were required
to receive ¡°re-education¡± in the countryside for as long as a year.
Ke Lin insisted that medical college students would have to shoulder
the responsibility of treating the ill and rescuing the dying, and it
was by mastering scientific knowledge could they serve the people well.
He believed that medical students should be both politically correct
and academically excellent, should not be empty talkers, that the normal
teaching order should be maintained. Guided by his ideas, the students
of Sun Yat-sen Medical College only went to the countryside during summer
vacation, so that the students received physical labor while continuing
their academic study. Through all these, the famous learning style of
¡°Three Basics¡± and ¡°Three Stricts¡± took shape in the College. (i.e.
stressing basic theory, basic knowledge, study and training in basic
skills; insisting on strict attitude, strict methodology and strict
requirements in all teaching activities.)
Through Ke Lin¡¯s hard work and efforts of all faculty, staff and students
over a decade, the achievements by the College were recognized by the
medical circle at home and abroad, and reputation and credits were won.
Zhou Enlai, Dong Biwu, Ye Jianying, He Long, Tao Zhu and other officials
of the Central Government once received the officials of the College
and praised their work.
Resuming
the Presidency at the age of 80
During
the ¡°Cultural Revolution¡±, both Ke Lin and Sun Yat-sen Medical College
suffered great setbacks and damages. After the ten year¡¯s turmoil ended,
Ke Lin was thoroughly rehabilitated and his reputation restored. In
1979, he was appointed consultant to the Ministry of Health. In May
1980, he was also appointed president of Sun Yat-sen Medical College.
When he returned to the College at the age of 80, he was warmly welcomed
by the faculty and students. He laid emphasis on carrying out the Party¡¯s
policies and revaluing the wronged cases, which resulted in rehabilitation
and readjustment of jobs of large number of faculty and students. Sun
Yat-sen Medical College embarked on a new road for prosperity since
then.
In 1984, he no longer shoulder any position of the College because of
his age, yet he gave firm support to the new leadership. He was really
happy when he learned that Deng Xiaoping wrote the new name for Sun
Yat-sen Medical University in calligraphy.
Ke Lin died on September 23, 1991 of illness in Beijing at the age of
90. The great contributions of this revolutionary, medical expert and
educator and his fine example will live in the hearts of the people
forever.
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