Notice by Cai Yuanpei, Fan Yuanlian, and Others[1]

(January 22, 1920)

Dear Sirs: Mr. Yang Huaizhong of Hunan passed away due to illness at 5:00 a.m. on the 17th day of January this year at the German Hospital in Beijing. Mr. Yang was pure in conduct and devoted to learning with steadfast resolve. Upon hearing of his passing, we his colleagues share in mourning and lamentation. Tracing back, Mr. Yang studied at the Hongwen Academy and the Higher Normal School in Tokyo, Japan, and later pursued further studies at the University of Scotland[2] in Great Britain. After graduation, he traveled to Berlin to inspect education, remaining there for over a year[3]. In the winter of the Xinhai year, as revolutionary forces rose throughout the nation, Mr. Yang returned to China[4] at that time and went back to Changsha to serve as a professor at the Higher Normal School and the First Normal School. He taught with grace and composure upon the podium, through winters and summers without cease, diligent and tireless, with students following him like a shadow. Thus he continued for more than seven years[5]. In the Wuwu year, Changsha was afflicted by military conflict, and the normal schools were also occupied by troops[6], such that the cause of education

[1] After its first publication in the *Peking University Daily*, this text was reprinted continuously under the title *In Lieu of an Obituary Notice* in the Hunan *Da Gong Bao* from February 1 to March 14, 1920. The content is entirely identical, though the order of signatures varies. During the movement to expel Zhang Jingyao organized in Beijing, Mao Zedong visited Yang Changji multiple times at the hospital to care for him and later participated in the commemorative activities held in Beijing.

[2] The University of Scotland refers to the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, Great Britain.

[3] According to Yang Changji’s essay “My Reflections on Education After Returning to China,” the duration of his visit to Germany for educational inspection was nine months.

[4] Yang Changji returned to China in early 1913.

[5] According to the essay “The Deeds of Our Late Professor Mr. Yang Huaizhong” written by Li Xiaodan at the time, Mr. Yang “was in Changsha for five years, with disciples recorded numbering in the hundreds and thousands, and he especially appreciated Mao Zedong and Cai Linbin.” The “more than seven years” stated here should be more than five years.

[6] In the spring and summer of 1918, northern and southern warlords fought chaotically in Hunan, with various armies advancing on and retreating from Changsha, harassing and plundering, turning many schools into barracks.

was on the verge of collapse with nothing to be done. Mr. Yang then came to Beijing and assumed the post of Professor of Ethics at the National University. He consulted and cross-referenced numerous texts, and beyond his oral lectures, he also undertook translation and writing. His mental exertions were excessive, and thus he fell ill. It began as a stomach ailment, followed by generalized edema. He convalesced in the Western Hills, through the summer and autumn seasons. After the onset of winter, his condition grew daily more severe, and he resided in the German Hospital to receive diagnosis and treatment. The physicians stated that all his internal organs had suffered damage, making medical treatment exceedingly difficult, and Mr. Yang’s illness ultimately proved incurable. Given the underdevelopment of scholarship in our nation, scholars of profound learning are as sparse as morning stars. Mr. Yang was one who would surely have devoted his entire life to learning. Heaven did not grant him more years; of all he aspired to in his lifetime, not one in a hundred was fulfilled. This is a grave sorrow both for education and for the man himself! Mr. Yang had no interest in wealth, rank, or advancement. His savings from his salary amounted only to a few *mu* of meager farmland. His daily livelihood still depended on his professorial stipend. After his death, his surviving family has no means to support themselves. Mr. Yang served education for nearly ten years. Considering the principles of treating teachers with special consideration and respecting scholars, we his colleagues propose to raise funds for his surviving family to aid their livelihood. Once a sufficient sum is accumulated, it may be placed in savings or used to establish some means of production, so that his orphaned children may have something to rely upon. We earnestly hope that all gentlemen, friends, and acquaintances will generously contribute funeral assistance. This is what we, his colleagues, earnestly feel and hope for. We beseech your discerning consideration. We cannot fully express our sentiments here.

Liang Huanyi, Hu Mai, Liu Diwei, Li Jinxi, Liang Huankui, Fang Biao
Xue Dake, Zhu Jianfan, Zhang Shizhao, Li Mu, Liao Mingjin, Chen Runlin
Cai Yuanpei, Chen Jie, Zhang Jiguang, Chen Hengke, Fan Yuanlian, Li Ru
Fan Zhihuan, Tao Lügong, Yang Du, Fan Rui, Xiang Ruizhi, Hu Yuantan
Zhou Dalie, Luo Chao, Wang Zhiqun, Mao Zedong, Xiong Chongxu jointly announce.

If you wish to kindly offer funeral contributions, please send them to Mr. Li Ti of Xiangtan, at No. 16 Daziying, Jiajia Hutong, outside Xuanwu Gate, or to Hu Yanyuan for collection at No. 3 Shenbizi Hutong, West Entrance of Shibabanjie, inside Xuanwu Gate.

[1] The six characters “俾其遗孤子女” (so that his orphaned children) are not clearly visible in the photocopy of the *Peking University Daily* and have been supplemented here based on the Hunan *Da Gong Bao*. The orphaned children refer to Yang Changji’s wife, née Xiang, his son Yang Kaizhi, and his daughter Yang Kaihui.