Admissions Notice of the
Hunan Self-Study University

(April 10, 1923)

(I) This university of ours was not set up by some other group of "educational
administrators." Rather, it is set up by a group of students with an interest in
learning, who feel that the current educational system is not good, and who want
to combine the advantages of the traditional academies and of the modern
schools, and change from passive learning to self-motivated learning. Our school
has just opened its doors and is indeed very simple and crude. Whether or not the
students who come here do well depends entirely on whether or not they themselves are truly able to work hard. It is, however, our strong hope that many
young people with noble aspirations will come here to be our fellow students.
We do not study without a purpose, and that purpose is to transform existing
society. In pursuing our studies, we seek the learning necessary to realize this
goal. We do not want among our fellow students a "young master" or a "young
lady," nor do we want anyone who is apathetic or muddle-headed. Therefore, we
have adopted a rather cautious attitude in admitting new students. For each
student who enters the school, we need to know about the following points:

1. Which schools has he attended in the past? What has he done in the past?
What is his family's financial situation, and his own?
2. What subjects does he want to study? Why does he want to study these
subjects?
3. What courses has he studied in the past?
4. How many semesters does he want to study? What does he want to do in
future?
5. His views regarding a philosophy of life.
6. His criticisms of society.

All those who wish to apply will need to write a letter answering the above
six questions in detail and mail it to the secretary-general of the student union of
the school, who will pass it on to the president for review. The final decision will
be made later, after a personal interview.

This document was published in the first issue of Xin shidai in 1923. We have translated it
from the text as reproduced in Mao Zedong ji. Bujuan, Vol. 2, pp. 85-86.


(II)¹ Those admitted to the school need to pay the monthly food expenses,
sundry fees, and student union fees.

(III) After a new student is admitted, he has the obligation to submit articles
to the school's monthly publication.

(IV) After a new student is admitted, he has the obligation to obey the school
compact.

(V) Because our funds are limited, the school is currently adopting the principle of wholly independent study. Those who feel that they do not have the
capacity to study independently need not apply.

--- Notes

¹ In the available Chinese text of this document, the four points beginning here are
numbered from 1 to 4. The form of the numbers is, however, the same as that used for the
lead paragraph, and logically the points seem to follow on from that. On the assumption
that there has been a typographical error, we have re-numbered this and the succeeding
paragraphs.