1919.10.19

Banquet to celebrate John Dewey's sixtieth birthday in Beijing.
Cai, Yuanpei. Zai Duwei bo shi 60 zhi sheng ri wan yang hui shang zhi yan shuo [ID D28515].
At the banquet, Cai Yuanpei seized on this special opportunity to portray Dewey as a modern-day Confucius. "Confucius said respect the emperor (wang), the learned doctor (bo shi) [Dewey] advocates democracy ; Confucius said females are a problem to raise, the learned doctor [Dewey] advocates equal rights for men and women ; Confucius said transmit not create, the learned doctor [Dewey] advocates creativity".
In his brief speech, Cai emphasized underlying similarities between Dewey and Confucius despite their differences : one embodies the spirit of modern West, and the other represents the wisdom of ancient China ; one values democracy, equality, and creativity, and the other privileges monarchy, hierarchy, and tradition. According to Cai, Dewey and Confucius were both educators of the common people, shared the same faith in education as a vehicle for social change, and insisted on the unity of thought and action. Cai believed that these commonalities pointed to the possibility of 'a merger between Eastern and Western cultures'.