On Xu Zhongyu's thoughts of college Chinese education

As a pioneer in the reintroduction of college Chinese courses in the 1980s, Xu Zhongyu, after many years of exploration, established college Chinese as a course based on the unity of the humanistic and the instrumental, with focus on cultivating andcnhancing the humanistic literacy and language skills of college students. Through teaching selected essays in the textbook, he intended to subtly cultivate students' sentiments, independent thinking and critical spirit. Xu Zhongyu emphasized students' writing training by advocating the study of exemplary texts in order to make students comprehend their artistic achievement and borrow their creative methods. Through extensive writing practice, students could learn to write and improve oral expression. As for college language teachers, they need to establish student-centered teaching philosophy, by cultivating students' interest in and ability of independent learning, organizing students' discussions on various issues, andcncouraging different opinions. The essence of Xu Zhongyu's thoughts of university Chinese education is to cultivate students with good humanistic literacy, moral sentiments, and language competency.