Quite a few Chinese scholars of humanities have been criticized for academic plagiarism in 2010 and drawn wide public scrutiny. The most two conspicuous cases are Chinese literature professor Wang Hui at Tsinghua University and Zhu Xueqin at Shanghai University. In March, a professor at Nanjing University pointed out Wang's doctorial thesis, published in 1988, contained passages from others' works without citation. Zhu's doctorial paper from the '80s had similar flaws.

Professor Tu Weiming [file photo]

Academic circles made two distinct views on the cases. About 100 domestic and international scholars wrote a letter to the dean of Tsinghua University to claim they found no plagiarism in Wang's book. The problems were due to the loose academic standards in China at that time. Another group of scholars argued that despite that rationale, the works were definitely plagiarism. Debates endured for months, and many people outside the academic arena gave their opinions as well.

Tu Weiming, a 70-year-old veteran scholar on Confucianism in modern times, has a different perspective. He focuses more on the existing problems of today's Chinese academic world and offers a direction for it to develop.

As a scholar who had spent more than 30 years studying and teaching in American universities, Tu was surprised to find that scandals in academia were widely discussed by outsiders and the Chinese media, because academic issues are relatively professional, and they're discussed in certain circles but not in the general public.

Tu admitted the existence of plagiarism in humanities studies, but said the blame can be shared by scholars and the entire evaluation system for humanity-related subjects.

"Every scholar feels great pressure in the quantitative evaluation system. Even a PHD candidate cannot get a degree unless his or her paper is published. As a result, everybody is trying hard to gain support from academic magazines, which opens the door to bribery," Tu said in an interview with Yangcheng Evening News.

According to Tu, it's necessary to create enough space for scholars to develop freely. This goal requires support not only from schools but also society. The first step is eliminating political concerns that are irrelevant within academia.

Tu recalled the plagiarism accusation of the eminent sociology professor of Beijing University Wang Mingming.