Liu Zhanen was born in a poor peasant family in the mountains of Yangxin County, Hubei Province in 1895 (the 21st year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty).
When he was 6 years old, his father died of poverty and illness. The tribesmen forced him to marry his widow. His mother was forced to lead him and her infant sister, abandoned the family and walked hundreds of miles to escape to Hanyang, where she had no relatives, and worked as a helper in Hanyang Hospital.
Liu Zhanen carries a basket and sells sesame cakes and fried dough sticks along the street to supplement his family income.
Due to her mother's ingenuity, hard work in the hospital, hard work in learning culture and nursing skills, and gradually being promoted from a handyman to a nurse and head nurse, Liu Zhanen was able to have the opportunity to go to school.
When Liu Zhanen was 12 years old, he skipped a grade from Hanyang Primary School to study at Jiujiang Tongwen Academy.
After graduating five years later, he was recommended to Soochow University in Suzhou.
In 1915, Liu graduated from Soochow University's pre-med department with honors and received a scholarship to study in the United States.
Influenced by the idea of ??"saving the nation through education," he believed that to save the nation we must first develop national education and improve the scientific and cultural level of the Chinese nation.
After arriving in the United States, he gave up studying medicine and entered the Department of Education at the University of Chicago.
After graduating in 1918, he continued his studies at the Graduate School of Education at Columbia University.
In 1922, Liu Zhanen returned to China after receiving a doctorate in philosophy from Columbia University and became a professor at Southeast University in Nanjing.
The following year, he went to Shanghai and served as the director-general of the Ministry of Education of the National Association of Chinese YMCAs. At the same time, he also taught part-time at several universities.
He promoted "education to save the country" and "citizen education", advocated the establishment of vocational schools and cultural cram schools, and served as the director of the Shanghai Vocational Guidance Institute.
In May 1925, the May 30th Massacre occurred in Shanghai, which shocked China and foreign countries.
At St. John's University run by the Christian Church in the United States, Chinese teachers and students gathered to raise the flag at half-mast to express condolences. The American president Bu Fangji actually tore up the Chinese flag in public. All the patriotic teachers and students in the school quit the school angrily and organized their own Guanghua University.
Although Liu Zhanen was a leading member of the YMCA, he actively assisted in the establishment of the school and served as a director and professor of Guanghua University, regardless of the opposition and obstruction of the church.
The raging anti-imperialist and patriotic movement across the country forced all missionary schools to reform their systems and replace foreign principals.
In 1928, 32-year-old Liu Zhanen was hired by the Board of Trustees of Shanghai Hujiang University to succeed the American president F.J. White as the school's first Chinese president.
After Liu took office, he immediately carried out a series of rectifications and reforms to this religiously-rich university founded by the American Christian Baptist Church.
He tried his best to weaken the influence of religion on schools, emphasized the independence of teaching work, avoided church interference in teaching, and reformed outdated rules and regulations.
He condensed religious courses into electives and did not count them for credit.
Participation in worship services every Sunday has become voluntary.
He hired Tu Yuqing, Yu Rixuan, Xu Zuohe, Cai Shangsi and other experts and scholars with real talents to teach, and also added many new professional courses, such as business administration, international trade, banking, accounting and other majors in business, chemistry
There is also a Department of Biology outside the department, which is linked to Union Medical College. Union Medical College recognizes Hujiang’s credits. Students who pass the examination after studying in Hujiang for several years can enter Union Medical College, which actually becomes the preparatory course of Union Medical College.
He went abroad many times to inspect and raise funds, expanded the school building in northern Shanghai, and purchased first-class experimental instruments and equipment.
At that time, the economic power of Hujiang University was in the hands of Americans who represented the interests of the church. Liu often fought with American accounting personnel to purchase equipment for the school.
Liu Zhanen believes that schools should not only serve children of the middle and upper classes, but also cater to poor children.
He set up a variety of scholarships and grants at Hujiang University, and strongly advocated work-study to help students from poor families and diligent students complete their studies.
Because some students participated in patriotic and democratic activities, the school tried to prevent them from graduating.
Liu Zhanen argued with the school to ensure that these patriotic students could graduate.
Some students were unable to go home during the winter vacation due to travel expenses, so he allowed the students to live in his own home.
He is also very concerned about the future of these students after graduation and introduces them to jobs.
Liu Zhanen pays special attention to the combination of classroom learning and practical work, pays attention to strengthening the connection between various business majors and Shanghai's industrial and commercial enterprises and financial institutions, and establishes a complete teaching experiment system from kindergarten to high school.
Set up social service and investigation centers in factory areas and rural areas near Yangshupu to facilitate students' contact with reality and conduct social investigations.
He defied public opinion and founded the "Chengzhong District Business School" on Yuanmingyuan Road, close to the commercial center of Shanghai.
Soon, the business school at the Yangshupu campus was moved to Chengzhong District.
In addition to the four undergraduate departments, the Business School also offers specialized courses, general courses and single-subject training for working young people.
In order to take care of the time conflicts between working young students and part-time teachers, the business school makes full use of evening spare time teaching.
This initiative to break the traditional higher education model was actually the beginning of evening universities in our country.
Due to these reforms, Hujiang University was famous for its simple academic style among private universities at that time, which was less ecclesiastical and more Chinese.
Especially the departments of business and chemistry rank first among Shanghai universities in terms of teaching level.
The establishment of the Chengzhong District Business School was welcomed by working youth, and the number of students enrolled increased rapidly.
In the second semester, there were more than 500 students, accounting for more than half of the students at Hujiang University, surpassing the main campus.
Xu Jiguang, Liu Hongsheng, Wu Yunchu, Wang Zhixin and other famous figures in Shanghai's industrial and commercial circles also provided sponsorship and support.
They donate money as a fund, provide teachers and teaching materials, encourage young employees in their companies to apply for exams, and set up scholarships.
The business school has cultivated a group of highly educated industrial and commercial enterprise management and accounting talents, and has also expanded the social influence of Hujiang University.