BY JAGADISAN M. KUMARAPPA, M.A., Ph. D.

The cross fertilization of culture has been and is one of the main factors, though little recognized as such, in the social and intellectual progress of mankind. The traveler who went to a foreign country in search of knowledge and brought with him to his native land a knowledge of the cultural achievements and activities of other peoples, performed a service of which we have hardly any exact knowledge, and much less definite appraisal. Similarly the function of the foreign student in the dissemination of culture and promotion of goodwill has not, even now, been clearly understood. Since the World War, there has come about an earnest desire that just as man's science has helped to create a neighbourhood out of the far-flung countries of the world, so also neighbourhood of man's spiritual ideals should help to create a brotherhood of races. All thoughtful leaders and prophets of the New Age are searching for a common meeting ground, and utilizing it in bringing different races together so that the hidden purpose of this New Age may be revealed and realized.

A LARGER FAITH

While science has helped to break down the physical barriers, other obstacles have sprung up, and they militate against the union of the different races of mankind. Rightly does the poet Tagore point out, therefore, that men go on living as though the old limitations were still real. In place of the natural boundaries, artificial modes of exclusion, such as the immigration laws, prohibitive tariffs, passport regulations, etc., have been put up by them. These new obstructions being artificial, says the Poet, are not only a burden to the people, but by the might of their dead material create deformities in their moral nature. Hence such obstacles tend to keep the different races spiritually apart, though they have come physically near. Therefore if the world-neighbourhood is to be made into a brotherhood, it could only be done by helping mankind to realize a unity, wider in range, deeper in sentiment and stronger in power, than ever before. Since our problem is great and complex, we have to attempt to solve it on a bigger scale, to realize the God in man by a larger faith, and to build the temple of our faith on a sure and world-wide basis.

The Great European War was fought to end war, and yet we seem to be farther to-day from peace than we were prior to that war. The Nation-spirit is still marching on and many far-seeing statesmen are sounding notes of warning. Not long ago the famous English philosopher and noted writer, Bertrand Russell, wrote saying that the strongest democratic passion in the modern world is nationalism, and it is that that is bringing the nations to ruin. With the progress of methods of destruction, it is to be expected that the next great war will kill about half the civilian population on each side. The intellectuals in every country, ever since 1914, have been doing their best to accelerate and intensify this disaster by exasperating national hatreds, spreading untruthful propaganda and selling their brains to the War Offices and Navy Departments of their respective governments. From this madness, all who wish to save the world must emphatically stand aside. War, righteous or unrighteous, defensive or offensive, means, thanks to modern science the death of all that has value on both sides.

THE MENACE OF NATIONALISM

The international jealousy, commercial rivalry, the race for armaments and the revolt of subject races, seem to threaten the world with a universal disruption in the near future. When the world is thus menaced by the spirit of nationalism, is there any way of ushering in the reign of peace, the brotherhood of man? This world is a moral world and so long as we do not recognize moral principles in human relationship, so long shall we continue under the tyranny of the Nation, and there will be no universal peace, no international friendship. Nationalism has broken up the wholeness of human society; further, it has created a social atmosphere which continually emanates such collective ideas as are prejudicial to interracial understanding. Many evil passions and destructive ideas are now controlling the society of nations: race pride is generating contempt and hatred of others; greed for wealth and power makes the powerful exclude the weak from the benefits of their civilization; suspicion and distrust of other nations, equally powerful, eats away the heart of wholesome human relationship; commercial and political gluttony exploits helpless peoples and their lands. The spirit of nationalism is thus depriving man of the greatness of his purpose, and his society of the beauty of its completeness.

In spite of these disquieting aspects of the world situation, we seem to see the dawn of a New Age in human history. Just as the French Revolution rejuvenated Europe in thought and life, so also the Great European War shook the world from coast to coast and released new thought currents and spiritual forces. Having been stirred as never before, men are now seriously seeking for ways and means of educating the people to carry out the purpose of this New Age. Just as the collective egoism of the Nation has hitherto been cultivated in our schools, even so, says poet Tagore, it will be necessary for the purpose of the New Age to establish a new education on the basis, not of nationalism, but of a wider relationship of humanity. Further it is necessary to create opportunities for revealing the different peoples to one another. While it is true that different peoples do have varied accidental interests, –where they cannot meet,–yet it is also true that all the races have a region of common aspirations, where they can all come together. A common meeting place is, therefore, found for racial and international co-operation in the region of culture, –a region where conflicting interests are absent. The peoples of the world are ever ready to share their cultural wealth with each other, since it is their achievement and not that of the Nation.

CULTURAL CO-OPERATION

Since the War, there has come about in the West a new movement to use cultural co-operation as a means to promote goodwill. As a result, the Institute of International Intellectual Co-operation under the direction of Professor Alfred Zimmern was organized in Europe. Professor Zimmern, like poet Tagore, holds that the problems of the modern world demand a special kind of education in which world consciousness is substituted for national consciousness; but he maintains further that only by a widespread understanding of the differences in national viewpoints can real international co-operation be attained. He seeks to accomplish this in two ways. The first is by means of contacts; the second, by the study of international relations. He brings together in Geneva every summer a group of the best students from thirty or forty different countries and also lecturers of world-wide repute on international relations. The fact that the school is held during summer in Geneva is considered in itself significant, for it enables the students to study present-day problems in the laboratory where the experiments in international co-operation are being made.

Professor Zimmern declares that in order to attain true international-mindedness, the relations between nations must be approached from every conceivable angle. It is his conviction that a knowledge of national cultures as well as national policies is necessary to those who wish to engage in international affairs. The study of international relations is, therefore, approached from a different point each week for the summer months when the Institute is in session. The subject is considered from the point of view of history, economics, geography, art, literature, philosophy, law and psychology; and eminent men who are specialists in those subjects are engaged to lecture. Professor Gilbert Murray of Oxford, J. Maynard Keynes of Cambridge, Ferdinand Maurette of the International Labor Office and Dr. Ernest Jaeckh of the Hochschule fur Politik, Berlin, are among the lecturers engaged for July and August of this year. The work of this Institute has met with marked success during the last six years of its existence, and, it must be said to its credit, the problems of international relations have never been approached in so broad a manner as is being done in that Institute.

Similarly, immediately after the war some far-seeing American leaders founded the Institute of International Education in the United States for the purpose of cultivating better understanding through educational agencies between America and the foreign countries. With this end in view, the Institute has been organizing and encouraging such activities as the exchange of professors and other intellectual leaders, the establishment of interchange student fellowships, the holding of conferences on international education, and the publication of books and pamphlets on the systems of education obtaining in different parts of the world. It has also been instrumental in establishing many of the present-day exchange fellowships between Europe and America. Every year the corresponding agencies in the European countries notify the Institute that they would undertake to provide board, lodging and free tuition, for a number of American students. In return, the Institute in New York obligates itself to provide similar opportunities for students from each of those countries. Outside of the great number of American students prosecuting their studies in Europe at their own expense, there are over 100 students on such exchange fellowship system studying in the different European countries.

When we turn our attention to the United States and her southern neighbour, we find that the relations between them have not been very cordial during the last few years owing to the North American economic imperialism. Moreover, Latin America is attracted more to France and Spain, by reason of her cultural affinity, than to North America. And with the rise of national consciousness, the tendency on the part of Latin American Republics to stress their national individuality is becoming even more intense. Under these circumstances it is nothing but natural that they should desire the friendship of the United States, only on a basis of reciprocity. In view of such strained relations, far-seeing statesmen in both the continents are organizing cultural societies to promote more friendly relations between them. As a gesture of friendliness, the Institute of International Education invited a few months ago a group of twenty representatives of a newly-formed body in Argentina known as the Argentine North American Cultural Association, to enjoy the hospitality of the American institutions of learning. That party, made up of university professors, medical men, scientists and child-welfare experts, spent a few months visiting and inspecting schools, hospitals and social service organizations in the various cities and towns of the country. Several such Cultural Associations have now been organised in the Latin American Republics for the purpose of promoting better understanding and closer cultural relations between the two Americas.

An interesting sign of the times is that thoughtful citizens everywhere are very responsive to the idea of forming such cultural societies. The Hungarians, for instance, have organized the Hungarian Society for the purpose of encouraging the exchange of students between the American and Hungarian universities. The Hungarian Government offers five fellowships to American students, which are available in any of the universities in Hungary or in the Academy of Music in Budapest. And, in return, American colleges have extended their hospitality to nine Hungarian students. There is also a plan under consideration to enable Hungarian students to study American industrial organizations and their efficiency methods. Besides, the Hungary Society of America, with headquarters m New York, serves as a social centre for all friends of Hungary and also arranges lectures on Hungarian affairs, and exhibits sculpture, painting and other art productions of the country.

There are similar organizations for the promotion of friendly relations between Italy and the United States, and among them the Italia-America Society and Casa Italia are outstanding. The place of Italy in civilization is best realized by trying to eliminate that place from the history of European civilization and culture. Take away her contributions to law and government and her leadership in the realm of science and art, and what is there left of European civilization? In recognition of Italy's great contributions to civilization, Italian students and professors are invited under the auspices of these societies to study and lecture respectively in American colleges and universities. Similarly American students are asked to enjoy the intellectual hospitality of Italy; they are awarded fellowships to enable them to study architecture, sculpture, painting, classics, musical composition and landscape architecture. Such societies for the exchange of culture exist also in Poland, Germany, Scandinavia, France and Great Britain. A couple of years ago, an organization was founded in New York for the purpose of promoting cultural relations with Russia. An intensive programme for the interchange of ideas and information is being arranged by that Society; already several branch organizations have been established in different cities of the United States. An extensive library of contemporary Russian music was recently opened in New York with the assistance of Russian and American musicians. It includes works of every recognized composer, and is open to the use of musicians and students of music. The art and book committees of the Society cultivate contacts with experts in Russia in order to keep the people informed of interesting developments in important fields, and American books are freely exchanged for various valuable works of Russian authors. Negotiations for exchange of students in several of the music and theatrical schools, colleges and universities of Russia are now under way. The work of this organization, like that of many others, is allied with that of the Society for Cultural Relations with America.

SOME AMERICAN EXPERIMENTS

There are many independent organizations both in Europe and America which are trying to promote better understanding through cultural co-operation. But all of them cannot be described within the short space of an article. However, the novelty of one or two recent developments in the United States may justify the indulgence of referring to them. One notices at present a growing tendency on the part of many of the leading American colleges to encourage undergraduate students to spend the junior year abroad; even scholarships given for the purpose have come to be designated as the "Junior Year Abroad" scholarships. There are many American undergraduates who are now spending their junior year in foreign countries. The fundamental idea back of this movement is that the under-graduate of that age, being more open and plastic, imbibes more readily the culture of another race; such an experience, it is held, easily widens his outlook, broadens his sympathies and develops in him the spirit of internationalism.

The other interesting movement is what is known as the Floating University. Its main purpose is to give its students a first-hand knowledge of the different countries of the world, its peoples, their life and their thought. The students of the University are taken round the world under the guidance and instruction of experienced professors especially chosen for the purpose from different universities. The curriculum comprises a wide range of subjects, including languages, sociology, philosophy, religion and history. The students are divided into various groups according to their special interests and are expected to attend classes regularly while traveling. And the work done at sea and in ports is supplemented by observation tours under the direction of the professors of the departments concerned. Such contacts and visits, it is maintained, will give them a sympathetic understanding of the different races and their cultures. Though it is only five years since that University first began to function, yet it is making a sincere attempt not only to co-ordinate theory with practice, but even more to broaden the students’ outlook and widen their sympathies.

ORIENT AND OCCIDENT

The reader is perhaps now ready to ask: What about cultural relations with the Orient? Though there has not been much sharing of culture between the Occident and the Orient in the last century, yet a large number of students migrated to European centres of learning as Europe held then the spotlight of educational progress. Such centres as Oxford, Cambridge, London, Paris, Berlin, etc., were very popular with students from the Orient. Within the last few years, however, the student-migration from Asia to the United States has steadily increased. The registration of foreign students in American colleges and universities shows that at present the largest number is from the Orient. For sometime past, the relations between Japan and America have been greatly strained. In view of that situation, a Japanese-American Cultural Society was recently organized in New York to promote friendly relations between them. It is gratifying to note that there are 650 students from Japan studying at present in various institutions in America. Similarly, students from Korea, the Philippines and India now migrate in larger numbers to America in quest of knowledge. Among all the countries of the world represented in American centres of learning, China has the largest number, the enrolment being well over two thousand.

It is but natural that England, France and Holland, with their Asian possessions, and Germany, with its traditions of scientific scholarship, should have not only been interested in the Orient, but produced outstanding Orientalists and schools of Oriental Studies. To America, however, the Orient was not of any special interest, as the former was too much concerned then with her own domestic problems. Though the Americans speak of the "Near East" and "Far East", they overlook the fact that they are misnomers as far as America is concerned. Yokohama, for instance, is at the same distance from Seattle as Naples is from New York. The "Far East" which embraces China, Japan, the Philippines and the Dutch East Indies, is, in fact, nearer to the United States than is the so-called "Near East". Be that as it may, it is gratifying to note that America is now beginning to show greater interest in the Orient.

Many of the leading American universities are not only offering scholarship aids to students from the East, but are introducing courses on Oriental subjects. A recent investigation of more than five hundred institutions of learning revealed that one hundred and eleven of them offer courses on the literature, philosophy and religions of the East, with a total enrolment of more than six thousand students. Harvard and Columbia offer courses on Oriental languages, fine arts and history. Princeton University has a great project now under way to catalogue, edit, publish and, in some cases, translate over 3,000 Oriental and Occidental manuscripts. It is reported that the material contained in them would help to alter certain aspects of present knowledge of the Crusades, and of the history of geography, chemistry, arithmetic, astronomy and medicine, thus revealing the debt that Western peoples owe to Arab and other Oriental civilizations. It is calculated that the completion of this task, which Princeton has undertaken, will take centuries, and when that is done, the University will have made a distinct contribution to the history of Oriental culture, and created for itself the reputation of being a great centre for such work.

Outside of these outstanding institutions in the East, the chief centres of interest in Oriental affairs are on the Pacific Coast. Facing, as they are, the Oriental countries, the Pacific Coast States are striving to develop closer relations with them, –relations growing not only out of increased commerce and travel but of the gradual adjustment of the long disturbed relations between the Oriental and American peoples of that region. America's interest in Oriental studies is of recent origin. In Europe a greater emphasis has long been laid on the literature, language, history, and arts of Oriental countries. Though Europe has produced some Orientalists of pre-eminence, numerically speaking, the output of the European universities has been rather small. But the work turned out by them has been, in the main, of a higher quality because of the longer interest and closer contact which have made possible the ripening of minds versed from youth in the affairs of the Orient. In time America will also develop Orientalists of real merit and genuine ability. Till recently American emphasis has been more on the study of contemporary politics and economics than of the arts and languages. In view of the recent recognition, both in Europe and America, that the time is at hand when the Western world must learn more from and about the Orient, studies in Oriental literature, history, philosophy and religions are now being popularized in most of the institutions of learning in the West.

The East and the West are necessary to each other, since they emphasize different and, not infrequently, complementary aspects of truth. The Western continents have been engaged in securing protection against physical death. On the other hand, the striving of the Eastern peoples has been, as the poet Tagore points out, to win for man his spiritual kingdom, to lead him to immortality. By their present separateness, East and West alike are in danger of losing the fruits of their age-long labours. For want of that union, the East is suffering from poverty and inertia, and the West from lack of peace and happiness. The spiritual impotency of Western civilization having been disclosed by the World War, some of the thinkers of the West are now beginning to feel that the Occident must draw some benefit from the spiritual wealth of Asia. "There are a number of us in Europe", writes Romain Rolland, "for whom European civilization no longer suffices, –dissatisfied children of the spirit of the West, who feel ourselves cramped in our abode, and who, without depreciating the subtlety, the brilliance, the heroic energy of the philosophy which conquered and ruled the world for more than two thousand years, nevertheless, have had to confess its insufficiencies and its limited arrogance. We few look towards Asia." Such sentiment is expressed by many eminent Europeans. And yet how pitiful it is that, when Europe is turning instinctively towards the East, we of the Orient are unaware of its claim for succour and fail to recognize the honour of the call to serve humanity at this hour of need!

THE VISVA-BHARATI IDEAL

Where is India, the mother of philosophy and religions, in this new movement to exchange cultural hospitality? Having played so important a part in the history of civilization, is she not to be the fountain of Indian wisdom and Oriental culture? In Ancient India, our universities served two great purposes: they were first of all centres of learning where students acquired knowledge from the best products of the Indian mind; and secondly, they were centres of India's intellectual hospitality, where foreign students who came in quest of knowledge were welcomed as guests. But, alas! our modern educational institutions are India's "alms-bowl of knowledge". There is not a single university today in the whole country, with the exception of Visva-Bharati, to really fulfill one or both of those functions. Even to specialize in Oriental studies, a son of the soil is obliged to go to Europe! Could intellectual poverty be possibly worse in any civilized country on the face of the earth? The introduction of Western learning into India at the expense of her own culture, the utilitarian objective of training men in India for the carrying of the white man's burden, and the woefully low economic condition of the country have reduced her to this shameful state. Such a disgraceful position and the pressing need for an Indian seat of learning drove the poet Tagore to set himself the task of founding an Indian university to help India to concentrate her mind and to be fully conscious of herself; to seek the truth and make that truth her own wherever found; to judge by her own standard, give expression to her own creative genius and offer her wisdom to the guests that come from other parts of the world. With such ideals, the Poet founded Visva-Bharati as the seat of Indian culture and centre of India's intellectual hospitality.

During the last eight years of its existence, famous scholars and students from different parts of the world have-enjoyed the hospitality of Visva-Bharati. Professor Sylvain Levi of Paris, who is probably the greatest living Indologist, was there for sometime as a visiting professor. Other noted European scholars such as Dr. Stella Kramrisch, Mlle A. Karpellez and Professor M. Winternitz of Prague University, Professors Collins, M. Benoit, Lim and Bache have also been the guests of Visva-Bharati. Professors Tucci and C. Formichi, the noted Orientalists of the University of Rome, were sent out there to enjoy India's hospitality by the Italian Government. Dr. Sten Konow of Christiania also was a guest of the Institution for sometime. India is thankful that she has at least this gift of Tagore's to save her face and extend her cultural hospitality to the pilgrims of knowledge and messengers of goodwill. In view of the fact that a new interest in Oriental culture is aroused in the West, a greater effort must be made not only to revive our culture, but to establish a larger number of cultural centres in India, China, Japan and other countries of Asia, to provide common meeting ground for East and West.

Though this new movement for the promotion of better understanding among the peoples of the world through educational agencies is only in its early stages, yet those who have had something to do with it bear witness to the fact that the students and professors who have returned after an enjoyment of educational opportunities in foreign countries, exhibit an increased breadth of vision and keener interest in international affairs. It is to be hoped, however, that not merely the beneficiaries themselves may profit through such exchange, but also the nations they represent, and that better understanding and friendly relations may be fostered and established among them. We are, indeed, witnessing a cultural co-operation in this generation, which is bound to have a far-reaching influence in the spread of goodwill. The foreign student of today is destined to playa role far greater in its influence and far more significant in its effect, upon race relations. The fundamental idea back of this movement is the promotion of peace through the cultivation of human sympathies. Though this movement of cultural co-operation is of recent origin, yet its importance in .the quickening of social progress and the furtherance of goodwill among the nations of the world cannot be over-emphasized.