Abstract: Scholars in the Republic of China paid remarkably varied attention to the Universities: American, English, German written by Flexner. There were affirmation and criticism as well as silent resistance to Flexner’s theory. Despite these scholars’ different attitudes, it was common that they all chose to adopt Flexner’s criticism towards the American Universities, while abandoning or neglecting his idea of a modern university, which is the essence of Flexner’s theory. The phenomenon was a typical reflection of the general tendency among Chinese scholars dealing with the western theory. They selected the ingredients which adapts to China’s society, politics and education, and could be useful to them. This inherent pragmatism spirit of Chinese culture potentially influenced the selection of the western theory on university, which led to the abandoned core concepts of western theory.