Chapter 16 Section five

As the head of the Department of Physics, Ye Qisun's original philosophy of life has been tested and impacted from time to time.In the past, he pursued "the group and not the party" and "individually be good at oneself", and the space concept of heaven, earth and man constructed with the Confucian creed, the horizontal and vertical interpersonal relationship and the aggressive attitude of using the world all had a considerable influence on him.If you use one sentence to summarize Ye Qisun, everyone who is familiar with him will agree with this sentence: He is a gentleman with scientific knowledge.However, he is now the head of a department, and the spatial positions of up, down, left, and right have changed accordingly.Tsinghua Garden is also like rivers and lakes, so there are many feelings of "people in the rivers and lakes can't help themselves" and "the water in the mountain spring is clear, but the water in the mountain spring is turbid".

In 1926, the most fashionable thing among colleges and universities in Beijing was to join the Revolutionary Party.Ye Qisun has experienced these things.When he was studying, Shanghai and Beijing could be described as a forest of parties, the old party and the new party, colorful and varied, but he was never moved.But now it's his student's turn to be moved.The people most admired by the students in Tsinghua University are the impassioned leftists of the Kuomintang. They have secretly infiltrated the student union, and their attitude of worrying about the country and the people is particularly easy to make some young students feel excited.In China at that time, suffering from warlords at home and ravaged by powerful enemies outside, intellectuals who were deeply worried about the fate of the motherland would naturally be attracted by the trend of anti-imperialism and anti-feudalism. This is a very normal reaction of every patriotic intellectual.Ye Qisun never looked at the student movement with the indifference of watching fire from the other side.He believes that "everyone is responsible for the rise and fall of a country", the problem is to figure out their own responsibilities.When a disaster is imminent, it is undoubtedly ugly to run away, but it is not the act of a wise man to show off his courage for a while, regardless of green or red. "Weizi went away, Jizi was his slave, and Bigan died admonishing him." There are many styles of resistance, and the principle is to kill the enemy.Ye Qisun has never advocated that his disciples have not yet learned how to be happy with each other, especially when the country is facing a crisis. "There is no way in the world, and the rites and music will be conquered by the princes." It is necessary to plan the future of the country with a far-reaching vision. This is that era. The consensus of many scholars.Mr. Cai Yuanpei said: "I have always had a prejudice against the student movement. I think that students should study for the greatest purpose in school and should not have any political organization. Those who are over 20 years old and have a special interest in politics, You can join political organizations with personal qualifications without involving the school. Therefore, in the summer of the seventh year of the Republic of China, students from various schools in Beijing marched together for issues outside the school and petitioned the presidential palace; when Peking University students set off, I tried to stop them. I took the blame and resigned because of this.” Mr. Cai Yuanpei can be described as a generation of philosophers. He believes that the greatest “responsibility” of students lies in learning, and learning should be the first principle. Both the country and the people can act cheaply. This is a profound and mature political economy of the nation-state.When we think about the world today, we see bravery but not wisdom, stones but not desks, young people dying but not scientific and technological strength, which makes people sigh.I cannot help but thank a wise man like Ye Qisun, who led the students around the torrents and rapids that might lead to their premature death or overturning with their vision and mind, and finally enabled the pillars of these countries to safely pass through the dangerous period. Used when needed.

Wang Ganchang is one of them. In his student days, Wang Ganchang was a passionate young man. When he recalled this period in his book "A Generation of Master Ye Qisun", he said: I participated in two patriotic movements in the 1930s, and it is hard to forget for more than 60 years. In June 1925, in order to protest the "May 30th Massacre" in which Japanese imperialists slaughtered Chinese people, my middle school classmates and I marched on Nanjing Road in Shanghai and distributed leaflets along the way. A patrolman in the British Concession caught me. He: "Distributing leaflets on my own land, why do you arrest me?" He looked at me blankly, and after a while he muttered in English: "Your own land? But this is the British Concession!" I He refuted him coldly in English: "It is precisely because this is the British Concession that I am here to distribute leaflets. You are not the same as me. My motherland has been bullied by imperialism, while your motherland has been reduced to an imperialist colony. It is a pity that I am still fighting for the fate of the motherland, but you are serving the invaders. If this happened to your country, can you arrest your own brothers and compatriots?" He was speechless , took me to a secluded place and let him go quietly. Before leaving, he held my hand and said, "Little brother, you are right! I understand you."

The other time was after I was admitted to Tsinghua University. On March 12, 1926, Japanese warships invaded the inland rivers of our country and were stopped by our garrison at Dagukou. Incident” issued an ultimatum to our government.In order to prevent the sacred territory of the motherland from being trampled on by foreign countries at will, about 4000 to 5000 people from universities such as Tsinghua University, Yanda University and Women's Normal University gathered and marched to protest the "ultimatum" issued by the governments of the eight countries.I invited my classmate Wang Rufeng to participate in this event. First, we held a meeting in Tiananmen Square, and then marched to demonstrate in front of Duan Qirui's executive government.Unexpectedly, the heavily armed military police shot at the unarmed patriotic students. The students beside me fell down with the sound of the gunshots, and the blood splashed on my clothes. When I looked up, the students from the Women's Normal University also fell down. There was a scene, and the crowd was in chaos.My classmate Wei Jiesan died. I was both angry and at a loss. What should I do as a patriotic student in the future?Where should the blood be spilled?

That night, several classmates and I went to Ye Shi’s home in No. 7, North Campus, and told the teacher about the Tiananmen massacre that we witnessed during the day.After hearing this, he stared at me excitedly and said: "Who told you to go?! Do you understand your mission? Why is a country, a nation, beaten? Why is it backward? Do you understand? If our country has the Great Tang The empire is so powerful, who in this world dares to bully us? A country is the same as a person, the law of the jungle is the eternal law, if we want our country not to be bullied by foreigners, we must rely on science! Science, Only science can save our nation..." After speaking, tears fell like rain.Master Ye's patriotic passion, his foresight to save the country through science, and his high hopes and affection for young students deeply infected me.Patriotism is closely related to science, and since then it has become the most important thing in our lives and has determined the path of my life.

The student movement that Wang Ganchang and others participated in was later proved to be the result of the instigation of the Kuomintang. "The National Army blocked the Dagukou seaport in Tianjin. The Beijing Diplomatic Corps received an ultimatum from the Japanese campaign to remove the blockade within 44 hours. The KMT then launched a campaign against the Diplomatic Corps. At 10:30 p.m. Department Chairman Huang Shijun received a call from the Kuomintang Department at No. 8, Cuihua Hutong, and immediately rang the bell to convene a council. After participating in the National Assembly, the next day mobilized forty or fifty students to go to Beijing to participate in the National Assembly to oppose the "eight-nation ultimatum." Petition to the State Council of the Duan Qirui government... After the tragedy happened, the students in the school reviewed it and believed that it was caused by the instigation of the students sent by the Communist Party (actually it was the Kuomintang), and mobilized to accuse them of Tsinghua's 'evil forces'." ("From Tsinghua Academy" To Tsinghua University", p. 228)

According to information, the first branch of the Communist Party was established in Tsinghua about 8 months after the movement, and it is said that there were 7 members.Liang Qichao was not interested in establishing a political organization in the school. He said: "There are two Communist Party members and seven or eight members of the Kuomintang in the Tsinghua Research Institute. Although they are small in number, their voices are very loud. The unrest in Tsinghua University should be created by them... ..." Liang Qichao's speech represented the dissatisfaction of some scholars of that era with the establishment of political organizations in schools.Obviously, Ye Qisun agreed with Liang Qichao's point of view.Not only that, but his eyes have been focused on the specific implementation of the goal of saving the country through science and science and education. His students are the most important part of his realization of this goal, a link that will never be continued once lost.In the following years, the reason why Ye Qisun lived tenaciously was for this goal in his heart.The meaning of his life is to get closer to the goal every day.Therefore, when he saw that some students' eyes drifted, their interests fluctuated, and they ignored their studies, his mood can be imagined.

In fact, if we conduct an objective analysis of the situation of "intense off-campus political activities" and student protests, we will find that there is actually a mixed bag of good and bad people.Mr. Su Yunfeng said: "There are many reasons for the student movement, and patriotism is only one of them, but it may also be an excuse. For example, students always like to strike in the name of patriotism during exams, especially those with poor homework, Disorderly behavior and those with political fanatics." Luo Jialun was an active participant in the student movement, and his reputation spread far and wide during the May 4th Movement. He was also the first to put forward the concept of the "May 4th Movement". However, the former student leader also analyzed when talking about the rise and fall of the student movement:

First, young people tend to be vigorous in doing things, and then decline, and then exhausted. Second, during the first student movement, the students who were in charge were hard-working students, and when they were quiet, they thought about moving, so they were full of energy, thoughtful, and well-planned. You can't be still. There are many people who only know how to move but don't know how to read, so their movements become blind movements. Thirdly, the students who started the activity at the beginning did these activities with a spirit of sacrifice, not for the sake of showing off.Because the first few people were more famous and everyone knew a lot, so many people thought that this was a shortcut to becoming famous and the best way to show off.

Fourth, the incorporation of political power. During the "May 4th Movement", it can be said that no one was active with political color or political purpose.At that time, it was pure youthful bloody impulse.Later, all kinds of political elements joined in, so internal ruptures often occurred, so students' actions could not be consistent... ("Cai Yuanpei Biography", Volume 1 of "Century National Scholars", China Federation of Literary and Art Circles Publishing Company, 1999 edition, No. 71 Page) Perhaps it was based on the strict discipline established by the Tsinghua Campus, or because many scholars and professors had reached a consensus on the student movement, Tsinghua Campus finally did not become a holy place for student protests like Peking University or other universities.The school still emphasizes learning discipline, and the management is still strict. Violations of rules and disciplines or poor grades will still result in expulsion. In the era of turbulence and turmoil of students, Tsinghua Campus already has a quiet learning atmosphere, and this environment has been maintained throughout the "" The third period", this cannot but be amazed!

Just like an Xiaoyang spring in winter, Tsinghua Garden is unique because of this "third period".And the talents cultivated in this period turned out nearly half a century later, posing us a huge question: How should we evaluate the great achievements of saving the country through science? A large number of materials and information show that Ye Qisun not only sympathized with the revolution, but also protected many progressive youths.We may be able to find out his real motives from another aspect. Qian Weichang is a seventh-level graduate of the Physics Department of Tsinghua University. He is the nephew of Qian Mu, a famous master of Chinese studies.During the entrance examination, the teachers and students of the school received full marks in history and Chinese. Mr. Chen Yinke said: From the perspective of the foundation of Chinese history, Qian Weichang has a great future in Chinese history.But Qian Weichang asked to enter the physics department.He was influenced by his roommates and fellow villagers He Fengyuan and Yin Dajun, who were physics students and underground members of the Communist Party of China. They often introduced him to the physics department, especially the famous Mr. Ye Qisun and Mr. Wu Youxun, saying that they were both A teacher with international academic status, so Qian Weichang was deeply attracted.Another underlying reason is that Qian Weichang came to Tsinghua on September 16, 1931. Three days later, he learned the news that the "September 18" Japanese army occupied the three eastern provinces.Given Qian Weichang's aptitude in Chinese studies and his uncle Qian Mu's expectations for him, he originally wanted to study history or literature.After the exam, both Mr. Chen Yinke and Mr. Yang Shuda had high expectations for him. Mr. Yang Shuda said to everyone that there was a rare high-achieving student in the Chinese Department. Except for his poor English, his Chinese could be compared with Qian Zhongshu from the Foreign Languages ​​Department.However, Qian Weichang's head was full of scenes of blazing national hatred and family feud at that time, and those soft and moist literature were like catkins lightly brewed in the south of the Yangtze River, lacking strength.What he thought at the time was that "studying literature and history is far away and can't save near fire", so he made up his mind to abandon literature and engineering: "At that time, Tsinghua only had the first civil engineering department, and under the influence of Yin Dajun and others, he was determined to further study. The physics department did not know that there was atomic energy at that time, but only roughly knew that the physics department was the basis for manufacturing aircraft, cannons, tanks and other weapons and equipment.” However, Qian Weichang's wish was thwarted by Wu Youxun: "Professor Wu seems to be very prejudiced. He said that the Department of Physics only accepts a few students each year, and they must have a good foundation in mathematics and physics. He also said that my mathematics, physics, chemistry and The English test is not good, if you want to enter the physics department, there will be 40 or 50 freshmen who can enter the physics department, which is absolutely impossible." There was no other way, so Qian Weichang had to ask some older classmates for help, and asked them to think of a way to see if they could achieve their wish through dredging. At this time, everyone locked their eyes on Mr. Ye Qisun. The reason for this choice, Qian Weichang said: "Yin Dajun suggested that he ask Ye Qisun for help with Zhao Jiuzhang, Wang Zhuxi, and He Fengyuan, third-year students from the Department of Physics. Yin Dajun and the others believed that Teacher Ye usually had a good relationship with young students. During the more than ten years of turmoil after the movement, he loved the motherland, sympathized with and supported the patriotic activities of young classmates, he was open-minded, and there were several students in each class who could communicate with him not only in thought, but also in life. For example, Wang Ganchang, a first-year physics student who entered the school in 1925, is very close to Teacher Ye..." The Yin Dajun that Qian Weichang mentioned was at this time the secretary of the underground party committee of the Communist Party of China in Tsinghua Park.Later, he served as the secretary of Dong Biwu, the father of the Republic.And He Fengyuan also succeeded as secretary of the underground party committee of Tsinghua Park, and after the founding of the People's Republic of China, he served as the director of the National Civil Aviation Administration.In their minds, Ye Qisun is a positive and progressive patriot, and has always sympathized with and supported the patriotic activities of young students.In his later years, Mr. Qian Weichang, who was the vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, once recalled in the book "A Generation of Teachers Ye Qisun" the story of Mr. Ye Qisun's many times covering and helping the progressive youth in the school—— Teacher Ye has a close relationship with young students. Teacher Ye has lived in No. 7 of the North Campus for a long time. In the evening, it is often a place for young students to visit and discuss. Teacher Ye has been single all his life and has only one capable Master Zhou who is both a driver and a housekeeper.Teacher Ye often established friendship with some young people in each class. Xiong Dazhen was one of the members who had a close relationship with Teacher Ye in our classes. Until the beginning of the war, he lived with Mr. Ye in the North Campus.After the May 4th Movement, Tsinghua's student movements continued one after another. Teacher Ye's home was also a place for young people to discuss these things. Teacher Ye always participated in the discussion with sympathy. Especially during the "December 9th" Movement, when the reactionary military and police surrounded and arrested Tsinghua students several times, many student leaders hid in Yelaoshr's North Campus No. 7 home. Yin Dajun, He Fengyuan and Yelaoshr were very familiar .After Liu Ruming fought against the Japanese invaders in Xifengkou in 1932, Tsinghua students went to Xifengkou in three batches to comfort the frontline soldiers. It was He Fengyuan who went to Teacher Ye’s house to ask the school to support transportation. I was there that time. When Teacher Ye heard When many students from the Department of Physics participated, they not only negotiated with Principal Mei immediately, but the school provided three buses each time, and Teacher Ye offered to let his driver, Master Zhou, drive Teacher Ye’s private car for the consolation group. To personally participate in the consolation group.After being dissuaded by everyone, he agreed not to go, but he still participated in the third batch of departures, and he went all the way to the front line of the Lihe Bridge outside Xifengkou (now in Qianxi County, Hebei Province).In 1936, Fu Zuoyi’s subordinates defeated the Japanese invading army in Suiyuan Bailing Temple (between Hohhot and Erlianhot). The health and recuperation supplies for the sick were sent to the front line of Bailing Temple. These activities were also discussed during the gathering at Teacher Ye's home. In February 1936, Beijing’s reactionary military and police surrounded the student dormitories one morning and arrested the leading members of the underground party according to the informant list. Living in one room, when the reactionary army and police opened the door of Room 405 in Xinzhai, Niu Peicong had already got up and washed his face in the bathroom. Changed into Master Zhou's clothes in the residence, slipped out of the school from the dairy farm behind the North Campus, and never returned to school.Shortly after the "December 9th" movement began, the Tsinghua Student Anti-Japanese National Salvation Association organized a bicycle propaganda team to go south. A group of about 22 people (including Wu Han, a female student from the Department of History) started at 6:00 am on December 24, 1935. Leaving school, passing through Tianjin, Jinan, Xuzhou, and Bengbu, and arriving in Nanjing on January 13, distributing anti-Chiang leaflets at Nanjing Central Hotel and Central University on January 15, all arrested, escorted to Zhengzhou, and exiled back to the north .Before departure, when Teacher Ye knew that I was joining this team, and there were 6 students from the Department of Physics (including Dai Zhenduo, now a member of the National Academy of Sciences) and 4 students from the Department of Chemistry, he sent Xiong Dazhen to supplement my luggage. , to mobilize Yang Longsheng, a classmate of the physics department of the 1936 class, to lend me his new strengthened bicycle, replace my broken one, lend me Xiong’s own leather jacket to keep out the cold, and give each of us military blankets from the school. Equipped with one.On the morning of departure, he and Principal Mei saw off in front of the auditorium.Later we learned that he also sent Zhang Lingjia, a young physical education teacher, to stand in front of us in Tianjin, Jinan, Xuzhou and other places, to clear up the local authorities and let us go. Chang Ding Xilin (who served as the Minister of Culture of the Central People's Government after liberation) and others negotiated, and was escorted to Zhengzhou and exiled to the north. In the Tsinghua campus, No. 7 of the North Campus actually became a secret contact point and shelter for progressive students at that time.Mr. Ge Tingsui is an eighth-grade student in the Department of Physics of Tsinghua University. He has been rescued by Ye Qisun many times. He recalled this in the book "A Generation of Teachers Ye Qisun"—— In 1933, after I finished my third year at university, I got lung disease and took a two-year absence from school.Mr. Ye came to see me twice and I was deeply moved. In September 1935, I went back to school, and the "December 9th" movement happened not long after.Once, the Beiping authorities sent military police to surround Tsinghua Campus at night to search for progressive students. That night I hid in the home of Mr. Ye in Tsinghua North Campus. Mr. Ye was not married, and Xiong Dazhen, an assistant professor of the Department of Physics, lived with him.Xiong went outside to inquire, and sure enough I was on the blacklist for arrest.Tsinghua students were divided into two factions: those who held meetings in the auditorium were called the Great Auditorium School (Salvation School), and those who held meetings in the Tongfangbu Small Auditorium were called the Tongfangbu School.Once, the National Salvation faction "elected" five "traitor students", and more than 300 students signed and posted posters to announce it.These 5 students sued 10 classmates for insulting their reputation in the Beiping Court, 8 of them were members of the National Salvation Congress, and the other two were Comrade Qian Weichang and myself.At that time, shortly after the mass raid, these people took refuge, and I also hid in the hospital in Beiping city.Later, I saw the date of the trial in the newspaper, and I thought that if he did not appear in court, he would be judged in absentia; if he appeared in court, there must be military police waiting outside to arrest him.When the situation was very urgent, I rushed back to Tsinghua Campus overnight to seek help from Mr. Ye. With the great help of Mr. Ye, he persuaded the then dean to intervene, and the lawsuit was suppressed. After "December 9th" and "December 16th", the students in Peking were very enthusiastic about fighting against Japan and saving the nation, and established the Chinese National Liberation Vanguard. Comrade (that is, Comrade Li Chang).I participated in this organization and served as a squadron leader, and organized peripheral mass groups with Comrade He Yuzhen (deceased), Comrade Wu Heng, Comrade Zhang Hongdao (namely Comrade Zhang Wenjin), and Comrade Dai Zhongjian (namely Comrade Huang Wei) "Practical Science Research Association", many students applied to participate.In order to expand the influence, we held a public reception, the purpose is to publicize popular science knowledge and national defense science to the public.This initiative was strongly opposed by the school authorities and the physics department leaders at the time.Later, after repeated mediation by Mr. Ye, the Department of Physics agreed to lend the instrument (guaranteed by Mr. Ye), and invited Xiong Dazhen and Yan Yuchang to give a popular science speech on "Sun, Air and Water" in the small auditorium of Tongfang Department. It will be narrated by Xiong Dazhen and performed by Yan Yuchang.Yan is an instrument administrator of the physics department who was born as a veteran worker, and serves as a performance assistant in general physics classes.The audience of this speech was very enthusiastic, and people from the vicinity of Tsinghua Park came here with their children and elders.A tech film was also shown that evening.Originally hoped to screen it in the auditorium of Tsinghua University, but the school authorities resolutely refused (perhaps because they were afraid that the public would dirty the auditorium). Later, with the great assistance of Mr. Ye, the school temporarily built a shelf on the grass in front of the auditorium and hung it A big screen was installed, and it was shown on the second floor of the auditorium. Thousands of people sat on the ground to watch the movie... Yao Yilin, who served as the vice premier of the State Council after liberation, was named Yao Keguang when he was a student at Tsinghua University. He was the head of the underground party of the Communist Party of China.Mr. Dai Zhenduo is a ninth-grade student in the Department of Physics. He recalled Master Ye’s attitude towards the student movement in his book "A Model Teacher Ye Qisun": At the end of 1936, I joined the Suiyuan Daqingshan Frontline Service Group Against the Enemy to comfort the team led by General Fu Zuoyi to bravely resist the Japanese invasion and deliver military supplies (medical and gas masks, etc.). Wang Tianjuan, Chen Fangyun and Li Zhengwu from the tenth grade of the Department of Physics.When I came back, I saw Mr. Ye. He smiled at me and said that there are many students in the Department of Physics who participated in the labor force.From these things, we can see Mr. Ye's attitude towards supporting the student movement. Qian Sanqiang is a graduate of the eighth grade of the Department of Physics, and Zhou Guangzhao is a graduate of the twelfth grade of the Department of Physics. When they talked about Ye Qisun's patriotism in the book "A Generation of Teacher Ye Qisun", they both talked about their experience in Southwest Associated University —— During the "December 1" Movement in 1945, Mr. Ye served as the acting chairman of the Standing Committee of the Southwest Associated University. He presided over the sacrifice of the four martyrs who died in the "December 1" Movement. , Kunming Garrison Commander negotiated, requesting that the students be allowed to carry the coffin in the parade, and also presided over the organization of a legal committee to deal with the complaints related to the tragedy and uphold justice.Mr. Ye has always been sympathetic to the patriotic student movement. At the end of 1935, during the "December 9th" movement, he secretly donated money to support the student movement. When the Peking students went south to petition, he went to the crowd to see him off. In 1945, the Kuomintang reactionaries created the "December 1" tragedy in Kunming. Afterwards, Li Gongpu and Wen Yiduo were also killed one after another. Mr. Ye was not afraid of the white terror, and publicly stood on the square to celebrate "December 1" Four martyrs, and personally negotiated with the Kunming authorities, demanding that the students be allowed to carry the coffin in the parade. In Mr. Dai Zhenduo’s memoir article, he also mentioned that after they returned from visiting Daqingshan, they asked the teacher whether they would be exempted from making up the courses they missed because of their trip. The teacher replied: It is inevitable! This is the school spirit of Tsinghua University. There is a very contradictory phenomenon in Mr. Ye Qisun: on the one hand, he advocates that students focus on learning, and he does not want his students to be distracted by too much involvement in political activities, and he does not want students to be tempted by fame and wealth and die prematurely; On the other hand, when the country was in crisis and the students stood up for the country and the people, he praised and supported him secretly.These two seemingly different dimensions, if analyzed in depth, will touch the most essential part of Ye Qisun, which is "patriotism".Patriotism is the most important part of Ye Qisun's ideological system, which is hard and crystal clear.Although he, like Yue Fei and Xin Qiji, had grandiose thoughts and rage for the crown, the difference is that Ye Qisun took the road of saving the country through science that no one had gone before.Compared with other paths, this path requires more difficult assumptions, outstanding forms of expression, a longer period of struggle, and harsh external environmental requirements.