Chapter 150 scholarship

Cai Yuanpei completed the completion of the auditorium of the Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts founded by Liu Haisu, and inscribed four big characters: "Grand and profound beauty".Liu Haisu said that these four words are the scientific conclusions drawn by Mr. after studying many scholars in ancient and modern China and abroad. Mr. Cai Yuanpei's four-character key to academic success: "macro, approximation, depth, beauty", "macro" means not to be too rigid in the process of learning and absorbing knowledge, and the knowledge structure is narrow, but to spread out and broaden the knowledge structure , to be broad and grand, to be eclectic, to integrate, and to lay a solid foundation for future work and study. "Appointment" means that on the premise that the foundation has been established, the company will approach appointments from blogs, highlight personal expertise, highlight style, and form a family of its own. "Deep" means daring to make breakthroughs under the premise of "covenant", to investigate the source of poverty, and to deepen knowledge. "Beauty" is a supreme ideological realm, a vast and boundless realm, without end.

Xu Shulan is the richest man in Shaocheng. In the sixth year of Guangxu, he donated 100,000 taels of silver to build a house and buy books, and founded the "Guyue Library". There are four volumes of books in the collection of classics and history, and 6 volumes of "Guyue Library Bibliography", which are printed in stone.He and his younger brother Xu Youlan edited and engraved 4 series of "Mr. Shaoxing's Posthumous Letters", including 12 kinds and 158 volumes.Because of his uncle's teaching experience in Xu's family, Cai Yuanpei entered Xu's "Guyue Library" to collate "Mr. Shaoxing's Posthumous Letters". .He has read more than ten thousand volumes of books in the building, and all important books have been annotated by him.Some people have seen a "Guanzi" and a "Mozi" annotated by Cai.There are red pens and ink pens, small slots, and the top and bottom of each page of the book are densely annotated without any gaps.According to people from the Xu family, these two books are not the only ones that have been annotated like this.His persistent academic spirit in the past four years has laid the foundation for his extensive and profound knowledge in the future.

In 1906, Cai Yuanpei rushed to the capital in a hurry when he learned that the Beijing Imperial Academy had an opportunity to study abroad under the "public sponsorship", but the plan was shelved.Cai Yuanpei was not reconciled, so he contacted again and again and applied to Sun Baoqi, the Minister in Germany, to accompany him to Germany to work part-time at the embassy and attend lectures at the University of Berlin for half a day, so as to fulfill his wish to study in Europe.But the legation only promised to take care of board and lodging, not to provide positions and salaries.Cai Yuanpei negotiated with the Shanghai Commercial Press through Zhang Yuanji, and specially invited Cai Yuanpei to write or compile articles for the library in Europe in order to earn money for studying abroad and supporting his family.

In May 1907, 39-year-old Cai Yuanpei went to Berlin, Germany with the help of Sun Baoqi, the Minister to Germany, to attend lectures and study psychology, aesthetics, and philosophy at the University of Leipzig.While studying, he served as a Chinese teacher for the four nephews of Tang Shaoyi (later the first cabinet prime minister of the Republic of China). Cai Yuanpei, who was almost 40 years old, began his four-year overseas study life.During his four years in Germany, he edited a number of academic books such as "History of Chinese Ethics". Cai Yuanpei is the first person in our country who achieved success by adopting the method of "climbing the grid" part-time work and part-study.From 1907 to 1915, during his study abroad in Europe, Cai Yuanpei wrote papers such as "World Outlook and Outlook on Life" and "Digestion of Civilization", which were published in "Oriental Magazine" and "Education Magazine", which were published by commercial companies. Combining the new knowledge gained from the study of law, combined with the national conditions, he compiled "Outline of Philosophy", "Principles of Ethics", "History of Chinese Ethics", "Self-cultivation in Middle School", "General Introduction to Art (A Brief History of European Art)", etc., which were published by the Commercial Press. Published in Shanghai.

Huang Yanpei has such a memory in "My Teacher Mr. Cai Zimin's Condolences": Cai Yuanpei said to me one day that saving China must start with academics. The world's academics regard Germany as the most respected. I must go to Germany to study, so I have to go to Germany first. Learn German in Qingdao.At the age of forty, it is not easy to still have such a firm heart to learn.What's more, the master Jinshi who was once a Hanlin and a Beijing official?Cai Yuanpei worked very hard during his stay in Germany, which can be seen from the number of courses he took.During more than three years at the University of Leipzig, he took dozens of courses, involving philosophy, history of philosophy, ethics, psychology, literature, cultural history, European history, aesthetics, and history of aesthetics; , he went to listen.Whether talking about the independence of universities, or the so-called establishment of research institutes based on world practices, Cai Yuanpei either directly cites Germany as a model, or emphasizes the general practices of other countries in the world, but he still takes Germany as his root in his heart, after all, he studies there. Living for many years, the influence has penetrated into his heart and actions.

In 1913, Cai Yuanpei, who resigned because he did not want to cooperate with Yuan Shikai's government, went to France again to engage in academic research. At this time, he was 46 years old.During his three years in Europe, Cai Yuanpei compiled many works on philosophy and aesthetics. Cai Yuanpei advocated that learning a foreign language should start from Japanese, which is relatively close to Chinese. Based on his own experience in reading Japanese books without knowing Japanese, he taught students how to understand and translate Japanese, which is easy for students to accept. People can read Japanese, and there are book translators." Later, Cai Yuanpei and his students learned Latin from Ma Xiangbo.Cai Yuanpei took the initiative to walk from the third floor of Nanyang Public School Middle School, where he lived, to the residence of Ma Xiangbo in Tushanwan, Xujiahui every morning, and sometimes knocked on the door before Ma Xiangbo woke up at five o'clock in the morning.Mr. Ma had no choice but to hang up the words "Free War", "It's too early, too early, come back at eight or nine o'clock." It became a good story for a while.

There is a portrait of himself hanging in Cai Yuanpei's study, with the title on it: "As a human being, he forgets food when he is angry, forgets worries when he is happy, and does not know that old age is coming." number. The article "If My Age Returns to Twenty" written by Mr. Cai Yuanpei when he was 70 years old.Self-reported reading interests and regrets in my life: So if I can go back to twenty years old, I must learn a few more foreign languages.In addition to English and Italian, Greek and Sanskrit should also be learned.I want to study natural science, and then specialize in my favorite aesthetics and world art history.