Chapter 164 Yang Zhi

When Cai Yuanpei was a teenager, he was already famous as a public official. He was once praised by Weng Tonghe, a prime minister from Changshu: "You are proficient in classics at a young age, your writing is extremely ancient, and you are talented." Mr. Liu Xiaogang said in his research on the origin of practical literature: "Cai Yuanpei's "On the Trend of Chinese Literature" and "The Future of Chinese Literature" formally divided articles into two categories: practical literature and artistic literature (that is, artistic literature), and began to create An independent theory of practical literature."

Fu Sinian: Generally speaking, in the application of the law, the Chinese people and some people presume that a person is guilty unless proven innocent; Western modern law presupposes that a person is innocent unless proven guilty.Mr. Cai is not only like this in law, but also in all his dealings with people.He presupposes that a man is good unless proven otherwise. Zhou Zuoren and Cai Yuanpei are from the same hometown. He "has heard people say that Cai Yuanpei is a very strange person since he was a child. He was a Hanlin in the former Qing Dynasty, but at the same time he was a rebellious party. There is a copy of his Zhujuan at home, and the articles are very peculiar. , the text is very short, of course I didn’t understand it after reading it, but in short, he didn’t abide by the rules of stereotypes. Later, I heard that his lectures followed the so-called Gongyang family law. This was the beginning of his strange behavior. He argued that it was It is indeed appalling to say that the communist public wife, but the fact is exactly the opposite, because his behavior is exactly like that of Qian Xuantong, and he is the most upright and restrained person. He initiated the Jinde Association, advocating no whoring, no gambling , do not marry concubines, further do not become officials, do not smoke, do not drink alcohol, and the highest ranks do not serve as councilors, do not eat meat, and are very Puritan. The book advocates equality between men and women and opposes chastity, so these rumors are not entirely groundless. But the fact is that he does not make money when he is old, and has no scandals. He is a rare figure in the intellectual class. We quote the elders Criticize his words and give an example. This is my teacher, Mr. Shou Zhulin who taught me to read "The Doctrine of the Mean" at Sanwei Bookstore. He passed away last year at the age of ninety; Mrs. Shou gave me a few copies One of his suicide notes is "Records of Cai Zimin's Words and Deeds", in which Mr. Shou's inscription says: "The solitary people's knowledge and morals are pure and profound, peaceful and upright, and the world is full of sorrows, just like Zhuangzi's so-called innocence. Comparing it to the crazy ones.' It also said: 'The moral knowledge of the solitary people is a collection of the great achievements of ancient and modern China and foreign countries, and it is great to practice it, to spread it indiscriminately, and not to be ashamed to ask the generosity of the lower class.'"

Dewey commented on Cai Yuanpei: "Comparing the presidents of universities around the world, Oxford, Cambridge, Paris, Berlin, Harvard, Columbia, etc., among these presidents, there are many who have made outstanding contributions in certain disciplines. However, as a president Besides Cai Yuanpei, there is probably no one who can lead that university and play a turning role in a nation and an era.” Wang Yuanfang said: Cai Yuanpei's moral appearance and gentle speech are admirable, and he is the only person in our country. Feng Youlan said: Cai Yuanpei was a person who met the standard of a gentleman in modern times.Zeng Zi said: "You can entrust a six-foot orphan, you can send a hundred miles of life, and you can't take it away when it comes to the big festival. A gentleman is a man, and a gentleman is a man." Confucianism, "If porridge is incompetent", but "Amiable but not A calamity can be approached but not forced; it can be killed but not humiliated." "The body can be in danger, but the will cannot be taken away."Such a person is a gentleman.Confucius said, "A gentleman can be deceived by his own way, but it is hard to be wronged by his way." Feng said that Mr. Cai's personality is the highest expression of Confucian educational ideals.

Feng Youlan commented on Cai Yuanpei: he is a humble Confucian, with the true qualities of a scholar. Fu Sinian said: "Mr. Cai Yuanpei really represents two great cultures: one is the cultivation of traditional Chinese sages; These two cultures are dead in China!" On March 5, 1943, the "Xinhua Daily" led by Zhou Enlai published an editorial entitled "Remembering Mr. Cai Zimin", pointing out: "Peking University is a term that cannot be erased in the history of the Chinese revolutionary movement and the history of the Chinese New Culture Movement. However, the nostalgia of Peking University is inseparable from the nostalgia of Mr. Cai Zimin. Mr. Cai's hosting of Peking University, his style and achievements are indeed unforgettable, and they are indeed for China's revolutionary cause made a great contribution.”

Teachers and students at Peking University still affectionately pursue Mr. Cai's personality strength, saying that he "deals with people, one is to respect the personality of others, and he is never willing to use his words and actions to make others feel unhappy and inconvenient. One is to admit The rationality of others, thinking that everything in the world can be understood or handled in a peaceful and free way.” Lin Yutang said in the article "Missing Mr. Cai Yuanpei" in 1967: "Mr. Cai is Mr. Cai. This is the common feeling of colleagues at Peking University. The implication seems to contain infinite love and respect, and it seems to say that there is no second Cai in the world. Sir, although others may have their strengths and weaknesses, but for Mr. Cai, everyone agrees, so there is nothing to say."

Liang Shuming said with deep emotion: "Mr. Cai is great. First of all, he can know people, use people, and protect people. Employing people properly and making the best of their talents allows everyone to emit their own heat and light. This power is great. gone." Guo Moruo once said: "The person who has deeply influenced Lu Xun's life should be Mr. Cai Yuanpei. This liberal liberal with great spirit has made great contributions to the Chinese cultural and educational circles, and he has always admired Mr. Lu Xun. Lu Xun It was because of Mr. Cai’s citation that he entered the Ministry of Education and even entered the Beijing education circle. Until Lu Xun’s death, Mr. Cai exhausted his enduring friendship.”

Jiang Menglin commented: "Mr. has a gentle temperament in daily life, as cute as winter, without harsh words. He is calm and calm in dealing with things, and his attitude is the same whether he encounters people who are pushing swords or leading carts to sell milk. But when encountering major events, he has a strong nature. Standing up to see, speak and write, and refuse to agree. Therefore, Mr. Zhong is the mean, it is the mean that can be done with a sword, not the mean that is stabbed without action." Ren Hongjun said: "In terms of justice, Mr. Cai is an unyielding fighter who goes forward bravely, never retreats, and does not make excuses."

Lin Yutang believed that Cai Yuanpei was "soft but hard, round on the outside and square on the inside". Cao Jian said that Cai Yuanpei "was filled with indomitable spirit in his bones". Chen Xiying commented that Cai Yuanpei is a "big man" who is "the most virtuous in the contemporary era". Jiang Menglin's "Try to Write a Brief Photo for Mr. Cai" pointed out: "Mr.'s way of being a man comes from the teachings of Confucius and Mencius, and it is based on the two characters of loyalty and forgiveness. Knowing loyalty is not to disagree with the world; knowing forgiveness is tolerating others and raising Be magnanimous."

Huang Yanpei summed up his teacher Cai Yuanpei with the eight characters of "something not to be done, everything is tolerated": "If there is something not to be done, my teacher is self-disciplined; if everything is not tolerated, my teacher is to teach others. If something is not done, it is correct. Also; everything can be tolerated, and it is too big." Gu Hongming said to Luo Jialun: "There are only two good people in China now, one is Mr. Cai Yuanpei, and the other is me. After Mr. Cai ordered the Hanlin, he refused to be an official and went to the revolution, and he is still a revolution. What about me? Zhang Zhidong was an official in the former Qing Dynasty, and he is still protecting the emperor.”

Feng Youlan said: When I was at Peking University, I never heard Cai Yuanpei speak, nor did I see him have personal contact with any student.The reason why he is loved by the students is entirely inspired by his personality.Taoists pay attention to "weather", for example, Zhou Dunyi's weather is like "light wind and moon".Another example is Cheng Yi’s "Progression" written for Cheng Hao, saying that Cheng Hao is "pure as fine gold, warm and moist like fine jade, wide and restrained, harmonious but not flowing... depending on its color, its connection is like spring sun." It is warm; listening to its words, it enters people like the rain of the season. With a clear mind, you can see through the infinite, and measure its accumulation, and it will be as vast as the boundless sea; it is extremely virtuous, and beautiful words cannot describe it.” (Volume 11 of "Collected Works of Cheng Shi in Henan") These few sentences are completely applicable to Cai Yuanpei.This is by no means an exaggeration.When I entered the principal's office of Peking University for the first time, I felt that the whole room was full of this kind of atmosphere.

Luo Jialun praised Cai Yuanpei and said: "Thousands of years later, Mr.'s personality cultivation is still the realm that human beings yearn for." Professor Han Shuifa of the Philosophy Department of Peking University lamented in "There is no Cai Yuanpei in the world": No matter what you want to do but can't do Cai Yuanpei, you can't find Cai Yuanpei if you want to find it, or simply want to use Cai Yuanpei to discuss things, you are facing a lot of irony. Significant facts: To this day, in terms of the reform and development of Chinese universities, Cai Yuanpei is still an elusive peak.There is no Cai Yuanpei in the world!