Chapter 73 to preach

Qian Mu devoted his whole life to education, and his disciples from five generations gathered together, including Yu Yingshi, Yan Gengwang and others. Qian Mu has been a primary school teacher for 10 years, a middle school teacher for 8 years, and a university teacher for even longer.But he has a soft spot for the life of primary school teachers.He said that when he was teaching in elementary school, there were about a hundred students in each school. Teachers and students gathered together, colleagues were like brothers, and teachers and students were like family members.Live in school every day, eat in school, work in school, group is like family, career is life.School is like a main house, so teaching in elementary school always feels at ease.However, middle schools and universities are larger than primary schools, have more staff than primary schools, and the communication between teachers, students and colleagues is more cumbersome.From this we know that middle school teachers and university teachers are even more professions.

In his later years, Qian Mu told people many times that it is better to teach middle schools than universities, and it is better to teach elementary schools than middle schools. In 1930, Qian Mu became famous for publishing "The Chronicle of Liu Xiangxin's Father and Son". He was recommended by Gu Jiegang and hired as a Chinese lecturer at Yenching University.Qian Mu's highest diploma is only high school (not yet graduated), and he is completely self-taught.Qian Mu lived in Peking for eight years, taught at famous universities such as Yenching University and Peking University, and also took part-time lectures at Tsinghua University and Beijing Normal University, and exchanged ideas with friends in the academic circle.The anti-Japanese army flourished, and he taught at Southwest Associated University, Wuhan, West China, Qilu, and Sichuan universities.

Yanjing is a church university, which is very famous among all universities in Peking.At that time, school affairs were mainly presided over by supervisor Leighton Stuart.One day, Leighton Stuart hosted a banquet for the new teachers and asked them about their impressions of the school.Qian Mu expressed his feelings at the meeting: "I first heard that Yanda University is the most Chinese among the Christian universities in China, and I secretly admired it. When I came here, I felt very different. When I entered the school, I saw the 'M' building and the 'S' building. What is the meaning of this? Where is the so-called Chinese culture? This should start with the Chinese name.” Afterwards, Yanda held a special school meeting to discuss this opinion.In the end, Qian Mu's suggestion was adopted, and the "M" building was changed to "Mu" building, the "S" building was changed to "Shi" building, the "Beigong" building was changed to "Office" building, and all other buildings were given Chinese names.All the nominations for a lake on the campus were not approved, because it was unknown for a while, so it was named "Unnamed Lake" according to Qian Mu's proposal.Afterwards, someone joked with Qian Mu that if you make an opinion, you will get the first floor and share the first floor with Hu Shi.

Qian Mu does things in his own way.When he first arrived at Yanda University, he had very strict requirements on the students, and he was very stingy in giving students test papers. It was rare to get a score above 85, usually only 80 points, and most of them were below 80 points. under sixty.He originally thought that those few students could pass the make-up exam, but Yanda stipulated that if they failed once, they would be expelled. Make-up exams were not allowed, and there were no exceptions.Hearing that several students were about to drop out of school because of the low grades he gave, Qian Mu immediately went to the school authorities, explained the reasons, and demanded that the test papers be re-approved. I got the test papers and asked those students to stay.After that, the score will be much more generous after marking the papers.

Qian Mu taught Chinese in his freshman and sophomore year at Yan University.He has won the affirmation and welcome of the students with his solid Chinese knowledge and witty speeches.But after one year of teaching, Qian Mu finally resigned and returned to the south because he could not adapt to the environment of the church university. After Qian Mu resigned from Yanda, Gu Jiegang recommended Qian Mu to his teacher, Hu Shi, the dean of Peking University's School of Literature, so Qian Mu went to Peking University to teach.Qian Mu's lectures on general history at Peking University are factual, not empty, well-founded, concise and precise, and can explain profound things in simple terms, using examples from nearby ones.For example, when he compares Chinese and Western cultures, Yu Qin and Han cultures are like tens of thousands of bright lamps hanging around the room, if you break one, the rest will still be bright; Roman culture is a huge lamp, and when it is extinguished, it will be dark.At that time, Qian Mu set up the general history classroom in the trapezoidal auditorium of Peking University, which was three times the size of an ordinary classroom.The size of the classroom, the large number of audiences, and the rows of high seats made Qian Mu, who was wearing a long gown on the podium below, seem even shorter.But this little mentor dominated the minds of the whole hall.The resonant Wuxi Mandarin shocked the hearts of every student present.He often repeatedly extended the questions, collected extensively, and made everyone amazed by his profound knowledge, and even more amazed by his strong memory.At Peking University, both he and Hu Shi were famous for giving lectures and became one of the most famous professors at Peking University. Among the students, there is a saying of "Northern Hu and Southern Qian".

Wang Yuzhe also recalled in "Ancient History of China and Me": "It was Mr. Qian Mu, a famous ancient historian at that time, who taught the ancient history of China in the history department of Peking University. Mr. Qian's ancient history was different from others. He did not start from ancient times. Instead, talk about the Warring States first, and then talk about the Spring and Autumn Period in reverse. And it is not a chapter-by-section, comprehensive, but centered on academic issues, from discovering problems to solving problems, and analyzing them layer by layer. Inspires deep thinking."

While teaching ancient history at Peking University, Qian Mu also lectured on the history of Qin and Han Dynasties. He also taught this course during his part-time lectures at Tsinghua University, Yanjing University, and Peking Normal University, which was very popular among students in all schools.According to the memory of his student Li Yan, in the second half of 1936, Qian Mu taught the history of Qin and Han Dynasties in the History Department of Peking Normal University.At that time, there were many listeners, no seats were empty, and the huge classroom was packed to the brim.Throughout the semester, Qian Mu "never asked for a leave of absence, nor was he late or left early. Every class, before the bell rang, he began to speak, without a single digression. With fiery emotions and heart-rending comments, he took the lecture When the reader is brought into the historical environment described, it is like seeing the person and hearing the words.”

Qian Mu's most popular course is General History of China, which he has taught for eight years.The general history of China class is taught twice a week, each class is two hours.It is usually arranged from 1 to 3 in the afternoon, when the students are usually the most tired, but he can teach the boring history class vividly and charmingly, making it the most attractive class. Apart from Peking University students, other college students also admire him. Come and listen.When there were too many people, we had to change from small classrooms to large classrooms. "Each class has nearly 300 people, and it is full of sitting and standing." ("Miscellaneous Memories of Teachers and Friends") Some people listened to it for four years.Among them, a student surnamed Zhang has been listening to Southwest Associated University from Peking University for a total of six years, which shows how attractive it is.Qian Mu was also rated as one of the most prestigious professors at Peking University by students.

At that time, there were three professors at Peking University who were very famous among the students, and they were called "Three Friends of Suihan". "The so-called three friends refer to the three gentlemen Qian Mu, Tang Yongtong, and Meng Wentong. Mr. Qian's brilliance, Mr. Tang's deep potential, and Mr. Meng's expansiveness are all great scholars." After the "July 7th Incident" in 1937, the Japanese army invaded China in an all-round way.In August and September, the Japanese army occupied the campus of Peking University.Colleges and universities in the north moved south one after another, and Peking University, Tsinghua University, and Nankai University merged to form a temporary university in Changsha.Qian Mu packed the five or six thick volumes of notes accumulated from lectures on the general history of China over the years into the cracks of the bottom of the suitcase. In October, he went south to Changsha with Tang Yongtong, Chen Yinke and others, and began his academic career in the southwest for eight years during the Anti-Japanese War.Just like when he was at Peking University, Qian Mu lectured on the general history of China at Southwest Associated University, which also attracted a large number of students.His "Outline of National History" has new meanings one after another, especially many original ideas, and it has been designated as a national university book and has become popular.Therefore, various colleges and universities that moved inland to the southwest have invited him to give lectures.

Qian Mu has always been kind to Gu Jiegang.During the Anti-Japanese War, Gu Jiegang established the Institute of Chinese Studies at Qilu University in Chengdu and hoped that Qian Mu would be the director. Qian then left Southwest Associated University and went to Chengdu to assist Gu in 1940.Although the Chengdu Laijiayuan where the institute is located is located in a remote rural field, Qian Mu taught seriously and trained historians such as Yan Gengwang and Fang Shiming. Qian Muzhi's departure from Southwest Associated University was naturally due to Gu Jiegang's invitation, but it was also related to the radical atmosphere on campus at that time.Qian Mu said in his own words: "Since Yu left the United Nations University, left-leaning ideas have become more and more arrogant, and teachers and students have sung with each other. Wen Yiduo is particularly domineering, and he publicly scolded Yu in the newspapers as stubborn. . . . The rest are public enemies."

Qian Mu's method of teaching composition is very interesting.He believes that composition is speaking, and what is said in the mouth is written in the pen.Words are spoken, writing is written.He requires students to write down what they want to say truthfully, and they can ask questions at any time when they encounter unfamiliar words.One afternoon, Qian Mu asked the students to do an essay titled "Today's Lunch".After the students' compositions were handed in, Qian Mu chose a well-written one and copied it on the blackboard.The end of this composition is written like this: "Today's lunch, I ate braised pork. It tastes good, but unfortunately it is a bit salty." Through this composition, Qian Mu told students that there must be twists and turns in speech and composition, and there must be room for aftertaste. Just like the last sentence of this composition: "It's a pity that it's salty." After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Peking University resumed.Fu Sinian, acting as the principal, is in charge of admission, demobilization and northward relocation of Peking University.But Qian Mu was not invited to return to Peiping. In the 1930s, Qian Mu met Fu Sinian when he was teaching at Peking University.Qian Mu was a well-known textual researcher in his early years, and was regarded by Fu Sinian as a comrade of the historical data research school. The two kept in touch with each other and maintained a good relationship.But Qian Mu and his academic views are very similar.In Qian Mu's view, the practice of the archaeological school superstitiously believing in unearthed materials and leaving ancient classics behind is as harmful as the skeptical school who blindly doubts ancient times and denies classics, and even worse.During the period of Southwest Associated University, as Qian Mu's own historiography theory system gradually matured, he made a comprehensive criticism of the school of historical research.For this reason, Fu Sinian, the leader of the school, was naturally not happy about Qian Mu's attack.Peking University resumed school, Qian Mu was not invited, this is probably one of the important reasons.At this point, Qian Mu bid farewell to Peking University. After Qian Mu arrived in Hong Kong, he founded the New Asia College (now incorporated in the Chinese University of Hong Kong) to take in the students displaced by the war.Qian Mu has inherited the ambition of traditional Chinese intellectuals to manage the world and save the country. He said frankly: "The motivation for me to establish Xinya is because when I came out of the mainland, I saw many young people in exile who were wandering around and desperate. Not everyone has the opportunity to come to Taiwan; and I feel that I am a person engaged in education, how can I bear to see them drop out of school. At the same time, I also feel that I have only one proper way to go. Although I am not sure, I always believe that this is something that should be done .” In 1952, 18-year-old Li Ao visited Qian Mu for the first time.Qian Mu is sincere to Li Ao, persuasive and encouraging; for things he doesn't know, Qian Mu humbly asks Li Ao for advice.In the future, Qian Mu and Li Ao exchanged letters for many years. In the letter, Qian Mu once urged: "Yesterday, I received a letter. Zhijun works hard to learn, keeps pace with the day, and if he can persevere and continue unremittingly, there will be achievements in the future. Congratulations." "In the matter of learning, the first thing is to have perseverance, and the second is to guard against arrogance, achieve small things, be satisfied with ambition, and stop at the middle way. High and far, you can avoid this. You are still young, and at the beginning of learning, so I encourage you with this." He also said: "You should know that learning and virtue are actually the same thing. The attainment of learning must be based on the cultivation of virtue. It is also limited by the cultivation of virtue. If you ignore virtue, it will be difficult to deepen your knowledge. Please pay attention to this level." After Qian Mu's death, Li Ao recalled: "The letter encourages an 18-year-old youth so much because of My eagerness to learn caught his attention, and it can be seen that he has the demeanor of an educator." Li Ao admired Qian Mu very much at the beginning, but later, because of Qian's attitude towards Jiang, Li Ao launched a fierce attack on Qian Mu.But Li Ao always remembered Qian Mu's earnest teaching to him.After Qian Mu's death, he recalled: "Not long before Qian Mu's death, I went to the 'Palace Museum' and saw him from afar. When I was young, he was once my favorite, and he once enthusiastically guided me and helped me. This kind of old-fashioned figure is really "ancient history" for "modern history"..." Qian Mu has lectured and lectured at Yale University and Harvard University in the United States.At the end of his lectures at Yale University, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the school.Later, he went to Columbia University to give a speech for the "Ding Long Lecture".After staying in the United States for seven months, he was invited to visit England and visited Oxford and Cambridge universities.From England to France, Italy, and finally back to Hong Kong. After Qian Mu completed "Zhu Zixin's Learning Case", he was appointed by Zhang Qiyun as a professor of the history department of the Chinese Culture Institute (now China Literature University). Students came to his home for two hours a week to attend lectures.In response to Jiang Fucong's appointment, he served as a special researcher at the National Palace Museum.The courtyard is opposite Sushu Building.The academy set up a research room for Qian, where Qian read the Song, Yuan and Ming Confucianism collections in the "Si Ku Quan Shu" and wrote monographs.When Qian Mu lived in Shuangxi, he visited Japan and South Korea twice, and went to Hong Kong several times to give lectures. In 1977, at the age of 83, Qian Mu suffered severe stomach pains in winter, macular degeneration in the following spring, and became blind in both eyes.When the New Asia College established the Qian Mu Lecture, Dean Jin Yaoji begged him to be the first lecturer.Mr. Qian's speech was titled "Chinese Nationality and Chinese Culture from the Perspective of Chinese History". In 1986, on Qian Mu’s 92nd birthday, he gave his last lesson in Sushu Building, bid farewell to Xingtan, and finally gave a message to the students: “You are Chinese, don’t forget China!”