Chapter 20 Pan Guangdan: Lonely Great Confucianism, Powerful Country and Excellent Breed

Pan Guangdan (1899.8.13—1967.6.10), a native of Baoshan, Jiangsu (now part of Shanghai).Formerly known as Guangdan (later, the character with more strokes in the word "亶" was changed to Guangdan), also known as Baotong, nicknamed Zhongang, sociologist, eugenicist, and ethnologist. In 1927, he participated in the establishment of the Crescent Bookstore.His works include "Eugenics", "Humanistic Biology", "Chinese Family Problems", etc., and other translations. In 1922, Liang Qichao gave a course "Chinese History Research Method" in Tsinghua University. At the end of the semester, Pan Guangdan handed in a book report to the teacher. After reading it, Liang Qichao wrote such a comment: "With your talent, you can study Anything goes."

This report is "Feng Xiaoqing Kao" written by 22-year-old Pan Guangdan, which is today a classic in the history of modern Chinese academics.Feng Xiaoqing was a talented woman in the Ming Dynasty, but her beauty was unlucky. There are different opinions about her death cause.Pan Guangdan analyzed the cause of Feng's death with the help of the principles of Western sex science, and concluded that Feng Xiaoqing died of her pathological "narcissism".This is shocking in the Chinese society where "sex" is kept secret. "Feng Xiaoqing Kao" is Pan Guangdan's practice of analyzing traditional Chinese culture with the help of modern scientific theories, and it is also the initial scientific exploration and thinking of modern Chinese people on the depths of human nature of this ancient nation.

Perhaps because of his worries about the future of this nation, or perhaps because of his personal experience, Pan Guangdan chose biology and genetics in the United States, and specialized in eugenics derived from the theory of biological evolution and genetics. He also extensively dabbled in psychology, literature, philosophy, etc. In Pan Guangdan's view, eugenics is the study of the advantages and disadvantages of genetic and cultural selection of human character, in order to achieve a better human reproduction method, which can promote the progress of human beings. In 1926, Pan Guangdan returned to Shanghai and started teaching. He created a eugenics course in China and edited Eugenics Monthly.Besides teaching, he pays attention to the society and finds a way out for China.He believes that the Chinese nation is fundamentally in great danger. China has no shortage of people, but what it lacks are social elements with sound minds, healthy bodies, and talents.If a nation wants to be prosperous and strong, it needs eugenics. It is not a question of quantity, but a question of quality.He believes that having children is not only the mission of a family, but also the safety of society.

The profound cultural foundation makes his thoughts go beyond the general sociological category, but is filled with social ideals emphasizing humanity.He has written a large number of works, which are models of natural science and humanities.Through the rise and fall of the family, he revealed the importance of heredity and environment in forming a person's good character.Through the comparative study of the history of the United States, Spain, ancient Rome and the Chinese nation, he explores the reasons for the prosperity and decline of a nation.More importantly, he combined the actual situation in China at that time to reveal the root causes of the national pathology of "selfishness, ignorance, disease, poverty, and chaos" reflected in the characteristics of Chinese people, and pointed out that in order to rejuvenate the nation, national health and national health And prenatal and postnatal care is the most important way out.

Starting from the theory of eugenics, Pan Guangdan made an in-depth analysis of the Chinese national character - "the Chinese nation has many weaknesses, the most disappointing of which is the abnormal development of self-interest and the weakness of altruism." (This is some The last thing cynics want to hear.) He has a great boldness in academics. He doesn't want people to call China "the big China". nation, I don’t agree with it.” He also has a young China in his heart, but this young China is not yet fully developed! (What a youthful psychology this is.) It can be said that Pan Guangdan was the first scholar who put forward "eugenics and postnatal care" on a scientific basis in China in the past century.

Since modern times, the bullying of the imperialist powers has made China face the danger of national subjugation and genocide. People of insight are always looking for ways to save the country and the species.On the 20th anniversary of Mr. Pan Guangdan's death, Fei Xiaotong once said that the most basic purpose of Mr. Pan's academic life is to "strengthen the country and optimize the species". He conducts research from the three aspects of morality, intelligence and physique, hoping to improve the fundamental quality of Chinese people. Pan Guangdan advocated that education should cultivate the emotions of "scholars", and he always adhered to "scholars must not be unresolute, and the responsibilities are heavy and the road is long."Aiming at the weakness of our nation, Mr. Pan also put forward many useful suggestions: birth control, fewer births, better births, and keeping them all; increasing the strength of the nation's physical and mental character, etc.

Pan Guangdan believes that the basic way to solve the problem is not in political, economic and social arrangements, but in education.We "are Chinese after all, and we want to do something for our country in the future. Reading foreign books and going abroad are just means to achieve this goal."He advocated vigorously advocating generalist education, getting rid of the education that idolizes science, and re-understanding the true performance of science: suspicious but not arbitrary, tolerant but not exclusive, accessible but not blocked.In addition, Pan Guangdan unequivocally put forward the viewpoint that "the humanities must make a comeback".

Pan Guangdan is a person who integrates learning and action. He not only studies and studies, but also makes his knowledge and actions directly beneficial to the country, the nation, and society.The twelve-character inscription he engraved on the belly of his self-made pipe is actually the most appropriate portrayal of himself: "The shape is like a dragon, the breath is like a rainbow, the virtue can accommodate, and the ambition is clear." Regarding education, Confucius said: "The way of a university lies in Ming Mingde, in being close to the people, and in ending in perfection." Cai Yuanpei said: "Education is to help the educated person to develop his own ability and complete his personality. The responsibility of being able to fulfill a part of human culture is not to turn the educated into a special tool." Lu Xun said: "Education is to build people." Rousseau said: Education is to cultivate "people who can act and think." .Einstein said: "What is education? When you forget all the education you have received, what remains is education." Jaspers said: "Education is the education of the human soul, not the accumulation of rational knowledge." But today, our education has become a problem. The biggest problem is lack of freedom, lack of freedom in learning, and lack of freedom in thinking.

As early as 1930, Pan Guangdan said in an article: The purpose of doing learning is to let people know more about it, so as to have greater and greater influence.Pan Guangdan believes that if Western professors are already the enemy of learning, then Chinese professors may not even have this qualification!The reason for this is mainly the following three reasons: First, Western professors can still create many terms to bluff people, but most Chinese professors can't even remember the terminology of their major.Second, Western professors still have the ability to join a certain faction, while Chinese professors "except for introducing a few Western textbooks" do not do real research at all.Third, Western professors don't get the title without ten or decades of hard work and rigorous scholarly life.

Still in 1930, Pan Guangdan discussed this issue in his article "Professor Salary and the Part-time Lecturer System Popular Today".He said: "There is a very common principle for universities to hire professors, which is the word 'special'. Anyone who has expertise in a certain line of knowledge is qualified to be hired as a professor. This principle is good. But in In terms of universities, when it comes to treating professors, there should also be a simple principle, that is, the word "special". Any university that treats professors with sincerity will definitely be able to gain the trust and hard work of professors." It can be seen that using "study" Hiring professors based on the principle of "expertise" and treating professors with a "sincerity" attitude is a quality that university administrators must possess.

In this article, Pan Guangdan also talked about another principle of university management, which is to "make professors get spiritual peace." Because "a professor's task is half to teach students, and half to his specialized knowledge. Continue to use kung fu in the world, and strive to achieve perfection, and the first condition for studying kung fu is to live in peace." This opinion is not only suitable for older professors, but also for young teachers.Because learning is different from other things, it needs to calm down, get rid of distracting thoughts, and study for many years before you can gain something. Pan Guangdan believes that it is particularly important to clarify the difference between professors and lecturers.The so-called professor, in addition to teaching students, is more important to use his personality to influence students in daily life.In other words, a real professor cannot succumb to the secular society, eat and drink for entertainment every day, and run around to make money.Because of this, Pan Guangdan said in this article: "Schools should bring students and professors into close contact with each other. To have this kind of contact, the first condition is to enable the professor to obtain spiritual tranquility, because no tranquility , the personality cannot be fully expressed.” He also said that due to the limited number of famous professors, many universities rushed to invite them, which made them exhausted every day and had no time to study.As for the students, they can only meet once in get out of class, and there is no chance to contact them after class.Therefore, he believes that this kind of professor who "speaks once to the east and once to the west, counts a few dollars for each lecture, and leaves after the lecture" is completely a money-making machine. In terms of teaching effect, it is similar to a phonograph; , is no different from an artist who walks the rivers and lakes. In 1932, Pan Guangdan pointed out in the article "Education and the Breaking of Prejudice": "Education has two major purposes. One is to teach people to know themselves, especially the limitations of their abilities. The other is to teach people to get rid of prejudices and be less subject to The blinding of prejudice." He believes that because we always focus on the adjustment of the school system and curriculum setting, and do not pay attention to the problem of knowing ourselves and breaking the prejudice, we have cultivated a large number of young people who have no judgment.These people learned the skills of hearsay and parroting in school, but after leaving school, they can only follow the crowd and follow what others say. In order to let students know themselves and avoid being deceived, he pointed out in "A New Theory of Perfect Education" that schools should promote the education of "value awareness".The cultivation of this kind of value consciousness can make people identify the true and false, distinguish between good and evil, and distinguish between benefits and harms.That is to say, if you only have a lot of knowledge but no sense of value, you will not have the ability to distinguish right from wrong, and you will be blinded by various prejudices. During the Anti-Japanese War, Pan Guangdan still insisted on this view.In his book "The Road to Freedom", he regards self-knowledge and self-control as the two prerequisites for freedom.He believes that as long as these two conditions are met, freedom will come unexpectedly, and no one can take it away.Without these two conditions, no matter how high the tone is, it is empty talk. It can be seen that merely mastering a large amount of knowledge will not only fail to change one's destiny, but will also lead to being deceived. Pan Guangdan was lame. When he was in Tsinghua University, his one leg became a feature and he was famous, but no one felt his disability.He was quick and easy, and made a joke of himself walking on crutches.Once when it was snowing, a little boy saw the footprints of Pan Guangdan on the snow, thinking it was some small animal, he followed the footprints until he found Pan Guangdan.He said that he found this kind of footprints several times on campus, and they didn't look like puppies or cats. It turned out to be you!Pan Guangdan told the story to his family when he got home, and praised the child for his drive to find out the truth. Once, Pan Guangdan talked about gourds with a friend.Pan Guangdan was lying on the bed in the hotel, sat up immediately, and suddenly asked his friend if he remembered anything special in his study.The friend understood it as soon as he heard it. He planted two gourds with side-by-side stalks and hung them on the wall of the study as treasures.But my friend pretended to be confused and said that the room was full of books.Pan Guangdan nodded, and asked what else?My friend said that there is a big inkstone, and a pen holder, hanging brushes of various sizes.Pan Guangdan asked his friend again, what else is hanging on the wall?My friends know that they can't put it on any more, so they hurriedly said that there is also your "treasure of the town house", a pair of gourds!The plaque hanging on the wall seems to be "Double Gourd Vegetarian"? Pan Guangdan became elated, and said it was wrong, called "Hulu Lianli Zhai", and then he started talking.He said that his major is eugenics and genetics, which are a bit unpopular and not taken seriously, but this is basic science, which has something to do with the plants around people and people themselves.So when he was studying in the United States, he took biology as an elective, and he didn't care if he didn't get a degree. He studied for four years. In 1934, he went to Tsinghua University to teach. There was a shelf at the door of his house. He planted vines and gourds to let them climb and enjoy the shade in summer. Two years later, a miracle happened, a pair of side-by-side gourds emerged, growing head to head, which is very rare.Pan Guangdan said that at first he was worried that the two gourds would not grow well, but he didn't know that they were very competitive, they were about the same size, and their body shape, roundness, and waist circumference were very uniform.He feels that this is the greatest reward for his study of biology.Someone asked him why the teachers and students in the Department of Biology couldn’t grow them. Pan Guangdan answered very proudly. One is because the teachers and students in the Department of Biology are all concerned about animals and plants with more research value, and they are not interested in gourds. The other is that they have not learned eugenics well. . It's one thing he's very happy with and has a good sense of humor about. In 1940, Professor Pan Guangdan served as the Dean of the Southwest Associated University. He studied eugenics and psychology at the same time.At that time, there were many rats in Yunnan, and Professor Pan suffered greatly from them, so he had to set up cages to catch them.After catching more than 10 rats a day, they beheaded and skinned them, discarded their internal organs, washed them and cut them into pieces, and asked his wife to make them into raisins.Madam frowned and asked: "Although our food is not good, we often have fish and meat. Why did you ask me to do this hard work today?" Pan Guangdan explained: "I am here for academic research, please help me." The madam had no choice but to resign herself to it.Madam has always been good at cooking food, and it is really sweet and fragrant after cooking.The professor was overjoyed, and immediately invited several colleagues and students who were studying psychology together, pretending to have caught some wild game, and wanted to share it with you.When the rat meat was brought to the table, Mr. Pan took the lead in chewing it, and all the banquet guests ate together.However, after chewing it again and again, it is impossible to tell what kind of animal it is.A guest asked: "This meat is tender and delicious, but I don't know what kind of game it is?" Pan Guangdan smiled and replied: "Rat meat." The chewed ones were spat out, and those with furrowed eyebrows and itchy throat were ready to vomit. Pan Guangdan assured again and again that there was absolutely no substance harmful to health, and set an example and continued to eat.But no matter how he persuaded him, until the meal was over, there was no one who wanted to pay attention.Professor Pan laughed loudly and said, "I got another proof in psychology." Wen Yiduo was a good friend of Pan Guangdan when he was studying at Tsinghua University. His original name was Wen Duo. During a chat, Pan Guangdan half-jokingly suggested to him that he should add the word "one" in the middle of his name. My name is Wen Yiduo now, and this is Wen Yiduo. When he learned that Pan Guangdan was studying eugenics, he told him that if the results of your research on eugenics prove that the Chinese nation should be eliminated, I will have no choice but to shoot you to death with a pistol. Humor is Pan Guangdan's unique skill.He is single-legged. When he was a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, he went out to inspect and walked with crutches. Mr. Ye Duyi took care of him.Some people made fun of him and said: "Mr. Pan's standpoint is problematic." He said: "Not only that, but my method is also problematic. The crutches I use are American." He likes to study genealogy and has read many genealogies .Someone gave him a pair of couplets: "Look for your own happiness, only his surname is the lintel." Because Pan Guangdan walked with a crutch, his friend Xu Zhimo joked that "Hu Sheng Pan Xian".Hu Sheng refers to Hu Shi; Pan Xian refers to Pan Guangdan, who is compared to Tieguai Li, one of the Eight Immortals.He also likes to travel, to challenge himself, to "go where no one else can go", and to do things that ordinary people think disabled people can't do.When speaking at the Southwest Associated University, he said about Confucius: "I admire Confucius so much." Then, he glanced at his missing leg and corrected: "I made a mistake, it should be All four bodies fall to the ground." The students laughed. Pan Guangdan paid great attention to the joy of life.In Kunming during the war, he would also create the atmosphere of the study.A large desk is self-made—the two sides are stacked horizontally and vertically with packing wooden boxes to form the table legs, and two long wooden boards are placed on top as the tabletop, just like a tailor's workbench.There are four treasures of study on the stage.There are also stones and bamboo and wood products picked up as small decorations.Because there are windows on all sides of the house, he named it "Sizhao Pavilion".Having fun while suffering, there is no shortage of literati sentiment.Although it is under the fence, the environment is quite elegant.He used the analogy of a hermit crab living in a snail shell, and made a couplet for Li Shuqing, a student who came to see him. The couplet is: The snail is big enough to hold the hermit crab, The court is waiting to plant cannas. He asked Li for advice, and Li joked with him: "Has Mrs. Pan's consent been obtained for this couplet? Otherwise, I suggest using 'Shouxiantao' instead of 'Canna'." There is no meaning of hiding the beauty in a golden house." During the smoldering years, leisure life was poor, and the staff of Tsinghua University also liked to play mahjong, so that the thieves took advantage of the air to enter without knowing it.As the provost, Pan Guangdan wrote a letter and pasted it on the doorpost of their living room, to the effect that he hoped that they would play with "speed".He also said: In fact, there is nothing wrong with playing mahjong, and it is also good for entertainment.I also like to play, occasionally play, but should find a suitable time.Finally, if you are interested, you might as well find a Sunday and go to the house to touch a few laps.His humorous criticism is sensible and emotional, and everyone smiles knowingly.Since then, the phenomenon of playing mahjong indiscriminately no longer occurs.