Chapter 54 The Principal of Zhonggong Makes an Iceman

In March 1928, just as the "New Moon" was rising by the Huangpu River, a storm broke out at the Chinese Public School in Wusong Beach, Shanghai. It was not resolved until the end of April, and the principal, He Lu, resigned.The school board pushed Hu Shi to succeed, hoping that he could come forward to maintain it and calm the trend.Due to the relationship with his alma mater, Hu Shi generously agreed to take office as the principal of Zhong Gong on April 30. After Hu Shi took over from the Chinese Public School, he had a lot of innovations.At that time, China was short of both talents and funds, so it was difficult to establish a comprehensive and large-scale university.Offcn is extremely poor in funding and is on the verge of bankruptcy. However, it has 4 colleges of literature, business, law, and science and engineering, 17 departments, and only more than 300 students.Hu Shi felt that it was necessary to abolish and reform.In his school history he said:

We felt that the scale of the subject organization established by Mr. He Lu during his tenure was too large for the economic situation of the public school. Therefore, starting from the summer vacation of the 17th year, the Faculty of Engineering and the Faculty of Law were abolished, and the rest of the departments were also abolished and reorganized. There are two colleges and seven departments for the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Social Sciences.The former Faculty of Commerce became the Department of Commerce within the Faculty of Social Sciences. The remaining six departments are the Department of Chinese Literature, the Department of Foreign Languages ​​and Literature, the Department of Philosophy, the Department of Mathematics and Physics, the Department of History and Sociology, and the Department of Political Economy. ①

This kind of reform, seeking truth from facts, and after a period of hard work, actually "rescued the school from bankruptcy and enabled it to develop greatly", so that it prospered. ② There are more than 1,300 students at most; while the whole school only has 1 accountant, 1 office worker, 1 dormitory supervisor, and a total of 14 staff members. ③Compared with some universities with bloated institutions today, it can be regarded as a streamlined administration. As the president of the university, Hu Shi attached great importance to the cultivation of students' intelligence.He set up a scholarship in Offcn to reward students for studying; he also actively advocated writing, various academic seminars, lectures and other activities.Hu Shi believes that these activities can arouse students' interest in reading and help them think and learn.He once said:

We believe that written records can help ideology and learning: it can gradually organize thoughts and make knowledge progress step by step. …The account books of merchants are often written "Diligent writing frees thinking"; in fact, diligent writing does not free me from thinking, but helps me to think. ④ Under Hu Shi's advocacy and encouragement, the school established "Wusong Monthly", and many publications such as "Wild Horse" were also established among the students, and a free, active, and lively reading atmosphere emerged. Hu Shi also attached great importance to sports, and once wrote a short song for the school sports meeting:

All the athletes come forward. Only one person is the first, and everyone must strive to be the first. It is gratifying to win, but also happy to lose. All the athletes come forward. All the athletes come together. The glory of the whole is for us to bear. To win with honor, to lose with honor. All the athletes come together. ⑤ What he values ​​is not only the physical exercise of the students, but also the cultivation of the students' character on the sports field. He hopes that the young people will develop a dignified sportsman's demeanor. For the young students with outstanding grades in the school, Hu Shi was very enthusiastic about cultivating and supporting them, and even had some preference, but he was also quite strict.At that time, Luo Ergang, a student in the College of Arts and Sciences, was usually not active at all, and he was silent in school.But he had excellent grades, won the school's first scholarship, and did a good job in his thesis on cultural history, which was appreciated by President Hu. In the summer of 1930, Rolle graduated from the outline.On the eve of graduation, he wrote a letter to Hu Shi, asking him to introduce a job.Hu Shi invited Luo Ergang to be his tutor and accepted him as his "apprentice".Luo stayed in the Hu family for five years. In addition to guiding Zuwang and Sidu brothers to study, he also helped transcribe and sort out Mr. Hu Tiehua's posthumous works, and studied historiography under the guidance of Hu Shi.Later, Luo Ergang wrote an autobiography "Records of Teacher's Humiliation", describing the life of being a "disciple" with Hu Shi during the past five years, which is quite cordial and vivid.which reads:

As soon as I entered the teacher's school, the teacher who was suitable taught me the three words "not to be careless", and I used to follow the teacher's teaching.After his wife and children came to Peiping, in order to sell manuscripts to subsidize their living, most of the articles had to be crudely produced. ...it still hurts to think about it. I am very ashamed and very grateful. Every time I publish this kind of article, I get a strict lesson from the right teacher. According to Luo Ergang's records, Hu Shi's criticisms of him were indeed severe, but the harshness can also inspire people; Hu Shi also praised and encouraged Luo's achievements. ⑦Luo Ergang later made great achievements in historiography, especially a famous scholar in the history of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.He himself believes that it is inseparable from Hu Shi's guidance and strict requirements.

Wu Han, whose name was Chun Han back then, also studied in Chinese public schools, and was also a proud student of Hu Shi.When Hu Shi taught the course of Chinese cultural history, Wu Han received Hu Shi's guidance and help, and wrote his first academic paper "The Economic Situation of the Western Han Dynasty", which was also appreciated by President Hu.Later, Hu Shi was forced to leave Zhonggong, and Wu Han also left school to go north, and was admitted to the second year of the History Department of Tsinghua University.Hu Shi also introduced him to be a "work-study student" at school

The opportunity to solve the economic difficulties; I also wrote a pair of couplets to him, which read: Think big, start small; Talk more about problems and less about doctrines. Hu Shi also wrote to encourage Wu Han, asking him to "train himself to be a scholar who can sort out the historical materials of the Ming Dynasty"; he also wrote an article in "Ta Kung Pao", hoping that college students would follow Wu Han's example and "bury their heads in reading and not ask about politics".Wu Han was indeed deeply influenced by Hu Shi at that time. He not only hung the couplets sent by Hu Shi in his room, but also wrote articles for the "Independent Review" run by Hu Shi. famous scholars. ⑧However, Wu Han is a passionate young man. Seeing the reality of darkness and corruption, how could he sit down in the library and remain indifferent? He wrote to Hu Shi and said:

In today's current situation, the leaders of the party and the country are traitorous, the government is traitorous, and the border officials are traitorous... If you look at the history of any country or dynasty, you can't find such a despicable, shameless and insane government, and it is very difficult to find such a government. A callous, unexamined citizen. He didn't dare to "confide to people with party membership" about these pains, so he confided to Hu Shi, saying that he "had been taught and guided by his master in the past", and hoped that he could "show him a path to follow" at this time. ⑨Hu Shi was helpless.Later, Wu Han changed his mind and took the opposite path to Hu Shi, becoming a strong fighter for democracy.

At that time, there was also a Ms. Wu Jianxiong among the students of the Chinese public school.Later, she studied in the United States, and Hu Shi still cared and guided her often.She finally became a famous physicist all over the world, and Hu Shi was always proud of having such a student. 10 As for Wu Jianxiong, he never forgot the teachings of Hu Shi throughout his life. In 1985, she was invited to return to her motherland to attend the celebration of her alma mater, Nanjing University. When talking about her academic experience to young graduates, she still mentioned Mr. Hu Shi’s teaching and concern for her, which was the driving force for her to be aggressive later.

In order to train students, the most important thing for universities is to hire good professors.After Hu Shi took over as the senior high school official, although restricted by various conditions, he still tried his best to recruit a group of British and American students to teach at the school, making the professors of humanities and social sciences relatively uniform.He hired professors, with Cai Yuanpei's style, no qualifications, no sects.For example, in the Department of Chinese Literature, Ma Zonghuo, a disciple of Wang Yun, taught pre-Qin literature and "Shuowen", leftist writer Bai Wei taught drama, Lu Kanru and Feng Yuanjun taught classical poetry research and interpretation, Zheng Zhenduo and Liang Shiqiu taught Western literature, etc. A young writer, Shen Congwen, taught novel creation.He also hired Mr. Gao Yihan as the dean of the Academy of Social Sciences, and Hu Shizi was also the dean of the Academy of Arts and Sciences, and also taught a course of "Cultural History".In addition to coming to the school to attend classes, discuss school affairs, and host various meetings and activities every week, he still lives in the residence of Si Feierlu in Shanghai West Ji most of the time, engaging in academic research and writing.During his two years as the principal of Zhonggong, he published the first volume of "History of Vernacular Literature", "Travel Notes on Lushan Mountain", "On Human Rights", edited and edited "Shenhui Monk's Legacy Collection", and wrote "Three Collections of Hu Shiwen Cun" Many articles in .It is self-evident that such a well-educated and hard-working principal has so many achievements in research and writing. It is self-evident what kind of good influence it will have on teachers, students and the school's style of study. Regardless of qualifications, Hu Shi hired Shen Congwen to teach at the school, which was once a good story in Chinese public schools. Shen Congwen, from Fenghuang, Hunan.He only went to elementary school and was born in the army.Later, he studied hard and created novels, which were mostly published in "Modern Review" and "Morning News Supplement", and became a pillar writer of "Modern Review", which was quite popular among readers. In the spring of 1928, Shen Congwen came to Shanghai and co-founded "Red Black" magazine and Red Black Publishing House with Ding Ling and Hu Yepin.The three of them have a deep friendship.Later, Hu Ye was frequently arrested and killed by the Kuomintang government. Shen Congwen went to various places to assist Ding Ling in trying to rescue him.But according to Shen's good friend Ms. Ding Ling: Because Shen Congwen has always had some friendship with the Crescent Society and the Modern Critic, he has always been a little envious of the gentry class. He is no longer reconciled to the life of a poor writer, nor is he satisfied with his status as a writer. He really wants to be a professor . At that time, the social status of professors was far higher than that of writers, because self-study could become a writer and engage in creation, but it was difficult to become a scholar or a professor.Shen Congwen also wanted to be a professor.But he has no academic qualifications. Although the novel is well written, it cannot be regarded as knowledge, so it is difficult to enter the threshold of university. Hu Shi originally attached great importance to Congwen. After he became the principal of Zhonggong, he hired him to teach "fiction exercises" at the school, and promoted him to be a professor.Shen Congwen was slow in speech, and he was not serious about reading when he was a child; but he was very serious about teaching. In order to give examples for students to do exercises, he used different artistic techniques at any time, wrote many works expressing different life themes, and explored various aspects of art.Most of these works were published in "New Moon" magazine and "Fiction Monthly", which is a great achievement for him teaching in Zhonggong. The greatest achievement of Shen Congwen in Zhonggong is that he found his lifelong partner——his wife, Ms. Zhang Zhaohe.It is said that this matter has something to do with President Hu Shi, and he has been helped by Hu Shi.At that time, the school was co-educational, but there were not many female students.According to the memories of Offcn alumni, Ms. Zhang Zhaohe is kind-hearted, simple and quiet, and good at ball games. She is healthy and beautiful, and is recognized as the "school belle" of Offcn.Many male students rushed to pursue her, but she rejected them all and ignored them, so they all retreated despite the difficulties.Only the teacher Shen Congwen persevered and wrote many love letters to Zhang.She ignored him at first, but then she couldn't be bothered, so she went to Jisi Feier Road to find Principal Hu.When she entered the door, Ms. Zhang had a package under her armpit; Hu Shi saw it and said with a smile, "Why do you send anything?" She opened the package and brought it to the principal, saying, "It's not a gift, it's a big gift from Mr. Shen." Pile up letters. Please take a look at the principal." Apparently, the purpose of Ms. Zhang's trip was to ask the principal to intervene and reject Mr. Shen; and said, "He is a teacher, so he cannot treat students like this!" Then he smiled and said: "Teacher-student love is not against the law. It is common in foreign countries. The principal cannot interfere." After talking for a while, Zhang Zhaohe got up to leave. Said: "You might as well reply him a letter and observe carefully later. If you think he has no malicious intentions, it's good to be a friend. Otherwise, marriage cannot be forced." President Hu spoke eloquently and became an iceman unintentionally. Shen Zhang fell in love unexpectedly and matured, and got married on September 9, 1933. Since then, the two of them have become loyal partners who share joys and sorrows through ups and downs for decades. ① "History of Chinese Public Schools", originally contained in "Graduation Album of Zhonggong Jisi", later included in "History" volume of "Hu Shi Selected Works", Taipei Wenxing Bookstore, June 1966 edition, pp. 1-10. ②The Chinese Public School Board sent a letter to Hu Shi on May 15, 1930, contained in "Hu Shi's Correspondence and Selected Letters", Beijing Zhonghua Book Company, May 1, 1979, volume 1, pp. 14-15. ③Refer to "Mr. Hu Shizhi and Chinese Public School" by Yang Lianggong, contained in Volume 2, Issue 3 of "Biographical Literature" in Taipei. Mr. Yang Lianggong was the vice-principal of China Public School at that time. He was nominated by Hu Shi and hired by the school board of directors. He worked in the school during the summer vacation of 1928. ④ "Wu Song Monthly Publishing Words", see "Three Collections of Hu Shi's Essays", Shanghai Yadong Library, June 1937, Edition 3, Volume 7, pp. 975-976. ⑤ This song was written in April 1930.It was later included in "Mr. Hu Shizhi's Poetry and Handwriting" (published by Taipei Commercial Press in December 1964), which is one of the "After Attempt Collection", titled "Song of Chinese Public School Games".Some people also call it "Healthy Children's Song". ⑥ Hu Chuan (Tiehua)'s posthumous work has not been published after it was compiled and transcribed by Luo Ergang. In December 1948, Hu Shifei took it out of Beijing, and then brought it to the United States.Among them, "diary" and "report" were published by the Taiwan Provincial Documentation Committee in May 1951. The title of the book is "Two Records of Taiwan"; later compiled according to the date as "Taiwan Diary and Revelation", 1960 Published by the Economic Research Office of the Bank of Taiwan.The above two editions are signed "Hu Chuanzhuan, edited by Hu Shi Luoergang". ⑦According to Luo Ergang's "Preface" and Hu Shi's "Preface" and "Postscript", we can know that Luo Ergang's "Teacher's Disgrace to Education" was written in March 1943. Written by the editor, Mr. Qian Shifu. In June 1944, it was printed by Guilin Jianshe Bookstore, "In less than a few days, Guilin was evacuated urgently, so in that short time, this book has not been able to meet the readers." In 1945, Luo Ergang revised the edition Handed over to Mr. Lu Jichen (Zeng Zeng), the general manager of Independent Publishing House, for reprinting; Lu asked Hu Shi to write a preface, but Hu Shi delayed writing it until August 1948, and the book was not printed. In 1952, Hu Shi went back to Taiwan to give lectures and tour. By the way, he obtained the revised manuscript of this book from Lu Tuozeng, and printed it at his own expense in 1958. In 1963, it was selected and included in the third issue of Volume 3 of "Biographical Literature" in Taipei.The quotations here are based on Biographical Literature. ⑧Refer to Jin Ruonian's "Comrade Wu Han's Stories", and see the book "Wu Han and "Hai Rui Dismissed from Office"" edited and published by People's Publishing House, August 1st edition, 1979, pages 115-116 and 121. ⑨Wu Chunhan wrote a letter to Hu Shi on January 30, 1932, see "Selected Letters from Hu Shi", Volume II, pp. 102-104. (Third Edition Note) ⑩ On February 24, 1962, Hu Shi presided over the fifth academician meeting of the "Academia Sinica" in Taipei.In the afternoon, at the reception held to welcome new and old academicians, Hu Shi delivered a speech, saying: I don't know anything about physics, but I have two students who are famous physicists all over the world.One was Rao Yutai, then director of the Physics Department of Peking University, and the other was Ms. Wu Jianxiong, who had collaborated with Li Zhengdao and Yang Zhenning to verify the "unreliability of the law of equivalence".But Wu Dayou is Rao Yutai's student, and Yang Zhenning and Li Zhengdao are Wu Dayou's students, so they should be "four generations".I think this is the most proud thing in my life, and it is also something to be proud of. ("Biography of Hundred People in the Republic of China", Volume 1, p. 207.) Shortly after speaking these words, at the end of the reception, he suffered a heart attack and fell to the ground, and died. See the "Character Interview" written by Fang Yanming, "Return to Alma Mater, Message to Future Students-Professor Wu Jianxiong Talks about Academic Research", published in the overseas edition of "People's Daily" in Beijing on July 18, 1985. Ms. Wu Jianxiong, originally studied at a public school in China, and later transferred to Central University. After liberation, it was renamed Nanjing University.Therefore, China Public School and Nanjing University are the alma maters of Ms. Wu Jianxiong. Ding Ling's "A Real Man's Life—Records of Hu Yepin", November 1950, published in the preface of "Selected Works of Hu Yepin's Novels", Beijing People's Literature Publishing House, 1954 edition, p. 9. Shen Congwen's teaching position in China Public School was recalled by the vice-principal at the time as "professor", see Note ③; however, Li Xiong, a student of the public school at the time, recalled that Shen was a "lecturer" ("Respect for Mr. Hu Shizhi", contained Taipei "Chang Liu" bimonthly, Volume 25, Issue 3).Yin Zaiqin, a mainland scholar, wrote "Comments on the New Moon School" (Shaanxi People's Publishing House, 1985 edition), saying that He Qifang was influenced and appreciated by Shen Congwen when he was studying at China Public School in Shanghai. Lecturer", I do not know what evidence.It is inconvenient for the author to ask Mr. Shen about such matters, so I will follow Yang's theory, and I will save Li and Yin's second theory for future reference. See Li Xiong's "Respect for Mr. Hu Shizhi" and Cheng Wai's "Shen Congwen and Hu Shi" (in "Free Man" on May 4, 1957).