When I was in the High School Affiliated to Beijing Normal University, every year the dean of the school had a grade report, saying how many people we graduated this summer, how many people were admitted to Peking University, how many people were admitted to Tsinghua University, how many people I was admitted to Nanyang Jiaotong University—that is, Shanghai Jiaotong University.Although we are from the High School Attached to Normal University, he didn’t even report how many people were admitted to Normal University. At that time, people probably thought that these three schools were the best, so I always thought in my mind that I would go to university in the future. You should go to these three schools.

In the autumn of 1939, I reported to the Southwest Associated University in Kunming. As soon as I arrived, I felt that the weather in Kunming was extremely beautiful. The sky was so clear that even Beijing rarely saw such a good blue sky.In Guizhou, it rains all day long, and there are almost no sunny days. Although it also rains in Yunnan, it clears up after the rain, and the sun comes out very beautifully, and the mood is also very good.Moreover, Yunnan is not like Guizhou, which has poor mountains and bad waters. Except for mountains, there are mountains. Yunnan has a large stretch of plains, which makes people cheerful.Of course, there is one more important reason: the environment is different.The three schools of the United Nations University used to be from the north. Beijing and Tianjin were not areas directly controlled by the Kuomintang. They had a tradition of freedom and slack. In Yunnan, they were protected by local forces and maintained their original style. Personal behavior is absolutely free. .There is no roll call, no singing in line, no need to shout slogans, no one cares about getting up early and going to bed late, no one cares about not going to class, and no one even asks if someone disappears.One advantage of freedom is that you can do what you like to do. For example, you only read the books you like, listen to the lectures you like, and don’t read or listen to the ones you don’t like.This style is very much in line with my appetite.

Academician Zou Chenglu is a student of Southwest Associated University and has made great contributions to biochemistry. They were the ones who succeeded in making insulin, which was a sensation in the 1960s.I read an interview with a reporter. The reporter asked: "Why were the conditions so poor at that time, and Southwest Associated University was not big, but it cultivated so many talents?" His answer was very simple, just two words: freedom.I feel the same way.The most beautiful thing in life in those years was freedom. No matter what I did, I could follow my own interests. What I watched, listened to, and thought about, no one interfered, let alone ideological education.At that time, we had classmates with various standpoints, but we were very casual in private, and there was no big ideological or political barrier.In the dormitory there were students of all levels from various departments. It was fine at night, and everyone was talking nonsense for a while. Some scolded Chiang Kai-shek, and some supported Chiang Kai-shek from the Three Youth League. They could debate, sometimes fiercely. Still good.

Of course, the quality of the students is also important. The quality of the students of the Union is indeed good, but what is more important is the academic atmosphere. "Talents come out from generation to generation." There will always be talents, and there will be no difference in every era and every country. The problem is whether to give them the conditions for free development.In my opinion, a so-called good system should allow people's freedom to the maximum extent.Without the freedom to seek knowledge, the freedom to think, and the development of personality, there is no personal creativity, and the original ability of the individual is actually the real primary productive force.If everyone can only chant and memorize scriptures, and say the same thing, it is impossible to produce any results.Of course, absolute freedom is impossible. Doing whatever one wants will infringe others, but within this scope, the greater the freedom of the individual, the better.

I have a very close relationship with my alma mater, Southwest Associated University. My two older sisters are from this school, my younger sister is from this school, my brother-in-law and brother-in-law are from this school, and my wife is also from this school, so this school and My relationship is pretty close.One of the two older sisters studied chemistry, the other studied economics, and the younger sister studied Chinese. Later, she committed suicide at Renmin University. Now there is only one older sister in the United States (note: Mr. He’s eldest sister died in the United States in March 2005).I myself spent seven years (from the age of eighteen to twenty-five) at the Southwest Associated University from 1939 to 1946, which is exactly the period when a person matures.

I studied in four departments at Southwest Associated University—but none of them succeeded. When I was filling out the application for the high school unified examination, I asked a classmate: "What major are you taking?" It’s like you should study science and engineering if you can study well.” Because at that time, people thought that only those who were worthless would study liberal arts, which reflected the social atmosphere at that time, so I studied engineering in the first year and entered the department of civil engineering.It’s quite interesting to say that when I was in middle school, I didn’t even think about what major I would study in the future. I just read Feng Zikai’s "Western Architecture Speech", which covered everything from Greek and Roman temples to medieval church buildings. Interesting, so I wanted to study architecture.In the first year of university, regardless of major, they all take public compulsory courses in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, such as elementary calculus and general physics, these two are the most important, as well as projective geometry and cartography.I studied hard in the first semester, but in the second semester, I was not interested in these, so I decided to change my career and began to consciously supplement some liberal arts knowledge.

At that time, it was very convenient to transfer majors, as long as the credits were enough, I could transfer at will. I wanted to study liberal arts, but for some reason I chose the Department of History. I can’t remember why now. Maybe there are two potential reasons.First, when I was a child in Beijing, I saw many imperial palaces and gardens. From Xiangshan Mountain to Peking University and Tsinghua University, there are all royal gardens, which makes people "think of the past".Second, it was a time of national calamity. Elementary school was "September 18th", middle school was the Sino-Japanese War, and just entering university was World War II. I was also very concerned about the fate of mankind, thinking that studying history would help me understand this issue better.

However, I have never been very interested in tedious historical research.Some practical historians or professional historians often start from a small place to research a small thing. For example, red scholars researched the year when Cao Xueqin died, and it was really exhausting to find all possible materials. Heart effort, so far there is no conclusion.However, I think that even if one day spends a lot of energy to find out the year of Cao Xueqin's death, it does not mean that he understands history.Moreover, Mr. Feng Wenqian’s teaching on the history of Western philosophy gave me a lot of inspiration, and made me feel that to truly understand history, you must elevate it to the level of philosophy. It doesn't necessarily mean you understand history.I think this is the case with any science. In the end, someone must make a theoretical summary, otherwise it can only stay at a purely technical level.Of course, purely technical work is also valuable, but that is not what I want. What I want is to gain a comprehensive and highly specific understanding through studying history.Xiang Yu said: "Books can tell people's names." During the war, what we care about is the fate of human beings. I thought we could find the answer from history. In the Qin, Han, Sui and Tang Dynasties, I wanted to explore the depths of history, so I studied history.

Some things are fun to say.After liberation, the faculties were adjusted, and Feng Youlan stayed at Peking University for decades. From the perspective of organizational relations, he was from Peking University and should donate his books to Peking University after his death, but he donated it to Tsinghua University instead.Mr. Liu Chongyu died in Taiwan, and his books were also donated to Tsinghua University, but not to National Taiwan University, which also seems to be out of the ordinary.I guess, probably they feel that the most beautiful and satisfying period of their lives was in Tsinghua University, so they are willing to donate their books to Tsinghua University.I am also in my eighties now. Looking back on the most beautiful time in my life, it was the seven years in the United Nations University, four years of undergraduate studies, and three years of postgraduate studies.Of course, it was also a period of very difficult material life, but happiness is not equal to material life, especially not equal to having a lot of money, so where is the beauty?

I think there are two conditions for happiness. One is that you must feel that your personal future is bright and beautiful, but this is very vague, very hazy, and not necessarily a clear goal.On the other hand, the prospect of the whole society must also be better day by day. If the society as a whole is corrupt, it is impossible for individuals to be truly happy.These two conditions happened to exist at the same time when I was in school. It was the time of war, but because of the war, I seemed to intuitively, vaguely, but very definitely believed that the war would definitely be won, and after victory, it would be A very beautiful world must be able to live a very beautiful life.At that time, I was not alone. I believe that most young people have this vague feeling.People always live by hope, and these two hopes are the most fundamental, so even though material life was very hard at that time, they felt very happy.