Chapter 11 Beihai Conversation (excerpt) (early summer of 1927)

On the other hand, today's schools are mostly a complete set of mechanical functions, and the class is in and out of class, making people dizzy.Most of the people who enter the school do not have the so-called will, nor do they have the opportunity to do other things except for the purpose of obtaining a diploma.Aspiring young people, although not caught in this phenomenon, have no way of jumping out of the trap, so the demand for reforming education is becoming more and more urgent day by day.I have been a professor at Tsinghua University for the past two years. Of course, I came here with my own ambitions. I really want to join the old spirit in this new institution.My ideal may be too difficult and not easy to realize. I want to use the cultivation of Chinese Confucianism and Taoism as the foundation, and embody it in school homework.Among the different schools of Confucianism in the past, you can be one of them, but you must have this kind of cultivation to lay the foundation, and you must first lay the foundation for being a person.I believe that if there is no such foundation for life, then learning is not for oneself.As for knowledge, of course scientific methods must be used to study it, but what I hope is that science should not only be used to acquire knowledge, but also be used as a tool for self-cultivation of personality.How do you say this sentence?For example, when studying a problem, how to be faithful in attitude, how patient in work, how to be independent in opinion, and how to arrange and organize in a reasonable and meticulous way...all of these are seeking knowledge and cultivation of Taoism at the same time. The two become one.In today's schools in the world, perfection is on the side of knowledge, while old gentlemen are all on the side of self-cultivation, so it's unavoidable to lose space.So we have to consider between the two.What I hope most is that when I seek knowledge, I don’t forget that my method of learning can be used as a tool for self-cultivation; on the other hand, when I am cultivating, it is not an empty cultivation of Zen and meditation, but as Wang Yangming said. temper.Training in matters cannot be practiced until you leave school and enter the society, because school is a society in the first place. In addition to using scientific methods as a tool for training, such as the way of getting along with friends, and even everything in accordance with the situation, He Yi is not an opportunity for us to work hard.I really wanted to make Tsinghua an ideal experimental site, but according to the experience of the past two years, I didn't achieve much of my goal.The first reason is that the national style of study is eager for quick success and instant benefit, and flaunts fragments of knowledge. When it comes to the cultivation of Confucianism and Taoism, people think it is too pedantic.In such an atmosphere, it is really not easy to fight a bloody way with a very small number of people in a school.The second thing is that Tsinghua University has its own history and its own ethos. I am just one of dozens of teachers, and it is very difficult for one person to do anything before the majority of teachers are invited to cooperate.The third thing is that I myself have too many hobbies in knowledge. When I lecture in the classroom and talk with you in the private room, most of them are too busy with fragments of knowledge, and I can't concentrate on one point.For this reason, the achievements in the past two years cannot be as expected.

I am especially sorry for my classmates. Those who choose my homework in the university department rarely have the opportunity to talk to me except for listening to lectures in class.The form of the research institute is very similar to the Dalton system of education. Everyone studies their own hobbies and asks professors to guide them.To be honest, I don’t have any special expertise in any knowledge, so I also know about the work of other students. Of course, I am very happy to help them. Maybe some of our classmates have more professional work than me. Well done, that's not a polite word.A professor in a foreign research institute can really guide research in a narrow range of knowledge, and he doesn't care about other than this narrow range.But my status in the research institute today is bad.My classmates thought I knew everything, so they came to ask me every day very intimately, but I felt ashamed that I didn't help enough.But even so, my hope is still very strong, and I still try my best to continue.what hope?Assuming that I am asked to guide the highest state of a certain knowledge, I simply cannot. It can be said that my in-depth research on specialized knowledge is better than mine among our colleagues and professors, and I cannot catch up with him.But I would rather talk about the methods of learning in the lecture hall every day, or the method used by a classmate in the past is not quite right, I can slightly correct it, or he has already obtained the method, which can be a considerable subsidy.In terms of knowledge, I can say that I have some hints to the students. Maybe the students get the hint from me, they can get the way of learning, or they can increase their courage a little.

Another point is that I dare not say that I have achieved something in my own life, but until now, I feel that I still want to improve every day, in terms of training and expanding my personality, since I was young, I dare not relax at all.I don't dare to say how much personality influence I have on the students, but I always try my best so that there will be no bad influence on the students.All the classmates look at my daily life, talk and laugh every day, all kinds of trivial life, or they can be quite hints or models for my classmates. At least everyone can feel this. I have been there for a long time.People in their fifties are not willing to let go of their own work, and they are not willing to slack off. They are used to seeing this every day, which can also give us students a lot of courage.Therefore, if I stay in school for one more year, all of our classmates can get another year of education, so my volunteering is not in vain.

How bad the situation in China is now, and how it will change in the future, no one dares to speculate.In the current authorities, which one is hopeful?Which party is promising?So is China sinking?No, never.If we think this way, then we are too unambitious and unmotivated.What ordinary people are doing badly now, of course future generations must correct it, even if ordinary people are doing well now, future generations must continue to do so.The people in the school now are of course the backbone of China in the future, but are the people in the school ready?What are you prepared to take on this major responsibility?Intellectual abilities are necessary, but moral belief—not religion—is absolutely essential.The current situation is so bad, is it because of lack of knowledge and ability?To be honest, what bad things are not done by intellectuals!Nowadays, most people don't believe in the existence of morality at all, and want to wipe out the remnants left by him.

When we look back at the self-cultivation of people like Zeng Wenzheng decades ago, they saw that the society at that time was also very bad. On the one hand, they strictly restrained themselves and did not run away from the evil society, and at the same time they used this point to talk to friends. Encouraging each other, pondering like this every day, you can find out from the letters they exchanged, and write when they meet each other, so they use it to learn from each other and observe the persuasion. Those who are always so persevering, so loyal, so enduring and responsible. ... These words seem to be very common, but they only use these Mandarin to train themselves, not afraid of difficulties, not stealing tricks, starting from themselves, setting a standard, expanding, and gradually responding to requests , Expanding to general friends, over time it will create a trend, when the situation is out of hand, they have to let them come out to clean up.So nerds like Zeng, Hu, Jiang, and Luo were actually able to do this great work, and after Xianfeng, they actually changed the atmosphere, creating an ideal moral society when they were nerds.It's a pity that Jiang Gong and Luo Gong died a little earlier, and soon Hu Gong also died, leaving Zeng Wenzheng alone, and his energy has also declined in his later years.The successor of Zeng Wenzheng is Li Wenzhong. He did not use the moral reform policy of Zeng, Hu, Jiang, and Luo at all, but replaced his utilitarian reform policy.His intellectual ability is indeed stronger than Zeng Wenzhenggong, and he only rewards a group of people who have only talents and no morals.After him is Yuan Xiangcheng, then he will intensify and blatantly promote a kind of politician with no personality as his minion, and the world will be very bad.Gu Tinglin criticized the fact that the fame of the Eastern Han Dynasty was not cultivated for hundreds of years, and it was more than destroyed by Cao Cao alone, which is exactly the same.

Mr. Li Wenzhong's meritorious men are based on fame, and they are better than those who regard wealth as their standard. It would be unimaginable to pass it on.His father murdered for revenge, and his son must rob.Yuan Xiangcheng regards wealth as the standard.Zeng, Hu, Jiang, and Luo's achievements in advocating morality, integrity, and honesty have been wiped out.It's a pity that they spent most of their lives, and they seemed to have some clues, but they were completely wiped out by the party members below Li Wenzhong, and none of them remained. It is no wonder that the civil strife in China has increased in the past few decades.On the one hand, many other parties, factions, and doctrines have been imported from foreign countries. . . .For example, Mr. Sun Yat-sen is dead now. I don’t want to have any harsh comments on him, and I also have a lot of admiration for him personally-but Sun Yat-sen is much better than Yuan Xiangcheng, but at least it is also the path Li Hongzhang took. .Especially his party views, no matter what kind of good people, if they don't join his party, they will be scolded; no matter what bad people, once they join his party, they will immediately become very good people.It is true that the prosperity of the Kuomintang depends on the speculation of such speculators, and the fatal injuries in the future will all be among such people, this sentence seems to be certain.

Now that all moral standards have been completely destroyed, and at the same time we dissect the trend of modern thought, we will not fall outside the scope of these two schools: one is Yuan Shikai's school, and the other is Sun Yat-sen's school.On the other hand, the old gentlemen don't know how to save them, they talk about ethics every day, and they have just been regarded as material for jokes by ordinary young people, and they look down on him.Let's try to see what kind of self-cultivation Zeng Wenzheng and others were at that time. Is it like this?The conditions for their cultivation are self-denial, how to deal with things, and how to change the atmosphere... Start with individuals, friends and a few people, and do it step by step in a sincere and down-to-earth manner, without any relaxation.We can see it when we read Zeng's "Yuan Cai".Although the atmosphere is bad, I should first transform myself, and then transform my friends and friends of friends. Find one is the other, and if you continue to work hard like this, you will definitely have considerable success.Assuming that Zeng Wenzheng and Hu Wenzhong died decades later, perhaps their success would be permanent.Assuming that Li Wenzhong and Yuan Xiangcheng also follow this path, perhaps this trend can still be seen until now.However, the current society must be reformed. If he is not reformed, it is a great shame for us to see him sinking.But who will reform him?You're welcome, it's my generation, who will reform if we don't reform?To transform the society, we must first do it from the aspect of personal conduct, and then to others, one, two... or even tens of millions. As long as I keep working hard, I will not end without results.Jiang and Luo Zhugong, we know that he is a country gentleman, why does he have such a great career?At this point, I have great hopes for my classmates. What do I hope for?I hope that students will take reforming the social atmosphere as their own responsibility.

As for success?It cannot be said.There is no rest in the world, and I believe that we will not have a day of absolute success.If we can work partly, we will achieve partly. The worst thing is not to do it.In particular, we must not forget this sentence, we must not follow the trend of the society and spread its waves, feed its bad and drink its sweets.Otherwise, the society will get worse and worse, and the worst will be unimaginable.At least I have the power to make some corrections. As for whether the opportunity will come or not, it cannot be said, but no matter whether there is an opportunity or not, our determination to improve society must never be relaxed.So I hope that our classmates will not say that my strength is too small, or that we have no kung fu in school.In fact, as long as you have as much power and responsibility as you can.As for you, no matter where you are, you are always a member of society, and you should do your part, and I will do my part, and the power will be greater. In the future, no matter in politics, or education, or culture, or In terms of social undertakings...and in all other aspects, you can build your expected new undertakings and create your ideal new atmosphere, and our China may not just sink.This is a word about character cultivation.

As for the cultivation of knowledge—improving myself in terms of academic writing, because I am personally particularly interested in historiography, I once had an ambition to remake a piece of Chinese history. Now I know that this is definitely not a good idea. What can be achieved by human power cannot be achieved without division of labor and cooperation.Therefore, I am at Tsinghua University for the same purpose. I hope to use my method to meet a few friends who have the same interest as me, to work together, and to work hard faithfully and practically.I often think this way, assuming that there are about 20 or 30 comrades, with 20 or 30 years of work, they can finally get a better Chinese history.I have been in Tsinghua for two years, and I can always say that I have already got a few. In the future, they will either gather together or be scattered in various places, but there is a possibility of cooperation in the end. I hope that they will get some help from my hints. several times stronger.

To sum it up, there are two points mentioned above: (1) It is the way of being a human being—creating a new person in society who does not follow the trend of the times. (2) The method of doing learning—creating a kind of Chinese learning that adapts to the new trend in the academic world. This is the purpose of my stay at Tsinghua, although I dare not say that my purpose has been met, and I have finally gained a few good friends. This is also a point of comfort for myself. Today is the day when the year is almost over. When the weather is fine, I will invite all the students to gather here. I hope that the students here can fully understand these two points—being a man and learning—and work hard to move forward ah.