Chapter 251 my college career
This is the fifth part of my autobiography (1. My hometown. 2. My childhood. 3. I went to Beijing. 4. I entered Beiman Middle School.) Each paragraph is only a few thousand words, because I am not used to It is better to write narrative articles, and the memories are all fragmentary details, which are too cumbersome to put together.But in my essays, there are relatively few descriptions about this period, but this period is the most lively, active and energetic period in my life.
After graduating from Beiman Zhongzhai, I went directly to Kyowa Women's University.I chose the pre-science department because I wanted to study medicine wholeheartedly. I worked very hard on math, physics, and chemistry, and my grades were good.As for Chinese, because most of the Chinese teachers hired by missionary schools at that time were scholars or juren from the Qing Dynasty, they all talked about ancient prose that I had read in my family school or myself, and they would not quote from outsiders when they lectured. Very boring.When I entered the science department, I immersed myself in studying hard. The school life was as quiet as still water. There was only one thing that I will never forget!
I entered the gate of Xiehe Women's University in the late summer and early autumn. This Xiehe Women's University was originally Tong Wang's mansion in the Qing Dynasty. When I looked up in front of the gate, I saw the "Concord Women's University School" written by Ms. Wu Zhiying, a female calligrapher at that time. A plaque with gold lettering and blue ground lace.
Walking into the second gate, I suddenly saw a large scarlet rose blooming under the long corridor of the auditorium converted from the first three halls of the palace!These roses caught my eyes for the first time, and I have been in love with this flower for the rest of my life. I think it is a beautiful and strong flower, and it seems that she has opened the most splendid page of my life.
The science homework is rigorous, and the new classmates come from all over the world, most of whom are several years older than me.In addition to the classmates who were promoted from Beiman Girls' High School, I also met many classmates.At that time my younger brothers were also in school.In college, I was still a day student. Every day after dinner, I would sit at the dining table with my younger brothers. While reviewing the lessons by myself, I would help them with their studies. When I saw that they were sleepy, I would stand up and play games with them.When I woke up in the morning and combed my hair, I also urged them to "endorse".Looking back now, during these most monotonous days, I only remember a strong sandstorm during this period. At that time, there was a proverb in Beijing that "there is no wind, three feet of soil, and there is rain, and there is mud on the street". Needless to say, and the streets are completely paved with loess, so I have to wash my face and neck first after school every day.I remember that one afternoon, we were in the laboratory, led by an American female teacher, dissecting a dead cat. Suddenly, there was a strong wind, the sky was covered with dust, and the lights were turned off. Even the nerves of the cat that had been injected with red medicine, Can't see it.The teacher could only frown and say:
"Cover the dead cat with a cloth and put it in the cupboard. Let's talk about it tomorrow when it's sunny." At this time, the students who lived on campus ran back to their rooms.I wrapped a thick turban around my shoulders and bowed my head in the dust blowing on my face. I walked home in the dark, and saw that the sand on the window sill on the porch of my house was at least two inches thick!
In fact, such windy and sandy days were not uncommon in Beijing at that time, but because my school life suddenly became busy and busy, I couldn't remember the change of the weather!
The tense and serious days of studying in the pre-science department only lasted for more than half a year. In the second year—1919—the "May 4th Movement" started. Although I was a "college student" with a very low class number, All of a sudden, I was involved in this exciting and great movement.I have written a lot about this section, so I won't say more here.What I want to say is that I started to write some things again because I participated in sports, and I missed a lot of homework for science experiments. Fortunately, the science teachers were still understanding. I finished two years of science in a perfunctory manner, and then transferred to liberal arts. Also promoted a class!
After changing to liberal arts, homework is much easier!It was this year—1920, when Xiehe Women's University merged with Luhe University in Tongzhou and Xiehe University in Beijing to form Yenching University.The principal is Leighton Stuart.Our Xiehe Women's University was renamed "Yan University Girls' School".Some subjects are taught in boys' schools, such as "Philosophy" and "Education", and some are taught in girls' schools, such as "Sociology" and "Psychology".
When we were in the boys' school, we all went to the armor factory where the boys' school was located.At that time, co-educational schools were still a very new thing, so we were all very cautious. Before going to the boys' school, we all took care to remove the rosettes we wore on our heads.Before and after class, it is also easy to talk to male students.They also seem very coy.Generally, we sit quietly in the first row in class, but when the male student sitting behind us puts his feet on the horizontal bar under our chair and shakes, we push the chair forward vigorously. Pull, their feet suddenly hit the ground with a bang.Of course we didn't look back, but we all held back our laughter. I don't know if they stuck out their tongues and laughed?
But the few of us who have positions in the student unions of the whole school can't help but often come into contact with boys, such as the editorial department of the school magazine and class meetings.We often held meetings. At that time, there was a "guardian" system in girls' schools. Whether it was day or night, with a few people or dozens of people, there would always be a teacher behind our meeting place, most of whom were female teachers. The book is reading quietly.All this, even teachers and students feel boring and ridiculous!
I am not afraid of boys!I was used to being with my cousins since I was a child, and every time I quarreled and fought, I won the "final victory". When I returned home, there were often a dozen boys from my younger brothers' classmates surrounding me.It’s just that my female classmates are very humble, and I don’t dare to “stand out”. But after getting to know each other, the male classmates said that I was “good or bad” to my face. Those who said these words were Xu Dishan and Qu Shiying (Ju Nong) People like Xiong Fuxi and Xiong became good friends with me later.
At this time, I was in the "Student Self-Government Association" of Yanda Girls' School, and I had a lot of tasks!There are many committees in the council—even a meal committee!Because I didn't live on campus, I was naturally not asked to participate, but I was assigned to other committees!At that time, what we were most enthusiastic about was doing social welfare work, and every time we set up a welfare work, the "self-government association" had to raise funds by itself.The most convenient and easy way is to act and sell tickets!I remember that we played many "Shakespeare" plays, such as, etc. At that time, "Shakespeare" was being read in our English class, and the American female teachers were very enthusiastic to help us rehearse, design costumes, props, etc., we The acting is also very serious and hardworking. I remember that once Mr. Lu Xun and the Russian blind poet Ai Luoxianke came to our play—I forgot which one—Mr. Lu Xun wrote an article saying that Mr. Ai Luoxianke said that our performance was better than that in Beijing at that time. A certain play in college was much better.Therefore, he and his Peking University classmates also caused a debate. The Peking University classmates said that Mr. Ai Luoxianke is blind, how can he "see" whether the play is good or bad?I only had one conversation with Mr. Lu Xun, and it was very short, because I was in charge of inviting famous people to give speeches. I remember that I invited Mr. Lu Xun, Mr. Hu Shi, and Mr. Wu Yifang... I presided over the speech meeting and introduced the keynote speaker to the audience. From then on, I just sat on the podium and listened to the lectures—my contact with Mr. Lu Xun was just this one time, and I don’t know which classmate Mr. Lu Xun bought the theater tickets from.
The fundraising for this play seems to be that we will volunteer to open a "Phonetic Alphabet" class for illiterate women in Tongfu near the school.The self-government association sent me to be the principal.I have never learned phonetic alphabets myself, but being appointed as the principal means finding a "school building"—in fact, renting an empty house on the street—enrolling students, hiring teachers—that is, hiring someone who can teach phonetic alphabets My classmates - I will take care of everything.All of this went smoothly.On the first day of school, I went to "teaching", and saw that all the people sitting in front of the podium were middle-aged women, except for a very smart and pretty girl sitting on the right in the front row.After the class, I went to talk to her, and she said: "My name is Tong Zhiyun, I am eighteen years old, I can read, but I also want to learn phonetic alphabet."
I think she might be a descendant of King Tong.She asked me: "Principal, how old are you?" I smiled and said, "How much older than you anyway!"
At this time, Yanda Girls' School had formed a "sister school" with Wellesley College for Women in the United States.There are several teachers in our girls' school, all of whom are graduates of Wei's school.I forget what year it was, but it must have been in the early 1920s. The headmistress of Weiss School came to visit our school, stayed for a few days, and received a grand welcome.One day she—I forgot her name—suddenly asked to see the wedding ceremony in ancient Beijing, and the director of the female school asked the students to perform once to open her eyes.This matter naturally fell on the members of our self-government committee. Apart from not taking the sedan chair, other clothes such as phoenix coronets, boots, mandarin jackets, etc. were also easily borrowed, but no one was willing to allocate actors. Be a bride.I was in charge of this task again, so I was in a hurry, and I said, "This is not true, it's just a play on the occasion. You don't take it seriously, and I don't wait for 'the order of the parents, the words of the matchmaker', I just take it as it is." Already!" So I played the bride.Ling Shuhao - Ling Shuhua's younger sister, became the groom.The new wives are Chen Kejun and Xie Lanhui.The father-in-law and mother-in-law are played by a big sister Zhang and a big sister Li, both students in the senior class, and I still remember their faces.They played the Belgian writer Maeterlinck's fairy tale "The Blue Bird" later, and they still became my grandpa and grandma, but I couldn't remember their names after trying hard for a long time!
That night, there was a lot of excitement in the staff dormitory of the girls' school, with firecrackers set off and drums played.We kowtowed a lot!When it was time to sit on the bed and spread the tent, Shuhao and I couldn't help laughing inside the tent, Kejun and Lanhui were so anxious that they covered our mouths!
Among the plays I have acted, my favorite is "Blue Bird". I translated the script from English, and I also selected the actors. I also went to Peiyuan Girls Primary School and invited a few elementary school students. I was at the Xishan Summer Club The kids I know.In the "My Classmates" I wrote in that book, I wrote the conversation with Chen Kejun in the "Bright Palace".There is also a puppy in this play, so I brought my Pekingese long-haired dog "Lion" on stage.My little brother Bing Ji was afraid that we would tie up the "lion" with a rope, so he followed him personally, holding it and sitting quietly in the background. When it was put on the stage and saw me, it would go I was so happy that I jumped up and down around me, which caused laughter from the audience.
In short, my college career was busy enough, but I did not delay my study and writing.My teachers are very kind to me, especially my English teacher Grace Bognton. In the spring of my graduation year, she told me that Wellesley University for Women has decided to give me a two-year scholarship—— It is 800 US dollars per year for study, accommodation and board, so that I can study for a master's degree - she herself is a graduate of Wellesley, and her mother and several of her younger sisters are also graduates of the prestigious university. We are a family of Wei school - she has a deep affection for her alma mater, praised the beauty of the campus and the good school spirit, and asked me if I wanted to go, of course I would.But I want to go there for two years. I don't know if there will be any accidents to my frail and sick mother during these two years.I didn't tell anyone about my worries. I just quietly asked Dr. Sun Yanke, the doctor we are most familiar with. He is a close friend of my younger uncle, Mr. Yang Ziyu.Later, Dr. Sun always came in to visit me every time he passed by my house on a visit to other places, so we got to know each other very well.He called my father "Third Brother" and my mother "Third Sister-in-law". Sometimes only our children were at home, and he would sit down and laugh with us.I asked him if my mother was not in good health, could I be away from home for two years?He smiled and said, "Of course, your mother's health is not too bad, and I am responsible for everything."At the same time, Ms. Bao also wrote a letter to my father, asking him if he would let me go?My father replied to her a letter very politely, saying that as long as she thought I would not let down the cultivation of her alma mater, he agreed with me to go to the United States.I was too embarrassed to disclose all this to my classmates at the time, and I was still busy with my extracurricular social welfare work.
Those few years were also troubled times in the family. I remember that in my last year of middle school (?), my uncle, Mr. Yang Zijing, passed away.He is my mother's only biological brother.The relationship between the two brothers and sisters is very good.When my father was called to Beijing, my mother also asked my uncle to come to Beijing to teach my three younger brothers as tutors.But my uncle didn’t live with us. They lived in Iron Lion Alley not far from Zhongjianzi Alley.
Suddenly one morning, my uncle's mother Bai came to my mother angrily and told my mother that since yesterday afternoon, my uncle has had a severe stomachache and has been vomiting all night, and now he can no longer speak.I think the disease may be acute appendicitis. ——At that time, his father was not at home, and he returned to Fuzhou to celebrate his grandfather's 80th birthday. ——When mother and us arrived, uncle had already passed away.This accident was really like a bolt from the blue, we all cried till we were dry!My mother was still able to manage the funeral affairs calmly. This was the first time in my life that I saw a dead person encoffined!My eldest brother, Wei Han, also whispered to me, "It's better to make a hole on the side near the head of the big box that holds the uncle, so that he won't be able to breathe out there." I cried even more sadly, and I Said, "If he can still breathe, he won't have to be put in a coffin!"
I remember that when my father returned to Fuzhou, I wrote a few poems to congratulate my grandfather on his birthday, and I asked him to take them home. Now I only remember one poem: it happened to be the eighth year of the Taigong. It's all crooked poetry, written to help laugh.
When my father came back from Fuzhou, my aunt and cousins had already moved into the three rooms in the west wing of my house, the room where my uncle taught my younger brothers to read.Since then, my younger brother has also entered elementary school.
Afterwards, when I was in college, a telegram came from my home in Fuzhou saying that my grandfather had passed away. This was another great blow to us!My father went to the funeral in the starry night, and I suddenly remembered that when I left my hometown in 1912, my grandfather quietly handed over a few elegiac couplets he wrote to me for storage, saying, "No one is allowed to read, and the future Take it out when it's useful."I really put it away tightly, even my parents didn't know.Only then did I take it out and give it to my father to bring back. There are several pairs of elegiac couplets.There is a couplet to the effect that he should not recite scriptures after his death, because he does not believe in gods, and he believes that he has not committed any wrongdoing in his life. I don't remember how he wrote it.There is one couplet that I remember very clearly, it is:
No official, no burden, no debt, light, light, light.
After finishing the funeral, my father came back and told us: Grandfather really "died without a disease".It was Qingming that day, and he took his uncle and cousins out of the city on foot to sweep the tomb, but when he offered the sacrifice to the grave, his hands trembled suddenly, and the second uncle hurried forward to take it.When kneeling and saluting, he was still calm and composed, and he insisted not to sit in a sedan chair when he came back, saying that it was better to walk around.After returning home, he said that he seemed to be a little tired and wanted to lie down quietly for a while. He went to bed by himself, lay face down, and told everyone to go out.After a while, when the uncles quietly went in to see, the grandfather was not breathing, and there was still a quiet smile on his face!I remember his age was eighty-six.
It was already the spring of 1923, and it was time for me to work on my graduation thesis.The Chinese literature teacher in the liberal arts department is Mr. Zhou Zuoren.He told us about modern literature, and sometimes my little poems and prose, and I just listened with my head down, and he never talked to me outside of class.At this time, because I had to write a graduation thesis, I thought I was not familiar with Yuan Dynasty operas, so I just took advantage of the opportunity to write the thesis and read some operas and reference books.
I took the title of the thesis "The Opera of the Yuan Dynasty" and the outline of the article to Mr. Zhou for review.He returned it to me without changing a single word, saying, "Just write it."So after almost all my classmates had handed in their papers, I hurriedly handed in my graduation thesis.
At this moment, my vomiting blood attack occurred again.My mother also has this disease. Whenever she is tired or in a bad mood, she will vomit blood.Needless to say, my illness this time is a manifestation of my nostalgia for leaving home.The teachers and parents were very anxious and took me to Xiehe Hospital for examination.As a result, no symptoms of lung disease could be found from X-ray and other aspects.The doctor concluded that the lung qi branch was enlarged, and it was not a serious illness.At that time, my classmates who were admitted to Peking Union Medical College and Dr. Lin Qiaozhi, who was also a student, said to me half-jokingly: "This is a genius disease! Don't think wildly, just calm down."
So while preparing my luggage, I ended my studies.On the stage of the graduation ceremony, in addition to getting a bachelor's degree, I also accidentally got a golden key of honor award.
On August 3rd of this year, I left Beijing for Shanghai to go to the United States.Before leaving, my younger brothers and their children repeatedly asked me to write to them often, and I agreed.This is my "inspiration" for writing "Send to Young Readers"!
On August 17, the U.S. mail ship President Jackson carried me away from the "lovable begonia-leaf-shaped motherland" with a heart filled with sorrow!I wrote a poem: Drifting across the sea, the moon is bright and the wind is tight, and I dare not stay - there is always nostalgia in the flight she looks back frequently!
My college career in China has come to an end.In my short essays, this paragraph is the least written, and in my recollection, this paragraph is the most comfortable one. When I pick up the pen, I can talk endlessly! March 18, 1985