Chapter 72 Section five

The charm of Southwestern Associated University lies in her perseverance, her independence and freedom, her famous teachers and peaches and plums all over the world; but there is another aspect, which is also the reason why it has been talked about for a long time by later generations, that is, that Various anecdotes and anecdotes left by a batch of cultural masters in the General Assembly. In November 1938, Southwest Associated University made a shocking decision: to hire thirty-six-year-old writer Shen Congwen as a professor. Southwest Associated University concentrated the academic elites of the country at that time, and there were countless teachers who had studied in famous universities in Europe and America and returned with doctoral and master's degrees; most of those who did not have high-level degrees were graduates from top domestic universities such as Peking University and Tsinghua University, and had already made outstanding achievements in academia.And this Shen Congwen, in terms of academic qualifications, did not graduate from elementary school; in terms of academic research achievements, he is a writer, not a scholar, and has no academic works.

Shen Congwen, who was not outstanding in the academic world, came to the United Nations University as a professor. This eclecticism aroused resistance and even anger from some professors. The most vehement attitude was the famous scholar Liu Wendian who is known as the "Master of Chinese Studies" today. Liu Wendian studied traditional culture intensively. In particular, he said that since ancient times, only two and a half people understand Zhuangzi, one is Zhuangzi himself, and the other, he did not say, is his Professor Liu Da. Regardless of his profound knowledge, Liu Wendian has a violent temper. When he was the president of Anhui University in 1928, he clearly stated that "a university is not a government office"; in November, there was a student riot in Anhui, and Chiang Kai-shek happened to come to Anqing for inspection.When seeing Liu Wendian for the first time, Chiang Kai-shek saw his sloppy appearance and asked, "Are you Liu Wendian?" Liu Wendian replied, "Are you Chiang Kai-shek?" Chiang Kai-shek was stunned.Chiang Kai-shek asked him to punish the students who went on strike. He said: "I only have teachers and students here, and I don't know who is the Communist Party. You are the commander-in-chief, so you should lead your soldiers; I am the president of the university, and I am in charge of the school's affairs." Chiang Kai-shek was furious, He beat the case and reprimanded him; Liu Wendian suddenly became furious, pointed to Chiang Kai-shek's nose and said, "You are a warlord!" He even rushed forward to beat Chiang Kai-shek.After Liu Wendian was dragged down by the guards, Chiang Kai-shek cursed from the steps: "What a madman!"

Liu Wendian looked down on martial arts, and also looked down on new literature.In his eyes, modern vernacular literature is so shallow and rough, what research value is there?And this Shen Congwen didn't even study vernacular literature, he was just a writer of novels.Being the same professor as Shen Congwen, whom he looked down upon, he was very upset and felt that his worth had been lowered. Liu Wendian publicly questioned: "What qualifications does Shen Congwen have to be a professor?" He also said in class: "If you want to talk about professors, Chen Yinke can get one yuan, and Liu Wendian is ten cents, and Shen Congwen's professor is only worth one penny."

When the Kunming air raid sirens sounded frequently, Liu Wendian and the students escorted the university student Chen Yinke to leave the classroom. Seeing Shen Congwen also rushing out, he cursed in public: "I was killed, and no one will teach the students about Zhuangzi." , why are you running, Shen Congwen?!" Shen Congwen, who has always called himself a "countryman", has a sensitive heart. After coming to the United Nations University, he has low self-esteem and self-esteem.In the face of repeated brutal injuries by his senior Liu Wendian, he did not say a word, but only taught his writing class seriously. However, his Hunan dialect often made students confused, but he still cultivated a style that is in line with him. Wang Zengqi, a famous novelist who was later called "the last writer of Beijing School".

Shen Congwen's biggest legend in the literary circle today is also the biggest regret: In 1988, the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters agreed that the Nobel Prize for Literature of that year should be awarded to the Chinese writer Shen Congwen; but in May of this year, at the age of 86, he Dead, and the Nobel Prize in Literature is only given to living writers. "If Shen Congwen was still alive at that time, he would definitely win the award if he lived until October. Shen Congwen's death is the most regrettable thing for me." Ma Yueran, a Nobel Prize judge and academician of the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, said sadly in Beijing in 2005 Say.This year's Nobel Prize winner in literature was replaced by Egypt's Mahfouz.

The UNU was eclectic, withstood the pressure, and insisted on giving Shen Congwen a professorship. It is admirable for an outstanding writer to obtain his due status at a young age. The arrogant and unruly Liu Wendian also caused disturbances in the UNU: In 1943, Wen Yiduo, the acting director of the Chinese Department of the UNU, refused to issue his letter of appointment as a professor and dismissed him. The main cause of the incident was that Liu Wendian left school without permission and stayed in Mohei, Pu'er County, southern Yunnan for half a year.He went to Mohei because he was addicted to opium, and Mohei produced good opium; at the invitation of the local school and the gentry, he greeted a few people including Jiang Menglin, a member of the Standing Committee of the United Nations General Assembly, and left the United Nations University courses. half a year.

Liu Wendian usually lectured while smoking opium in class, and the school also arranged for a handyman to carry a teapot to refill him with water at any time.This kind of behavior has already caused a lot of discussion among teachers and students, but this time he was absent from school for half a year because of opium, and the impact was even worse.Wen Yiduo, who was the acting director of the Chinese Department at the time, insisted that he would not be hired again. Wang Li, a famous linguist, interceded for him, saying that the old man moved from Beiping to the south with the school, and he was still patriotic.Wen Yiduo said angrily, "If you don't become a traitor, you can leave your post and not take responsibility for teaching?"

Liu Wendian, who didn't even pay attention to Chiang Kai-shek, was willing to swallow this breath. As soon as he returned to Kunming, he rushed to Sijiaying in the northern suburbs to find Wen Yiduo's argument. The two were emotional and quarreled fiercely. Because Wen Yiduo refused to give an inch, and Liu Wendian often publicly mocked his colleagues for their lack of education, which offended many people, the public opinion situation was not good for him.In the end, Liu Wendian resentedly went to Yunnan University, which was also in Kunming, which was run by the famous mathematician and educator Xiong Qinglai, and served as a professor of the Chinese Department of Yunda University until his death in 1958.

In those days, professors could flow freely, as long as you were really talented, you could be hired by your own institution, and you didn’t have the constraints of establishment, archives, and organizational relationships. This was also the condition for intellectuals to show their individuality; There is a gushing of wisdom.People who make a living under heavy "management", even if they have excellent qualifications and work hard, are unlikely to become pioneers and innovative talents. Liu Wendian is a senior professor, and among the rising stars, there is also a madman who also left Southwest Associated University in an unhappy way.He is Qian Zhongshu, known today as "Cultural Kunlun".

Qian Zhongshu was only 28 years old when he was an associate professor in the Foreign Languages ​​Department of Southwest Associated University, but he was already well-known in the academic world.His teacher Wu Mi said that among the older generation of scholars, Chen Yinke is the strongest, while the "human dragon" among the younger generation is Qian Zhongshu.Qian Zhongshu often wears a light brown suit or navy blue dress in his lectures, with a chic demeanor; he only uses English in his lectures, not Chinese, and never asks questions, which makes the students fascinated and relaxed.

But in the summer of 1939, Qian Zhongshu left the United Nations University and became a professor at Lantian National Teachers College.The reason for his departure is generally believed by the academic circles to be that he was arrogant, outspoken, often hurt others, and his interpersonal relationship deteriorated.For example, he once criticized the Department of Foreign Languages ​​of the United Nations University in this way: "The Foreign Languages ​​Department of Southwest Associated University is not good at all. Ye Gongchao is too lazy, Wu Mi is too stupid, and Chen Futian is too vulgar." The foreign minister of the government, and Wu Mi was his mentor, both of whom were well-known scholars for a time. This harsh comment was widely circulated, but in the 1990s, Yang Jiang, Qian Zhongshu's wife, wrote a special article to refute the rumors, claiming that there was absolutely no such thing. Another reason is that the United Nations University originally planned to hire him as a professor, but finally only hired an associate professor. Qian Zhongshu was unhappy and did not want to stay for a long time; in addition, his father Qian Jibo was teaching at the Lantian National Teachers College in Hunan at the time, and he hoped that his son would take care of him. Own. Qian Zhongshu did leave the General Assembly unhappy.His later novel masterpieces have a great motivation to ridicule Southwest Associated University.Isn't the "Sanlv University" in the book an allusion to the Southwest Associated University, which merged with Peking University, Tsinghua University and Nankai University? Intellectuals have a strong self-awareness, so it is very easy for literati to underestimate them.Feng Youlan, the Dean of Liberal Arts of the United Nations University, who was called "the only true philosopher in China in the first half of the 20th century" by Westerners, also criticized characters in class.The target of his "attack" was Hu Shi, saying: "Hu Shi will be finished in 2027, and there will be nothing else in the future, and it will not play much role." Hu Shi was originally designated as the dean of literature of Southwest Associated University, but he was appointed as the Chinese ambassador to the United States immediately, so he did not leave a footprint in Southwest Associated University. The entanglement between these masters may be a worrying matter for the parties concerned, but it has become an anecdote that can be talked about after being passed down to later generations. There are also many "lunatics" among the university students. For example, Yang Zhenning, a senior leader who is not arrogance at all today and is courteous to others, was not an ordinary fanatic at the time. Among the students of the Physics Department of Southwest Associated University, there are two talented students: Yang Zhenning and Huang Kun. They often talk about it in teahouses.At that time, the classmate heard that Huang Kun asked: "Einstein published another article recently, have you read it?" Yang Zhenning said that he had read it, Huang Kun asked how, Yang Zhenning waved his hand and said disdainfully: "There is no originality (innovation) , I'm old and confused." A university is a place where wisdom, talent, and individuality are concentrated. If a university does not have a group of strange people, crazy people, and strange people, no matter how abundant its funds, no matter how beautiful the scenery, no matter how rigorous the style of study, no matter how broad the prospects for graduates, its charm will be diminished. There are many colors.Only Southwest Associated University has fully interpreted the word "university".