Chapter 6 The third chapter is connected in the mountains

Joseph Needham visited Bi Tongdi Zhou, and under the arrangement of the school, he gave several scientific lectures in German for the teachers and students of Tongji University. On the afternoon of June 7, I walked out of the streets of the ancient town, moved to Chinli Ao, Menguantian and other places in the mountains a few miles away, and began to visit other scientific research institutions hidden deep in the mountains. Needham made the following description with great interest in his travel notes this time: “Leaving the city (town) along a small road along the river, the small road runs between the cornfields shining in the heat wave. After a while After a long distance, we began to climb a spectacular stone path into the mountain. The road passed a beautiful stone bridge. When we arrived there, we saw that the houses were all hidden." Here "there are many spacious mansions, the Institute of History and Language of the Academia Sinica, the The Institute of Sociology is located here. The Institute is led by famous scholars Dr. Fu Sinian and Dr. Tao Menghe respectively, with about 70 scholars, so it is the two largest institutes of the Institute.”

That night, Joseph Needham wrote a letter to his wife, Dr. Dorothy Needham, saying that he had met "many of the most outstanding scholars" in Chinli Ao and met "Fu Sinian, a great scholar". The letter described Fu's image as follows Description: "Fu Sinian, from Shandong, about 55 years old, a bit Westernized, talks a lot and is fascinating, slightly fat, with an unforgettable face and a strangely shaped head, with gray hair sticking straight up."This description, among all the articles written by Fu Sinian, can be said to be the most realistic and vivid one. Fu's distinctive and somewhat grotesque appearance comes alive on the paper.Fu Sinian, the "owner of the village" squatting on the top of the mountain in the outskirts of Lizhuang, met Needham and soon became "buddies" who were congenial and understood each other.Fu Sinian believes that since the reign of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty, when Jesuit Matteo Ricci came to China, many visitors came to China, and they were all scholars.Their purpose, however, is not scientific exchange.They are well-learned. Among the scholars who came to China during the reign of Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty, some people have established their reputation, but their purpose is still different from Needham.As a researcher of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Joseph Needham’s main purpose of coming to China is to exchange science and enhance friendship with Chinese scientific institutions, and to give courage to the Chinese people in the bitter struggle of the Chinese Anti-Japanese War—this is the characteristic of Joseph Needham’s visit to China and it is also the future The beginning of a scientific collaboration.Fu Sinian believes: "During the war, most of China's scientific institutions, including universities, were not worthy of their names... Our equipment was really nothing, and their workers were in fact forgotten refugees. When the war started, the academic level was lower than that of It is now high, but, owing to the enemy's advance, the academic institutions are forced to concentrate farther west; the loss of material causes spiritual depression. Under these circumstances a visit from a foreign scholar will doubtless disappoint us. Yet Dr. Nee (Lee) Joseph had a different impression. He saw the other side of the situation, and his understanding was based on his zeal. He did not despise our poverty and simplicity, he saw our patience; Instead, pay attention to our future hope.” Perhaps, it was precisely for this future “hope” that Fu Sinian and his colleagues in the Institute of History and Languages ​​gave Needham a particularly warm and frank reception in the midsummer heat of Liao.

That night, Joseph Needham and his assistant Huang Xingzong stayed at Fu Sinian's house in Chinli'ao Osmanthus Garden without going down the mountain.And because of this relationship, Needham got acquainted with Yu Dacai.In the same letter to his wife Li Dafei, Mrs. Li said that Fu Sinian "married a granddaughter of the famous general Zeng Guofan" (southern note: she was actually a great-granddaughter).Due to the "hot weather, I can only wear thin khaki shirts and shorts, and even then I sweat all day long, so fans have become a necessity rather than a luxury."He added: "Fu Sinian wrote a long passage in precious silver vermilion on my black folding fan, which is quite Taoist. Now I have to buy another fan, because this one has become too precious for daily use. During the visit, due to Fu Sinian's generosity and enthusiasm, Joseph Needham saw almost all the precious collections of the Institute of History and Philology in Chinli Ao, such as a large number of bronze wares, jade wares, and oracle bones unearthed from Yin Ruins in Anyang.In addition, I also visited a large number of bamboo slips and rubbings collected by the history group. I saw that "the classics of the Confucius era were written on them, and there were also some precious imperial archives of the early Qing Dynasty, including letters to the Jesuits and government orders to Tibet. China Official documents of the imperial appointment of the Japanese shogun as princes. The Linguistics Section has gramophone recordings of the dialects of each province, etc. The books are also fantastic—authentic works from the Song Dynasty, books printed with movable type, etc.”Needham was particularly excited and moved when he raised many questions about the history of science and sought materials in this area, which aroused the general interest and understanding of his colleagues in the Institute of History and Philology. Interesting materials from the 2nd century AD, such as the passages about firecrackers; the records of several major explosion incidents; the edict prohibiting the sale of gunpowder to the Tatars in 1076 AD. The 'original discovery' of Berthold Schwartz was 200 years earlier".Many years later, Needham still clearly remembered that when he was about to leave the mountain, "Fu Sinian, the director of the Institute of History and Linguistics, gave me another rare book "Heavenly Creations".For the talents and enthusiasm of the staff of the Institute of History and Philology, Li couldn't hide his joy in his heart, thinking that "the scholars there are the most outstanding among the people I have met so far, because this subject has always been particularly good at Chinese scholars, which is also expected. among the things".

Joseph Needham did not expect that during this visit, he would meet a persevering and enthusiastic scientific research group in this remote mountain valley in Southwest China, especially the appearance of a young scholar, which brightened his eyes and gave him a deep feeling. There is an indescribable and inexplicable sense of intimacy in the dark.This young man will become Joseph Needham's lifelong confidant in his academic research career, following his unexpected encounter with Lu Guizhen, the daughter of a Nanjing drug dealer in 1937.It is also thanks to the great help of this young man that Joseph Needham, who is no longer young, finally ascended to the peak of the research field of Chinese history of science and technology. This young talent is the Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica Assistant researcher Wang Ling.

Wang Ling (named Jingning), originally from Nanjing, graduated from the History Department of Nanjing Central University in her early years. During her time at school, her outstanding talent was highly valued by Shen Gangbo, a famous professor of the Faculty of Arts of CUHK.In order to continue to improve academically, Wang Ling applied for the Graduate School of Liberal Arts of Peking University. Because the examiner at the time had a bad relationship with several tutors including Shen Gangbo from the Faculty of Liberal Arts of CUHK, a fire broke out at the city gate, which brought disaster to Chiyu.Although Wang Ling won the first lottery in the big exam with an overwhelming advantage of being the first in the total score, he was ruthlessly kicked out of the circle when he made the list.When Wang Ling questioned the chief examiner why he was forcibly removed from the gold list and kicked out, the examiner gave a false answer with reasons such as "students from CUHK are not worthy of studying at Peking University".After hearing this, Wang Ling was filled with grief and indignation, and colleagues in the academic circles talked about it, expressing their indignation at the unreasonable and arrogant examiner of Peking University.

While studying at Central University, under the influence of Professor Shen Gangbo who taught the history of the French Revolution, Wang Ling was born with the idea of ​​studying the influence of Chinese thought on the West in the 17th and 18th centuries, and published a series of research articles one after another.These original and innovative papers not only greatly appreciated Shen Gangbo, but also fortunately fell into the eyes of Fu Sinian.Fu Sinian, who is known as "top-notch doctrine", learned of Wang Ling's experience. He remembered his experience when he was admitted to the government-funded foreign students in Shandong and the various injustices and crimes caused by the perpetrators in the world, and expressed deep sympathy for Wang.Under the circumstances that it was inconvenient to negotiate with the friend who was the chief examiner of the Institute of Peking University, Wang Ling was hired as an assistant researcher at the Institute of History and Language.According to the memories of colleagues at the Institute of History and Philology, Wang Ling was kind, courteous, and a talented, well-read scholar who was deeply loved by Fu Sinian.Through this incident, Shen Gangbo deeply admired Fu's conduct and moral demeanor, and said that "without the torch's eyes and the prophet's insight, he can only drift with the world. Even if he can tell right from wrong and distinguish between good and evil, there is no The truth-loving spirit and fearless courage, when faced with a dilemma, have no choice but to stick to one another. The former is blind obedience, while the latter is the wish of the local people. Taoism is very different. It is rare to see people who are so 'strong and pretentious', but Mr. Meng Zhen has this kind of style." It is Fu Sinian's "spirit of loving the truth and fearless courage" that made the king Bell's studies, and further made Joseph Needham a world-class historian of science and technology.According to Wang Ling's later statement: When Joseph Needham visited the Chinli'ao Institute of History and Philology, in "a simple farmhouse, I got to know this outstanding scientist through the introduction of Fu Sinian, then director of the Institute of History and Philology of the Academia Sinica—— Needham. This meeting was a turning point in my life, as I was destined to spend ten years as a guest at Cambridge under his guidance".

The situation at that time was that after talking with Joseph Needham, Wang Ling became interested in the history of science and technology in ancient China. After listening to Joseph Needham's several speeches in Lizhuang, the explosive force in Jiu Yun suddenly found I made an appropriate breakthrough and determined to make a career in this field.After Needham left Lizhuang, Wang Ling carefully collected artillery materials based on the large collection of the library of the Institute of History and Philology, and wrote a paper in English and sent it to Chongqing, asking Needham to introduce it to a western scientific journal for publication.After reading the article, Needham expressed deep admiration for the young assistant researcher's talent, knowledge and assiduous spirit. "This will determine their long-term cooperation in the future." In 1946, Wang Ling received a scholarship from the British Council to study in the UK, and started a nine-year cooperation with Needham, who had returned to Cambridge University, and jointly created the world-famous masterpiece "History of Science and Technology in China" (Science and Civilization in China, also translated as "China's Science and Civilization") research precedent.As Needham's first collaborator, Wang Ling participated in the research and writing of the first five volumes of this multi-volume masterpiece. She did not stop until 1957 when she left the UK to work as a research professor at the Institute for Advanced Study at the Australian National University in Canberra due to livelihood and other issues. This worked.The blank left by Wang Ling will be filled by several scientists represented by Joseph Needham's Chinese students, friends and future wife Lu Guizhen.

Under the guidance of Fu Sinian, Joseph Needham talked with Wang Ling and other young researchers in the dark and simple earthen house, and then gave an academic lecture in the Hall of Liao Paifangtou.In a letter to his wife Li Dafei, Li said proudly: "I was nervous, but the speech was very successful." He also said: "Today we are going to visit the Institute of Architecture. The agency is run by a son of the great politician and scholar Liang Qichao. Host (you will remember once on the train back from Scotland with you, I read Liang's book and I was very impressed). We are also going to visit the Central Museum, which was evacuated here."

Before going down the mountain, Joseph Needham visited the Institute of Sociology of Menguantian Academia Sinica and visited the director Tao Menghe and researchers such as Tang Xianglong, Liang Fangzhong, Wu Baosan and Luo Ergang.Prior to this, Fairbank, an official of the US embassy in China who had had a "fierce quarrel" over Joseph Needham's scientific plan, was invited by his friend Liang Sicheng in mid-November 1942, accompanied by Tao Menghe, who went to Chongqing for the conference.The two took a "broken ship to the water" and arrived at Lizhuang after three days and three nights of turbulence.Along the way, Fairbank was attracted by all kinds of strange phenomena in mainland China. He once mentioned an interesting incident in his memoirs: When he saw a man lying on the ground with difficulty breathing and wanted to help, Tao Menghe did not Let him mind his own business.Tao said: "This may be a trap. Once you touch him, you will probably be entangled and force you to spend a lot of money." The lower classes of China have a deep understanding.” Some researchers in later generations believe that this view and statement may not be accurate, and it is likely that Dow himself has too much imagination and lacks the most fundamental sympathy for Chinese compatriots.Gu Jiegang, who has a good understanding of Tao Menghe's character and way of dealing with people, once said: "Tao Menghe and other elite scholars' understanding of the people often leads them to distrust and stay away from the 'people'." What Fairbank said is closer to reality.

Dow took Fairbank to Lizhuang, visited his good friends Liang Sicheng and Lin Huiyin and his wife, and made a special trip to visit the office of the Social Science Research Institute chaired by Tian Taomenghe, an official in the outskirts of Lizhuang. A special treat at first sight of seared crispy fish.At that time, Fairbank really wanted to visit his good friend, Tao Meng and his wife Shen Xingren, whom he had met in Beijing.Regrettably, Shen Xingren, a once brilliant and talented socialite of a generation, like her other friend Lin Huiyin, suffered from severe tuberculosis and went to Lanzhou for treatment and recuperation. It is said that she died of illness.Fei had no choice but to say goodbye to Tao Menghe with infinite regret.