Master Kai Shan — — Interview with the first batch of liberal arts doctors in New China Xu Jinjing and Sun Haiyan by Jiangsu People’s Publishing House.
Mr. Cheng Qianfan directed Mo Lifeng to study (1980). Pictures are selected from Master Kai Shan.
In September, 1983, Ge Jianxiong and his tutors, Professor Tan Qixiang (middle) and Zhou Zhenhe (left), conferred a doctorate at Fudan University. The picture was selected from Master Kai Shan.
[The reader says]
A good book will have multiple values worth exploring. — Interview with the first batch of liberal arts doctors in New China is no exception. Focusing on the first batch of liberal arts doctors in New China, this book reproduces the hard study process of ten "academic elites" such as Mo Lifeng, Yu Keping, Qian Chengdan, Li Bozhong, Zhuang Kongshao, Ma Min, Luo Gang, Ge Jianxiong, Tao Siyan and Hu Xingliang in the form of interviews, and outlines the reconstruction and revival of liberal arts in New China. It is a valuable material for studying the history of modern reading, higher education and academic thought in China. The great brothers who started the mountain have always responded seriously to the times and always strived for self-improvement. Before the national college entrance examination system was restored, they either plowed and studied in the rain, or worked and studied together, working hard and making positive progress; After waiting for the opportunity to go to college, I can successfully realize my dream of further study, learn from my mentor and fly freely in the professional field. In the past 70 years, they have handled the relationship between individuals and the times well, and have grown up together with the Republic and become respected pioneers. They have greatly promoted China’s liberal arts, promoted the development of the country and society, and become a well-deserved model of this era.
Have a book to read, be hungry.
Looking back on the growth process of Master Kai Shan, people may deliberately exaggerate the repression of individuals by the times before the reform and opening up, or criticize the over-standardized education and academic management system by taking advantage of Master Kai Shan’s educational experience. These ideas and practices are not unreasonable, but they are also worthy of vigilance. It is true that the external environment has a great influence on individual growth, but Ge Jianxiong put it well: "A person’s success is first of all a personal talent, second is an opportunity, and third is his own efforts. The previous ones are beyond my control, and my own efforts are optional." Instead of feeling sorry for yourself or lamenting the untimely birth, it is better to be yourself and make progress.
Reading Master Kai Shan, the most unexpected thing for the author is that the time that others didn’t look so wonderful was not so bad in the eyes of the master brothers. Ma Min said: "Although knowledge was scarce at that time, it was not easy to find some books to read, but as long as you put your heart into it, you can still learn a lot." Qian Chengdan also said frankly, "If you grasp it, you can read a lot.". According to their experience, educated youths who are willing to study will generally not be blocked by malice. There is no such thing as "educated youths who jump the queue love to study in rural areas and find time to study, and poor and middle peasants forbid them to read, beating gongs and drums to make trouble". "At that time, farmers were very supportive of reading". As long as they finished their work, they could "turn a deaf ear to things outside the window and concentrate on reading sage books". When Mo Lifeng was worried that he couldn’t sign up for the college entrance examination because he was too old, the villagers also made suggestions for him and suggested that he should apply as an English special student. The most unfortunate thing is Li Bozhong, who lives on the border of Yunnan and is suspected of treason in learning English. He was also accused for this, but he finally passed the customs. "He worked during the day and came back at night, and he studied under the oil lamp" and "his study never stopped".
Master Kai-shan’s brothers are "mentally hungry people". Without exception, they are eager to read books, "borrow books everywhere by every means" and "read books basically without stopping". Exchange and borrowing are common ways. "Friends and classmates borrow from each other, and each family will keep some books, some of which have been borrowed from the library before they have time to return them", and some are taken out from the library whose door has been pried open. It is worth noting that they will also take the opportunity of criticizing Water Margin, criticizing Lin and Confucius, and criticizing Confucianism to read relevant books. The most special way comes from Ge Jianxiong and Ma Min. The former learns English through the English version of Quotations from Chairman Mao and Selected Works of Chairman Mao’s Military Affairs. The latter bribed the children of families with books with candy, encouraging them to secretly take out the books collected at home for him to see.
Have a book to study, hungry, don’t ask the subject and major, regardless of the advantages and disadvantages of the conditions. When others were drinking and singing, Ma Min put cotton in his ears to eliminate interference and concentrate on reading. Mo Lifeng admitted that his ten-year career of jumping the queue was "not completely abandoned" and used his spare time to "recite works at the expense of work" and "recite a lot of things, including thirteen articles of Sun Tzu’s Art of War, about two-thirds of which were recited from beginning to end", and there were "thousands" of poems that could be recited in Tang and Song Dynasties. Although this kind of reading is piecemeal and unsystematic, they read many books on literature, history and philosophy before they became the first master brothers, and they should have laid a relatively comprehensive foundation in knowledge, which is of great benefit to their future professional development and feature formation.
Reading has not affected their duties as educated youth. Mo Lifeng "read Du Fu and Su Dongpo after farming, and his mood is relatively calm after reading them". He was once rated as "rooted rural activist" for two consecutive years; Tao Siyan was quickly seconded, recruited and recommended to go to college; Yu Keping is a plant protection worker. Rice was in a critical period of growth during the college entrance examination. He didn’t take time off because of review, and directly "got up from the field to take the exam"; Ma Min, who works at the construction site, also "goes to work as usual and can only review at night"; Ge Jianxiong took time off to study, while entering the task force to do investigation and management work. He "spent more than three years mainly working in the public security inspection law". These pioneering masters have a common feature, that is, "whatever you do, you should at least do it as well as possible" and make a difference.
Have a high vision and a big pattern.
The greatness of a master elder brother lies not in his age and seniority, but in his broad vision, thinking, pattern and development. After they enter the university, they consciously plan their academic and life. On the one hand, they study hard as always to make up for the shortcomings; On the other hand, under the guidance of their tutors, they actively pursue multidisciplinary integration and integration, seek appropriate research methods and means, "constantly expand their research fields" and "pay attention to forming their own style and characteristics".
Making a clear personal plan is a key to the success of the mountain masters. The fathers of Li Bozhong and Zhuang Kongshao both believed that "exams will be resumed one day", secretly guided them in their studies, and provided advice on studying that would affect their lives after the college entrance examination system was resumed. Several other senior brothers who started the mountain didn’t have such conditions, but they were able to judge the situation and study with cameras in line with their desire for knowledge and their sense of responsibility for themselves. Hu Xingliang admits that he "does things in a planned way" and "I know very well what to do after eight to ten years." When Ge Jianxiong applied for graduate school, he "decided not to study literature any more, but he chose historical geography because of his good historical geography." Luo Gang "feels that almost all the important thoughts and theories in the 20th century can find their place between the two spectrums of China and West, and left and right", so he wrote "Traditional Illusion: Wang Guowei’s Poetics in Cross-cultural Context" in addition to his doctoral thesis, and co-authored "The Origin of Mao Zedong’s Literary Thought" to discuss "two most important issues of China’s literary theory in the 20th century and even the whole humanities".
Mo Lifeng was the head of the department and Ma Min was the principal. These jobs inevitably affect professional research, and at this time, their planning consciousness appears again. Mo Lifeng "thought of an idea, and when the paper could not be written, he wrote an essay. Essays can be written wherever they come to mind, and it doesn’t matter if time is fragmentary. In that year, I wrote a book "Mo Lifeng Poetry Talk". Ma Min thought that "a person does things for two people, and often works late into the night", "It takes a lot of time to research detailed historical materials, and I can’t do it, so I studied macro issues, including writing in-depth book reviews, and wrote a lot, pushing back the more exquisite academic work I wanted to do. I use sporadic time to accumulate, and I will do it as soon as I retire. "
"The horizon should be high and the pattern should be big". Personal career planning needs vision and pattern, so does carrying out specific academic research. "Only by broadening your horizons can you see what others can’t see", which is the consensus of the pioneering masters. When they go to the countryside, they look at whatever they want. As a result, they have a wide range of knowledge and have a certain horizon. After entering the university, under the guidance of the teacher, the senior brothers further expanded their horizons and pursued a bigger pattern. They not only focus on their majors, but also look at other disciplines; Based on both domestic and foreign perspectives. On the one hand, break through the barriers of disciplines and connect the study with the field; While paying attention to the cultural relations between China and foreign countries, learning the research methods of foreign scholars, and constantly trying to study with relatively new methods.
When introducing western discourses, concepts and related theories and methods, they pay special attention to distinguishing authenticity, distinguishing similarities and differences, considering their applicability, trying to explore suitable research methods and trying to establish their own theoretical framework. Ma Min admits that "it is not enough to be a scholar at home, so we must broaden our horizons and learn the research methods of foreign scholars", but also "don’t completely use western theories to cover China’s things, but explain China’s living things clearly". Mo Lifeng attaches great importance to critical spirit and problem consciousness, and at the same time pays special attention to learning the classical literature research methods of his predecessors from his works, such as Miscellanies of Tang Poems, Notes on Art, Compilation of Guan Cone and Textual Research on Ancient Poems. Yu Keping, who is engaged in political science research, hopes that he can "use all the research tools proved to be useful" and form the habit of "observing and analyzing real politics from multiple perspectives". Zhuang Kongshao attaches importance to "multidisciplinary knowledge base" as well as "problem awareness and process research". He pointed out that "how to allocate process research and how to find academic points is what a doctor should study … … Process research also needs to think about the explanation of correlation and difference across time and space. " Tao Siyan advocates the establishment of a "multi-disciplinary and multi-level composite research method"Take physical, documentary, oral, image and behavioral materials as the fields of investigation, and at the same time pay attention to the expansibility, cross-border and integrity of knowledge. Qian Chengdan used historical materials in his doctoral thesis to correct many wrong views of his predecessors, and at the same time he put forward his own theoretical framework.
Under the guidance or guidance of the teacher, Master Kai Shan can not only make a reasonable plan for his academic career, but also study hard day and night, and finally master and even create a research method suitable for him, and achieve admirable results and become a family. Mo Lifeng and his literary research in Tang and Song Dynasties are called "the benchmark and model of a generation of scholars" by other scholars. Tao Siyan promoted the progress of folklore research in China, and made this originally backward discipline qualified for equal communication with international counterparts, "even surpassing Japan in some aspects"; Li Bozhong, Qian Chengdan and Yu Keping made unique contributions to the social, economic and political transformation of China. Ma Min, Luo Gang and Ge Jianxiong not only specialize in technical fields, but also hold positions of leadership in colleges and universities for a long time, which have significantly improved the teaching atmosphere, governance level and school-running strength of their respective schools and promoted the development of humanities in China from the system.
Take every step of life solidly.
Many of the senior brothers in Kaishan are of the same age in the Republic. In the past 70 years, their experiences have been bumpy, and the times and fate have not given them many opportunities. As Ge Jianxiong said, "There are always people lamenting that there are not many opportunities". In fact, opportunities are fought for and created by individuals. The successful experience of Master Kaishan reminds us that people must have a big vision, big thinking and big pattern, "Don’t aim too high, take every step of life step by step" and "Whatever you do, at least do it as well as possible". In Ma Min’s words, it is "when educated youth is a good educated youth, honestly fix the earth;" Be a good worker when you are a worker, and tighten every screw; Be a diligent college student when you go to college and learn to go boating in the sea; Teaching means teaching well and embroidering knowledge into flowers; When you are a principal, you should be a competent principal, and you should be in charge of your own affairs. Step by step, life will step by step towards success. "
Today, these big brothers are still moving forward steadily step by step. Mo Lifeng has recently published ten volumes of The Complete Works of Mo Lifeng and hummed, whispered-and then were intermingled, a collection of essays and letters, together with his wife. He said, "As long as I haven’t retired, I will work hard, start classes well, continue to take graduate students, and continue to do some popularization work when I have the opportunity." Tao Siyan, Li Bozhong, Luo Gang and others have also said, "Let’s go on like this" and "Just keep doing it like this". Tao Siyan believes in Marx’s words, "Those who are fortunate enough to engage in scientific research should first serve mankind with their knowledge." Qian Chengdan declared that "the research results should be tested by the public and understood and accepted by the public". Yu Keping believes that "for scholars in the humanities, personal academic life is integrated with the life of the country and the nation, and only in this way can your research be valuable", and advocates "interaction with politics in an academic way", hoping to write some popular articles and popularize political science knowledge. Luo Gang also believes that "for scholars in the humanities, personal academic life is integrated with the life of the country and the nation, and only in this way can your research be valuable". Ge Jianxiong pointed out that,"We should combine the results of academic research with political needs", "out of public interest" and "put national interests first".
Master Kai Shan is an example worthy of our study, and the interview with Master Kai Shan is also worth reading and thinking about. Reading this book is tantamount to having a direct interview with Master Kai Shan, so that we can deeply understand their attitude towards life, pursuit and practice. If you can be complacent, I’m afraid it’s not only better than studying for ten years, but also more than learning lessons. After the reform and opening up, China ushered in a new era. After 40 years of development, a new era is now ushered in. In this "era of great transformation and great change", we should learn from the senior brothers of Kaishan, draw wisdom and strength from them, interact with the great era, and "be the best of ourselves at every stage of life".
(Author: Shen Zhangming, Associate Professor, Institute of International and Comparative Education, East China Normal University, Doctor of Literature, Nanjing University)
