Twenty years ago, it was also at this season, in a very barren land in the Chinese countryside at that time, that I began to prepare for the college entrance examination, and thus became attached to Peking University. Before filling out the college entrance examination application, I received a letter from a scholar I had met and knew. He graduated from Peking University in his early years, and he thought that there was a pyramid of knowledge there, so he warned me in his letter to cherish this once-in-a-decade opportunity and take Peking University as the only choice.
At that time, I was busy with my fellow villagers to survive, and I almost didn't dare to have extravagant hopes. Driven by the intertwined desire to survive and the desire to learn, I filled in the name of a teacher's college in my province in the first choice column - it is said that you don't have to pay for food to study at a teacher's college.
Even so, I still have an irrepressible yearning for Peking University, so I filled in the words Peking University in the column of my second choice. Probably because Peking University has the right of first choice, she didn't care about my almost disrespectful approach, and actually admitted me.
What is even more difficult to predict is that in the following days, from undergrad to master's and doctoral students, I will be a student at Peking University for nearly ten years. During this period of time, knowledge expanded at the speed of the so-called "explosion", and the places and means of disseminating knowledge became more and more diversified, but I still passed the exams again and again to become a student of Peking University. From a certain point of view, what I came here to seek is not only knowledge, but also to cultivate a temperament and a style of study. The temperament and style of study of Peking University, or the spirit of Peking University, are particularly typical in the gentlemen of Peking University. I remember when I first worked at Peking University, I went to attend an off-campus conference, stayed in the Xiyuan Hotel, and shared a room with Mr. Ji Xianlin. Mr. Ji is very serious in attending meetings, no matter whether it is a small meeting, he always attends on time and sits upright. Frequent digressions by speakers at meetings would lead to Mr. Ji sliding his fingers over his thighs. I couldn't suppress my curiosity and asked Mr. Ji what he was doing, and Mr. Ji replied that this time could be used to review foreign words. I think Mr. Ji is probably recalling the dead characters he studied. He was clearly unwilling to let seemingly scattered time sit idle. At that time, I was translating a British legal monograph, and there were often old words in English legal texts that were difficult to understand and difficult to translate. I really couldn't figure out the word when I encountered it, so I had to disturb Mr. Ji and ask him for relief. Mr. Ji immediately replied, but at the same time said, you can translate it like this first. I didn't understand what he meant by the word "first" for a while. When he returned the next day, he explained to me again the origin of the word, which had several meanings, and explained it in almost detail.
Master's thesis (left) and doctoral thesis (right)
Apparently, Mr. Ji carefully looked up the word that night. Perhaps, Mr. Ji does not necessarily have to impart some kind of knowledge to me, and what he does is in essence interpreting the meaning of "I love my teacher, and I love the truth even more". Persistently pursue true knowledge, and treat academic disputes and contradictory views with a normal attitude; Advocating truth without trying to be famous, and not paying attention to the so-called decency and dignity is a kind of spirit displayed by many gentlemen of Peking University.
When I was an undergraduate, Mr. Gong Xiangrui, who had studied in the UK in the 30s, taught us English and American law. In the 70s, the developed countries of the West were beginning to surge the wave of new technological revolution, and invaded the social field, and computers were also marrying with the law.
Mr. Gong felt the need to introduce this trend to China, so he drafted an article. But at the same time, he thinks that his students, as a future-oriented generation, should be more interested in it. Therefore, he gave me the manuscript and asked me to make additions or even deletions.
Probably because I was still young at the time, and because I was often infected by the ordinary mentality of gentlemen, I did what Mr. Gong asked me to do without any scruples, and I returned it to him with a normal heart. When Mr. Gong received the revised draft, he immediately approved it and put me and his name alongside him to publish it in a law journal. At that time, there were still very few types of law journals, and it can be speculated that the main reason why the editorial office was willing to publish this article soon was because of the signature of Mr. Gong.
At Peking University, the equal relationship between students and teachers is based on respect for knowledge and admiration for truth. In the face of knowledge and truth, it does not matter about personal decency and dignity, which can also be said to be a kind of teacher's way. However, this does not mean that the teaching is not strict, on the contrary, based on this, Mr. requires students to grasp not only the knowledge itself, but also to understand the weight of knowledge. In the early 90s, I was studying for a Ph.D. in economics at Peking University. At that time, Peking University had almost the same requirements for on-the-job and on-campus doctoral students, especially in public courses, and exams were frequent, even if they were studying part-time, it was not easy. I was studying at the same time as I worked, and I kept coping with exams, so I was overtired and fell seriously ill. It is the school's policy to postpone but not waive exams, which are the most laborious preparations. I had no choice but to take the exam with many "classmates" who were ten years younger than me after I had recovered from a serious illness. From this, I also feel that the opportunities and challenges that Mr. gives to the students are equal. When I finished writing my doctoral dissertation and felt that it was acceptable, I asked Mr. Li Yining for permission to enter the defense procedure. Mr. Li immediately issued a list of reviewers. According to the regulations, as long as there are more than a dozen people with senior professional titles to participate in the review. However, the people in this list issued by Mr. Li are all people in the domestic economic circles, and they can even be called authoritative figures. Mr. Li said that these people only value the weight of the paper itself, and do not care about the surface of the paper or other things that have nothing to do with academics, which is beneficial to you, so that your paper can be truly evaluated and stand all kinds of tests. Because of this list, I revised my thesis again and postponed the date of defense for half a year. From this, I also realized that the strictness of teaching is also based on respect for knowledge and the worship of truth.
It is fortunate that Peking University has a large number of first-class scholars teaching here. What is even more valuable is that they not only teach knowledge to students, but also work with students to experience the meaning of true knowledge. So that this ancient institution can maintain its impressive style. The preciousness of an institution of learning lies not in its external beauty, or even in the possession of intellectual wealth, but in its inner strength, a tradition that can be perpetuated. This tradition will not be interrupted by the replacement of knowledge, because it has transcendent value and the ability to recreate the wealth of knowledge. The people who have a deep understanding of the traditions of Peking University are naturally those gentlemen of Peking University, who are teaching with their bodies and minds. Thus this tradition is personified, manifested as a realm, a character. This kind of character and realm has been nurtured over time, and it has derived a kind of bearing, a kind of tolerance and generosity. Ancient Chinese intellectuals once told people that such a truth is not unique to the natural world, and the reason why the sea is the king of all rivers is because of its goodness. Can we treat all the achievements of civilization created by mankind with an open mind and be kind to even the slightest ingenuity of others? The 100-year history of Peking University is glorious and turbulent. However, there are always many gentlemen from Peking University who are not only in it, but always show their responsibility to the country and the nation, and do not lose the mentality of scholars, and devote themselves to exploring the unknown of nature, society and mankind. It is because of them that the spirit and blood of this ancient university have been passed on.
After reading this article, people feel embarrassed, God is jealous of the talent, the people's good prime minister has left us, but what is left to the world is a valuable spiritual wealth, that is, erudition and rigor, selfless dedication!