one
Twenty-seven years ago, on a late autumn evening, I walked alone on Yuelu Mountain. Yuelu Mountain is located on the west bank of Xiangjiang River, and on the other side is Changsha, the capital of Hunan Province. This is my first time here, and I was involuntarily scattered on this strange mountain ridge far from my hometown in the wave known as "Revolution Series" at that time.
In our generation, few people have not been involved in the "big string" wave in the early days of the "Cultural Revolution", but few people can tell clearly what this is all about. First, the whole country is closed, and almost no classroom in such a big country is an exception. Students are not allowed to leave school without attending classes, so they fight with each other under the guidance of newspapers and radio stations to see who is the best and who is the most out of line. Nowadays, young people are designing their own "chic" every day. Their so-called "chic" generally seems to mean a freedom of life far from secular norms; Twenty-seven years ago, young people didn't use the word "chic" very much, but they were also attracted by a certain atmosphere and praised a life state that trampled on norms. Dare to bite the bullet and tear up all the textbooks in your schoolbag with a little hesitation? Dare to mumble for a while and then learn to spit out a rude word that will frown? Dare to put your hand on the head of your most afraid teacher? Dare to move all the books in the library to the playground and set fire to them? Dare to try whether the statues of Beethoven and Chopin are hollow or solid with a stick? To tell the truth, I'm afraid that students in any country and any era may flash by in their hearts and secretly laugh mischievously. No one thought it was possible, but suddenly, there was a period in a country where all this was allowed. So at last, a group of students stood out, broke through the shackles of civilization, dug up a urchin in their hearts, and there were few left, so they quickly cultivated publicity. To insist that they are "rebels" with political significance is actually a bit excessive. Yesterday, they sat in the classroom with us. How much do you know about the political struggle at the top? Just a few newspaper editorials, plus a little hearsay political rumors. At first glance, there is no political initiative at all. On the other hand, the "conservative" students may not have much political consciousness, and most of them are just unwilling or unaccustomed to changing their original living conditions in the sudden upheaval. I was one of the "conservatives" at that time. In retrospect, on the one hand, I was unhappy with the tough actions of the "rebel" students, on the other hand, I secretly felt that I was too timid and indecisive to keep up with the trend. Later, I found myself despised by the "rebel" classmates and was disheartened. All this seemed the same thing at the time, but it was all nonsense. A few years later, when the old classmates met, they only knew one thing and even forgot what faction they were.
Remember, fooling around is only two or three months. The world of a school is limited, young people pursue novelty, and almost the same thing will become boring after a while. Suddenly, it came to the news that all the means of transportation in the country are open to young students except airplanes, and they are completely free. You can go anywhere with you. You don't have to worry about food, shelter and money when you go anywhere. It's called "Revolution Series". I still can't guess what the leader who made this romantic decision was thinking at that time, as if to provide convenience for the "rebel" students so that they could go all over the country to fan the flames; It seems to be providing opportunities for "conservative" students, forcing them to feel the revolutionary atmosphere outside and change their positions. In short, no matter what schools, as long as they are students, including young teachers who have not lost for a while, universities, middle schools, and even senior primary school students, urban and rural students, they can flock to the traffic line together. It is up to you to decide which station to get on and get off. As for whether you still miss the revolution after going out, it is even more unconstrained. It depends entirely on your consciousness. Who wouldn't go to such a beautiful thing?
The next scene is completely imaginable. Like ants, the students climbed all the trains that could run, even the trucks, and the national railway transportation was paralyzed immediately. The train can still start, but it will stop for a long time after a while, often for seven or eight hours at a time. The scene inside the car is even more amazing. I don't believe that since the invention of the train, there has been such a dense loading of living people. No one is sitting, and no one is standing, as if standing. But at most, only one foot can land, and everyone is jammed into a tight ball. On the luggage rack and under the seat, there are several patients who are specially cared for. Of course, there are no more aisles and toilets, and the original toilets are also crowded with people. Anyone who wants to pee can only wait for a stop halfway, and then jump out of the window with everyone's help. But it's hard to say that the train won't suddenly start at this moment, so students who jump out of the window always entrust their small luggage to a few people crowded in the window, saying that if they accidentally start suddenly, please throw it down. This kind of thing often happens at night, when the train starts between the barren hills in the middle of nowhere, several luggage bags are thrown down, and the students under the car chase and shout, and the rumble of wheels finally throws them down. I have been thinking about this question for years: Did they finally find the next stop? It is a place with dense forests and tigers and wolves.
The luggage thrown out of the car is the same as the luggage carried by the students in the car. Small and light, two changes of clothes, three or four steamed buns wrapped in towels, and a few pickles, almost the same. Without books, pens and money, I am relaxed and vain, such as leaves on branches and petals of flowers, wandering all over the sky in the strong wind, extremely free and easy and extremely humble, so low that no one can recognize anyone, so low that it is impossible to estimate how many people are congested in a square meter. I only know that they are students, but they have no schoolbags, no teachers, no classes and will never go down. Soon they will be put on the train for the country. Ten years later, they will still be called students without schoolbags, teachers and classes. Because they are students, because their eyes meet Chinese characters one after another, because their fingers turn over a few pages, they have to stay away from home and wash their memories of Chinese characters and pages. The "Grand Tandem" train left the first stop of this journey. All the actions of denying culture in history always depend on the intellectuals themselves, but according to unquestionable logic, they will soon be denied to the people themselves. The students on the train slept in a mess and were still excited in their sleep. They don't know that it is impossible for any society to accommodate a group of deniers who have failed to achieve results for a long time, a group of scholars who have stopped learning, and a group of pseudo-students who don't want teachers. When they finally woke up, it was too late, the train had gone too far, and it was these young people who were finally shelled.
Maybe I'm the one who woke up earlier. I woke up in the violent swing of the train, surrounded by snoring and sweat, and an inexplicable fear came to my heart. where i was from? where am I going? Who am I? A cold shiver runs through my heart. I want to get off, but the train won't stop for a while, and no one here will pay attention to someone shouting. I had to resign myself to fate and go with the flow. According to the routine at that time, I stopped at the right place and got off at the right place, followed by tigers and dragons, and the whole person was fascinated.
Changsha and Yuelu Mountain were the places to stop and get off at that time. Everywhere is crowded and bustling, even on the mountain road of Yuelu Mountain. The famous love night pavilion should be sentimental, but at the moment it is also painted red and drowned in the noise. I looked up and looked around. Autumn is deep and maple leaves are bright. I really want to stay alone somewhere to catch my breath. I left the crowd silently and found a lonely path. After all, the wild mountain is not the thoroughfare of the square, so it is not difficult to find its coldness. After several turns and bushes, I was left alone. This road is very narrow, and many places are almost blocked by trees, so you can only get through by pushing the branches. Many graves appeared gradually, and no one visited them in those years, and the grass was blurred. The biggest tomb seems to be related to the Revolution of 1911. There are some stone tablets in front of the grave, and the moss is peeling off. A gust of autumn wind and crows, I know it's getting late and it's time to go back. But where to go? Nowhere is my place. I might as well be brave, or walk aimlessly on the path and see where it takes me.
When dusk reached its peak, the mountain gradually became mysterious. As I walked, I thought, this mountain is tired enough, and on the other side, next to the love pavilion, it is loaded with realistic passion; This end, between layers of graves, is rape at the beginning of the century. I want to be quiet and hide here from there. Unexpectedly, this place made me listen to yesterday's roar in silence. It is said to be the foot of Nanyue Mountain, belonging to the vein. It seems that the vein of China is destined to spread endless turmoil. What kind of place are you in the increasingly quiet Yuelu Mountain in the thick twilight? How can there be so much tenacity and mania under your green slope ochre?
Just thinking like this, a long old wall appeared in front of me, surrounded by many taupe old houses. What is this place? After a few steps along the wall, I saw a side door and pushed it away. I hesitated and went in. I walked over a little scared, pretended to cough a few times, and shouted "hello" straight up, without any response. But walking, I seem to be controlled by a magical force, and my steps slow down and I am no longer afraid. There is no decoration here. Why does it give me a sense of dignity? I've never been here. Why is deja vu everywhere? These houses and courtyards can be used for various purposes, but what was their original purpose? A big family doesn't need such a dense one-story house, each floor is so elegant and peaceful. Maybe independent souls are allowed to stay here? There should be a lot of people gathered here, but it can't be a government office or a military camp. There must have been a quiet party here, a kind of unspeakable tenderness, a kind of sacredness that is neither hot nor heroic, and everything I just felt when I crossed the wall belongs to the opposite theme.
This yard, I don't know how to hit a level that I don't even know. It seems that this level was not cultivated in my life, but earlier. If I had a previous life, I would have been here and lived here for a long time. I found myself in a blur. What are you? This is a mysterious courtyard. The day you accidentally step in and never want to come out, you feel kinder than the house where you were born and the house where you live now, and that is yourself.
I wandered around the yard alone, reluctant to go, and finally touched a stone tablet. By the last faint skylight, I recognized those four characters at a glance: Yuelu Academy.
two
Without any information and explanation, I don't know where Yuelu Academy is, which gives me such a mysterious intimacy. Intuitively, this is a cultural and educational institution with a long history, which is quite different from the vigorous Cultural Revolution at present, but it is actually safe and sound near the flood because a leader once lived in one of its rooms for a period of time when he was young. Yuelu Academy is very sensible. It didn't dress itself up as the birthplace of revolution from the beginning, but painted its old cheeks with purple and red. But sitting quietly in the foothills, still blue bricks and green tiles, white walls and mysterious tiles. If you put your life in troubled times, don't ask Wenda to be a vassal. Whoever wants to see it won't do any harm. Open a side door and wait, so we meet unexpectedly and silently.
It is said that the biographies of some Qigong masters in the world are vacant for a period of time, and people guess that it must be a chance for them to suddenly realize in a special encounter. I believe in this opportunity. Now reporters often ask me, how many key promoters are there in the long journey of studying? I often feel speechless when I think about it. I can't convince them that a courtyard I stepped into in a hurry, I don't know what it is for, I haven't met anyone, I haven't said a word, and it is actually a "key" in my life. I don't remember how long I stayed in it, except that when I left, I looked peaceful, like a blue brick floor and a white wall. I remember I went back to Shanghai soon after I went down the mountain. My later experience is still bumpy and tortuous, but I have been trying my best to accompany the book. Occasionally, I read historical materials about Yuelu Academy in books, and I always keep my eyes open for several times. In recent years, the publishing industry has developed vigorously. A Brief History of Yuelu Academy, Zhu and Yuelu Academy, Long Examination of Yuelu Academy, Biography of Yuelu Academy, Selected Poems of Yuelu Academy, and Overview of Yuelu Academy, Chinese Academy and Traditional Culture appeared on my desk one after another. I gave lectures in Changsha many times and revisited the academy again and again.
Yuelu Academy has existed for 1000 years. It is no exaggeration to say that it is the oldest institution of higher learning in the world. China, people who say "old" believe that "institutions of higher learning" and so on often have to put a question mark, but this question mark can be completely revoked in front of Yuelu Academy. /kloc-For more than 0/000 years, Yuelu Academy has gathered a large number of educators with the highest level in the world, including world-class cultural and philosophical masters Zhu, Zhang Wei, Wang Yangming, etc., and its students can even make an amazing list. A thousand years is too long. As far as the Qing Dynasty is concerned, it is easy for us to name the philosopher Wang Fuzhi, the financial master Tao Shu, the enlightenment thinker Wei Yuan and the strategist Zuo. There is a couplet proudly hanging at the main entrance of Yuelu Academy, describing it as the most brilliant talent gathering place in the world, but you can't believe it when you look down. You see, in the whole Qing Dynasty, almost everything that needed brains was swallowed up by this mountain courtyard.
The strength of this courtyard lies in carrying forward the extreme importance of education to a nation with Millennium resilience. I have been thinking that all the wiser rulers in history will attach importance to education. They have both administrative power and economic strength to run education, and of course they will be decent. But why can't there be an official school as long as Yuelu Academy? Imperial academy in the Han Dynasty, Hong Wen Hall, Chongwen Hall and Guo Zi School in the Tang Dynasty were all official schools, but the government put too many demands on these official schools for political utility and strictly controlled them. The strict control of the government will inevitably lead to the complexity and formalism of philosophy, and education has mostly become a vassal of the imperial examination system, losing its own character as an independent cause. They all talk about education, but they focus on real benefits, false reputation and officialdom. This is a common problem in China's official schools in the past dynasties, and it is also the reason why countless grandiloquences that attach importance to education are not finally implemented. Of course, there are also some officials with high cultural character who try to find another way fundamentally, but no matter how big the official position is, they can't get rid of the shackles of the system and can't stop the direct demands of officialdom and society for education. In the end, they can only do nothing. Then, let's run a private school that is not strictly controlled by the government. However, after all, private schools are too trivial and scattered, and there are not many famous teachers at home and abroad, and there are not many talents in the world. Without enough people in these two aspects, education will lose a vital solemn atmosphere, just like religion loses its ceremony, games lose its scenes and can't do much.
It is in the face of this dilemma that a group of outstanding educators have found a space between them. Is it possible for some famous scholars to take the lead, avoid the prosperity of the city and set up some "private auxiliary" academies on some famous mountains? The academy is located on the mountain, which contains the transmission of academic culture and the independent spirit and detached feelings necessary for some research; But it must be a famous mountain, so that these academies can show their importance, become attached to Feng Shui, be commensurate with famous teachers, and pursue social popularity and appeal in detachment. Based on the folk, the main will of the academy was established not according to the political needs at that time, but according to the cultural logic of the literati, so that education and academics remained sufficiently free; But it needs government assistance, because without government assistance, there are many troubles, and it is unthinkable to run a cultural and educational undertaking on a large scale for a long time. Of course, getting government assistance or even accepting some kind of control requires a price, which requires two stages. The best scenario is to stimulate the cultural character of officials at all levels with the cultural character of the academy, let them participate in the cause of the academy as intellectuals, and give substantive help with power. This kind of scene, indeed as expected, appears frequently.
It can be seen that the appearance of the academy is really the result of repeated thinking and careful design by a group of cultural visionaries with high IQ. It not only maintains the cultural ideal of clear breeze, but also conforms to the national conditions of China. It is different from a large number of unrealistic cultural fantasies and ultimately secular short-term behaviors in history. It can be said that it is an amazing pioneering work in the cultural history of China. There have been many academies in the famous mountains of China, among which Yuelu Academy and Bailudong Academy in Lushan Mountain are the best and therefore the most prestigious.
The teaching system of Yuelu Academy is quite reasonable today. The college implements the "mountain leader responsibility system". The name Shanchang sounds wild, which just corresponds to the environment where the academy is located. But in my opinion, the name also contains indifference to the imperial level, showing humor and freedom, although the mountain leaders are outstanding figures in moral knowledge, management ability, social background, prestige in the ruling and opposition parties and so on. They just want to run an academy, with spring flowers and autumn leaves all over the mountains and winter months in Xia Feng, an independent world. There are mountains in the name, and pride in modesty. The salary of the mountain farm is not low, and the life is comfortable. The last time I went to Yuelu Academy, I went to Baiquanxuan, where the mountain field has lived for a long time. Beautiful and elegant houses are really charming. Under the leadership of mountain teachers, the college adopts relatively free teaching methods. Generally, the mountain master himself or other teachers give lectures once every ten and a half months, and the rest of the time is mainly self-study. If you have any questions about self-study, you can always ask the teacher for advice or discuss with each other. At first glance, it's easy to go with the flow. In fact, the college has clear learning rules, clear and orderly curriculum, and strict assessment several times a month. In addition, students must also record their daily reading in the "textbook", and the mountain chief personally checks it regularly. The content of the course is mainly Confucian classics, history, literature, philology (that is, primary school), as well as eight-part essay and imperial examination poems. By the end of the Qing Dynasty, many natural science courses were added. As you can imagine, this extremely flexible teaching method can brew a fascinating learning atmosphere, which may sometimes be more edifying and infecting than the course itself. Until 1840, domestic troubles were deep, and Feng Guifen wrote in "Heavy Confucianism":
Today, the only academy has a little intention to educate people, and the provincial capital is the most important. I have seen two academies in Yuelu and Chengnan, Hunan. Mountain leaders are respectful and officials are polite. Many students live in the house, and the books are full of outdoor sounds. It can be said that there is no empty day to ask questions. This kind of book sound that resounds through the outdoor has actually echoed in the Qingxi Maolin of Yuelu Mountain for thousands of years!
In this atmosphere, the teaching quality of Yuelu Academy has been very high, far from being comparable to that of government-run schools. As early as the Song Dynasty, there were three recognized teaching levels in Changsha: those who achieved excellent results in state-run schools could be promoted to Xiangxi Academy; High flyers of Xiangxi Academy can be promoted to Yuelu Academy. In this sense, Yuelu Academy is quite similar to our current graduate school, with high independence and striking.
Where does the money come from to run such a college? If you think about it carefully, the cost of the academy will not be less. In addition to the dean, there are also vice presidents, teaching assistants, lecturers, inspectors, directors, supervisors and other teaching administrative personnel. In addition, there are a considerable number of handymen, such as cooks, porters, Tang Fu, housekeepers, janitors, library guards and pavilion guards, all of whom will be paid. Accommodation, grants and pen and ink fees for each student are provided by the college, and the winners of several assessments every month also have bonuses; These are all daily expenses. If we want to build some houses, buy some books and transform the garden, the cost will certainly be higher. The above expenses of the college mainly depend on the income from studying in other places. The so-called learning field refers to the field attribute of the academy. Government officials wanted to show their importance to the college, so they allocated some land. Rich families want to subsidize the academy, so they often do so and rarely give money directly. With these fields, the academy has a relatively stable economic income, even if the regime changes and the currency depreciates, it is not too afraid. If you rent the farmland to others for planting, you can collect the farmland rent, but if you can't use it for a while, you can invest in the business to earn interest and turn the dead money into living money. Judging from the accounts of the existing colleges, all the expenses of the colleges are generally frugal and strictly managed, and there is no tendency to extravagance and waste. The income from studying abroad is often less than the expenses, and it is necessary to apply for subsidies from the government. I feel very proud of the land allocated to the academy, just like black soil, just like spring planting and autumn harvest, but it has provided nourishment for China culture and China talents for thousands of years, which is so different from other land nearby. Now there is a book published 20 years ago on my desk, which talks about the research field of the academy, saying that the academy "takes the exploitation income of land rent and usury as the perennial fund" through the research field, and the resentment is beyond words. According to this kind of thinking logic, both land rent and interest are "exploitation income", and if the academy regards it as a perennial fund, it can't escape evil. I'd rather not teach or be educated about this inexplicable sense of small farmers! China's land is so big that it can be abandoned and turned into a battlefield. It is not a joke, but a fact that people are unhappy, because it was carved from such a trivial fragment and turned into a great civilized cause spanning thousands of years. China's teaching and culture have been beset with obstacles, and Yuelu Academy and other academies are often in trouble, which is also related to this. As for me, I really want to see those fields and take a good look at those extremely ordinary and extraordinary lands when I go to Changsha next time.