Peking University, Oct. 25, 2010: At the time of the centennial of PKU Department of Chinese Language and Literature, what is worth thinking is its future. Prof. Chen Pingyuan, Dean of Department of Chinese Language and Literature, indicated "to affect the national ideological and cultural construction effectively" in his interview by The Beijing News. At the publication conference of A Century Pictorial History:Department of Chinese Language and Literature, Prof. Yan Jiayan, former Dean of the Department, mentioned "tradition and innovation" as the spirit and direction of the Department.
What misunderstandings do the public have toward the Department? What role should the Department plays? As students of the Department, what can we be proud of? In the ceremonial assembly, let's listen to what the professors think of the Department.
Chen Pingyuan: Whatever they say, just do our duties.
We think that the status of PKU Department of Chinese Language and Literature is based on domestic environment, connecting Mainland and Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau, backed by Asia and facing Europe and America. We are not contented with the leading role in home but looking far ahead to a role in international academia. The international conferences and lectures held by us provide the professors with more opportunities to face the European and American mainstream academia directly. We even offer chances for Ph. D students to organize small international conferences on their own, which is hardly possible abroad. In addition, we designed a forum for Ph. D students from the (Chinese) mainland, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Graduate students from 19 universities were invited to present their papers and have academic dialogues. From now on, our graduate students can apply for all kinds of forums to participate in. They will have a wider academic view than us.
There are random criticisms toward the professors and students of the Department. It is not uncommon, because broad mind is our characteristic. As long as we keep the direction, support the well-worthy disciplines, issues and scholars, and create a free atmosphere to make each one show his special prowess, we can advance both research and thinking. In order to affect the current social reform, we should also be concerned about society, life, politics and other realistic problems apart from researches in our major. We cannot abandon the fine tradition of PKU Department of Chinses Language and Literature to pay attention to social problems.
Yuan Xingpei: Advocating the humanistic spirit.
The core of humanistic spirit is the respect towards human beings which means respecting others and their personalities, creations and contributions made for social progress and human happiness. It is necessary indeed to promote science and technology as China is doing now. But advocating the humanistic spirit is equally important.
The most ideal state of a university is the union of scientific spirit and humanistic spirit both of which are indispensible. They are like two wings of a bird or two wheels of a carriage. Advocating humanistic spirit should not be confined in the Department or in Peking University, but should be viewed as our social responsibilities. We should take it as a national strategy as it will contribute to the promotion of national quality. In a hundred year's time, the most rewarding thing of the Department is its free academic atmosphere and the excellent environment which encourages the talents' free growth. Thanks to the humanistic spirit of the Department, it has cultivated talents in all fields. It is also why numerous professors and students still attach their feelings toward the Department. I deeply understand the sadness of our alumnus in their memory. However, wherever they go and whatever they are, all the alumni from the Department love our motherland, seek for the truth, and have a strong career ambition, and more importantly they dare to tell the truth. We hold ourselves aloof from politics and material pursuits to repel the common. It is exactly our commendable character. We will continue carrying the burden of advocating the humanistic spirits and prove that we are the top university of China.
Liu Zhenyun: Though seen the old acquaintances not, we are bearing the love for the Chinese Department
I once went to the lecture of Prof. Wu Zuxiang. He, trimmed with a gold tooth, liked smoking the Chinese tobacco. "Lao She was popular from 1949, while I’ve never been popular in my lifetime. However, personality is more important than popularity. Fame is important to Lao She, but not to me. So when he was not popular anymore, he jumped into the Taiping Lake. When he jumped into the lake, I was cleaning the toilet in PKU. I am the one who swept the toilets most cleanlily.” This is Master Wu.
Prof. Xie Mian always trembled in the class. He trembled not because of us nor of the classes, but because of the poems. "A piece of leaf falls into the South China See," he said. His trembling made me know the relationship among leaf, South China Sea, and poem."
From the first day I entered the PKU Department of Chinese Language and Literature, every professor told me that Chinese Department of Peking University was not a place for cultivating writers. I went against the instructions of my teachers. But I think it is essentially important for a writer to study in PKU Department of Chinese Language and Literature if he or she wants to go further as a writer, because teachers and students in this department think about different things as others do.
Translated by: Chen Wei
Edited by: Zhang Chunlan
Source: PKU Youth
