Yu Guanying is a director of the Chinese Writers Association, a representative of the 3rd National People's Congress, a member of the 5th and 6th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and serves as a consultant to the National Ancient Books Compilation and Publishing Planning Group. He devoted his life to the teaching and research of classical literature and cultivated a large number of talents. He is rigorous in scholarship, has insightful insights, and has outstanding achievements. His professional title is a second-level researcher, and his research directions include pre-Qin literature, Han, Wei and Six Dynasties literature. Yangzhou's beautiful scenery and strong atmosphere of advocating culture cultivated his temperament and nourished his literary quality. Even before his death, he could not forget the nostalgic green poplar love of Yangzhou. When Guanying was 11 years old, his father passed away and his family fell into decline. However, his mother still attached great importance to Guanying's study and tried her best to satisfy him with any books Guanying wanted to buy. There were two bookstores in Yangzhou that Guanying frequented, and his mother gave him a discount. He could collect the bookstore's account first and pay for it together at the end of the year. Guanying was admitted to a higher primary school at the age of 13, and to Jiangsu Provincial No. 8 Middle School (later changed to Yangzhou Middle School) at the age of 15.
The 1920s was an era of turbulent revolution in China. Guanying also began to read progressive books and periodicals, get in touch with revolutionary ideas, and make friends with progressive classmates. When the May 30th Movement broke out, patriotic students in Yangzhou also rose up to support it, and Yu Guanying became the first president of the newly established Yangzhou Student Union. He organized student demonstrations and invited progressive people to give lectures at the school. Among them, the most famous one was Communist Party member Yun Daiying. In 1926, Yu Guanying was admitted to the History Department of Tsinghua University with excellent results, and later transferred to the Chinese Literature Department. He majors in classical Chinese poetry and also likes to write new poems. In the fourth grade, Guanying organized the "Chirp Poetry Club" among his classmates. Every time a poem was written, the club members had to criticize it and appreciate the joy of poetry through mutual discussion.
In addition to poetry, Guanying's sketches, essays, and novels are also outstanding. He used the homophony of the Han Dynasty general "Guanying" as his pen name, and most of his works were published in "Tsinghua Weekly" and "Chinese Literary Society". Some of these articles were included in "The Essence of Contemporary Prose" compiled by People's Literature Publishing House, and some were included in "Chinese New Literature Series" edited by Zhu Ziqing. In his article "The Literary Style of Tsinghua University" written in 1931, Professor Wu Zuxiang of the same period spoke highly of Yu Guanying's works at that time, saying that Yu Guanying was a representative writer of Tsinghua University and represented Tsinghua University's literary style. During the difficult years of the Anti-Japanese War, Guanying edited the influential Chinese Monthly to its 40th issue. "Tsinghua is not a good place to study"
Yu Guanying
I once asked someone: Which of the two names Tsinghua University and Tsinghua Garden will be more popular in the future? Some people say: Judging from the facts before us, the limelight belongs more to the latter. There's probably nothing wrong with that, right? You said: Isn’t it? The three words "Tsinghua Garden" at the gate are carved in imperial stone and towering in the middle. The six words "National Tsinghua University" are written on the wooden sign and have to stand aside. I said: It’s never more than that!
Guests at Tsinghua University are often heel to toe. If I say that among these people, fifty times more people are attracted by the grass, trees, springs, and stones in the Tsinghua Garden than those who come to see the books, instruments, specimens, and machinery of Tsinghua University, should no one object? Then, it is no wonder that when you write a letter to invite friends to play, you will most likely say "please come to the garden for a walk", but rarely "please come to our school to visit". Tsinghua University originally had more of a "park" atmosphere than a "university" atmosphere.
Now we can turn to the topic. Isn’t the reason “Tsinghua University is not a good place to study” as simple as “Spring is not a day for studying”? There are more interesting things for you to do in spring than reading, and there are more interesting things for you to do in Tsinghua than reading.
The most strange thing is that no outsider has not praised Tsinghua people: "The study environment in your school is so good!" And every Tsinghua person, even the most humble one, has never shaken his head and denied it. What does this mean? Do you really believe that Tsinghua University is the best place to study? I don’t believe that you lack that experience than I do. Just cite one thing to disprove this statement.
Needless to say, it goes without saying, but in the past two weeks, if you have ever sat patiently in the classroom and took notes for an entire hour, that would be a miracle! You have eyes that can see the white words on the blackboard, and of course you also have eyes that can see the swaying and slow-dancing light yellow willows outside the window, those green peaches with welcoming smiles, those red plums that look like rouge dripping from their branches, those fire-like, Like an unknown flower with a kind of passion that wants to pounce on you, those, those... charming things, really haven't taken your heart away from a, b, c, d? Even if you are a Taoist and have the cultivation of "not looking into the garden", there are still roses and lilacs, they will release fragrance! The smoky wind got through the window from there and whirled around your nose. Are you still unmoved? Even if you suffer from the spring cold and your nose is blocked, there are skylarks and cuckoos singing in the distance, bees are humming outside the window, or even a pair of swallows just sit on the window sill and talk about love, what will you do? What about defense? In short, everything makes your heart fly away. At this time, although the professors' theories, history, methods, questions, and formulas can't grasp your heart, even Yan Ruyu in your book can't grasp it.
To give you a more practical example, if you are in the classroom of the Third Academy, even if you are listening to a lively lecture on the history of the French Revolution, you will suddenly think of fishing. Because when you see the weeping willows outside the window, you will naturally think of the spring water of the river being brushed by the soft silk, and the swimming fish blowing foam on the water. Maybe there is a fishing rod resting on the branch of the tree.
There are many similar things. For example, you are doing a chemistry internship in the science museum. Even if you are not careful for one minute, there will be a danger of burning the bottle, but you actually thought that you should have an appointment with your Mary today. , or Sophie, or Lan Mei, or Hui Mei went for a walk, how could this thought break in? Because as long as you glance out the window, you won't miss the lovely trees and the winding paths in front of Guyue Hall.
No more than that! You must have curled up your head leisurely in the library just to hear the loud drumbeat of the woodpecker, not to mention the times when you heard the calls of waterfowl in the rice fields in the biology museum and wandered outside the laboratory.
No more than that! When you walk out of the new building with a book in your arms, sometimes you will feel a thought in your heart: What's wrong? It turns out that the corner of the green mountain that cannot be covered by the stadium suddenly jumps into your eyes.
This is okay at ordinary times, but if it clears up after a late rain or the sun is about to set, your heart will be pounding uncontrollably. Because the green hills, which are usually just an understatement, will now be so purple that you feel their weight, and so thick that they will overflow their outlines; they are usually far away, ethereal, and flat, but now they are piled up and approaching. So you gasped in surprise, and then you forgot where you were going, so you ran westward, crossed the grassland, and climbed up the mountain. Then the mountains, trees, clouds, and pagodas all became one. Come to your eyes. At this time, the tower of Yenching University, the Lin Palace in Wanshou Mountain, and even the broken pillars of the Old Summer Palace, everything is full of color, everything radiates light, everything gives you fantasy, and this fantasy is actually the same as this gold-plated and purple-plated palace. The clouds are as beautiful as the clouds. So you stayed there until the crows returned to their nests and woke you up in the darkness. Then you stumbled down the mountain and walked towards the brightly lit canteen in a trance. Maybe you waited until you finished eating a bowl of braised three delicacies. I just remembered that I missed a class or practice today.
You nodded and smiled, that’s enough. I don’t think I need to mention you for silly things like catching frogs in the West Garden, picking lotus pods in the lotus pond, modeling snow lions in the West Garden, or basking in the sun in the auditorium. It's a waste of your good time studying.
But don’t blush. It’s not your fault. It’s just that there are some things in nature that are so charming, and Tsinghua University has so many of them. Just like a very ordinary road, in Tsinghua University it is covered with the cool shade of green willows and is also filled with the fragrance of locust flowers. You will naturally feel that you have an uncontrollable desire to take a walk. Speaking of roads, I am just talking about the most ordinary and trivial ones. Do you want me to talk about the scenery of Tsinghua University? Tsinghua University is full of winding and cascading earthen hills, and the mountains are full of pines, old junipers, rattans, dills, bamboos, stones, as well as artificial pavilions and benches. Those who love the distant view can climb high, and those who love secludedness can pursue it deep. , each suitable for his own use. Tsinghua University also has water extending in all directions. Speaking of water, the most beautiful thing is the river pond surrounded by rivers on three sides and a huge building on the other. The most wild thing is the paddy field with reeds in the Western Garden.
Although some people are envious of the lake at Yanda, I finally thought that such a big mud pond was like the many "sea" in Peiping. I would rather take the campus river that runs from east to west in Tsinghua University. The advantage is that the river is long and slightly winding, the trees on both sides are lush and lush, and the several bridges on the river are very good. On the bridge, you can see fish up close and blurred tree shadows far away. Unfortunately, the source is not large, so a sluice had to be used downstream, so the water flow was very slow. Although it had the beauty of tranquility, it ultimately lacked liveliness. Therefore, the stream that is squeezed out of the wall and flows around the garden is even more lovely.
Speaking of the creek, it is the place you are most familiar with. The sound of gurgling water there often takes you an entire afternoon to sit and listen to it. Sometimes you feel annoyed by the noise of the village girls, so you don't sit on the stone outside the door of the West Garden, but walk to the far east end, or turn a corner along the stream to find a quiet place where you are alone. The smooth stone you can sit on is covered with cool green shade, and there are cicadas chirping in harmony with the flowing spring. So you use the wicker to tease the small fish gathering water, or throw a stone into the bowl-sized small fish. In the whirlpool, or stretching a foot under the half-foot-high waterfall caused by rocks, you may have thought of being born out of the world.
Stop it, if we talk about Tsinghua's "flower affairs" again, it will definitely cause more trouble to you. I know you are looking everywhere for the blooming lilacs in the garden, but you can't find them. A place where you can hide away from this aroma. You are so anxious that you want to find a doctor to operate on your nose.
To get back to the subject, although Tsinghua is a university, it is also a garden, so the environment is not conducive to studying. This is my observation. But now I am confused again. As far as I know, the academic performance of Tsinghua graduates is rated as "good" by others. What is the explanation for this? Ha, I understand! This is called "the spirit of the land and the outstanding people". It is said that in a place with beautiful scenery and beautiful aura, the characters will naturally be beautiful. Therefore, the characters in the Tsinghua Garden of "Shuimu Tsinghua" are also very "Tsinghua".
But my question is basically nonsense, and I should take the initiative to take it back, so "apologise"!
June 1, 1931