Ye Shengzhou
On the 110th anniversary of the founding of Tsinghua University, there were two outstanding principals: one was Mei Yiqi and the other was Jiang Nanxiang. Mei Yiqi is to Tsinghua as Cai Yuanpei is to Peking University. He was a "direct student in the United States" at Tsinghua University, also known as a "prehistoric student" in the history of the school, that is, he stayed in the United States before the establishment of Tsinghua Academy on April 26, 1911.
In June 1909, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Qing Government set up a Tourism And Aesthetic Affairs Office in Shijia Hutong, Beijing; in August, the first batch of "direct American students" were recruited, with 630 candidates and 47 admitted, and Mei Yiqi ranked sixth. He was the president of Tsinghua University for the longest term (including 17 years at Tsinghua university in Beijing, 14 years at Tsinghua in Yumei and Hsinchu), and often expressed his attachment and love for Tsinghua with the phrase "Born of Si Changsi, I Love Wulu" (Mei Yiqi, "Tsinghua during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (Second Continuation)").
In his preface to The Memorial Collection of Mr. Mei Yiqi, Chen Daisun said that Mei Yiqi 's life's achievements and Tsinghua University are combined." Tsinghua people also honored this credible, amiable and respectable principal as "eternal principal" and "lifelong principal". "It is widely recognized that Tsinghua was able to catch up with Peking University in the 1930s and 1940s, which is also the highest university in China, and President Mei is one of the top two heroes." (Liu Wujie's "Impressions of Principals Zhang and Mei")
Mei Yiqi
Deal with the aftermath of the assassination
Tsinghua and the Southwest United Congress are one of the main battlefields for the Kuomintang and the Communist Party to compete for youth, talents, and ideology, and Mei Yiqi has seen it thoroughly and knows that it is difficult for anyone to be the principal. According to his diary, on October 28, 1945, at the invitation of Zhang Tingqian, he had lunch with Professors of Peking University such as Fu Sinian, Yang Zhensheng, Fan Jichang, Qian Mu, Zhou Binglin, and Tang Yongtong, and talked about the situation and the future of the school. "I hope that there will be a solution in the short term, otherwise there will be no real education in a few months, within a few years!"
Mei Yiqi did not agree with the "excessive" remarks of the democracy fighters, and had quite a few words in his diary. For example, at six o'clock in the evening of November 5, 1945, Mei Yiqi was at Pan Guangdan's house, having dinner with Wen Yiduo, The Wen Jiasi brothers, zeng Zhaolun, Wu Han, Fu Sinian, Yang Zhensheng and other celebrities, and everyone drank more than nine pounds of wine, and after the meal, they talked about the political situation and school affairs until twelve o'clock in the evening. He confided in his diary: "Yu has no deep study of politics and no great understanding of communism, but is quite skeptical; for the school bureau, he thinks that he should follow Mr. Cai Xiaomin's inclusive attitude in order to fulfill the mission of academic freedom." The so-called old and new of the past, the so-called left and right of today, should all be given the opportunity to freely explore in schools, and the situation is the same. The reason why Peking University was Peking University in the past, and Tsinghua university in the future is Tsinghua, should be paid attention to here. ”
Another example is the record of December 14, 1945, "The opinions and remarks of an ideal revolutionary can be instigated, but may not be realistic, and it is inevitable that they will be used by conspirators." ”
For another example, on April 14, 1946, Tsinghua, Peking University, and Nankai were about to resume their respective schools, and the Alumni Association of Kunming United University held a "farewell meeting". Mei Yiqi said in his diary: "In the meeting, Wen Yiduo opened the end of the insult, and then the person who followed it was the person who controlled the meeting, and criticized the school and insulted the professor. "The meaning of democracy and freedom has been tarnished by this generation. However, the future of the school is even more worrying. The next day, Ma John, a senior professor at Tsinghua University, came to Meizhai and talked about the situation of the alumni farewell meeting on the 14th, "extremely angry."
On the afternoon of November 29, 1944, Wen Yiduo spoke impromptu at the mobilization meeting of the knowledgeable youth of the Southwest United University, guiding from the perspective of the youth that "now we are politically oppressed and no one listens to our speeches, because we do not have guns in our hands", believing that "the army must be reformed, and this task has fallen on young people." Wen Liming, the son of Wen Yiduo, commented in the Youth Expeditionary Force of the National Southwest United University, "Wen Yiduo's impromptu speech showed his political childish side. ”
In 1944, the Nationalist government suggested that the Southwest United Congress dismiss Wen Yiduo and several other progressive professors, but Mei Yiqi never ignored it, let alone implemented it. After Wen Yiduo was assassinated, he quickly took a series of emergency measures, showing a very high IQ, emotional intelligence and political intelligence.
Checking Mei Yiqi's diary, on July 11, 1946, after the assassination of Li Gongpu, executive director of the Central Committee of the China Democratic League, he only mentioned it the next day, "Guangdan is late, and I first learned that Li Gongpu was assassinated last night at the academy slope." At 5:00 p.m. on July 16, Mrs. Pan Guangdan ran in to inform Professor Tsinghua and Professor Wen Yiduo of the United Nations University that he had been shot and his son was seriously injured.
First, zhao Shichang, director of the Shu Affairs Section, was immediately dispatched to the Wen family to take care of him; second, Zha Liangzhao, the chief of the General Assembly's training, was sent to the Security Headquarters, with the intention of course to inquire about the news and ask him to pay attention to the safety of the other professors; third, to send an urgent telegram to the Ministry of Education that night; and fourth, to send official letters to the court, the Security Headquarters, and the Police Station that night. I didn't go to bed until after 1 a.m. the next day. In his diary, he denounced the main culprit who assassinated Wen Yiduo, "Looking at the situation at that time, surrounded by many people, he will want to die, and what hatred and conspiracy this is, what a pity and even more fearful in the future." ”
The next day, he methodically continued to take a number of actions: First, in the morning, he and his wife Han Yonghua went to the YunDa Hospital to visit Mrs. Wen Yiduo and her son Wen Lihe who were injured; second, at noon, he went to the Security Headquarters to visit Commander-in-Chief Huo Yuzhang, but unfortunately did not meet, and left a business card; third, Li Gongpu and Wen Yiduo were successively murdered by secret agents, and the professors of the United Nations University, especially the leftist professors, were all in danger, and he proposed that everyone gather together in the afternoon to protect them; fourth, at four o'clock in the afternoon, he set up a funeral pension committee for Professor Wen; and at five or six o'clock in the afternoon, he went to the US consulate in Kunming. Visit Mr. and Mrs. Pan Guangdan and Zhang Xiruo.
Pan Guangdan and his wife were at twelve o'clock in the night of the 15th, and roser, deputy consul of the US consulate, and two US troops entered the US consulate in a jeep to avoid trouble. After talking with Roser, Mei Yiqi learned that there were seventeen or eighteen people living in the US consulate, including Fei Xiaotong's family. On July 17, he arranged for Zhao Shichang to buy rice, noodles, sugar, tea, ham, black big head (according to the Yunnan specialty vegetables), towels and other food and daily necessities, and send them to the US consulate for the use of the professors and their families who were avoiding disasters. In the afternoon, before the standing committee of the UN General Assembly met, he led all the members of the Standing Committee to the Yunda Hospital and saw that many people were buried.
On the afternoon of July 24, Mei Yiqi presided over Wen Yiduo's memorial service and officiated. On the afternoon of 30 July, Gu Zhutong, commander-in-chief of the Third Theater, had a tea party with more than 100 people from all walks of life in the large living room of the Yunnan Provincial Government; Lu Han, chairman of yunnan province; Huo Yuzhang, commander-in-chief of the security department; Deng Feihuang, chairman of the party department; and other local dignitaries spoke one after another. Yu Jue cannot but say", openly for the assassination of Wen Yiduo, Zhang Zhengyi said: "I demand that this case be solved as soon as possible and the murderer be punished to the law, and express my gratitude to all those who expressed their condolences for Wen's death and the military and police authorities for arranging for the safety of the same people." ”
Smell a lot
Protect leftist professors
Running higher education not only cannot hide from and bypass the big names in political circles, but it is necessary to take the initiative to get closer to and strive for more resources and seek more legitimate rights and interests for universities, teachers and students. Zhang Boling, Hu Shi, Fu Sinian, and Zhu Kezhen were the presidents of the university, and Mei Yiqi was also the president of the university, and although his relationship with Chiang Kai-shek was not as close as that of Zhang, Hu, Fu, and Zhu, he also had many interactions.
On September 20, 1945, the National Conference on The Aftermath of Education was held in Chongqing, and Mei Yiqi was elected as vice speaker at the preparatory meeting. Five days later, Chiang Kai-shek hosted a banquet in the auditorium of the Central Military Commission, and "Yu was seated on the left of the master and had to talk with him." October 10 was the National Day of the Republic of China, and Chiang Kai-shek only invited Mei Yiqi, president of Tsinghua University, and Fu Sinian, acting president of Peking University, to the official residence for lunch. (The Diary of Mei Yiqi, September 25, October 10, 1945)
In 1946, Chiang Kai-shek issued an edict asking Tsinghua to rectify the study style and restore the atmosphere of academic research after the resumption of tsinghua. On June 14, Mei Yiqi and Zhu Jingnong, president of Guanghua University, went to the Ministry of Education to discuss implementation matters with Zhai Yifu, the chief secretary, and proposed to achieve two things: "1. Stable life; 2. Enrich research equipment, and then the academic atmosphere will be restored." ”
On the afternoon of June 25, 1946, Chiang Kai-shek met with Mei Yiqi and Minister of Education Zhu Jiahua at his official residence. Jiang asked, "What is the reopening plan?" Mei replied: "Tentatively scheduled to start the double ten festival." Jiang also asked, "What is the method for the middle school in the next (school) year?" Mei not only deducted the two instructions of Jiang's instructions, but also reported his own implementation ideas: "We should still pay attention to the restoration of the academic research atmosphere, and if the professors live a stable life and enrich the research equipment, the research work will certainly make more progress." ”
What is even more wonderful is that Mei Yiqi took this opportunity to directly play down the role of Tsinghua Leftist Professors to the supreme leaders and alleviate Jiang's doubts, "There are a small number of Tsinghua professors who have said and acted inappropriately, but most of the fans are deeply dissatisfied, and in the future, they will be corrected by the self-persuasion of the same people, and there will be little (bad) impact." "The solution is academic freedom, university autonomy, and the subtext is to oppose political interference," these people have achieved great academic success in the past, and their recent actions are a momentary impulse, so they hope that in the persuasion of [fan], they will realize themselves, and their subsequent results will be better." ”
Mei Yiqi did not name the Tsinghua leftist professors in front of Chiang Kai-shek, but both sides knew that the three or four Tsinghua professors at that time had a distinct anti-government and anti-Kuomintang stance. More than four months ago, when Education Minister Zhu Jiahua met with him, "the actions of Zhang, Wen, and Pan were particularly unfavorable to Tsinghua, and the warnings were also good-natured." (Mei Yiqi's Diary, February 17, 1946) The three people referred to in it were Zhang Xiruo, Wen Yiduo, and Pan Guangdan; and one person, wu Han, was not named. Zhu Jiahua named these three people, and Chiang Kai-shek certainly knew it.
Mei Yiqi disagreed with Zhang Xiruo's political stance, but did not interfere with his freedom of speech, but recorded in his diary on March 3, 1946: "Seeing a passage of Xi Ruo's conversation in the Student Daily, his subjectivity is too strong, and it is particularly inappropriate to criticize the fans. Its liver qi seems to be more abundant recently. Mei Zuyan commented in "Southwest United University and President Mei Yiqi", "Father knows that in intellectuals, there is both lofty patriotism and a strong desire to pursue learning. It should be said that the deep understanding of the mentality of intellectuals was that there were few people like him at that time. ”
Mei Yiqi also explained to Chiang Kai-shek the radical reasons of several professors, "There may still be a reason, that is, there are many family members or patients from time to time, and their lives are particularly difficult, and they do not want to emulate what others have done, so they accumulate in their chests, vent for a while, and their anger is even greater." "The key is to characterize it as a matter of life (economics), not a political one!" Jiang agreed with Mei's point, "At the beginning, life problems are really important. Zhu Jiahua hit the iron while it was hot on the spot, "taking the opportunity to mention the problems of the treatment of instructors and the increase in funds." ”
"Wine Saint" social
Zhu Kezhen's diary is more about official business and detailed; Mei Yiqi's diary is more about personal friendship and simple. Mrs. May said that her husband "did not like to express his feelings in poetry all his life, but only gave speeches, so he left very little text." (Han Yonghua, "40 Years of Sharing Happiness and Suffering-Remembering what I Know About Mei Yiqi") Needless to say, Mei Yiqi's diary during the Southwest United Congress period was busy with official business and less comments, and a large number of pages were drinking and eating.
In 1939, Mei Yiqi took a family photo
He is a good wine, the amount of wine is excellent, the wine is excellent, and he is suspected of being greedy. After drinking too much and getting drunk many times, he blamed himself for "refraining from refraining from drinking less" (Mei Yiqi's Diary, October 14, 1945) and still drinking again and again.
Taking his 1941 diary as an example, according to his own conclusive records, he drank too much alcohol at least ten times, and even vomited on the spot, feeling ashamed. On January 11, the banquet invited the yunnan construction department director Zhang and his wife to a total of three tables, "everyone is very happy to drink, a total of thirty pounds, most of them are drunk." After Yu returned to The Tobacco Village, he slept down. With Mei Yiqi's massive and host status, female guests drink less than men, and the wine he drank that night must have exceeded one pound per capita, and he went back to sleep, which is obviously one of the "majority" who have been drunk.
On March 10, "I woke up slightly unwell in the morning, and Cover drank a little more last night." On the evening of March 30, he drank once for Fang Jucheng's marriage testimony, and then rushed to the second Tao Menghe banquet, toasted a circle, drank too quickly, "actually drunk, vomited when he returned to the room, and went to bed without undressing." On May 23, at the night banquet with Tsinghua alumni, "even drank twenty cups, and the wine quality seemed to be not very good, and gradually felt drunk", "around ten o'clock by Bao Di (press: brother Mei Yibao) and other will help return, quite regretful." On June 28, he visited the Institute of History and Language of the Academia Sinica in Lizhuang, and had dinner at the home of Acting Director Dong Zuobin, "Drinking a little more, feeling more stuffy, sweating like pulp", "Yu appeared to be drunk".
On July 18, after visiting Sichuan University, he attended the luncheon of Tsinghua alumni, "drinking more than ten cups of Daqu" and "fearing that Yu yu was slightly drunk". On the evening of July 25, in Chengdu, he went to Deng Jingkang and Wang Mengfu for dinner, and "drank about 2 cups with Zhu Ziqing, and was slightly drunk." On August 4, at the dinner party of Liu Hongwan's house, he played a circle of mahjong after the meal, "I actually slept on the chair in the hall house, and the cover was also a little drunk." On August 11, lunch "drank a big song, the wine glass was quite large, and if you didn't win after five cups, you vomited before leaving." On December 6, at the Party Department of Yunnan Province, "drinking five or six glasses of wine, Xi Wei finally became drunk and ashamed."
Mei Yiqi is still a full-fledged foodie, with a very sharp mouth, a wide range of knowledge, and can be called a gourmet. Taking only his 1946 diary as an example, on January 3, Mrs. Li Shuhua, Mrs. Zhang Xiruo, Mrs. Liu Shuqing and other light meals, "the cuisine is self-made, still good, still a little more ears"; on January 9, Deng Jun invited guests, the housewife "is a Hunan national, quite good at cooking, but slightly too rich"; on February 5, Mrs. Du Yuming invited guests, he commented that "the wine and dishes and the same seat are meaningless, but the host is very generous to feel it".
On February 9, Dai Fanglan and his wife invited guests, and he commented that "there are many dishes, but they are not fine"; on March 10, Fan Bingzhe and his wife invited guests, and he commented that "Western food is very good, but it is too much." The wine is also good, but it is too sweet"; on June 19, Yang Zhensheng invited guests, he commented that "the dishes are Fujian flavor, and the chef Chen made is quite exquisite"; on June 27, Huang Renlin, director of the Field Service Corps, invited guests, who commented that "the dishes are quite rich and there is wine".
On July 4, the National Association for Foreign Affairs invited guests, and he commented that "Western food is boring"; on September 13, together with Chen Daisun, Shi Jiajiao, and Bi Zhengxuan of the Tsinghua School Property Custody Committee, they hosted a banquet with Hu Shi, Fu Sinian, Yang Zhensheng, Tang Yongtong, Zheng Tianting, and other Peking University professors at Chen Residence, "The dishes are cooked for the maids of the Chen Residence, which are quite exquisite"; on September 24, they had a light meal at the Fu Residence with Hu Shi and his wife, Fu Sinian and his wife, and Zhang Boju. ”
He was a master wine taster, and once implied in his diary that the wine of the host's feast was first good and then shoddy. For example, on December 17, 1942, Mr. and Mrs. Wu Xiaoyuan invited guests, "After three or five cups, they gradually became discolored, and they did not drink much, and the last cup actually had a very heavy smell of shochu and was too much to ask." The host did not know how to drink also. On July 9, 1943, Wan Guobin invited guests, and he recorded in his diary that "the wine was quite good at the beginning, and after a few glasses, it was different."
In April 1947, Tsinghua's first celebration after the resumption of the school was also the alumni homecoming festival, and a banquet was set up in the Industrial Hall to entertain the alumni. Everyone toasted to each other, and suddenly someone proposed that each grade toast to the principal in turn. Every year, the grade group toasts all asked for a toast, and did not dry or retreat, so Mei Yiqi had to do one cup after another. "After the banquet was dispersed, I walked home to sleep on my own, got up and continued to entertain the guests, and attended the concert that night, if nothing happened." (Mei Yibao, "May 19th Reading "Five Brothers")
Mei Yiqi is such a good wine, first of all, social needs, China is a personal society, no wine is not a banquet. Not only to associate with the education and cultural circles, but also to maintain good lubrication with the political, military, social elites, local factions, etc., the simplest and most efficient, the most down-to-earth, the most suitable way to Chinese is one - drinking. The more luxurious, the easier it is to make friends. Ye Gongchao commented in the article "Remembering Principal Mei" that Mr. Mei "has the arrogance that is easily revealed, making him an ideal drinking friend."
For example, on March 13, 1943, Long Yun, chairman of Yunnan Province, invited Chen Cheng, commander of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, to accompany mei Yiqi. He learned that his mother had died only 9 days ago, and was in the period of filial piety, "I had to go, no black cloth coat, change to wear a dark suit, black bow tie, filial piety is not easy to pay attention to today." ”
He proposed to set up a Tsinghua Service Agency to earn money and dividends, thereby improving the income and life of teachers at Tsinghua and Southwest United Universities. For the service of the company's operations, he repeatedly invited public relations. For example, on September 24, 1943, Lu Han, commander-in-chief of the security guard, and four directors of the Yunnan Provincial Government were invited to a banquet, and in their diaries, they explicitly stated that "it is for the Tsinghua Service Agency, please help." On October 21 and May 8, 1944, two banquets were held for Colonel Jordan and others of the US "SOS" Supply Force.
Secondly, the daily life of the War of Resistance was too harsh, "eating dumplings (pot stickers) at home, but gluttonous food was too full, quite uncomfortable." ("Mei Yiqi's Diary", August 17, 1946) There are banquets, wine, delicacies, and good friends, which can not only make him play "tooth sacrifices" to improve food, but also enhance mutual friendship.
He also has a characteristic of drinking, he is invited to come often, and he is in a hurry, unlike Hu Shi's habit of attending only one dinner. This inevitably led to him drinking too much and being too hasty. For example, on the evening of January 20, 1943, he attended Chen Lifu's banquet at the Ministry of Education at 6:30 a.m., and at about 7 o'clock he went to Zhu Jiahua, director of the Organization Department of the Kuomintang Central Committee, to make a dinner appointment; for example, on the evening of August 11, he rushed to two more dinners, "I did not drink much, I already felt slightly drunk"; for example, on the evening of January 13, 1946, there were four dinner parties, and he rushed to the home of Zhao Shichang, director of the Tsinghua Shu Affairs Department, Ma John's family, director of the Sports Department, and Shi Jiajiao, dean of the College of Engineering, and Zhou Xiangeng, director of the Department of Psychology, was too late to go to the east dinner party.
When Mei Yiqi's diary was published from 1941 to 1946, his son Mei Zuyan had a short essay, "A Few Words Written Before the Publication of this Book", in which he argued that his father's "stroke in his later years must have been related to excessive alcohol consumption." Mei Yiqi is also a wine teacher, and once taught Professor Chen Xueping of Peking University how to drink. But in the end, he came to the conclusion that Chen Xueping was "unteachable" either. (Lin Congmin, "Remembering Mr. Mei Yiqi, Principal")
Mei Yiqi's drinking is extremely famous, the wine is excellent, and even many wine friends call him "wine saint". Huang Jilu, a former "Minister of the Interior" and "Minister of Education", praised: "The only person I have ever seen who can drink and has the most moral character." He never asked for a drink from anyone, but whoever toasted him was responsive, and the number was entirely determined by the other party, and he never refused. He drank a lot, drank with grace and moderation, was serene and not willful, and could be said to be a saint in wine! ”
The "wine saint" was also drunk, and one of them was put down by Huang Jilu, who had the name of "wine bully" before the War of Resistance. On a Wednesday night in the autumn of 1960, at the official residence of Chen Cheng, the "chief executive" of Yangmingshan, after several rounds of wine, Chen Cheng specially took out a rare treasure given by his friend - two bottles of Napoleon brandy.
Chen Cheng, Jiang Menglin, and Fu Bingchang tasted it slightly, most of which were shared by Mei Yiqi, Huang Jilu, and Yuan Shouqian. As a result, Mei was too drunk to walk when she was at the banquet, and she could not stand up to bid farewell to the master, and she needed Huang to help her get into the car, and when she got off the car, she was even more drunk, and she needed to be carried to the bedroom by the workers of the Tsinghua Taipei Office. Overnight, i asked a Tsinghua alumnus practicing medicine to come and drink alcohol, and it was not until after twelve o'clock in the evening that I fell asleep quietly. (Huang Jilu, "Trivial Memories by the Wine Glass--Remembering Mr. Mei Yiqi's Drinking Demeanor")
Huang Jilu recalled this past, at that time, he was panicked and blamed himself, worried that Mei was overly drinking alcohol at an old age; Mei was safe as usual after a good night's sleep, vaguely self-satisfied, "wine bully" saw it with his own eyes, personally put down the "wine saint", how many people in the world can be so lucky? Pride and happiness are exploding!
Editor-in-Charge: Zhong Yuan
Proofreader: Luan Meng