Chen Yinke is a master of traditional Chinese studies in modern China, and together with Ye Qisun, Pan Guangdan, and Mei Yiqi, he is listed as one of the four great philosophers in Tsinghua's century-old history. He was profoundly learned, pursued an independent spirit and free thought throughout his life, and adhered to his own purity and backbone.
For Chen Yinke, sometimes the great shore of the spirit begins with the most humble kneeling.
On June 2, 1927, Wang Guotouhu, the tutor of Tsinghua Guoguo College, committed suicide, and apart from a short and calm suicide note, he could no longer find any cause and effect for the farewell of a generation of Great Confucians. At the burial ceremony of Wang Guowei's body, Principal Cao Yunxiang, Provost Mei Yiqi, Wu Mi, Chen Da, Liang Qichao, Liang Shuming and others, dressed in neat suits and solemn in their looks, bowed their heads, bent down, and made a final farewell to Mr. Wang Guowei with three heavy bows. Because in 1912, the government of the Republic of China formally abolished the thousand-year-old kneeling prayer in the form of a solemn law, so everyone adopted the form of three bows to express their mourning.
Only Chen Yinke came wearing a long shirt and cloth shoes. He came to the spirit, knelt on his knees, slammed his head heavily on the brick floor, and performed three prayers and nine prostrations. In an instant, all the people were stunned, and the principal, professor, friend, and student suddenly woke up in the three sounds of Chen Yinke's head tapping on the ground, and stood behind Chen Yinke in a line, kneeling, prostrating, and prostrating heavily.
When bidding farewell to Master Wang Guowei, kneeling and prostrating is the best way and the most solemn etiquette. Such a ceremony can be integrated with Mr. Wang Guowei's coat and the braid of the deceased hair on his head. It can be said that Chen Yinke is the person who understands the cultural ideals and causes of death of the deceased the most.
Kneeling is a solemn spiritual ritual, but on a certain occasion, standing is another form of kneeling.
One year, during the summer vacation of Tsinghua Guoguo College, a group of students followed their mentor Chen Yinke to Shanghai to visit Chen Yinke's father, the elderly Chen Sanli, the leader of tongguang poetry that they had admired for a long time. The elderly Chen Sanli was cheerful and easy-going, and talked and laughed with the students. Everyone quickly eliminated their restraints and sat in a circle. At this time, the attentive Liu Jie found that their mentor had not sat down and had been standing next to his father from beginning to end.
Immediately a student got up and wanted to give up his seat to Chen Yinke, but he stopped him, and Chen Yinke said that my stool was behind me. In class, I am a teacher, but in front of my father, I am a son, and today I cannot sit on an equal footing with you.
All the students could not accept the teacher's point of view, and everyone stood up at the same time. How can the teacher stand and the student sit in peace? Finally, they returned to the chair under the persuasion of the elderly Chen Sanli. Elder Chen Sanli said that sitting and standing are rules, and the times can be changed, but ethics must not be confused. In this way, this group of young students and the elderly Chen Sanli continued to talk happily, and Professor Chen Yinke, still standing behind his father with his hands hanging down in a respectful posture, was two hours.
At that time, kneeling, prostrating, and standing were no longer common, but when it appeared, it must have been more meaningful than shaking hands. Whether Mr. Chen Yinke kneels or stands, we are solemnly respected, and between this kneeling and a station, Chen Yinke has become a majestic mountain in personality.
Excerpt from | "Leadership Digest" August 2021
Source of the manuscript | Thinking and Wisdom
The author of this article | Wang Xinfang
Responsible Editor | Young
WeChat Editor | And also