Self-improvement and unremitting land "Tsinghua" Tsinghua University's 110-year "Red Pursuit"

It was once rated as one of the most beautiful university campuses in the world by Forbes magazine in the United States; it is the habitat of more than 1,000 kinds of plants with lush vegetation and flowers; it was once the site of the royal garden of the Qing Dynasty, and the east-west architecture tells the vicissitudes of the history of "integrating China and foreign countries"...

"The summer is close to the forest, and the spring water is deeper. Tsinghua two brilliant, idle walk also peeping. "Strolling through the campus of Tsinghua University, the I-beam hall where the Emperor's Royal Garden and Tagore visited China during the Qianlong period, the Ancient Moon Hall where Liang Qichao and Zhu Ziqing lived, the classical and elegant Second School Gate, the "Mizuki Qinghua" under the moonlight of the Lotus Pond... The quaint and elegant landscape always attracts countless tourists to visit.

From a preparatory school for studying in the United States established by "Gengzi Indemnity" to a well-known university that is now open to the world and confident and open, Tsinghua University's history of ups and downs in the past 110 years has always accompanied the development history of modern China.

This institution of higher learning, which was born in the midst of the internal and external troubles of the Chinese nation, not only experienced the sinking and humiliation of China in modern times, but also deeply participated in the rise and rejuvenation of the nation, and in the magnificent historical changes, it wrote a brilliant and colorful, and also forged the spiritual character of "unremitting self-improvement and generous morality".

On April 25th, in the ancient and young Tsinghua Garden, all the teachers, students and many alumni of the school gathered together to celebrate the 110th birthday of their alma mater, look back at the brand of the times when Tsinghua sought the road to salvation and survival, feel the sincere heart of generations of Tsinghua people to work hard for the nation, and also look forward to the new hope sown by young students for national rejuvenation on the new journey of the motherland.

"Self-improvement": the spiritual background of Casting Tsinghua

In spring, in front of a simple brick building on the north side of Tsinghua Xuetang, students shuttle back and forth. Built in 1911, this building is the earliest auditorium in Tsinghua, named "Tongfangbu", which means "like-minded" people meet.

On November 5, 1914, Liang Qichao gave a lecture to teachers and students with the title of "Gentleman". He borrowed the verses in the "I Ching" that read, "Tianxingjian, a gentleman perseveres in self-improvement" and "The terrain is kun, and the gentleman carries things with great virtue", to encourage Tsinghua teachers and students to strive to be strong, "to set an example for society" and "to be the mainstay of the mainstream".

Since then, the "gentlemanly" quality of "self-improvement and virtuousness" has been respected as the motto of Tsinghua University and cast into the school emblem. Nowadays, people can see these eight words in the bluestone of the East Gate of Tsinghua, the main wall of the main building hall, and the stone stele in front of the Tsinghua Xuetang.

Over the past 110 years, tsinghua school motto has been given new connotations in different eras, but its core of self-improvement, hard work, patriotic dedication, and concern for the world has always nourished generations of Tsinghua people, becoming a mark engraved in their hearts, inspiring them to contribute with practical actions at every moment of China's historical process.

"Since its birth, Tsinghua has been marked with the special brand of 'knowing shame and striving to be strong.'" Qiu Yong, president of Tsinghua University, said, "Self-improvement is the spiritual background and gene of Tsinghua, and the purpose of being angry and strong is to make our motherland strong as soon as possible." ”

In 1900, the Eight-Power Alliance invaded China, and the Later Qing government was forced to sign the Treaty of Xinugu, paying 450 million taels of silver, known in history as "Gengzi Indemnity". After that, the Qing government used part of the reparations "refunded" by the United States to set up a tourism and aesthetic affairs office in Beijing to be responsible for selecting students and preparing for the construction of the tourism and beauty industry museum.

A passage in the 1906 Memorandum to the President of the United States by James, president of the University of Illinois, reflects the true purpose of the United States' money-backing: "We must now be able to control China's development in the most complete and ingenious way— that is, in the way that intellectually and spiritually dominates China's leaders."

In 1911, the Office of Tourism and Aesthetic Arts moved into Tsinghua Garden in the northwestern suburbs of Beijing, and the Youmei Pavilion was renamed "Tsinghua Xuetang". On April 29 of that year, Tsinghua Xuetang opened its doors, kicking off the prelude to Tsinghua's history. Later, the school set the last Sunday of April every year as the school day, and it has been until today.

The first ancient courtyard built in 1762, the Izi Hall, with its curved corridors, is a famous ancient building in Tsinghua Park, and today it is the office of the school's party and government organs. 110 years ago, this was the administrative office of the "Tourism Aesthetics Office" and tsinghua xuetang...

After the outbreak of the Xinhai Revolution, Tsinghua Xuetang was changed to Tsinghua School. In 1925, Tsinghua began to organize universities, established a university department, and established a research institute of chinese studies. In the summer of 1928, Tsinghua School was taken over by the Nationalist government and renamed "National Tsinghua University". Tsinghua was transformed into an independent comprehensive university and began to emerge in China's higher education community.

"Tsinghua went from the Tourism Aesthetic Affairs Office, Tsinghua Xuetang, Tsinghua School, to Tsinghua University, moved from the south to demobilization, experienced the rule of the imperial system, warlords, and the Kuomintang in various periods, and now became the people's Tsinghua University. The history of the school is closely related to the national fortunes. Feng Youlan, a famous philosopher, educator and Tsinghua professor, once said in "Tsinghua Garden in the Middle of liberation".

From the turbulent May Fourth Movement, the "12.9" Anti-Japanese Salvation Movement, to the Southwest United Congress, which created the miracle of wartime higher education, and then to the period of the Liberation War, generations of Qinghua people went forward to succeed each other, threw themselves into the patriotic democratic movement, sought the road to save the country and survive, dedicated their youth and lives to defending the country, and became an important force in promoting national independence and liberation.

On the banks of the Tsinghua School River, there is a monument to the "Sons and Daughters of the Motherland, the Heroic Martyrs of Tsinghua." The names engraved on the stele are 65 Tsinghua heroes who died during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the War of Liberation. Every year during the Qingming Festival, teachers and students will pay homage to this place.

Among these names are Shi Jiao, one of the earliest communists in Tsinghua and who died heroically in Nanjing's Yuhuatai after his arrest; Liu Guoyong, a prototype of Liu Siyang in the novel "Red Rock"; And Yue Dai, a member of the Shanxi Youth Anti-Enemy Death Squad and a communist who was seriously wounded and sacrificed in the battle against Japan...

"Li De lied up, no questions asked." In the movie "No Questions Asked", the scene where the pilot Shen Guangyao rushed to the enemy ship, the sentence "Mom, I'm sorry", has made countless people cry. His prototype is Shen Chongzhi, a graduate of the Department of Civil Engineering of Tsinghua University.

After the "9/18" incident, Shen Chongzhi applied for the Air Force and became a flight instructor. In August 1937, when the Japanese forcibly landed in Shanghai, his Second Air Force Brigade was ordered to attack and severely damage several enemy ships. On August 19, he and his comrades flew out, and with no ammunition to drop, they rushed to the largest enemy ship, the Izumo Ship, and were martyred at the age of 26. Today, his name is engraved on the Monument of Tsinghua Heroes and Martyrs, inspiring The people of Tsinghua to forge ahead.

Like him, he was full of patriotic enthusiasm as Tsinghua student Wei Jiesan. In the 1926 "March 18" massacre, the 23-year-old died when he participated in a parade and rally to protest the "Eight Nations Ultimatum", when he was shot four times in a row and the treatment was ineffective. Today, on the monument to the broken stone pillar in Tsinghua Garden, people can still see the young student's last words: "I am very at ease, but China is about to become stronger!" ”

Wang Xiangtian, an associate researcher at the Party History Research Office of Tsinghua University, said: During the "12.9" Anti-Japanese Salvation Movement, Tsinghua's underground party organizations and patriotic teachers and students played a pioneering role in propagating the anti-Japanese resistance and organizing parades.

Jiang Nanxiang, a 22-year-old student of the department of Chinese who later became president of Tsinghua University, drafted the "Letter to the People of the Whole Country" of the Tsinghua University National Salvation Committee for the campaign, and the cry of "North China is so big that it is impossible to put a calm desk" sounded the clarion call to arouse the people to strive for national independence.

On the west side of the Tsinghua Auditorium, Mr. Wen Yiduo's red stone sculpture stands proudly. There is an ancient hexagonal pavilion on the mountain, which was named "Wen Pavilion" in honor of Wen Yiduo. Students often recite it here. In 1912, he was admitted to tsinghua school and later taught at Tsinghua university and Southwest United University, and Wen Yiduo, a famous poet and scholar, witnessed the anti-democratic dictatorship in China, took the case, and was assassinated in Kunming in 1946. His fearless courage and patriotism of "raising an eyebrow at the Kuomintang pistol, preferring to fall down rather than yield" still inspire students to this day.

In Tsinghua's famous landscape "Mizuki Qinghua", the statue of Zhu Ziqing, a friend of Wen Yiduo, also sits quietly by the lake, surrounded by mountains and forests, and spring flowers bloom on the lakeside. Originally the core area of the Xianfeng Emperor's former residence near the Spring Garden, many people come to look for the beauty of Zhu Ziqing's "Lotus Pond Moonlight".

After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Zhu Ziqing, a professor at tsinghua Chinese department, moved south with the school and served as the director of the Department of Chinese Literature at Southwest Union University, carefully cultivating talents in a difficult environment. He actively participated in various democratic activities, and despite his serious illness, he still protested against the US pro-Japanese policy, instructed his family to refuse to receive FLOUR from the United States, and always maintained the integrity and sentiments of patriotic intellectuals.

In Tsinghua, there is also a monument to the "Ruins of the Three Courtyards". It was one of the earliest buildings built in Tsinghua, but it was destroyed by the enemy during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. In 1926, the first COMMUNIST Party branch in Tsinghua was born here, with 3 members of the branch.

"From 1926 to 1937, Tsinghua changed 27 party branch secretaries, and the situation of struggle was very severe, but our party organization has never been broken, and it plays a central role in revolutionary activities. The Tsinghua Communists have always stood in the forefront of the struggle. Wang Xiangtian said.

Data show that by 1949, the number of party members among students was nearly 10%. In the past 20 years, more than 690 Communist Party members have studied and worked in Tsinghua Garden, including Xiong Xianghui, an outstanding Communist Party member who secretly joined the Party at Tsinghua in 1936 and repeatedly made great achievements on the underground front. At the end of 1965, the proportion of party members among teachers reached more than 50%.

"Patriotic dedication": throughout the centuries of Tsinghua

In 1960, at the foot of Yanshan Mountain in Changping, Beijing, an inconspicuous courtyard was quietly built. In order to create a new China's atomic energy industry, a team of Tsinghua teachers and students with an average age of only 23 and a half years old and more than 200 people walked here with a "nuclear energy dream" to participate in the construction of shielded test reactors, and then immersed themselves in research for decades.

"Use our hands to create the spring of the motherland's atomic energy cause!" More than 60 years later, the small courtyard, known as "No. 200", has become the Institute of Nuclear energy and New Energy Technology of Tsinghua University, one of the world's most active nuclear energy technology innovation bases.

Here was born the first atomic reactor independently designed, built and operated by the Chinese, completed the technical research of "solvent extraction method nuclear fuel reprocessing", and made important contributions to China's "two bombs and one boat". To this day, the "No. 200" story of "building a pile to serve the country and build a pile to educate people" is still circulating among tsinghua teachers and students.

Patriotic dedication is like a red thread running through the centuries of Tsinghua. After the founding of New China, Tsinghua teachers and students insisted on serving the major strategic needs of the country, aimed at the forefront of international disciplines, achieved many domestic firsts and advanced scientific research achievements in the world, and also cultivated a batch of "red and specialized" engineering technology and cutting-edge scientific and technological talents to promote national development.

Under the presidency of Professor Liang Sicheng, the Department of Architecture of Tsinghua University participated in the design of the national emblem of the new China and the Monument to the People's Heroes; in order to meet the needs of the country, Tsinghua opened specialized courses such as farmland water conservancy, chemical engineering, geological mining, and meteorological observation, and took the lead in creating new technologies such as atomic energy.

In Beijing's Miyun District, deep in the arms of the majestic Yanshan Mountain, a vast reservoir is like a pearl in the deep mountains, which is particularly cool. It is the miyun reservoir, the largest reservoir in north China and the largest source of surface drinking water in Beijing. In the 1950s, more than 100 teachers and students, including the Tsinghua Water Conservancy Department, designed and completed the design of the reservoir here, and put wisdom and effort into solving the drinking water problem in Beijing.

In March this year, at the Art Museum of Tsinghua University, an exhibition of academic achievements was held for a 99-year-old man, Wu Liangyong. The creator of Chinese environmental science, known as the "National Craftsman", has been adhering to his education and research positions at Tsinghua for more than 70 years and is committed to the practice of improving urban and rural habitat. He is deeply involved in the planning and design of Beijing and the regional planning and design research of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Yangtze River Delta, Three Gorges Reservoir Area, South-to-North Water Diversion Project, etc., and has made important contributions to the construction of human settlements in China and the world.

Zhu Kezhen, Mao Yisheng, Wu Mi, Ma Yinchu, Qian Zhongshu, Cao Yu, Ji Xianlin, Wu Han, Qian Sanqiang... In the past 110 years, Tsinghua has trained a large number of academic masters, talents and governance talents for the country. A large number of talents have also given up the favorable conditions abroad and come to Tsinghua to devote themselves to the cultivation of talents and the construction of the motherland.

In the rehearsal hall of the new Tsinghua Academy, Fu Yujie, a 26-year-old doctoral student at the School of Marxism at Tsinghua University, rehearsed Mr. Deng Jia's touching words over and over again: "One is not for fame, the other is not for profit, but the goal of work must run to the world's advanced level" "If I can do this, my Deng Jiaxian's life will be very meaningful." For this cause, I am worth dying! ”

This drama starring Fu Yujie, titled "Ma Lan Blossoms", was created and rehearsed by Tsinghua teachers and students, vividly telling the life of Tsinghua alumnus Deng Jiaxian who worked hard for the motherland's nuclear weapons cause and selflessly struggled. Since its premiere in 2013, it has performed 78 performances in 13 provinces and cities across the country, with an audience of more than 110,000 people.

Playing Deng Jiaxian also made Fu Yujie's soul greatly shaken. "Deng Jiaxian is very pure, and his life choice is to serve the motherland and the people with what he has learned, so he gives up a comfortable life overseas and chooses 28 years of indifferent fame and fortune, willing to dedicate, and overcome difficulties." Fu Yujie said, "Patriotism is the spirit of the Qinghua people he represents, and I also hope that I can become such a person." ”

The data shows that of the 23 winners of the "Two Bombs and One Star" Meritorious Service Medal, 14 are Tsinghua alumni.

Academician Zhang Guangdou, one of the main pioneers of China's water conservancy and hydropower industry, has trained more than 10 academicians and more than 5,000 students for the country in the 60 years of teaching at Tsinghua University. At the age of 89, he still went to the Three Gorges construction site to check the quality of the project, climbed along the scaffolding to the bottom hole of 55 meters elevation, inspected the concrete surface, and worked hard for the treatment of rivers and the development and utilization of water resources in China.

In 1937, Zhang Guangdou received a master's degree in engineering mechanics from Harvard University, but he chose to return to China. "I am Chinese, and the Chinese people have raised me." I cannot leave my motherland, and I have the responsibility to serve the construction of my motherland and serve the people who raised me. He said when he declined the invitation to stay in the United States.

In 2004, the 57-year-old Yao Zhizhi also made an important choice in his life. He resigned from his tenured teaching position at Princeton University to become a professor of computer science at Tsinghua University, opening a new academic exploration. The return of the Turing Award-winner and a well-known computer scientist to China full-time is considered to have "filled the gap in the domestic computer science discipline."

In Tsinghua, Yao Zhizhi made great efforts to cultivate undergraduate talents, promote the development of computer disciplines, establish computer science experimental classes, Tsinghua Xuetang artificial intelligence classes, build theoretical computer science research centers, interdisciplinary information research institutes, etc., and step by step towards the dream of "cultivating world-class computer talents".

"Cultivating young Chinese talents and promoting the development of high-end scientific research is the most meaningful work in my life." In Tsinghua's office, Yao Zhizhi, who is over 70 years old, said, "Promoting the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is a very important goal of Tsinghua. I hope that the students I cultivate can stand in China and lead the world, especially with a Chinese heart, and can make positive contributions to China's development and social progress. ”

"Deeds speak louder than words": Youth blooms for the country to strengthen the country and make the people rich

In Dongjiao Village, Dachengshan Island, Fuding City, Fujian Province, the long-abandoned fish sauce warehouse in the village has been transformed into a multi-functional auditorium with tea, reading, and watching movies. All this stems from the "transformation of decay into magic" by teachers and students of Tsinghua School of Architecture. Household research, surveying and designing, drawing construction drawings... Teachers and students designed and transformed the idle houses in the village, created service spaces, and helped the village to make tourism cultural and creative products, bringing tangible changes to this small fishing village in the coastal mountain pass.

In order to serve the national rural revitalization strategy, in the past three years, tsinghua university rural revitalization workstation has set up 25 sites in 15 provinces and cities such as Hebei, Shandong, Yunnan, Fujian and other provinces and cities, and has driven more than 1,500 teachers and students from more than 60 colleges and universities across the country to participate in the planning and construction of rural revitalization workstations in various places. In addition to improving the appearance of the village, tsinghua students from various faculties have also initiated a number of projects such as cultural and creative design, industrial incubation, garbage classification, and rural tourism to promote rural income.

Shen Zhen, a doctoral student at Tsinghua College of Social Sciences, has participated in the public welfare service project of the Rural Revitalization Workstation since 2019 and is now the leader of the Jining Detachment in Shandong Province. Although he was a jining native, he did not care to go home several times.

"We often think, what is the big stage, the big cause? Are only the big cities our stage? We want to do something for the countryside, not to shock the earth, but to do it with action. With such hope, Shen Zhen led the team members into the countryside and tried to help the villagers improve their lives and village appearance, "repaired the doors for the villagers, designed the house, saw the homestead, and helped the left-behind elderly to repair the broken TV, and truly felt the appearance of the rural China." ”

"Serving the revitalization of the country's rural areas, its core is the feeling of home and country, which reflects the mission of Tsinghua people." Cheng Zhengyu, deputy secretary of the Tsinghua Youth League Committee, said that in the past few years, students have enthusiastically signed up to serve in the countryside and grassroots. "Many of our old alumni have quietly contributed in ordinary posts, and this spirit of family and country feelings and collectivism has been passed down to this day."

In Tsinghua, "deeds speak louder than words" is a phrase often said by teachers and students, and it is also the school spirit of Tsinghua for a hundred years. When the Class of 1920 graduated, they presented a sundial to their alma mater, and on its pedestal was engraved the inscription "Deeds speak louder than words". In the early 1980s, Tsinghua people took the lead in shouting the slogan of "starting from me, starting from now", which became a symbol of the youth spirit at that time, and also reflected the quality of Tsinghua people who attach importance to practice, immerse themselves in hard work, and do not talk about it.

Adhering to the fine tradition, continue to write the chapter of the times. Tsinghua people in the new era, keeping in mind the mission and responsibility of serving the society and helping the country's development, continue to struggle in the frontline of scientific research, poverty alleviation and anti-epidemic, and forge ahead.

Since 2013, Tsinghua University has designated to help Nanjian County, Yunnan Province, and solidly carried out a number of key poverty alleviation projects such as education, medical care, and industry to help local economic and social development. At the end of 2018, the incidence of poverty in Nanjian County dropped to 1.32%, reaching the standard of poverty alleviation one year ahead of schedule.

In 2020, in the face of the sudden outbreak of the new crown epidemic, Tsinghua quickly organized 18 scientific research commandos to accelerate research and development day and night. More than 10 members of Zhang Linqi's team, director of tsinghua university's comprehensive AIDS research center, have been racing against time since last year to carry out vaccine research and antibody research and development, and both Spring Festivals have been spent in the laboratory. They have successfully isolated dozens of neutralizing antibodies with strong antiviral activity, two of which are being clinically studied in China and the United States, which will provide a powerful medical intervention for the treatment and prevention of new crown pneumonia.

In 2020, Tsinghua led 30 key R&D projects, ranking first among universities in China for five consecutive years. During the "13th Five-Year Plan" period, Tsinghua led a total of 148 key R&D projects, involving 42 key special projects.

And groups of young students are taking over the torch of volunteer teaching and singing the song of youth. For more than 20 years, more than 360 students of Tsinghua University's graduate student support group have volunteered to teach in Tibet, Qinghai, Gansu, Yunnan, Ningxia and other western provinces, benefiting tens of thousands of local students.

Yang Bo, a master's student at Tsinghua School of Public Administration from Yanchuan County, Shaanxi Province, with gratitude for the state-funded study, began to participate in volunteer teaching activities in his freshman year, hoping to change the education in remote areas through volunteer teaching. During his volunteer teaching at Xining Huang Middle School in Qinghai, he felt enriched by attending chemistry classes in 3 classes a week, reading examination papers until the early morning, and visiting students' homes. In order to stimulate students' interest, he also opened a live class on chemical experiments, performing chemical magic tricks such as "sprinkling salt and fireworks", "ivory cream" and "empty bottles to raise white smoke", which were popular among students.

From gratitude to responsibility, Yang Bo grew up at the grassroots level and chose to join the party during the volunteer teaching period. "Tsinghua's school spirit is that deeds speak louder than words, not in what you say, but in how many things you do." Yang Bo said that the experience of volunteer teaching has allowed him to see the expectations of students in remote areas, and has also made his mission and responsibility clearer, "I will continue to volunteer and contribute to the education cause of the motherland with a down-to-earth style." ”

According to the data, from 2016 to 2020, Tsinghua has trained more than 44,000 high-level talents, and more than 80% of the graduates have gone to the national key units for employment and entrepreneurship.

For the alma mater, generations of Tsinghua people are immersed in it and full of attachment.

Regarding the "Tsinghua spirit", Ji Xianlin, a chinese scholar and linguist who was admitted to the Department of Western Literature of Tsinghua University in 1930, once said: "My understanding is to always maintain youth, always be full of vitality of life, and always go to the road." ”

Mr. Yang Dai, who studied and taught at Tsinghua University, said she had attended many schools and loved Tsinghua University the most. She hoped that students would "always remember the Tsinghua school motto of 'Self-Improvement and Unremitting Virtue Carrier', starting from self-improvement and unremitting efforts, ending with Virtue Carrier, and striving to practice it all their lives."

Zhu Rongji, who studied at Tsinghua University and served as the first dean of the Tsinghua School of Economics and Management, believes that the spirit of Tsinghua is to "pursue perfection." Because everyone shoulders the task of building the motherland, studying here makes you feel that you have to pursue perfection and do the best.

As the 19th president of Tsinghua, Qiu Yong has not left the campus that he loves since he was admitted to Tsinghua university in 1983. In his view, Tsinghua has the best school name, the best alumni, the best campus, the best school motto, giving people a "warm feeling, and the power of life growth", so that students can take on greater responsibilities and go further.

"A crane chirps, earnestly evokes, the earth is clear." Wang Guowei's words and phrases describe a pure and clear world with elegant artistic conception. "Tsinghua people not only have Mizuki Tsinghua in their hearts, but also look forward to 'land Tsinghua'; Tsinghua people are not only rooted in the land of China, but also have the land of the world in their hearts." May Siyuan Mizuki always be Tsinghua, and may the earth on earth always be Tsinghua! Qiu Yong said. (Li Bin, Wei Mengjia)

Source: Xinhua Daily Telegraph