Researcher of the Institute of Philosophy, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
<b>□ Xu Youyu | Wen</b>
In the 1980s, when the wave of enlightenment and the "cultural fever" suddenly arose, Mr. Pang Pu, like famous scholars such as Li Zehou and Tang Yijie, was a figure who pioneered the trend and the ideological mentor of young students. When we first appeared on the cultural stage, we knew Mr. Pang Pu's views better, and we also had great respect for his friendship for others; but because we belonged to different cultural "mountains" and because he ruled traditional Chinese academic culture, I attacked modern Western philosophy with different majors, so except for meeting Mr. Pang in some public places, there was no private exchange and consultation.
In the early 1990s, when I was in a lonely period, I was given the opportunity to get close to Mr. Pang, and I remember at least two times. One was a small gathering initiated and presided over by Mr. Li Shenzhi, who invited Mr. Pang to talk about his theory of "dividing one into three". Mr. Pang spoke slowly and eloquently, introducing us to an abstract proposition and a rather heretical concept in a storytelling and family-like way. It is said to have a heretical flavor because for a long time, "dividing into two" has long been an indisputable iron law in philosophy textbooks, in quotes from leaders, and in political textbooks. We also clearly remember that Yang Xianzhen, former president of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, was criticized for dying and living because he wanted to amend and supplement "dividing one into two" with "merging two into one." When Mr. Pang explained to us the theory of "dividing one into three", he was unusually peaceful and did not show what he wanted to target. Although I did not quite agree with him, I achieved the greatest "sympathetic understanding" of his explanations that were not only reasonable but also emotional.