Chen Xiaoming: Iron shoulders shoulder morality, and clever hands write articles

Chen Xiaoming, born in 1959, is currently the head of the Department of Chinese of Peking University

Among the Chinese disciplines in China, the Department of Chinese of Peking University has its own unique value. It is open-minded and "always new", and the creation of many disciplines is in the department of Chinese Peking University. After the adjustment and merger of faculties and departments in 1952, the department of Chinese of Peking University formed a three-legged situation of language, literature and literature, and its discipline construction was the most complete. At the same time, Peking University has always explored the frontiers of discipline and constantly opened up new fields. For example, the discipline of literature and art was only created after Pydakov gave a lecture at Peking University, and the discipline of comparative literature was created by Mr. Le Daiyun after returning from studying abroad in the 1980s, Mr. Wang Yao and other predecessors laid the foundation for the discipline of modern literature, and Mr. Zhang Zhong, Hong Zicheng, Xie Mian, Zhao Zumo and others gradually established the discipline of contemporary literature. Therefore, Peking University has always had an academic style. Peking University's "style" is to have the spirit, the confidence, the ability to raise the flag, to stand up, to be able to be unyielding.

For society, Chinese discipline is "useless and useful". The ancients said that "heavy weapons have no edge", which is a portrayal of the Chinese system, which is a soft and gentle force. "If you don't learn poetry, you can't say anything", so Chinese is precisely the great instrument of the country.

So what kind of talents should the Department of Chinese peking university cultivate? This issue has been debated. Of course, the Department of Chinese should cultivate people who lead the future direction of academic development, which is also the goal of Peking University. But today, in addition to cultivating academic talents, I would like to emphasize that Chinese department should be able to cultivate people who can write. Although Mr. Yang Han, the head of the department at that time, said that "the Chinese department does not cultivate writers", the times are different. At that time, peking university Chinese department graduation can go to other universities to teach, directly on the podium, but today is not possible. Whether today's masters, doctors, and postdocs can go to the podium is still a problem. Therefore, today's undergraduate education should be more generalized. Students can read an article well and write an essay well, these two basic skills should be the ability of students in today's Chinese Department. Teacher Cao Wenxuan said: "Writing a good article is a virtue of a person. "I really appreciate that. Writing a good article can see a person's ability, your morality, your insight, your ideological resources, and your ability to deal with problems. This is the basic skill. In addition to "writing articles with clever hands", it is also necessary to be able to "shoulder morality with iron shoulders". Chinese's understanding of morality is often highly marked, a human character, a national spirit. I think that the old principal Cai Yuanpei said that "freedom of thought, inclusiveness" is also a good summary.

The times are changing, and Peking University has experienced wind and frost for more than a hundred years, but Peking University will always have a spirit that has been running through and has been sinking in the heart. "Freedom of thought, inclusiveness" is the unchanging spirit of Peking University. At Peking University, everyone insists on independent thinking while allowing others to express different views, which is the tolerance of Peking University.

I myself have a special experience of this. In 2016, I was elected head of the Chinese Department through the Democratic Assessment. I don't have a background in North University, and being able to take on this job reflects the tolerance of the teachers of the Chinese Department and the trust that everyone has in me. I attach great importance to this trust, feel that the burden on my shoulders is very heavy, want to do this thing well, and pay special attention to inclusiveness in the process of doing things. In my election statement, I expressed my ideals regarding the integration of disciplines. I hope that Chinese teachers can maintain their own independent style, but also be able to cross-integrate and communicate with each other. From 1995 to 1998, I visited universities in Europe and felt the importance of communication between the humanities at foreign universities and interdisciplinarity. I wanted to break down the disciplinary barriers in our country, so I made three platforms: the platform for Chinese classical studies, the platform for the study of language and human complex systems, and the platform for the study of modern thought and literature. President Hao Ping and Vice President Wang Bo also gave special support to this. At the inaugural meeting of the platform in April last year, we invited dozens of deans of liberal arts colleges and heads of Chinese departments across the country to attend, and everyone was very shocked, thinking that this was a Chinese, or a kind of learning and reference experience for the future development of the new liberal arts.

Guangming Daily (13th edition, November 20, 2020)

Source: Guangming Network - Guangming Daily