In September 1910, on a cruise ship in the United States, Hu Shi and Zhu Kezhen met again. Zhu Kezhen stepped forward to say hello.
"This is not Hu Hong? (Hu Shi's original name was Hu Hong)"
"Well, it's Zhu Kezhen, why aren't you dead yet?"
"I can't thank you, you said that I can't live to be 20 years old, so that I swim every day, run, practice, and exercise, and also made up my mind, I must live longer than you, who will die first in the future is not certain!" 」
In March 1890, Zhu Kezhen was born in a merchant family in Zhejiang, and he had a great interest in reading since he was a child, often forgetting to eat and sleep in order to read, and when he was one and a half years old, he followed his father to read and read every day. He has worked hard to study since he was a child, and he is extremely intelligent and intelligent. When he was five years old, his father invited him to teach him by a local gentleman who was famous and highly educated.
In 1905, Zhu Kezhen graduated from the primary school in Shaoxing and was successfully admitted to the Chengzhen Academy funded by Shanghai businessmen with the financial support of his private school teacher. He was admitted to this school with Hu Shi of Anhui, who liked to read as much as Zhu Kezhen, but what was different was that Zhu Kezhen made his body particularly weak in order to read.
Although Zhu Kezhen has had excellent grades since he was a child, and few people have compared his grades in school, his body is weak, and his height is lower than that of other students, and in the eyes of his classmates, he is a sick look.
Therefore, many classmates laughed at and ridiculed him. One day, in the corridor outside the classroom, Several classmates came across from Zhu Kezhen, and when these classmates saw Zhu Kezhen, they squeezed their eyebrows at him, and some people shouted loudly: "A shabby little dwarf, he is not old enough to live to be twenty years old!" ”
Zhu Kezhen, who heard this sentence, was very angry, such an ugly curse, no one could stand it, and Zhu Kezhen was also ready to argue with this person to make him not so vicious, but in the blink of an eye, people said that he was still because he was weak and not strong, and as a man, he should not talk to others for such a little thing, so inappropriate and undignified.
Although Zhu Kezhen did not bother with that classmate, the curse words had always lingered in his mind.
At night, Zhu Kezhen lay in bed, tossing and turning, always thinking about this matter, in the early twentieth century, when the country was in crisis, there were various invaders looking at the outside world, and internally, the Qing government ruled incompetently, and there were rebel armies in various places.
The country suffered, the people were poor and poor, weak and barren, known as the "sick man of East Asia", always wanted to study hard and contribute to the country, but now he was also ridiculed by his classmates, and this ridicule gave Zhu Kezhen an inspiration, he wanted to strengthen his body!
Serving the country requires a strong and powerful body and a healthy body.
In order to change his weak physique, Zhu Kezhen got up from the bed and made a plan for himself to exercise, in order to urge him to complete the exercise plan, he also specially wrote a "words must be done, deeds must be fruitful" and pasted in the room.
Every day when he got up and saw the words on the wall, he had the confidence to exercise, and since then, when the rooster barks, he will get up and exercise, run, dance the sword, dance exercises...
Every day never uninterrupted, once when I got up, I heard the rumbling thunder outside, went out to see, the rain outside was densely gathered on the ground, such a big rain, Zhu Kezhen hesitated, do you want to run?
After hesitating for a while, Zhu Kezhen decided to continue, otherwise there would be a first time, there would be a second time, and he could not make excuses for himself. He persevered and ran the whole way according to the established route.
After a period of exercise, Zhu Kezhen's body has improved significantly, Zhu Kezhen will no longer be absent for physical reasons, and all the students are touched by his spirit, saying that he is a student who is proficient in both wisdom and weight, or a model in the school.
In the past, Zhu Kezhen always felt that he read more books and did not attach great importance to physical exercise, so he often forgot to sleep and forgot to eat, and made his body very thin.
And the classmate who laughed at Zhu Kezhen was Hu Shi, but at that time, Hu Shi was not called Hu Shi, called 'Hu Si Mi', and at that time, Hu Shi also made a bet with his classmates, concluding that Zhu Kezhen did not live to be twenty years old.
Zhu Kezhen, who was passing by, heard this sentence and was frightened, he was still so young, and his enthusiasm had not yet had time to realize, so he died young, is it a pity? So After Zhu Kezhen went back, he stepped up his time to exercise.
After the two graduated, Zhu Kezhen entered Fudan University to study, Hu Shi was admitted to the Chinese public school to study, the two people parted ways, did not expect that the time to say goodbye was actually to study in the United States together.
In June 1909, the Qing government established the Tourism and Aesthetic Affairs Office in Beijing, which was jointly managed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Faculty of Education, and the place where they were sent to study in the United States was in Shijia Hutong.
In August, hundreds of aspiring young people from all over the country took the exam.
Through layers of screening, it was finally determined that forty-seven young people participated in the United States to study abroad, this time the chance of selection was very small, after many examinations, the quota for studying in the United States was finally determined, including Hu Shi and Zhu Kezhen.
Zhu Kezhen's examination rank is a little higher than Hu Shi, he is the 28th, Hu Shi is the 55th, when studying in the United States, both people invariably chose the major of agriculture.
Zhu Kezhen felt that China's agriculture was relatively developed, and in ancient times, it had always implemented the policy of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce, so studying agronomy could better repay the country.
Zhu Kezhen began his studies at an agricultural college in the United States, and after graduation, he transferred to the geography department of Harvard University to study weather and meteorology, and also studied for a doctorate. After returning to China, Zhu Kezhen was recruited to teach at Wuchang Higher Normal School.
Hu Shi studied at Cornell University in the United States, but because 'fruit tree science' was too cumbersome, he later transferred to the College of Literature and studied literature and history.
Zhu Kezhen's first job in China was as a university teacher, as a lecturer in geography and meteorology.
But because Zhu Kezhen is from Jiangsu and Zhejiang, most of the students taught in Wuchang are from Hubei and Hunan. Therefore, these students can't understand Zhu Kezhen's local accent, it is very difficult to communicate, many people can't understand it in class, they hope to be able to find Zhu Kezhen to tutor after class, figure out the key points and places they don't understand. However, due to the language barrier, even if Zhu Kezhen speaks seriously and wonderfully, it is of no use to these students.
In order to figure out what Zhu Kezhen was talking about, the students could only understand it through the school's textbook, so Zhu Kezhen could only spend a lot of time re-studying the lecture notes, and then printed them in large quantities for the students to study well.
At that time, Wuchang hired many students who studied abroad to teach, but most of these teachers returned from studying in Japan, and there were not many like Zhu Kezhen who returned from the United States.
Therefore, many of Zhu Kezhen's suggestions and educational concepts could not get the support of other teachers who returned from studying abroad, which made Zhu Kezhen very depressed, and he felt isolated by other teachers here, and that sense of powerlessness had always wrapped him.
However, at that time, Nanjing universities invited a lot of lecturers who returned from studying in the United States, and even the president Guo Bingwen was a doctor who returned from studying in the United States, and he was also actively recruiting for Nanjing universities, and under the kind invitation of Guo Bingwen, Zhu Kezhen joined the lecturers of Nanjing universities.
In addition to teaching literature and history, Zhu Kezhen is also responsible for teaching meteorology, and also serves as a physical and chemical experiment calculus and the geography of agricultural science.
Although Zhu Kezhen taught the knowledge of the Geography Department, the school's curriculum in the geography major was very small, and it was all simple theoretical knowledge.
In Zhu Kezhen's view, it was a very unwise move for the Qing government to cede Taiwan from Chinese territory to Japan and other countries in order to preserve their rule.
In addition to being unwise, Zhu Kezhen felt that it was all because of their lack of geographical knowledge and lack of geographical knowledge.
But at that time, China was still in a period of warlord chaos, the country was devastated, there was no time and energy to build its own observation station, and the foreigners who usually observed climate change were responsible, and they almost monopolized the industry, which made Zhu Kezhen very sad.
Zhu Kezhen felt that since he wanted to teach, he should not just talk about it on paper, but should let everyone master the geographical situation of China and let this mistake not continue to appear.
Therefore, Zhu Kezhen suggested that a lot of energy and material resources should be invested in geography. After a detailed investigation, it was found out that the terrain, climate, human race, minerals, animal and plant varieties in all parts of China were founded, and on this basis, we cultivated China's unique geographers and founded a new type of geography department.
In 1921, Southeast University was established in Nanjing, and then Zhu Kezhen's school Nanjing University was merged into Southeast University, Zhu Kezhen used his major to build the first geoscience department of Chinese university at Southeast University, with the replacement of the school university system, Zhu Kezhen was appointed as the director of the Meteorological Research Institute of the Academia Sinica, and also established the first meteorological observatory managed by the Chinese.
When Hu Shi was studying in the United States, he published a paper on "Sinology", which attracted the attention of many people, and everyone felt that this article was particularly well written.
At this time, Hu Shi received an invitation from Chen Duxiu, the dean of liberal arts at Peking University, and after some thought, Hu Shi decided to give up his doctorate and return to China to work.
After returning to China, Hu Shi taught the students here, and he also compiled the lecture notes into an outline of the history of philosophy and published it in China. This book brings China from a closed traditional education to the modern world, opening up a modern academic education for Chinese students. Time goes back and back to another bet between the two!
The two men bet again
In 1910, Hu Shi and Zhu Kezhen were admitted by the government to study in the United States, and in September, Hu Shi and Zhu Kezhen met at the "Chinese Empress" who went to the United States to study.
The old classmates who have not been seen for many years can still be selected to study in the United States together this time, which is a very deep fate, the two people on the boat talked about what happened in the past when they went to school, and when chatting, they also talked about the bet that Hu Shi and other classmates made that year.
At this time, Zhu Kezhen was already in his twenties and had obviously broken that bet, but Hu Shi was not convinced.
Hu Shi also said to Zhu Kezhen, looking at your current face, I don't think you can live past sixty years old, definitely not the age of Hua Jia, and even less can you live longer than me.
In the face of Hu Shi's series of 'not very auspicious' words, Zhu Kezhen did not mind, he knew that Hu Shi was joking with him, or it may be to stimulate the Fa and let him strengthen his exercises.
After all, the two people are classmates, Zhu Kezhen knows Hu Shi's temperament, so he does not bother with him, for this short-lived statement, Zhu Kezhen does not believe much, he believes that everything can be made up by the efforts of the day after tomorrow.
Later, the two of them met again, and Hu Shi and Zhu Kezhen bet together that if you live to be sixty years old, I will give you three kowtows at your banquet, and when the time comes, I will kowtow to you in front of all your relatives and friends at the banquet.
Hu Shi also added a sentence at the back, if Zhu Kezhen lives longer than Hu Shi, then let Zhu Kezhen kick behind Hu Shi's ass.
This bet put forward by Hu Shi, Zhu Kezhen agreed, and also jokingly said, you must remember well, words count.
Although this is just a joke, Zhu Kezhen's personality is straight forward, and he really takes it seriously, and immediately stepped up his exercise after going back.
And swimming, hiking, boxing and other behaviors conducive to physical exercise have been adhered to, and some bad living habits have been changed, Zhu Kezhen does not smoke, does not drink, every day to go to bed early and get up early, even if the wind and rain are never uninterrupted, even Zhu Kezhen life is not satisfactory, has been on the road when the ups and downs, do not give up exercise, the physical fitness has been upgraded to another level.
Every morning Zhu Kezhen has to observe the weather conditions to see if it is a sunny day, a rainy day or a snowy day, he must record: wind direction, temperature, air pressure, if it is snowy weather, but also to measure the thickness of the snow, and then according to the weather, prepare for today's exercise, punching, running, all in an orderly manner.
Even eating, Zhu Kezhen is strictly moderate, not picky eating, not too much, no matter how good or bad the meal is, he will eat it as always. Not only that, as long as he can walk, Zhu Kezhen absolutely does not sit in the car, insists on walking, he feels that sitting in the car is too much, which is not good for the body. As long as it is for good health, Zhu Kezhen will carry it out.
A good body can work better, and it is precisely because of this bet with Hu Shi that Zhu Kezhen has a good body, can better contribute to his professional research and education, and cultivate a large number of new talents for China.
Since studying in the United States, the two have not met again
At that time, there were more and more young people in China who accepted advanced ideas, so in the ever-changing cultural process of China, Hu Shi was soon regarded by some radicals as a backward idea.
At that time, the May Fourth Movement put many patriotic students on the line of patriotic revolution, which made many people realize that the original students' ideas could become a weapon, and the student masses could also become a force against the enemy.
Many factions wanted to enlist students, but the students found that the reform was too slow, and in order to better lead the youth, the teachers had to run after the students.
Since returning to China, Hu Shi has been questioned by students, do not believe in his ability, and Hu Shi will not tell lies, and does not cater to the vulgar tastes that students like, so he is soon felt by students that he is not suitable for teaching this major.
Hu Shi, who has always advocated academic freedom and freedom of thought, began to propagate political ideas everywhere, and he accepted orders to go to the United States to propagate, and later followed him to Taiwan and to the United States.
Zhu Kezhen was first appointed president of Zhejiang University, and although the war broke out later, he began a life of upheaval and displacement, but he still insisted on exercising and maintained this habit.
On the way to follow the migration, Zhu Kezhen did not forget the mission, built the instruments, and taught. Thanks to his efforts, the name of Zhejiang University is well-known throughout China.
After the founding of New China, Zhu Kezhen stayed in Beijing, served as vice president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, began to study phenology, and joined the Communist Party, and has been paying for the construction of new China.
The bet has never been fulfilled
The power of faith is unparalleled, Zhu Kezhen with his efforts and faith, the movement into a part of life, under his unremitting efforts, his body and his willpower are not ordinary people can compare.
With his efforts, it soon reached the sixtieth birthday. At this time, Zhu Kezhen served as the president of Zhejiang University, because Zhu Kezhen's dedication to Zhejiang University, everyone saw it in their eyes and remembered it in their hearts, so on the day of his sixtieth birthday, the students of the school celebrated for him.
On the day of Zhu Kezhen's sixtieth birthday, for some reasons, Hu Shi was not able to come to the mainland to celebrate for Zhu Kezhen.
In this way, Zhu Kezhen devoted his life to the country and lived until he finally died at the age of 84, while Hu Shi spent his old age in the United States and lived until he died at the age of 71.
In the end, the two people were not able to see each other again and realize the bet on the bet, Zhu Kezhen was not able to kick him in Hu Shi's ass, and Hu Shi did not have the opportunity to kowtow to him three times at Zhu Kezhen's birthday feast.