Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 551 The Plan Went Astray
In the 50s, the Chinese Department of Wuhan University had a "super team of teachers" known as the "Five Old Men and Eight Middle School Men".

When these dozen or so big names banded together, established humanities powerhouses like Peking University, Fudan University, Nankai University, Nanjing University, and Jiangnan University all kept quiet, tacitly acknowledging Wuhan University's Chinese Department as the top university literature department in the country.

The reason why these "Five Elders and Eight Middle Schools" were able to dominate a generation was not just because of their large numbers, but because of their outstanding abilities in the academic field.

As the saying goes, a university is not defined by its buildings, but by its great masters. As long as there are enough great masters, it can be this great.

Other universities may not lack renowned professors, but they lack a cohesive "dream team" to unite them.

Apart from Nanjing University and Jiangnan University.

Nanjing University has three distinguished elders: Hu Xiaoshi, Chen Zhongfan, and Wang Pijiang. (Really?)

Jiangnan University also has three distinguished elders: Liu Dengzhuo, Xi Tianping, and Xu Zurui. (Compiled)

The three elders of Nanjing University and Jiangnan University are comparable to the five elders of Wuhan University. They have similar status and achievements in the academic world, and even their ages are similar, with most of them born around 1880 to 1900.

Unfortunately, starting in the 5s and 60s, these older generation scholars began to pass away one after another, with very few still alive. Even those who were still alive were in much worse health than before.

Xu Zurui was born in 1898 and is 80 years old this year.

At such an advanced age, he is still able to come out and teach students. Chen Fan can only say "still vigorous in his old age" and doesn't know what other words to use to describe him.

Following Professor Xu, we walked to the innermost office.

There were four desks in the office, and no one else was there at the moment. Although Professor Xu was a bit slow, he walked very steadily.

He slowly walked to the back of the desk, pulled out a chair and sat down, then pointed to a few chairs in the corner, saying, "Pull a chair over and sit down."

Chen Fan pulled up a chair and sat down, then placed the letter of introduction and admission notice on the corner of the table. "Hello Professor Xu, I'm here to register today."

Professor Xu glanced at the admission notice and nodded slightly. "This is not my responsibility. You can submit it directly to the registration office later."

He paused for a moment, then turned to look at Chen Fan. "I've read all your articles. Your writing style is quite novel and lively, with a fresh perspective, which is very rare."

Generally, young people learn literature by imitation, but this isn't evident in your writing. When did you begin learning literature?

Chen Fan's lips parted slightly, and he let out an "Ah" before speaking softly, "It probably started in school. I didn't specifically study anything; I just wrote whatever came to mind. Then there was a period when I was all alone, with no one to ask questions or teach me..."

He chuckled and joked, "Maybe it's gone astray."

Professor Xu didn't take it as a joke. He thought about it seriously for a while before saying, "Then you have a very good understanding. Although your writing style doesn't show any teacher, you can find your own way and form your own system."

At this point, he looked up at Chen Fan, his expression unusually serious. "Mr. Xu Tianmin once said: 'In literature, cultivation is difficult, but technique is very easy. A bright person can master it in less than five years with diligent study.' What does that mean?"

Chen Fan pondered for two seconds, “Skills are easy to acquire, but cultivation is hard to find. Skills refer to writing, which is a method, while cultivation is the foundation of scholarship, or rather, the ‘way’. Taken together, it should be the comprehensive realization of a person’s initial intention, method, and goal in pursuing knowledge.”

Professor Xu nodded. "Indeed. You can learn techniques from books, which shows your intelligence. But if a writer were to extract your writing techniques and teach them to others, they could learn five or six parts similarity within a year. That would be enough to write newspaper articles and popular novels. In five years at most, they could grow into qualified writers and achieve no less than you."

But writing doesn't equate to literary talent, and achievements don't necessarily reflect cultivation. When I read your articles before, I had a feeling that they lacked 'heart'.

Chen Fan blinked, initially a little confused, but after only two or three seconds, he understood what he meant and carefully said, "Do you mean that my initial intention or purpose for studying literature is unclear? Or that the theme of my articles is unclear?"

Professor Xu nodded slowly, "You could say that."

He paused for a moment, then gave an example: "As we all know, Lu Xun studied literature in order to govern people and save the country through literature. This is the embodiment of 'literary heart'."

However, this does not mean that a writer's heart must be reflected in matters of national righteousness. Of course, a writer whose heart is centered on matters of national righteousness will certainly have a higher purpose, but a writer's heart can also be reflected in other ways.

For example, there are four major schools of thought in modern Chinese literature: the Mandarin Duck and Butterfly School, the Crescent Moon School, the Lotus Pond School, and the Yam School.

The Mandarin Duck and Butterfly School is represented by Zhang Henshui, whose representative works include "The Story of a Noble Family" and "A Marriage of Tears and Laughter".

The Crescent Moon Society originated from a club founded by Hu Shi, Xu Zhimo, Liang Qichao, and others. They discussed the weather and the moon, emphasizing leisure and entertainment. They named their collection "The Crescent Moon" after Tagore, whom they admired. You may despise their peaceful and prosperous life during a time of national crisis, or even their character, but you cannot deny their overflowing talent.

This kind of literary spirit is also literary spirit.

There's also the romanticism and optimism of the Lotus Pond School, and the Yam School, founded by local literature writers led by Zhao Shuli.

Professor Xu gave a brief introduction, then looked at Chen Fan and said, "You've written about cadres going to the countryside, about the people resisting the Japanese invasion, about the despondency and struggle of educated youth, and you've also written realistic works like 'The Tanka Fishing Boat.' Oh, and I heard from Xiao He the other day that you've written a new novel called 'Shanghai Spy Shadow.'"

Now let me ask you, what is your literary heart?

Chen Fan pursed his lips and blinked rapidly. What is my Wenxin?
Without a doubt, you should earn your writing fees first, then your royalties!

But you can't say that, otherwise either you'll get beaten to death or the old man will be angered to death... When people get old, anything can happen, so it's better to be cautious.

Then he lowered his head and pondered how to answer.

You can't just bluff someone. This person started memorizing the "Three Hundred Thousand Character Classic" when he was a few years old, graduated from university in his teens, became a Chinese teacher at a well-known middle school, could compile his own lecture notes on classical Chinese, became famous in academic circles at the age of 30, became a professor at the age of 40, and then taught at prestigious universities such as Peking University, Fudan University, Nanjing University, Wuhan University, and Jiangnan University before finally settling down at Jiangnan University.

If this old scholar dared to try to fool him, he would expose him in no time.

Professor Xu looked at Chen Fan without any hurry. He leaned back in his chair and picked up a book full of notes to read.

Chen Fan, on the other hand, was reflecting on his own actions.

First of all, Lu Xun's idea of ​​saving the country and the people was definitely not it. As for the four major schools of thought? It seems to be related to all of them to some extent, but it also seems to be none of them entirely.

After a long while, he finally looked up and said softly, "Write works that readers like?"

This initial intention doesn't seem wrong.

He only buys books if readers like them, which is how he earns income, perfectly aligning with his original intention!

Professor Xu smiled and shook his head. "At most, it's somewhat related. Which author wouldn't want their work to be liked by readers? This certainly doesn't count."

He smiled and said, "As I said before, I didn't see the 'literary heart' in your article. You can't be wrong to interpret the 'literary heart' as the initial intention and purpose, but it's not entirely correct either. The 'literary heart' is similar to the Tao; it cannot be explained in words, but can only be understood intuitively."

For example, when you read Lu Xun, you can sense his hatred for the bad habits of the Chinese people and his condemnation of all immoral and unreasonable phenomena, with the intention of awakening the masses.

If you read Zhao Shuli again, you will find that his simple words contain his love for his hometown, for this land, and for the people on this land.

This is the essence of literature. Your literary essence is the inner spirit and attitude of a scholar. This is something that cannot be entrusted to others; you need to find it yourself. If you cannot find it yourself, it means that your scholarship is not yet mature.

My responsibility is to help you find your inner literary soul. You can do this based on your understanding—what your initial motivation and goals for studying literature were—or you can start over from scratch.” He suddenly waved his hand. “I’m telling you all this now just to help you understand your learning goals. When you study literature with me, you can’t just memorize; you need to develop your own thoughts. Once you reach that stage, you can graduate.”

Chen Fan blinked, looking somewhat troubled.

It feels like the plan has gone seriously off track.

Honestly, my initial motivation for writing novels was to earn some money. I enrolled in a humanities graduate program because the exams were easy to pass, and it would not cause me too much trouble or waste too much time while also giving me a prestigious degree.

Why are you forcing me to find some kind of literary spirit now? It's like making sword intent sound... It would be better to let me condense sword intent. At least Master Zhang's Pure Yang Sword Manual has these contents. I can just practice according to it directly, without so many twists and turns.

At this moment, Professor Xu took out two pieces of paper from his drawer and placed them in front of Chen Fan. "This is your study plan. The first one lists the subjects you need to pass during your graduate studies. Take a look and see which ones you have already studied."

Chen Fan glanced at it and found that it was basically about linguistics, literary creation, literary criticism, research on literary trends, and contemporary literature studies.

He immediately said, "I've read all the textbooks, but I don't know if they're the same as the ones used in school."

Professor Xu was not surprised and said with a smile, "I specifically asked the colleagues at the Yunhu Correspondence Center, and they spoke highly of you, saying that you write like the wind, answer questions without hesitation, and have a very solid grasp of the textbook knowledge."

Since you've already studied them, I can grant you special permission to skip these classes. After all, the core principles remain the same. No matter how the textbooks are revised, the differences will only be in difficulty and content, and with the current exam difficulty, it will have almost no impact.

Final exams are in a little over two months. I'll register you for all the courses you can get then, to try and earn as many credits as possible so it won't affect your future studies.

No classes?

Chen Fan was secretly delighted. He was still thinking about how to ask Professor Xu for permission not to attend class, but the old man had actually approved it!

Then Professor Xu said, "This second sheet of paper is a reading list I made for you. The first batch of books consists of 30 books, none of which are covered in the course. Borrow these books from the library and read them all through."

Chen Fan glanced at them and thought, "Wow, there are books from ancient and modern times, both Chinese and foreign. I'll have plenty to read."

Professor Xu turned to look at Chen Fan and said with a smile, "After you finish reading each book, write a reflection for me. In addition, every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning at 9 o'clock, I will set aside two hours for you to read with me or listen to you read."

Chen Fan was dumbfounded.

Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday? Does that mean I can't go back?
The people of Lujiawan are still waiting... It seems like it's okay if they don't go back?
Chen Fan tried hard to recall what in the village he could do without.

Farming? He's never farmed before.

Animal husbandry? There are a dozen or so veterinarians and more than twenty trainees who have studied veterinary medicine, as well as the support of the commune's veterinary station. It doesn't matter whether he's there or not.

sideline?

Everything is on track, and all the side businesses are proceeding smoothly. In the past, apart from taking up other people's time to chat with him, he didn't seem to be able to help much.

Thinking about this, Chen Fan regretfully realized that he seemed to be of no use to Lujiawan anymore.

Professor Xu continued, “If you choose classical literature, you don’t need to go through all this trouble. I have some authority to speak on classical literature, especially on books like Han Feizi, Mozi, and Zhuangzi.”

I'd been thinking of choosing a book to annotate before, but I got put off. Now I can start again, and you can be my assistant.

Hearing this, Chen Fan couldn't help but feel a deep respect. At 80 years old, he was still thinking about re-annotating classic ancient books. This was no small task, and probably only a true scholar would have such spirit and perseverance.

Professor Xu shook his head slightly as he spoke, "It's a pity that you chose modern Chinese literature, so you can't be this assistant."

Fortunately, modern literature originated in the 20s, which coincides with my formative years. Although my academic background is in classical literature, I should be able to guide you in studying modern literature without any problems.

He looked up at Chen Fan and smiled, "However, if you want to change direction, it's not too late."

Chen Fan chuckled awkwardly, "No need, modern literature is just fine."

Choosing classical literature would have been far worse than pursuing a scientific career; he's not cut out for such a demanding field of study.

Professor Xu waved his hand regretfully, "Alright, go to the registration office in the administration building, they will arrange your dormitory. Tomorrow is Sunday, come back to find me the day after tomorrow morning."

Chen Fan picked up the admission notice and letter of introduction from the corner of the table and quickly left.

……

First, go to the administration building to register and complete the enrollment procedures, and then go to the dormitory.

The dormitory building is located on a quiet hillside, not far from the teaching building and the canteen. Moreover, graduate students receive preferential treatment, and as Professor Xu's only student this year, he receives even more. In addition, there are not many people in the school now, but there are plenty of houses. Chen Fan is very happy to be assigned a small single room.

The room is only a dozen square meters, with two single beds and two old desks across the window.

It seems this used to be a double room.

Chen Fan spun around twice, remained silent for two seconds, and then decisively decided to call for reinforcements.

There are quite a few people from Lujiawan at Jiangnan University. Most of them are studying medicine, and a small portion have chosen other majors, but they are mainly in science and engineering. There are both male and female students. How many people are there in total?

Chen Fan didn't pay much attention; it seemed to be ten or some other number.
Never mind, let's go find someone.

Just then, the last class ended, and the students either went to the cafeteria, the library, or rushed back to their dormitories.

Without much effort, Chen Fan found Yang Zhijun, who was studying at the Medical School of Jiangnan University.

Yang Zhijun's eyes lit up when he saw Chen Fan appear in front of him. "Teacher Chen, you've come to school too?"

Chen Fan didn't stand on ceremony and patted him on the shoulder, "Find a few people to go to room 302 of Qingsong Building dormitory and clean it for me. I still need to buy my luggage."

Yang Zhijun immediately stood at attention and took the keys with both hands. "Yes, sir. I guarantee I will complete the mission."

After Chen Fan left, the surrounding classmates came over and asked curiously, "Who is that? He's so cool."

Yang Zhijun chuckled, “He’s my teacher. He’s here to pursue a master’s degree, which is higher than ours.”

Then he turned and ran away, saying, "I'm not talking to you guys anymore, I have to go to work."

The others exchanged bewildered glances. How could someone be so happy while working?
Just then, someone suddenly said, "Old Yang just said that person is his teacher. Isn't his teacher Chen Fan?"

The other person looked at the bustling steps and asked, "So, that person is Chen Fan?"

(End of this chapter)