Chapter 6 Chapter 5 Millennium Garden

one On a late autumn evening twenty-seven years ago, I was wandering alone on Yuelu Mountain.Yuelu Mountain is located on the west bank of the Xiangjiang River, on the opposite bank is Changsha, the capital of Hunan Province.This is the first time I have come here, and I was involuntarily scattered on this strange mountain ridge far away from home, riding the wave of what was then called the Great Chain of Revolutions. Few people in our generation were completely unwound by the wave of concatenation in the early days of the Cultural Revolution, but very few people could explain what was going on.First, classes were suspended across the country. In such a large country, there is almost no exception for a classroom. Students are not allowed to leave the school without attending classes. So they fight back and forth under the guidance of newspapers and radio stations. Everyone competes who is the best and who is the most out-of-the-way .Today's young people are designing their own unrestrainedness every day. What they call unrestrained seems to refer to a degree of freedom in life that leaves the secular norms; Induced to pursue a state of life that tramples on the norms.Dare to grit your teeth and tear up all the textbooks in your schoolbag after a little hesitation?Do you dare to mutter for a while and then imitate others to spit out a foul language that would frown upon hearing it?Dare to put your hand on the head of your most feared teacher?Dare to move all the half-understood books in the library to the playground and set them on fire?Dare to take a wooden stick and try whether the statues of Beethoven and Chopin are hollow or solid?To be honest, I am afraid that students of any age in any country may flash these rebellious meditations in their minds, and secretly smile mischievously. For a period of time, all these things were allowed, and finally a group of students stood out, broke through the constraints of civilization, and unearthed a certain naughty spirit that had not been left in their hearts, quickly cultivated, publicized, and dressed up as King Kong glaring.It is too much to insist that they are rebels with political meaning. They were sitting in the same class with us yesterday. What do you know about upper-level political struggles?It's nothing more than chanting a few editorials in the newspaper, plus some nonsensical political rumors. At first glance, it seems that there is no political initiative at all.Conversely, the conservative students who are on the opposite side may not have much political awareness. Most of them are just unwilling or not used to changing their original life status in a sudden upheaval.I was also a conservative at the time. In retrospect, on the one hand, I was displeased with the various tough actions of the rebel classmates, and on the other hand, I secretly felt that I was too useless, indecisive, and unable to keep up with the trend. Contempt, unable to save themselves, also disheartened.All this seemed to be the same thing at the time, but it was actually nonsense. A few years later, when the old classmates met again, there was only so much intimacy, and they even forgot what kind of school they were.

Remember that fooling around is only two or three months. A school’s world is limited, young people pursue novelty, and similar things become boring after a while.Suddenly there was news that all transportation throughout the country, except for airplanes, was open to young students. It was completely free, and you could go wherever you wanted.I still can't guess what the leaders who made this romantic decision thought at the time. It seems that they are providing convenience for rebel classmates so that they can go all over the country to fan the flames; it seems that they are providing opportunities for conservative classmates to force them to go outside To feel the revolutionary atmosphere and change your position.In short, no matter what faction, as long as they are students, including young teachers who have not been defeated for a while, those from universities, middle schools, and even senior elementary schools, from cities and villages, can all flock to the traffic line, whichever Stand on, which station to get off, it is up to you.As for whether you still think about the revolution after going out, there is no restraint, it all depends on your own consciousness.Such a beautiful thing, who would not go?

What happens next is entirely conceivable.The students climbed onto all the trains that were still running like ants, even the freight cars were densely packed, and the national railway transportation was immediately paralyzed.The train can still run, but it will stop for a long time after running for a while, often for seven or eight hours at a time.The sight inside the train is even more stunning, I don't believe that since the invention of the train, no place has been loaded with living people so densely.No one is sitting, and no one is standing, it seems to be standing.But at most, only one foot can touch the ground, and everyone is crowded into an airtight mass. On the luggage rack and under the seats, there are a few patients who are under special care.Of course, there are no longer aisles and toilets, and the original toilets are also full of people.Anyone who wants to defecate can only wait helplessly for the car to stop halfway, and once the car stops, he jumps out of the car window with everyone's help.However, it is difficult to say that the train will not start suddenly at this moment, so the students who jumped out of the window always entrust their small luggage to the few people who are crowded at the window, saying that if they do not happen to drive suddenly, please leave the luggage. Bag dropped.This kind of thing often happens at night, when the train starts between the barren mountains and mountains with no village in front and no shop in the back, a few luggage bags are thrown down, and the students under the train chase and call, and the rumbling wheels finally throw them away. down.For years I've wondered about this: did they finally find their next stop?That is a place with dangerous mountains, dense forests, and tigers and wolves.

The luggage thrown out of the car was the same as the luggage carried by the students on the bus, small and light, with two changes of clothes, three or four steamed buns wrapped in a towel, and a few pieces of pickles, all the same.No book, no pen, no money, relaxed yet vain, like a leaf off a branch, petals off a flower, wandering in the wind, extremely free and easy and extremely vulgar, so vulgar that no one can recognize the other , so cheap that it is impossible to estimate how many are congested in one square meter.I only know that they are students, but they have no schoolbags, no teachers, no classrooms, and they will never go on. Soon they will be driven to the train to go to the countryside. After going there for more than ten years, they still have no schoolbags and no teachers. , there is no classroom, and it is still called a student.Because they are students, because their eyes have met Chinese characters one by one, and because their fingers have flipped a few pages, they have to stay away from home to flush out the memories of Chinese characters and paper pages.A series of trains departed for the first leg of this journey.All actions to deny culture in history have always been led by cultural people themselves, but according to the undoubted logic, it will soon be negated by the people who lead the way.The students on the train fell asleep in disorder, and the excitement of chasing everything remained in their sleep. They didn't know that no society throughout the ages could accommodate a group of deniers who didn't make achievements, a group of people who stopped studying for a long time. Scholars, a group of pseudo-students who don't want teachers.When they finally woke up, it was too late, the train had gone too far, and it was these young people who fell asleep in a mess that were finally expelled.

Maybe I was the one who woke up earlier, woke up in a violent shaking of the train, surrounded by snoring and sweat, an inexplicable fear hit me, where did I come from?Where am I going?who I am?There was a chill in my heart.I want to get off, but the train will not stop at this moment, and there is no one here to pay attention to a personal cry.I had no choice but to resign myself to fate, follow the flow, and according to the routine at the time, stop where I should stop, and get off where I should go, Hulong Hulong followed, the whole person was stunned. Changsha and Yuelu Mountain were the most suitable places to stop and get off at that time. There were crowds of people everywhere, even on the mountain road of Yuelu Mountain.The famous Aiwan Pavilion should have some charm, but at the moment it has been painted red all over, submerged in the hustle and bustle.I raised my head and looked around, the autumn colors were deep and the maple leaves were brilliant. I really wanted to be alone somewhere to catch my breath, so I quietly left the crowd and found a remote path.After all, the wild mountain is not a thoroughfare of the square, so it is not difficult to find a deserted place. After a few turns, covered by a few clumps of trees, I was left alone.This road is very narrow, and many places are almost blocked by bushes, and the branches can only be passed through.Gradually, many graves appeared. No one swept the graves in those years, and the weeds were blurred.Several of the largest graves seem to be related to the Revolution of 1911. There are some stone tablets in front of the graves, covered with moss.A gust of autumn wind, a few sounds of twilight crows, I know it's getting late and I should go back.But where to go back?Nowhere is my place.It is better to be more courageous and walk aimlessly on the path to see where it takes me.

Twilight overwhelmed the top, and the mountain gradually looked mysterious.As I walked, I thought, this mountain is tiring enough, the other end, next to the Love Night Pavilion, is loaded with real passion; this end, among the tombs, is buried with the rape of the beginning of the century.I wanted to be quiet, and hid here from there, but I didn't expect that this place would still let me listen to yesterday's roar in silence.It is said that it is the foot of Nanyue Mountain and the leylines of the land. It seems that the leylines of China are destined to give rise to endless turmoil.In the increasingly quiet Yuelu Mountain in the thick twilight, what kind of place are you?Under your green slope and ocher rock, there is so much strength and mania hidden?

Just thinking about it, a long old wall appeared in front of him, surrounding many gray-brown old-fashioned houses. What kind of place is this?After walking a few steps along the wall, I saw a side door, which could be opened with a light push. I hesitated for a moment and stepped in.I walked a little scared, pretended to cough a few times, and called out for anyone, but there was no response.But as I walked, I seemed to be controlled by a magical force, my steps slowed down, and I was no longer afraid.There is no decoration here, why does it give me an inexplicable solemnity?I have never been here before, so why is there such familiarity everywhere?These houses and courtyards can be used for various purposes, but what is its original purpose?No matter how big a family’s house is, there is no need for such dense layers, and each layer is arranged so elegantly and serenely. Maybe individual souls were once allowed to stay here?Many people should have gathered here, but it is absolutely impossible to be an official office or barracks.There must have been a peaceful gathering here, a kind of unspeakable elegance, a kind of sanctity that is not hot or heroic, and everything I have just traveled and felt outside the wall belongs to a theme that is exactly the opposite.

Somehow, this courtyard hit a level deep in my heart that even I didn't know much about.This dimension does not seem to have been cultivated in my lifetime, but much earlier.If there is a past life, then I must have been here and lived here for a long time.I vaguely found myself.What are you?It is a mysterious garden.One day you accidentally step in and never want to come out again, and feel that it is more intimate than the house you were born in and the house you live in now, that is yourself. I lingered alone in this courtyard, reluctant to leave, and finally touched a stone tablet. With the last faint light of the sky, I recognized the four big characters at a glance: Yuelu Academy.

two Without any information, without any explanation, I didn't know exactly what kind of Yuelu Academy, which gave me such a mysterious and intimate feeling, was at that time.Intuitively, this is a long-standing cultural and educational institution, which is quite different from the current vigorous Cultural Revolution. However, it is safe and sound in the vicinity of the torrent. The only reason is that a leader was in its youth Lived in one house for some time.Yuelu Academy is very knowledgeable about current affairs, so it doesn't use this excuse to dress itself up as the birthplace of the revolution, and paints purple and red on its old cheeks. Xuanwa, a school of tranquility.Gou Quan lives in troubled times, and does not seek to be known to the feudal lords. Whoever wants to come and see is fine. He opens a side door and waits, so I have an unexpected encounter with it, and we meet silently.

It is said that there are some gaps in the resumes of some qigong masters in the world. People guess that it must be the opportunity for them to suddenly realize Taoism and get qi in some special encounter.I believe in this chance.Now reporters often come to ask me if I have a few key callers during my long-term study. I think about it, and I am often at a loss for words.I can't convince them that a courtyard I've stepped into, not quite sure what it's for, and met no one, never said a word, should be a key to my life.I can't remember how long I stayed in it, I only know that when I left, I had a peaceful face, just like the blue bricks and stones, the pink walls and the black tiles.I remember that I went back to Shanghai soon after I went down the mountain. After that, my experience was still bumpy and tortuous, but I always tried my best to be accompanied by books.Occasionally, when I see historical materials about Yuelu Academy in books, I always read them several times with my eyes wide open.In recent years, the publishing business has flourished, including "A Brief History of Yuelu Academy", "Zhu Xi and Yuelu Academy", "A Survey of the Mountains of Yuelu Academy", "Biography of Celebrities in Yuelu Academy", "Selected Poems of Yuelu Academy in Past Dynasties", "A List of Yuelu Academy", " Good books such as "Chinese Academy and Traditional Culture" appeared on my desk one after another. I went to Changsha to give lectures many times, and revisited the academy again and again. Finally, I can say that I began to understand my courtyard. That evening twenty-seven years ago, that feeling.

Yuelu Academy has existed for a thousand years, and it is no exaggeration to say that it is the oldest institution of higher learning in the world.Regarding China's affairs, the old people believe that there is often a question mark on institutions of higher learning, but this question mark can be completely removed in the face of Yuelu Academy.For more than a thousand years, the teachers of Yuelu Academy have gathered a large number of the highest-level educators in China, including Zhu Xi, Zhang Shi, and Wang Yangming, who can be called world-class cultural and philosophical masters, and the students it has cultivated can even be listed. This is an amazing list, the millennium is too long, we can easily mention the philosopher Wang Fuzhi, the financial master Tao Shu, the enlightenment thinker Wei Yuan, the military strategist Zuo Zongtang, the scholar politician Zeng Guofan, the diplomat Guo Songtao, reform movement leaders Tang Caichang, Shen Jin, and educator Yang Changji, etc.A pair of couplets proudly hangs on the main entrance of Yuelu Academy: Only Chu has talents, and it is prosperous here. It is very loud to describe it as the most brilliant gathering place of talents in the world, but even if you look down, you can't help but be convinced.Look at the entire Qing Dynasty, those things that required brains were almost swallowed by this mountain courtyard? The strength of this courtyard lies in promoting the extreme importance of education to a nation with the tenacity of a thousand years.I have been thinking that all the wise rulers in history will attach importance to education. They have both administrative power and economic strength to run education. Of course, they will look decent, but why is there no official school that lasts as long as Yuelu Academy? ?Taixue in the Han Dynasty, Hongwenguan, Chongwenguan, Guozixue, etc. in the Tang Dynasty were all official schools, but the government put too much political utilitarian requirements on these official schools, and the control was strict, and strict government control would inevitably lead to cumbersome Philosophy and formalism prevailed, and education mostly became a vassal of the imperial examination system, but its own character as an independent cause was lost.It is said that it is education, but it focuses on actual profit, empty name, and officialdom. This is a common problem of Chinese official schools in the past dynasties, and it is also the reason why countless generous statements about emphasizing education have not been implemented in the end.Of course, there are also some officials with high cultural character who try to find a new way fundamentally, but no matter how big their official positions are, they cannot escape the heavy constraints of the system, and they cannot stop the officialdom and society from directly demanding education. In the end, they can only do nothing .Then, let’s just set up some private schools that are not strictly controlled by the government, but private schools are too trivial and too scattered after all, and they can’t gather many famous teachers from home and abroad, and they can’t recruit many talents from all over the world. It will lose a vital solemn atmosphere, just like religion loses its ceremony, and the game loses its spectacle, and there is not much to do. Facing this dilemma, a group of outstanding educators successively found a space between the dilemmas.Is it possible to let a few famous scholars take the lead, avoid the busy city, and establish some private and government-supported academies on some famous mountains?The academies are set up on the mountain, which contains a certain independent spirit and detachment necessary for the transmission and research of academic culture; In the pursuit of social popularity and appeal in detachment.Based on the private sector, the main will of the academy is not based on the political needs of the time but on the cultural logic of the literati, so that education and academics can maintain sufficient freedom; It is unimaginable to run a cultural and educational undertaking on a long-term and large scale.Of course, there is a price to be paid for obtaining government assistance, and even some kind of control is required. This requires a balance between the two. The best scenario is to use the cultural character of the academy to inspire the cultural character of officials at all levels, so that they can Participate in the cause of the academy as a cultural person, and give substantial help by virtue of power.This kind of situation happened frequently afterward. It can be seen that the emergence of the academy is really the result of repeated thinking and careful design by a group of highly intelligent cultural visionaries. It not only maintains a kind of breezy cultural ideal, but also generally conforms to China's national conditions. It is different from a large number of unrealistic cultural utopias and short-term behaviors that finally became secular in history. It can be said to be an amazing creation in the history of Chinese culture.There are many academies that have appeared among the famous mountains in China. The best continuation and therefore the most famous are Yuelu Academy and Bailudong Academy in Lushan Mountain. The teaching system of Yuelu Academy is still quite reasonable today.The Academy implements the Shanzhang responsibility system. The title of Shanzhang sounds wild and interesting, and it corresponds to the environment where the academy is located. However, in my opinion, this title also contains indifference to the imperial rank, showing humor and freedom. Despite the fact that Shan Chang is a very outstanding figure in terms of moral knowledge, management ability, social background, and prestige in the ruling and opposition parties.They just want to manage a college well, and the mountains full of spring flowers and autumn leaves, summer wind and winter moon, and an independent world.Known as the head of the mountain, he is humble and proud.The salary of the mountain head is not low, and the life is good. The last time I went to Yuelu Academy, I spent a long time in Baiquanxuan, where the mountain heads lived for a long time. Such a beautiful and elegant residence is really fascinating.Under the control of the head of the mountain, the academy adopts a relatively free teaching method. Generally, the head of the mountain or other teachers give lectures once every ten and a half months. The rest of the time is mainly self-study. If you have any questions during self-study, you can consult the teachers or students at any time. discuss with each other.At first glance, it seems easy to let things go, but in fact, the academy has clear academic regulations, the curriculum is clear and orderly, and there are several strict assessments every month. In addition, students must record their daily reading in the homework book , the head of the mountain conducts random checks in person on a regular basis.The course content is mainly based on Confucian classics, history, literature, and philology (that is, elementary school), but also to learn stereotyped essays and test post poems for the imperial examinations. In the late Qing Dynasty, many natural science courses were added.It is conceivable that this extremely flexible teaching method can create a fascinating learning atmosphere, and this atmosphere may sometimes be more inspiring and infecting people than the course itself.Until 1840, when foreign aggression and internal troubles were very serious, Feng Guifen also wrote in "Review of Confucianism and Officials": Today, Xiawei Academy has a little intention of educating talents, and the provincial capital is the most.I have seen two academies in Yuelu and Chengnan in Hunan Province, where the elders of the mountains are respected and respected, the officials treat them as concierges, and hundreds of students live in a row of houses. ! This kind of sound of books resounding outdoors has actually echoed in the lush forests of Qingxi Mountain in Yuelu Mountain for thousands of years! In this atmosphere, the teaching quality of Yuelu Academy has always been very high, which is far beyond the comparison of official schools.As early as the Song Dynasty, there were three recognized teaching levels in the Changsha area: the government-run state school students with excellent grades can be promoted to Xiangxi Academy; the top students in Xiangxi Academy can be promoted to Yuelu Academy.In this sense, Yuelu Academy is a bit like our current graduate school, with high standards and independence, which attracts people to look up to. Where does the money come from to run such an academy?If you think about it carefully, the cost of the academy will not be too small. In terms of establishment, in addition to the head of the school, there are also teaching and administrative personnel such as the deputy head of the mountain, teaching assistants, lecturers, supervisors, chiefs, head of the house, head of the hall, and supervisors. , there must also be a considerable number of cooks, doorkeepers, housekeepers, watchmen, watchmen, library guards, stele pavilion guards and other handy labor. These people have to be paid salaries; , pen and ink fees are all provided by the academy, and the winners in several monthly assessments will also be awarded bonuses; the above are all daily expenses. If you want to build some houses, buy some books, and renovate the garden, the expenses will of course be even greater up.The above-mentioned expenses of the academy mainly depend on the income of Xuetian.The so-called school field refers to the property of the academy.Government officials want to show their importance to the academy, so they allocate some land, and rich people often do the same when they want to subsidize the academy, and rarely donate silver taels directly.With these fields, the academy has a relatively stable economic income. Even if the dynasty changes and the currency depreciates, it is not too afraid.The school land is rented to other people to grow, and there is land rent to collect. If it is not used for a while, it can be invested in pawnbrokers to earn interest, so that dead money can be turned into living money.Judging from the accounts of the existing academies, the various expenses of the academies are generally relatively frugal, the management is very strict, and there is no tendency to extravagance, and the income of the school field is often less than the expenditure, so it is necessary to apply for subsidies from the government.I think the land assigned to the academy is something to be proud of. The same is black soil, and the same is planted in spring and harvested in autumn. But for thousands of years, it has provided nourishment for Chinese culture and Chinese talents. How different other lands are.Now I have a book on my desk that was published 20 years ago that talks about the academy’s school fields, saying that the academy uses the school fields to use the land rent and usury’s exploitation income as annual funds, and the resentment is palpable.According to this logic of thinking, land rent and interest are both income from exploitation, and the academies can’t escape evil if they use it as annual funds.For this kind of inexplicable small peasant consciousness, I would rather not have teaching and culture!China's land is so vast that it can be left barren and reduced to a battlefield. It is no joke that some people are not happy about such an insignificant piece of land that has become a great cause of civilization that spans thousands of years. It is a fact that has repeatedly appeared in history.Chinese teaching and culture have always faced obstacles, and Yuelu Academy and other academies are often in trouble, which is also related to this.As for me, I really want to visit those school fields next time I go to Changsha, and take a good look at those extremely ordinary and extremely unusual lands. three Yuelu Academy has been able to last for thousands of years. In addition to the above-mentioned success in management and operation, what is more important is the concentration of personality.For a teaching and research institution, this power is a kind of soul.Once the soul is gone, no matter how beautiful the famous mountains are and how many schools there are, it will not be a great atmosphere. Teaching, in the final analysis, is the transmission of human spirit and life from generation to generation on a level of civilization.This point is very clear to the hosts of the Yuelu Academy in the past dynasties.The school rules, rules, teachings, regulations, etc. that they formulate almost all set out requirements for students' behavior norms from the perspective of moral cultivation, and finally focus on how to be a dignified cultural person.In fact, most of the classics, history, and literature they teach are attributed to the construction of cultural personality, especially the Song and Ming Neo Confucianism, which later became the academic pillar of Yuelu Academy, can almost be regarded as an ancient Chinese philosophy to a large extent. Cultural Personality.Therefore, the academies with beautiful mountains and rivers and resounding books have become the smelting places of cultural personality.Correspondingly, philosophers and cultural masters outside the academy also value the function of the academy. In ancient times when the means of information transmission were backward, they could not think of a more ideal way than to preach and teach students in the academy. There is no way to promote academics, so almost without exception, they look forward to participating in this smelting project one day.The academy integrates teaching, academic research, and the construction and transmission of cultural personality into one. At this point, I would like to mention Zhu Xi and Zhang Shi, two masters in particular. They are undoubtedly the cross-age spiritual models of Yuelu Academy.Zhu Xi also made similar contributions to the Bailudong Academy in Lushan, and the influence was even greater.When I was walking in Yuelu Academy, I could vaguely see the elegant figures of many academy educators, and the one I saw most clearly was Zhu Xi, even though he had left the Academy for 800 years. Zhu Xi was a university student who wanted to be a teacher all his life.His high academic achievements can be summed up in a sentence praised by the great poet Xin Qiji: Counting the history of Tang Yao, there are only two or three Rugongs.From a general point of view, such a learned scholar has neither the need nor the time to be a teacher. In terms of social status, his official position is not low, and he does not need to rely on teachers to make himself famous. But Zhu Xi has Another level of thinking.He said: All human beings are good in nature, but if there are differences between good and evil, it is also the contamination of habits.Therefore, if a gentleman is educated, everyone can return to goodness, and it is not necessary to talk about the evil of his kind! ("The Analects of Confucius") also said: Only learning can change temperament. ("Answer to Wang Zihe") He regards education as the fundamental way to restore human nature and change quality, and believes that without this way, it is almost impossible to talk about the stability and development of society and the country.If you don't study, you don't know how to cultivate yourself, how to manage your family and govern your country. ("Language") In the eyes of this master of culture, no career in the world is more important than this, so his eyes have been watching the academies in the mountains, capturing all kinds of information that spread from there. He knew that Zhang Shi, a philosopher who was three years younger than him, was giving lectures on Yuelu Academy. He had met Zhang Shi before and talked with him, but there were some academic links that needed further discussion. Is it possible to turn this kind of discussion into a kind of academy teaching? What about the content?In August 1167, he made up his mind and set out from Chong'an, Fujian, accompanied by two students, and walked thousands of miles towards Yuelu Mountain. After Zhu Xi arrived at Yuelu Academy, he and Zhang Shi conducted the very famous Zhu and Zhang meeting in the history of Chinese culture.The so-called lecture is an academic activity of Yuelu Academy. Schools with different academic viewpoints discuss and debate in a large or small range, and students can also attend, which promotes both academics and teaching.The lectures of Zhu Xi and Zhang Shi were very charming. At that time, one was 37 years old and the other was 34 years old, but they were already at the forefront of Chinese academic culture, discussing the philosophical significance with sophisticated and superb thinking. The secrets of human beings and human nature, sometimes it is impossible to reach a consensus after three days and three nights of continuous debate.In addition to speaking in public, they also talked in private, and the result was that both of them were more and more convinced by each other, both of them felt that each other inspired them, and their future academic paths were indeed more developed. "History of the Song Dynasty" records that Zhang Shi's knowledge has not only been seen by Zhu Xi, but also made great progress; while Zhu Xi himself said in a letter that Zhang Shi's insights are unmatched. The benefit is more.Zhu Xi also used a poem to describe the academic friendship between the two of them: Reminiscing about past autumn winds, Looking for friends beside the Xiangshui River. Victory travels to hold the sleeves, Quiet night with bed. Don't regret too much, Come back to be generous. But should be subtle, Still want to discuss in detail. ("You Huai Nanxuan Chengbo Chongchou Two Poems") In addition to speaking with Zhang Shi, Zhu Xi also gave lectures at Yuelu Academy alone. At that time, Zhu Xi's reputation was already very large, and there was an endless stream of people who came to listen to the lecture. The so-called crowds of horses and horses, the water in the drinking pool was dry, almost as lively as the Yuelu Mountain I saw 27 years ago, but the excitement was in another direction, in a completely opposite sense.Apart from giving lectures at Yuelu Academy, Zhu Xi could not refuse the invitation of Chengnan Academy across the river, so he often crossed the Xiangjiang River, and Zhang Shi happily accompanied him to and fro. This ferry was named Zhu Zhangdu by the local people. To commemorate the teaching enthusiasm of these two great scholars.Since then, people have often donated money and food as Zhu Zhangdu's ship repair expenses.A good story of two cultural educators is so deeply engraved in this mountain and river. Seven years after Zhu and Zhang met, Zhang Shi left Yuelu Academy to work in other places, but he died within a few years, only living for forty-seven years old.Fourteen years after Zhang Shi's death, that is, in 1194, Zhu Xi finally came to Changsha again by accepting the post of comfort envoy of Hunan after repeated refusals.Either you don’t come, since you came to Changsha to be an official, you must revitalize the old Yuelu Academy. At this time, it has been 27 years since he and Zhang Shi joined hands and joined the bed, and the two young talents disappeared. , only an old man in his sixties remained.But today, he is highly respected and has authority. He has enough strength to organize the education industry according to his own wishes and set an example for the whole country.He put into practice the plan to expand Yuelu Academy that he had been planning in his mind before he arrived in Changsha, hired someone he was satisfied with to be in charge of the academy's affairs, expanded the enrollment quota, and set up 50 hectares of school land for the academy. The school regulations formulated by Lushan Bailudong Academy issued the "Zhuzi Academy Dogma".With such powerful measures implemented one after another, Yuelu Academy once again showed prosperity.Zhu Xi was busy with official affairs during the day, and crossed the river at night to give lectures and discussions, answer students' questions, and never tire.The questions and answers between him and the students were memorized by the students, and later became an important work in the academic field.Attracted by Zhu Xi's knowledge and reputation, there were more than a thousand scholars gathered in Yuelu Academy at that time. Whenever I read such historical materials, I always have a happy face. I feel that the Chinese nation still has a side of advocating high-level cultural education in nature, and that Chinese history still has a noble and elegant chapter amidst the vortex of wars and power tactics.It's just that protecting these chapters requires a huge amount of personal strength.Take the academy as an example, it will be burned down by the war of regime change, the death of the head of the mountain and the vacancy of the lecturer will make it slack, the financial insufficiency will make it difficult, the induction of social atmosphere will make it deteriorate, and sometimes even The imperial court far away in the sky will also bring unexpected disasters to it.The imperial court has always held an ambivalence towards high-level academic and cultural education. Sometimes it will sincerely praise, reward, and inscribe plaques, and sometimes it will doubt whether there will be intellectuals who are too intelligent in this cause. Practicing evil and hypocrisy, advocating heresy, recruiting rogues, and finally posing a political threat. Therefore, there have been more than one incidents in history where the imperial court ordered the destruction of the world's academies, and the academies were ordered to be demolished (see "Ye Huo Bian", "Emperor Ming Dynasty" and other materials). Such turmoil, of course, will fall on the heads of those scholars and educators, and let them bear it in their short lives.In the final analysis, the turmoil will always pass, and education will not perish, but as far as a specific individual is concerned, it takes a superhuman will to sustain it.For example, Zhu Xi, we have briefly described the infinite glory when he revived Yuelu Academy at the age of more than sixty, but in fact, he has been subjected to unbearable framing and attacks by ordinary people before and after his lectures. Those are like clouds, and his heart is full of bitterness that cannot be poured out.In the ten years or so before he returned to Changsha, he was attacked by the high-ranking officials of the imperial court as ignorant, deceitful, self-proclaimed, and the leader of the chaos. man of.Fortunately, Ye Shi, another great philosopher who served as Dr. Taichang, came out to speak.Ye Shi and Zhu Xi are not in the same school, and their views are even quite opposed to each other, but he knows Zhu Xi's academic character, and loudly reprimanded those high-ranking officials who framed Zhu Xi in front of the emperor for their lies, slander, kindness and victimization. All this made it possible for Zhu Xi to come to Changsha to serve as an official and start a school.During Zhu Xi’s term of office in Changsha, Zhu Xi’s behavior of rejuvenating Yuelu Academy with humiliation did not escape the attention of those who framed him. In the second year of Zhu Xi’s arrival in Changsha, the Neo Confucianism he taught to the students was declared false by some people in the court; A year later, Zhu Xi was removed from office, his students were arrested, and a man named Yu Jia even went to the emperor to demand that Zhu Xi be executed: The head of the lord goes to the market, the order is issued, the hypocrisy can be eliminated, the hypocrites can be eliminated, and the rebellion can be warned.Otherwise, the crimes will be repeated day by day, and disasters will be unpredictable, and the ministers fear that the court will worry about it. 又過一年，偽學進一步升格為逆黨，並把朱熹的學生和追隨者都記入偽學逆黨籍，多方拘捕。朱熹雖然沒有被殺，但著作被禁，罪名深重，成天看著自己的學生和朋友一個個地因自己而受到迫害，心裡實在不是味道。但是，他還是以一個教育家的獨特態度來面對這一切。例如一一九七年官府即將拘捕他的得意門生蔡元定的前夕，他聞訊後當即召集一百餘名學生為蔡元定餞行，席間有的學生難過得哭起來了，而蔡元定卻從容鎮定，為自己敬愛的老師和他的學說去受罪，無怨無悔。朱熹看到蔡元定的這種神態很是感動，席後對蔡元定說，我已老邁，今後也許難得與你見面了，今天晚上與我住在一起吧。這天晚上，師生倆在一起竟然沒有談分別的事，而是通宵校訂了《參同契》一書，直到東方發白。蔡元定被官府拘捕後杖枷三千里流放，歷盡千難萬苦，死於道州。一路上，他始終記著那次餞行，那個通宵。世間每個人都會死在不同的身分上，卻很少有人像蔡元定，以一個地地道道的學生身分，踏上生命的最後跑道。 既然學生死得像個學生，那麼教師也就更應該死得像個教師。蔡元定死後的第二年，一一九八年，朱熹避居東陽石洞，還是沒有停止講學。有人勸他，說朝廷對他正虎視眈眈呢，趕快別再召集學生講課了，他笑而不答。直到一一九九年，他覺得真的已走到生命盡頭了，自述道：我越來越衰弱了，想到那幾個好學生都已死於貶所，而我卻還活著，真是痛心，看來支撐不了多久了。果然這年三月九日，他病死於建陽。 這是一位真正的教育家之死。他晚年所受的災難完全來自於他的學術和教育事業，對此，他的學生們最清楚。當他的遺體下葬時，散落在四方的學生都不怕朝廷禁令紛紛趕來，官府怕這些學生議論生事，還特令加強戒備。不能來的也在各地聚會紀念：訃告所至，從游之士與夫聞風慕義者，莫不相與為位為聚哭焉。禁錮雖嚴，有所不避也。（《行狀》）辛棄疾在輓文中寫出了大家的共同感受： 所不朽者，垂萬世名。 孰謂公死，凜凜猶生。 果然不久之後朱熹和他的學說又備受推崇，那是後話，朱熹自己不知道了。讓我振奮的不是朱熹死後終於被朝廷所承認，而是他和他的學生面對磨難竟然能把教師和學生這兩個看似普通的稱呼背後所蘊藏的職責和使命，表現得如此透徹，如此漂亮。在我看來，蔡元定之死和朱熹之死是能寫出一部相當動人的悲劇作品來的。他們都不是死在嶽麓書院，但他們以教師和學生的身分走向死亡的步伐是從嶽麓書院邁出的。 朱熹去世三百年後，另一位曠世大學問家踏進了嶽麓書院的大門，他便是我的同鄉王陽明先生。陽明先生剛被貶謫，貶謫地在貴州，路過嶽麓山，順便到書院講點學。他的心情當然不會愉快，一天又一天在書院裡鬱鬱地漫步，朱熹和張栻的學術觀點他是不同意的，但置身於嶽麓書院，他不能不重新對這兩位前哲的名字凝神打量，然後吐出悠悠的詩句：緬思兩夫子，此地得徘徊 是的，在這裡，時隔那麼久，具體的學術觀點是次要的了，讓人反覆緬思的是一些執著的人和一項不無神聖的事業。這項事業的全部辛勞、苦澀和委屈，都曾由嶽麓書院的庭院見證和承載，包括二十七年前我潛身而入時所看到的那份空曠和寥落。空曠和寥落中還殘留著一點淡淡的神聖，我輕輕一嗅，就改變了原定的旅程。 當然我在這個庭院裡每次都也嗅到一股透骨的涼氣。本來嶽麓書院可以以它千年的流澤告訴我們，教育是一種世代性的積累，改變民族素質是一種歷時久遠的磨礪，但這種積累和磨礪是不是都是往前走的呢？如果不是，那麼，漫長的歲月不就組接成了一種讓人痛心疾首的悲哀？你看我初次踏進這個庭院的當時，死了那麼多年的朱熹又在遭難了，連正式出版的書上都說他把歷代的革命造反行為誣蔑為人欲，瘋狂地維護反動封建統治，如果朱熹還活著，沒準還會再一次要求把他梟首朝市；至於全國性的毀學狂潮，則比歷史上任何一個朝代都盛。誰能說，歷代教育家一輩子又一輩子澆下的心血和汗水，一定能滋養出文明的花朵，則這些花朵又永不凋謝？誠然，過一段時期總有人站出來為教育和教師張目，琅琅書聲又會響徹九州，但嶽麓書院可以作證，這一切也恰似潮漲潮落。不知怎麼回事，我們這個文明古國有一種近乎天然的消解文明的機制，三下兩下，琅琅書聲沉寂了，代之以官場寒暄、市井嘈雜、小人哄鬧。我一直疑惑，在人的整體素質特別在文化人格上，我們究竟比朱熹、張栻們所在的那個時候長進了多少？這一點，作為教育家的朱熹、張栻預料過嗎？而我們，是否也能由此猜想今後？ Four 是的，人類歷史上，許多躁熱的過程、頑強的奮鬥最終仍會組接成一種整體性的無奈和悲涼。教育事業本想靠著自身特殊的溫度帶領人們設法擺脫這個怪圈，結果它本身也陷於這個怪圈之中。對於一個真正的教育家來說，自己受苦受難不算什麼，他們在接受這個職業的同時就接受了苦難；最使他們感到難過的也許是他們為之獻身和苦苦企盼的千年教化之功，成效遠不如人意。履薄臨深諒無幾，且將餘日付殘編，老一代教育家頹然老去，新一代教育家往往要從一個十分荒蕪的起點重新開始。也許在技藝傳授上好一點，而在人性人格教育上則幾乎總是這樣。因為人性人格的造就總是生命化的，而一個人的生命又總是有限的，當一代學生終於衰老死亡，他們的教師對他們的塑造也就隨風飄散了。這就是為什麼幾個學生之死會給朱熹帶來那麼大的悲哀。當然，被教師塑造成功的學生會在社會上傳播美好的能量，但這並不是教師所能明確期待和有效掌握的。更何況，總會有很多學生衹學術而不學道，在人格意義上所散佈的消極因素很容易把美好的東西抵消掉。還會有少數學生，成為有文化的不良之徒，與社會文明對抗，使善良的教師不得不天天為之而自責自嘲。 我自己，自從二十七年前的那個傍晚闖入嶽麓書院後也終於做了教師，一做二十餘年，其間還在自己畢業的母校，一所高等藝術學院擔任了幾年院長，說起來也算是嘗過教育事業的甘苦了。我到很晚才知道，教育固然不無神聖，但並不是一項理想主義、英雄主義的事業，一個教師所能做到的事情十分有限。我們無力與各種力量抗爭，至多在精力許可的年月裡守住那個被稱作學校的庭院，帶著為數不多的學生參與一場陶冶人性人格的文化傳遞，目的無非是讓參與者變得更像一個真正意義的人，而對這個目的達到的程度，又不能企望過高。 突然想起了一條新聞，外國有個匪徒闖進了一家幼兒園，以要引爆炸藥為威脅向政府勒索錢財，全世界都在為幼兒園裡孩子們的安全擔心，而幼兒園的一位年輕的保育員卻告訴孩子們這是一個沒有預告的遊戲，她甚至把那個匪徒也描繪成遊戲中的人物，結果，直到事件結束，孩子們都玩得很高興。保育員無力與匪徒抗爭，她也沒有辦法阻止這場災難，她所能做的，衹是在一個庭院裡舖展一場溫馨的遊戲。孩子們也許永遠不知道這場遊戲的意義，也許長大以後會約略領悟到其中的人格內涵。我想，這就是教育工作的一個縮影。面對社會歷史的風霜雨雪，教師掌握不了什麼，衹能暫時地掌握這個庭院，這間教室，這些學生。 為此，在各種豪情壯志一一消退，一次次人生試驗都未見多少成果之後，我和許多中國文化人一樣，把師生關係和師生情分看作自己生命的一個組成部分。我不否認，我對自己老師的尊敬和對自己學生的偏護有時會到盲目的地步。我是個文化人，我生命的主幹屬於文化，我活在世上的一項重要使命是接受文化和傳遞文化，因此，當我偶爾一個人默默省察自己的生命價值的時候，總會禁不住在心底輕輕呼喊：我的老師！我的學生！我就是你們！ 不僅僅是一個親熱的稱呼。不，我們擁有一個庭院，像嶽麓書院，又不完全是。別人能侵凌它，毀壞它，卻奪不走它。很久很久了，我們一直在那裡，做著一場文化傳代的遊戲。至於遊戲的終局，我們都不要問。