School Days

Author: He Zhaowu
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2006-08-01
Features: "For me, the most wonderful years of my life reading only came twice—the first was from the second to the fourth year of junior high school, and the second was the seven years at Southwest Associated University. From 1939 to 1946, I spent seven full years at Southwest Associated University, studying in four departments. Looking back now, those were the happiest and most cherished times of my life. Reading this precious oral record of Mr. He Zhaowu, it feels as if I am walking alongside him again on the historical path of that era. There were no standardized textbooks in society, no 'standard answers' in exams, and each teacher taught differently, with each school being unique, offering great freedom. I think this has a great advantage: teachers can fully express their own insights in the classroom, and for students, it is far better than being confined to a single perspective. 'To learn from multiple teachers is to have a great teacher,' if academically, we were to worship only one school of thought and dismiss everything else as wrong, that would be too simplistic. Human culture is the same—absolutizing and purifying everything is always dangerous. Reading doesn’t necessarily have to have a purpose, and it’s best if it has no ulterior motive at all. Reading itself is the purpose. The satisfaction it brings is like a spiritual journey—while others might see a day spent hiking and sightseeing as worthless, for me, the process itself is the greatest value, something that cannot be measured by utilitarian standards. In the old society, there were no standardized textbooks, no 'standard answers' in exams, and each teacher taught differently, with each school being unique, offering great freedom. I think this has a great advantage: teachers can fully express their own insights in the classroom, and for students, it is far better than being confined to a single perspective. 'To learn from multiple teachers is to have a great teacher,' if academically, we were to worship only one school of thought and dismiss everything else as wrong, that would be too simplistic. Human culture is the same—absolutizing and purifying everything is always dangerous. Reading doesn’t necessarily have to have a purpose, and it’s best if it has no ulterior motive at all. Reading itself is the purpose. The satisfaction it brings is like a spiritual journey—while others might see a day spent hiking and sightseeing as worthless, for me, the process itself is the greatest value, something that cannot be measured by utilitarian standards. For me, the most wonderful years of my life reading only came twice—the first was from the second to the fourth year of junior high school, and the second was the seven years at Southwest Associated University. From 1939 to 1946, I spent seven full years at Southwest Associated University, studying in four departments. Looking back now, those were the happiest and most cherished times of my life. Reading this precious oral record of Mr. He Zhaowu, it feels as if I am walking alongside him again on the historical path of that era."