École Normale Supérieure de Paris. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Mr. Zhang Boling, the founder of Nankai University, was giving a speech in French on the stage: "There is great resistance to China's ideological and cultural reform. For example, in a suit, I was very surprised by the modern Western style of Filipino people. They are dressed in the most fashionable European clothes and look very comfortable. Compared to them, the Chinese are far behind, and many people are wearing long shirts and horse coats. I was shocked, and after thinking about it for a long time, it dawned on me. It's actually quite simple: Before, Filipinos didn't wear clothes, they all walked naked. Someone gave them clothes to wear, and they naturally wore them......"

"Hahahaha......" The French in the audience burst into laughter.

Zhang Boling continued: "The Chinese are different. Since ancient times, the Chinese have been tailoring their clothes according to their own methods and according to their own convenience and temperament. In this way, the clothes always follow the Chinese and are suitable for the Chinese, and once you put on the clothes of Westerners, you feel very awkward, not as comfortable as the Japanese and Filipinos. The same is true of culture and thought, which Chinese have maintained its traditions and habits even in the matter of modernization, which has arisen as a result of direct Western influence...... Learning from foreign cultures can help us properly handle international relations and maintain China's due international status, but we should also pay attention to the many limitations of foreign cultures, and we must not allow foreign cultures to become the soul of the national spirit...... For this reason, Chinese young people must not forget their roots, and only by fully understanding the history of their own country can they love their own history, can they put themselves in the trend of national development, and bring about beneficial innovations, instead of harming the national culture! ”

"Bang bang bang!"

The applause was thunderous, and the French and Chinese students at the scene clapped enthusiastically.

At the end of Zhang Boling's speech, Ducar, the president of the École Normale Supérieure de Paris, warmly shook hands with him and said: "Mr. Zhang, your speech is very humorous and vivid, and your patriotic sentiments also make me very impressed!" ”

"You are so polite," Zhang Boling said, "and I would like to thank your school for taking care of the Chinese students." ”

Dukal laughs: "Chinese students are very hardworking, they are the best students in the world. ”

During the Republic of China, especially in the 20s, there were very many Chinese students studying in France, second only to the United States.

Because many schools in France are free of tuition, and the French population has plummeted after World War I, there is a need for a large number of cheap workers. In order to increase its influence in China and recruit more Chinese workers, the French government actively encourages Chinese to study in France.

In July 1919 alone, the French government gave 500 ferry tickets to work-study students and provided scholarships to Chinese preparatory classes to study in France.

As a result, countless poor Chinese children who pursue progress but have no money to study abroad have a rare opportunity to stay abroad.

Poor students from all over the country flocked to France, the youngest being 10 years old and the oldest being 54 years old (female). Their learning environment is extremely difficult, they do the cheapest and hardest work, and they have to work hard to learn knowledge in addition to work.

Many leaders of our party have the experience of working and studying in France, so I will not mention the specific names.

Why is Li Shizeng so influential in the education circle of the Republic of China?

It is because he played an important role in the work of studying in France, not only organizing study abroad activities with Cai Yuanpei and others, but also opening a tofu factory in France to create jobs for international students.

As for Zhang Boling's visit to Europe this time, she mainly came to raise funds for Nankai University, and by the way, she attended the Geneva International Education Conference as a representative of China.

After chatting for a while, Dukal suddenly asked, "Mr. Zhang, do you know Mr. Zhou Hexuan?" He was a well-known Chinese thinker. ”

"Of course I know, my student happens to be working with the radio station he founded." Zhang Boling said with a smile.

Zhang Boling's trip to raise funds for running a school started in the Northeast, and he fooled Zhang Xueliang with 200,000 yuan. Then he traveled along the Trans-Siberian Railway to the Soviet Union, and from there to the Soviet Union through Germany, and then to France, where he was also going to Spain.

Since coming to France, no matter who Zhang Boling deals with, the other party has to ask about Zhou Hexuan, which makes him surprised.

Zhang Boling read the newspaper and learned that Zhou Hexuan's novels and academic works were popular throughout France during this time, and he had become the most familiar Chinese to the French.

Zhang Boling wrote in a travel diary sent back to China a few days ago: "I was amazed by the popularity of Mr. Zhou in France. For the French, Mr. Zhou is to China what Rabindranath Tagore is to India, representing the country and the nation. Chinese students studying in France also regard Mr. Zhou as their idol, and their pride is overflowing......"

After completing academic exchanges at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris and meeting with some local students, Zhang Boling continued his journey south to Spain.

On the train, when Zhang Boling was reading the newspaper, he saw several articles mentioning Zhou Hexuan.

However, another piece of news caught Zhang Boling's attention even more, entitled "At the League of Nations Meeting, I Heard Chinese for the First Time!" 》

The League of Nations, the predecessor of the United Nations, convened international conferences in English and French only.

Just two days ago, Jiang Zuobin, the Chinese minister to Germany and Austria, insisted on speaking in Chinese at the League of Nations meeting, much to the surprise of many participants.

Even after the meeting was dismissed, the Japanese representative specially approached Jiang Zuobin and said respectfully: "The contemptible people greatly admire your courage to speak in your own Chinese language in the League of Nations, and we in Japan will learn from it in the future." ”

Sure enough, the representative of Japan will also speak in Japanese for the first time when he meets in London next year.

Jiang Zuobin, who was the first to advocate using Chinese to speak out internationally, is also a rare sober person. Now that the Soviet Union and China have severed diplomatic relations, many people feel that the Soviet Union is a fierce enemy of China. Jiang Zuobin, on the other hand, shouted loudly: China's most dangerous enemy is Japan, and the whole country must unite and open its guns to the outside world.

After reading the report, Zhang Boling happily wrote in his diary: "Chinese can speak at the League of Nations, and the Chinese are also respected in France, which is a sign of China's strength." Our generation should make persistent efforts, work hard, and strive for self-improvement! ”

At this moment, the Nobel Prize in Literature jury, which is far away in Sweden, is receiving a nomination form for Zhou Hexuan.

Candidates for the Nobel Prize in Literature are eligible to be nominated only by a few specialized institutions and former Nobel laureates who must submit complete information about each other.

Zhou Hexuan, who had been nominated as a candidate by the American writer Sinclair Lewis, had no idea about it. And it was the American publishing house that was responsible for publishing "The Rise of a Great Power" and "The Goddess" that helped Zhou Hexuan produce the nomination materials.

The deadline for nominations for the Nobel Prize in Literature is February 1 every year, and when Zhou Hexuan's nomination information arrived at the Swedish Academy of Letters, it was already mid-January, and it was less than half a month before it expired.