Literary Master 1918: Starting with New Youth

the next day.

The cold rain continued, and the cool wind howled.

The principal's office is located on the west side of the second floor of the Red Building at Yenching University, directly opposite the stairwell.

Today, Cai Yuanpei convened a review meeting. Because the weather was quite cold, and it was not yet the heating season, he lit several braziers indoors and opened a small crack in the window to let in some ventilation. Rain and strong winds rushed in, making the atmosphere even more solemn.

The council members and the "manager" stood up around the long wooden table.

"Alright, everyone, please have a seat."

Cai Yuanpei, with his thin face, took his seat first, followed by the others, demonstrating a keen understanding of workplace etiquette.

Since he was still reviewing documents and did not immediately announce the start of the meeting, the professors whispered among themselves, discussing the topics to be discussed that day.

"What are we going to do this time?"

"I don't know..."

"According to Mr. Cai, it mainly concerns student clubs, and everyone needs to vote on it."

Thanks to Cai Yuanpei's vigorous reforms over the past few years, the current council members consist of "ex-official council members" and "professor council members." "Ex-official council members" are fixed positions held by the principal, deans of various departments, and head teachers, while "professor council members" are professors nominated by each department.

Representatives of the former include Cai Yuanpei and Chen Zhongfu, while representatives of the latter include Hu Shi and Ma Yuzhao.

This distribution of personnel inevitably means that the council has a strong administrative character in its power structure.

The professors' dominant position has not been fully established, and reform cannot be accomplished in a day or two!

It's currently class time, and some council members are absent due to classes. However, since this is the first meeting of the new council, almost everyone who could attend was present, accounting for more than half of the total number. According to the existing "Charter," a decision can be made.

While the professors were whispering nervously, Cai Yuanpei had already organized the documents, had the meeting secretary distribute them, and then cleared his throat and said:

"The first meeting of the new council is now beginning. Please be quiet, everyone."

His voice was gentle, but the professors immediately shut up and cooperated fully, which indirectly confirmed his authority.

"The first item on the agenda for this review meeting..."

"The matter of Wu Zhu, a researcher at the Institute of Chinese Literature, serving as a teaching assistant in the Department of Chinese Literature, was reviewed. The proposal was submitted to the review committee by Chen Zhongfu, Dean of the Institute of Chinese Literature. His relevant resume and the recommendation letter from his advisor, Qian Xuantong, have been sent to all colleagues for review."

After Cai Yuanpei read out the proposal, his gaze swept over the assembled councilors, his eyes behind his glasses carrying an invisible pressure.

The attendees all lowered their heads and read the relevant documents with feigned seriousness.

Wu Zhu's resume was very simple, and Qian Xuantong's recommendation letter was full of praise. Logically, it should have been read quickly, but no one spoke up immediately, which made the atmosphere in the principal's office a little awkward.

Wherever there are people, there is a world of its own. And in this world, people always have to choose sides. There are no factions in the Party, and everyone is different!

The panelists present came from various disciplines, and each discipline naturally prioritized its own interests, which inadvertently created conflicts between literature, science, law, engineering, and other disciplines.

To break it down further, even within the humanities, it's not a monolithic entity—

The division created by the opposition between old and new literature is greater than that of any other academic discipline; even within new literature, there are several schools of thought based on viewpoints...

Therefore, when the humanities department wants to add teaching assistants, and the nominee is a student at the forefront of the new literature movement, even those within the humanities department are hesitant to rush to express their opinion, let alone those from other departments completely unrelated to the humanities...

Who knows what Cai Yuanpei's attitude is, given his support for the New Literature Movement? Besides, he's delegated power to Chen Zhongfu, the Dean of the Faculty of Arts, granting him complete freedom of movement in all matters, big and small. Chen's position in the entire administration is second only to the university president. Submitting the future of his key subordinates to the council is just a formality to secure funding and positions; saying too much could easily offend someone...

After a short while, Professor Qin Fen, a science undergraduate, was the first to speak:

"Professor Cai, colleagues. In my humble opinion, Wu Zhu's appointment as a teaching assistant, which has recently attracted much attention, is ultimately an internal matter of the humanities department..."

"Those of us with science backgrounds are not qualified to judge their academic foundation or teaching ability. Therefore, I personally choose to shelve this proposal and leave it to be resolved within the humanities."

As soon as he finished speaking, his colleague Professor Yu Tongkui nodded in agreement and also chose to abstain.

Since someone took the lead, law and engineering councilors who didn't want to get involved also chose to abstain.

Now the issue has been thrown back into the humanities, and internal divisions have immediately surfaced.

Chen Hanzhang, a staunch advocate of Confucianism, immediately stood up and said indignantly:

"This is absolutely unacceptable! Wu Zhu is merely a researcher, far too young and inexperienced! Even if he publishes articles, they are fictional works, not serious academic research!"

"Teaching assistants in the Chinese Literature Department must be able to teach independently, tutor students, organize classical Chinese texts, etc... Those without a solid foundation in classical learning are absolutely unsuitable for this position!"

"Furthermore, this young man's remarks are quite extreme and could easily have negative consequences among students, hindering their studies. Please think carefully!"

With such a strong attitude, no one present was a fool.

While seemingly disapproving of the students, the criticism is actually directed at the teachers.

The professors who were not from the humanities departments, seeing Chen Zhongfu's face darken, began to adopt a spectator's stance.

After Chen Hanzhang finished speaking, he lingered without sitting down. Because of this, the atmosphere became increasingly tense, and things were on the verge of a major crisis.

Hu Shih gently pushed up his glasses and stood up as well, but he wasn't as excited:

"In my opinion, the evaluation of academic ability and teaching potential should be based on their actual achievements and insights, rather than on seniority as in the old school system."

"Who are you calling a traditional scholar! A bunch of ungrateful bastards!"

Chen Hanzhang launched into a tirade, but was stopped by Cai Yuanpei.

Hu Shi did not get angry about this, and continued:

"Please calm down, Lord Chen."

"In my opinion, although Wu Zhu is indeed young, his achievements in the field of vernacular Chinese far surpass those of most of his professor colleagues. He is exactly the kind of genius that literary reform needs today, and I think no one here can disagree with that."

The professors nodded in agreement.

He continued to elaborate on his point of view in a gentle tone:

"Not to mention, as far as I know, Wu Zhu was very skilled at organizing classical texts under Qian Xuantong. Students who frequently visit the reading room know about his efficiency. You can all verify this with yourselves."

"Furthermore, there's his teaching ability. I think all of you colleagues should know how Wu Zhu articulated his ideas during Shao Zhenqing's public lecture a while ago. With such presentation skills, he's more than qualified to be a teaching assistant."

"Master Cai advocated recruiting talents without being bound by convention; otherwise, I, Hu Shi, would not have had the opportunity to enter Yenching University and work with you all. Therefore, I think we should be more tolerant of such a gifted junior and give him the opportunity to fully demonstrate his abilities. Even if he has shortcomings for the time being, he will eventually grow and improve."

"Of course, I admit that Wu Zhu is extreme in some of his views, but that is ultimately secondary. We cannot be like those who oppose the new literature, jumping up and down and making veiled accusations, attacking the entire new literature with the views of a small minority."

"That concludes my statement. Thank you everyone."

After saying that, he sat back down in his seat.

Professors like Shen Yinmo, who supported the new literature, then expressed their agreement.

Snap, snap, snap—

Chen Zhongfu, who remained silent, clapped his hands.

Today, Yenching University is ultimately dominated by the new literary school, while the old literary school is more like a specially placed mascot, with a huge difference in the number of council members.

However, Chen Hanzhang was unwilling to back down after being publicly refuted by Hu Shi.

Even if he was destined to lose the vote, he wouldn't back down verbally. After all, he was a renowned scholar, and the two sides couldn't afford to make things too ugly.

The two sides are deadlocked.

Finally, Ma Yuzhao, who had been silent, stood up:

"I agree with Professor Hu's point of view."

These words caused an uproar in the principal's office.

It's worth noting that Ma Yu-chao has always presented himself as a "nice guy," striving to balance the power of various factions within the humanities, and he's successful wherever he goes. Everyone assumed he would remain neutral, or even conservative, so it's truly shocking that he chose sides so easily.

Chen Hanzhang also found it hard to believe:

"Youyu! You've always been steady and have a deep love for antiquity, so why are you so supportive of this radical young man? Is it just because he's your skeptical senior brother's disciple?"

Ma Yuzhao and Qian Xuantong were both students of Zhang Taiyan. Although they had differences in their academic views, they had a very good personal relationship, which was well known to everyone at Yenching University.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have thought of going to Wu Zhu first to bring her back when her daughter showed signs of abnormality.

"Don't get excited, Mr. Chen. Although I haven't had much contact with Wu Zhu, I greatly admire the sharpness in his writing. Moreover, Chinese language teaching shouldn't be confined to piles of paper. Encouraging new talents is, in my opinion, a feasible approach."

"Sigh! You might as well just talk about the bond between fellow disciples!"

"It has nothing to do with personal friendship; I simply feel that his talent is admirable and that he represents the future of Yenching University."

Ma Yuzhao and Wu Zhu didn't see each other often. Although they were fellow disciples, there was no real affection between them.

Taking sides now is purely for my daughter's sake...

Chen Hanzhang laughed, a somewhat tragic laugh, then shook his head and slumped down: "I abstain."

From the players to the referees, everyone is on the opposing side. Even the centrists have been won over. What's the point of arguing?

Seeing that a result had been reached in the debate, Cai Yuanpei announced:

"Those who have not abstained, please raise your hands to vote."

Almost everyone in the humanities class raised their hands, except for a few who objected.

The proposal was approved.

Cai Yuanpei gestured to his secretary to take notes, then turned a page of the meeting proposal on the table and said solemnly:

"Next, we will consider the proposal to establish student clubs 'New Trend,' 'National,' and 'National Heritage.'"