He's a true Renaissance giant.
He is the father of Chinese and Chinese Chinese studies, a master of Chinese studies, a professor of physics, a doctor of philosophy and a tutor in psychology, and a composer.
He is proficient in more than 10 foreign languages and can master as many as 33 domestic dialects.
There is nothing in the world that he wants to do but can't do well, and there is no knowledge that he wants to understand but can't understand.
He is the most interesting master - Zhao Yuanren.
There may be two ways to become a top student. One is the diligence and hard work of relying on the head to cantilever, taper and thorn strands. The other is gifted and skeletal amazing. Mr. Zhao who I want to talk about today is a typical latter. Relying on a pure playful heart, he played to the height of a master.
On November 3, 1892, Zhao Yuanren was born in Zizhulin, Tianjin, and was originally from Wujin, Jiangsu (now Changzhou, Jiangsu). The number was declared, and his grandfather gave him the number Chongyuan.
The Zhao family is of royal blood in the former dynasty, and their ancestors are scholarly. Legend has it that his thirty-first ancestor was Zhao Kuangyin, the Taizu of the Song Dynasty. His sixth ancestor was the famous Qing Dynasty poet Zhao Yi. His grandfather and father were Qing dynasty figures.
Zhao Yuanren has had extraordinary talent since he was a child, especially in language.
By the age of 10, he was proficient in more than a dozen dialects, and if he stayed with a relative for a while, he would soon be able to slip through the dialect of his relative's hometown.
In 1902, the Qing Dynasty promulgated the "Statutes of the Concert School" and formulated the plan for the new school. From then on, Zhao Yuanren began to accept new ideas.
In 1906, Zhao Yuanren studied at Xishan Primary School, a new school in Changzhou, and was admitted to the Jiangnan Higher School in Nanjing a year later.
In 1910, 18-year-old Zhao Yuanren went to Beijing to participate in the "Gengzi Indemnity" examination in the United States, and the content of the midterm exam was in Latin. Zhao Yuanren, who had never studied Latin, improvised 20 days before the exam to teach himself Latin. After the results came out, he took the second place among the 70 international students. At that time, his good buddy Hu Shi only took the 55th place.
While studying at Cornell University in the United States, Zhao Yuanren majored in mathematics. In addition to this, he also took electives in philosophy, physics, history, etc. When he was in his first year of college, he shrunk his clothes and dieted, bought a second-hand piano in installments, and learned Xi composition from his teacher.
He chose such a wide range of subjects, not to play the ticket, but to refresh Cornell University's results again and again with amazing excellence. Not only did he score 3 100 points and 1 99 points in his major mathematics, but his grades in his elective major were also among the best.
Some people will think that those with particularly good grades are generally "weak scholars". But Zhao Yuanren is not, he is particularly fond of sports. He is good at tennis, rowing, ice skating, race walking, etc., and has won the championship in race walking.
In 1914, after successfully obtaining a bachelor's degree in mathematics, Zhao Yuanren chose to continue his studies.
In 1915, Zhao Yuanren entered Harvard University to major in philosophy and continued to take electives**.
After receiving his Ph.D. from Harvard University, in 1919, Zhao returned to Cornell to teach physics and physics laboratory courses
At this time, the domestic academic community "eyed" this "once-in-a-century" generalist. Tsinghua University wanted him to return to China to teach, and Cai Yuanpei and others lobbied him to teach at Peking University.
After returning to China, before he could report to Tsinghua University, Zhao Yuanren received another short-term assignment: to translate for the British philosopher Russell, who came to China to give a lecture. Russell's lectures covered a wide range of subjects, including mathematics, philosophy, and psychology, and Zhao Yuanren was almost the only Chinese translator at the time.
Russell lectured in China for nearly a year, and Zhao Yuanren followed him to all parts of the country. Everywhere he went, Zhao Yuanren translated Russell's speech in a dialect that he had learned and sold. Everywhere he went, the big guys called him a fellow because his accent was so pure.
Like most men and women in that era, when Zhao Yuanren was 14 years old, his family set a family affair for him. But Zhao Yuanren, who had accepted the new ideas, was very resistant to arranged marriages.
After returning to China after completing his studies, Zhao Yuanren dissolved the marriage contract with the woman on the grounds that "the woman is two years older than him" despite the obstruction of his family.
As soon as he turned his head, he met Yang Buwei, who was three years older than him.
Yang Buwei, formerly known as Lan Xian, nicknamed Brother Chuandi, was born in November 1889 in a large family in Nanjing. Her grandfather was Yang Renshan, the founder of the Buddhist Association of China. His father is the son of the Yang family.
Yang Buwei has not only been smart and clever since he was a child, but also has the same bold personality as a boy.
In 1910, Yang Buwei passed the publicly-funded study abroad examination, went to Japan to study, and obtained a doctorate degree in medicine from Tokyo Imperial University, becoming the first female doctor of medicine in China.
After returning to China after graduation, he and Li Guanzhong jointly opened a "Senren Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital" in Beijing Rongxian Hutong.
One day in 1920, Yang Buwei was invited to a dinner. This opportunity made Zhao Yuanren, who was invited at the same time, fall in love with her at first sight. And Yang Buwei also has a good impression of this Harvard doctor, who is very active, can tell jokes, sing ballads, and loves photography.
On June 1, 1921, Zhao Yuanren and Yang Buwei entered the marriage hall. This year, Zhao Yuanren was 29 years old and Yang Buwei was 32 years old.
Their wedding was extremely simple. The two rented a house together and went to the park to take a photo. Then, the bride took charge and invited their good friends Hu Shi and Zhu Zheng to the new house for a meal, and the wedding was completed. I also resolutely don't want gifts from everyone.
After eating, Hu Shi told Qu Shiying of the "Morning Post" the news. The next day, "Morning Post" reported on the "new-style marriage" between Zhao Yuanren and Yang Buwei with the title of "New Characters' New Marriage" and extra-large font size, which caused a sensation.
After marriage, Yang Buwei, a strong woman who originally had a bold and tough personality, chose to stay at home full-time in order to allow Zhao Yuanren to concentrate on work, take care of housework, and assist him all the way through obstacles, accompanied by 60 years of ups and downs.
In 1925, Zhao Yuanren was invited back to Tsinghua University to teach. Tsinghua University taught him nearly 10 courses in mathematics, physics, linguistics, phonology and modern Chinese dialects, setting a record for the most courses offered by a university professor, a record that has not been broken to this day.
Together with Liang Qichao, Wang Guowei and Chen Yinke, he is known as the "Four Tutors of Tsinghua Academy of Sinology". This year, Liang Qichao, 52 years old; Wang Guowei, 48; Chen Yinke, 35; And Zhao Yuanren is only 33 years old.
After the Lugou Bridge Incident, Zhao Yuanren did not move south with Tsinghua University, but returned to the United States again. He has taught at the University of Hawaii, Yale University, and Harvard University.
During the Anti-Japanese War, Zhao Yuanren and his wife wanted to return to China several times, but they were forced by the situation and could not make the trip.
On August 15, 1945, Japan surrendered. After hearing the news, Zhao Yuanren and his wife were overjoyed and immediately decided to prepare to return to China.
Upon learning the news that Mr. Zhao was going to return to China, various universities in China threw olive branches to him. Among them, Zhu Jiahua, who was the Minister of Education of the National People's Republic of China at the time, sent many telegrams to Zhao Yuanren, inviting him to serve as the president of ** University.
But Zhao Yuanren only wanted to be a pure scholar from beginning to end, and had no intention of holding any administrative positions.
The repeated invitations put Zhao Yuanren in a dilemma. Eventually, he temporarily canceled his plans to return to China and remained at the University of California, Berkeley, as a professor of Oriental languages.
Unexpectedly, this stay is 17 years. Because of the unpredictable political situation after that, it became extremely difficult to return to China.
In 1973, Sino-US relations eased, and under the care of Prime Minister, Zhao Yuanren finally returned to his motherland to visit relatives.
Although he has been overseas for many years, Zhao Yuanren has never stopped studying the Chinese language. He has a deep affection for his mother tongue and his homeland. He once said that the United States is "an intermediate station on this earth from him to China," and China is his destination.
On February 24, 1982, seven months after the death of his wife Yang Buwei, 91-year-old Zhao Yuanren also followed.
Mr. Zhao, a generalist who is rare in a century, has an interesting soul that is one in a million. He was born free, constantly explored in a broad field, and adhered to his original intention to be a pure scholar who was indifferent to fame and fortune. In marriage, his fun has made the trivial life have a gas station and a playground, and he has been in love with his wife for more than 60 years.
Such a complete life has to be enviable and admirable!