In that turbulent era, life was full of fires and hardship, but even so, many young people still adhered to the belief of learning, hoping to bring change to the country and resist foreign aggression. And a well-known institution such as Tsinghua University has also shouldered the important task of cultivating the pillars of the country.
In the 1932 Tsinghua University freshman entrance examination, there was an ingenious inlaid joint question, with only three words: "Sun Xingzhi". This question seems simple, but in fact it is profound, which confuses many candidates, and some even sink into the sand here. Looking back on these test questions now, I have to sigh that if Tsinghua University takes this as the entry standard, I am afraid that Tsinghua Park will be full of people. However, in light of the illiteracy rate during the period, we may be able to understand this phenomenon.
Despite this, most of the answers provided by those candidates who stiffly cope with this difficult problem are not ideal, such as "Zhu Bajie" and "Tang Sanzang", which not only lack logic, but also have no aesthetic sense at all.
During that period, Liu Wendian, the head of the Department of Chinese Literature at Tsinghua University, invited Chen Yinke, a giant of ancient literature, to give advice on the enrollment topic. Chen Yinke, known as "the most knowledgeable man in 300 years", is one of the two pillars of Southwest Associated University.
Chen Yinke hurriedly wrote two alternative questions, one of which was the inlaid joint question mentioned in this article. Chen Yinke once regarded couplets as the best way to develop the characteristics of the Chinese language and writing, and paid special attention to the students' performance in the creation of couplets. Although the title of "Sun Xingzhi" seems random, it is actually extremely complicated. Each of the three characters in Shanglian "Sun Xingzhi" has a different part of speech - "Sun" is the surname, "Xing" is the verb, and "者" can be used as a noun or particle. This means that to be able to answer this question correctly, you need not only to fully grasp the virtual words, real words and flat tones, but also to have a deep knowledge reserve.
When confronted"Sun Xingzhi"When this enigmatic exam question is asked, most students rack their brains and can't solve it, so they have to write random questions such as"Zhu Bajie""Tang Sanzang""The grandson of the line"and other words to fool around.
However, a student named Zhou Zumo wrote it decisively after a short thought"Hu Shizhi"As a link, it shows outstanding talent and unique perspective. Zhou Zumo did not come from a prestigious family, but he was nurtured by his scholarly father from an early age, and developed a strong interest in traditional Confucian doctrine and literature.
Chen Yinke originally planned to"Zu Chongzhi"or"Wang Yinzhi"Answered, but saw"Hu Shizhi"realized that this was a more ingenious answer. He interpreted: "Whether it is the name 'Walker' or 'Suitable', it has nothing to do with it, and the sound is the same, in line with the law of ruthless pairs;Both of them contain surnames, and they are combined to form 'Monkey Monkey', which happens to be another name for Sun Wukong;Finally, 'suitable' and 'action' are essentially the same, both are action concepts, and the meanings of 'zhi' and '者' are also similar, both are modal words. Chen Yinke was amazed by this, and lamented that the candidate's literary attainments far surpassed his own generation.
However, Zhou Zumo eventually declined the teacher's kindness. The reason is that although his family is still well-off, the tuition fees at Tsinghua University at that time were quite high, and his family could not afford it, so Zhou Zumo decided to try to apply for Peking University again, and finally realized his dream.
At that time, Hu Yi, dean of the School of Literature and Literature of Peking University, was a famous master of Chinese studies, and he couldn't help but take a strong interest in him when he learned that a young man could skillfully respond to Chen Yinke's question on "ruthlessness". Hu Shih immediately sent out an invitation, hoping to meet with this talented young man, and offered to provide a scholarship for his admission, but Zhou Zumo again politely declined his kindness.
According to Zhou Zumo's point of view, rashly visiting Hu Shi may be suspected of clinging, and he expects to complete his studies and realize his self-worth with his own efforts.
After unremitting efforts, Zhou Zumo was finally admitted to the language group of the Institute of History and Linguistics of Peking University Graduation Institute to continue his in-depth study of language and literature.
Later, he became a professor at Peking University, cultivating a large number of students to abide by their original aspirations and be unswerving, and in their more than 50 years of teaching career, he has always devoted himself to teaching and tirelessly cultivating students to engage in language and literature research. Ancient Chinese culture has a long history, and it is necessary for our ancestors to inherit the splendid Chinese civilization in order to benefit future generations.