讀書五失

近讀香港《文匯報》一篇關於讀書的文章，所引用的清代資料，言簡意賅，值得分享。

文章引用清代詩人阮葵生的《茶餘客話》，讀書有「五失」：

一、「泛觀而無所擇，其失博而寡要」；又引用明代理學家蔡清的話：「欲為一世經綸手，止熟數篇緊要書。」

二、「好古人言行，意常退縮不敢望，其失儒而無立」；又引用明代榜眼湯賓尹道：「讀古人書，會古人意，並可不用古語也。」

三、「纂錄故實，一未終而屢更端，其失勞而無功」；又引用明代詩人吳與箕說：「蘇子容聞人說故事，必令檢出處。司馬君實聞人言新事，便抄錄，且必記所言之人。故當時謂：古事莫語子容，新事莫告君實。」

四、「聞人之長，將疾趨而從之，輒出其後，其失欲速而好高」；又引用明代思想家陳獻章說：「以我觀書，隨處得益，以書博我，則釋卷茫然。」

五、「喜學為文，未能蓄其本，其失又甚焉者也」；又引用北宋諫官呂誨說：「讀書不須多，讀得一字，行取一字。」

共勉之。

Mickey Mouse degrees

Here are something I copied from a free literary magazine in Britain some time ago about the Mickey Mouse degrees? Don't have a clue about the degrees? Find it out yourself:

I often hear people grumble about the Mickey Mouse degrees that our young people pursue at university these days. How they have no practical or economic value. How our nation doesn't create enough engineers and how too many students do subjects such as English that can't get you help you find a career except as an English teacher.

After all, Mickey Mouse has done rather well for himself, earning far more than most engineers. The degrees pursued by so many in his name have perhaps not let our economy down as much as people think.

I say this because when you look at our long-term national performance at producing things, we don't do too badly. Sure, we don't make as many cars ad the Germans but we do manufacture more dreams. That's what creativity is all about and we can be proud that we contribute so much of it to the world.

It is important for us all to understand our strength in the creative industries so we don't underrate ourselves. I think too many people do. I not only hear them dismissing university degrees, but I also hear them writing off our entire economy as somehow unworthy of the living standards it has delivered to us. Their tendency is to associate production with physical output. As they observe Britain is not quite the manufacturing powerhouse it once was, they assume that we have somehow been lazy in trying to make ourselves rich without getting our hands dirty.

the first western museum in China

The first western museum in China was founded in Macau in 1829. (not very surprising I guess)

From A Companion to the Anglo Chinese Kalendar; For the Year of Our Lord 1832: Corresponding to the Alexandrian Year of the World 7334; And the Chinese Cycle Æra 4469; Being the XIIth Year of the Reign Taoukwang (Macao, China: Printed at the Honorable East India Company’s Press, By G. J. Steyn and Brother, 1832), here I quote (p. 51-2):

The British Museum in China

        This Institution was established, in consequence of a resolution, passed at a meeting held among members of the British Factory, on the 21^st February 1829. The object of the Institution is th collection of specimens of Natural History and of the productions of art.  it is fixed at Macao, and is supported by annual subscriptions of thirty dollars each, the subscribing members being British subjects alone. Natives of other Countries are eligible as honorary or corresponding members. The Museum is under a Committee of management, consisting of a Treasurer, a Curator, and a Secretary.

Officers

Treasurer. F. I. Morris, Esq.

Curator. John Russell Reeves, Esq.

Secretary. Rev. G. H. Vachell, B. A. 

China: An International Journal

I just received a notice email of the latest issue of China: An International Journal, which is a special issue on the 18th party congress and future of the Communist Party of China. I think anyone interested in China should take a look of the articles.

Why don't students like school?

Summer vacation began. A relief to you, my fellow teachers? Not yet. Strike while the iron is hot. Thinking back to the year past, was teaching getting tougher every year? Have you ever had a class that students tend to remember the characters and scripts of Gossip Girls or Big Bang Theory than any content of your brilliant lectures, even the subject is of great importance for them to graduate. Here is a book I want to share with you: Why don't students like school? : a cognitive scientist answers questions about how the mind works and what it means for your classroom by the cognitive psychologist Daniel T. Willingham at Virginia. He outlines nine principles derived from cognitive psychology to help teachers connect with students


Before looking at the nine principles, ask yourselves:
1. Why Don't Students Like School?
2. How Can I Teach Students the Skills They Need When Standardized Tests Require Only Facts?
3. Why Do Students Remember Everything That's on Television and Forget Everything I Say?
4. Why Is It So Hard for Students to Understand Abstract Ideas?
5. Is Drilling Worth It?
6. What's the Secret to Getting Students to Think Like Real Scientists, Mathematicians, and Historians?
7. How Should I Adjust My Teaching for Different Types of Learners?
8. How Can I Help Slow Learners?
9. What About My Mind?


Difficult to answer, ain't they? Willingham began his discussion of nine principles following a well-organized style by setting the questions, in-depth discussion, and finally outline the relevant cognitive principle (CP), its significance, and teaching implications (Is) in each chapter as follows:


Ch. 1 Why Don't Students Like School?
CP: "People are naturally curious, but we are not naturally good thinkers; unless the cognitive conditions are right, we will avoid thinking." "People are naturally curious, but curiosity is fragile."
Is: 1. Be sure that there are problems to be solved; 2. Respect students' cognitive limits; 3. Clarifying the problems to be solved; 4. Reconsider when to puzzle students; 5. Accept and act on variation in student preparation; 6. Change the pace; 7. Keep a diary.


Ch. 2 How Can I Teach Students the Skills They Need When Standardized Tests Require Only Facts?
CP: "Factual knowledge must precede skill." "Knowledge is essential to reading comprehension." "Background knowledge is necessary for cognitive skills."
Is: 1. How to evaluate which knowledge to instill; 2. Be sure that the knowledge base is mostly in place when you require critical thinking; 3. Shallow knowledge is better than no knowledge; 4. Do whatever you can to get kids to read; 5. Knowledge acquisition can be incidental; 6. Start early; 7. Knowledge must be meaningful.


Ch. 3 Why Do Students Remember Everything That's on Television and Forget Everything I Say?
CP: "Memory is the residue of thought." "Putting story structure to work."
Is: 1. Review each lesson plan in terms of what the student is likely to think about; 2. Think carefully about attention grabbers; 3. Use discovery learning with care; 4. Design assignments so that students will unavoidably think about meaning; 5. Don't be afraid to use mnemonics; 6. Try organizing a lesson plan around the conflict.


Ch. 4 Why Is It So Hard for Students to Understand Abstract Ideas?
CP: "We understand new things in the context of things we already know, and most of what we know is concrete." "Understanding is remembering in disguise."
Is: 1. To help student comprehension, provide examples and ask students to compare them; 2. Make deep knowledge the spoken and unspoken emphasis; 3. Make your expectations for deep knowledge realistic.


Ch. 5 Is Drilling Worth It?
CP: "It is virtually impossible to become proficient at a mental task without extended practice." "Practice enables further learning." "Practice makes memory long lasting." "Practice improves transfer."
Is: 1. What should be practiced? 2. Space our the practice; 3. Fold practice into more advanced skills.


Ch. 6 What's the Secret to Getting Students to Think Like Real Scientists, Mathematicians, and Historians?
CP: "Cognition early in the training is fundamentally different from cognition late in training."
Is: 1. Students are ready to comprehend but not to create knowledge; 2. Activities that are appropriate for experts may at times be appropriate for students, but not because they will do much for students cognitively; 3. Don't expect notices to learn by doing what experts do.


Ch. 7 How Should I Adjust My Teaching for Different Types of Learners?
CP: "Children are more alike than different in terms of how they think and learn."
Is.: 1. Think in terms of content, not in terms of students; 2. Change promotes attention; 3. There is value in every child, even if he or she is not "smart in some way"; 4. Don't worry - and save your money.


Ch. 8 How Can I Help Slow Learners?
CP: "Children do differ in intelligence, but intelligence can be changed through sustained hard work."
Is: 1. Praise effort, not ability; 2. Tell them that hard work pays off; 3. Treat failure as a natural part of learning; 4. Don't take study skills for granted; 5. Catching up is the long-term goal; 6. Show students that you have confidence in them.


Ch. 9 What About My Mind?
CP: "Teaching, like any complex cognitive skill, must be practiced to be improved."
A method for getting and giving feedback.
Step 1. Identify another teacher (or two) with whom you would like to work
Step 2. Tape yourself and watch the tapes alone.
Step 3. With your partner, watch tapes of other teachers.
Step 4. With your partner, watch and comment on each other's tapes.
Step 5. Bring it back to the classroom and follow up.
Smaller steps: 1. Keep a teaching diary; 2. Start discussion group with fellow teachers; 3. Observe.


The bibliography of each chapter is useful because it includes less technical and more technical references.


Come back and read the above again in September. Enjoy the summer.

failure and success

A retired NBA basketball player once confessed:


"I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career.
I've lost almost 300 games. 
26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed."


It sounds like a daunting confession. He concluded:


"I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."



Who is he?



Michael Jordan, who won 6 NBA Champions, 5 NBA Most Valuable Palyer (MVP), and many more awards and records. The greatest NBA legend of all time.

Historians old and new

I am not a historian of medical history, let alone on eighteenth-century men-midwives in England. A recent heated debate between a professional (Helen King) and an amateur (Don Shelton) in this field (see references), however, has drawn my serious attention to the ideas history (good or bad), the definition of historians (trained, amateur, or 'new'), and the benefits of the internet (good or bad?).


Qualifications define profession, provide credentials, create authority, and at the same time exclude amateurs. I am a historian because I was trained to be so in a History department while I am not a literary critic because I have never received relevant training in university. History is about evidence and analysis. Evidence proves and/or rejects, more often, and/or sheds light on new analysis. Historians having access to rare documents, for example, and bringing us new understanding about the past are great historians. The nineteenth and twentieth centuries produced many great historians of this kind when historians in general had had limited accessibility to rare and more often not quite rare documents.


Rareness is sometimes not about rareness in its strictest sense but more about accessibility. Geographical barrier, limited library funding, or even political instability could easily lead historians into dismay at the lack of access to the most common documents or latest research in their related fields let alone really rare documents only held in the British Library or the Library of Congress.


Thanks to the internet, Google Books, Internet Archive and other free online academic resources, in Shelton's words to adopt Thomas Friedman's invention, "levelled the playing field". Millions of rare books have been made freely available in the internet.  "Digital resources," Shelton says, "allow any historian to conduct original research by remotely accessing source material which previously required physical access."  An eighteenth-century book printed in London and previously only available in a few university libraries in the world, for example, can now be read, full-text searched, and downloaded by a high school history student in Hong Kong.


Suffice to say, historical analysis is more than evidence. A document tells us nothing until a storyteller joins in to speak it out. Our society needs more storytellers than ever before. Google has done the most part of it. Let us, old and new historians, do the job professionally. 


---   ---   ---   


References:
Helen King's "History without Historians? Medical History and the Internet," Social History of Medicine, Vol. 24, No. 2, 2011, pp. 212-221.
Don Shelton's "The Internet and 'New' Historians," Social History of Medicine, Vol. 25, No. 1, 2012, pp. 222-231.
Helen King's "Response to Shelton," Social History of Medicine, Vol. 25, No. 1, 2012, pp. 232-238.

Recent readings XXIV

Anthony Webster's "The Development of British Commercial and Political Networks in the Straits Settlements 1800 to 1868: The Rise of a Colonial and Regional Economic Identity?" Modern Asian Studies, Vol. 45, No. 4 (2011), pp. 899-929.

Terence Chong's "Manufacturing Authenticity: The Cultural Production of National Identities in Singapore,"  Modern Asian Studies, Vol. 45, No. 4 (2011), pp. 877-897.

Ray Yep, "'Cultural Revolution in Hong Kong': Emergency Powers, Administration of Justice and the Turbulent Year of 1967," Modern Asian Studies, 2011, 26 pps.

Kristin Burnett, "Race, Disease, and Public Violence: Smallpox and the (Un)Making of Calgary's Chinatown, 1892," Social History of Medicine Advance Access, September 30, 2011, 18pp. "Municipal authorities used racialised ideas about health and cleanliness to discursively create sites of meaning, delineating strict spatial boundaries between the Chinese and non-Chinese community." Soc Hist Med 2012 25: 362-379

Representing foreign in Modern China

Inspired by a open invitation for a volume on the role of Paris in American Literature but instead of following the track about the American authors' literary ventures in Paris, I am thinking of Britain/America/France/Japan in modern Chinese Literature to consider the ways in which these countries and its peoples were depicted, represented and shaped by Chinese authors.

拾文化 ‧ 不是拾下拾下

前年在書店看到馬國明主編的《組裝香港》，立刻將該《拾文化》系列從圖書館借來（只能夠是館際互借。我校一本也沒有）。《拾文化》是嶺南大學文化研究系十週年的出版計劃，共計五本。


1. 馬國明主編：《組裝香港》（香港：嶺南大學文化研究系，2010）。
　　十年樹木立虎地。從身份認同到文化政策／治，從日常生活到城市空間，重置於回憶之中。

2. 許寶強、羅永生、馬國明主編：《寫在下一次金融海嘯之前》（香港：嶺南大學文化研究系，2010）。
　　輕鬆易讀，偶有發人心省的論述。

3. 何詠華、余嘉雅、陳文晶主編：《文化G點（增訂本）》（香港：嶺南大學文化研究系，2010）。
　　G for green, graduation, and growth. 有新意。

4. Cult 通主編：《通識 X 文化研究》（香港：嶺南大學文化研究系，2010）。
　　這本最有意思。其中一篇文章引用一位中學通識科老師的話：
　　「剛入行教書時曾與一些業內同工私下閒聊，有老師說自己已有許多年沒有看書，更有不少剛入行的新老師表示自己從來都不喜歡閱讀。」
　　通識科希望培養學生獨立思考能力、正面的價值觀與積極的態度、社會觸覺和適應能力，為將來升學、就業和擁有充實的生活作好準備。
　　「獨立思考是否真的可以幫助就業？企業鼓勵獨立思考還是服從上司？香港有多少工作必須獨立思考？」
　　「有沒有方法明知做不到也可假戲真做，甚至做得比原本的設計更理想，更令人喜出望外？」

5. 羅永生主編：《文化研究與文化教育》（香港：嶺南大學文化研究系，2010）。論文集。

Hong Kong Man

Many Hong Kong people nowadays, especially netizens in social networking websites, uphold the idea of Hong Kong identity, and the pride of using traditional (or standard in contrast to China's definition) Chinese characters and speaking Cantonese, which distinguish them from the Mandarin-speaking and simplified-Chinese-reading-and-writing counterparts in the mainland.


Hong Kong pride has never been so popular and powerful, and, however, considered notorious and parochial. Economy situations between Hong Kong and the Mainland play a vital part in shaping this popular sentiment . Three decades ago, Hong Kong pride was greatly admired and the idea of Hong Kong Man was as widespread and sought-after as iphones and ipads today.


---   ---   ---


In his informative paper published in the early 1980s during the start of negotiations between Great Britain and China on the future of Hong Kong, Hugh D. R. Baker discusses several key areas of Hong Kong, such as housing, family size, education, health care, industry, and entertainment.


"In a highly urbanized, industrialized, large-scale enterprise, skill-hungry economy," he contends that, "it is not enough to be born into a particular family or language group. Hong Kong life is hectic and highly competitive and bears little resemblance to Trollope's 'horrible' but non-metropolitan description." (p. 471-2)


More important, he describes the rise of Hong Kong Man, who are "go-getting and highly competitive, tough for survival, quick thinking and flexible. He wears western clothes, speaks English or expects his children to do so, drinks western alcohol, has sophisticated tastes in cars and household gadgetry, and expects life to provide a constant stream of excitement and new openings."


Hong Kong Man, however, he argues, "is not British or western (merely westernized). At the same time he is not Chinese in the same way that the citizen of the PRC are Chinese...Admiration for the empathy with his compatriots Hong Kong Man certainly has, but he also now has pride in and love of the society which he has created through his own determination and hard work. He gives little credit to the Union Jack under which his success has been nurtured, and he is not necessarily happy at the prospect of the five-starred red flag presiding over his activities. Hong Kong Man is sui generis and the problems of the territory's future are more difficult to resolve because of it."


Source: Hugh D. R. Baker "Life in the cities: the emergence of Hong Kong man," The China Quarterly, Vol. 95, Sep. 1983, pp. 469-479


---   ---   ---


A generation has gone. Hong Kong Man too. Interestingly, children began to learn Mandarin from nursery level (while parents barely know enough the language to survive in Shenzhen) and Chinese class in primary schools is mostly taught in Mandarin but textbooks are written in traditional Chinese.


"Why are they not written in simplified Chinese?" I overheard this from an angry mother complaining in a salon. She has a point here. If the future career of her kid(s) is in the Mainland, what is the point to learn traditional Chinese? It is a waste of time and resources. Is traditional Chinese truly worthwhile to defend whilst wasting money to offer additional courses to teach simplified Chinese (the opposite will do for those who want to learn traditional Chinese)? If children are meant to communicate with Mandarin speakers or even work and live in the Mainland, they should know how to read a restaurant menu and write properly to bosses and clients.


When I heard a child of my friend greeting in Mandarin instead of Cantonese, I felt that time has changed.  

家教

話說，我很在意「向下流」。枕邊人反覆告訴我，我們在下流中；不，應該是下墜中。


去年復活節假期間，我與有小朋友的中學同學聚舊。碰巧讀到三浦展的《階級是會遺傳的：不要讓你的孩子跌入「下流階級」》，記下了一些重點，避免隔代下流。


後來，我借來更早前出版，在日本十分受歡迎的教育家陰山英男的《在家提升學力－－教出優質孩子的父母守則》（小學館，2003；台北：如何出版社，2004；李曉雯譯）。我鄰座的同事是準爸爸。我給他翻一翻，著他只看目錄，就已足夠。


陰山提出「在家提升學力」，俗稱「家教」。本來是不言自明的道理，可笑地成為暢銷書。這本書暢銷代表著教育失敗，老師失禁，父母失責，社會失控。


奈何，正如他在前言中說：「只想依靠學校教育來讓學生學習『生存的能力』的想法，原本就是很沒有道理的。這樣會忽略了學生的本質。


父母老師都應該更關注孩子們生命力正在下降的議題。因為學力的根本就在於生命力」（頁9）如何是好？他接著道：「家庭正是構築生命基礎地方；學力和家庭的健全生活習慣是息息相關的。」「家庭不只是讓孩子讀書的地方，孩子的身心也都需要培養。生活內容沒有改善，學力是不會提高的。孩子的『力』是要在家庭中培養的。」（頁13）


陰山從學習和日常生活兩方面入手，為家長寫下41條法則，分成三章：第一章、一點一滴地灌注，最後學力便會提升的16條法則；第二章、從日常生活培養「說話能力」的13條法則；第三章、培養「可以自己做到的能力」的12條法則。以下一一列出：


第一章
1. 讓孩子自己打點第二天的上學所需。
2. 讓孩子在餐桌上寫功課。
3. 父母不要幫孩子做功課。
4. 讓孩子朗讀當天學習的東西。
5. 不要跟孩子說「趕快唸書」。
6. 將圖鑑放在客廳裡。
7. 在孩子面前翻閱字典。
8. 學習才藝一週至多以三天為限。
9. 親子相偕一星期到圖書館一次。
10. 決定做事情的時間。
11. 到博物館去。
12. 親子一同去散步，認識自己生活的地方。
13. 把地球儀放在電視機旁邊。
14. 教導孩子正確的握筆方法。
15. 持續做百格計算直到效果出現為止。
16. 一個人做不來的話，大家一起來做讀寫計算。


第二章
1. 吃飯時間把電視機關掉。
2. 讓孩子去倒垃圾。
3. 在洗澡時，聽孩子說說今天所發生的事情。
4. 媽媽也要看哈利波特。
5. 生日派對時不要將孩子打扮成國王。
6. 孩子回家之後要看著他說聲「你回來啦！」。
7. 出差時打電話回家給孩子。
8. 孩子即使碰壁了也不要插手。
9. 運動會時不要拿著DV追逐自己的孩子。
10. 讓孩子自己去問「廁所在哪裡」。
11. 親子一起收看新聞節目。
12. 將家人的行程表貼在冰箱上。
13. 不讓孩子和朋友有金錢上的往來。


第三章
1. 父母不要幫孩子整理書桌。
2. 不要每次都去幫孩子加油。
3. 說教是「稱讚」、「斥責」」、「稱讚」的三明治。
4. 讓孩子自己清洗鞋子。
5. 一定要讓孩子每天吃早餐。
6. 讓孩子在前一個車站就下車走路回家。
7. 讓孩子自己綁鞋帶。
8. 製造「孩子自己一個人的時間」。
9. 讓孩子自己挑選當天要穿的衣服。
10. 讓男孩子也學做飯、讓女孩子也學修繕。
11. 孩子的零用錢要符合家計。
12. 親子一起玩丟球遊戲。


最後，我想加一項，就是let child be child.

男歡女愛

《盛女愛作戰》，好正。盛女變身，勇氣可嘉。三色台哲學，世上沒有免費午餐。不喜勿入，任插當宣傳。

我很好奇，二十歲的女人和三十歲的女人，看了會有何感覺？認識了男人多一點嗎？還是，認識了女人多一點？難道不會在她們身上看到自己的影子嗎？尤其是她？

童話，每個人都想擁有，哪怕是曾經擁有。童話要有兩種原素，一，要有緣；二，更要有膽。緣是偏偏選中你，逃也逃不掉；膽是要抉擇冒險，要下賭注。守株待兔，哪裏有這樣便宜的事？

所以，老行尊Mei Ling姐的話難聽但現實，也是常識。難聽的話，人人不愛。付出了勇氣變身，難道還要別人成全妳的幻想，把妳捧到上天嗎？要搵白馬王子（同理，或白雪公主），請過主。除非，你相信有宿世姻緣（我信）。

找伴侣，就似搵工打工，男女一樣。今日你搵工，妳要把最好一面放在身上。老細沒有時間，主動發掘你的內在美。他朝工搵你，世界就是你的了。

男人，專一。三十歲至六十歲的男人，都愛二十歲的女人。二十歲的男人與四十歲的女人走在一起，你會想到甚麼？相反，又如何？男人，愛競爭。一窩蜂追求二十歲的朱茵，脫穎而出的只有Paul。

女人，無情。青春加姿色，耀目妍麗。愛條件比自己好得多的男人，型英帥是心須，愛永遠排在最後。失意時，心裏有底，怕競爭，要求開始下降，愛放到最前。女人，也愛競爭。二十歲時不放三十歲的大姐姐在眼內，三十歲時又怕與昔日的自己爭仔。

女人，好苦。男人，你要更愛女人。

男人‧ 青春 ‧ 女人

女友人甲與拍拖七年，風流俊朗的男友步入教堂，海誓山盟，心裏為她高興。


女友人乙擺脫拍拖七年，吊兒郎當的男友，遇上新歡，甜蜜地在歐洲留下笑顏。


是相逢恨晚，還是相逢未晚？


女人的青春有限期。男人的限期在哪？男人，沒有青春，好像George Clooney一樣，歲月洗鍊成就青春。這是男人的優勢，卻是女人的死穴。


男人，自恃沒有青春，只會浪費女人的；罪大惡極者，莫過於掏空女人青春的男人。女人啊，即使男人是吳彥祖，你還是要抵住誘惑。


當男人不斷佔妳便宜，而妳還以為是妳找到筍盤的時候，妳要小心了；一，便宜莫貪；二，筍盤搶手。

不是港女

朋友在Facebook分享這段新聞。Chanel粉絲疑受騙，名校英文教師狀告連卡佛。她被標籤為港女，為人師表， 貪得無厭。

她不是港女。假如她是港女，她是耀眼的港女。

同樣買Chanel，她為隨波逐流，只懂whatsapp，讀BBA，買Dior，遊Paris，愛自拍，心智未經洗練的港女們展示，受過優秀西方文化的核心價值－－英國文學－－薰陶，是如何地與別不同。

作為一個名校英文教師，浸淫於英國文學，自然會對中國文學的婉約無力陌生，對高唱包容忍讓的傳統文化說不。這是文學差異使然，不能解釋。

她爭取合理權益同賠償，在鎂光燈下展露懾人氣劫，是有勇氣的表現。她懂得抗爭，向強權說不，向軟弱說不。

她，為學生樹立楷模，為同事作榜樣，為學校爭光。律師家長，你們要協助她伸長正義，也要教導子女，讀一點英國文學，是有好處的，尤其在香港社會。

她，有自信，有氣質，有勇氣，有個性，是Jane Austen筆下的Elizabeth Bennet。

悼陳之藩

不讀他的散文，不知道何謂言簡意賅。

讀他的散文，始知道大時代下的書生憂國。

去年年初，一口氣讀了他的幾本散文集（《在春風裡》、《時空之海》和《劍河倒影》），大多是寫於六十至七十年代。今日再讀，仍覺春風沐日，久久不能釋手，卻又不能釋懷。

我們生活在一個沒有英雄的時代，一個連仗義也被齒冷的時代。

「一個時代，總應該有個把言行高潔的志士，如果沒有，應該有個把叱吒風雲的英雄，再沒有，也應該有個把豪邁不羈的好漢，如果連這類屠狗的人全找不到，這個時代就太可憐了。」（〈願天早生聖人〉（寫於1961年8月19日），頁18）

六十年代後的今天，他這一番話仍然是對的。

「不客氣說，這幾十年的中國的大學教育有個大毛病，就是太重視留學生，太不注意自己所培養的人才。似乎是未出過國的，都是飯桶；更似乎是凡出過國的都是能臣。這已不是留學生不留學生的問題，這實在是八股文的復活。正是《儒林外史》上所說的，『沒有功名哪個給你宮兒做。』留學生的確能開眼界，長知識的。可是並不是唯一的標準，不能出國而能努力的也得給他們一些機會，至少也得給他們一些希望。（頁94）......人才全給活生生的壓死了。（頁95）......從政府到學校，天天在嚷沒有人才，而人才就在面前。並不是出了國才是人才，也不是出了國才會教書，才會作研究。不是沒有人才，是沒有識人才的眼睛，不是沒有良馬，而一些根本未見過馬的人自欺為伯樂而已」（〈第五信－－紀念適之先生之七〉（寫於1962年3月9日），頁95-6）

中國文化到了今天，還有價值嗎？

「如果中國文化是犯了滔天大罪的一個罪犯，也需要請一律師為之辯護，這是人類起碼的文明。萬一在辯論中發現了百分之九十九為非，這百分之一的是仍是有存在價值的。因為文明不是忽有一天從天上掉下來，也不是忽有一夕由地下挖出來的；而是多少年多少人的血汗浸漬出來的。誰也沒有權利把它一筆抹殺。（頁5-6）

談到胡適之「常常提到，過激的主張也許可以由社會的惰性所中和」。「但胡適之先生沒有預料到的是中國社會的沒有重量，也就沒有惰性，是一群輕飄飄與一種一窩蜂的文化，讓魯迅這種颶風一吹，就大風起兮雲飛揚。」（〈進步與保守〉，頁8）

徐志摩和劍橋。下一代的香港中學生大概不會知道兩者有甚麼關聯了。

「我常常想：我們中國如果有個劍橋，如果出個凱因斯，也許生靈塗炭不至於到今天這步田地。因為沒有真正陶鑄人才的地方，所以沒有真正人才出現；因為沒有澄明清晰的見解，所以沒有剛毅果敢的決策與作為。」（頁56）
「那麼，怎樣才能辦出一個劍橋來？校旁挖一條河？多買些茶壺茶碗？教授自掏腰包？學生辯到深夜？我有時感到困惑，有時又感到焦灼！」（〈勇者的聲音〉，寫於1969年12月29日，頁57）

我依然記得，一個晚上，我獨自留在辦公室，寂靜中敲著鍵盤，記下這一段；

〈鉛筆與釘子〉最令人動容，臨書而扼腕。前者是物理學家趙忠堯（楊振寧、李政道等的老師）由回國後在昆明的專業，做鉛筆；後者是工程材料學家陸志鴻在重慶時的專業，做釘子。生物工程學家馮元楨說：「國家眼看就要亡了，回國的學者們，不知道能貢獻什麼可以挽救危亡於萬一」「國家就要亡了，大家能做點什麼對國家才有貢獻，不僅是毫不遲疑的馬上捲起袖子去幹，而且是歡天喜地的鄭重其事的去做。趙忠堯的做鉛筆，陸志鴻的造釘子，只是成千上萬的這類故事之一二罷了。」「馮元楨非常平靜的說。我卻不能像馮教授那樣平靜，我只覺得眼睛越來越模糊。」（頁41）我也慢慢地失去視覺了......

最後，容我轉引陳氏紀念胡適的文章作結：

「適之先生，天上好玩嗎？希望您在那兒多演講，多解釋解釋，讓老天爺保佑我們這個可憐的國家，我們這群茫然的孤兒。大家雖然有些過錯甚至罪惡，但心眼兒都還挺好的。大家也決心日行一善，每人先學您一德，希望您保佑我們。」（〈寄－－紀念適之先生之八〉（寫於1962年3月11日），頁109）

Flirting made easy!

On a grey, cold, and melancholy Sunday afternoon, I was reading the North-China Daily News published over 100 years ago (1882) in my study. Sunlight sparkled my face and cleansed my mind when I was excited by an interesting title listed in the advertisement of Kelly & Walsh on the front page (Monday, 5th June, 1882). It is Charles H. Ross' Flirting made easy: a guide for girls: to which are added several full-length portraits of good, pretty girls and a few others of pretty good girls (London: 'Judy' Office, 1882) with illustrations by Dower Wilson. This is a book for girls and women, and, after all, men.

This illustration is from page 17. (source) The poor little boy is begging for love from the little girl, who is only generous enough to offer her indifference to his passion for her. Poor kid, the first victim. This victim might be Ross himself. He says "I believe young ladies begin to flirt much earlier in life than they used to do when I, who write this, was a good little boy with a huge collar and long-peaked cap."

Unfortunately, this book is not fully available on Gbook or Archive.org. I hope I can have a copy of it. Yet I found a blogger managed to jot down some funny paragraphs from Gbook. Here I quote a few:

The Art of Flirting among Wild Beasts: Women are fond of comparing men to monkeys, which is unjust to the men - or the monkeys. Monkeys are an imitative class and so are men. Many men get married through force of example. Woman ought not to be unkind to man on this account.

I feel sure that that dear girl has been vigorously brought up, and is the possessor of biceps calculated to cause a male weakling considerable surprise. She is not the model maiden of my youth with the bell-rope curls and lackadaisical ways, whom good Miss Primmer was wont to teach that no lady ever crossed her legs, and that no one ever went to heaven who stirred her tea with the snuffers.

And I add some more from what I have found on Gbook:

No, no, no, my dear young lady readers, don't waste the talents that I feel sure you possess upon the desert air, or even upon other young ladies, however appreciative. Don't flock, in fact — no, pray don't flock ! What 's the good?

True. Ladies, don't flock if you want to flirt or to be flirted.

25 of the most beautiful college libraries in the world - because im addicted

25 of the most beautiful college libraries in the world - because im addicted:

'via Blog this'

停滞の帝国：近代西洋における中国像の変遷

停滞の帝国

近代西洋における中国像の変遷　

大野英二郎 著

発売日　2011/10/20

判型　A5判 ISBN　978-4-336-05440-1

Cコード　0022

定価　7,140円 （本体価格6,800円）

近代西洋において、中国はいかに記述されてきたか――。マカートニー使節団、イエズス会、ライプニッツ、ヴォルテール、モンテスキュー、リンネ、アダム・スミス、ヘーゲル、ダーウィン、ニーチェ、ヴェーバー、ウィットフォーゲル……。文化史、思想史、自然科学史を横断し、近代西洋における中国像の変容の意味を探るとともに、近代西洋に特有の思考構造を明らかにする。オリエンタリズム研究の新たな可能性を示す大著。

大野英二郎 （オオノエイジロウ）

1953年東京生まれ。東京大学大学院人文科学研究科博士課程修了。パリ第8大学博士課程修了。第3課程博士。現在、フェリス女学院大学国際交流学部教授。専攻は近代フランス文学・思想。訳書にフンボルト『新大陸赤道地方紀行　上・中・下』（共訳、岩波書店）など。

序章　マカートニー使節団
マカートニー使節団／アンダーソンの手記／ストーントンの記録／バローの記録／マカートニーの日記／バローの衝撃

第1部　中国の登場――18世紀初頭まで

第1章　中国の登場
中国と地理的想像力／異界としての極東――マンデヴィル／中国の発見／中国報告の開始――クルス／中国への関心――メンドーサ／イエズス会の宣教方法／驚異としての中国／キリスト教の痕跡／儒教の位置づけ／中国史と聖書／中国史の衝撃――マルティニ／中国文明の欠点　中国の原像――ル・コント／中国礼賛――ライプニッツ／中国礼賛への反論――ルノド／世俗的人間の証言／二種類の証言、二種類の言説

第2章　世界観への組み込み
ヨーロッパ意識の危機／聖書の読み直し――ラ・ペレール／無神論者の徳――ベール／新旧論争――ペロー、フォントネル／進歩の観念と中国／中国思想の不変性――マルブランシュ／普遍史の模索――ボッスエ／中国人バビロン起源説――フェヌロン／中国人エジプト起源説――ユエ、ド・メラン／ロビンソン・クルーソーの視点

第2部　神話の形成――18世紀

第1章　中国の流行
中国の世紀／中国礼賛の戦略――ヴォルテール／中国の不変性――『シナの孤児』／批判装置としての中国――モンテスキュー／聖像破壊――アンソンの『世界周航記』／東洋的専制主義――ブーランジェ、エルヴェシウス／重農主義者の視点――ケネーなど　重農主義者への反論――マブリー／トポスとしてのシナ

第2章　世界の中の中国　　
聖書への疑問――ラングレ＝デュフレノワ／新しい普遍史――テュルゴ／停滞する中国――レイナル／世界史概念の変化――カント／反啓蒙主義――ヘルダー／ヨーロッパ中心主義的偏見――ド・ポー／進歩に対する確信――コンドルセ

第3章　博物学から人類学へ　　
博物学の中の中国人――リンネ／人種概念の成立――ビュフォン／世界の多様性――カント、ド・ブロス　顔面角――カンペル／身体人類学――ブルーメンバッハ／人種の階梯――ホワイト

第4章　ヨーロッパの変容　　
ヨーロッパの変化／人類発展段階説――ケームズ／イギリスの変化――アダム・スミス／繁栄と没落――ファーガソン／産業の発展と自由――ミラー／イギリスの急進主義と中国――プリーストリ、ゴドウィン／終末の予言――マルサス／オリエントの復権――アンクティル＝デュペロン／中国の褪色

第3部　停滞の神話――19世紀前半

第1章　19世紀中葉までの中国観察　　
神話の定着／アマースト使節団／軍事的関心――ロシア人の観察／アヘン戦争まで／プロテスタント宣教師の視点――メドハースト／アジアの中の中国――ウィリアムズなど／骨董的世界から猥雑な混沌へ／中国学の確立

第2章　思想の中の中国　　
世界観の変化と中国／フランス革命の余波――コンスタン／『人口論』をめぐる応酬――マルサスとゴドウィン／産業革命の普及――セイ／世界史と中国――ヘーゲル／インドとの対比――フリードリッヒ・フォン・シュレーゲル、クザン／社会発展と中国――コント／反動思想の中の中国――ボナルド／アジアの中の中国――ジョーンズ、リスト／自由主義思想と中国――トクヴィル

第3章　人種論と中国人　　
近代的人類学の形成／人種分類の中の中国人／独立種としての人種

第4部　神話の変容――19世紀後半

第1章　中国の混迷　　
動乱の連続／変化する中国――ユック／ヨーロッパの変貌と中国の停滞／太平天国の影響――メドウズ／中国の将来――ミチー／太平天国への共感――リンドレー／中国人の流入――白人至上主義の表裏／好奇と同情――トウェイン

第2章　不変性から後進性へ　　
変化の予感――コントのその後／自由主義理論の暗部――ジョン・ステュアート・ミル／アジア的生産様式――マルクス　進歩史観の否定――ランケ　民族論と人種論――ルナン　人種不平等論の唱道――ゴビノー／優生学の視点――ダーウィン／社会進化論――スペンサー／優生学理論と中国人――ゴルトン、ヴァシェ＝ド＝ラプージュ／潜在的脅威としての中国――ピアソン、ル＝ボン／アーリア人の神話――チェンバレン

第3章　変化の胎動　　
中国の進歩――ウィリアムズ再版／中国人論――アーサー・スミス／女性たちの報告／変化の実感――コフーン／40年後の中国再論――ミチー／黄禍論――興隆する日本の影響／頽廃の果て――ノルダウ

第4章　トポスとしての中国　　
中国像の変容／異国趣味――ジュディト・ゴーティエ／愚民としての中国人――『パンチ』誌／植民地主義と冒険小説／中国人の非人間性――ミルボー、コンラッド／義和団の乱と文学――黄禍論と大衆文学／悪役としての中国人／白人の責務――キプリング

終章　西洋の黄昏、中国の黎明　　
決定的変化の生起／西洋文明批判――ニーチェ／近代への懐疑――ヴェーバー／帝国主義批判――ホブソン／中国革命への対応／西洋の没落――シュペングラー／中国の近代化――孫文　懐古的視線――セガレン／異国情緒の残照――プッチーニ／歴史の流れと中国人――バック、マルロー／新生中国の苦闘――スメドレー／『中国の赤い星』――スノー／単線的世界観への疑義――ウィットフォーゲル／新たな中国像を求めて

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source: http://www.kokusho.co.jp/np/isbn/9784336054401/