Never Give Up Your Dreams

Lecture given by Hu Shih

Record written by Wang K’ai Translated by Wang Xiaoke

Never Give Up Your Dreams

Lecture given by Hu Shih

Record written by Wang K’ai Translated by Wang Xiaoke

On October 17th, 1947, Mr. Hu Shih delivered a lecture at the Nanking University of Politics. A few days later, on October 22nd, his lecture was published on the second page of Social Welfare, a Shanghai-based newspaper, with a title of “Young People Should Keep Their Dreams,” credited as coming from “Wang K’ai’s Notes.”

More than a decade ago, when I worked as the editor-in-chief of Independent Comments, I was often gratified to receive quite a few articles from the students of the Nanking University of Politics. It made me feel that the university was promising.

The prospect of employment is not a concern for students at certain universities. The young people should never give up their dreams, no matter what they are: to be an elite lawyer, to be a venerable economist, a historical philosopher, or a political thinker. All students should keep their dreams alive;and any of those dreams may come true in five to ten years.

Now I will tell you a story of how a dream fulfilled.A dream of one hundred years can be fulfilled in fifty years; and a fifty year dream in twenty years.

1947年10月17日，胡適在南京政治大學(xué)發(fā)表一次演講，演講的記錄稿后來以《年青人應(yīng)該有夢(mèng)想》為題，發(fā)表于上海《益世報(bào)》1947年10月22日第2版，署名“王開筆記”。

十多年前，當(dāng)我主辦《獨(dú)立評(píng)論》的時(shí)候，時(shí)常收到不少政校學(xué)生的稿子，使我很高興，我覺得這個(gè)學(xué)校很有前途。

學(xué)校出路廣狹，這是小事，年青人不要放棄夢(mèng)想：我要成為一個(gè)法律權(quán)威、經(jīng)濟(jì)權(quán)威、歷史哲學(xué)家、政治思想家。諸位都應(yīng)作此夢(mèng)想，也許五年十年內(nèi)會(huì)實(shí)現(xiàn)。

我講一個(gè)夢(mèng)的實(shí)現(xiàn)的故事。夢(mèng)想一百年實(shí)現(xiàn)的，也許五十年就實(shí)現(xiàn)；夢(mèng)想五十年實(shí)現(xiàn)的，也許二十年會(huì)做到。

我在學(xué)生時(shí)代的日記中，寫出我的夢(mèng)想、朋友們的夢(mèng)想與我周圍的人的夢(mèng)想。現(xiàn)在看起來，許多已經(jīng)實(shí)現(xiàn)。我夢(mèng)想改革中國(guó)的文字，放棄文言，把活人用的白話作文學(xué)的工具，也許三十年、五十年才成為教育的工具。我們幾個(gè)大學(xué)生作此夢(mèng)想，打筆墨官司，想著幾十年后會(huì)成功。26年前的教科書與幼稚園的書都用文言寫，現(xiàn)在都已改為白話，白話已成教育工具。可是，二十年前，這不過是一個(gè)夢(mèng)啊。

97年前，美國(guó)有兩個(gè)小青年，一個(gè)21歲，一個(gè)22歲，大些的叫懷特，小些的叫葛爾門。他們剛從耶魯大學(xué)畢業(yè)，便被美國(guó)駐俄公使選為學(xué)生隨員，先后游歷英法德俄等國(guó)，三年后回國(guó)，都?jí)粝敫母锩绹?guó)大學(xué)教育，最少要使美國(guó)大學(xué)比得上歐洲第一流大學(xué)。懷特在35歲時(shí)，便做了我的母校康乃爾的首任校長(zhǎng)，時(shí)在1865年，為兩個(gè)創(chuàng)辦人之一。他的夢(mèng)想算是實(shí)現(xiàn)了。

葛爾門回美后，在耶魯大學(xué)服務(wù)。當(dāng)時(shí)，耶魯大學(xué)神學(xué)及文科教授每年拿2600美金，科學(xué)研究還不配列入耶魯大學(xué)，僅遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)地設(shè)了一個(gè)謝斐爾科學(xué)館，一個(gè)教授每年只能拿到2000美金。25歲那年，他做了科學(xué)館圖書主任。他夢(mèng)想著要開發(fā)美國(guó)富源，非效法歐洲的大學(xué)不可，必須有各類科學(xué)的研究人才。30歲時(shí)，他居然做了加利福尼亞大學(xué)校長(zhǎng)。加州大學(xué)當(dāng)時(shí)事實(shí)上仍是學(xué)院而已，由省議會(huì)管著。他做了兩年，雖稍有改革，但仍不過癮。

這時(shí)，華盛頓北邊巴爾的摩城，有一個(gè)大資本家叫約翰·霍布金斯的，立遺囑說，他的遺產(chǎn)350萬美金辦一所大學(xué)與一所醫(yī)院。1873年霍布金斯死后，遺產(chǎn)董事會(huì)請(qǐng)當(dāng)時(shí)著名的三所大學(xué)校長(zhǎng)商量辦一個(gè)什么樣的大學(xué)。

In the diary from my school days, I recorded my friends’ and acquaintances’ dreams together with my own. Some of them have already come true. Take mine for example, I kept thinking about reforming Chinese language from classical to written vernacular, using ordinary people’s spoken words to write. I hoped that the new Chinese language would be adopted in official education in some 30 to 50 years. A few other students and I fought a battle of words, holding a dream, wishing it would be realized in decades. 26 years have passed since then, and the change has been made.The textbooks in schools and kindergartens are now written in vernacular Chinese. The impossible dream has come true.

97 years ago, there were two young men in the United States, Andrew Dickson White, 21 years old,and Daniel Coit Gilman, 22-year-old. Both of them were selected as student retinues by an American envoy in Russia as soon as they graduated from Yale University. In the next three years, they traveled to European countries including England,France, Germany, and Russia before coming back to the U.S. where they started to dream about reforming domestic college education so that American universities could match their European counterparts of the first rank. At the age of 35,White became the first president as well as one of the two founders of Cornell University, which is also my alma mater. He realized his dream in his own way.

When Gilman returned to the U.S., he started his career at Yale University. At that time, a professor of theology or of literature had an annual income of around 2,600 dollars, while a science professor could only have 2,000 dollars per year,as scientific research had just begun in Yale—and science researchers only had the Sheffield Science Museum on campus. When Gilman was 25 years old, he became a director librarian in Sheffield. He knew that only by modeling European ones and cultivating various scientific researchers could American universities serve America well. At the age of 30, he unexpectedly became the president of the University of California, though only a little reformation was made during his two years in office, for the university was a public institute governed by the State Council. It was surely not satisfactory for him.

At the same time, Johns Hopkins, a rich capitalist who lived in Baltimore City in northern Washington made a will, in which he promised to donate 3.5 million dollars for the purpose of establishing a university and a hospital. When Mr.Hopkins died in 1873, the Estate Board sought advices about what a university they were to build from the presidents of three famous universities.

Andrew Dickson White安德魯·迪克森·懷特

Daniel Coit Gilman丹尼爾·科伊特·吉爾曼（胡適譯作“葛爾門”）

三位校長(zhǎng)是哈佛大學(xué)的愛而立、康乃爾大學(xué)的懷特、密西根大學(xué)的貴尼，他們一致認(rèn)為，巴爾的摩是一個(gè)商業(yè)城市，文化水準(zhǔn)低，辦學(xué)校只應(yīng)從一年級(jí)辦起。三位校長(zhǎng)又推薦葛爾門做新大學(xué)的校長(zhǎng)。1874年，他43歲那年，接受邀請(qǐng)到巴爾的摩去，他說，辦大學(xué)應(yīng)從研究院辦起，不收本科學(xué)生。他主張用重金去聘請(qǐng)世界第一流教授來執(zhí)教，他認(rèn)為無數(shù)學(xué)生都想到外國(guó)留學(xué)，因?yàn)閲?guó)內(nèi)無研究院實(shí)驗(yàn)室可作研究呀。現(xiàn)在給他們研究費(fèi)，有成績(jī)的做研究員，次也者做研究生，再提款辦數(shù)學(xué)、物理等大雜志，使教授學(xué)生的研究結(jié)果有發(fā)表機(jī)會(huì)，包管可以辦一個(gè)好大學(xué)，把本科丟給別的學(xué)校去辦好了。

后來，霍布金斯大學(xué)雖也辦本科，但肄業(yè)年限只有一兩年。1875年他44歲時(shí)，董事會(huì)正式請(qǐng)他做霍布金斯大學(xué)的首任校長(zhǎng)。民族雜志上發(fā)表了他的主張，即，“大學(xué)即研究院，研究院即大學(xué)”，這是他給大學(xué)下的新定義。

這時(shí)，350萬基金已變?yōu)?00萬了。他用重金聘請(qǐng)英美第一流學(xué)者，后來又挑選一批優(yōu)秀的研究生，這些研究生中出了許多了不得的人才。他又創(chuàng)辦11種刊物，這些刊物在各科中都占著頭等地位。

1876年，葛爾門45歲時(shí)，霍布金斯大學(xué)開學(xué)。開學(xué)的第一天，便成為全國(guó)公認(rèn)的第一所好大學(xué)。豈不快哉！他主持霍布金斯大學(xué)25年，1902年他70歲時(shí)才退休。

退休那天的慶祝會(huì)上，第一個(gè)演說的，是代表校友及教授的威爾遜先生，他說：“你25年來的成就與理想，影響全國(guó)，改變了大學(xué)的定義，開了大學(xué)教育的新紀(jì)元。”這位威爾遜先生便是14年后的威爾遜總統(tǒng)，其他著名的哲學(xué)家如杜威、羅以斯，經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家如伊黎等，都是霍布金斯大學(xué)研究院的博士。

慶祝會(huì)上，最后演說的是先前主張辦一年級(jí)本科的哈佛大學(xué)校長(zhǎng)愛而立，他公開宣告：“葛爾門先生，你是對(duì)的，你的成功使得我們有膽子敢辦研究所，也使我們不得不辦研究所，我們的成功都是你逼出來的。”

97年前的兩個(gè)小青年，在歐洲看了點(diǎn)東西所生出來的夢(mèng)想，終于實(shí)現(xiàn)，影響全國(guó)。現(xiàn)在哈佛大學(xué)一萬學(xué)生，本科只有幾千人，加利福尼亞大學(xué)數(shù)萬學(xué)生，本科生只有一千人。全國(guó)高等教育的學(xué)術(shù)風(fēng)氣，終于按照一個(gè)21歲的年青人的夢(mèng)想實(shí)現(xiàn)了。

年青人們，夢(mèng)想不妨高點(diǎn)、遠(yuǎn)點(diǎn)，將來會(huì)實(shí)現(xiàn)的。?

（本文為節(jié)選；摘自《魯迅研究月刊》2016年第6期）

Note:

Hu Shih (Chinese: 胡適, 1891-1962)was a Chinese philosopher, essayist and diplomat. Hu is widely recognized today as a key contributor to Chinese liberalism and language reform in his advocacy for the use of written vernacular Chinese. He was influential in the May Fourth Movement, one of the leaders of China’s New Culture Movement, was a president of Peking University, and in 1939 was nominated for a Nobel Prize in literature.

The three presidents were Charles W. Eliot of Harvard University, Andrew Dickson White of Cornell University, and James Burrill Angell of the University of Michigan. They agreed that the new university should only provide undergraduate courses for Baltimore, a poorly educated yet thriving business city. They also recommended Gilman, 43 at the time, to work as the university president.

In his opinion, there were so many American students who would like to study abroad because there were no available laboratories in the U.S. at the time; if the students could have some financial support, things would be different. The better students then could become researchers, while others could continue their studies as graduates. So they could issue journals about mathematics and physics, providing a platform for professors and students to publish their research results. That was his ideal university without undergraduates.

Well, the undergraduate education existed in the new university, but it could only provide a two-year program. When Gilman was 44 years old in 1875, he formally became the first president of Johns Hopkins University. Meanwhile, The Nation Magazine published his new definition of a college—that “university means institute, and vice versa.”

That was when the Johns Hopkins capital fund increased from 3.5 million to 7 million.Gilman employed some first-class scholars from America and Britain, and then selected a group of excellent graduates, many of whom later became extraordinary figures. He also started 11 periodicals which all played very important roles in various subjects.

Campus of Johns Hopkins University 霍布金斯大學(xué)校景

When Johns Hopkins University opened in 1876(Gilman was 45), it instantly had a nationwide reputation as “the best university of the States.” It was a wonderful success for Gilman. And then he worked there for 25 years until his retirement in 1902, at the age of 70.

When Gilman retired, Mr. Thomas Woodrow Wilson, on behalf of schoolmates and professors,delivered a speech, in which he said, “During the last 25 years, your dreams and achievements have brought a huge influence on the whole country.Your unprecedented ideas not only changed the definition of universities but also started a new era of college education.” 14 years later, Mr. Wilson was elected as president of the United States. Other speakers of the day include philosophers such as John Dewey and Josiah Royce, and economists such as Richard Theodore Ely, who all were PhDs of research institutes in Johns Hopkins University.

The last speaker of the event was Mr. Charles W. Eliot, president of Harvard University, who had expected to establish a university that “only provides undergraduate courses.” He openly admitted that “Mr. Gilman was right,” and that“your achievements set a good example for us universities, encouraging as well as pushing us to do the same things. Our success would be unimaginable without you.”

That was how the dreams of two young men 97 years ago finally became a reality and made a big difference in their nation with their little observations in Europe. Nowadays, only several thousand students out of all the ten thousand at Harvard University are undergraduates.Furthermore, there are only one thousand undergraduates out of tens of thousands students at the University of California. A better academic atmosphere in the U.S. higher education world has been created; and all this originated from the dream of a 21-year-old man.

Dear young folks, it’s alright for you to have bigger dreams. However impossible they seem to be, they may come true one day.?

霍布金斯大學(xué) Johns Hopkins University

(Excerpted from Lu Xun Research Monthly,June 2016)

不放棄夢(mèng)想

文/胡適 筆記/王開 譯/王小可

the invitation; however,he insisted that the creation of the new university should start from the establishment of research institutes, and that there was no need to recruit undergraduates. He also thought that they should pay a lot of money to get “the best professors from around the world” as well as provide considerable funds for scientific research.