A Man of Science and Engineering in Troubled Times Wandering in the Late Qing Dynasty

Chapter 588 Illusion

Chen Baoquan was very moved by Su Huilian and Xie Fuyun's father and daughter's school-running actions, and asked with concern: "The current situation in Europe is tense. Will you two return to China?"

Su Huilian said: "Although I am very worried, the king, the German emperor and the Russian tsar are all cousins, so they will not get into a fight over Austria-Hungary."

Qian Xuantong said: "You two have heard the story of the Xuanwu Gate Incident. Brothers can turn against each other. In the face of a power struggle, what are cousins?"

Xie Fuyun sighed: "This seems to be the same all over the world."

"Don't discuss things that haven't happened yet. Let's talk about more academic topics." Su Huilian still had a hint of optimism and said, "I am currently studying the "Miaofa Lotus Sutra" in Buddhism. Can you Can you introduce a scholar who understands Buddhism to help me?"

Qian Xuantong immediately said: "Shou Ming happens to live nearby. I will send someone to call him."

Chen Baoquan asked: "Who is Shou Ming?"

Qian Xuantong said: "Shou Ming is the name of Liang Shuming. Although he has no fame or academic qualifications, he can really talk about Buddhism."

Liang Shuming now studies Buddhism all day long, and is a little bit into it. It is rare to see two British people who come here to "seek Dharma", because in the past, it was foreigners who came to promote their Bible.

But in his mind, Buddhist scriptures are definitely more profound and complex.

Liang Shuming immediately began to speak to them eloquently: "The Lotus Sutra is the teaching taught by Sakyamuni Buddha in his later years, and he is the king of the sutras. It says in the sutra that everyone can succeed, regardless of whether they are rich or poor, high or low. Buddha is recognized as the supreme Dharma..."

When Li Yu heard this, it seemed to make sense, "Sir, what you are talking about is not Buddhism, but philosophy, right?"

Maybe Liang Shuming didn't feel it himself, so he continued: "No matter who you are, no matter what industry you are engaged in, there is always a problem that cannot be solved. Even if you are omniscient and omnipotent, you cannot solve the problem of life and death."

Qian Xuantong knew something about Buddhism and asked, "Is it possible that Shou Ming has already mastered Zen?"

It seems that Mr. Jin Yong named him because of this.

"Good question!" Liang Shuming said, "Fundamentally speaking, all human problems come from life itself rather than from the outside world. However, people always seek solutions from the outside world. This is really the most common and fundamental mistake! Looking around, who is there? Did you see this clearly?"

Liang Shuming said: "Pursuit is desire, and when you have desire, there is pain, because it is impossible to ask and you must get it. Sir, you are a scientific giant. Do you know the true meaning of all physics?"

Su Huilian suddenly said: "The scriptures are a treasure in your country's culture. I heard that many emperors would also study them. Mr. Li Yu, do you also understand?"

Su Huilian listened very carefully and praised: "You can memorize such a complicated scripture and have a deep understanding at the same time. Your memory and Buddha nature are really good!"

Su Huilian asked: "Sir, do you mean that only Buddhism can solve this problem?"

The corner of Li Yu's mouth twitched. He only knew the words "Asura", "Yaksha" and "Garuda", but he didn't know anything else. He smiled awkwardly and couldn't talk to him.

"Mr. Li Yu also knows about the 'Eight Dragons'!" Liang Shuming said in surprise, and then said, "One day, two dragons, three yakshas, ​​four gandharvas, five asuras, six garudas, seven kinnaras, Bamaharaga. It symbolizes the impermanence of all forms and the six paths of sentient beings in reincarnation."

Li Yu was stunned, why did he ask about himself? I could only say, "I don't even have a superficial understanding of Buddhism. As for the Lotus Sutra, I only know that the name of the Eight Deities and Dragons comes from it."

Liang Shuming immediately said: "Sir, you must want to pursue the truth. Therefore, when people come to the world, they have various deficiencies from the beginning and need to face a series of problems to be solved. The so-called solution to the problem, in addition to introducing a higher and more difficult problem If you don’t think otherwise, you will end up with an unsolvable problem.”

Liang Shuming felt that this should be the case: "If you don't memorize it proficiently, how can you understand the profound meaning in the scriptures."

It’s not nonsense. Before he traveled through time, human beings had not been able to unify the four major forces.

Liang Shuming said bitterly: "How can I understand it thoroughly? The more I read Buddhist scriptures, the more I realize that life is all suffering. I would like to become a monk and practice meditation."

Su Huilian sounded very interesting, "How to solve it?"

In addition to the mention in "The Eight Parts of the Dragon", it seems that the Golden Retriever Lion King Xie Xun in "The Legend of Heaven and Sword of the Dragon" also read a few lines from the "Lotus Sutra" when he was imprisoned in the Shaolin Temple.

Does this eldest brother want to imitate Li Shutong?

Li Yu smiled and said: "Life must be happy, or there is something to pursue."

Li Yu said: "Not yet."

"Yes," Liang Shuming affirmed, "the other schools of thought and all the sages at home and abroad, ancient and modern, have tried their best to relieve the suffering of the people, but the path they have taken has not escaped from this fundamental mistake, and they are all unworthy."

Su Huilian nodded frequently while taking notes: "Can you please come to my study to continue the discussion? I still have many things that I need to ask you for."

Liang Shuming did not refuse: "Okay."

Before the two left, Li Yu said: "Mr. Liang, actually you can pay more attention to philosophy, which is related to the philosophy of current life."

"Life is too vain." Liang Shuming said.

Li Yu said: "Which is false between Buddhism and life? I think it is also a question worthy of further study."

"Of course I can tell the difference clearly," Liang Shuming said, "Sir, let's say goodbye for now."

Li Yu cupped his fists and said, "Farewell."

Fortunately, Liang Shuming himself will come around next year and will not become a monk like Li Shutong.

-

A few days later, the expedition team sent by the Rockefeller Foundation arrived in China, and the Beiyang government immediately sent Yan Fu to greet them.

Li Yu naturally also arrived.

Yan Fu asked Li Yu about the situation of Western medicine in advance, but he was not confident: "There are at least five or six hundred foreign doctors in the country now, but after so many years, there has been no improvement."

Li Yu said: "Those are missionary doctors. In the final analysis, missionaries believe in theology, not medicine. They do not have enough medical equipment and books. The key is that they have not received a truly systematic medical education and cannot keep up with the development of medicine. At least I don’t know of any missionaries who graduated from good medical schools.”

Yan Fu said: "That's true. They don't seem to have cured many people."

Li Yu said: "Missionary doctors only hope for immediate results and try to treat as many patients as possible. For them, results are more important than standards. Because they link medical effects with missionary work, if they have good results, they can Attract more believers.”

"Psychology has been used." Yan Fu said.

"And it's a bit like sales psychology." Li Yu said with a smile.

Wu Liande and others once suggested dividing China’s Western medicine education into three stages:

Before 1900, it was considered the period of church hospitals. Although a few medical schools were opened one after another, they basically relied on church hospitals and only accepted a few apprentices to teach medical knowledge;

1901 to 1912 was the budding period of medical education. During this period, Shanghai Aurora University added a medical department, the Germans opened Tongji Medical School, and the "Manchu Railway" established the "Southern Manchu Medical College" in Fengtian;

Starting in 1913, formal medical education gradually took shape in China, and the Ministry of Education promulgated regulations for medical schools. Yan Fu asked: "What are the standards for the medical school built by the Americans in Beijing this time?"

"According to the Rockefeller Foundation's idea, at least a medical school should be built that is comparable to Johns Hopkins in the United States." Li Yu said.

"Do they really want to do this?" Yan Fu asked.

"According to the United States' foreign policies such as the open door, they are now a bit flattering to our country's intellectuals. The previous programs for young children studying in the United States and the construction of schools with Boxer refunds are all part of their strategy. They hope to influence these future Chinese elites , let our country become pro-American as slowly as possible, and they will be able to exert influence. Whether it is business or politics, for them, the future benefits will be much greater than the investment." Li Yu explained.

"It's a big move," Yan Fu sighed, "but it sounds like it's the same as what the missionaries did?"

Li Yu said: "I can only say that I did it more brilliantly."

Yan Fu said: "As expected, I have to read thousands of books and travel thousands of miles. I have traveled to many countries and my knowledge far exceeds that of ordinary people."

Li Yu couldn't say that this was because he had a "God's perspective", so he followed his words and said: "It is indeed useful to see more of the world, but sir is the first person to open his eyes to see the world."

Yan Fu smiled and said: "I have been an old man for a long time."

As the whistle blew, the ship gradually docked at the port.

Eliot, president of Harvard University, Judson, president of the University of Chicago, and Welch, dean of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, stepped off the boat, followed by other entourages.

Li Yu introduced Yan Fu one by one. Yan Fu was a little surprised by the strength of the inspection team. In his mind, the presidents of the top universities in the United States were at least deputy ministers of education.

After arriving in the capital, Yan Fu and Li Yu hosted the delegation at the restaurant.

"You are very welcome to come, and I would like to extend my most sincere blessings." Yan Fu said first.

"Thank you!" Elliot replied politely, and then stated his position, "Our goal this time is to build a medical school as good as Europe and the United States, with an excellent faculty, well-equipped laboratories, high-level teaching hospitals and... Nursing school.”

Yan Fu also asked the key question: "What are the admission standards?"

Elliott said: "Naturally, you have to follow the admission standards of the best medical schools in the United States."

"So strict?" Yan Fu thought, "I'm afraid not many students could be recruited in the past few years."

Li Yu thought it didn't matter: "It's not a bad thing if the rules are set from the beginning. With the learning level of the Chinese people, it will not be difficult to meet such admission standards in the future."

"That's right, Shucai arranged the primary and secondary schools a few years ago," Yan Fu felt relieved, "Thanks to your foresight."

Li Yu still made one more suggestion to Eliot based on the national conditions: "It is best for medical schools to offer preparatory courses and let students who graduate from middle school study for two years first."

"We accept Mr. Li Yu's suggestion, and so do American universities," Elliott said, "but the students' English proficiency must meet the standard, because the teaching will be entirely in English. After all, we cannot translate all medical books in advance. Chinese."

Yan Fu is an expert in translation. He said: "To translate medical classics, you must at least understand them first, and translation is a process that lasts for many years. It is not an easy task. Now there is no problem in teaching in English."

Elliott said: "Starting from tomorrow, we will successively visit medical schools in your country's capital, Shanghai, Wuhan, Changsha, Guangzhou, Ningbo and other places to compile inspection reports and submit them to the foundation."

Li Yu whispered to Yan Fu: "This report is related to funds."

Yan Fu understood: "I will notify the Ministry of Transportation and fully cooperate!"

Although Eliot did not specialize in medicine, he did know a lot about medical education. Before him, medical education in the United States was very limited. Medical students could enroll without any preparatory courses. Formal teaching only took one year and was limited to theory.

It's basically child's play.

Around the 1870s, Eliot began to make changes to Harvard's medical school. The reforms were relatively thorough. The curriculum was completely revised, academic pressure was increased, teachers were strictly controlled, and graduation thresholds were raised. good results.

-

Along with this ship came a large number of medical education facilities ordered by Li Yu. Part of the money was given to Harvard Medical School of China and Datong University in Shanghai, and the other part was donated to the National Beijing Medical College.

This school was just established in the early years of the Republic of China. It was the first national school of Western medicine in China and the future predecessor of Peking University School of Medicine.

Tang Erhe, the principal of the National Beijing Medical College, was very grateful for Li Yu's donation: "The Ministry of Education only contributed more than 10,000 taels, but the materials donated by my husband have exceeded 10,000 taels."

"Money is nothing more than extraneous things. It's good if you can spend it wisely." Li Yu has always spent money lavishly in this regard.

Then Li Yu told him about the inspection team of Union Medical College.

Tang Erhe Zhengse said: "We will also have strict requirements! I have always believed that it is the most shameful thing that we Chinese do not have a status in medical associations and printed materials of various countries. This school will be responsible for the future in the The responsibility to compete with the great powers academically.”

Li Yu smiled and said, "These words sound encouraging."

Tang Erhe made positive contributions to medical education. Unfortunately, he defected to the enemy after September 18th and started "China-Japan Friendship" education. When Japan fully invaded China and Peking University and Tsinghua University moved south, he served as the general supervisor of Peking University in Beijing on behalf of Japan.

-

After returning home, Fengling brought a telegram.

Li Yu looked at it and saw that it was from Einstein from Berlin:

"I am very worried. As soon as Freundrich arrived in Russia, the Kaiser declared war on Russia. With their professional observation equipment, they will be captured by the Russian army as spies, and the observation experiment I have planned for a long time will come to nothing. Poor. I will continue to be a theoretical physicist who does not understand experiments and does not even have experimental verification."

Li Yu called back: "Human calculations are not as good as heaven's calculations, but you can just use this time to improve theoretical work, such as those crazy mathematics."

Einstein was touched in a sore spot and called back: "I think I should go to Göttingen to give lectures for a while."

In order to solve the mathematical foundation of general relativity, Einstein asked many mathematicians for help and wrote many letters to mathematicians from various countries. In the end, he found that he still had to rely on Göttingen.

He planned to explain the general theory of relativity to a group of mathematics experts at the University of Göttingen, and then see if they had any solutions. After all, I have seen with my own eyes before that these people are really awesome and have made outstanding achievements in the mathematical foundation of quantum mechanics.

It's just that Einstein didn't expect that he almost capsized: he went a bit too far. In the three-month lecture, he explained all the difficulties encountered in the general theory of relativity, which caused Hilbert to almost come up with the general theory of relativity himself. Field equation.

(End of this chapter)