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李開復博士英文自傳全書（連載【32】）
荷承 李開復博士俯允將英文自傳全書，交由本報刊出，特申謝忱！
法奶日報發行人盧立人拜啓2012.06. 26.S.F.
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Chapter 4
Learning to Make a Difference
In September 1979, I flew to New York City and entered Columbia University. Although I had visited the university once, it still amazed me that the campus was surrounded by bustling streets but looked utterly undisturbed with greenery everywhere. In the incredibly serene environment, I felt my thoughts were clearer than ever.
Columbia University emphasizes general education (GE). Students can wait until sophomore year to declare their majors. Under such liberal circumstances, most of the classes I took in my freshman year were in humanities. I studied art, history, music and philosophy, none of which were related to my later career, but all of which enriched my soul, sharpened my judgment, and helped me find my direction in life.
Now I truly understand why Columbia University lists music as a GE requirement while most other universities don’t. I cannot overstate how much the music education I received there has benefited me. Since the music professors helped us explore the depth of each composer and encouraged us to attend live concerts in New York City, I have found nothing more spiritually nourishing than classical music.
Today I love Tchaikosky’s piano concertos and Beethoven’s symphonies even more than I did in college. The melancholy melodies that once appealed to my sentimental young heart now speak to me in a much deeper sense. Profoundly sad music somehow lifts my spirits by showing me the inevitable pain of life and making my worries all seem trivial. It also flows by me like a river that can wash away any repressed negative feelings I may have. Whenever work stresses me out, I turn on classical music and feel refreshed right away.
I am a scientist and an entrepreneur, but all the many science and business courses I took didn’t influence me as much as “Contemporary Civilization,” a philosophy class of my freshman year. It was from the professor of that class that I acquired my lifetime motto:.
Imagine two worlds, one with you and one without you.
What’s the difference between the two worlds?
Maximize that difference.
That’s the meaning of your life.
Comparing Eastern and Western Philosophy
One day in a philosophy class, I raised my hand and asked the professor, “Why are we only learning Western philosophy? Can we use the same methodology to study Eastern philosophy? Wouldn’t it be interesting to explore the similarities and differences between the two?”
The professor nodded and said it’s a good idea. My classmates also expressed their interest in Eastern philosophy. Later Columbia University indeed opened new classes in Eastern philosophy and cross-culture studies. But the change took time. In my freshman year, I still only studied Western philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle and Nietzsche.
However, I did learn about Eastern philosophy at Columbia University when taking “Literary Chinese” in my senior year. The professor specified native-like fluency in the Chinese language as a prerequisite to this class because it covered pieces of classical Chinese literature that even native speakers of Chinese might not completely comprehend.
Some of the readings we did for the class were philosophy-related. They brought our in-class discussions into the realm of Chinese philosophy.
There are several schools of Chinese philosophy, among which Confucianism and Taoism (also known as Daoism) are the most influential. Confucianism in particular has dominated Chinese culture for millennia.
Confucianism began with the teachings of Confucius (551-479 BC), a thinker who recommended rigorous self discipline for the individual, a stable hierarchal structure for the family, and unchallengeable but benign authority for the government. Confucius traveled a great deal because China was divided as small countries in his lifetime and he attempted to persuade at least one of the rulers to adopt his ideas. However, none of the rulers took his advice to heart. Feeling disappointed, Confucius returned to his hometown to concentrate on teaching.
His students took notes of his lectures and compiled them into a book, titled The Analects (also phonetically translated as Lunyu), which centuries later became a must-read to all Chinese students.
It was a Han Dynasty emperor known as Han Wudi (156-87 BC) who turned The Analects into the Bible of the Chinese. Wudi considered the teachings of Confucianism helpful in stabilizing society and ensuring his ruling status. He mandated all teachers to disregard other schools of philosophy and teach Confucianism only.
Confucianism contains more than the teachings of Confucius. The teachings of another educator, Mengzi (372-289 BC), are also part of Confucianism because Mengzi regarded Confucius as a mentor he was born too late to meet. Like Mengzi, other scholars in later centuries expanded on the ideas of The Analects. All their works are considered components of Confucianism.
Simply put, Confucianism gives everyone a fixed role in society and requires all the roles to be played properly. Children must obey their parents, but parents must set good examples for their children. Likewise, a ruler must be kind enough to his subjects to deserve their loyalty.
Through the history of China’s monarchy, which ended in 1911, most government officials lived by Confucianism and devoted themselves whole-heartedly to the emperor they served. But the emperor tended to disappoint them by abusing his absolute power. The officials remained loyal, following the teachings of Confucianism they had been raised with, but they needed an emotional outlet, which they saw in Taoism.
Unlike the hierarchy-oriented Confucianism, Taoism provides an egalitarian point of view. The founder of Taoism, Lao Tzu (birth and death years unknown but probably between 6th and 4th centuries BC), claims that all human beings are equal to one another and to other creatures in his book, Tao Te Ching (also phonetically translated more closely to the original title as Dao De Jing). He says, “Heaven and Earth are ruthless, with all creatures at their mercy like pigs and dogs at ours.”
Lao Tzu analyzes the nature of everything, and teaches people to act like water, going around obstacles to avoid head-on conflicts. He advises against futile struggle.
Many traditional Chinese intellectuals found comfort in Taoism but considered it too passive for improving the world, so they still went by Confucianism in their careers, only applying Taoism to their personal lives. My father was one of them. He worked hard like a Confucian and minimized material desires in a Taoist way.
Taoists look upon wealth and fame as nothing to be desired because everything is transient in this ever-changing world. Besides Lao Tzu, Chuang Tzu (also phonetically translated as Zhuang Zi, 369-286 BC) also represents Taoism. He advocates a relaxed attitude towards life.
In his view, there is no point of exhausting oneself to pursue anything, including knowledge. He says, “Our lifetime is finite while knowledge is infinite. If you attempt to capture the infinite into the finite, it is bound to fail.”
These two lines aroused a fierce debate in my Literary Chinese class at Columbia University.
It was interesting to study Eastern philosophy with Western methodology. I found the biggest difference between Eastern and Western philosophy to be the emphasis of the former on going along with nature and the focus of the latter on conquering nature.
The philosophy lessons I took at Columbia University deepened my understanding of both Eastern and Western cultures. Later, when I worked in China, I appreciated the understanding even more, because I saw how much Eastern philosophy (in particular Confucianism) pervaded the government system and the society. Its different way to look at the world has caused much misunderstanding between China and Americans.
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