After the Anti-Japanese War broke out, National Chekiang University was forced to move westward. In exile with his family and books, Ma Yifu accepted the invitation of Zhu Kezhen, the president of National Chekiang University, to give lectures about Chinese ancient civilization to teachers and students of the university at both Taihe of Jiangxi province and Yishan of Guangxi province. He also wrote the University Anthem. This period could be the most glorious part in the history of Chekiang University. But after reviewing and scrutinizing the related literature, for example, The Complete Works of Ma Yifu, The Complete Works of Zhu Kezhen, lots of essays, memoirs and letters from Chang Chiyun, Mei Guangdi, He Changqun, Li Xiefei, Feng Zikai, who were close to Ma during those days, and after digging through the old files of Chekiang University, we find that the relationship between Ma Yifu and Chekiang University was fraught with misunderstandings and confusions. One widely spread misunderstanding about Ma in particular was about his self-conferred title ″Master of traditional Chinese culture″, and his persistence in establishing the ″ Seminar of Traditional Sinology Institute″ in 1936, which directly affected the understanding of, trust in and judgment of Ma Yifu from the people around, including Zhu Kezhen. Some of the rumors have even been passed down to the present day, and some research findings were incorrect. Chekiang University might have missed the respectable master of Chinese traditional culture if the Anti-Japanese War hadn’t happened. In the 1930s,with the rapid economic growth of China, the construction throughout the land was changing with each passing day. The traditional culture fault appeared and the enlightenment culture gradually declined as more than ten years had elapsed after the May 4th Movement of New Culture. The thoughts of industrialism or pragmatism and saving the country with industry,which the economic development relied on, were gradually growing into mainstream. Ma Yifu had mixed feelings about the young generation of college students who grew up and received education after the abolishment of the imperial examination and the May 4th Movement of New Culture, as they chose not to read the Four Books, and they had blind faith in modern science. This could be one of the reasons why Ma declined the invitation from National Chekiang University before the War. After the War broke out, he decided to go to Chekiang University to give lectures, with the hope that the War could not only bring back the importance of traditional culture and beliefs, but also make every Chinese rethink deeply about the modern culture. At the only university he taught as an instructor, Ma tried every means to guide the young people to abandon the utilitarian view of modern industry and drew their attention back to culture itself. For various reasons, however, Ma found that the effect of his lectures on national culture in Chekiang University were far from his expectations. In spite of this, it helped Ma finish the construction of his grand academic thoughts. During the two semesters at Taihe and Yishan, Ma Yifu compiled more than 20 lectures on ″traditional Chinese″ into a book entitled Yishan and Taihe Lectures. In these lectures, Ma Yifu spent more time and energy on ″Six Arts″ than any other time in his life. During the 3 years, the relationship between Ma Yifu and Chekiang University was full of misunderstandings and gaps, but also of the sharing of hardships and compatibility. Nowadays the Study of Ma Yifu is becoming popular and significant. As an established master of Chinese ancient culture studies, Ma Yifu’s high academic achievements are undeniable. And more and more researches on Ma have proved it. This paper aims to explore and clarify the relationship between Ma Yifu and Chekiang University, which may help us get a better understanding of the Master.
李杭春. 讲学与传道: 马一浮与国立浙江大学[J]. 浙江大学学报(人文社会科学版), 2018, 4(2): 151-163.
Li Hangchun. Teaching and Preaching: Ma Yifu and National Chekiang University. JOURNAL OF ZHEJIANG UNIVERSITY, 2018, 4(2): 151-163.