Mr. Tang wrote an article "Three Treasures of Peking University", which is very interesting. They are Yannan Garden, Book Collection and Scholar.
Talking about "Yannan Garden" is not about campus scenery, but about people. In 1950s, Yannan Garden was inhabited by economists Ma Yinchu, Chen Daisun and Yan Rengeng, physicists Zhou Peiyuan, Rao Yutai and Chu, mathematicians, biologists Shen Tong, chemists Huang Ziqing, geographers, aestheticians Zhu Guangqian, poets, literary historians, China linguists Wang Li, western history experts Qi Sihe, experts in the history of Sino-Western exchanges Xiang Da and Kant's philosophy.
As for the collection of books, Mr. Tang's pride in Peking University Library is beyond words. I think it is completely understandable that a scholar who has studied on campus all his life must have the most affection for the library. Because of this, in the modern education system, the library has always been a symbol of the school. It can be said that without a first-class library, there can be no first-class university. Teacher Tang's collection of books has another meaning, that is, the library does not attach importance to the professor's collection of books. Undoubtedly, this is a short-sighted phenomenon. I remember a story in our school. A historian wants to donate books to the library before he dies. The relevant leaders said that he would choose them. As a result, the old professor got angry and donated all his books to the provincial library. Many of his books are overseas orphans. So that when the complete works were revised later, the books could not be found. Indeed, if the books of famous scholars are collected and used, it is not only an important material to understand the academic achievements of these scholars, but also an important material to understand the development history of academic construction, and even an important material to study the cultural history and academic history of China. Of course, while collecting books, collecting their manuscripts, letters, diaries and notes will be priceless.
The last treasure is "scholars", which is not about people, but about academic inheritance, that is to say, editing the works of famous scholars in the history of Peking University, so that later scholars can understand academic changes and academic traditions. At this point, I feel the same way, because the academic fault in the past half century, even if it is like a vein, can only be seen by people who enter the house. If you can choose a famous book, most people will read the contribution of a school in academic history, then the "secret that will not be passed down" will become a "public instrument in the world."