Newsletter No. 413

6 No. 413, 4.3.2013 三 十年前，即中大成立二十周年的1983年，幾 位中大學生在當時擔任中文系講師的 盧瑋鑾 （小思）啟發下，舉辦了一次「中大的一日」徵文活動。 他們此舉其實不是憑空而來。早在抗戰前夕， 茅盾 就 在1936年5月21日發起過「中國的一日」全國徵文活 動，編成了一巨冊的報告文學；而茅盾這個計劃卻也 不是自創，而是「看了偉大的 高爾基 所動議而進行着的 『世界的一日』，覺得非常新鮮而有意義，因而大膽來 『學步』」。 中大三十年前的徵文，就是承襲這一紀實傳統，紀錄了 當年4月8日發生在中大的歷史影像。響應徵文號召的 不乏文學大家，如時任電子學系講座教授的 陳之藩 就 寫了〈四月八日這一天〉，盧瑋鑾寫了〈一日瑣談〉，其 他作者還有知名的作家兼電台節目主持 吳瑞卿 ，以及 陳天機 、 馮國培 、 李金漢 等老師。最後選了六十多篇文 章，輯印成《中大的一日》一書。 翻開這本書，閱讀裏面的文章，我們知道1983年4月8日 I n 1983 when CUHK was about to celebrate its 20th anniversary, several CUHK students organized an essay writing activity called ‘A Day at CUHK’. They were inspired by Ms. Lo Wai-luen (alias Xiao Si), then lecturer at the Department of Chinese Language and Literature. But their idea was not original. Mao Dun , a renowned Chinese novelist, had launched a national essay writing event named ‘A Day in China’ on 21 May 1936, which had resulted in a voluminous collection of essays. Yet Mao Dun’s idea was not original either. It was inspired by in his words the ‘“A Day in the World” project proposed by the great Maksim Gorky ’. The Chinese writer had been impressed by Gorky’s idea and decided to follow suit. ‘A Day at CUHK’ was a continuation of a tradition of documentation handed down from Gorky and Mao Dun. It recorded what happened on 8 April 1983 on CUHK campus. Those who responded to the call for submissions included Chen Chih-fan , Professor of Electronics; Lo Wai-luen; and Ms. Sonia Ng , a famous writer and radio host. Teachers like Chen Tien-chi , Fung Kwok-pui , Lee Kam-hon also put pen to paper. Some 60 essays were selected for publication in the book A Day at CUHK . Readers of the book would know that it rained heavily in the morning of 8 April 1983. On the afternoon of that day, Ch’ien Mu came to the University to give a talk which was attended by many CUHK teachers and students. Ms. Lo Wai-luen said ‘Mr. Ch’ien’s talk was as good as before.’ Chen Chih-fan forgot about the talk and remembered it only after it had begun. He rushed to it and opined that Ch’ien Mu’s talk ‘was much better than that of Zhu Guangqian the other day’. A senior Chinese major who was quite confident in her Mandarin also attended the talk, only to find that she was able to ‘pick up just a few words occasionally’ from Mr. Chi’en’s heavily accented Mandarin. Thirty years passed. We are now in 2013 and CUHK is celebrating its 50th anniversary. The ‘Power of Words’, in collaboration with University Library System, Department of Chinese Language and Literature, CU Student Press, Department of English and School of Journalism and Communication, is organizing another essay writing activity to capture a moment in history as it unfolds. Entitled ‘21st Century “A Day at CUHK”’, the event invites all CUHK members to write down what they see, hear, think and sense on 21 March 2013. Submitted works will be posted online and the selected ones will be published in a collection. Prof. Fan Sin-piu , director of the Hong Kong Literature Research Centre of the Department of Chinese Lanaguage and Literature, says, ‘“A Day at CUHK” accepts both Chinese and English works. Xiao Si and Prof. Lee Ou-fan Leo will serve as advisors. I believe that it will be larger in scale than the event that took place 30 years ago and will be more successful in offering a panorama of life at this University.’ In the early 1980s, editors of A Day at CUHK saw a profound sense of loss and bewilderment in the essays in the collection. ‘From individuals to the whole university community, from lower classmen to upper classmen, all are in a state of hesitation and indecision.’ This prompted the editors to ask whether ‘this is an age without hope’. What will we see from ‘A Day at CUHK’ 30 years later? The answer lies in the contributions that University members will submit for the event, which will no doubt present an interesting cross-section of CUHK history. 那天早上下了一場滂沱大雨，而這天下午 錢穆 來校演講，多 位撰文的中大人都去捧場了。盧瑋鑾說「錢先生的演講精 彩如昔」；陳之藩在演講開始後才想起來，趕過去聽，說錢 穆的演講「比起朱光潛那兩天的演講要好多了」；有位「自 問聽國語的本領不差」的中文系四年級學生也慕名出席， 結果「只斷斷續續的聽懂幾個字」。 三十年過去了，轉眼間來到2013年，際此中大成立五十周 年的日子，「書寫力量」聯同大學圖書館系統、中國語言 及文學系、中大學生報、英文系和新聞與傳播學院繼承傳 統，再次發起徵文活動，為急促流轉的歷史造像。 這次名為「二十一世紀中大的一日」的作品徵集，號召中 大人記下2013年3月21日這個平凡日子的所見所聞、所思 所感。徵集的作品將於網上發表，並精選部分編成文集出 版。中文系香港文學研究中心主任 樊善標 教授說：「這一 次『中大的一日』兼包中文和英文作品。小思老師、 李歐梵 教授擔任顧問，相信規模比三十年前的『中大的一日』更 大，也更能反映本校的面貌。」 中大歷史的橫切面─ 「二十一世紀中大的一日」作品徵集 A Cross-section of CUHK History: 21st Century Version of ‘A Day at CUHK’ 「書寫力量」是由自學中心、香港文學研究中心、藝術行 政主任辦公室及吐露詩社聯合主辦的校園藝文活動。 ‘The Power of Words’ is a series of reading and writing events organized by the Independent Learning Centre, Hong Kong Literature Research Centre, the Office of the Arts Administrator, and Tolopoem. 網址 Website: www.ilc.cuhk.edu.hk/go/thepowerofwords.aspx 1980年代初《中大的一日》的編者，從徵集所得的文章 中看到迷惘與失落，「從個人到校園，從低年級到高年 級，瀰漫一股猶疑、躊躇的心態」，令他們不禁詰問： 這會不會「根本就是一個沒出路的年代」？三十年後的 「中大的一日」，我們究竟會從中大人筆下看出甚麼樣 的精神面貌？這就需要大家一起來譜寫，用文字為媒 介，共同組成中大歷史的一個橫切面。 樊善標教授 Prof. Fan Sin-piu