Newsletter No. 409

8 No. 409, 19.12.2012 The articles collected in this book are grouped into ‘Students’, ‘Teachers’, ‘University’ and ‘Memories’. The first three groups are about his exchanges with and remembrances of people and events at CUHK. The last group, which tells of his childhood stories, sees the mingling of the bitterness of a young migrant to Hong Kong with the joy of a booklover roaming second- hand bookstores in London. To Chow, there is no shortcut to the pursuit of knowledge. One has to go back to and immerse oneself in the classics. He remembers the teaching of his philosophy teacher, Dr. Philip Shen, and concludes, ‘The best humanistic education is the diligent reading of classics led by the teacher, to take on classics of all ages and cultures.’ (page 91) This has led him to start his own literary salon at home. He is one exemplar of many in the humanistic tradition of CUHK which insists on an intimate knowledge of classics from both the East and the West. In an age where PowerPoint presentations are ubiquitous in any lecture theatre, Prof. Chow Po-chung may be an exception. 初為人父，目睹世情紛亂，現實脫離理想，但周保松仍在小 女兒的臉上見到人間美善的可能。同樣祈願呱呱墜地的女 兒能在濁世中穩妥成長的，還有愛爾蘭詩人葉慈： I have walked and prayed for this young child an hour And heard the sea-wind scream upon the tower, … May she become a flourishing hidden tree That all her thoughts may like the linnet be, … O may she live like some green laurel Rooted in one dear perpetual place. (‘A Prayer for My Daughter’) Yeats wrote this famous poem upon the birth of his daughter in 1919 in the midst of personal uncertainties and political turmoil. In 2011, another father had this wish for his newborn daughter: ‘May you grow up to embrace life, wisdom, and everything that is beautiful in life with passion and zeal. You and I, and your mother and others will work on this together to make the world a better place. We must have faith in this.’ (page 6) The father is Prof. Chow Po-chung of the Department of Government and Public Administration of CUHK. A passionate teacher and ardent supporter of the educational ideals enshrined in the regulations of New Asia College, from which he graduated in 1995, Chow is acutely aware of the gulf between what he thinks education should be and how it is practised today. The Way To Be , written in Chinese, is a testimony to his Q&A on the subject. 《走進生命的學問》 作者：周保松 出版：三聯書店 年份：2012 頁數：273 Does Chow Po-chung use PowerPoint in class? 周保松上課用PowerPoint嗎？ 這個年代，老師授課，講者演說，為了方便學生或遷就聽 者，誰沒有製備一套PowerPoint？但中大的周保松可能 是個例外，因為這不是他理想中講學授業、啟勵思維的方 式。 1995年畢業於新亞書院的周保松，2002年回中大教授政 治哲學，此後一直身體力行，承傳着中大代代堅持究典窮經 的人文傳統。在追念老師沈宣仁的一篇文中，他這樣寫道： 「……在我的讀書和教學經驗中，也慢慢體會到，最好的人 文教育，是由老師帶着一群學生，以認真虔誠的態度，精 研人類文明各種經典。」（頁91）他的讀書會「犁典沙龍」 就是這樣在家裏辦下來的。 銘鑄周保松心上的新亞學規：「做人的最高基礎在求學，求 學之最高旨趣在做人」，令他矢志終生尋求學問，但堅持學 問必須需是走進生命的，這本書也因而得名。 本書文章歸為四輯。頭三輯都與中文大學有關。〈學生〉所 輯多為周保松以書信形式，與畢業同學談學問論人生的文 章；〈老師〉悼陳特、念沈宣仁、記高錕；〈大學〉寫中大人的 氣象，寫新亞精神。第四輯〈回憶〉，有細訴童年往事、移民 辛酸，也有回味徜徉倫敦二手書店之樂的。 周保松在〈自序〉結尾，對初生女兒有如許祝願：「女兒啊， 願你慢慢長大，熱愛生活熱愛智慧熱愛人間美好事物，並和 爸爸媽媽及其他人一起，努力令世界變好。我們要有這樣的 信心。」（頁6） 范克廉樓口水雞 Franklin’s Drool-worthy Fowl 到目前為止，只有川菜死忠分子才知道有這道菜，我們覺得是時候讓所有人（畏辣之士除外）都 一嚐它的滋味。本部校園范克廉樓學生飯堂供應美味的口水雞，這道著名川菜冷盤以雞為主， 配以大量以花椒調製的辛辣醬汁。 飯堂的廖志光說，炮製醬汁的香料和調味料，購自專門直接從大陸進口非粵菜食材的供應商， 材料包括炮椒、指天椒和青花椒。青花椒炒過後放在油中泡兩三個星期；製作口水雞前兩三 天，炮椒和指天椒也先炒一遍再泡於油中，之後全部混合，上菜前加入陳醋。做口水雞的油曾 用來炒肉，是以這道菜散發隱約肉香。 這道口水雞的雞腿是在以元貝和蝦乾熬成的高湯中煮熟，澆上上述醬汁，伴以熟椰菜，再灑上 花生碎。 青花椒是川菜特有的食材，令川菜不同於其他以辣著稱的地方菜，如湘菜、滇菜、印度菜和韓國 菜。它們是口水雞的靈魂，食者舌頭有刺麻的感覺。運用得當，煮出來菜香氣誘人、風味獨特， 食之生津。 So far, only fans of Sichuanese cuisine know about this, but we think it’s about time everyone, except the most heat-averse, give it a try. The Benjamin Franklin student canteen on Central Campus serves an excellent Kou Shui Ji or ‘Mouth-watering Chicken’, a famous Sichuanese cold dish comprising chicken laced with liberal lashings of a spicy sauce made with Sichuan peppercorns. Johnny Liu of the canteen says the spices and condiments for the sauce are sourced from a special supplier that imports non-Cantonese cooking ingredients directly from mainland China. They include dried cannon peppers, ‘heaven-pointing’ peppers, and greenish-black peppercorns. The peppercorns are fried then left to soak in oil for two or three weeks. Then two or three days before preparing the dish, the peppers are also fried and left to sit in the oil. The two are then combined and Chinese black vinegar is added just before serving. The oil for the dish has been used to fry meat, so it lends a subtle meaty flavor to the dish. The sauce is then poured over a chicken leg that’s been boiled in a broth with dried scallops and dried shrimp. The dish is then served with boiled cabbage and a sprinkle of chopped peanuts. Peppercorns are what distinguish Sichuanese cooking from cuisines that also have spicy dishes, such as Hunanese. Yunnanese, Indian, Thai and Korean. They’re the soul of the dish, imparting a tingly and numbing sensation to the tongue. When used right, like they are here, they can be extremely aromatic, flavourful, and mouth-watering.