My name is Luo Xuanmin, a professor at Tsinghua University
I decided to translate “Freshman Readings in English”
For one thing, I find it familiar
For another, it is indeed a well-compiled textbook
I believe the textbook played a role in the teaching of National Southwestern Associated University
So that it could be a cradle of such outstanding alumni
It was the English textbook of freshman year students
National Southwestern Associated University was a miracle in the international history of education
Japan invaded China in the summer of 1937
The Imperial Japanese Army bombed Nankai University to the ground
Tsinghua University was occupied
So was Peking University
These three universities retreated to Changsha to form Changsha Temporary University
Two Nobel Prize winners, Yang Chen-Ning, Lee Tsung-Dao
Graduated from National Southwestern Associated University
Qian Zhongshu, Yang Jiang
Wang Zuoliang, Xu Guozhang
Li Funing, Zha Liangzheng
To name just a few among the university pantheon
The editor of the textbook was Chen Futian
Professor Chen was the dean of the foreign languages department
He grew up in the United States
And graduated from Harvard as a master
From his own readings
He searched for suitable materials
Significant and meaningful
Of various styles and genres
And collected them in the book
The textbook includes works of
W.Somerset Maugham, Pearl S. Buck
Lin Yutang, Hu Shih
And the president of MIT, inaugural address, etc
The works can be classified into three categories, one is art and literature
Which arouses inner goodness and courage
One is education, which lifts people out of ignorance
And there is politics that teaches you how to tell right from wrong
And the purpose is
To cultivate a well-rounded person with dream and conscience
In their first year
Just graduating from high school
A student comes with high aspirations
And it’s essential that
They have a reading infused with ideas of well-rounded education
With such education
A student may grow to be a free person
He won’t be fixated on textbook knowledge and grades
And becomes a bookworm
Or sets up his mind on one end and achieves it by fair means or foul
He will know that he should grow to be a modest gentleman
He will sacrifice for his country without fear or hesitation
I learned foreign languages by myself
From the radio
I listened to radio programs and learned
In 1977 I became a university student
And later started teaching at Tsinghua University
The 10 translators are from the three universities
Tsinghua University, Peking University and Nankai University
The translation was finished in half a year
The old English textbook of National Southwestern Associated University
Translated by teachers from the three member universities of National Southwestern Associated University
That is unusual
Guan Ying Graduate of National Southwestern Associated University
Xu Yuanchong Graduate of National Southwestern Associated University Prestigious Translator
Through the translation
I gained a deeper understanding of our foreign language education
Most of the time, we use foreign language as a tool
But real education should be free of utilitarian purposes
Instead, we do it for fun
For being a better human
Well-rounded education exerts formative influence
It is internalized by you unconsciously
And becomes an integrated part of you
It is critical and self-reflective
These are valuable features