That was the spring of 1979. I was on the forum for the first time at Nankai University, in lecture hall 111 of the main building, talking about the Shen Si of Wen Xin Diao Long (The classical book of literary criticism) ... At that time, Chen Hong, the Chair Professor of Nankai University, had just won the 2020 Education and Teaching Lifetime Achievement Award of Nankai University, and was standing on the stage and giving his acceptance speech. He shared the story of his first lecture 41 years ago. After class, a deputy director of the Academic Affairs Office came to attend the lecture. He stopped me and hardily encouraged me, and asked me to stand on the stage and keep lecturing until I became a famous teacher at Nankai.

Attaching importance to education and teaching has always been Nankai's glorious tradition, and it is very precious. Professor Chen Hong said that the encouragement given in the past strengthened his original aspirations and inspired a young man to set roots at Nankai and do one thing well.

Professor Chen Hong has never left Nankai University since 1978 when he skipped the undergraduate course and entered Nankai University to study as a master student. He has long been engaged in the research and teaching of Chinese traditional culture, Chinese classical literature, the history of Chinese literary criticism, ancient Chinese novel theory, Ming and Qing novels, literature and religion, etc. Chen is now a well-known scholar and respected professor at Nankai, and has earned the nickname Mr. Nankai. As the saying goes, true talents always shine through.

In ancient China, there was a famous allusion to the 'Golden Terrace of the King of Yan Zhao'. Li Bai had a lyric in his poem called ‘King Yan Zhao treated Guo Wei, and he built the Golden Terrace.' ‘The Golden Terrace' is impactful and it represents a kind of value. Since then, Yan Guo has attracted talents and genius, and has gradually moved towards its revival. “The school’s award to teachers dedicated to education represents a distinct value orientation and is sending a signal that the primary function of the university is to educate people,” Professor Chen said.

There is no best but only better for being a teacher

A good teacher is not the same as another good teacher. Chen believes that university teachers do not share a unified model, nor should they be identical. Classroom teaching should allow for the existence of multiple methods and styles while the basic requirement is an attitude towards teaching and academic ability to support its teaching.

For example, Mr. Luo Zongqiang is a bit introverted, not necessarily gifted at speech, and has a strong Chaoshan accent when he speaks, but his lectures to undergraduates are particularly effective because the students can perceive the beauty of his inner thoughts and logic. “Among the teachers that I have seen, some are very fast, some are very slow, others are good at eloquence or not. They are well-learned and serious, and they are all 'good teachers',” Professor Chen said.

The purpose of education is to educate people, but it is difficult to quantify 100% of the work. If you want to teach a lesson well, there is a lot of invisible work behind it, which requires both attitude and ability. No one knows whether one hour of preparation or three are spent behind a class, for they are just consolidated into one lecture. If the teacher asks a student to stay after the class for a talk because he suspects that they may have some personal problems, he is subtle and the other students are none the wiser …  Professor Chen Hong said that education and teaching can’t be the best, but better. We can always do better. It is an endless endeavor.

Spiritual Pursuit and Full Devotion are Needed for the Study

University is the place with the largest mental and spiritual space. The main task is to face knowledge. When reading, I am enriching my spirit, and when I am writing, I express my spiritual activities. Facing young students, I feel life and vitality. When Chen gave lectures on academic research for graduate students, he said that learning and teaching at the university, work and life experience, life and reality, are all blended together. In this sense, university teaching can be described as the happiest profession.

But there should be no deception. Professor Chen said that teachers should be sincere in their academic pursuits and base them in the investigation of truth, and thus live up to their academic career and the sacred mission of teaching and educating people. We need to have such a high standard for ourselves to be worthy of every smart student who comes to Nankai University to study.

Having been teaching for many years, has Chen has made any outstanding achievements that he is proud of? Professor Chen Hong laughed and said that it was a kind of feeling: Every time I give undergraduates a class, especially after a large class, I would be excited for a long time. Walking into the classroom and standing on the podium, you will feel the whole space with a mental aura between and within you, and the interaction with the students can light up your spiritual spark. When you gets more passionate, your logical deduction and emotional investment get a feedback and echo; it can be summed up in the saying 'it is not easy to be a king without being accepted by your people'.

Sincerity and Cooperation are Indispensable between Students and Teachers

Education and teaching are made to function through the cooperation between teachers and students. When I have a class I would asked students to stand up and pay attention to each other. Some netizens disapproved of the public class on the internet, and felt that it was formalistic. In fact, this is based on two considerations. One is to shake up the spirit; the other is a sense of ritual—teaching and learning are both solemn and serious things, which must be accomplished by both teachers and students together.

In the Chen’s eyes, universities are gardens of souls and halls of knowledge. Nankai's style of study has its own traditions and characteristics, which is both simple and rich. In addition, Nankai is more tolerant. He expressed the hope that generations of Nankai teachers and students will treat each other with sincerity, work together, carry forward the tradition, re-innovate, and constantly open up a new future of education and teaching in Nankai, cultivating thousands of hundreds of students all around the world.

The 2020 Nankai University Education and Teaching Lifetime Achievement Award is given to Chen Hong

Chen Hong has served as Chair Professor of Nankai University, Chief Study Superintendent of Tianjin Municipal Government, Deputy Director of the Academic Committee of Nankai University; former Chairman of Tianjin Federation of Literary and Art Circles, Executive Vice President of Nankai University, Dean of the College of Arts, Director of the Chinese Subject Teaching Steering Committee of the Ministry of Education, Education Deputy Director of the Ministry of Discipline Development and Professional Setting Expert Committee, Deputy Director of the Cultural Quality Education Steering Committee of the Ministry of Education. He served as the editorial board member of newspapers such as Literature Heritage and Tianjin Social Science, the editor-in-chief of Literature and Culture magazine, and served as part-time professor in many well-known universities in China and abroad.

Professor Chen has been teaching at Nankai University for more than 40 years and is both a well-known scholar and an outstanding teacher. He won the first prize and second prize of the national teaching achievement, BaoGang Outstanding Teacher Award, National Teaching Teacher Award, etc., and was selected as a leading talent in the National Ten Thousand Talents Program. Among the doctoral students supervised by Professor Chen Hong, a National Hundred Excellent Doctoral Dissertation Award and a nomination award were acquired; in addition, students have won the championship of the first national Sinology Master Challenge Competition under his guidance.

Professor Chen Hong has served as the director of the Chinese Discipline Teaching Committee of the Ministry of Education for two consecutive terms. He has led the formulation of the National Teaching Quality Standards for Chinese Language and Literature, which has exerted a significant influence in the field of higher education and has been promulgated and implemented nationwide. He edited a number of textbooks, among which The Theoretical History of Chinese Fiction was designated as a postgraduate textbook by the Ministry of Education. His recorded Six Classics Guided Reading course was selected as the first batch of national quality video public courses.

In the field of quality education, the teaching reform project Contemporary College Students’ Mother Tongue Education Concept Innovation, Resource Construction and College Chinese Curriculum Reform led by Professor Chen Hong won the first prize of the national teaching achievement. This achievement will enhance mother tongue literacy and national cultural identity in the curriculum positioning, which is the first to develop three-dimensional, integrated, and digital teaching resources and explore undergraduate education in the internet environment. The relevant main textbook University Chinese has been selected as a national planning textbook for the 12th and 13th Five-Year Plan, which is used by more than 100 universities nationwide. He undertook more than ten training sessions for young Chinese teachers of colleges and universities nationwide organized by the Ministry of Education, which effectively promoted the deepening of college Chinese education in colleges and universities across the country.

Professor Chen Hong has undertaken major national social science projects twice. In 2019, he served as the chief expert to preside over the project of 'Chinese Poetry Education' and the Inheritance of Chinese Traditional Culture, serving the national cultural power strategy with far-reaching influence.

(Reported by Fang Lan, Photographed by Qiqi Zong, Translated by Wenhan Lin, Edited by STEFAN SARAH DANIELLE and JianjingYun)