李約瑟與浙江大學(xué)的淵源

朱原之?楊之玥?周煒

浙江大學(xué)紫金港校區(qū)圖書館的藏書架前，一位滿頭銀發(fā)的英國紳士興奮得兩眼放光，手舞足蹈。他是英國劍橋大學(xué)教授古克禮，也是劍橋李約瑟研究所的名譽(yù)所長。他得知，浙江大學(xué)藏書架上的書都是70多年前浙大西遷途中完好保存下來的，許多書都與一個(gè)人相關(guān)：李約瑟。

李約瑟博士（Joseph Needham，1900-1995）是英國著名的生物化學(xué)家、中國科技史家，因編寫多卷本《中國科學(xué)技術(shù)史》和提出“李約瑟難題”為世人所熟知?？谷諔?zhàn)爭后期，他接受英國政府派遣出使中國，任英國駐華科學(xué)考察團(tuán)團(tuán)長，并組建中英科學(xué)合作館，兩次造訪當(dāng)時(shí)在遵義、湄潭等地辦學(xué)的浙江大學(xué)。

2017年10月，古克禮代表李約瑟研究所鄭重地將裝訂成冊(cè)的史料交到浙大副校長羅衛(wèi)東手中。這批捐贈(zèng)史料中，包括了李約瑟1944年中國西南之行的日志、照片及文字說明，正式向英國大使館遞交的《關(guān)于1944年8-10月中國西南之旅的報(bào)告》，以及與浙江大學(xué)老校長竺可楨之間的往來通信等，均為高清電子掃描件，將入藏浙江大學(xué)檔案館。

古克禮作了一場題為《李約瑟與浙大》的報(bào)告，講述了70多年前李約瑟與浙大的諸多往事。

兩次造訪浙大為中國科學(xué)家打氣

1937年抗日戰(zhàn)爭全面爆發(fā)，浙江大學(xué)正式開始西遷辦學(xué)的艱難歷程，1940年初抵達(dá)貴州后，浙大以遵義的子彈庫為總部，在湄潭設(shè)立分部，又在青巖、永興兩地先后設(shè)立一年級(jí)分部，1944年4月和10月，李約瑟與夫人、生物學(xué)家桃樂賽曾兩次造訪浙大，留下了大量的珍貴史料。

古克禮說，李約瑟在戰(zhàn)時(shí)來到中國的使命，是“為中國科學(xué)家打氣”。因?yàn)椤霸诶罴s瑟之前，西方印象中的中國是個(gè)只有勞動(dòng)人民和動(dòng)人詩歌，但沒有科學(xué)的國度”。李約瑟回國后在1945年10月出版的《自然》雜志上發(fā)表文章《貴州和廣西的科學(xué)》，他動(dòng)情地描述：

“在遵義之東75公里的湄潭，是浙江大學(xué)科學(xué)活動(dòng)的中心。在那里，不僅有世界第一流的氣象學(xué)家和地理學(xué)家竺可楨，有世界第一流的數(shù)學(xué)家陳建功、蘇步青教授，還有世界第一流的原子能物理學(xué)家盧鶴紱、王淦昌教授。他們是中國科學(xué)事業(yè)的希望。”

在戰(zhàn)爭年代，作為科學(xué)考察團(tuán)的團(tuán)長，李約瑟是怎么“慧眼”識(shí)別這些最?？茖W(xué)家，怎么做出浙大是當(dāng)時(shí)中國最好大學(xué)的判斷的呢？

古克禮說，盡管李約瑟在浙大待的時(shí)間并不長，但浙大濃厚的學(xué)術(shù)氛圍給他留下了極好的印象。他主要的方式就是讀論文、作報(bào)告以及面對(duì)面討論。

日志顯示，李約瑟在浙大期間做過很多場報(bào)告，“報(bào)告會(huì)上的互動(dòng)是直接認(rèn)識(shí)科學(xué)家的方式?！惫趴硕Y說，“他們的提問、討論都顯示著自己的學(xué)術(shù)水平，很真實(shí)。”

古克禮說，李約瑟當(dāng)年就像做讀書卡片一樣，為遇到的每個(gè)科學(xué)家做卡片。每遇到一位科學(xué)家，李約瑟都會(huì)把對(duì)他們的印象寫在一張5英寸乘以7英寸的卡片上，有些卡片上會(huì)寫“非常聰明，在某某領(lǐng)域工作，非常有智慧”，或者“不怎么有趣”。

在坐落于劍橋大學(xué)的李約瑟研究所內(nèi)，這些卡片裝滿6個(gè)抽屜，多數(shù)是科學(xué)家，也包括畫家徐悲鴻。目前，這些卡片還沒有系統(tǒng)整理?！叭绻腥俗粉欉@些卡片上記錄的科學(xué)家們的話，會(huì)非常有價(jià)值?！惫趴硕Y說。

贊譽(yù)浙大為“東方劍橋”

大多數(shù)浙江大學(xué)師生都知道李約瑟贊譽(yù)浙大為“東方劍橋”的故事。是否有可靠的證據(jù)？古克禮撓了撓腦袋說，那時(shí)還沒有錄音筆，所以后來1990年浙大的副校長薛繼良前往英國訪問李約瑟，詢問了關(guān)于“東方劍橋”的說法，當(dāng)時(shí)的對(duì)話是這樣的：

“教授，您對(duì)‘東方劍橋這一稱號(hào)是否還有印象？”

“有，我當(dāng)時(shí)對(duì)竺校長這樣說過?！?/p>

“雖然李約瑟當(dāng)時(shí)已經(jīng)90歲高齡，但他的意識(shí)、頭腦都還很清楚。只是在之前的具體文字記載已經(jīng)找不到了?！钡?，古克禮堅(jiān)定地認(rèn)為“行動(dòng)勝于雄辯”，他拿出一份1944年《貴州日?qǐng)?bào)》的一篇報(bào)道的復(fù)印件，標(biāo)題為：尼德漢（李約瑟）教授贊揚(yáng)我科學(xué)家：聯(lián)大浙大不啻牛津劍橋哈佛。

“這篇報(bào)道基于同年的另一篇報(bào)道，該報(bào)道記錄了李約瑟與UCCL（Universities China Committee in London）的一場談話。從李約瑟當(dāng)時(shí)的記錄本中可以看到，上面寫著‘Zheda的提示詞?；蛟S就是在那次談話中出現(xiàn)了著名言論‘東方劍橋?！惫趴硕Y教授稱，李約瑟每次談話都會(huì)提前寫幾個(gè)關(guān)鍵詞，那一次寫的是Zheda。

古克禮多次表示，李約瑟對(duì)浙大的感情是真摯的。李約瑟的日志中記載，李約瑟教授曾經(jīng)從印度為浙大捐贈(zèng)過無數(shù)實(shí)驗(yàn)儀器與藥品試劑；到1945年底總共為浙大購置了將近300本書籍，總數(shù)已經(jīng)多于中國當(dāng)時(shí)任何一所學(xué)府。

與老校長竺可楨結(jié)下深厚友誼

“這所學(xué)校一共有3輛車，但我去的時(shí)候3輛都在修理?！崩罴s瑟在考察日志中記錄了戰(zhàn)亂年代的真實(shí)狀況。

在連車馬交通都不便，更沒有電子郵件的年代，科學(xué)家們?cè)趺唇涣鲗W(xué)術(shù)呢？日志顯示，李約瑟訪華期間，與浙大的羅登義、談家楨、王淦昌、束星北等都進(jìn)行過面對(duì)面的深入交流，最終，這些科學(xué)家的論文通過李約瑟建立的中英科學(xué)合作館，帶到了英國，并在《自然》等國際知名期刊上發(fā)表。

竺可楨老校長與李約瑟保持了長達(dá)30年的書信往來。在浙大期間，竺可楨是李約瑟全程的向?qū)Ш团阃抢罴s瑟在日志里的“Guiding Chu”。

史料捐贈(zèng)現(xiàn)場，古克禮特意沖洗了一張?bào)每蓸E與李約瑟在意大利參加學(xué)術(shù)會(huì)議的合影，裝裱在木質(zhì)的相框里，送給浙大?！澳阒?，有一位好朋友是一件幸福的事，尤其當(dāng)你有一位中國好朋友。因?yàn)樗芸孔V，會(huì)誠心誠意地幫助你?！?/p>

1948年，李約瑟收到了五大箱來自中國的圖書資料，并附上一張圖書清單，書名和數(shù)量標(biāo)注得清晰工整。這份李約瑟口中的“王子般的禮物”，正是寄自浙大的竺可楨校長，這為李約瑟日后編寫他的成名作《中國科學(xué)技術(shù)史》提供了豐厚的研究資料。

In autumn 2017， Zhejiang University received a donation of historical documentation from the Needham Research Institute located on the grounds of Robinson College in Cambridge， England. Professor Christopher Cullen， a staff member with Cambridge University and honorary director of the Needham Research Institute， came with the donation all the way from England.

On October 19， Professor Cullen presented the donation to Zhejiang University on behalf of the Needham Research Institute. The donation includes Dr. Joseph Needhams journal and captioned photos of his tour in South-West China August-October in 1944， an official report on his journey dated August-October 1944 he wrote and presented to the UK embassy in China， and his correspondences with Zhu Kezhen， president of Zhejiang University during these years. All the documents are scanned copies from the originals. The documents will be housed at the Archives of Zhejiang University.

Joseph Needham （1900-1995） was a British scientist， historian and sinologist known for his scientific research and writing on the history of Chinese science and technology. He is also well known for The Needham Puzzle： Why Industrial Revolution Did Not Originate in China. Toward the end of Chinas resistance war against Japanese aggression， he was appointed by the British Government to tour China. He visited Zhejiang University twice， which journeyed all the way from Zhejiang Province to avoid war and temporarily settled down at Zunyi and Meitan， Guizhou Province in southwestern China.

At the donation ceremony， Luo Weidong， on behalf of Zhejiang University， expressed his gratitude to the Needham Research Institute for the valuable historical documents. He said that people of the 120-year-old Zhejiang University are quite familiar with Joseph Needham and the donation adds material testimonials to the important events in the history of the university. As the university is putting together a history of the university， Luo hoped more historical information would certainly make the compilation more accurate and authoritative.

After the ceremony， Professor Cullen gave a lecture on how Joseph Needham interacted with Zhejiang University over 70 years ago.

Zhejiang University began its westward odyssey after the outbreak of the nations resistance war against Japanese aggression in 1937. In early 1940， it reached Guizhou and settled in Zunyi and set up campuses respectively in Meitan， Qingyan and Yongxing. In April and October 1944， Joseph Needham and his wife Dorothy Moyle visited Zhejiang University twice. His wartime China mission was to help Chinese scientists. Before him， the west was under the impression that China was a nation of laborers and poems and that it was a nation without science. Needham published an article in Nature in October 1945， reporting what he had seen in wartime Guizhou and Guangxi. In the article， he mentioned world-class Chinese scientists such as mathematicians Chen Jiangong and Su Buqing and nuclear scientists Lu Hefu and Wang Ganchang.

How did Needham come to recognize Zhejiang University as the best higher-education institute of China？ Needham read academic papers， gave lectures and talked face-to-face with people of Zhejiang University. Needhams journal reveals that he gave many lectures. The scientists with the University responded earnestly and the questions they raised and the discussions that followed indicated their world-class knowledge and perspective and insight. Needham made notes of every scientist he met in Zhejiang University. These notes were all made on 5x7 inch cards： a name and a brief comment. All the cards are packed in six drawers at the Needham Research Institute. The professor suggested that it would be very valuable if someone sorted them out systematically and traced them to see what happened in their lives and careers later.

On many occasions Professor Cullen said that Needham had a true love for Zhejiang University. His journal reveals that he bought laboratory supplies and devices in India and donated them to Zhejiang University during the wartime. By the end of 1945， he purchased nearly 300 books for Zhejiang University. Through his recommendation， Professors Luo Dengyi， Tan Jiazhen， Wang Ganchang and Shu Xingbei published their papers in renowned science journals such as Nature.

In 1948， Needham received five cartons of books from President Zhu Kezhen with a manifest of the objects shipped all the way from China. Needham considered the books as “a princely gift”. These books served as a rich source of reference s for his landmark book .

Professor Cullen was very happy to visit a valuable section at the library of Zijingang Campus of Zhejiang University. On the shelves in the section are the books Needham bought and donated to Zhejiang University in the 1940s.