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「別夢依稀咒逝川，故人三十二年前。」 這次相聚，是我與洪俊雄1966年分別之後四十二年第一次見面。他第一句就說，「你在 Florida，我要去找你。」 非常歡迎。 有朋自遠方來。不亦樂乎。我們多少年才能相聚一次？下次再見又是何時？
我們八個班友加上五位夫人，中午在「傅鐘」集合。 是洪敏弘在校園的一個新餐廳為我們安排了午餐。洪董是我們八位中唯一與台大常有接觸的人。他送給每個人一本叫「挑戰創新－台大創業家」的書。 洪敏弘是書中創業家當中唯一從電機系大學部畢業的的學生。 是我們６４級的光榮。他也給大家一片「台灣生態探索」的DVD。 我從頭看到尾。 非常美麗感人。使我知道台灣每年仍然提升几個mm。每天都有地震，而且五年一大震。吃飯的時候我坐在陳正一夫婦旁邊，與他們交談最久。陳總從台灣衛星第一把手退休後，並沒有閒下來。夫人吳紀珠在中國，越南和台灣全島部有業務。陳說他是她提箱子的祕書。行影不離 席上幾乎都是以台語交談。我的台語本來就不太靈光。這次回台任教，在很多場合裡，我都是「聽無」。 但在這個餐桌上不同。 我完全可以聽懂。原因可能是班友們仍然講的是古典台語。與我在童年時聽到的相同。現下年輕教授的台語已有相當的改變。我聽起來非常吃力。
相聚的目的之一是確定下次 REUNION 的時間地點。 陳哲俊一直都為這些事情費心。基本上，我們決定在明年農曆新年左右見面。這是台灣方面同學的最佳時段。
午餐之後，我們跟隨洪敏弘在校園散步，想看看見新建的几棟電機大樓。他仍然是電機工程系的教授，有大門的鑰匙。現在電機系（包括資訊系）有100多位教授。我們的老師白光弘以九十的高齡，仍然在這裡作研究。還記得在我們新生訓練的時候，有師長以「台大之大」為題教訓我們？我現在更能體會它。以前台大的後院已建設得與我們在時的前院差不多大小，有新式的大樓，有林蔭的大道，也有佈滿野薑花的池塘。當年嶄新的化學館已顯得非常渺小。特別是我們每天上課的工程館。現在是全屬土木系。看起來是那樣的破爛老舊。土木工程系真該加油。
從椰林道路出來，已是四點多鐘。有人建議我們去新生南路吃紅豆冰。他們說我們當年這家店已經存在，但是我無法記起。當我們坐在店裡品嚐紅豆冰時，有一個年輕人很有禮貌的對我們「笑問客從何處來？」 我們據實以告。我們是台大電機64校友，回母校參觀。想不到這個年輕人也是台大電機的畢業生。他比我們晚了20屆，現在是交通大學教授。當我為他介紹我們的同班同學時。有台灣電信局的大老陳呈祿，有台灣衛星太斗陳正一，台灣遙測先驅陳哲俊。他不得不對我們這一群另眼相看。後來，他說他研究的領域是光電。我告訴他我們正好有這行的專家吳振和。就坐在他面前。他不但有創新理論，而且建立一家世界級的 LED 公司。當我們離開時，他對我們一一握手道別。其實，我發現台大電機系的都非常和曖可親。幾周前，我與小慈逛台大校園，請一位面善的同學為我們拍照片。一問，他竟然也是電機系的學生。
回程，阿博(孫芳德)同我一起搭乘台北捷運。我要去火車站搭高鐵回台中，他要回他母親的家，在天母。他說他在士林下車之後，再乘公共汽車到天母。我非常驚奇。以阿博之富，竟然還等公共汽車。更令我驚奇的是，他建議我如果乘高鐵到台南，不如學他，乾脆坐到高雄，然後回頭搭區間車到台南，因為高鐵台南站離台南市區太遠，要300新台幣的計程車費。如此勤儉起家，一輩子改不過來。「一憚食，一瓢飲。人不堪其憂，回也不改樂其，賢哉回也。」
昨天我與阿牟通電話，他要看照片。一看，他說「你看起來比真人年輕，是因為你臉上的皺紋在照片上顯示不出來。」好個阿牟，實事求是，一針見血。附上兩張在校園拍的照片。
我們八個班友加上五位夫人，中午在「傅鐘」集合。 是洪敏弘在校園的一個新餐廳為我們安排了午餐。洪董是我們八位中唯一與台大常有接觸的人。他送給每個人一本叫「挑戰創新－台大創業家」的書。 洪敏弘是書中創業家當中唯一從電機系大學部畢業的的學生。 是我們６４級的光榮。他也給大家一片「台灣生態探索」的DVD。 我從頭看到尾。 非常美麗感人。使我知道台灣每年仍然提升几個mm。每天都有地震，而且五年一大震。吃飯的時候我坐在陳正一夫婦旁邊，與他們交談最久。陳總從台灣衛星第一把手退休後，並沒有閒下來。夫人吳紀珠在中國，越南和台灣全島部有業務。陳說他是她提箱子的祕書。行影不離 席上幾乎都是以台語交談。我的台語本來就不太靈光。這次回台任教，在很多場合裡，我都是「聽無」。 但在這個餐桌上不同。 我完全可以聽懂。原因可能是班友們仍然講的是古典台語。與我在童年時聽到的相同。現下年輕教授的台語已有相當的改變。我聽起來非常吃力。
相聚的目的之一是確定下次 REUNION 的時間地點。 陳哲俊一直都為這些事情費心。基本上，我們決定在明年農曆新年左右見面。這是台灣方面同學的最佳時段。
午餐之後，我們跟隨洪敏弘在校園散步，想看看見新建的几棟電機大樓。他仍然是電機工程系的教授，有大門的鑰匙。現在電機系（包括資訊系）有100多位教授。我們的老師白光弘以九十的高齡，仍然在這裡作研究。還記得在我們新生訓練的時候，有師長以「台大之大」為題教訓我們？我現在更能體會它。以前台大的後院已建設得與我們在時的前院差不多大小，有新式的大樓，有林蔭的大道，也有佈滿野薑花的池塘。當年嶄新的化學館已顯得非常渺小。特別是我們每天上課的工程館。現在是全屬土木系。看起來是那樣的破爛老舊。土木工程系真該加油。
從椰林道路出來，已是四點多鐘。有人建議我們去新生南路吃紅豆冰。他們說我們當年這家店已經存在，但是我無法記起。當我們坐在店裡品嚐紅豆冰時，有一個年輕人很有禮貌的對我們「笑問客從何處來？」 我們據實以告。我們是台大電機64校友，回母校參觀。想不到這個年輕人也是台大電機的畢業生。他比我們晚了20屆，現在是交通大學教授。當我為他介紹我們的同班同學時。有台灣電信局的大老陳呈祿，有台灣衛星太斗陳正一，台灣遙測先驅陳哲俊。他不得不對我們這一群另眼相看。後來，他說他研究的領域是光電。我告訴他我們正好有這行的專家吳振和。就坐在他面前。他不但有創新理論，而且建立一家世界級的 LED 公司。當我們離開時，他對我們一一握手道別。其實，我發現台大電機系的都非常和曖可親。幾周前，我與小慈逛台大校園，請一位面善的同學為我們拍照片。一問，他竟然也是電機系的學生。
回程，阿博(孫芳德)同我一起搭乘台北捷運。我要去火車站搭高鐵回台中，他要回他母親的家，在天母。他說他在士林下車之後，再乘公共汽車到天母。我非常驚奇。以阿博之富，竟然還等公共汽車。更令我驚奇的是，他建議我如果乘高鐵到台南，不如學他，乾脆坐到高雄，然後回頭搭區間車到台南，因為高鐵台南站離台南市區太遠，要300新台幣的計程車費。如此勤儉起家，一輩子改不過來。「一憚食，一瓢飲。人不堪其憂，回也不改樂其，賢哉回也。」
昨天我與阿牟通電話，他要看照片。一看，他說「你看起來比真人年輕，是因為你臉上的皺紋在照片上顯示不出來。」好個阿牟，實事求是，一針見血。附上兩張在校園拍的照片。
14 comments:
Mark Yang, you are good in reporting. You make me feel like I were there with you the whole time. For those in the pictures, I say "Hi, good to see you all."
It is nice to see the photos of our classmates (with their sweet hearts) gathering around our good old campus. I haven’t been there for some time. In the first photo, I have no idea what the building is in the background. I bet it is some later or new building that had nothing to do with us in 1964. The 2nd photo is a very good one. Everyone looks young, healthy, smile & content in front of 傅鐘---the landmark of Taida. To me, beside 傅鐘, the other most impressive things in Taida are 傅園 & 杜鵑花大道 (from the Taida entrance to 森林館.). I enjoyed the Taida life most in our freshmen year. 傅鐘 & 傅園 were built in memory of 傅斯年. We have never seen 傅斯年 in campus since he passed away around 1950. He died when he was interrogated by a member of 台湾省議會. I didn’t know 省議會 was that tough at that time. Anyway he is considered the best president Taida has ever had since 1945.
Thank you, Mark Yang, to write a so
complete report about our get-together on March 21. If you have to pick up fish bone from egg, there were a few typos, which are inevitable for amateur typing.
Cheers,
A. J. Chen
AJ said “蛋裏挑骨頭”. Usually I don’t do this since I very often did typos myself. However, MarkYang is a popular person. I take exception to do it once & promise no next time.
1. "一憚食，一瓢飲。人不堪其憂，回也不改樂其，賢哉回也。" should be "一 簞食，一瓢飲, 在 陋 巷, 人不堪其憂，回也不改其樂，賢哉回也!"
2. 和曖可親 should be 和藹可親.
3. 太斗 should be 泰斗. Strictly speaking, 太斗 is ok too. However, 泰斗 is more formal. So this one is “蛋裏挑針”.
The followings are some I forgot to comment last time:
1. What is 白光弘 doing in EE? Do we know the subject of his research?
2. “台大之大就是如此之大”乃三民主義老師程維賢之言. I remember he delivered this introductory speech on the first day of our Taida’s life.
3. I met one 土木系同學 last year. He said they (civil engineers) were so busy in building bridges or government projects, they didn’t have time to build anything for themselves. Perhaps our 工程館 (so run down) should be called 土木工程館. Anyway, after what he said, I don’t know whether they are 先天下之錢而錢 or 後天下之樂而樂..
4. I knew Apo since I was in junior high. He seemed not that thrifty as I could remember. Remember he rode the best scooter (though Ike Hong may not agree, he got original Vespa). He got the best engineering rule (三稜尺) in 凌霄’s class. He also got the LP record with best quality (RCA原版) etc etc etc. I have a lot of respect for him. Anyway, 工欲善其事, 必先利其器. We got the benefits from Apo’s effort as he always worked out the assignments before anybody else. As to why he behaves differently these days, I have no explanation. Perhaps he just likes to lead a different kind of life for a change. After all, go green, save energy & natural resources are important these days.
5. As to Amo, he is always interesting & unconventional. If you need something more colorful or controversial, invite Amo to your party.
這篇報告多謝大家校正，幸峰還算高抬貴手。文中錯白字仍有許多，「歹勢，歹勢。」人的眼力真的有限。有時寫論文，生命交關，几個作者一看再看，仍免不了明顯的錯字。像「回也不改樂其」，不是幸峰提起，我一直沒有發現「其樂」打反了。
As to the building of the first picture, I think it is the new Law School Building in the main campus. On what is 白光弘老師的研究, only 洪敏弘 may know. I think 程維賢 mentioned the name of that 台湾省議員 who interrogated 傅斯年. His name was 郭國基.
If I may. There is still a tiny bone. "Tai Dou" comes from "Tai San, Bei Dou". Tai San was considered the highest peak, while Bei Dou the brightest star. The Tai character must be the one by Mark Lin because that is the name of the peak.
Cheer.
President Fu of Taida was truely a great man. He was a protector of academic freedom. He made Taida to be about the only piece of land in Taiwan where politics and military had little or no influence. I had heard from elders who were directly or indirectly associated with Taida faculty that President Fu had saved a lot of Taiwanese scholars from persecution. At Taida, there was no national anthem every morning, and you could hardly see military personnels in our campus. I would say that the freedom we enjoyed at Taida is a gift from him. Taida may not be a first class school in the world, but this hard earned freedom by President Fu made Taida as prestigious as any in the world.
The sound of bell seems to always strike deep in human minds. So, Fu Bell is quite an adequate monument for President Fu.
Markyang has a good memory about 郭國基. I remember he got another name: 郭大炮. No wonder 傅校長 succumbed to his attack. Wei’s description about 傅斯年 is fairly accurate. Although Taida was not completely independent from the political influence, it was the best among the higher learning institutions.
PS: Wei is correct on 泰斗: 泰山和北斗之合稱. I have one remark. As far as I know, 北斗 is a constellation (星座 or 星宿), not a star. Sometime we say 北斗七星, or 大熊星座. Astronomically, it is called Ursa Major, Big Bear in Greek. Most people call it Big Dipper, because it sure looks like a dipper than a bear. The first two stars of the dipper form a line that points to the Polaris (北極星). The brightest star in the sky is Sirius (天狼星) of Canis Major (大犬座). Usually you don’t see 大熊座 & 大犬座 at the same time, since one appears in summer & the other one appears in winter (evening time). Some of you may still remember our Alaska reunion cruise several years ago. The first town we visited was Ketchikan. When we were there, we saw a lot of flags with Big Dipper along the downtown streets. Do you know why? The answer is that Big Dipper with Polaris is Alaska’s state flag. Why do they pick the Big Dipper? I have one explanation. Alaska is very close to the North Pole. People there can’t see a lot of stars of the south & the night in the winter can last 20 hours long. When you don’t have anything to do outside & all you can see up in the sky is that 7-star Big Dipper, what do you do? Paint it on the flag! So Alaska got the state flag.
I might add that the distance between the 2nd star to the Polaris
is about 3 times the distance between 1st and 2nd star in the Big Dipper.
A. J. Chen
Dear AJ,
To pick a bone in the egg, I hope you don't mind me pointing out that Polaris is located at about 5times the distance between the first and the second stars of the Big Dipper.
As a kid, I was amazed by the stars in the sky, much like most kids. Watching the night sky and learing the star maps interested me a lot then. Toward the later part of my career, I had chances to learn more about the space science and the universe. The advancement of science lets us know so much more about the universe we are in. For those of you who are interested, web sites of NASA offer many interesting readings and photos.
For Polaris, it is very close to Earth's north celestial polar (about 0.7 degree, and its value changes slowly). It rotates about the celestial north in a circle about 1.5 degree in diameter (Just for comparison, the disc of moon is about 0.5 degree). Only twice a day, it is truely the "polar" star. Earth's rotation axis is actually changing slowly and eventually, there will be other stars that take the place of 'polar star'. That will happen in long time on the time scale of our life, but not on the time scale of the earth or the universe.
Polaris actually is a trinary system consisted of three stars. Scientists know that from the analysis of the light spectrum and by observation. NASA's Hubble Telescope made the observation much clear. The intensity of the Polaris is oscillating with a period of 4 days. It used be more bright and used to change its maginitude more than we see now. Scientists believe that the star was 2.5 times brighter when ancient Egyptian astronomer recorded it.
Because of the increase in light bcakground and the polution in most areas, it is much harder to have a good look stars in the nightly sky now. The last time I was able to had a good peek was during a camping trip at High Sierra in Central California almost twenty years ago. Sigh :(.
Cheer,
Cheng-I Chen
I enjoy the NASA photos very much. For your reference:
The big dipper
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap070108.html
Night sky without light pollution
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap070814.html
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap080416.html
Sirius
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap001006.html
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap081216.html
It is interesting in getting so many comments from a simple interpretation of 泰斗(Wei started). This really proves our Chinese saying: 學海無涯. Cheng-I worked on aerospace technology & must have a lot of knowledge on astronomy. I am just an amateur. I‘d like to add some remark (註解) to what he said. The earth rotates in the space like a spinning top with 23.5 degrees angle to the orbit. Because of the gravitational pull of the sun & moon, it also has a precession. The period of the precession is about 26,000 years. So the rotation axis will change when time goes by. The axis will point to Polaris(now), Alpha Cephei(5,000 years later), Vega(7,000 years later) , Thuban(9,000 years later), and Polaris again(5,000 years later). Thuban is alpha star of Draco(天龍座). Alpha Cephei is alpha star of Cepheus (仙王座). Vega is 織女星(alpha star of Lyra,天琴座), very bright. So 12,000 years later, people will have little trouble finding the north. It is also interesting to note that our ancester 黃帝 saw Thuban instead of Polaris as the polar star 4,700 years ago. Like Cheng-I said, 26,000 years is really negligible comparing to the age of the earth-4.5 billion years.
In Markyang’s comment, http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap070814.html is interesting.
We can see a bright star on the right hand side. It is the famous Arcturus. The last two stars of the Big Dipper can be used to point to Arcturus. Its Chinese name is 大 角 星, 是 牧 夫 座 (Bootes) 的 alpha star. If we also extend (with a little bent) the line further with same length, we will see another bright star Spica (角星), alpha star of Virgo (室女座) in the south (now shown in the photo). So the Big Dipper is very useful in the Northern Hemisphere.
Near the end of my last comment “(now shown in the photo)” should be “(not shown in the photo)”.
In Markyang’s comment, http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap081216.html shows the brightest star Sirius. It is right next to the Orion (lower left, 獵户座). You can’t miss it when you face south in the winter evening. This star has some historical meaning to the ancient Egyptians. It rose in the east just before dawn on the first day of summer. Its appearance was believed to be the rising of the waters of the Nile River, an annual event of crucial significance to the agriculture-based civilization of the river valley. This was mentioned in Sagan’s Cosmos (TV series) that several Egyptian temples were oriented so that the light of the Sirius penetrated deep into their interiors.
While we were in Norwegian Cruise sometime ago, I had a chance to get up early to go to the upper deck to see stars (I met 林美纪 in the stairway that morning, she was an early bird too). It was early in the morning before daybreak. I saw a fantastic view of Orion constellation & Sirius. It was quite different from what I see in Taiwan or SF bay area. Do you know why? Because of the high latitude of Norway, the Orion moved southward & appeared larger than usual. It looked like the whole southern sky was occupied by it alone. It was hard to describe the feeling, sort of eerie feeling. I had similar feeling 15 years ago when I was in Bora-Bora (near Tropic of Capricorn, 南回歸線). I was watching Southern Crux (南十字星座), stars form a beautiful diamond shape. When I turned around & I saw something hang around the northern horizon. For about 5 seconds, I didn’t know what it was. Finally it dawned on me that it was Big Dipper. It looks so big & upside down. It looked as if it dumped all its contents down the horizon. You may not believe me until you see it by yourself.
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