Before the New Year's Day, a big bomb broke out in the humanities and social sciences academic community: Dr. Xin Deyong, professor at the Center for Ancient Chinese History at Peking University and 2015 Distinguished Professor of the "Yangtze River Scholars Award Program", actually posted a job search on self-media. 
As a well-known professor, Professor Xin Deyong's job search requirements seem very simple. In summary, they are "two don't care" and "four requirements" of and . "two things don't matter" refers to: does not care about the grade of the school, even a junior college; it doesn't matter where the school is, it can be in Beijing, outside Beijing, or overseas. The "four requirements" of and refer to: : First, teaching time, try to arrange teaching tasks in the same semester, he wants to use another semester to do research at home in Beijing; second, he does not do scientific research, does not ask for scientific research funding from the school, and will not undertake any research projects, and just wants to do research freely; third, the school that hires him can allow him to work until he is 70 years old; fourth, refer to the salary of Peking University Boya Chair Professor .
Peking University, as the highest university in China, is the dream of many people. Those of us who have some humanistic feelings will definitely take time to visit the Peking University campus when we arrive in Beijing, and visit Mr. Yan Fu, Mr. Lu Xun, Mr. Cai Yuanpei, Mr. Hu Shihtml Mr. 2, Mr. Ma Yinchu, Mr. Ji Xielin, and Comrade Li Dazhao, one of the early leaders of our party, have walked the same path. Go and see the weeping willows of Weiming Lake and the beautiful shadow of Boya Tower. Surrounded by blessings, why did Professor Xin Deyong publish an article at the beginning of the new year that he wanted to leave Peking University, a place that countless people have longed for, and would even rather live in a junior college than stay at the prestigious Peking University?
Looking closely, it is also embarrassing. It turns out that Peking University actively introduces and cultivates outstanding young academic talents for the purpose of ", leads and builds an academic echelon with continuous innovation capabilities and first-class international competitiveness in this subject field, guides and leads the scientific research team to carry out world-class academic research, and promotes this discipline to enter the ranks of world-class, and constantly To enhance Peking University academic status and academic influence ", the liberal arts chair professorship was established in 2020. A total of 74 professors were appointed as liberal arts chair professors in the first batch, and 6 professors were appointed as named chair professors (please forgive my poor eyesight, I have never heard of most of them).
This project can raise funds from the society (I don’t know the specific amount). As a well-known university, it is not expected to be very low, ranging from hundreds of thousands per year to millions, but the key point is that liberal arts professors reflect social status (where there are people, there are Jianghu, this academic status is similar to Jianghu status), and there are many unknown things hidden behind this status - fame and fortune are always interpenetrating. For example, if someone is appointed as a chair professor, the frequency of invitations to give lectures and the lecture fees will be greatly increased. According to the formal lecture fee standards, the average professor’s fee does not exceed 1,000 yuan per credit hour, and the famous professor’s fee does not exceed 1,500 yuan. Half a day is the difference between 4,000 and 6,000!
There is also the working life. Generally, professors retire at the age of 60, and the school can delay or re-employ them until the age of 65, while liberal arts professors can work until the age of 70, and work for 5 to 10 more years. The difference is not small!
Therefore, I would boldly speculate that one aspect is to be recognized for work and ability, which to put it bluntly means "having face", and the other aspect is to keep up with the salary, which is called "having dignity". The fundamental reason why Professor Xin Deyong published an article "Looking for a job" in the New Year is " Peking University thinks I am not qualified to enjoy this (liberal chair professorship), but I feel that I am fully qualified to enjoy this ."
There are two keywords here, one is "enjoy" , which is " In the process of survival of life, through the function of body organs and ideology, life itself produces a pleasant and beautiful experience and feeling ".The reason why officials work so hard to climb higher is because they can "enjoy" treatment. This treatment can be divided into political and economic treatment. Political treatment means that you can be ranked high and you can stand in the C position when taking pictures. In ancient times, when the hierarchy was strict, even the carriages and sedan chairs you rode in and the clothes you wore were very particular; and economic treatment means real money and silver. In addition, there is also a medical treatment. Different levels can enjoy different medical treatment, such as living in a single room or a double room.
In fact, in essence, this is not called "enjoyment", but "getting paid", that is, you do a certain job and get corresponding rewards based on the evaluation. I don’t know if “enjoyment” in Professor Xin Deyong’s eyes is equivalent to “obtaining remuneration for labor.”
Let’s not talk about the Wei-Jin character of “not bowing down for five buckets of rice”, nor about pure dedication. The common people need wages to support them. There is no doubt that they are not humble. Simply speaking from the perspective of labor and remuneration, I am afraid that famous scholars are still stuck in administrative thinking and have not entered into the modern labor system, which cannot but be lamented.
the other is "fair" . Professor Xin Deyong believes that it is unfair that he "thinks he is entitled to enjoy it" but "Peking University thinks he is not eligible to enjoy it". This is almost ridiculous. There are two fundamental problems here with
. One is "individual sense of fairness" . As we all know, individual sense of fairness will always conflict with the public (unit) fair design. The fundamental reason is that the design of the system cannot take into account the specific reality of each person. What's more, the vast majority of people will judge whether the system design is fair based on their own interests - whatever is beneficial to them in is fair, and vice versa in . We don’t know the selection criteria and procedures for liberal arts chair professors at Peking University, but we think that such a well-known university should not artificially design things to prevent certain people from entering. In theory, the selection plan should also be discussed by the Faculty Congress or the Academic Committee, and should have administrative effect. The more core issue of
is the evaluation of in the field of humanities and social sciences of . It can be said that the evaluation in the field of humanities and social sciences is a mystery that humans have not solved and cannot solve. It is several times more difficult than Goldbach's conjecture . Evaluation in the field of natural sciences is relatively simple. For example, we are still in the post-epidemic era. If medical scientists develop specific anti-viral drugs, they should enjoy the highest honor and treatment; otherwise, then you are just an ordinary doctor! In the same way, architects have built high-rise buildings, and physicists and chemists have invented new energy sources. These are all objective and perceptible.
In the field of humanities and social sciences, it is basically impossible to have any major, universally recognized creations. For example, Mo Yan won the Nobel Prize for Literature, but was criticized by many people; Jia Qianqian's poems were praised by some people, but they were considered "shit and piss"; Wen Rumin, the editor-in-chief of Chinese textbooks and a first-level professor (equivalent to an academician), was criticized completely, wasn't it? Even Mr. Lu Xun, who is ranked number one in modern literature, is not considered by some experts to be inferior to Zhang Ailing ?
I have roughly read through some of Professor Xin Deyong’s monographs and articles. To be honest, I can increase my knowledge, but it is difficult to find how many creative insights there are!
I am not belittling the humanities and social sciences. In fact, the status of the humanities and social sciences in human society is leadership and guidance: natural sciences determine how to do it, and humanities and social sciences determine who to do it for; in other words, one extends outwards and the other pursues inwardly. Only the internal and external integration and internal and external harmony can be a healthy body.
In short, there are various factors behind the well-known Professor Xin Deyong’s angry job search in the New Year, but the core one should be the evaluation issue in the field of humanities and social sciences. It shows the embarrassment of the field of humanities and social sciences. This is the issue we should pay attention to.As for Professor Xin Deyong's resignation and job search, these are all personal pursuits. It is estimated that except for private universities, which can afford such a high price to gain reputation, other schools within the system may not set this precedent.
personal opinions for everyone to criticize!
