Vignette 6
CHICAGO (I)
Author：Judith Lau
On Feb 10, 1944
, my family set foot on the soil of
In the Pacific
war theater, squadrons of US planes were aggressively attacking Japanese troops
in
As a junior
diplomat from an impoverished country ravaged by 2 centuries of conflicts, my
parents were grateful for the $275/mo salary which provided safe shelter, food
and education in the marginal South Side Chicago immigrant neighborhood
bordering the 64th Street Black ghettos. Though our apartment building on
In 1944, mother became pregnant again. Struggling to
manage a household and 2 young children under severe financial constraints in a
foreign environment, mother was at her wit's end. My mother had brought out of
China with us, her god sister Yan Fu-hua(閻扶華) whose father Yan Hong-fei (閻鴻飛) and mother's father Liu Jun Man (劉君曼) were intimate friends and fellow Hunan
revolutionaries. Auntie Yan and her husband C.C. Chen were childless and
appealed to my parents to entrust them with this precious child. A beautiful,
healthy baby boy named Bing (陳彬) was born on Sept 8, 1944. Father immediately had
second thoughts but Auntie Yan's tearful entreaty and heartfelt vows of
absolute devotion to the child, moved my mother to consider the best welfare
for Bing. I remember standing next to my heart stricken parents at the
The great
American poet Carl Sandburg described Chicago as the muscular "City of the
Big Shoulders", hub of agricultural markets, commodities trading and
meatpacking. However, brawny
Though both
these young men were contemporaries of father at National Southwestern
Associated Univ. and at the
Father, an
Economics graduate, found himself irresistibly drawn to this celebrated
institution tantalizingly beckoning from our apartment windows. However, the
Father and
mother both reveled in this new, free spirited, laissez faire center of
independent radical thinking. From this Beida ferment erupted the Beida student lead May 4th
Movement (五四運動) in 1919. Even during my father and mother's time 1935-38 at Beida,
students self selected lectures and were not required to follow a core
curriculum but only to show up for exams in their enrolled classes and obtain
passing grades in order to advance to the next level. Beida was open to all the
intellectually curious, even nonenrolled students, resulting in 2 additional
categories of students besides the formally admitted student roster: the
registered without grades or diploma "auditing" (旁聽生) and the "eavesdropper"(偷聽生) whose ranks often outnumbered
matriculated students in classes of popular professors such as錢穆,周作人,朱自清, 朱光潛, 周彬琳, 聞一多, 胡 適, 葉公超. Mother recounts students seated
on floors or hanging from windows at some lectures and grumbled that enrolled
students were sometimes deprived of seats or hand outs. Father would retort he
didn't recall that he was ever short of class notes or perhaps his classes were
not quite as an exciting as mother's! But father admits that a young History
Lecturer 錢穆's classes were riveting and always fully crammed with in listeners
.
Beida, with its
unregulated scholastic curriculum, situated in an animated downtown locale was
a perfect institution for father from 1935-38 when he was courting his fellow
student LiuShi-lun (劉世綸) who would become his wife and my mother. They had both chosen
Economics as their major, believing the application of modern economic
principles was the foundation for a new resurgent
In ironic contrast to the Beida radical modernization experimentation of President Tsai Yuan-pei, the American academic institutions were orderly and the curriculum regulated in accordance with exacting standards of progression from British principles of education. Noting the U Chicago credit requirements placed on students and father's demands at work, father chose to enroll as an auditor in the Economics Dept night classes. This status gave father the access to lectures and classes but also offered the freedom from homework, papers and exams to explore not only the campus and college library but the treasury of a city of culture far beyond the scope of father's father's personal library of English books and records in their home in Beiping. In a sense, father was able to enjoy the expanded campus of the entire city of Chicago with a population of approximately 3.9m in 1940's in the same manner he enjoyed the Beida at the Hong Lou (紅樓) campus of the city of 1.5m population of 1930's Beiping !
In the evenings, father attended concerts and theater events. On weekends, father explored museums, parks and libraries. Often Father took me to the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry and the
Though
As part of his
duties in the Chicago Consulate, father was happy to assist and entertain
Chinese dignitaries traveling from
Another
highlight of father's
The Anti-Chinese
Movement in the
Understandably,
the 19th and early 20th c Chinese laborers huddled in enclaves that became
urban
It was among the
PL brothers that my normally serious father seemed the most at ease. The few
times I saw my father inebriated would be after a gathering or meeting of PL.
Father would breeze in slightly tipsy and in the best of mood. Once he knocked
off his fedora on the low beam as he came in our
The PL proposed members were sponsored through a selective process and the membership list was highly confidential in the earlier years but the brothers who were close family friends were well known to us. Sometimes it would be obvious in public who was a PL brother from the informal conduct between father, and a seeming stranger. Father was particularly pleased to meet 鄧萃英, one of the Founders of PL during father's home office tours. Over the years, disclosure of brothers became less strict resulting in public knowledge of some famous people.
芝加哥之一
我們走了42天，航行18,000英里，幸好一路平安，在
我們住在芝加哥南邊移民區，容納來自各國的移民，包括希臘人、義大利人、猶太人和波蘭人，緊鄰64街的黑人區。雖然我們在61街的公寓稍嫌破舊，但是比起在昆明和重慶拮据困窘、心驚膽戰的生活，安居芝加哥已經是莫大的恩賜了。兩個世紀以來，中國動盪，成了貧窮之國。父親以一個年資甚淺的外交人員，每個月275元美金的薪水，讓我們有吃有住，還能接受教育，非常感恩。
那時候母親除了操持家務、照顧兩個小孩之外，還需要做一些貿易貼補家用，非常辛苦。到了9月，母親生下了第三個小孩，但是以當時家裡的經濟狀況和能力，父母實在是心有餘而力不足。母親的乾姊閻扶華也從大陸到美國，她決定收養這個弟弟，取名為陳彬(Bing
Chen)，之後他們全家搬離芝加哥，也遠離田家。扶華阿姨的父親閻鴻飛是外公在湖南的革命戰友。陳彬一直不知道自己的身世，直到四年前扶華阿姨去世後，之竺找到他，告訴他這段秘辛，請他體諒父母當年實在有不得已的苦處。
雖然當年物質生活有限，父親到了芝加哥依然求知若渴。從我們所住的公寓即可遙望芝加哥大學，學經濟的父親無法抗拒名校誘惑，彷彿經濟系時時在窗外召喚著他。但是芝大校風和新時代的北大截然不同。芝加哥大學沉穩、嚴格，井然有序。父親在北大和聯大四年的教育可能是前幾代的中國人無法想像的。幾個世紀以來，中國對外面的世界漠然無知，民國之後，北大師生對於外國思想潮流求知若渴。留學德國的校長蔡元培把北大從國子監和京師大學堂的儒家傳統，改變成自由開放、思想獨立的北大。就在這樣的氛圍下，北大學生成了1919年五四運動的主力。父母在1935年到1938年就讀北大時，學生可以自由選課，也沒有什麼核心必修課程的要求，甚至只要在考試時出現，拿到及格的分數就可以進級繼續下一年。北大開放給所有對知識有熱誠的人，即使是沒有註冊的學生也可來聽課，因此教室裡除了正式註冊的學生之外，還有兩種學生，一種是旁聽生，一種是偷聽生，他們的數量有時遠遠超過註冊生。在一些知名教授的課堂上尤其如此，如錢穆、周作人、朱自清、朱光潛、周彬琳、聞一多、胡適、葉公超。母親回憶說，當時有些課堂擠滿學生，連地上也坐滿了，有的人只能站在窗外，俯身傾聽。有時有些選課的學生還會抱怨座位和講義被搶了，但是父親說，他不記得少拿過什麼講義，或許他上的課都不如母親的精采。不過父親強調，錢穆年輕的時候教歷史，內容非常豐富，教室總是擠滿聽課的人。
自由開放的學風，加上處於熙來攘往的鬧區，父親就在這樣的環境中，追求同班同學劉世倫，也就是我的母親。他們兩人都主修經濟學，因為他們相信未來新中國的經濟需要以現代經濟理念的應用為基礎。
北大在蔡元培校長的領導之下，彷彿進行了一場激烈的現代化實驗，對比之下，美國的大學反而嚴格有律，井然有序，課程的規劃也遵循英國教育的法則，學生必須通過訂定的標準，循序漸進地學習。芝加哥大學對學生要求嚴格，但父親白天需要工作，權衡之下選擇經濟系夜間部，註冊當起旁聽生。旁聽生可以上課聽講，但沒有作業、報告和考試的壓力，還可以利用校園設施和圖書館，甚至還可以拿著學生證探訪市區各種文化寶藏。父親的視野從一個只有爺爺收藏的英語圖書和唱片的小圖書館，拓展到芝加哥豐富多元的文化寶藏中，充分擷取各種養分，彷彿整個芝加哥是芝大所延伸的校園。他的心情就如同1930年代在北大，以紅樓為中心，向外探索當時人口150萬的北平市。
芝加哥是農產品、商品交易、肉類加工的樞紐。美國詩人桑德堡 (Carl Sandburg)形容它是「大肩膀城市」(“City of the Big Shoulders”)，暗喻芝加哥肌肉發達，壯碩有力，但其實芝加哥在教育和文化方面的發展也是有目共睹的。每當有人問起我們在芝oi加哥的日子，母親總會說，我們家的對面就是芝加哥大學有名的那一大片「中途公園」(Midway Plaisance)。當時費米 (Enrico Fermi) 就是在芝加哥大學執行「曼哈頓計畫」(Manhattan Project)，在1942年成功發展核子反應爐，引領日後「洛斯阿拉莫斯國家實驗室」(Los Alamos) 鑽研熱核的應用，以及
雖然楊、李兩位先生和父親都是在同時期在西南聯大，以及芝加哥大學，但父親很遺憾從未見過他們。他們研究的是神奇的科學領域，而父親所學的是非常實際的經濟學，學科和思想都有相當大的差距。其實芝加哥大學的經濟系一點也不比物理系遜色，諾貝爾經濟學得主中，有22位出身於此，他們的思想體系影響了一整個世紀的經濟理論。芝加哥經濟學派的網站很自豪地介紹說，芝大經濟系「所得之榮譽不可勝數，已超過經濟學領域所能授與。」
父親會抽空在晚上參加音樂或戲劇活動，周末喜歡參觀博物館，逛公園，或者躲到圖書館。父親常帶我去芝加哥科學與工業博物館，以及自然歷史博物館，牽著我的手慢慢導覽，循循善誘，希望那些展覽能夠引起我的興趣，啟發我的幼小的心智。逛博物館成了我從小就養成的嗜好，從此之後，由阿姆斯特丹到蘇黎世的博物館，到處都有我的足跡。
在以陸路交通為主的時代，芝加哥是美國中西部文化、商業和運輸的中心，但它其實跟東岸的政治權力焦點——華盛頓、紐約——非常不一樣。父親曾到華盛頓出差，也參加1947年聯合國會議，有幸在魏道明、郭泰祺、顧維鈞等幾位外交前輩領導下，參與幾次高難度的談判。幾位前輩展現的才能、言談、風度，對於外交新兵的父親而言都是非常仰慕的典範。
父親所擔任的芝加哥領事一職，曾協助招待一些學者，他們由東岸往洛杉磯的途中，通常會在芝加哥停留，這些知名之士包括胡適、葉公超、梅貽琦、蔣夢麟、田耕莘等幾位先生，後來與父親有不同的交集，維持長久的關係。父親對蔣夢麟印象特別深刻，不只是因為他是北大—聯大校長的關係，更是因為蔣校長謙遜、明理。有一次蔣校長在美籌款，到了芝加哥，在某家的聚會上，校長信步走到廚房，沒有任何人幫忙之下，獨自煮了一道白魚以饗賓客。後來在台北時，父親和梅貽琦校長、蔣夢麟校長、錢穆教授、胡適教授更加熟稔。父親當了「西南聯大同學會會長」之後，與諸位校長前輩的互動益加密切。
父親的芝加哥時期還有一項重要活動，他加入了由九位哥倫比亞大學學生在1919年組織的「仁社」，其宗旨為「努力福國利民，增進同仁友愛」，希望發揮中國人「結拜兄弟」的精神，在外地相互扶持。十九世紀和二十世紀初期的時候，華籍工人擠在有如貧民窟的地方，忍受不公不義的對待。到了二十世紀早期，中國學生和教授到了美國，希望能夠加強同胞之間互助互動，並進行思想交流。仁社早期的成員都是年輕的知識分子，看到自己的國家被西方帝國主義蹂躪，被日本肆無忌憚地侵略，加上國內革命導致的動盪不安，感受特別深刻。這些年輕人志同道合，懷抱理想，希望一起能夠學習西方民主、平等的政治理念，為個人和國家的美好遠景而奮鬥。
父親在仁社時，似乎最能卸下平日嚴肅的外表，變得輕鬆自在。我一生中少數幾次看到父親帶醉回家，都是他從仁社的聚會歸來，步履略顯踉蹌地踏進家門，心情愉悅。有一回在台北時，日式榻榻米房子的橫樑比較低，他踏進家門時，還把帽子碰掉了。母親總是好奇地探詢他們做了什麼，為何如此開懷，父親歪著頭神祕地微笑，總會把話題轉開。
早年加入仁社需有人推薦，並經過投票才能入社，而且社員名單是機密的，但幾位比較常來往的社員都是家裡常客，有時候在公共場合中，從一些熟悉的小動作就可以看出那些人就是仁社的弟兄，父親最喜歡見到仁社的發起人之一鄧萃英。經過許多年的演變，現在仁社社員漸漸公開，一些知名人物屬於仁社就變成眾所周知的事了。
仁社創社時「育民富國」的宗旨不曾因時間的流逝而更改或消失。想不到仁社在失聯多年之後，2014年在我的老友王華燕奔走之下，父親和仁社的弟兄們又連絡上了。到今年為止，父親的仁社社員身分已達70年之久。得知仁社持續了將近一個世紀，並且逐漸茁壯，社員超過一千人，遍佈全世界，父親非常高興，深覺與有榮焉。