李約瑟與浙江大學的淵源

朱原之?楊之玥?周煒

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

李約瑟博士（Joseph Needham，1900-1995）是英國著名的生物化學家、中國科技史家，因編寫多卷本《中國科學技術史》和提出“李約瑟難題”為世人所熟知。抗日戰爭后期，他接受英國政府派遣出使中國，任英國駐華科學考察團團長，并組建中英科學合作館，兩次造訪當時在遵義、湄潭等地辦學的浙江大學。

2017年10月，古克禮代表李約瑟研究所鄭重地將裝訂成冊的史料交到浙大副校長羅衛東手中。這批捐贈史料中，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《關于1944年8-10月中國西南之旅的報告》，以及與浙江大學老校長竺可楨之間的往來通信等，均為高清電子掃描件，將入藏浙江大學檔案館。

古克禮作了一場題為《李約瑟與浙大》的報告，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家打氣

1937年抗日戰爭全面爆發，浙江大學正式開始西遷辦學的艱難歷程，1940年初抵達貴州后，浙大以遵義的子彈庫為總部，在湄潭設立分部，又在青巖、永興兩地先后設立一年級分部，1944年4月和10月，李約瑟與夫人、生物學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，李約瑟在戰時來到中國的使命，是“為中國科學家打氣”。因為“在李約瑟之前，西方印象中的中國是個只有勞動人民和動人詩歌，但沒有科學的國度”。李約瑟回國后在1945年10月出版的《自然》雜志上發表文章《貴州和廣西的科學》，他動情地描述：

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

在戰爭年代，作為科學考察團的團長，李約瑟是怎么“慧眼”識別這些最牛科學家，怎么做出浙大是當時中國最好大學的判斷的呢？

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

日志顯示，李約瑟在浙大期間做過很多場報告，“報告會上的互動是直接認識科學家的方式。”古克禮說，“他們的提問、討論都顯示著自己的學術水平，很真實。”

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

在坐落于劍橋大學的李約瑟研究所內，這些卡片裝滿6個抽屜，多數是科學家，也包括畫家徐悲鴻。目前，這些卡片還沒有系統整理。“如果有人追蹤這些卡片上記錄的科學家們的話，會非常有價值。”古克禮說。

贊譽浙大為“東方劍橋”

大多數浙江大學師生都知道李約瑟贊譽浙大為“東方劍橋”的故事。是否有可靠的證據？古克禮撓了撓腦袋說，那時還沒有錄音筆，所以后來1990年浙大的副校長薛繼良前往英國訪問李約瑟，詢問了關于“東方劍橋”的說法，當時的對話是這樣的：

“教授，您對‘東方劍橋這一稱號是否還有印象？”

“有，我當時對竺校長這樣說過。”

“雖然李約瑟當時已經90歲高齡，但他的意識、頭腦都還很清楚。只是在之前的具體文字記載已經找不到了。”但是，古克禮堅定地認為“行動勝于雄辯”，他拿出一份1944年《貴州日報》的一篇報道的復印件，標題為：尼德漢（李約瑟）教授贊揚我科學家：聯大浙大不啻牛津劍橋哈佛。

“這篇報道基于同年的另一篇報道，該報道記錄了李約瑟與UCCL（Universities China Committee in London）的一場談話。從李約瑟當時的記錄本中可以看到，上面寫著‘Zheda的提示詞。或許就是在那次談話中出現了著名言論‘東方劍橋。”古克禮教授稱，李約瑟每次談話都會提前寫幾個關鍵詞，那一次寫的是Zheda。

古克禮多次表示，李約瑟對浙大的感情是真摯的。李約瑟的日志中記載，李約瑟教授曾經從印度為浙大捐贈過無數實驗儀器與藥品試劑；到1945年底總共為浙大購置了將近300本書籍，總數已經多于中國當時任何一所學府。

與老校長竺可楨結下深厚友誼

“這所學校一共有3輛車，但我去的時候3輛都在修理。”李約瑟在考察日志中記錄了戰亂年代的真實狀況。

在連車馬交通都不便，更沒有電子郵件的年代，科學家們怎么交流學術呢？日志顯示，李約瑟訪華期間，與浙大的羅登義、談家楨、王淦昌、束星北等都進行過面對面的深入交流，最終，這些科學家的論文通過李約瑟建立的中英科學合作館，帶到了英國，并在《自然》等國際知名期刊上發表。

竺可楨老校長與李約瑟保持了長達30年的書信往來。在浙大期間，竺可楨是李約瑟全程的向導和陪同，是李約瑟在日志里的“Guiding Chu”。

史料捐贈現場，古克禮特意沖洗了一張竺可楨與李約瑟在意大利參加學術會議的合影，裝裱在木質的相框里，送給浙大。“你知道，有一位好朋友是一件幸福的事，尤其當你有一位中國好朋友。因為他很靠譜，會誠心誠意地幫助你。”

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，書名和數量標注得清晰工整。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《中國科學技術史》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.