燈火依舊

序言 夜半鐘聲

前幾天，有好幾撥學生到我家裏來玩，我們聊到了一件蠻有趣的事情——藝術家與藝術品。有些朋友喜歡收集藝術品，而有些朋友對研究藝術家格外著迷，愛讀藝術家的生平與自傳。談著談著，大家普遍覺得，只有偉大的藝術家，才能創作出偉大的作品；而偉大的藝術品，往往也出自大家巨匠之手。
我當時講了一個小小的不同觀點：傳世的藝術佳作，未必盡出自名家之手；同樣，名重一時的藝術大家，亦難保證每一部作品皆屬上乘。聲名與創作之間的關係，並非簡單的直綫因果，而更像一種複雜的回聲——有時作品成就了人，有時人照亮了作品。
我舉了個例子，是唐代詩人張繼的《楓橋夜泊》——「月落烏啼霜滿天，江楓漁火對愁眠。姑蘇城外寒山寺，夜半鐘聲到客船。」這首詩是千古傳誦的名篇，但張繼其人，在盛產詩人的唐代，並不算最耀眼的名字。
那天晚上，一位同學後來在微信裏問我：「校長，您去過寒山寺嗎？」這一問，一下子把我帶回到了多年前的一個夜晚。
早年我曾到訪過寒山寺，那是我人生中第一次去蘇州，到了那兒，第一件事便是直奔寒山寺，原因正是張繼的那首詩。那時候我的住處很簡單，有點像今天的青年旅舍，一個房間裏擠著五六個人，洗漱要到外面去，可它有一個好處——打開窗門，不遠處就是寒山寺。窗外雖然晾著不少衣服，但拂開衣物，仍能看到寒山寺的輪廓。我記得那是一個夏天，到了晚上，風從窗外吹來，涼爽得恰到好處。過一陣子，鐘聲隱隱傳來，寺裏點點燈火，夜色裏竟有一絲說不出的浪漫。
也是在那一刻，我才真正懂了《楓橋夜泊》的偉大之處，它把人放進一種更大的境地——人生在世，誰不在「客途」？我們每個人都像在旅途的漂泊中，夜夜投宿，日日啟程。人的一生也許就是這樣，在無數個夜裏，聽見一些鐘聲，想起一些方向，然後繼續往前走。
許多年後，我又去了一次蘇州，那是我在前幾年參加計算機領域的一次大型會議，在幾千人的會場，受邀做主題演講。也許是巧合，我住的酒店離寒山寺依舊很近。那晚我又想起第一次來時的情景，那扇窗，那陣風，那種「客途」的心境……此時的酒店門口已聽不到舊時的鐘聲，但我還是循著記憶中的鐘聲尋去，在寺旁的橋畔佇立。晚風拂面，我彷彿又聽見鐘聲——它並不喧嘩，卻能讓我安靜下來，讓我得以回歸本真的心境。所以我覺得，每個人的心裏，大概都有著自己的夜半鐘聲，正如每個人心裏，都有著自己故鄉的月亮。
這些年，我寫過不少散文，陸續放在我的公眾號裏，後來也整理成兩本散文集出版。前陣子，有同學在摘抄其中的一些句子在同學間傳閱，這個時代，人們好像更偏愛「短」的東西——短文章、短視頻……更願意把時間交給更凝練的表達。我覺得「短」也挺好，中國古人行文本就不長——短句、短章，卻往往更有回味……你去看，漢、唐、宋代的文章句子都很短。長並不必然深，短也未必一定淺。
因此，當香港三聯書店提出希望把這些短句結集出版成書，我欣然同意。這本小書的面世，離不開我的秘書張若含女士、唐文清女士，以及人文社科學院顧陽教授、王立弟教授、龔文高教授、彭佩然教授的鼎力相助，以及丁昱、董瑾、郝欣頔、季伊忱、沈樂遙、鄭熙幾位同學的熱心幫忙，他們為文字做了細緻的校訂和英文翻譯。對於他們的努力，我心懷感激。
我們每個人都是人生路上的旅人，每個人都是一個漂泊的靈魂，漫漫長途，都渴望泊岸。當我們累了，就停一停，歇一歇，翻翻這本小書，也許它能像寒山寺的夜半鐘聲，給你帶去冬夜裏的溫暖，帶去愛，帶去信心，使你能夠更加溫柔、更加堅定地走下去。*

徐揚生
二〇二六年二月三日
*編者按：本書中文句摘主要來自《生命的感悟：飛機上的蚊子》《生命的感悟：月光下的向日葵》〔徐揚生著，三聯書店（香港）有限公司，二○二四年〕，內容略有修改。
Preface The Midnight Bell

A few days ago, I had the pleasure of hosting several groups of students at my home. Our conversation turned to an interesting topic—artists and their art. Some friends love collecting artworks, while others are more interested in the artists themselves, studying biographies and memoirs with great fascination. The common feeling was that only great artists can create great art, and that great works of art almost always come from the hands of masters.
I offered a slightly different view. A masterpiece can come from an unknown hand, and great names are not immune to creating mediocre work. Instead of a simple line of cause and effect, the relationship between reputation and creativity is more like a complex echo, where the artwork sometimes elevates the artist, and the artist sometimes illuminates the art.
I brought up the example of the poem “Mooring by the Maple Bridge at Night” by Ji Zhang of Tang dynasty:
The moon sets, crows cry, frost covers the sky;
I lie awake towards riverside maples and fishing lights.
From Hanshan Temple, outside the city of Gusu,
The midnight bell reaches the traveler’s boat.
The poem has become a timeless classic, yet the poet himself was never close to the most brilliant names of his time.
Later that evening, a student messaged me: “President Xu, have you ever been to Hanshan Temple?” That question brought me back to a night decades ago.
It was my first visit to Suzhou. Drawn by that very poem, the first thing I did upon arrival was to head straight for Hanshan Temple. I stayed in a simple lodging much like a youth hostel. I shared a room with four or five fellow travelers, and the washing facilities were outdoors. But it had an advantage: once you opened the window, not far away stood Hanshan Temple. There were clothes hanging outside the window, but if you gently pushed them aside, the temple’s silhouette immediately came into sight. It was summer. At night, the breeze drifted in, wonderfully cool and refreshing. Before I could realize how much time had passed, I heard the temple’s bell ring, its sound echoing through the night air, and the temple lights flickered in the distance. A quiet, poetic beauty penetrated the night air.
It was in that moment that I truly understood the greatness of “Mooring by the Maple Bridge at Night”. It places individuals within a larger expanse: who, during life’s journey, is not a traveler on the road, mooring for a night only to set forth again at dawn? Life is just such an ongoing experience: we pass countless nights, and in some moments, we hear the bell ring, find our direction, and take up the courage to move on.
Many years later, I was in Suzhou again, this time as a keynote speaker at a large conference on computer science. Perhaps by coincidence, my hotel was again very close to Hanshan Temple. That night, I recalled my first visit, the window, the breeze, the feeling of being a traveler on the road…No sound of the bell reached my door now, yet I followed the echo in my memory and traced its source, until I stood by the bridge beside the temple. The night breeze brushed past, and I seemed to hear the bell chime again—not demonstratively, but enough to bring me peace and restore a sense of simplicity. I believe that in each of our hearts there is the chime of a personal “midnight bell”, just as we all carry with us the moon from our hometown.
Over the years I have written many essays, initially on my public account, later collected into two published volumes. When I heard students were copying lines and sharing them, it made me reflect on our modern preference for brevity, such as short pieces, short videos…People are more willing to give their attention to concise expression. I feel there is beauty in brevity. Classical Chinese prose has always been prized for its efficiency and conciseness. Short sentences and short articles can yield a wealth of meaning, leaving room for imagination. If we look at the writings passed down from Han, Tang, and Song dynasties, they are often built of short lines. Length does not guarantee depth, likewise, shortness does not equate to shallowness.
So when Joint Publishing (H.K.) Co., Ltd. proposed publishing these short passages in a book, I gladly agreed. This small book is a product of the generous support of my secretaries Ms. Ruohan Zhang, Ms. Wenqing Tang, and Professors Yang Gu, Lidi Wang, Wengao Gong, and Peiran Peng of our School of Humanities and Social Science. I am also grateful for the efforts of CUHK-Shenzhen students Yu Ding, Jin Dong, Xindi Hao, Yichen Ji, Leyao Shen, and Xi Zheng, who carefully copy-edited and translated the text.
We are all travelers on the road, wandering souls searching for a place to moor. When we are tired, pause a little, and rest a little. If you happen to open this book, I hope it will bring you warmth, love and confidence. I hope its words, like the midnight bell of Hanshan Temple, reach you in the quiet of the night, so that you can carry on your journey gently and resolutely. *

Yangsheng Xu
3 February 2026
* Editor’s Note: The Chinese sentences in this book are mainly selected from A Mosquito on the Plane and Sunflower under Moonlight (by Yangsheng Xu, Joint Publishing [H.K.] Co., Ltd., 2024), with slight revisions.

序言 夜半鐘聲

前幾天，有好幾撥學生到我家裏來玩，我們聊到了一件蠻有趣的事情——藝術家與藝術品。有些朋友喜歡收集藝術品，而有些朋友對研究藝術家格外著迷，愛讀藝術家的生平與自傳。談著談著，大家普遍覺得，只有偉大的藝術家，才能創作出偉大的作品；而偉大的藝術品，往往也出自大家巨匠之手。
我當時講了一個小小的不同觀點：傳世的藝術佳作，未必盡出自名家之手；同樣，名重一時的藝術大家，亦難保證每一部作品皆屬上乘。聲名與創作之間的關係，並非簡單的直綫因果，而更像一種複雜的回聲——有時作品成就了人，有時人照亮了作品。...

序言  Preface
夜半鐘聲⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯001
The Midnight Bell

我與世界⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯013
The World and I

愛與規矩⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯071
Love and Discipline

人與讀書⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯135
Reading and Being

光與人生⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯199
Light and Life

序言  Preface
夜半鐘聲⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯001
The Midnight Bell

我與世界⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯013
The World and I

愛與規矩⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯071
Love and Discipline

人與讀書⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯135
Reading and Being

光與人生⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯199
Light and Life