题记：2022年11月15日，北京大学南南合作与发展学院2022年开学典礼在承泽园隆重举行。本文根据南南学院学术院长、国发院政治经济和公共政策教授傅军在典礼上的英文致辞整理（英文原文附后）。

尊敬的各位嘉宾、老师们、同学们、朋友们：

很高兴在今天的开学典礼上与大家共同开启新的学期。

世界正持续经历巨大的变化与不确定，我心中有许多重要话题想与大家探讨，关于中国、关于世界、关于中国与世界的关系、关于气候变化、关于我们的教学项目，等等。但由于时间所限，我只能把这些话题留待日后与大家相聚的其它场合，而今天仅聚焦一个话题——faculty。

Faculty的中文翻译是“教师”，但我个人认为“教师”一词并不能完全精准地表达出“faculty”一词在大学这一语境中的真正内涵。

一所伟大的大学通常都拥有一个永恒不灭的灵魂。与之相一致，教师不仅仅是一个职业，更是一份使命。在这一背景下，要想领悟faculty的真正内涵，前提一定是理解人类的灵魂。人类的灵魂存在于物质的、可触及的领域与非物质的、不可触及的领域之间，是介于身体与智力之间的东西。因此，我们作为faculty无论创造出什么——例如教学项目——其中都必须包含一些能够永恒存在的元素或属性；即便不能永恒，起码也要比我们个人短暂的物理生命存在的时间长得多。

我们南南学院的教学项目和教师是否达到了上述高标准，将由在座同学们来判断，也将由历史来评判。

谈了供给侧——教师，我想再谈谈需求侧，那就是你们——同学们。

很多同学问我，如何才能在南南学院顺利完成学业。我的建议是：请做好充分的准备，不仅在身体上保持健康，更要在智力上、思想上为学业的难度和学术标准的严格要求做好准备，尤其是你们将在非常紧张的时间安排内学习消化非常大量的内容。

面对学业的挑战和学习时间的紧迫，希望大家记住中华人民共和国主要缔造者毛泽东的一句诗：“多少事，从来急；天地转，光阴迫。一万年太久，只争朝夕。”五十年前，美国前总统尼克松为开启中美关系正常化而访华的时候，他也引用了这句诗，这随后对中国与世界产生了深远影响。请深思。

祝愿同学们在接下来的学习和未来的工作中一切顺利。不论未来你们从事什么工作，请全身心投入，为世界做出积极的改变。

翻译及整理：白尧 |编辑：王贤青

附英文原文：

About the soul of university

Fu Jun

November 15, 2022

Good morning, everyone, your excellencies, friends, and colleagues,

I am happy to be here to say something in line with the substance and spirit of today’s event -- a kick-off event for a new semester, at times when the world continues to undergo tremendous changes and uncertainties.

I thought about a range of topics – such as about the world, about China, about China’s connections with the rest of the world, and about important and indeed threatening issues like climate change, as well as about the nature and quality of the educational programs we run here. These are all important topics. But realistically they are all too big and complicated for me to cover the ground well within five minutes -- the amount of time that I am allowed to speak. So let us save them for later events.

As I was reading today’s program, I saw an important word printed on it. That is “faculty”. And I am supposed to speak on behalf of our faculty. The Chinese translation of “faculty” -- also printed on the program -- is教师, which personally I do not think is deep, sharp, and transcendental enough to truly capture the meaning of it. So let me take this opportunity to share with you my take, understanding, and interpretation of what “faculty” is in a university setting.

A great university is often said to have a soul that will last forever. Consistent with that, to be a faculty member there is not just a profession but a calling. In this context, for us to really appreciate the meaning of faculty, it is almost a pre-condition for us to talk about the human soul -- something that supposedly resides between the physical, or the tangible, and the non-physical, or non-tangible, the intellectual, and, indeed, the spiritual realms. Such being the case of faculty, whatever the faculty produces -- such as an education program -- must contain elements or attributes that will last forever, or at least stay much, much, much longer than the transient nature of the physical aspects of our individual lives.

Now whether or not our educational programs, or the quality of our faculty, are up to that standard will be up to you, our students, to judge while you are here, and way beyond, which means, history will also judge us.

Now having touched a bit on one side of the equation, that is, the supply-side of our educational programs, that is the faculty the way I understand it, let me move on to the other side of the equation, that is the demand side, which is about you, our students. Indeed, some of you have asked me how best to survive and thrive here. My advice is, in anticipation of the rigor and toughness that lie ahead, please be well-prepared not only physically but also intellectually, and indeed spiritually. This is especially true in light of the press of time that you will face, as you all will have an extraordinarily tight schedule within which to study and learn so many things.

Speaking of the press of time in the face of tall tasks to accomplish, let me quote Chairman Mao Zedong, founder of the People’s Republic of China, who said poetically -- 多少事，从来急。天地转，光阴迫。一万年太久，只争朝夕。(So many things cry out to be done and always urgently. The world turns on and time presses. Ten thousand years are too long. Seize the day, seize the hour).

You know, about 50 years ago, when US President Richard Nickson visited China to normalize relations between the two countries, he also quoted this poem, which later turned out to have profound ramifications for China and for the rest of the world. Think about it.

On that note, let me end here by wishing you all the very best during your journey of learning here, and indeed way beyond, that is, in whatever you do in the future with the dedication of your souls to make a positive difference to the world.

Thank you very much.

编辑：凌墨