◇ 文 | 本刊記者 胡 婷 圖 | 游 宇
在北碚,文星灣42號(hào)是個(gè)響亮的地名,不少本地人會(huì)脫口而出“那不是自然博物館老館嗎”,然后熱心給你指路。
自然博物館老館的正門坐落在一條并不寬敞的緩坡半腰上,大門正上方醒目地掛著“重慶自然博物館”的黃銅牌子,一旁的黑色石牌上還有“中國(guó)西部科學(xué)院舊址”幾個(gè)大字。
這處位于嘉陵江西岸小山坡上看似不太起眼的老舊建筑,曾經(jīng)見(jiàn)證了中國(guó)西部科學(xué)的大變革,成為中國(guó)近現(xiàn)代重要史跡。
When being asked where Wenxing Bay No. 42 is in Beibei, the locals would blurt out “the old site of our natural history museum” and then kindly show you the way.
The original museum is situated halfway up a narrow gentle slope. Right above the door is a bold brass plate written “Chongqing Museum of Natural History”, beside which is a black stone plate saying “Old Site of Science Institute of West China”.
Though seemingly humble and inconspicuous on the hill by the west bank of Jialing River, this building is indeed a meaningful historical site in Chinese modern times that witnessed great scientific changes in west China.
在重慶自然博物館研究員侯江的帶領(lǐng)下,我們走進(jìn)了中國(guó)西部科學(xué)院舊址。
館內(nèi)綠樹(shù)成蔭,青苔鋪地,圓形的消防池水已長(zhǎng)滿水生綠植,陽(yáng)光透過(guò)樹(shù)葉的縫隙,灑進(jìn)院內(nèi)。
穿過(guò)法國(guó)梧桐的林蔭道,拾級(jí)而上,首先映入眼簾的的是“惠宇樓”。一樓一底加閣樓,共三層,磚木結(jié)構(gòu),小青瓦歇山頂,樸素而肅穆。西式的門窗和建筑立面,配上屋頂上飛檐翹角的中式裝飾,造型美觀,氣勢(shì)恢宏。
這幢歷經(jīng)了80余年風(fēng)風(fēng)雨雨的建筑始建于1933年,是西部科學(xué)院的標(biāo)志性大樓。
1930年9月,盧作孚創(chuàng)辦的中國(guó)西部科學(xué)院在重慶北碚誕生,以“從事于科學(xué)之探討,以開(kāi)發(fā)寶藏,富裕民生”為目的,下設(shè)理化、地質(zhì)、生物、農(nóng)林4個(gè)研究所以及博物館、圖書(shū)館和兼善學(xué)校。教育救國(guó)、實(shí)業(yè)救國(guó)是盧作孚建設(shè)北碚最重要的理念之一。當(dāng)時(shí),建設(shè)西部科學(xué)院經(jīng)費(fèi)壓力著實(shí)不小。
盧作孚的兒子盧國(guó)倫曾說(shuō):“我父親當(dāng)時(shí)是幾十個(gè)企業(yè)的董事、董事長(zhǎng),那么他這部分收入的數(shù)額就相當(dāng)大了,但是他拿回家只有一份,就是民生公司的工資,其余都捐了出來(lái)?!?/p>
侯江告訴我們,僅1935年,盧作孚就向西部科學(xué)院捐助了7600多塊大洋。但僅靠個(gè)人,西部科學(xué)院要運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)是不可能的。
為籌措經(jīng)費(fèi),盧作孚曾向社會(huì)集資募款?!盎萦顦恰本褪窃?933年由盧作孚向國(guó)民政府軍政要員楊森勸募3萬(wàn)元修建起來(lái)的,當(dāng)時(shí)作為中國(guó)西部科學(xué)院理化研究所辦公樓。
1934年的端午節(jié)這一天,時(shí)任民生公司總經(jīng)理的盧作孚,以西部科學(xué)院院長(zhǎng)的身份,參加了這棟大樓的落成典禮。
We walked into the former site of Science Institute of West China (hereinafter referred to as SIWC) led by Hou Jiang, the researcher in Chongqing Museum of Natural History.
Inside there are shady trees, green moss carpeting the ground, and water plants in the round pool, and sunshine cascades into the yard through layers of leaves.
Through an avenue of plane trees, and up the stairs, there is the three-storey Huiyu Building. It has a wooden frame faced with brick, simple and solemn.Also the doors and windows in western style and the roof in Chinese style add some other beauty and grandeur to the building.
The architecture was built in 1933, witnessing a history of over 80 years. It is a symbolic building in SIWC.
“My father ran dozens of enterprises, which brought in large income. But he only took back home the single salary from Minsheng Shipping Company,and the rest were all donated,” recalled Lu Guolun,son of this great industrialist.
Hou Jiang said that Lu Zuofu offered the science institute as much as 7,600 silver dollars in 1935.However, it was impossible to make it by a single power.
Given the situation, Lu Zuofu launched a public fund-raiser. And Huiyu Building is the one built with the 30,000 Yuan donated by Yang Sen (then a government official)as the office of the physics and chemistry institute.
On the Dragon Boat Festival of 1934, Lu Zuofu,the general manager of Minsheng Shipping Company then, attended the building’s inaugurating ceremony as the dean of SIWC.
推開(kāi)“惠宇樓”大門,房間里展示著八十年前科學(xué)家們探索的經(jīng)歷和成果,從黑白照片和文字中得以窺見(jiàn)中國(guó)西部科學(xué)院的風(fēng)雨成長(zhǎng)歷程。
在盧作孚的北碚規(guī)劃藍(lán)圖中,早就有在嘉陵江邊設(shè)立一個(gè)科學(xué)館的設(shè)想。
1927年,盧作孚出任江北、巴縣、璧山、合川4縣特組峽防團(tuán)務(wù)局局長(zhǎng),利用北碚文昌宮廟宇辦公,并以北碚為基點(diǎn)組織嘉陵江三峽鄉(xiāng)村建設(shè)運(yùn)動(dòng)。
1929年,盧作孚派峽防局赴川采集標(biāo)本。盧作孚胞弟盧子英率領(lǐng)峽防局少年義勇隊(duì)赴川邊采集標(biāo)本,這次的考察使西部科學(xué)院的籌建邁出了第一步。
中國(guó)西部科學(xué)院成立后,李樂(lè)元、常隆慶、施白南等科學(xué)家來(lái)到中國(guó)西部科學(xué)院,相繼對(duì)四川的煤炭資源、北碚觀音巖礦石水泥原料、四川嘉陵江下游魚(yú)類等展開(kāi)研究,《四川煤炭化驗(yàn)第一次報(bào)告》《四川植物采集記》等一大批科研論文、科研報(bào)告問(wèn)世。
在生物研究展示廳,從當(dāng)年的報(bào)紙和照片中,我們看到了12個(gè)人在草地上行走。這張圖,就是研究人員在去四川雷馬峨屏調(diào)查的現(xiàn)場(chǎng)圖片。
1934年春,中國(guó)西部科學(xué)院組織的雷馬峨屏考察團(tuán),由生物研究所和地質(zhì)研究所共同派員,赴雷馬峨屏各縣及大小涼山實(shí)地工作。
在近1年的艱辛考察后,常隆慶、施懷仁、俞德浚寫(xiě)出了《四川雷馬峨屏調(diào)查記》。這是學(xué)術(shù)團(tuán)體第一次對(duì)涼山地區(qū)的較為徹底的考察。
In the rooms of Huiyu Building display some black-and-white pictures and passages recording the exploration journeys and achievements our scientists made eighty years ago.
In Lu Zuofu’s blueprint for Beibei’s development, there was long ago a conception of setting up a science institute by Jialing River.
In 1927, Lu Zuofu served as the leader of the special gorge-defense bureau of Jiangbei, Baxian County, Bishan County and Hechuan County. He took Wenchang Temple as the office and Beibei as the base to organize the countryside construction by the three gorges of Jialing River.
In 1929, Lu Zuofu assigned his brother Lu Ziying to lead a team of the gorge-defense bureau for collecting samples at the border of Sichuan Province.This investigation represents the first step in the construction of SIWC.
After the establishment of the SIWC, Li Leyuan,Chang Longqing and Shi Bainan as well as other scientists came to the institute and carried out multiple researches in aspects of coal resources in Sichuan,cement raw materials in Beibei, fishes in the lower reaches of Jialing River, etc. And a bunch of research papers and scientific reports including First Report on Analysis of Coal in Sichuan Province and A Record of Collecting Plants in Sichuan were published to this end.
Among the old newspapers and photographs in the exhibition room of biological study, we found one in which 12 men were walking on the grass. It is said to be a scene of researchers conducting investigation in Yi people’s area Leibo, Mabian, Ebian and Pingshan counties in Sichuan.
In the spring of 1934, the investigation group organized by SIWC and made up with members in the biology and geology institutes set out to exercise a field trip at Leibo, Mabian, Ebian and Pingshan counties as well as the Liangshan region.
After an arduous journey for nearly a year, Chang Longqing, Shi Huairen and Yu Dejun completed A Record of Investigation in Lei, Ma, E, Ping of Sichuan Province.This is the first relatively thorough survey about the Liangshan region for an academic community.
抗戰(zhàn)時(shí)期,重慶作為陪都成為了當(dāng)時(shí)的政治經(jīng)濟(jì)文化中心,而中國(guó)西部科學(xué)院及其所在地北碚也迎來(lái)了許多著名學(xué)術(shù)機(jī)構(gòu)和專家學(xué)者,北碚因此成為當(dāng)時(shí)中國(guó)科學(xué)界的“諾亞方舟”和“戰(zhàn)時(shí)學(xué)術(shù)研究中心”。
在地質(zhì)館的展覽室,我們看到了“許氏祿豐龍”的模型,恐龍模型按照原比例復(fù)制?!斑@是中國(guó)人自己發(fā)掘、研究、裝架的第一條恐龍?!焙罱嬖V我們。
1938年,地質(zhì)調(diào)查所新生代動(dòng)物化石研究室技正卞美年和技工王存義、杜林春在云南省祿豐縣沙灣東山坡發(fā)掘了“許氏祿豐龍”。
中國(guó)地質(zhì)學(xué)家楊鐘健在對(duì)其研究的過(guò)程中寫(xiě)下了“立忍半月地上垢,姑敲一日份內(nèi)鐘”的詩(shī)句。不難看出,當(dāng)時(shí)的研究條件極端困難。
中國(guó)西部科學(xué)院完成裝架的“許氏祿豐龍”,讓中國(guó)人第一次看到了生活在中國(guó)的恐龍像什么樣子。
在農(nóng)林展館內(nèi),一張泛黃的圖片上,依稀可見(jiàn)農(nóng)民正在收割西瓜。
據(jù)1935年《嘉陵江日?qǐng)?bào)》記載:“中國(guó)西部科學(xué)院西山坪農(nóng)場(chǎng),本年試種西瓜成功后,運(yùn)往渝合兩地出售,現(xiàn)因天氣已入秋涼,該場(chǎng)西瓜恰已售完,聞該場(chǎng)主任劉式民先生談,本年西瓜共售洋三千余元,除開(kāi)該場(chǎng)職員數(shù)月來(lái)之薪資及其他開(kāi)支外,均尚贏余千余元?!?/p>
科學(xué)成果的逐漸顯現(xiàn),同時(shí)也帶動(dòng)了地區(qū)文化教育的發(fā)展。
1943年12月,中國(guó)西部科學(xué)院聯(lián)絡(luò)中央研究院動(dòng)植物研究所、經(jīng)濟(jì)部中央地質(zhì)調(diào)查所、中國(guó)科學(xué)社生物研究所等十三個(gè)學(xué)術(shù)研究團(tuán)體,共同發(fā)起籌辦了中國(guó)西部博物館。
1944年12月,我國(guó)第一家多學(xué)科的自然科學(xué)博物館——中國(guó)西部博物館開(kāi)館。
During the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression,Chongqing as the provisional capital of China became then the political, economic and cultural center. And SIWC and Beibei in this way attracted a host of noted academic institutes and specialists and scholars, making it the Noah’s Ark in China’s scientific circle and an academic center during the wartime.
In the exhibition room of the geology institute there is a holotype of Lufengosaurus huenei. “This is the first complete dinosaur skeleton excavated,studied and mounted by our Chinese people,”introduced Hou Jiang.
In 1938, the skull of Lufengosaurus huenei was uncovered at Shawan, Lufeng County of Yunnan Province by senior technical specialist Bian Meinian and technicians Wang Cunyi and Du Linchun from the geology institute.
The excavating work was deadly hard given the conditions at that time.
SIWC has then finished composing the Lufengosaurus huenei skeleton, which has for the very first time made Chinese people see what dinosaurs looked like that once lived in China.
In the agricultural pavilion exhibits a yellowish picture, from which we can dimly see that farmers are harvesting watermelons.
As it was recorded in Jialing River Daily published in 1935. Though faded and worn-out, it can still be seen the news over 80 years ago: At the Xishanping farmland of Science Institute of West China, the trial of watermelons succeeded this year and the fruits were delivered to Chongqing and Hechuan for sale.Later, according to Mr. Liu Shimin, director of the farmland, the watermelons were all sold with over 3,000 Yuan, and apart from covering salaries for the employees and other expenses held back, there was still a profit of over 1,000 Yuan.”
The advance in science also drove development of the local cultural education.
In December, 1943, SIWC together with thirteen academic research communities including Institute of Zoology and Botany under Academia Sinica, Central Geological Survey under the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Institute of Biology under Chinese Academy of Sciences joined efforts in constructing the Museum of West China.
In December 1944, the first multi-disciplinary natural history museum in China—Museum of West China officially opened to the world..