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An Expression of Gratitude upon Retirement
Huang Chun-chieh
President Sun Chen 孫震, President
Li Si-chen 李嗣䈨, honored guests,teachers, and students:
Good morning! I want tothank everyone for braving thecold weather to participate in thismorning’s gathering. I shallforever warmly remember thekindness that everyone has shown
me today.
Forty-six and a half years haveelapsed since I began working as ateaching assistant at my old school
until today. I ﬁrst would like tothank National Taiwan University
for the many beneﬁts they havebestowed on me for nearly half a century. I remember that when I began as ateaching assistant, my monthly salary was a mere NT$2,000. In those days,
the government allocated coal, rice, oil, and salt. At the beginning of eachmonth, a small truck, commissioned by the government, would come around
distributing containers of oil and large and small bags of rice. For coal andsalt, the government gave out coupons. We had diﬃculty making ends meet,and we went around in tattered clothing. I remember those innocent days ofpoverty as if they were yesterday. But time and tide wait for no man. In aﬂash, more than forty years have passed. I extend my heartfelt thanks to all
the teachers of this university who have taught me over the past forty years,
to all the students who have entered my classroom, and to National Taiwan
University itself for this wonderful academic environment where I could meetsuch talented colleagues and make them my friends. Just now President Yang
Pan-chyr 楊泮池 presented me a letter of appointment as “Distinguished Chair Professor of NTU.” This is an exceptional honor for me. While unworthy, I am more than happy to take this appointment. I told President
Yang that I will continue to oﬀer classes, but I will do so without drawing asalary. From now on, I will work without pay as a way of showing mygratitude to National Taiwan University.
Next I would like to extend thanks to Prof. Kuan Chung-ming 管中閔 for130

Journal of Cultural Interaction in East Asia Vol. 8 2017

taking over as head of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Humanities andSocial Sciences. Prof. Kuan is an internationally well-known quantitative
economist with both intelligence and experience. I strongly believe that theInstitute for Advanced Studies, under Prof. Kuan’s outstanding leadership,
will achieve new heights of academic scholarship. Thank you, Prof. Kuan.
I also want to thank Director Chu Mau-nan 朱茂男. A thirtieth-generation
direct descendent of the great Southern Song Confucian Zhu Xi 朱熹, he,along with President Sun Chen, for more than ten years, has promoted
Confucianism and Zhu Xi studies. Every year he and a fellow Confucianscholar lead a group of students on the “Zhu Xi route.” His taking East Asianstudents under his wing these many years has greatly contributed toConfucianism and Zhu Xi studies. Today Director Zhu donated funds toNational Taiwan University for the beneﬁt of East Asian Confucian studies. I
am ﬁlled with admiration at his generosity.
Finally, I wish to thank Prof. Wang Tzu-cheng 王子承 and his students
for their wonderful violin performance. The melodious violin music lingers inour ears and pulls at our heart strings. I also thank the NTU faculty and staﬀ
chorus for their excellent performance. I will always fondly remember thewonderful times we spent together at National Taiwan University. I thank all
the assistants and staﬀ members of the Institute for Advanced Studies fortheir hard work for the university and its academic mission these past fewyears. And I thank all the teachers, students, and good friends who got up on
this stage today to give speeches, especially Prof. Nargiza Amirova of theInstitute for Advanced Research, Nagoya University; Prof. Shen Guowei 沈国
威 of the Society for Cultural Interaction in East Asia; and Director Chen
Yude 陳裕德 and family from Shanghai. Two years ago, an organization asked
me to give a lecture, and attending the lecture was a senior faculty member
who said to me, “Forty years ago I attended your class, and I still remember
something you said.” I asked her what I said, and she replied, “Wherever I
feel at peace, there is my home!”1 I greatly appreciate the encouragement thatshe gave me. So, teachers, students, and friends, let us encourage one
another: “Wherever we feel at peace, there is our home!” Thank you,
1 This is a quote from “Everyone envies you, the dashing gentleman” 常羨人間琢玉郎,a lyric to the tune of “Ding feng bo” 定風波, by Su Shi 蘇軾. This lyric translates asfollows: “Everyone envies you, the dashing gentleman. Even Heaven responds by
giving you a soft woman of song. She composes a song sung a cappella and singsit through snow-white teeth. Her sweet voice, like snowﬂakes ﬂying through the air
on hot summer day, makes all seem cool and refreshing. Coming home from afar,
she seems even younger. She smiles, and her smile seems to carry the scent of plumblossoms of the south. Attempting to make conversation, I ask her, “Isn’t it nicedown south?” She replies, “Wherever I feel at peace, there is my home.”Member News131

everyone! May you enjoy good health in body and mind, and may you
continue to grow!

Secretary General Professor Shen Gouwei presented a Letter of Appreciation
to Ex-President Chun-chieh Huang for his contribution to the Society