Alumnus recalls inspirational Yunnan University professor

Li Jian is vice chairman of the Yunnan Federation of Industry and Commerce, as well as chairman and president of Shanghai Xingdong Education Technology Co. In 1997, he was a part-time graduate student at Yunnan University – located in Kunming, capital city of Southwest China's Yunnan province.

He said the two years of study at the university has a profound impact on his thinking, the way he manages his company and his life planning. Professor Zhao Zhongmu – a scholar who is very influential in Chinese philosophy and aesthetics – has the greatest influence on him.

Businessman Li Jian speaks at a recent event. [Photo/ynu.edu.cn]

"My teacher once said, half-jokingly and half-seriously, that he did not remember most other peoples' names. What he meant by this was that he could only hold Hegel, Kant and other philosophers in his head," Li said.

"He never married and he was always doing his studies, which was really great! Also, on his death, he donated all his academic documents and materials to Yunnan University," Li added.

Even though Professor Zhao has now been gone many years, Li still remembers clearly that from time to time after graduating from university, the two of them would talk a lot when they met. "It's great to have such a teacher in life," he recalled.

Yunnan University is about to celebrate the centenary of its establishment, Li said he hoped that the academic traditions of his alma mater would continue to be passed on from generation to generation.