Dr. Chengkai Li

I don’t read many novels. Among the very few that I have read, Fortress Besieged by Qian Zhongshu is my favorite, without doubt. In fact, this was the only book that came to my mind when I thought about what to add to our library’s collection in my name. Did I say I don’t read many books? This novel tells the life journey of a few young scholars during the Second Sino-Japanese War. A good chunk of the book is literally about their journey traveling from Shanghai all the way to report to their teaching jobs at a newly created rural university. The book is full of sarcastic humor, blended with wisdom about life. For instance, the main character purchased a fake degree certificate from a diploma mill in the United States to make his father proud. His girlfriend left him because she thought he was a con man. He was too ashamed to boast about this fake degree to his employer, he discovered one of his colleagues was given a much higher rank for the same false degree. This made him feel like both an innocent man not getting his fair share and a con man getting exposed. The novel marvelously discusses conundrums like this which, even after 70 years after it was published. I spot in my own world and my surroundings from time and time. I loved this book! By the way, since the University is promoting me to the rank of full professor, they might want to check if my degree is real.