Reason and Vitality: Report on My Study Tour to London

Liu Yuwei(Major in Political Science, Economics and Philosophy)

From July 8 to 26, 2019, I studied at LSE together with more than 20 Tsinghua students. In the process, I was moved by what I saw and heard, sometimes even beyond my expectation: a game, several conversations, sculptures, paintings, a small former residence... I earnestly spent three weeks in Britain. More happily, I had an opportunity to take a deep dive into this fascinating city — I was neither going on a whistle-stop tour of it nor trying to praise or criticize it, but wanted to go deep into it, from its streets, crowded metro stations and gardens in the afternoon to its languages and time-honored spaces. That was something that I had never felt before.

During our first week at LSE, we mainly studied and discussed the free market. The course was not difficult, but very enlightening, with many issues creating great space for thinking. In lectures, teachers explained possible Base Rate Fallacy in the market with Derren Brown's stake. Rian presented a case study of the diamond market based on field investigations; Alex elaborated on the moral principles and boundaries of the free market from buying votes and "likes" to organ trafficking. In seminars, we discussed the macro-regulation of the government based on the data of Heritage Foundation, and those data that deviated from our impression especially attracted our attention (such as France); we also debated whether a market should be established for organ trafficking and the debate was not confined to the economic field but turned the spotlight back on the moral code of humans and social inequality. In modern civil society, the free market is certainly necessary, but the course inspired my thinking about the "boundary" of the market, which I think is the most meaningful.

During my first visit to London, what fascinated me most was a remarkable mix of modernity and history. As centuries went by, those streets remained unchanged, but the buildings were well-arranged. A World War II monument in the middle of a road was reflected in surrounding modern glass buildings, the Tate Modern and the St. Paul's Cathedral stood face to face across the river, and behind the Cathedral was a financial street... Posters and small showcases about women's movement in the 20th century could be seen all over the LSE campus; in the gallery, the curator placed works of Rothko as well as Monet, Turner, and Claude in the same exhibition hall because no school of painting or painter can be seen outside the context of the history, which also reflects British people's celebrating and honoring traditions. Meanwhile, London is international. I said this not only based on such superficial data as import and export indicators, but also the internal ability to carry forward culture. When the teacher analyzed Indian organ trafficking cases in the lecture, when I saw modern British art spotlight Spanish civil war and Syrian refugees, and when I visited the exhibition hall for aborigines of the British Museum which tried to reiterate the attention to diseases and global healthcare, I can feel the strength of the city. It is more than a modern city that only belongs to Britain, but a city that is steeped in rich history and celebrates inclusiveness, creation, and change whenever and wherever.

As a lover of painting art, I took every opportunity to visit art galleries in London. So the National Gallery was a paradise for me. I spent a whole Sunday indulging myself in it. I often thought of the first class of theArt Inspiring I attended at Tsinghua University Art Museum. Teacher Li Mu said, "Everyone should have the opportunity to face a painting independently and quietly." I am a devout believer in art. As an inspiration of intuitive feelings, art can take us out of the world underpinned by the language and the thinking we are familiar with and bring us into another space where we can touch the world in a different way.

The course in the second week focused on international security. International security is a big topic. It is not only a military issue, but also an all-around livelihood issue, including economy, food, health, environment, community, politics, and so on. We rethought the relationship between sovereignty and human rights, realizing the complexity of "human rights" in specific political games; we read analytical materials about the water crisis in Yemen, the post-earthquake reconstruction in Haiti, and North Korea's nuclear testing, recognizing the multiple barriers to "security"; and we also studied the project of "Rise of Private Military and Security Companies (PMSCs)", from the emergence and boom of military market to an increasingly significant tension with the "power" of a country. What impressed me most about the study of Week 2 was two group games in the Seminar: One was simulating the competition and cooperation between tribes on water resources, and the other was simulating the armed/disarmed states among countries. They made me understand the importance of "consultation" and "credibility" in the operation of international rules. A man cannot succeed without honesty. When a "country" violates the contract arbitrarily, the hard-won bonds of trust will collapse, and the result must be "a lose-lose scenario". This is the epitome of the dark side of human nature. Locke once compared the relationship between countries to the relationship between persons in a "natural state", but since the "United Nations", as a symbol of contracts between countries, has existed because of the efforts and beliefs of many people, we should maintain "possible peace" with firm determination rather than dismantle trust again and again.

Also in Week 2, we completed the survey of "Chinese goods in Britain". Thanks to the guidance of the professors of LSE, we narrowed the scope of the survey and identified the targeted population. Then we went to the streets of London for interviewing and had further discussions with the professors in the follow-up work. Before the interview, we feared that the rejection rate would be high in this fast-paced city. But when I chatted with commuters in the subway or young people in front of the British Museum, they were friendly and even curious. I realized from the conversations with them that in the face of the inertial marketing of traditional brands, Chinese brands must break cultural and psychological barriers which cannot be overcome only by technological and marketing methods if they seek to develop the overseas market.

During this week, because of the preparation for the Model United Nations (MUN) on Friday and the rising difficulty of the German course, I had little spare time to tour around London except on weekends. Fortunately, ubiquitous small parks and roadside sculptures in the city could always give me surprise and leisure. Every day as I walked to school along the River Thames, I passed several solemn war monuments, not far away from which was "Wellington" that glittered with warm yellow light on steamers. Then there was an ascent and located at the corner was a garden. When walking past the shadow of trees, passers-by would slow down. On a bench sat a young girl who was looking at the bronze sculpture of poet Foster. There was another sculpture of a girl receiving holy water, which was built in honor of philanthropist Lady Henry Somerset. Around the feet of the girl grew fresh green leaves, and pigeons often fell on her arms. I sometimes wondered why this kind of hard and heavy artificiality can become part of nature and why I felt like being kissed by an angel whenever I passed a sculpture. Like a type of memories that could be touched by hands, they co-existed with humans in the city of London, like a gentle, calm, devoted, and sincere guard of the city. As we approached the LSE campus, we would cross a road, in the center of which were situated a small church and sculptures of navy and army generals during World War II. At nine o'clock, I walked around a solemn and stately memorial statue of Prime Minister Gladstone, with "Education, Brotherhood, Courage and Aspiration" respectively written on the four sides.

In addition, as a loyal follower of feminism, I was touched again and again when walking on the streets of London. At the entrance to the LSE library was located a small open room that displayed the flags of women's movement in the 20th century and the comment of Woolf on the Removal of Sex Disqualification Act in 1919. As I passed the Houses of Parliament, I saw a statue of Emmeline Pankhurst in the park at the corner. As a great champion of woman suffrage, "she" stood there confident and firm. Under the "Humanity" inscription in front of the National Gallery was a monument for the British nurse Edith Cavell, which reads "Patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness for anyone." Churchill's wartime office kept detailed and vivid records of female secretaries, officers, and correspondents. One route of the Treasure Hunt organized by LSE was Women Suffrage. London is a city proud of women. At least, as a woman, I felt at home much stronger here than in any other city I have been to. I could deeply realize that a city that gives every gender and every group a sense of belonging is by no means flattering or hypocritical, but trying to make everyone equally treated as a "human". Those who are good are respected, while those who are bad are condemned. Thus, people can see the bright side of human nature and hold hope for the way ahead.

The theme of Week 3 was democracy. It was very realistic and interesting to discuss the topic as Boris Johnson was coming into office. In Teacher Huang Yusheng's class, we once discussed democracy from a theoretical perspective. From Hobbes's social contract to Rousseau's "general will", Western democracy existed in our minds in the form of abstract concepts. In the class of LSE, we took a more superficial but also very practical path. We discussed "what exactly makes you a national of a country" and "what exactly confirms your identity"; interpreted the true meaning of "populism" and "post-truth era"; and explored how the group of "people" is formed, who defines it and how experts become the experts of "people"... In the final presentations, we shared solutions to the actual problems of democracy. We thought that the fundamental solution is still education. Just as Socrates's ideal audiences are all educated people, the audiences of rational democracy must also be people with political quality. Or it is not just about political quality, but also about the quality of "being a human". All the efforts that work externally are means. Only by cultivating responsible and knowledgeable "humans" can we establish the premise for talking about democracy.

This study tour to Britain was a special experience for me. In my freshman year at Xinya College, I was keen on reading classics. However, my trip to LSE, a school embedded in a city, was like pulling me out from the bottom of a sea to the surface. Now I can associate the work of Thucydides I once read with vivid human nature; when I saw confrontations between politicians or diplomats in TV dramas, I can remember the Peace of Nicias or the glorious achievements of Brasidas, but after all, those big-screen characters lacked a little bit courage and grace compared with those of ancient Greeks; Durkheim's theory on the division of labor in society, and Hegel's and Marx's theory on civil society I once read in books now have evolved into London's prosperous free market. But the problems remain: Is social stratification destined to cause division? Can the so-called general class (teachers and officials) really play the role of educators? Is it necessary for civil society to upgrade into a country in order to realize human ethics? So what role does a country in the reality play spiritually?

I chose the Keats House as my last stop in London. I took a subway and reached the suburbs after ten stops. There was a community library, a small garden, and a white house where Keats once lived. It was near the closing time when I reached the place. After opening the door, I received cordial greetings. A gentleman sat in front of his desk and smiled, "What brings you here?" I told him I had read some Chinese translations of the works of Keats and wanted to see the place where the poet once lived in. Both of us were sincere and smiled when we chatted. It was like a meeting between old friends. The first exhibit I saw after I entered was a copy of Keats' life mask. When I saw "please touch", I feltthat my heartbeat stopped for two seconds. A sign on the bed where Keats was lying while he was sick read "sit here"; and a sign on a chair in the study read "sit like Keats in the painting". I was touched and even got the urge to cry. The house was an invitation, and poetry danced in it. The poet once wrote: "A poet is a sage, a humanist, physician to all men." I felt so grateful that this small house was preserved by so many people who still love the poet and his poems in the most tender way. It is one of the most moving ways of "being". After the house was closed, I sat in a small garden and had some reading, with melodious chirps of some birds, perhaps nightingales or angels, coming from a distance.

I stopped and went on with so many sweet memories. Today, I read one paragraph by Teacher Chen Jiaying: "For a long time, I feel that warmth and light are two crucial things in life. And now, I feel it more deeply... a situation where the sunlight of reason and the warmth of vitality are fused." The two words—"reason" and "vitality"— are universal. Here, I would like to borrow them to summarize my journey to London. In the twenty-one days, I experienced the enduring charm of reason and the vitality of the city that touched me deeply.