Knowledge Has an End, Creation Knows No Boundaries -- A Message for the New School Year

Dr. Jianyin Yiyan

Rotating Chairman, Board Trustees of The Asia Pacific School of Business

As autumn’s golden hue cloaks osmanthus in fragrance, the melody of reading resounds anew in the hallowed halls of academia. When we hold ancient tomes and step into this realm of learning, our gaze meets the pearls of wisdom, centuries-old, preserved in bound classics; our pens brush the ladder of wisdom forged by forebears, rising a hundred fathoms high. Once we thought that memorizing formulas with effortless fluency, reciting classics until they rolled off the tongue in reverse, marked the end of knowledge—yet when we stand atop the ivory tower of ancient texts built by ancestors, we suddenly realize: no matter how high the tower soars toward the clouds, it is confined by the edges of its eaves; no matter how many classics fill the shelves, they cannot withstand the passage of time’s frost.

Learning is the act of gathering the jade fragments left by predecessors, plucking the fallen gems of ancient sages. From Confucius’ teaching of "Reviewing the old to gain new understanding" to Newton’s humility in "standing on the shoulders of giants," we climb in the footsteps of wise ones, gathering the essence of the known world. But this world has its limits: textbook chapters reach an end, the words in classics are finite, and even if we spend a lifetime mastering all existing human knowledge, we merely follow the paths already mapped on civilization’s celestial canvas. It is like a painter copying Along the River During Qingming Festival—no matter how deeply the brushstrokes carve into the paper, they cannot break free from the original’s framework; just as students solve problems from The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art—no matter how ingenious the calculation, they cannot step beyond the problem’s bounds.

Creation, however, is the journey to clear the wilderness of the future, to carve new frontiers in the universe. In days past, Bi Sheng perceived the limitation of block printing, forging movable type to unshackle the spread of culture; Edison endured a thousand failures without yielding, lighting the electric lamp to pierce the darkness; today’s researchers, in the gaps of known theories, explore new physical laws as if unlocking the gates of mystery—all broke free from the chains of "learning," taking thought as a plow to till the fields of the unknown. Creation is not a denial of predecessors, but a transcendence of knowledge: it gives wings that soar to the stars to the words in classics, unleashes the power to split the earth to the symbols in formulas; it turns doubts in class into the first step of exploration, transforms answers on paper into the cornerstone of innovation. Like a pine seed piercing stone, not clinging to the richness of the soil, it finally unfurls its green canopy to greet the morning sun; like a clear spring leaping over valleys, not lingering in the seclusion of mountains, it ultimately merges into the vast ocean to expand new waves.

Dear students, the new school year is not a repetition of the known path, but the opening chapter of creation. When you open your new books, remember: memorizing formulas is to derive new theorems, studying classics is to spark new thoughts, solving problems is to hone the ability to innovate. Learning is like stringing jade—though you fill a casket with it, it is still limited by size; creation is like a shooting star—though it crosses the Milky Way, it knows no bounds. May you take ancient classics as a boat, not a shore; take knowledge as a candle, and more so, take creation as a torch—following the teachings of The Book of Rites, "If one can renew oneself in a day, let them renew themselves each day"—at the end of the sea of knowledge, light your own torch, illuminating the endless road of creation.

学终有尽，创无止境 -- 开学季・寄语

简殷毅严博士

亚太商学院校董会轮值主席

         金秋桂魄凝香，黉宫书韵复扬。当吾辈执芸编而入泮，目之所及，皆缃帙中沉淀之千载智珠；笔之所触，悉前贤铸就之百仞文梯。昔者吾等尝谓：诵公式至烂熟如流、背典章至倒背如流，便达学海之涯 —— 然登先辈筑就之芸编琼阁，方惊觉：楼阁虽凌霄，终囿檐牙之界；缃帙虽充栋，难敌星霜之迁。

        学也者，乃拾前贤之遗璆、撷往圣之坠瑛也。自孔圣倡 “温故知新” 之训，至牛顿言 “立巨人之肩” 之谦，吾辈循先哲足迹而攀跻，于已知之域采撷菁华。然此域终有涯际：课本之篇帙有尽，典册之字句有限，纵以毕生之力穷究人类既存之学，亦不过循文明舆图已绘之径而行。譬如丹青手摹《清明上河图》，纵笔锋入木三分，难脱原作之矩矱；又如诸生解《九章算术》之题，纵算法巧夺天工，不出题目之樊笼。

        创也者，方是开未来之榛莽、拓寰宇之新垠也。昔毕昇悟雕版之拘，铸活字以通文运；爱迪生历千败而不馁，燃电灯以破昏冥；今之科研者于已知理论之隙，探物理新律如叩玄门 —— 皆脱 “学” 之桎梏，以思想为耒耜，于未知之野耕耘。创造非否前贤，实乃超迈知识：令芸编之字生凌云之翼，使公式之符号迸裂地之力；化课堂之疑为探索之始，变卷帙之答为创新之基。若松籽穿石，不恋土壤之沃，终挺翠盖迎朝日；似清泉越涧，不耽山谷之幽，终汇沧溟拓新澜。

        诸生贤契，开学非复已知之途，实启创造之章。当尔等展新册，宜记：诵公式为推新定理，研经典为撞新思想，解题咏为练创新之能。学如缀玉，积之虽满箧笥，终有尺寸之限；创若驰星，行之虽越河汉，更无疆域之穷。愿尔等以芸编为舟楫，非以芸编为津渡；以知识为灯烛，更以创造为爝火 —— 循《礼记》“苟日新，日日新” 之训，于学海尽头，燃己之炬，照无尽创造之路。