I was fortunate to have learned Chinese from Mai Laoshi (Mark Hansell) and Zhao Laoshi (Qiguang Zhao) in the mid-90’s. I realized even then that Mai Laoshi was an excellent teacher. In retrospect it is even more apparent. Professor Hansell was demanding, conscientious, and inspiring. And he taught lasting lessons through humor. He once read aloud a postcard sent by another student who was studying in China, and noted with exaggerated appreciation that the student addressed him with the polite form of the second-person pronoun (nin 您).
I have not kept in touch as I should have, but I have been meaning to send Mai Laoshi my appreciation for establishing a strong foundation in Chinese language. After graduating from Carleton I took courses in classical and literary Chinese at the University of Minnesota. Eventually I went to the University of Chicago to study philosophy, and became such a “text geek” and so fond of reading and figuring out old Chinese texts that I made a career of it. I’m now a professor of philosophy specializing in Confucian philosophy in the Song through the Qing dynasties. I work primarily on texts that haven’t been translated into modern European languages, have published several translations of my own, and share with a colleague a major translation series devoted to Chinese religious and philosophical texts. I run a regular reading group for other philosophers interested in reading old texts in classical Chinese. I am deeply indebted to Mai Laoshi and Zhao Laoshi for their pivotal and formative contributions to my education in Chinese language and culture. It was my good fortune to have had them as teachers.