Commendable Chinese Scholar: 周策纵

周策纵 (Zhou Cezong, also Chow Tse-tsung) is a renowned historian and scholar in redology (no, it's not the study of the color red). He strongly defended the May 4th movement and wrote May Fourth Movement: Intellectual Revolution in Modern China (in English).

A review in The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science (1960) says:

Though scholarly, this book is not a dry treatise. It contains such an absorbing account of the May Fourth Movement that it might well have been journalistically entitled "The Awakening of the Dragon."

My favorite creation of 周策纵 is this poem. The best way to read it is in a circle and no matter what character you start with, backwards or forwards, it creates a beautiful poem. There are 40 possible combinations of poems, each line of each poem with 5 characters, 4 lines total. It is called a “回文诗," which translates as "palindrome poem." This poem highlights well the exquisite characteristics of the Chinese language, especially its flexibility in structure and word order.

Here is the poem in a circular format:

And here are all the permutations of the poem:

Forwards:

月淡星荒渡，斜舟绕乱沙，白岸晴芳树，椰幽岛艳华。
淡星荒渡斜，舟绕乱沙白，岸晴芳树椰，幽岛艳华月。
星荒渡斜舟，绕乱沙白岸，晴芳树椰幽，岛艳华月淡。
荒渡斜舟绕，乱沙白岸晴，芳树椰幽岛，艳华月淡星。
渡斜舟绕乱，沙白岸晴芳，树椰幽岛艳，华月淡星荒。
斜舟绕乱沙，白岸晴芳树，椰幽岛艳华，月淡星荒渡。
舟绕乱沙白，岸晴芳树椰，幽岛艳华月，淡星荒渡斜。
绕乱沙白岸，晴芳树椰幽，岛艳华月淡，星荒渡斜舟。
乱沙白岸晴，芳树椰幽岛，艳华月淡星，荒渡斜舟绕。
沙白岸晴芳，树椰幽岛艳，华月淡星荒，渡斜舟绕乱。
白岸晴芳树，椰幽岛艳华，月淡星荒渡，斜舟绕乱沙。
岸晴芳树椰，幽岛艳华月，淡星荒渡斜，舟绕乱沙白。
晴芳树椰幽，岛艳华月淡，星荒渡斜舟，绕乱沙白岸。
芳树椰幽岛，艳华月淡星，荒渡斜舟绕，乱沙白岸晴。
树椰幽岛艳，华月淡星荒，渡斜舟绕乱，沙白岸晴芳。
椰幽岛艳华，月淡星荒渡，斜舟绕乱沙，白岸晴芳树。
幽岛艳华月，淡星荒渡斜，舟绕乱沙白，岸晴芳树椰。
岛艳华月淡，星荒渡斜舟，绕乱沙白岸，晴芳树椰幽。
艳华月淡星，荒渡斜舟绕，乱沙白岸晴，芳树椰幽岛。
华月淡星荒，渡斜舟绕乱，沙白岸晴芳，树椰幽岛艳。

Backwards:

华艳岛幽椰，树芳晴岸白，沙乱绕周斜，渡荒星淡月。
艳岛幽椰树，芳晴岸白沙，乱绕周斜渡，荒星淡月华。
岛幽椰树芳，晴岸白沙乱，绕周斜渡荒，星淡月华艳。
幽椰树芳晴，岸白沙乱绕，周斜渡荒星，淡月华艳岛。
椰树芳晴岸，白沙乱绕周，斜渡荒星淡，月华艳岛幽。
树芳晴岸白，沙乱绕周斜，渡荒星淡月，华艳岛幽椰。
芳晴岸白沙，乱绕周斜渡，荒星淡月华，艳岛幽椰树。
晴岸白沙乱，绕周斜渡荒，星淡月华艳，岛幽椰树芳。
岸白沙乱绕，周斜渡荒星，淡月华艳岛，幽椰树芳晴。
白沙乱绕周，斜渡荒星淡，月华艳岛幽，椰树芳晴岸。
沙乱绕周斜，渡荒星淡月，华艳岛幽椰，树芳晴岸白。
乱绕周斜渡，荒星淡月华，艳岛幽椰树，芳晴岸白沙。
绕周斜渡荒，星淡月华艳，岛幽椰树芳，晴岸白沙乱。
周斜渡荒星，淡月华艳岛，幽椰树芳晴，岸白沙乱绕。
斜渡荒星淡，月华艳岛幽，椰树芳晴岸，白沙乱绕周。
渡荒星淡月，华艳岛幽椰，树芳晴岸白，沙乱绕周斜。
荒星淡月华，艳岛幽椰树，芳晴岸白沙，乱绕周斜渡。
星淡月华艳，岛幽椰树芳，晴岸白沙乱，绕周斜渡荒。
淡月华艳岛，幽椰树芳晴，岸白沙乱绕，周斜渡荒星。
月华艳岛幽，椰树芳晴岸，白沙乱绕周，斜渡荒星淡。

There is no Wikipedia entry for Zhou Cezong - anyone interested in writing one? There seems to be scattered information on the Internet.