"Independent spirit, free thought" refers to

(1) Be mentally independent and be "ashamed of being inferior to others" (being ashamed of being inferior to others, so as to work hard to achieve your goals) (Strong);

(2) Be free in thought, be scientific and attach importance to practical work (replace the old feudal and unfree ideas with scientific ideas, and attach importance to the accumulation of practical experience).

Notes:

The spirit of independence and the thought of freedom, these are the ten characters inscribed by Mr. Chen Yinke in the "Monument to Mr. Wang Guantang of Tsinghua University". They will also be forever engraved in the In the hearts of a group of intellectuals in Taiwan, including Mr. Xu Zhuoyun.