1999年5月4日，我开始个案研究。
2009年5月17日，我拿到海南大学211工程专项资金资助项目——“宋氏家族奠基人宋耀如现代教育理念研究”，决定做一个与海南有关，又有别于以前的研究（《胡适的精神之旅》、《杨绛年谱》），开辟一个新的研究路向，突出两个方面：教育和“斯巴达—基督教”精神。实地考察，研读资料，小组讨论，专题演讲及陈超核的参与，都使我们对宋耀如的认识逐渐加深，也更明确了宋耀如不仅是属于他个人或其家族，更属于那个时代，我们要做的是把宋耀如放在那个特定的时代，尽可能接近历史事实。
李荣南主笔推出了初稿。初稿缺乏足够的一手资料，但我们侧重历史，将个人置于历史大背景之下，因此还原个体生命的细微变化过程中我们做了广泛的考证和推理。再次修订时，我们得到宋耀如17封英文书信及译注（刘子铭负责输入），实乃天意！
“川浮而动，岳镇而安”（唐·李邕），我们试图在南溟之地思考影响了中国近现代史的“宋氏家族”的核心和源头。所有自以为充足的预备都不充足，将宋耀如所处特定环境与时代做过多的引述，肯定会有冲淡个体形象之嫌。好在很多研究刚刚开始，累积经验才是正道。
张志扬、谢天振、陈思和诸师拨冗为本书所作的序是鼓励更是鞭策。
张敬群出色的英文翻译，西南科技大学的美籍英文教师、诗人盖尔·艾科夫博士和美国加州大学长堤分校的谢天蔚教授对英文译文的认真审阅，林伟智的专业摄影和其他地方获取的图片，的确使本书增色不少。
生命在研究中获益，同时也在不断损耗。两年多来，与师友亲人无数次交流（面对面、电话、手机短信、电子邮件等方式），奇妙的是，每一位都对宋氏家族这一研究感兴趣，名字可列出长长一串，我想还是心存感激为好！
杨国良
2011年7月2日凌晨于海南
Afterword
I began my special case study on May 4， 1999.
On May 17， 2009， I obtained approval for The Research of Charlie Jones Soongs Idea of Modern Education， a project supported by the capital used specially for The 211project of Hainan University. I had made up my mind to pursue some research relating to Hainan but differing from the previous studies―A Journey to Observe the Spirit of Hu Shi and A Chronicle of Yang jiangs Life―in order to open up a new direction in this area， one which would give priority to two issues：education and “Sparta―the Spirit of Christianity.” Delving deeply into research materials， conducting onsite investigations， joining in group discussions， attending specialsubject lectures， and engaging Chen Chaohes participation all deepened our acquaintance， bit by bit， with Charlie Jones Soong， helping us understand that Charlie Jones Soong belongs not only to himself and his family but even more to his time. What we need to do is to situate him in that given time so that we reveal the historical truth as completely as we can.
Li Rongnan was in charge of writing the first draft， which emphasizes history in particular and arranges the individual in the historical background and the often imperceptible process of change in ones life. In the writing of the first draft， we relied upon wide research and some creative speculation in lieu of firsthand data， but by the time we revised the draft we had acquired seventeen of Charlie Jones Soongs English letters， with both Chinese translations and notes inputted by Liu Ziming. This material was a godsend.
“A river moves， flowing and floating； a great mountain looks calm and peaceful” （Li Yong from the Tang Dynasty）。 On a bank of the South China Sea， we attempted to locate the headstream of “Soongs Family” and follow its course through， and its effect upon， modern Chinese history. All our preparations， somewhat paradoxically， have not been sufficient； too many quotations and elaborations about Charlie Jones Soongs specific background and time would surely dilute the individual image. It is fortunate that many researches concerned have just been started； accumulating and sharing our research experiences is the right way for us to continue.
For this book， the several prefaces written conscientiously by Zhang Zhiyang， Xie Tianzhen， and Chen Sihe， respectively， have inspired and encouraged us.
The elegant and exact translation is by Zhang Jingqun. The proofreading of the English translation is by Dr. Gale Acuff， an American poet who teaches English at Southwest University of Science and Technology， Mianyang， and by Professor Xie Tianwei of California State University， Long Beach. The photographs are by Lin Weizhi， a professional photographer； additional photographs are from other sources.The efforts of all concerned will surely make the book especially significant.
Studies benefit ones life， yet wear it down unceasingly. For over two years I have communicated face to face， by telephone， via mobile messaging and email， etc.， with my teachers， friends， and relatives countless times， and it is a great satisfaction that every one of them has shown keen interest in such research. My heartfelt appreciation and gratitude to you all！
Yang Guoliang
Hainan
Before dawn on July 2， 2011
Translated by Zhang Jingqun
Proofread by Gale Acuff