Wen (Professor, Department of Political Science, Renmin University of China)

Seeing Nanzi is a modest thing that Confucius did all his life. Nanzi is Wei Linggong's favorite. She is beautiful, but she has a bad reputation. Confucius went to see Nanzi, who had a bad reputation, which made Luz very unhappy. Confucius was so anxious that he swore that he had done nothing wrong.

In the past, the chapters and sentences in the "Four Books" of the Imperial Examination were regarded as topics by various places, but few examiners gave them. If they do, the candidates will scold them because they are really hard to understand. If one of them is not careful and says that Confucius is "ill", it will be in big trouble.

By the May 4th New Culture Movement, Confucius had changed from "the most holy teacher" to "Kong Laoer". Out of courtesy, he was called "Mr. Kong Er". After Confucius was disenchanted, the story of Zi Jian Nanzi was mentioned again, which was in the 1920s. Lin Yutang, who had a good relationship with Lu Xun at that time, developed into a one-act play according to a few words recorded in The Analects. Nanzi, on the other hand, became a new woman in the new era, demanding the liberation of personality, advocating boys and girls, and arguing with Confucius for this. Finally, she sang "Zheng's slutty voice" with a group of beautiful women, singing and dancing, and surrounded the master and his disciples, making the master have to flee. Such a drama, even today, may attract rotten eggs if it is performed to today's readers. However, some busybodies performed in Qufu, Confucius' hometown, and specially invited Confucius' descendants to see it.

The thing is, 1929 In the early summer, the student union of Shandong Second Normal School in Qufu, Shandong Province decided to rehearse Lin Yutang's Zi Jian Nan Zi. It is not difficult to arrange a one-act play. Soon, Zijian Nanzi met with the students of the Second Division and some Qufu citizens at the summer party. Although it has reached 1929, it is quite new for men and women to act on the same stage in the mainland of Shandong Province. Besides, the person who plays Confucius is "well dressed", wearing the clothes of civilians in the Spring and Autumn Period, but wearing the hat of the emperor, Lutz also wearing a sword, Nanzi is also a long-sleeved dancer, and the lines in the play are all modern new terms. Soon, there was another performance in front of the Confucius Temple.

Confucius Temple in Qufu, Shandong Province

Why do the students in the second division play the Purple Sword Nanzi? At that time, the families of students studying in normal schools were relatively poor, because the teachers told them to "eat school", and they were reluctant to eat and live, and there were subsidies. Poor children can afford it, teachers even take students, and there are more radical ideas. Although the Second Division is in Qufu, there are many students with non-Kong surnames. It may be a bit arrogant to say that it is anti-feudalism, but it is more like a prank, which is called a spoof today. The prank also means making fun of Confucius. Although "Confucius appeared in that script, as a saint, he was inevitably a little less sedate and stupid, but as a person, he was a lovely good man." Later, Song Huanwu, president of the Second Division, also stressed that the students who played Confucius were "extremely solemn".

But as long as Confucius appears on the stage and plays opposite the "feminist" Nanzi, it is definitely disrespectful to the saints. Mr. Lu Xun, who paid special attention to this incident, said: "Because the venue of the performance happened to be Confucius' hometown, in that place, saints multiplied in large numbers and became a privileged class that shamed Sakyamuni and Socrates. However, that may be the reason why the non-saints there can't help acting "Purple Sword Nanzi". "

Young people who are not saints feel at ease to offend saints. They are really unhappy. Before the song and dance of Zijian Nanzi dissipated, a letter signed "Sixty People in Kong" was handed to the Ministry of Education, suing the Second Division for insulting their ancestors and demanding a replacement of the principal. Interestingly, Lin Yutang's plays saw the modernization of Nanzi, which linked Confucius with women's liberation. However, there is not much "unholy" or "destroying Tao" in the accusations of Confucius' descendants. On the contrary, Lin Yutang made a big fuss about the word "obscenity" in the play, saying that when performing this play, "students pretended to be Confucius, and female teachers pretended to be Nanzi to make them coquettish and lost in thought." Interestingly, this theory is based on the morality and law of the Republic of China, and is not entangled in "insulting the saints."

After the written complaint was delivered, Kong Xiangxi City, which was greatly influenced by the Nanjing government, insisted on strict enforcement, but the competent Ministry of Education and the Shandong Provincial Department of Education made other arrangements. Although the Kuomintang (KMT) at this time, after taking power, was already thinking about stabilizing order and didn't want to mention the deviant behavior during the rebellion, some KMT members in power now had reservations about the May 4th Movement, but now they are even more dissatisfied with the spirit of the May 4th Movement. In other words, they are considering respecting the hole, not "punching shop". However, the Kuomintang has always been a hodgepodge of various forces, among which leftists and westernizers also have considerable forces. Jiang Menglin and Ma Xulun, the new figures of the New Culture Movement, are now ministers and deputy ministers of the Ministry of Education. He Siyuan, director of the Shandong Education Department, happened to be a student of Peking University during the May 4th Movement, and Cai Yuanpei, the old president of Peking University, still had a great influence in the education field. According to Zhu Baoqin, the counselor of the Ministry of Education who was ordered to investigate the case, he got clear instructions from Jiang Menglin and Ma Xulun, so he could not drive backwards. He Siyuan also said that this incident was an attack from the old party and the new faction. In their view, the dichotomy is related to the new and the old, progress and backwardness, and it is a conflict between two cultures. In fact, this year's medical debate about the retention or abolition of Chinese medicine is of the same nature in the eyes of this group of people.

Both incidents have aroused the high participation of public opinion. In this incident, it is obvious that there are more public opinions on the side of the students of the Second Division who have stirred up a hornet's nest. The result of the incident is also very similar. The old and new sides compromised, and the old side seems to have the upper hand. The opinion of the Ministry of Education is that acting by the Second Division does not mean insulting Confucius. Although the headmaster was not investigated, he was transferred on the grounds of another appointment. Then the Ministry of Education ordered that Confucius should be respected and the school should stop performing "Purple Sword Nanzi".

Both incidents were provoked by the so-called new factions. However, the rebound caused by provocation is too strong, and the two sides have a scuffle and are not satisfied with each other. Cultural disputes, mixed with interests disputes, make the government confused. However, the aftermath of the incident has not completely dissipated until today.

-End-

Excerpted from Zhang Mingjiao in the Republic of China.

Hongqi Publishing House, 20 1 1

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