Gu Hongming (1857- 1928), a master of Chinese studies, has a mantra: Born in Nanyang, studied in the West, married in the East, served as an official in Beiyang and taught at Peking University.
This sentence is actually Gu Hongming introducing his life experience to others. His ancestral home was in Hui 'an County, Quanzhou City, Fujian Province, and his ancestors moved to Malaysia. Later, he was born in Penang, Nanyang, Malaysia.
10 years old, he was lucky enough to come to Europe. After 13 years of study, I have mastered nine western languages, such as English, German, French, Latin and Greek, and obtained 13 doctoral diplomas from famous European universities such as Edinburgh University and Leipzig University. When talking with westerners, he has no obstacles. He speaks nine foreign languages with clear pronunciation and mellow voice, and he can also write several foreign languages. He became a China native who was proficient in western culture at that time, and even westerners respected him.
Gu Hongming's original wife, Shu Gu, is a gentle and virtuous Jiangnan woman. She will not interfere with anything done by Gu Hongming, and take care of her husband and educate her children at home. In the face of this wife, Gu Hongming was very satisfied and called her an ideal wife.
Whenever there is a jam in writing, Gu Hongming always likes to appreciate Shugu's little feet and get inspiration soon. So he said she was "her own stimulant during the day".
Later, Gu Hongming met a Japanese woman named Masako Yoshida. When Gu Hongming learned about her life experience, she was very sympathetic and took her as a wing after she was redeemed. Compared with the original Shu-gu, Masako Yoshida knows literature, tea ceremony and flower arrangement art, and she often has many common topics with Gu Hongming. Gradually, Gu Hongming became dependent on her and even called her "his own sleeping pill". Without her company, he will lose sleep.
Masako Yoshida left a son and a daughter to Gu Hongming, and she stayed with him 18 years later and died of illness. Facing the death of his beloved wife, Gu Hongming was heartbroken. Every night, he took down a strand of Yoshida Sadako's hair and put it under his pillow to sleep. I also wrote a mourning poem for her: everyone hates this, how many years can it last? Crossing the Yangtze River is very painful, but going back to the original place is different.
It can be seen that Gu Hongming loves this wing very much, and she is more important to him than the original one. So there is a saying that "marriage is in the East".
19 17 When Mr. Cai Yuanpei was in charge of Peking University, he admired the famous Gu Hongming for a long time and invited him to teach English literature in Peking University. Although Gu Hongming only taught at Peking University for six years, it was the proudest time in his life, and he realized his life ambition here, so he said "teaching at Peking University".
Before teaching at Peking University, Gu Hongming worked in the shogunate of Zhang Zhidong for 20 years, which is the origin of "being an official in Beiyang".
During his 20 years as an aide, Gu Hongming helped Zhang Zhidong to co-ordinate Westernization and study Chinese studies, always bearing in mind his father's warning: "No matter where you go, whether you are British, German or French, don't forget that you are from China."
As a native of China, I don't know how to face our ancestors with Chinese studies.
When Gu Hongming remembered his father's warning and realized the importance of Chinese studies and China culture, he felt a sense of pride as a China native. He began to study China culture at night, as if he were making double compensation for not being influenced by China traditional culture since childhood. From then on, he shouldered the mission of "promoting China culture to the world" and eventually became a great scholar who learned both Chinese and Western cultures.
In the eyes of Chen Duxiu, Li Dazhao, Hu Shi, Lu Xun, Qian and other "new cultural people", Gu Hongming was a "freak" because he wore a long braid in the late Qing Dynasty, wore a robe and mandarin jacket, wore a melon seed cap and smoked a hookah, and looked like a complete defender of feudal culture.
However, new cultural people never dare to underestimate Gu Hongming's knowledge. Even Mr. Hu Shi, who is also proficient in Chinese and western cultures, will respectfully address a teacher in front of Gu Hongming.
Gu Hongming's works, such as Oxford Movement of China People and Spirit of China People, had great influence at that time and enjoyed a good reputation at home and abroad. These works, like the same bond, communicate the eastern and western cultures and promote the understanding between China people and westerners.
Gu Hongming is also an outstanding translator. When translating The Analects of Confucius, he had a unique opinion: "Let ordinary English readers understand this Chinese pamphlet which has given China people knowledge and moral values".
In the specific translation work, he put forward the translation method of "dynamic equivalence", which is commonly called "free translation method", refusing the translator to mechanically convert word for word between the original and the translation, but urging the translation to play the same role as the original in expressing thoughts and feelings.
Relying on this translation method, coupled with his mastery of Chinese and Western cultures, he introduced the traditional classics such as The Analects of Confucius, The Doctrine of the Mean and The Great Learning to westerners with accurate and beautiful translations, so that westerners could understand the profoundness of China culture. At the same time, he translated the famous works of Shakespeare, Goethe, Schiller, Carlisle and other western writers to China, and let China people see a different world.
At the same time, Gu Hongming is also an excellent speaker. He often speaks "the spirit of China people" in English in the "Six Kingdoms Hotel" in the embassy district of Dongjiaominxiang. Tickets for each speech cost two yuan, and every performance was packed. Because of his reputation at home and abroad, people of different colors listened to his speech.
Mei Lanfang, who ranked first among the "Four Famous Danish Songs" at that time, was also very popular, with a ticket of 1.2 yuan. However, as long as foreigners come to China, they would rather spend two oceans to see Gu Hongming than go to see Mei Lanfang's plays. In the eyes of foreigners, his position is extraordinary.
Judging from his knowledge and personality, Gu Hongming is excellent and almost flawless, and everyone admires him.
However, some people will criticize him. The only reason why people criticize him is that as a knowledgeable scholar, many of his ideas are quite old and even pedantic, especially in marriage, which makes people unreasonable.
Gu Hongming is very much in favor of concubinage, and even said: If you are a woman, the best way to control your husband is to join hands with other women and put him under the pomegranate skirt. The concubinage system in China is the ultimate obstacle to social harmony and family happiness.
At this time, the "New Culture Movement" is in full swing, advocating that people advocate new morality, oppose old morality, advocate new literature and oppose classical Chinese. In the intellectual world, it has received a warm response from most people.
As a great scholar, Gu Hongming not only opposed the "New Culture Movement", but also set an example by combining the original one with the second. Therefore, this is the main reason why intellectuals criticize him.
In the face of criticism from others, Gu Hongming even proudly said: The reason why I have achieved so much in my life is very simple, that is, I have always been accompanied by "stimulants" and "sleeping pills".
The "stimulants" and "sleeping pills" he said were his original Shu Gu and Yoshida Sadako.
After the implementation of the "New Culture Movement", people's ideological and cultural level has been significantly improved, and the concept of "equality between men and women" has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. More and more people agree with the positive role of "monogamy" and think that only in this way can we have a correct view of marriage.
However, Gu Hongming disagreed. In his eyes, men are the sky, the pillar of the family, and women are the accessories of men. It is not easy for a woman to take care of her husband and family. Therefore, "polygamy" is in line with social needs.
In order to prove himself right, in a speech, Gu Hongming had a heated debate with many people on this topic.
Once, he made a metaphor and said: If the husband is a teapot and the wife is a teacup, a teapot usually has several teacups.
A lady was unconvinced and retorted: Since polygamy is reasonable, polyandry should also be reasonable.
Hearing this, Gu Hongming said unhurriedly: It is ok to match a teapot with several teacups, but who has seen a teacup with several teapots?
All the people present were speechless, and no one dared to answer Gu Hongming's words.
Another lady stood up and asked Gu Hongming indignantly: Why can't we women make teapots? If we are teapots, can't we match some teacups?
Gu Hongming looked inside, cleared his throat and asked, Excuse me, madam, did you take a car or a carriage?
The lady blurted out: sometimes by car, sometimes by carriage.
As soon as the voice fell, Gu Hongming said, yes. Whether it is a car or a carriage, it is a four-wheeled vehicle. But no matter how many cars you take, how many oil pumps do you have at home?
Gu Hongming gave full play to his talent and quietly used another metaphor to promote his "polygamy". The lady tried to refute again, but she had no choice but to leave.
Everyone at the scene secretly admired that Gu Hongming was really a super "freak", but he couldn't say it if he wanted to, so let him go.