Article Duan Honggang

Gu Hongming (1857-1928), the master of Chinese studies, has a mantra: Born in Nanyang, studied in the West, married in the East, served in the Beiyang, taught in the Peking University.

This sentence is actually Gu Hongming introducing his life experience and experience to others. His ancestral home is in Hui'an County, Quanzhou City, Fujian Province. His ancestors immigrated to Malaysia and were later born in Penang Island, Malaysia, Nanyang.

At the age of 10, he was fortunate enough to come to Europe. After 13 years of study, he mastered 9 Western languages ??including English, German, French, Latin, and Greek, and obtained degrees from the University of Edinburgh and the University of Leipzig. and 13 doctoral diplomas from famous European universities. He had no obstacles when talking to Westerners. He spoke 9 foreign languages ??fluently, and he could also write in several foreign languages. He became a Chinese who was proficient in Western culture at that time. Even Westerners understood He was in awe.

Gu Hongming’s first wife was named Shugu, a gentle and virtuous Jiangnan woman. She would not interfere with anything Gu Hongming did, and her duty at home was to take care of her husband and raise her children. Facing this wife, Gu Hongming was very satisfied and called her an ideal wife.

Whenever he gets stuck in writing, Gu Hongming always likes to admire Shugu's little feet, and he can quickly get inspiration. Therefore, he said that she is "his stimulant during the day."

Later, Gu Hongming met a Japanese woman named Yoshida Sadako. After learning about her life experience, Gu Hongming was very sympathetic and redeemed her as a side wife after her death. Compared with his original wife Shugu, Yoshida Sadako understands literature, tea ceremony and flower arrangement art. She and Gu Hongming often have many sexual topics. Gradually, Gu Hongming relies on her and even calls her "his sleeping pill" , without her company by his side, he would be sleepless.

Yoshida Sadako left a son and a daughter to Gu Hongming, and died of illness after being with him for 18 years. Faced with the death of his beloved wife, Gu Hongming was so sad that he took a strand of Yoshida Sadako's hair and put it under his pillow to sleep on it every night. He also wrote a poem in memory of her: Everyone has this kind of hatred, how many can it have in a hundred years? It is painful that the water of the Yangtze River crosses together but returns differently.

It can be seen that Gu Hongming loved this concubine very much. She was more important to him than his original wife. Therefore, there was a saying of "marriage in the East".

In 1917, when Mr. Cai Yuanpei took charge of Peking University, he had long admired the famous Gu Hongming and strongly invited him to teach at Peking University and give lectures on English literature. Although Gu Hongming only taught at Peking University for 6 years, for him, this was the most proud time in his life. Here he realized his life ambition, so he would say "teaching at Peking University".

Before teaching at Peking University, Gu Hongming served in the Zhang Zhidong shogunate for 20 years. This is the origin of "official position in Beiyang".

During his 20 years as a staff member, Gu Hongming helped Zhang Zhidong coordinate foreign affairs and studied Chinese studies. He always kept in mind his father’s warning: “No matter where you go, no matter whether you are surrounded by British people or Germans, Whether you are French or French, don’t forget that you are Chinese.”

As a Chinese, how can you face your ancestors if you don’t understand Chinese studies?

When Gu Hong remembered his father's warning and realized the importance of Chinese studies and Chinese culture, his pride as a Chinese arose spontaneously in him, and he began to study Chinese culture day and night, as if to I want to make up for the lack of exposure to traditional Chinese culture since I was a child. From then on, he shouldered the mission of "promoting Chinese culture to the world" and eventually became a great scholar with knowledge of both China and the West.

In the eyes of the "new cultural figures" Chen Duxiu, Li Dazhao, Hu Shi, Lu Xun, Qian Xuandong and others, Gu Hongming was a "weirdo" just because he wore long braids in the late Qing Dynasty and a long mandarin jacket. Wearing a melon cap, smoking a hookah, and talking a lot, he looks like a complete defender of feudal culture.

However, the New Culture people never dared to underestimate Gu Hongming's knowledge. Even Mr. Hu Shi, who also learned Chinese and Western knowledge, would respectfully call him "teacher" in front of Gu Hongming.

Gu Hongming’s works such as "The Chinese Oxford Movement" and "The Chinese Spirit" had a great influence at the time and were well known both at home and abroad. These works were like a link between Eastern and Western cultures and made China The understanding between people and Westerners has improved to several levels.

Gu Hongming is also an outstanding translator. When translating "The Analects", he had a unique insight: "Let ordinary English readers understand this Chinese booklet that gave the Chinese people their intellectual and moral outlook."

In the specific translation work, he proposed the "dynamic equivalence" translation method, which is commonly known as the "free translation method", rejecting the translator's mechanical word-for-word comparison between the original text and the translated text. gender conversion, but to make the translation play the same role as the original text in expressing thoughts and emotions.

Relying on this translation method, coupled with his advantage in learning both Chinese and Western, he introduced traditional classics such as The Analects of Confucius, The Doctrine of the Mean, and The Great Learning to Westerners in accurate and beautiful translations , allowing Westerners to understand the breadth and depth of Chinese culture. At the same time, he translated famous works by Western writers such as Shakespeare, Goethe, Schiller, and Carlyle to the Chinese, allowing the Chinese to see a different world.

At the same time, Gu Hongming is also an excellent speaker. He often lectures on "The Spirit of the Chinese" in English at the "Liuguo Hotel" in the Embassy District of Dongjiaomin Lane. Tickets for each speech cost two Dayang, every show is packed. Because he is very famous both at home and abroad, people of all colors listen to his speeches.

At that time, Mei Lanfang, who was ranked first among the "four famous actors", was also very popular. Each theater ticket cost 1.2 oceans. However, as long as foreigners came to China, they would rather spend 2 oceans to go. I would like to support Gu Hongming, but I don’t want to watch Mei Lanfang’s drama. In the minds of foreigners, his status is extraordinary.

From the perspective of knowledge and personality, Gu Hongming is outstanding and has almost no flaws. Everyone admires him.

However, some people will still criticize him. The only reason why people criticize him is that as a well-educated scholar, many of his ideas are quite outdated or even pedantic, especially his ideas on marriage, which are a bit unreasonable.

Gu Hongming strongly agreed with concubinage, and even said: If you are a woman, the best way to control your husband is to join forces with another woman and keep him under the pomegranate skirt. Our concubinage system in China , is the ultimate secret to social harmony and family happiness.

At this time, the "New Culture Movement" was in full swing, advocating people to promote new morals and oppose old morals, promote new literature, and oppose classical Chinese. In the intellectual circles, it received enthusiastic response from most people.

As a scholar, Gu Hongming not only opposed the "New Culture Movement", but also set an example by marrying his first wife and then a second wife. Therefore, this is the main reason why the intellectual circles criticized him.

In the face of criticism from others, Gu Hongming even said proudly: The reason why I have achieved such achievements in my life is very simple, that is, I have "stimulants" and "sleeping pills" always with me.

The "stimulants" and "sleeping pills" he spoke of were none other than his first wife Shugu and his side wife Sadako Yoshida.

After the implementation of the "New Culture Movement", people's ideological awareness and cultural level have been significantly improved. The concept of "equality between men and women" has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and more and more people have recognized "monogamy" It has a positive effect and believes that this is the correct view of marriage.

But Gu Hongming disagrees. In his eyes, men are God and the backbone of the family, and women are men’s accessories. It is not easy for a woman to take good care of her husband and family. Therefore, "polygamy" is suitable. social needs.

In order to prove that he was right, in a certain speech, Gu Hongming had a heated debate with many people on this topic.

Once, he made an analogy and said: If the husband is a teapot, the wife is a teacup. A teapot is usually accompanied by several teacups.

A woman was very unconvinced after hearing this and retorted: Since polygamy is reasonable, polyandry should also be reasonable.

After hearing this, Gu Hongming said calmly: It is appropriate to match a teapot with several teacups, but who has ever seen a teacup with several teapots?

Everyone present was speechless after hearing this, and no one dared to answer Gu Hongming's words.

Another lady stood up and asked Gu Hongming angrily: Why can’t we women make teapots? If we were a teapot, could we also have a few teacups?

Gu Hongming followed the sound, cleared his throat and asked: Madam, when you took the car, did you take a car or a carriage?

The lady blurted out: Sometimes I take a car, sometimes I take a carriage.

As soon as he finished speaking, Gu Hongming said: That's right, whether it is a car or a carriage, they are all four-wheeled vehicles, but no matter how many cars you take, how many pumps do you have at home?

Gu Hongming gave full play to his talents and quietly used another metaphor to promote his own "polygamy". The lady wanted to refute again, but was unable to argue, so she could only leave in anger.

Everyone at the scene secretly praised Gu Hongming as indeed a super "weirdo". They wanted to say it but couldn't, so let him go.