Chapter 27 anecdote

After the Revolution of 1911, Tanghe, Henan also opened a women's school. Feng Youlan's mother was in charge of managing the students in the women's school, under the name of the supervisor.She gave herself a new name, Wu Qingzhi, and specially printed a business card. In 1916, three celebrities came out of the School of Philosophy at Peking University: Zhu Ziqing, Chen Gongbo, and Feng Youlan. Feng Youlan recalled his feelings when he was studying at Shanghai China Public School: "When you enter a store or walk on the road, if you can't speak Shanghainese, you will be called a 'Jiangbei guy'. But if you can speak a little English Words, and he immediately becomes respectful."

When Feng Youlan was studying in the United States, she once had dinner at Dewey's house and read in the newspaper that Sun Yat-sen had cooperated with Zhang Zuolin.Du asked Feng: "Sun Yat-sen has been deceived many times, why should he cooperate with warlords?" Feng was speechless.Later Du said: "The struggle in history is carried out by strength. Without strength, it is impossible to rely solely on theory.... There are two kinds of strength, one is the sword, and the other is money.... Mr. Sun at the time , often contacted the warlords, in order to connect his theory with knives and money." "With the money and the knives, there was victory in the Northern Expedition in 1927." Feng concluded.

When Feng Youlan was in Kunming, life was very hard.Inflation in the late period of the Anti-Japanese War, everything is worth money, but money is worthless.A month's salary is several million, and it will be used up in less than half a month.So the teachers of the Lianda University organized a cooperative to openly sell articles, calligraphy, and stamps. Feng Youlan sold calligraphy, but the business was not good, and no one was ever opened. It is rare for Feng Youlan to show her true feelings.During the Spring Festival of one year, Feng Youlan met with Deng, Yang Zhensheng and Japanese Xiao Xunliang at Deng Yizhe's apartment in Dianmen, drank 12 bottles of rice wine, and got very drunk.

In "San Song Tang Preface", Feng Youlan told an interesting story about Shen Jianshi's lecture on the history of philosophy: the professor who told us the history of Chinese philosophy started with the Three Emperors and Five Emperors and talked about it for half a year before he talked about the Duke of Zhou.We asked him when he could finish speaking at this speed.He said: "It doesn't matter if you can't finish it. If you can finish it, you can finish a sentence. If you can't finish it, you can never finish it." Haining sank, Ren Gong died of illness, and Zhao Yuanren lived in a foreign land again. After escaping from Southwest Associated University, Chen Yinke was the only one of the four mentors of Tsinghua National Academy who was famous for a while, so he was hailed as "the quintessence of the country" by Liu Wendian.Feng Youlan, the dean of the Faculty of Liberal Arts of Lianhe University, is already a great philosopher, and he can be regarded as an excellent figure in Tsinghua University.But every time in the "History of Chinese Philosophy" class, Feng always respectfully followed Mr. Chen out of the teachers' lounge, and listened to Chen's speech as he walked, until he made a big bow at the door of the classroom, and then left.

When Wen Yiduo and Feng Youlan were teaching at Southwest Associated University, their lives were poor.Once the food was too salty, Feng said that salty food is good, it can prevent people from eating too much.But Wen said in the tone of a commentator: "The salty one is idle. So people who are idle should eat more." In 1948, Feng Youlan brought back a refrigerator from the United States, which was the only one in Tsinghua University, probably not many in Beijing.After learning that Tsinghua University Hospital needed it, I donated it immediately. As the saying goes: behind a successful man stands a great woman.It is true that these words are applied to Feng Youlan, and there is not one woman standing behind him, but three women.Feng Lao once wrote poems praising the three women who had greatly helped him in his life.His poem says: In the early years, I depend on my loving mother for studying, and in the middle age, I have a good wife in my career.Come late and get filial piety from my daughter, who helped me fly thousands of miles in the sky.

Feng Youlan has five brothers and sisters. Except for her elder sister Wen Lan who married early and brother Xin Lan who died early, Feng Youlan has become a leading figure in Chinese philosophy. A well-known contemporary writer and classical literature expert, this is the famous "Tanghe Sanfeng".This all depends on the training and education of Mrs. Wu, Feng Youlan's mother. Mrs. Wu not only actively cultivates her children, but also understands and supports them to fall in love and marry independently.Mr. Feng Youlan was going to take his new daughter-in-law Ren Zaikun home to visit relatives. Some people advised them not to go back for the time being, fearing that his mother would not let his daughter-in-law come out to work.Mr. Feng said that my mother must not be that kind of person.Sure enough, after staying at home for a few days, the mother "threshed" them away and said, "I don't want my daughter-in-law to take care of and serve at home. I just hope you can do things well outside. If you have children, I will take care of them for you."

Feng Youlan’s mother, Mrs. Wu, taught her children to be responsible, to live in a down-to-earth manner, to treat others sincerely, and to study rationally; .So Feng Youlan said that her mother was a perfect woman in feudal society.Moreover, Feng's mother's good character had a great influence on him: not only did he get out of the shadow of losing his loving father, but also made Feng Lao embark on a positive life path.Mother Feng is very considerate about life and death. She once told Feng Youlan that it is not necessary to live a long life. The most important thing is to finish what you have to do and leave without regrets.This attitude towards life also affected Feng Youlan.

When Feng's mother passed away at the age of 83, Feng Youlan went back to the funeral after several twists and turns, and wrote a mournful and affectionate "Mother's Essay" to commemorate his great and ordinary mother.He also said in "My Concubine Mrs. Wu Tai's Biography": My concubine was inspired by the construction of the ancestral hall, but she fell before all her efforts were completed. Her eighty-three years of life ended in this way. It is solemn and tragic, and it is not just a reunion. comparable.I heard from my relatives that my concubine's appearance was pleasant when she was encoffined, and she was better than usual, because the way of death and life has been exhausted by her concubine.

Feng Youlan is not strict with his children. For example, when it comes to the homework of the students at home, he does not require anyone to take the test so many points, and he does not ask anyone to work overtime. Che; As for the majors chosen by the students in his family, Mr. Feng only depends on their interests.Zong Pu majored in foreign languages ​​when she was in college, in order to open another window for her literary creation. Mr. Feng also respected her choice very much.He does not require his children to do anything, but hopes that they will work hard no matter what they do.Although none of Mr. Feng's children engaged in philosophy, the spirit they acquired from their father enabled them to achieve their own success: In addition to Zong Pu, who became a well-known writer in the Chinese literary world, Mr. Feng Zhongliao, the eldest son, and Feng Zhongyue, the second son They are also excellent experts in a certain field.

Feng Youlan often tells a joke at home: When he was already a well-known philosopher, someone asked him why no one in his family "inherited his father's career", he humorously laughed it off: "That's why I know philosophy very well. It's useless." On April 11, 1957, the anniversary of the death of Mrs. Feng Youlan Ren Zaikun's second sister Ren Rui.At around 11 a.m. that day, Feng Youlan and his wife returned home after sweeping the tomb, and received a call from Mao Zedong's secretary, saying that Mao Zedong was treating guests to dinner today and asked him to come right away.Feng Youlan was both surprised and delighted, when she came to Zhongnanhai Yi Nian Hall, she saw that Mr. Jin Yuelin, Zheng Xin, and He Lin had already arrived first.There are three rooms in the Yi Nian Hall, and Mao Zedong and his guests are talking in the one at the west end.Seeing Feng Youlan coming, he asked, "I couldn't find you just now, are you in class?" Feng Youlan said, "Today is Comrade Ren Rui's anniversary, and I went to visit her grave." Mao Zedong asked again: "Ren Rui Comrade Sun Weishi (Zhou Enlai's goddaughter, Mao Zedong's Russian translator, Lin Biao had fanatically pursued her but was rejected before liberation, and was persecuted to death by Jiang Qing group during the "Cultural Revolution")'s mother?" "Yes." At this time, Hu Sheng also When we arrived, Mao Zedong took everyone to the room at the east end of the house for dinner.When the food was served, Mao Zedong said: "My meal is called Sifang Ren Ma Fan. It contains all kinds of rice and many beans. Both humans and horses can eat it, so it is called Ren Ma Fan."

A few months later, Feng Youlan published "On the Inheritance of Chinese Philosophical Heritage", in which he expressed some new comments on Confucius' "Learning and learning from time to time, it is not easy to say".Soon he was invited to attend the CCP National Propaganda Work Conference.During the group discussion, Feng Youlan happened to be in a group with Mao Zedong, and the group meeting was held at Mao Zedong's residence.What Feng Youlan didn't expect was that when he first stepped into Mao Zedong's house, Mao Zedong said: "Learn and learn from time to time, isn't it easy to say?" It turned out that Mao Zedong had already read the articles he wrote.At the group meeting, Mao Zedong asked Feng Youlan to speak.Feng Youlan raised some questions about the history of Chinese philosophy. He said: "According to the current way of speaking, it is difficult to make sense." Mao Zedong said: "That is simplification, and it cannot be simplified." At the end of the meeting, Mao Zedong pulled Feng Youlan The hand said: "Sing it well, a hundred schools of thought contend, you are one family. I will read everything you write." In 1964, when the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference held a meeting, Feng Youlan made a speech on his writing of "A New History of Chinese Philosophy".On the closing day of the meeting, Mao Zedong and other central leaders took a group photo with the members present.When the photo was taken, Feng Youlan happened to be standing between the seats behind Mao Zedong and Liu Shaoqi.Mao Zedong saw him at a glance, took Feng Youlan's hand and said, "Your body is better than mine." Then Mao Zedong asked him about the situation of writing "New History of Chinese Philosophy", and said: "Your history of Chinese philosophy After finishing writing, do you want to write a history of Western philosophy?" Feng Youlan hurriedly said: "Only China can be written, and the task of writing the history of Western philosophy has been assigned to others." Mao Zedong said: "For Confucius, you and Guo Moruo One faction." At the beginning of the "Cultural Revolution", Feng Youlan was labeled as a bourgeois reactionary academic authority.He was not allowed to return home until the fall of 1968, on leniency.Feng Youlan felt strange, why was he suddenly lenient to him?Later, a friend quietly told him that Mao Zedong mentioned him and Jian Bozan at a central meeting and said: "There is a Feng Youlan in Peking University who teaches idealist philosophy. We only understand materialism. If you want to know a little about idealism doctrine, we still have to find him.” Mr. Feng Youlan is well versed in modern and ancient times, has extensive coverage, and is very insightful in various aspects of literature, history and philosophy.In his later years, he and his daughter Zong Pu sat opposite each other at the dining table, and the topic was Chinese classical novels.Mr. Feng looked at his daughter who was engaged in literature in front of him, as if facing a friend, and talked about his opinion: "You see, in Chinese novels, the technique of writing is very novel. For example, the appearance of the protagonist Shisanmei, this This novel is not like other novels that firstly tell the protagonist’s name and where he comes from. This novel first introduces a mysterious woman with no name and name, which has a mysterious atmosphere. When her activities lead to Deng Jiugong, The novel puts her down again and starts the narrative from Deng Jiu again..."