Chapter 98 dive into

In 1903, Ma Yifu was 20 years old, and the Overseas Students Supervision Office of the Qing Government’s Embassy in the United States needed a person with a good foundation in Chinese and English to serve as a secretary.After strict selection, Ma Yifu was finally selected.In June, Ma Yifu came to St. Louis in the northern part of the United States to work as the Chinese secretary of the Overseas Students Supervision Office of the Embassy in the United States.For a whole year in the United States, Ma Yifu did not go to school to receive the established education under that educational system. Instead, he bought, translated, and read books after his clerical work, and freely chose the works he wanted to read according to his habits and preferences.

After returning from the Western countries, Ma Yifu began to seriously summarize and digest Western theories and Western literature and art, and lived in seclusion in Jiaoshan Haixi Nunnery, Jiaoshan, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province together with his childhood friend Xie Wuliang.He translated Cervantes' masterpiece "Don Quixote" into Chinese, titled "The Biography of Mr. Ji", and published it in the "Independent Weekly". During the two years abroad, Ma Yifu gradually realized that Western thinking cannot really solve China's problems, and it is unworkable to hope to save China by following the road of Western learning.Only by revitalizing China's inherent academic traditions, using the study of mind and nature to change the social atmosphere and correct people's thinking, is the right way.

At the end of 1905, Ma Yifu went to Hangzhou and lived in Guanghua Temple in West Lake, Hangzhou.He went to Wenlan Pavilion to read "Siku Quanshu" every day.During this period, Ma Yifu stayed at home for three years, devoted himself to Chinese studies, and read the "Siku Quanshu" collected by Wenlan Pavilion. In 1911, Ma Yifu returned to China. He agreed with the 1911 Revolution led by Sun Yat-sen, and often wrote articles to promote Western progressive ideas.After the Revolution of 1911, he devoted himself to the study of academics. He has profound attainments in ancient philosophy, literature, and Buddhism. He is also proficient in calligraphy.

When Ma Yifu was a young man, he traveled with fellow countrymen Ma Junwu and Ma Xulun. They were in the prime of life, and "each took responsibility for the world." However, soon after, Ma Yifu "hid himself in the back alleys, and lived with the ancients, disdaining world affairs." Around 1912. Or from 1913 to 1937 before the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, he had been in Hangzhou alone, living in a back alley, devoted himself to the study of traditional Chinese culture such as Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism. Ma Yifu once went to Nanyang for inspection and saw that the local overseas Chinese took Confucianism as the state religion and did not abolish Confucian classics. Comparing the two, he was full of emotions and wrote "Singapore Daonan School".After returning to China, he devoted himself more and more to Chinese studies, and began to get involved in Buddhism.

Ma Yifu was a first-rate poet and calligrapher.His published poetry anthologies include "Jun Xi Zhai Poetry Collection", "Bi Kou Ji" with "Fang Du Ci Remains", "Ju Xi Zhai Poetry Chronicle Collection", etc., which are collectively called "Ju Xi Zhai Poetry Collection". Feng Zikai called Ma Yifu "Yan Zi (Yuan) in this world" in his essay "Back Alley", and described his feelings when he visited Ma Yifu's residence for the third time in 1933 (the first time was in twenty years. ) said: "Mr. still lives alone in the old house in the back alley, his eyes are still shining with firm and powerful lines, and his conversation and laughter are still happy."

After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Ma Yifu returned to the back alleys of Hangzhou and lived in seclusion under the forest again. He only presided over the Zhilin Library and continued to select and engrave ancient books. After liberation, Ma Yifu served as the curator of the Zhejiang Provincial Museum of Culture and History, and a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.However, following Premier Zhou's instructions, he was not disturbed by mundane affairs, and he was allowed to write books and talk at his home in Hangzhou (Jiangzhuang, Huagang) to enjoy his life.

In 1957, Zhou Enlai accompanied the Soviet leader Voroshilov to visit Hangzhou, and specially took him to Jiangzhuang to visit Ma Yifu, and introduced him, "Mr. Ma Yifu is a famous scholar in our country and the only Neo-Confucianist in our country." During the meeting , Voroshilov asked Ma Yifu: "What are you studying?" Ma Yifu said: "Study." He asked again: "What are you doing now?" Declined with "no pardon".