Chapter 22 Zhiyu

Hu Shi was the same age as Liu Wendian. He was Liu Wendian's fellow villager, colleague, and the most important friend in Liu Wendian's life.On Liu Wendian's journey to the academic peak, Hu Shi's help must be indispensable. Liu Wendian once wrote an article titled "What is the Communication between Chinese and Western Academics", in which he called Hu Shi "my friend Hu Shizhi" and said that Hu's "Outline of the History of Chinese Philosophy" "can really be regarded as a Chinese An Epochmaking (epoch-making) book in modern times is written by a Westerner on the history of Western philosophy, and only two famous writers, Windelband in Germany and Thilly in the United States, are as good as him.”

After Liu Wendian's "Huinan Honglie Jijie" was completed, Hu Shi was naturally the earliest reader. On September 24, 1921, Hu Shi recorded in his diary: "Liu Shuya recently spent more than a year sorting out "Huainanzi" and made it into a big book "Huainan Honglie Jijie". Today he brought Come and show me, I flipped through a few places, and I know that he has indeed spent a lot of rigorous work." Hu Shi also wrote: "There are very few people in the Department of Culture and Culture of Peking University who can pick up a pen to write essays. As far as I know, Only Shu Ya and Xuan Tong are the only ones. Shu Ya is the laziest, unexpectedly he is able to work so hard to make such an immortal work!"

The publication of "Huainan Honglie Jijie" was also the result of Hu Shi's hard work. Hu recommended the manuscript to Zhang Yuanji of the Commercial Press, and acted as Liu Wendian's agent to help him negotiate with the Commercial Press.Liu also trusted his friend very much, and wrote to Hu Shi, saying: "Since you say so about "Huainanzi", there is nothing you can't do without it." For Liu Wendian, "my friend Hu Shizhi" is an indispensable figure in his life.Most of the letters Liu wrote to Hu asked Hu to solve various problems for him, whether it was in life or academics. The Commercial Press negotiated, or asked Hu Shi to borrow money, provide other assistance, and so on.

Liu Wendian once borrowed 600 yuan from Peking University for editing "Huainanzi", but he was unable to repay the debt when it was due.Because his book hadn't been published at that time, he wrote to Hu Shi to complain, and asked Hu to help him advance the manuscript fee to Zhang Yuanji. He said in the letter: "If the salary is deducted for two or three months, Dian will not be able to make ends meet within a year. I think the sales of my book will not be very wrong in the future. I will take advantage of your face and discuss with Mr. Zhang Jusheng (Yuan Ji), and I will pay a few hundred yuan. It should be possible. Compared with ordinary books, my work is also more labor-intensive. More, the price will be more expensive in the future, and the value will be more permanent. No matter how many years later, it will be sold. After all, it is not comparable to those popular 'temporary' books. Advance a sum of money first, and sooner or later you will be able to get it back Yes, Dian thinks that as long as you talk to Mr. Zhang, the situation in Dian’s eyes can be resolved. You have always been willing to help Dian in this matter, and you can promise me this matter.”

A few days later, Liu Wendian wrote again to urge Hu Shi: "Dian thus raised another extravagant hope, which seems to be close to the 'demand of insatiability', but in fact it is not far from the original proposal. It is the advance payment for "Huainanzi". One hundred, plus the two hundred in "History of Indian Thought", the total is eight hundred yuan. If you take two hundred, you can make up a thousand integers." With the help of Hu Shi, Liu Wendian received the business card within a few days. The manuscript fee paid in advance by the press. Because Liu Wendian failed to finish proofreading the last few chapters in time, the Commercial Press refused to pay the remaining 50 yuan manuscript fee, and Peking University was unable to pay the salary on time due to financial constraints. I'm on the verge of extinction, please negotiate with him immediately for my brother (just make a phone call), it's really not good for me to speak to him, please help me."

In 1923, when "Huainan Honglie Jijie" was published, Liu Wendian asked Hu Shi to write a preface for the book, and proposed that the preface should be written in classical Chinese: "My book "Huainan Zijijie" has been completed, and many students are eager to ask for it. I want to read it, and I hope it will be published one day earlier. Now I can’t print it because I’m waiting for your preface, so I ask you to hurry up. As for the style of writing, it seems that classical Chinese is suitable. An antique book is accompanied by a preface in vernacular It’s like wearing a dark coat and a Western-style hat on your head. Classical Chinese and vernacular are similar, if you don’t want to do classical Chinese, you can only use vernacular.”

Hu Shi almost responded to Liu Wendian's request. He wrote a preface in classical Chinese and sent countless beautiful words to Liu Wendian: "What is done in the world today is still the same as Zhuang Kui Jiben a hundred and fifty years ago, and the king and Yu are hardworking. It cannot be enjoyed by most scholars; however, Shu Ya's "Jijie" is not the priority of today's governance studies?" For the evidence of various schools, or to rectify their mistakes, they should first cite other schools and attach new evidences obtained by themselves. When it comes to self-supporting theory, only those whose evidence is sufficient and unquestionable are listed. There are often new meanings, If you don’t prepare for the evidence, you will abandon it, and if you make friends or argue with it, Shu Ya will not want it.”

Because Liu Wendian had not been taken seriously at Peking University, when Liu Wendian was collation of "Huainanzi", he specially asked Hu Shi to send some of the chapters he had already collated to the president Cai Yuanpei for review. In 1923, "Huinan Honglie Jijie" had not yet been published. Hu Shi, at the invitation of Hu Dunyuan and others in "Tsinghua Weekly", published "A Minimum Bibliography of Chinese Studies", and solemnly recommended this unpublished book. Liu Wendian builds momentum. Liu Wendian was also very grateful to Hu Shi for his help. He said in a letter to Hu Shi: "You are my brother's most respected and beloved friend, and my brother's studies have been greatly benefited from you. In recent years, my reputation has been poor, and it is all because of Your "Speaking Items" and the publication of my book are the result of your hard work in helping and rewarding you."

Tang Degang recorded in "Hu Shi's Miscellaneous Memories" that Liu Wendian once commented on Hu Shi: "Mr. Shizhi is good in everything, but he doesn't know much about literature!" Tang Degang said that he heard this statement from his predecessors. .Mr. Zhang Yuzheng, based on the analysis of the currently available materials, believes that this is entirely Tang's hearsay. He believes that Liu Wendian "respects and loves" Hu Shi from the depths of his soul. After Liu Wendian finished proofreading "Huainanzi", he began to proofread "Lunheng".Liu Wendian didn't have much confidence in collation of "Lunheng", so he wrote to ask Hu Shi for his opinion.After Hu Shi expressed support for Liu Wendian's decision, Liu Wendian persevered and completed the collation of "Lunheng".

The manuscript of "Lunheng" collated by Liu Wendian was naturally published by the Commercial Press, but after the manuscript was handed in, the Commercial Press did not take any action.Liu Wendian was very worried. Naturally, his solution was to ask Hu Shi to negotiate with the Commercial Press.Soon after, Gao Mengdan of the Commercial Press wrote to Liu and told Liu that Hu Shi would be entrusted with full authority over the matter of publication to discuss with Liu Wendian in detail. The Commercial Press published Liu Wendian's "Lunheng", and the manuscript fee paid to Liu was relatively low.Afterwards, Liu Po ​​felt regretful, and said in a letter to Hu Shi: "What Buchang (Professor Shan Buchang of Peking University) said, my brother refused to put some things in. This is not true. My brother is not timid, it is true I think the price is too low, and I want to keep all those who have worked hard to make my reading collection, and if the price is enough, I will be more courageous." After the letter was sent, Liu did not receive a reply from Hu for a long time. I was very worried, afraid that Hu would blame me, so I didn't dare to go to Hu directly.After a long time, he finally received a reply from Hu.In the letter, Hu Shi explained that he replied late because he had been busy with the commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Dai Zhen, a great scholar of the Qing Dynasty. Then, Hu Shi said: "I blame you because you once said on a postcard that you have many The materials, unless they are expensive, refused to take them out. I tried to persuade you politely later, but I felt a little uncomfortable. I think you treat people as "Shu Jia" and treat yourself as a philistine, which makes me embarrassed. Paying a thousand dollars for proofreading a book is not a low price today, but it is a pioneering work in history; but you still have to play a trick and keep some of it as a rare commodity." Hu Shi's words were like a blow to the head, and when Liu Wendian was doing proofreading later, , I wrote a letter to Hu Shi, saying that I would "negotiate the price" with the publishing house.

Almost all of Liu Wendian's academic research is related to Hu Shi's support or not. When he collated ancient books such as "Shuo Yuan" and "Da Tang Western Regions", he always sought Hu Shi's opinions in advance. Try hard to collate; if Hu Shi objects, he will give up.Hu Shi was also very supportive of Liu Wendian's insistence on collation of ancient books. He once found a rare copy of "Wen Xuan Jian Jian Zheng" and gave it to Liu Wendian. In 1930, Liu Wendian's wife, Zhang Qiuhua, fell ill and had a persistent high fever. The situation was very critical.This time, it was Hu Shi who solved Liu Wendian's problems and introduced Fang Shishan, the director of Shoushan Hospital, to Liu Wendian.After careful diagnosis and treatment in the hospital, Zhang Qiuhua turned the corner and recovered soon.Afterwards, Liu Wendian wrote a letter to Hu Shi, in which Liu was very grateful: "Many Chinese people lack compassion, and people who are sophisticated are afraid of being blamed, and they are unwilling to recommend doctors. For example, Mr. Menglin wants to use Chinese medicine to save Mr. Cai and me. My brother’s recommendation of Fang Shishan to save my wife’s life is the bravery of a benevolent and wise man, not only the recipients are grateful, but such a bodhisattva’s heart and heroic spirit are truly worthy of the world.” Hu Shi not only solved difficulties for Liu Wendian, but also took over matters concerning Liu Wendian's students and friends.Li Bingzhong, a student of Liu Wendian, wrote the book "Bian Xuehong Ni Ji", but it could not be published, so Liu asked Hu to recommend it to the Commercial Press. When Liu Wendian returned to Anqing to prepare for Anhui University, the Preparatory Committee of Anhui University planned to send teacher Liao Jingchu to inspect universities in Beijing, Shanghai, Zhejiang and other places.In order for Liao to complete the inspection smoothly, Liu Wendian wrote to Hu Shi, asking Hu Shi to "help me a lot and facilitate my visit." In the early 1940s, Chen Fukang, a student of Liu Wendian, was going to study in the United States, but the cost of studying abroad was not enough.After Liu Wendian heard that Chinese people had the opportunity to work and study at the American Youth Consulate, he wrote to Hu Shi, who was an ambassador in the United States, asking him to solve the problem for Chen. When the Kuomintang retreated to Taiwan, Hu Shi, while considering his own whereabouts, did not forget his friend Liu Wendian. He planned to arrange for Liu Wendian and his family to go to the United States.He contacted Liu Wendian's specific destination in the United States, and even arranged entry visas for them, but Liu Wendian rejected Hu Shi's invitation. He said, "I'm Chinese, why do I want to leave my motherland?" After receiving Hu Shi's notice, Liu Wendian hesitated. After hesitating again and again, he told the matter to Xiong Qinglai, the president of Yunnan University.Xiong was in a meeting in another place at the time, and when he learned of this, someone told Liu: "Don't move for now, and make a decision when I come back." Since then, Liu Wendian has never seen his friend Hu Shizhi again. After liberation, Liu Wendian stayed on as a teacher at Yunnan University. Except for occasionally mentioning Chen Yinke, whom he admired "120,000 points" to students, he almost never took the initiative to talk about Hu Shi. In the 1950s, the movement to criticize Hu was in full swing. Liu Wendian did not criticize Hu in any oral or written form, and he kept silent. In the 1950s, when criticizing Yu Pingbo, Mao Zedong named and criticized "Hu Shi's bourgeois idealism" in an article, so Hu Shi also became the target of criticism.Liu Wendian could no longer remain silent at the Yunda Criticism Conference on "A Dream of Red Mansions".When it was his turn to speak, he looked as usual and spoke eloquently in Mandarin with a slight Anhui accent, but the name "Hu Shi" was never mentioned in his speech. According to the memory of a colleague of Liu Wendian, during the wave of "criticizing Hu Shi", Liu Wendian remained silent and could not bear to attack Hu Shi.He participated in all critical study conferences organized by the department, but rarely spoke.When others speak, he either pretends to record, or closes his eyes to rest. In 1957, Liu Wendian was identified as a "reactionary academic authority" and was also criticized. One of the "crimes" criticized by some people at that time was that he "sleeped on the sofa" when the department organized a criticism meeting .