Chapter 81 anecdote

Qian Mu's father, Qian Chengpei, was a private school teacher. It is said that when Qian Mu was born, he cried for three days. When Qian Mu entered a private school, his father, Qian Chengpei, immediately praised him for "studying in his previous life". When Qian Mu was born, although his family was in poor condition, his father loved his son as much as he wanted. He often said to people: "I have a son, as if someone increases a field of two hundred acres." Qian Mu was the second child. Snacks such as cakes and halva were placed on the small table beside his bed, covered with a bowl, and Qian Mu could eat delicious snacks when he opened the bowl in the morning. This habit was maintained until he entered private school at the age of seven. .

Qian Mu's memory was excellent when he was young, and he could remember thirty or forty new words a day, and later increased to sixty or seventy.Once his father pointed to a new word "no" and asked him what it meant, and he actually said it according to the shape of the word.His father was shocked, touched his head and said, "This child or his previous life has read books." Qian Mu entered Guoyu Primary School to receive formal education at the age of ten. "Each text can be recited after about three times", and he is good at composition, Mr. He once praised him in public that "the literary spirit is mighty, and if he makes progress in the future, he should be able to learn from Han Yu".

Qian Mu not only loved reading since he was a child, but also had excellent eloquence. At the age of seven, he told the Romance of the Three Kingdoms for guests in the Opium Den, and once lectured about Water Margin for his classmates. The Qian family has been scholarly for generations, and Qian Mu began to read a history book since he could read, which was the large-character "Historical Records" left behind by his grandfather after his death. Perhaps since then, the seeds of his later study of history were planted.But when he was young, his favorite thing to read was novels. In the evening when the room was dark, he simply climbed on the roof to read.After watching it many times, I can recite a million-word "Three Kingdoms" by heart.A friend of his father heard that he could recite "Three Kingdoms", so he asked him to test him by referring to a passage. Qian Mu actually recited it verbatim in public, and it was so vivid and vivid that everyone was astonished as a child prodigy.

Known as a child prodigy, Qian Mu is also complacent.Once when I went out and passed a bridge, my father pointed to the bridge and said, do you know the word "bridge"?Qian Mu replied.My father asked again: "Where is the word bridge?" "What is the meaning of the word arrogant, do you know?" Only then did Qian Mu realize his father's true meaning, and his face turned red all of a sudden.My father's teachings have been kept in my heart ever since. When Qian Mu was studying at Changzhou Fu Middle School, he dropped out of school as a student representative. After being suspended from the fourth-grade year-end exam, he found Tan Sitong, one of the "Six Gentlemen of the Reform Movement of 1898", "Ren Xue" in the convalescent room, and finished reading it in one day.The next day I went to the barber to cut off the long braids.After the big exam, when I went home with my classmates, some people said that if you take the train without knowing the back of your head, if you are interrogated by the police, you are suspected of being a revolutionary party.Under the persuasion of everyone, Qian Mu sewed the long braid on the hat again, so as not to attract attention.

At that time, Liu Shoupeng, who was also one of the Fifth Representatives during the drop-out wave (Changzhou Fuzhong School), was very smart and well-known among his classmates.One day, Chen Shixin, the dormitory supervisor, called him into the room. When he got out, he went into the toilet and shouted, "If I don't kill Chen Shixin, I won't be Liu Shoupeng!"He did not fill out the withdrawal form at the same time as Qian Mu, but he also dropped out after the fourth grade exam.Later, he went to Shanghai to participate in the Saturday School of the New Culture Movement and changed his name to Liu Bannong.Later, he was summoned by Chen Duxiu to go to Peking University, where he changed his name to Bannong. He was one of the leaders who advocated the vernacular. Twenty years later, in 1930, Qian Mu went to Peking to teach and visited Liu Bannong.Liu Bannong politely asked him to have lunch and talked for two hours, but he didn't mention anything about his time in Changzhou Fuzhong School, nor asked about Qian Mu's situation in the past twenty years, nor did he talk about promoting new literature.Qian Mu sighed: "You are welcome, you are an old acquaintance, and you are like a new friend without deep words." He guessed that Liu Bannong was already well-known all over the world, and he didn't want to talk about those old things.And Liu Bannong didn't agree with him, so he didn't talk about his new ideas.From then on, Qian Mu stopped interacting with him.

During the first half year of Qian Mu’s schooling at Zhongying Middle School in Nanjing, in the early morning, he heard the sound of bugles around the city, and then saw army middle school students walking on the street with bayonets on their waists. This situation immediately aroused Qian Mu’s impulse to join the army .I often fantasize about going out of Shanhaiguan and going to the three northeastern provinces to confront the Japanese and Russian soldiers.For this reason, although he did not dare to apply for the Army Middle School, he learned to ride a horse. Qian Mu has since regretted not being able to go to university.Knowing that there is no hope of going to university, he determined to study by himself, and studied hard since then. In summer, he studied to prevent mosquito bites. When studying, he imitated his father and put his feet in the urn.

When Qian Mu first arrived in Beijing, Fu Sinian often invited him to accompany him at banquets.Later, due to their different academic interests and methods, the relationship between Qian Mu and Fu Sinian gradually deteriorated, so that Fu Sinian later told people that he never read what Qian Mu wrote. Qian Mu and Qian Zhongshu belonged to the same clan, but Qian Zhongshu was his nephew, but Qian Mu also called Qian Jibo (Qian Zhongshu's father) his uncle. In 1927, the Commercial Press wanted to publish the monograph "Introduction to Chinese Studies" by Qian Mu, a senior scholar in the family. Qian Mu asked Qian Jibo to write a preface for it. Qian Jibo handed the matter over to his son Qian Zhongshu. , Qian Jibo did not change a single word after reading it.In this way, the preface of the published "Introduction to Chinese Studies" titled Qian Jibo was actually written by a young man of seventeen or eighteen years old, Qian Zhongshu, which is amazing!

Qian Weichang is the eldest son of Qian Mu's elder brother Qian Shengyi, and Qian Mu's nephew. Qian Weichang's name comes from Qian Mu's mouth, and it is derived from the character "Weichang" of Xu Gan, the seventh son of Jian'an in the Jin Dynasty. I hope he will see the wise and think together.When Qian Mu was young, he and Qian Weichang read together under the lamp, and Qian Mu's mother sewed and read together. This is a very memorable picture of Qian Mu's old age. In 1984, Qian Mu went to Hong Kong and had a talk with Qian Weichang. Qian Mu was always in poor health when he was a child, and fell ill every autumn. His grandfather and father both died young. He was always worried about his health. Once he read a Japanese book about the importance of hygiene for a healthy and long life, he reminded himself, From then on, I have a constant daily life, insist on sitting quietly, walking, and keeping a diary, so as to urge myself.In his later years, he attributed the secret of his longevity to a regular life.

Qian Mu has been practicing meditation since he was in his twenties, and he has a deep understanding of the method of meditation.Qian Mu recorded his many experiences of sitting in meditation in "Miscellaneous Memories of Teachers and Friends": One day, Yu stood on the Meicun Bridge to wait for the ship from the city to Dangkou, calling for it to dock.Yu boarded the boat and sat next to an old man.The old man Gu Yu said: "You must have merit in sitting still." Yu asked how he knew it, and the old man said: "When you call on the bridge, your eyes are bright, so you know it." Yu heard the words and was very relieved.

When Qian Mu was in Mengzi, he lived in Tiannan Jingshe.Tiannan Jingshe is located next to the French Hospital, and the Liuzhou Central Aviation School moved here, which is located in the hospital.At that time, the Japanese air raids made aviation schools an important target.Shen Youding of Tiannan Jingshe was able to occupy Yi, and on the table in his room, there were pieces of paper full of gossip symbols.One night, everyone invited him to try to account for it, and he got the ninety-two of the festival. After looking it up in the book, it turned out to be the five characters "do not go out, and the court is fierce". Therefore, everyone decided to go out after breakfast the next day, choose a wild forest and stone place, or sit Or lie down, take out the book you carry and read.At that time, Qian Mu was writing the "Outline of National History". In order to protect the manuscript, he went out with the manuscript every morning and did not return until after 4 pm.

Hu Meiqi, Qian Mu’s wife, also mentioned his meditation when recalling Qian Mu: When Bin Si (Qian Mu) and I first started living together, he was at school all day long and had endless things to deal with; In a few minutes, I worked hard at my desk again.Sometimes I take part in school group tours, go out early in the morning, cross the sea, climb mountains, and return home in the evening. The young people are tired, but Bin Si still only rests for ten minutes as soon as he enters the door.I found it very strange. One day when I talked about it, he said: This is because of the power of meditation.When he was young, he put a lot of effort into meditation for the sake of his health. Later, he applied the "quiet meditation" skill in meditation to his daily life. He used his heart to "quiet meditation" when he was on the bus and walking, so he stopped when he returned home. Can sit at the desk. Qian Mu also imitated the cold water bath advocated by Wu Tingfang for a while, even though it was cold winter. It is said that Xiong Shili once saw Qian Mu's "The Years of the Pre-Qin Philosophers" at someone's house, and he was so angry that he couldn't help punching a fork in the book.