Chapter 7 Hillbillies become "new characters"

In the spring of 1904, Hu Shi bid farewell to his mother and hometown, followed his third brother, and went to Shanghai to study.He was wearing a blue woolen jacket and a red mandarin jacket with large sleeves. He had a small braid on the back of his head, which was tied with a red ribbon and dragged behind his back.When I went out from Jixi Shangzhuang, I could only walk.They went through Xiaoyao Cliff, the first pass in the south of the Yangtze River, and Zhanling, and went down Xin'an River and Fuchun River to Yuhang by boat. They walked for seven days and nights before arriving in Hangzhou; ①This country bumpkin wants to live here, study, and seek "new learning" that cannot be dreamed of in his hometown enclosed by high mountains and mountains.

The first school he entered was Meixi School.This is Zhang Huanlun (Jing Fu), a friend his father admired the most in his life Founded by Mr.②.At that time, it was the end of the Qing Dynasty, and the imperial examination had just been abolished, and schools had just been established.The curriculum of this Meixi Academy is far from complete, there are only three subjects: Chinese, Mathematics, and English.Because Hu Shi didn't understand Shanghainese and had never "started writing" to make a fuss, he was temporarily placed in the fifth class, which was almost the lowest class.

But Hu Shi had already read many ancient books in his hometown.Now he is in class 5 and reads "Basic Learning Reader" in Chinese. Naturally, he doesn't have to work hard, and he can silently focus on English and arithmetic that he has never learned. Soon, Hu Shi came across an opportunity to make his mark.Mr. Shen, who teaches Chinese in the fifth class, probably looked down on the shallow "Basic Reader", and did not prepare in advance.On this day, I talked about a quotation in the reader: It is said that if two people are of the same heart, their profit will cut gold.Words of one mind stink like orchids.

Mr. Shen casually said that this "biography" is "Zuo Zhuan", and the quotations are from "Zuo Zhuan".When Hu Shi heard this, he thought to himself, isn't this wrong? However, he just came from the countryside after all, so he didn't dare to be rash; he also learned a little patience and good temper from his mother.He didn't go to the podium with the textbook until after Mr. Shen had finished speaking, and whispered to Mr. Shen in his half-baked Shanghainese dialect, this "Biography" is "Xi Ci Zhuan" in the book, not "Zuo Zhuan". ".The gentleman looked at this rustic bumpkin with surprised eyes, and his face was a little red.Thus, the following conversation took place:

"Have you read it?" Mr. asked. "Read." "Have you ever read other scriptures?" "Read, Book of Books, Book of Rites." "Have you ever written an article?" "No." "I have a question, let me try it out." Mr. Hu Shi returned to his seat and wrote more than a hundred words with the question of "Speaking of Filial Brothers".The gentleman looked at it, nodded, and said: "Come with me!" Hu Shi rolled up his schoolbag, followed Mr. Shen downstairs, and walked to the classroom of the second class.Mr. Shen said a few words to Mr. Gu in that class, and Mr. Gu asked Hu Shi to sit on the chair in the last row.Only then did he realize that he was already a student in the second class, and he skipped three classes in one day!

He was full of joy and sat down to listen to the class.Mr. did not lecture.Looking up, there are two composition topics written on the blackboard: Topic: The origin of the original Japan. The meaning of the scriptures: In ancient times, it was a pass to prevent violence, and today it is a pass, and it will also be regarded as violence. ③ "Jingyi questions" are the questions of stereotyped essays in the imperial examinations. Hu Shi has never learned it and can't do it. Although the "topic" can be perfunctory, is that "Japan" in Tiannan or Haibei? He is not quite sure how to do it? He has just been promoted to this class. Acquaintances, those ancient books I read in the countryside can't help me either.He was so anxious that he secretly complained that Mr. Shen should not have promoted him so high and so fast.

At the time of this "composition crisis", Hu Shi's family's "Gongyi Oil Store" store in Shanghai sent someone to the school to report the news that his third brother was critically ill.The teacher allowed him to take the composition paper home and do it, and he will hand it in next week.So, Hu Shi copied the topic, escaped from the classroom, and temporarily escaped the test. When he rushed back to the store, his third brother died within a few hours.On the third day, his second brother rushed to Shanghai from his store in Hankou to attend the funeral.According to Hu Shi's own recollection:

After the funeral was over, I told my second brother about my promotion, and asked him what books he should refer to for the topic "Original Japan: Yuqiang".The second brother picked up "The History of the Thirty Years of the Meiji Restoration", "Compilation of Renyin Xinmin Congbao"... such books, packed a big basket, and asked me to take them back to school to read.After a few days of work, I managed to cobble together an essay and hand it in.Soon I will be doing "Jingyi" too.After a few months, I was actually the first class student. ④ From the "Four Books" and "Five Classics" read in the countryside to new books such as "The Thirty-Year History of the Meiji Restoration" and "Xinmin Congbao", Hu Shi's vision shifted from ancient times to modern times, and from the old world to the new world.He began to breathe new air eagerly, absorb new knowledge, chase the new trend of the times, and called himself a "new figure".

Most of the new books read by this "new figure" were the works of Liang Qichao's school given to him by his second brother, and he also read books against the Qing revolution.One day, the students in the class borrowed a copy of "Revolutionary Army" written by Zou Rong⑤, and circulated it among several classmates including Hu Shi.Zou Rong was a famous "Pawn of the Revolutionary Army" in the late Qing Dynasty.This "Revolutionary Army" written by him is a thin book with a preface written by the famous revolutionary Zhang Taiyan printed on the front of the book.The book is about 20,000 words, in simple and popular language, advocating against the autocracy of the Qing court, advocating "independence and freedom" and the establishment of the "Republic of China", which played a great role in revolutionary agitation at that time.Hu Shi and other young people watched it and were also very moved.But at that time, the rule of the Manchu Dynasty was still very cruel, and there were not many books of this kind of revolution printed.Printing this kind of book will kill you if you are caught; reading this kind of book can only be done secretly.Their "Revolutionary Army" was borrowed and had to be returned; reluctantly, they took turns copying it.In the evening, when the dormitory supervisor of the school came to check for the night, they secretly got up from the bed, lit candles, and continued to copy.

Several people rushed to copy "Revolutionary Army" overnight. This "new character" is also very concerned about current affairs and loves to read newspapers: This year was the first year of the Russo-Japanese War.The newspapers in Shanghai published detailed war news every day, and the young students who loved to read the newspapers felt extremely excited.At this time, Chinese public opinion and people's psychology expressed sympathy for Japan, hated Russia, and hated the Qing government's declaration of neutrality.The psychology of hatred for Russia has added a lot of psychology of fullness.This year, several exciting cases occurred in Shanghai.One is that the revolutionary party Wan Fuhua shot Wang Zhichun, the governor of Guangxi, in the concession, because Wang Zhichun used to be a Russian faction.One is that Zhou Shengyou, a carpenter from Ningbo, was hacked to death by a Russian sailor on Huangpu Beach in Shanghai for no reason.These two incidents attracted the attention of Shanghai newspapers, especially the new "Times" that year, which every day used short and sad time commentaries to appeal for Zhou Shengyou's grievances and attack the Shanghai government.When we young people read this kind of short comment for the first time, none of them are not stimulated.The verdict in Zhou Sheng's case disappointed many.Wang Yan, Zheng Zhang and I all hated Shanghai Taoist Yuan Haiguan very much, so Lianhe wrote a long letter to scold him. ⑥

At that time, the domestic wave of anti-Russia movement against Tsarist Russia's occupation of Northeast China planted the initial seeds of national democratic revolution and patriotism in Hu Shi's thinking.He "hatred Russia" and also hated the Qing Dynasty and officials who favored the foreign country.Therefore, when Meixi Academy wanted to send Hu Shi and a few other students to take the exam in the Shanghai Provincial Yamen, the "new people" of them all refused to go to the official hall to take the exam, and they all left Meixi before the exam date came. Creek school. ①Taipei "China Weekly" No. 634 (published on May 18, 1962) contained an article "Research on Dr. Hu Shi's Origin and Life Story" written by Hu Zhongwu. In the welcome party, "details about being at home when I was a teenager, sending relatives and friends out, carrying umbrellas and dry food (vegetable cakes made of flour), walking from Jixi to Xiaoyao Cliff, the first pass in the south of the Yangtze River, Zhanling, to Yuhang, and taking a boat to Hangzhou, The story of taking the train to Shanghai". ② Zhang Huanlun, courtesy name Jingfu, was born in Shanghai.He was a classmate and friend of Hu Shi's father, Hu Chuan, at Longmen Academy.Later, when Hu Chuan was an official in Taiwan, he said in his reply letter to Zhang Jingfu: "Thinking and affection, that is, the friendship of hundreds of friends, is not enough. Nine times of thanks, I still think it is not enough." (See Taipei "Taiwan Provincial Documentation Committee" in 1951 "Two Kinds of Taiwan Records" Volume 2 published in May, pp. 70-71) This shows the friendship between them.After Hu Chuan's death, Zhang Jingfu wrote "Mr. Hu Tiehua's Family Biography" on behalf of him, which described Hu Chuan's life and career in detail. ③ "Jingyi" is a style of imperial examination after the Song Dynasty. The texts and sentences in the "Book of Scripture" are used as the title, and the examinees compose to explain the meaning; the Ming and Qing Dynasties formed a fixed format of eight-legged writing style, and the title used "Four Books" The interpretation of the sentences of the "Five Classics" must be based on Zhu Xi's "Four Books Collection" and other books, and should not be played arbitrarily.This "classic question" that Hu Shi saw when he entered the second class of Meixi Academy was excerpted from "Mencius? Dedicated Chapters and Sentences". ④See "In Shanghai (1)" in "Forty Self-Reports", Shanghai Yadong Library Edition, p. 46. ⑤ Zou Rong (1885-1905) styled Wei Dan, was born in Ba County, Sichuan.He once studied in Japan and actively participated in the anti-Qing struggle. He was one of the famous revolutionaries in the late Qing Dynasty. In July 1903, he was arrested by the Qing government colluding with the Shanghai British Concession authorities and sentenced to two years in prison. He died in prison in April 1905 at the age of 20. "Revolutionary Army" is a famous work by Zou Rong to promote the anti-Qing revolution. It was written in 1903. It has seven chapters and about 20,000 words. The ideal of the "Republic" played a great role in agitating the revolution.After the preface, it is signed "The Story of Zou Rong, a former soldier of the revolutionary army in March, 260 years after the subjugation of the imperial and Han nationality".Before the book, there is a preface by Zhang Binglin (Taiyan), which says: "Now this is a book, and it is called unbridled speech and shame. Although it is ignorant and ignorant, Peng Zhuzi, you should sweat and regret it when you read it. It is the first voice of a righteous teacher. The common people have no different aspirations. And talented people also know what to return! If the butcher sells the peddler, he can benefit from the straightforward and easy to know, and can regain his knowledge, then his transformation will be far away. If it is not for nothing, how can it be so." (see "Selected Works on Time Theory in the Ten Years Before the Revolution of 1911", Beijing Joint Publishing, April 1960 edition, Volume 1, Volume 2, p. 650) When Sun Yat-sen talked about the anti-Qing movement in the late Qing Dynasty in his "Autobiography", he praised: "Zou Rong wrote the book "Revolutionary Army", which is full of the most violent remarks, and the overseas Chinese are very welcome. "(See "The Complete Works of Prime Minister") ⑥Same note as ④, p.47.