Chapter 8 Read "Tianyanlun" and "Xinminshuo"

In the spring of 1905, Hu Shi improved Chengzhong School.The curriculum here is much more comprehensive than that of Meixi Academy. In addition to Chinese, English, and mathematics, there are also subjects such as physics, chemistry, natural history, and painting, which enabled Hu Shi to get in touch with Western science and culture. At that time, China suffered a disgraceful defeat in the Sino-Japanese War of 1898-1895, and was ravaged by the Eight-Power Allied Forces. The Reform Movement of the Reform Movement of 1898 also declared bankruptcy.The rule of the Qing Dynasty, in the hands of the die-hard leader, Empress Dowager Cixi, became darker and more corrupt.Advanced Chinese people are more eager to find the truth of saving the country and the people from the West.Patriotic young people are eager to learn new trends of thought and new culture from the West; however, many people are pessimistic, disappointed, and depressed.Yan Fu's translation of Huxley's "Tianyan Lun" ① was popular in China at this time.The evolution thought of "Natural Selection, Survival of the Fittest" he advocated burned the hearts and blood of many young people, and pointed out new hope to those intellectuals who worried about the country and the people and those who were disappointed and pessimistic. It has played a deafening role in the world, and has influenced and educated several generations of intellectuals.

Mr. Yang Qianli of Chengzhong Academy, "the idea is very new", has been a Chinese teacher in Hu Shi's class. ②He once inscribed the words "freedom of speech" on Hu Shi's composition.This is indeed a rare progressive thought at the end of the Qing Dynasty, when the words of the emperor and Confucius were still regarded as the absolute truth.The most rare thing is that Mr. Yang is different from others in teaching Chinese. He actually used "Tianyan Lun" as a textbook to guide Hu Shi and a group of students to read this generation of masterpieces: Once, he taught our class to buy Wu Rulun's abridged translation of "Tianyanlun" as a reader. This was the first time I read "Tianyanlun", and I was very happy.The titles of his essays are also very special. One title was "Natural Selection, Survival of the Fittest, Try to Demonstrate Its Meaning". …This kind of topic is naturally not something that our teenagers can play, but reading "Tianyanlun" and writing articles on "Natural Selection" can represent the atmosphere of that era.

③ When Hu Shi first read "Tianyanlun", like many of his classmates, he did not understand Huxley's contribution to the history of science and thought, nor did he really understand the theory of evolution in science.All they can understand are slogans and formulas such as "Natural selection, the superior wins the inferior", "survival of the fittest, elimination of the unfit".Looking at the cruel struggle of the weak in the world, and thinking about the crisis that China is facing to carve up and destroy the country, they feel that this Tianyan formula is a slap in the face and they are greatly stimulated.Therefore, the first reaction among their classmates was to change their names. Some changed their names to Sun Jingcun, and some changed their names to Yang Tianze.Hu Shi also changed his name:

My name in the school is Hu Hong.One morning, I asked my second brother to think of a table word for me.While washing his face, the second elder brother said, "Just use the word 'suitable' in 'natural selection of the fittest', okay?" I was very happy, so I used the word "suitable". (The second brother’s character is Shaozhi, and the third brother’s character is Zhenzhi.) Later, when I published articles, I occasionally used “Hu Shi” as my pseudonym. I didn’t officially use the name “Hu Shi” until the official examination for studying in the United States (1910).

This "Hu Shi" is a little "souvenir" left by him when he began to accept the influence of the theory of evolution.From then on, Huxley became the person who had the "greatest influence" on Hu Shi's life and thoughts⑤. In Chengzhong School, among the new books Hu Shi read, there was another person who had the greatest influence on his life and thought, and that was Liang Qichao. Liang Qichao is a well-known leader of the Reform Party.After the failure of the Reform Movement of 1898, he went into exile in Japan, founded "Xinmin Congbao", continued to promote the reformism of constitutional monarchy, and became a royalist.However, Liang insisted on introducing new learning from the West, criticized the darkness of Chinese society, and dissected the shortcomings and weaknesses of national character. Moreover, his articles were "clear and clear, and the style of writing is often full of emotion, which has a special magic power for readers" ⑥. It had considerable influence and played a huge role in enlightenment.

Hu Shi began to read "Xin Min Cong Bao" in Meixi Academy, and read the articles of Liang Qichao's group.After arriving in Chengzhong, she seems to have formed an indissoluble bond with the Liang family.From Liang Qichao's articles, he knew that in addition to Confucius and Mencius, there are many great thinkers and scholars in the world such as Bacon, Descartes, Hobbes, Spinoza, Montesquieu, Rousseau, Kant, and Darwin. ⑦He was overwhelmed by the magic power of Liang's articles, and his thoughts had to follow Liang Qichao. Hu Shi said that he "received the infinite favor of Mr. Liang" at that time.The main reason is that two works had a great impact on his ideological career, the first is "Xin Min Shuo", and the second is "The General Trend of Changes in Chinese Academic Thought".

"Xin Min Shuo" is Liang Qichao's representative political work.Its main purpose is to transform the national character of China, transform our old and backward nation into an advanced and strong new nation, so that "our 400 million people have the virtues, wisdom, and strength" to be comparable to the advanced nations in the West. Compete and become a new citizen.He said: "If there is a new people, why not have a new system, no new government, and no new country." Therefore, Liang called himself "Xinminzi" and called himself "Xinmin of China". The magazine he ran was also called "Xinmin Cong" Newspaper.In a word, he put "Xinmin"

It is regarded as "China's top priority today". Hu Shi read "Xin Min Shuo", read these more than a dozen texts, listed many advantages of Western nations, and dissected the root of slavery in Chinese people. He felt that a new world had opened up for him, and he believed that there were many other countries outside of China. Higher nation, very high culture.Therefore, Hu Shi believes that: The greatest contribution of "Xin Min Shuo" is to point out that the Chinese nation lacks many virtues of Western nations. ... He pointed out that what we lack most and what we need to supplement most is public morality, national thinking, aggressiveness and adventure, rights thinking, freedom, self-government, progress, self-respect, gregariousness, and the ability to make money. It is perseverance, the idea of ​​duty, martial arts, personal virtue, and political ability.In these dozens of articles, with full sincerity and infinite confidence, he directed countless historical examples and organized them into inspiring stories with his strong pen of "the pen is always full of emotion". , makes people cry, and makes people grateful for the strenuous article.Among them, such as "On Perseverance", I reread it 25 years later, and I still feel his magic.What's more, when I was in my teens, when I was most easily moved? ⑧Another article, "The General Trend of Changes in Chinese Academic Thought", is Liang's early academic works.He divided the history of Chinese academic thought into seven eras. ⑨Looks like it is unscientific today.But this was more than 80 years ago. As Hu Shi said, this article "is the first time to sort out old Chinese academic thought with a historical perspective, and it is the first time to give us an insight into 'academic history'".Therefore, Hu Shi also loves to read, and it also "opened up a new world" for Hu Shi, making him know that besides the "Four Books" and "Five Classics", there are academic thoughts in China.

But Liang Qichao's article was not finished, it was only a half-finished product.Hu Shi felt disappointed and dissatisfied. Later, Liang wrote a sequel in "Xinmin Congbao", but it was not completed, and the three most important parts of the era were still missing.Hu Shi watched eagerly for several years, and suddenly had an idea: In the period of disappointment, I suddenly became ambitious and thought to myself: "If I can fill in the missing chapters of the history of Chinese academic thought for Mr. Liang Rengong in the future, wouldn't it be a glorious career?" The more I think about it, the happier I am, although I dare not tell anyone, but I really made up my mind to do this.

This kind of ambition was the seed of my later work on "History of Chinese Philosophy". ⑩ It can be seen from this that Liang Qichao had a great influence on Hu Shi's thoughts and career throughout his life. When Hu Shi was reading Liang Qichao's "Xinmin Congbao" with relish, the Tongmenghui led by Sun Yat-sen had already been established, and "Minbao" had also been published, and they were loudly propagating the revolutionary ideas of platooning.With the reformism promoted by Liang's "Xinmin Congbao", it was the two armies confronting each other and launching a big debate.Hu Shi, in his youth, was obviously swayed by the ideological propositions of Liang Qichao and his group, and even walked step by step on the road of reformism.Hu Shi worshiped Liang Qichao all the time.When Mr. Liang passed away, he was on his way to Peking to attend the board meeting of Peking Union Medical College. When he heard of Mr. Liang's death, he rushed to attend Liang's funeral and shed a few tears of gratitude and mourning.

① Huxley (T. Huxley, 1825-1895), a famous British biologist, Marx called him "an authority in the scientific community" ("The Civil War in France").After Darwin's book was published, he tried his best to support and promote the theory of evolution, and fought fiercely with the religious forces at that time.He was the first to raise the question of human origins and the term "Agnosticism".Author of "Man's Status in Nature", "Introduction to Animal Taxonomy", "Evolution and Ethics and Other Essays" and other books. "Tianyanlun", originally the first two chapters of "The Theory of Evolution and Ethics and Other Treatises", translated by Yan Fu, published in 1898 (the twenty-fourth year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty) by Lu's woodcut in Mianyang, Hubei, and published in 1901 It was also published by Fuwen Publishing Co., Ltd.The title of this translated book was changed to "Evolution and Ethics" (published by Beijing Science Press in July 1971). ② After 29 years, Hu Shi still remembers this gentleman. On February 3, 1934, there is a record in his diary: "I went to Yang Lianggong's house at four o'clock, and met Mr. Yang Qianli from the Overwatch Council... Mr. Qianli took his youngest son Yang Yanqi came here and asked him to worship me as a teacher. Mr. Qianli is my teacher, and his son is my junior brother, how dare I be a teacher?" It can be seen that Hu Shi respects teachers very much, even if he is the president, dean, and famous teacher of the university. Professor, he still does not forget that he is a teacher, and he is very respectful to his teacher, which is really commendable (see volume 11 of the photocopy of the manuscript of "Hu Shi's Diary" published by Taipei Yuanliu). (Third Edition Note) ③ "Forty Self-Reports", "In Shanghai (1)", Shanghai Yadong Library Edition, p. 49. ④ Ibid., page 50. ⑤Refer to the first part of Hu Shi's "Introducing My Own Thoughts" (contained in the first episode of "Recent Works on Hu Shi's Studies", published by Shanghai Commercial Press in 1935) and "Evolution Theory and Skepticism" (contained in "Hu Shi's Selected Works", Shanghai Yadong Library published in 1930). ⑥ Liang Qichao’s "Introduction to Academics in the Qing Dynasty" twenty-five, self-reported that after the failure of the Reform Movement of 1898, he lived in Japan and founded magazines such as "Xinmin Congbao" and "New Novels". He once commented on his writing: Qi Chao Su didn't like the ancient prose of the Tongcheng School. He was a prose when he was young, and he learned from the late Han, Wei and Jin Dynasties.As far as self-liberation, the goal is to be easy and accessible, sometimes mixed with slang rhymes and foreign grammar, and the vertical strokes are indiscriminate.Scholars compete to emulate it, and it is a new style.The elders hated it and slandered it as a wild fox.However, his writing is clear, and his style of writing is often full of emotion. For readers, he has a special magic power. (See page 62 of the October 1954 edition of Beijing Zhonghua Book Company) ⑦ During Xin Chou (1901) and Renyin (1902), Liang Qichao devoted himself to the introduction of Western theories, and wrote articles such as "Hobbes Study Case", "Spanossa Study Case", "Rousseau Study Case" , "The Theory of Descartes, the First Patriarch of Modern Civilization", "The Theory of Darwin, the First Patriarch of Evolution and Its Brief", "The Theory of Montesquieu, the Great Master of Jurisprudence", "The Theory of Kant, the Greatest Philosopher in Modern Times" Theories, etc., were published in "Xinmin Congbao", and later included in the second volume "Theories" of "Anthology of Drinking Ice Room" edited by the Japanese Hangoro Shimokawabe, Showa 37, Tokyo Imperial Printing Co., Ltd. Year (1904) printed. ⑧ Same Note ③ Page 52. ⑨ Liang Qichao said in the first chapter "General Discussion" of "On the General Trend of Changes in Chinese Academic Thought": I would like to divide my thousands of years of academic thought into seven ages: 1. The embryonic age, before the Spring and Autumn Period; 2. The heyday, the end of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period; Era, the Wei and Jin Dynasties; 5. The era of Buddhism, the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and the Tang Dynasty; 6. The era of Confucianism and Buddhism, the Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties; 7. The era of decline, nearly 250 years; The era is also today. (See "Ice Drinking Room Collected Works" Volume II, page 10) ⑩ Same Note ③ Page 54. Hu Shi wrote about this event in "The Biography of Ding Wenjiang": At that time, I heard that Mr. Liang Rengong was seriously ill, and I really wanted to see him.Unexpectedly, when I arrived in Peiping around nine o'clock on the night of January 19, Mr. Ren Gong had been dead for eight hours. On January 20, Ren Gong's body was buried in Guanghui Temple.Zaijun, Shuyong, Mr. Chen Yinke, Mr. Zhou Yichun and I all went to see him into the coffin.Seeing many old friends of Mr. Ren Gong, such as Mr. Jian Jichang, etc., have tears in their eyes, I couldn't help crying. (Taipei Qiming Book Company, 1960 edition, p. 73; see also Taipei Yuanliu Edition "Hu Shi's Works Collection" Volume 23, p. 119-120)