Chapter 14 almost made a christian

Hu Shi went abroad to the United States. Although he was a prodigal son, he had great determination and hope; but after all, he was a person who had fallen, and his spirit was still quite pessimistic, and the old stains were hard to get rid of.Although he stopped drinking alcohol, he still played cards from time to time, and quit smoking cigarettes again and again. Occasionally, he saw a small picture of a prostitute in Shanghai on the "Novel Monthly", and he still felt nostalgic for it.Hu Shi himself sighed and said: "My willpower has been extremely weak in the past few years, that is, quitting cigarettes. I have tried repeatedly to do it again and again. I am really a coward with no ambition!" "Self-swear" and "motto"; gradually accepted the influence of Western humanitarianism and ethics, and wrote a special note "Promoting Prohibition of Whoring", which said:

Today's urgent task is a new kind of morality. We must first create a new kind of public opinion, so that everyone knows that life of flesh and blood is a great shame for mankind, everyone knows that the degeneration of women is the most pitiful thing in the world, and everyone knows that it is a traitor Being a prostitute is a great crime for humanity, and everyone knows that prostitution is a great crime for humanity and a great crime for society. In my country of thousands of years of culture and education, there is still a day of redemption.When I was in Shanghai, I also tried to ask the bureau to eat wine, and I didn't feel ashamed at that time.Now I swear not to do it again, and I swear to advocate the theory of prohibiting whoring, to repent by myself, to atone for my sins, and to remember this to remember my regret. ②

Hu Shi's determination to change his past is great; however, how difficult it is to change his mind and change his bad habits! In order to change his past, Hu Shi also began to get in touch with Western Christianity, read the "Bible", often went to American Christian families, and became very interested in Christianity. In the summer of 1911, the end of the academic year, the Christian Student Association held a summer camp in the Pocono Pines, Pennsylvania.There were 35 Chinese students and about 200 American students.Although Hu Shi was not a Christian, he was also invited to participate in this event.He listened to the speeches of celebrities from the Christian Church for several days, talked about the Gospel of Matthew, and held seminars.Among the students studying in the United States who came together was Chen Shaotang, who was Hu Shi's classmate in Chinese public school and was later baptized as a Christian.They had been separated for three years, and when they met at Mount Pocono this time, they were naturally very affectionate.This Chen Jun believes in teachings, which is amazing, and his knowledge is also very good.Hu Shi felt that he was simply "a scholar like Cheng Zhu, who is admirable and admirable".One afternoon, he talked to Hu Shi about the teachings of Christianity. After talking for more than three hours, Hu Shi was so moved that he decided to become a Christian believer.He wrote in a letter to his friend Zhang Xilu on June 17:

Listening to the speeches of many famous people for days, and watching old friends influenced by Christianity, their ability to change temperament is really amazing. Shi also has the intention of pursuing the meaning of Jesus, but he has not been able to sincerely implement it, but he reads the Bible (press, that is, the Bible) every day, hoping to gain something. At that time, Hu Shi was far away in a foreign land. After the first year of classes, he had nothing to do all day long. He also learned that his friend Cheng Leting had died of illness, and his thoughts were in a sad and pessimistic situation.He came to Pocono Mountain to participate in the summer camp this time, precisely because he wanted to "use the power of religion in that place to kill my sad ears a little bit".Therefore, Hu Shi was easily moved by the propaganda of Christianity, hoping to obtain spiritual comfort and sustenance from it.

That night, the Christian Church arranged for an American Christian named Mercer to give a speech to Chinese students studying abroad, telling about his life experience.When Mei was in college, he had all kinds of bad habits and did everything. He was kicked out of the house by his father and has been living outside since then.Later, he became a Christian and changed from evil to good.A few years later, he appeared again, telling his own experience, promoting Christianity, and his deeds were published in newspapers.His father read the newspaper and knew that his son could really change his ways, so he restored the relationship between father and son, and the reconciliation was as good as before.Messi's speech is very emotional.When it comes to the reunion of their father and son, it is even more exaggerated, how the father and son cried.The speaker burst into tears, and young people like Hu Shi were moved to tears when they heard it.Immediately, there were seven Chinese students studying abroad who stood up emotionally and said that they would like to become Christians. One of them was Hu Shi. On June 21, he wrote to his good friend Xu Yisun, saying, "Yesterday night, my younger brother became a follower of the Ye family"!

However, Hu Shi did not become a "Jesus follower".He later calmed down, came to his senses, and saw through the "emotional" means used by the Christian church to capture young people. Be fooled again, no longer believe in foreign superstitions, and become a Christian. ③ Although Hu Shi did not become a Christian, the Christian "Bible" had a considerable influence on his thinking, making him an extreme pacifist and a faithful believer in non-resistance. It turns out that Hu Shi was deeply influenced by Lao Tzu's philosophy of "indisputable" in his early years.This ancient Chinese philosopher advocated non-dispute throughout his life, believing that the weak can overcome the strong, and the soft can overcome the strong.These ideas had a profound influence on Hu Shi.As mentioned earlier, in 1907, he wrote a small poem titled "Autumn Willow", which is exactly what Lao Tzu said: "The weak can overcome the strong, and the soft can overcome the strong."

portrayal. ④ After arriving in the United States, Hu Shi still never forgot Lao Tzu’s lessons, and often quoted some of Lao Tzu’s famous sayings to promote his non-resistance doctrine, such as: Husbands do not compete, so nothing in the world can compete with them. (Chapter 22 of Laozi) Nothing in the world is weaker than water, but nothing can overcome the strong, and nothing is easy to overcome.The weak overcomes the strong, and the soft overcomes the strong. No one in the world knows or can do it. (Chapter 78 of Laozi) The above-mentioned "Autumn Willow" poem was also copied and presented to his American girlfriend Wei Liansi and other friends.After reading the "Bible", Hu Shi felt that the teachings preached by Jesus, such as non-resistance to evil devils; The resemblance, therefore, deepened and strengthened his belief in non-resistance.

In July and August 1914, the First World War broke out.Hu Shi's dream of pacifism was hit.He was amazed.Soon, one of his American friends, George W? Nasmyth, returned from Europe. This Ne family is also a pacifist, and when he talked with Hu Shi about what he had heard in the European continent, he talked about non-resistance.He said that Luxembourg was saved by not resisting German aggression, and Belgium was destroyed by resisting German aggression; However, the mayor of Brussels, the capital of Belgium, did not resist the German army and led the entire city's soldiers and civilians to surrender to Germany, which enabled the city to "survive alone", which is exactly the "benefit of no struggle or resistance".Hu Shi deeply agrees, and thinks that Na’s opinion, which advocates surrender and seek perfection without resistance, “I must say yes when I hear it. Jesus Sakyamuni must say yes when I hear it”! ⑤ Japanese imperialism takes advantage of the world war The opportunity to seize my Qingdao.And trying to dominate China. In January 1915, the Japanese government proposed to Yuan Shikai the famous Twenty-One; Yuan's frenzied desire to become emperor, eager to win Japan's support, openly acknowledged it.Yuan's crimes of treason and Japanese aggression aroused a large-scale anti-Japanese patriotic movement among the people across the country; Chinese students studying in the United States were also filled with righteous indignation and advocated fighting against Japan and resisting Japanese aggression.At this time, Hu Shi's non-resistance doctrine broke out. He was very worried that the overseas students who were talking on paper would fight with Japan, so he wrote an English "An open letter to all Chinese students" and sent it to " The Monthly Report of Chinese Students Studying in America advises everyone to be gentle and calm, and to oppose the idea of ​​resisting Japan.The letter said:

In my personal opinion, my generation of international students is now separated from their motherland by oceans; at this moment, our top priority should really be to keep calm.Let us do our part and do our duty; our duty is to read and study.Let us not let the disputes in the press delay our sacred mission.We must continue our studies seriously, calmly, without panic or panic. ...I want to say that the theory of using troops against Japan is nonsense and ignorance.We shall gain nothing in war, but a series of destruction, destruction and destruction. As soon as this letter was published, it was severely criticized and condemned by overseas students. Kuang Xu, the editor-in-chief of "Students in America Monthly", also wrote an article, pointing out that Hu Shi wrote such an open letter as "hard-hearted and unpatriotic."After more than 60 years, Mr. Tang Degang, Hu Shi's junior and friend who helped him sort out his "oral autobiography" and translated it into Chinese, couldn't help criticizing:

The "Official Letter to the Study Abroad Community" written by Hu on the night of March 19, 1915, has poor meaning.English is not like English, and the meaning is especially not good enough.If a country’s young students can still “study with peace of mind” and remain indifferent under such shameful emergencies as the “21 requirements”, is there any hope for this country? But Mr. Hu Shizhi is so calm A white-faced scholar without anger.He does not know how to make revolution; throwing his head and spilling blood will never have his share, so his words are not enough for the passionate youth. ⑥

This criticism is fair.Man is a higher animal with emotions.And "patriotism is the deepest feeling for one's motherland that has been consolidated for thousands of years."Hu Shi kept saying that he "disdains being a 'patriot' of emotion" and advocated "sensible patriotism"; however, when the nation-state is at the critical moment of life and death, when the invaders trample on the sacred land of the motherland, who is as calm as Hu Shi? , indifferent, sitting quietly reading and allowing the motherland to perish, then we can only say that he is really "hard-hearted", and what kind of patriotism can we talk about? ① "Zanghui Room Notes", Volume 5, "Quitting Cigarettes on the 19th" (July 18, 1914), Shanghai Yadong Library Edition, p. 310. ②Volume 4 of "Zanghui Room Notes", Shanghai Yadong Edition, pp. 267-268. ③Refer to Volume 1 of "Notes from the Zanghui Room", the diary and notes on June 18, 1911.Shanghai Yadong Edition, pp. 44-50. ④ For the poem "Autumn Willow", see Chapter 2, Section 9.This poem was originally published in the 33rd issue of "Jingye Xunbao", entitled "Preface to Autumn Willows", signed by Ming You.It was later included in the "Qu Guo Ji" attached to the "Trying Collection", and there is a postscript written in July 1916, saying: Over the years, I have learned a lot about the world, and I have also read a little bit, and I have learned more about Lao Shi's saying that the weak are better than the strong, which proves that heaven and human affairs are really ingenious.Nearby people argue that "the superior wins the inferior and the inferior loses, and the fittest survive." The so-called fitness and so-called excellence do not necessarily mean violence.Covers are in different situations, but they are suitable or not, whether they are strong or not.In the past two years, the military disaster has been unprecedented.May I ask what has been achieved with such force? It is also like Belgium resisting the invincible Germany with a small area.Although the mantis is like a chariot, shallow people may admire its ability to be angry, but a weak egg hits a rock, and the benevolent will call it the most stupid.This is not only a big violation of Lao Zi's metaphor, but also what Confucius said, "Small intolerance will lead to chaos and big plans".For this reason, I have often read this poem for more than two years, and sometimes it is also recited by others. I think that all the poems written before Gengxu should be deleted and discarded. Only these 28 characters may not be without value.So I changed the number and appended it here. Although it is said that it was written after going to the country, it is okay. ⑤Refer to "Notes of Zanghui Room", Volume 7, "Nationalism and Cosmopolitanism" (October 26, 1914) , Shanghai Yadong Edition, pp. 431-437. ⑥ "Hu Shi's Oral Autobiography" "Chapter 4 Political Training in Youth" Note 9.Translated by Tang Degang, Taipei Biographical Literature Publishing House, first edition in March 1981, p. 79.