Chapter 20 "New Youth", Peking University, Chen Hu

When Yuan Shikai invited the ghost of Confucius and prepared to steal the country and proclaim himself emperor, Chen Duxiu founded "Youth Magazine" in Shanghai in September 1915, and the second volume was renamed "New Youth".When Chen's article was published in the first volume of the first issue, he "respected Chen Liuyi" to the youth of the whole country, advocated science and democracy, opposed the old culture of patriarchal clan tradition, and raised the banner of a new culture. When Hu Shiwei was in the United States, he exchanged letters with Chen Duxiu and contributed articles to the "New Youth" magazine. In September 1916, Hu Shi’s first text was published in Volume 2, No. 1, "New Youth", which was a vernacular translation of the Russian novel "Duel" by Tailai Xiapu, which was published in "New Youth". The first vernacular essay.Soon, Hu Shi successively published a series of articles and correspondence advocating the literary revolution, and became one of the important and influential contributors to New Youth.Although he and Chen Duxiu had never met, they shared the same goals and became close friends.

At the end of the year, Cai Yuanpei was appointed president of Peking University.Although Mr. Cai was born in the imperial examinations and passed the Imperial Academy, he is a revolutionary hero, and he can resolutely break through barriers and accept new trends in thought.In the first year of the Republic of China, when he served as the chief education officer of the Nanjing Provisional Government, he explicitly ordered to stop offering sacrifices to Confucius.After taking over Peking University, he made great efforts to reform, adopted the policy of academic freedom of thought and "inclusiveness", and extended the "learned and enthusiastic teachers" to come to the school to teach and take charge of school affairs. Peking University served as dean of liberal arts.

In January 1917, Chen Duxiu officially became the dean of liberal arts at Peking University, and also moved "New Youth" from Shanghai to Beijing to edit.He combined the editor-in-chief of "New Youth" with the reform of Peking University, and helped Mr. Cai recruit talents.In a letter to Hu Shih, Chen Duxiu wrote: Mr. Cai Zimin has already taken over the post of President of Beijing (by mistake, this is the mistake of "Peking University President"), and he has made an appointment with his younger brother to be the head of liberal arts.Mr. Zhimin looks forward to returning to China as soon as possible, that is, he does not want to be a senior. There are few professors of philosophy and literature in the school. ... If you have an appointment elsewhere, if you don't have a deep friendship, you don't have to agree to it.It is not easy to find people who can work with in Chinese society.Relying on a good relationship with God, I dare to be straightforward. ②

In July of this year, Hu Shi returned to the country, and in August he went north and became a professor at Peking University. Back then, Peking University was still on Jingshan East Street, which was the "Four Princesses Mansion" of the Ma Temple.The red building on the beach in the first courtyard is still under construction, and the translation school in the third courtyard is a university preparatory department.All the undergraduate courses in arts and sciences are located in the "Four Princesses Mansion" of the Horse Temple. The main entrance here has not yet been completed, and people usually enter and exit through the side door at the west end.The area to the north of the entrance is the lecture hall; the bungalows to the east are the teachers' lounge, with one room for each person, and people call it "Maozihao".Many celebrities who entered the liberal arts one after another gathered in the Maozihao.There is a story of two old rabbits and three little rabbits.The former refers to Chen Duxiu and Zhu Xizu, who were "old rabbits" born in Jimao (1879); the latter refers to Hu Shi, Liu Bannong, and Liu Wendian, who were "little rabbits" born in Xinmao (1891). ". ③Hu Shiwei is not yet 26 years old, he is really a young professor.

When Hu Shi entered Peking University, he directly participated in the editorial activities of "New Youth", and together with Chen Duxiu advocated the New Culture Movement and Literary Revolution; he also recommended talents to Mr. Cai.Cai Yuanpei once said: Peking University originally had a few basic teachers in the Department of Literature and Philosophy, but after Mr. Hu Shizhi arrived at the school, he responded to his request and introduced a large number of comrades, so the enthusiasm will be higher. ④ Zhou Zuoren, Liu Bannong and others entered Peking University in the same year as Hu Shi and Chen Duxiu; Li Dazhao, Qian Xuantong, Gao Yihan, Chen Daqi, Zhu Xizu, Liu Wendian, Shen Yinmo, Shen Jianshi, Ma Yuzao and many others entered Peking University successively; Later, Lu Xun also came to Peking University as a part-time lecturer.It is really a gathering of newcomers, and the atmosphere of Peking University has changed drastically.They all wrote articles for "New Youth", which made the lineup of "New Youth" stronger and stronger, and the trend of new culture became more turbulent and irresistible.

In 1918, "New Youth" was reorganized into a fan publication, and the editorial department was expanded. Six people, including Chen Duxiu, Hu Shi, Li Dazhao, Qian Xuantong, Gao Yihan, and Shen Yinmo, took turns to edit.At the end of the same year, Chen Duxiu invited Li Dazhao, Hu Shi, Zhou Zuoren, etc. to discuss and create another "Weekly Review", which was still hosted by colleagues from "New Youth", in order to express discussions in a timely manner, criticize the darkness, and advocate new trends of thought.Peking University students Fu Sinian, Luo Jialun and others also organized the Xinchao Society. In January of the following year, the monthly magazine "Xinchao" was established to respond to "New Youth" and to effectively promote the new culture.As a result, a new cultural group was formed around "New Youth" and became the center of advocating the New Culture Movement.And this "New Youth" group is in fact inseparable from Peking University, and Peking University has become the base camp of new ideas and the source of the May Fourth New Culture Movement.

Soon, the May 4th student patriotic movement broke out, opposing imperialism and pro-Japanese factions, which shocked the whole country.The New Culture Movement, also boosted by politics, took off and quickly spread to all parts of the country, converging into a torrent of a great cultural revolution on a national scale.Chen Duxiu and Hu Shi were the most powerful advocates of the movement at that time. They both had the same name and were called "Chen Hu" at the time. They were the most famous representatives of the May Fourth New Culture Movement. During the "May 4th" period, although Chen and Hu were like-minded, they also had their own strengths and weaknesses.Hu Shi was a member of the revolutionary united front during the "May 4th" New Culture Movement, but compared to Li Dazhao and Chen Duxiu, he was more moderate, less resolute and less assertive.Hu Shi himself admitted that Chen Duxiu was indeed "a strong revolutionary" back then, and his propositions and remarks were always "the tone of an old revolutionary party"; In January 1919, Chen Duxiu wrote the famous "Response to the Criminal Case of Benzhi" in response to the criticism and abuse of "New Youth" by the diehards from all sides.We might as well transcribe a few wonderful passages below:

What they criticize Benzhi is nothing more than destroying Confucianism, rituals and laws, national quintessence, chastity, old ethics (loyalty and filial piety), old art (Chinese opera), old religion (ghosts and gods), old literature, and The old politics (privileged rule of man), these few crimes. Of course, my colleagues in this agency have confessed to these crimes.But tracing back to the source, my comrades were originally innocent, and they committed these heinous crimes only because they supported Mr. Democracy and Science.To support Mr. Nade, one has to oppose Confucianism, etiquette, chastity, old ethics, and old politics.To support Mr. Nasay, one has to oppose old art and old religion.If you want to support Mr. De and Mr. Sai, you have to oppose the quintessence of Chinese culture and old literature.Everyone think about it carefully, besides supporting Mr. Desai, is there any other crime in this blog? If not, please don’t criticize this blog specifically. Only those who have the strength and courage to oppose Mr. Desai can be considered a hero. That is the fundamental solution.

... Because of Xiyang's support for Mr. Desai, how much trouble and blood shed; Mr. Desai gradually rescued them from the darkness and led them to the world of light.We now believe that only these two gentlemen can cure all the darkness in China's politics, morals, academics, and ideology.If you support these two gentlemen, you will not refuse to be oppressed by the government, attacked and ridiculed by the society, even if you lose your head and bleed. ⑥ Such a reply, with a clear-cut banner, a decisive attitude, and no compromise or concession, is beyond Hu Shi's ability to write.

You might as well do another "Wen Chaogong" to testify by transcribing a paragraph of Qian Xuantong's letter criticizing Hu Shi's thinking: I admired the thought of brother (click, referring to Hu Shi).However, I have a little disapproval: that is, for the old society that has accumulated for thousands of years, it is too much to deal with him.It is important to have a clear-cut stand when discussing with the outside world on weekdays, and there is no need to deal with those rancid people.Brother, do you know that there are many people who scold Hu Shizhi outside? No matter how perfunctory you are to them, they still scold you very much, so why should you bow your head and accept their anger? how?⑦

Hu Shi was such a person who dealt with others and had a strong atmosphere of harmony and compromise, which was exactly the opposite of Chen Duxiu. However, Hu Shi and Chen Duxiu were comrades who fought together at that time. On the evening of June 11, 1919, Chen Duxiu was arrested by secret agents of the Beiyang government for distributing leaflets of the "Beijing Citizens Declaration" in New World, Beijing, and his house was also searched. ⑧Hu Shi wrote the poem "Authority" that night: "Authority" sat on the top of the mountain and commanded a group of chained slaves to mine for him. He said, "Which of you dares to be stubborn? I will do what I want you to do!" The slaves have worked for ten thousand years, and the iron chains on their heads and necks are gradually worn away. They said: "When the chain breaks, we will rebel!" The slaves worked together and dug to the bottom of the mountain one hoe at a time. The bottom of the mountain was hollowed out, and the "authority" fell down and fell to his death! ⑨ Poems that attack autocratic rule so fiercely are rare in the "Testing Collection".The "Weekly Review" left by Chen Duxiu was also taken over by Hu Shi and continued to be edited. It was published until August 30 of this year, when the 37th issue was printed, and was banned by the warlord government. ① The "six righteousness" mentioned by Chen Duxiu in the article are: 1. Free and not slave. Second, progressive rather than conservative. Three, aggressive rather than retiring. Fourth, the world, not the country. 5. Practical rather than fictional. 6. Scientific rather than imaginary. When explaining these "six righteousnesses" item by item, he advocated the "theory of equality of human rights", and pointed out: "The prosperity of science is not due to the theory of human rights. It is like a boat and a cart with two wheels." Pay equal attention to ".Equality of human rights is democracy.See Youth Magazine, Vol. 1, No. 1, September 15, 1915. ②This letter was written in January 1917, see "Hu Shi's Correspondence and Selected Letters", Beijing Zhonghua Book Company, May 1979 edition, Volume 1, p. 6. ③Refer to Zhou Zuoren's "Reminiscences of Zhitang" "Celebrities of 121 Maozi (1)".Published by Hong Kong Sanyu Books and Stationery Company in 1974. ④ Cai Yuanpei, contained in "Oriental Miscellaneous" Volume 31 No. 1, published on January 1, 1934. ⑤ Hu Shi's "Forcing to the Liangshan Mountains" (December 3, 1933), contained in "Theory Collection of China's New Literature Department? Construction", published by Shanghai Liangyou Book Printing Company in October 1935. ⑥ See "New Youth", Volume 6, No. 1, published on January 15, 1919. ⑦This letter was written around February 1918, and it is contained in "Selected Correspondence of Hu Shi", Volume 1, pp. 25-26. ⑧ For the arrest of Chen Duxiu this time, you can refer to the article "Chen Duxiu's Arrest and Rescue" written by Mao Zedong, published in the first issue of "Xiangjiang Review" (July 14, 1919).The leaflet distributed by Chen was the "Beijing Citizen Manifesto". According to the archives of the Beijing Metropolitan Police Department and the Department of Police at that time, the original was 16 pages in size, printed in two halves, and the upper half was vertically arranged in Chinese. ;The lower half of the text is horizontal in English, with a total of 13 lines including the title.The full text in Chinese is as follows: The citizens of Beijing declare that the Chinese nation is a peace-loving nation.Although we are suffering from unbearable oppression at home and abroad, we still have the same purpose and put forward the final and minimum requirements for the government as follows: 1. In diplomacy with Japan, not abandoning the economic rights of Shandong Province, and canceling the two secret treaties in the four years and seven years of the Republic of China. 2. Removed Xu Shuzheng, Cao Rulin, Zhang Zongxiang, Lu Zongyu, Duan Zhigui, Wang Huaiqing from their official positions and expelled them from Beijing. 3. Cancellation of the Infantry Commander and the Garrison Commander-in-Chief. 4. The Beijing security team was reorganized by citizens. 5. Citizens must have the absolute right to freedom of assembly and speech. My citizens still hope that this can be done peacefully.If the government is unwilling to be peaceful and does not fully listen to the wishes of the citizens, we students, businessmen, laborers, soldiers, etc. can only take direct action in order to seek fundamental reform.I hereby declare that I respectfully ask for the understanding of the ladies and gentlemen at home and abroad. (This declaration has been received everywhere, and I hope that it will be copied and circulated) ⑨The poem "Authority" was originally published in Volume 6, No. 6 of "New Youth", and at the end of the article, "June 11 Night in Eight Years".Afterwards, "Experimental Collection" was updated by four editions, adding the postscript "Chen Duxiu was arrested in Beijing at night; after midnight, a newspaper office called, saying that there was a general strike in Tokyo, Japan".