Chapter 23 Teach "History of Chinese Philosophy"

Open up the shop and advocate a new culture. At that time, the "New Youth" group formed a front, so the momentum was extraordinary and its influence spread throughout the country.But to gain a firm foothold on the podium of Peking University, it all depends on everyone's knowledge and ability. Hu Shi went to Peking University in 1917. After the semester started in September, he taught several courses such as "History of Chinese Philosophy" and "English Literature", and began to compile the lecture notes of "Outline of History of Chinese Philosophy".

It turned out that Peking University taught the history of Chinese philosophy by an old gentleman surnamed Chen.He is a well-connected scholar, and he quotes extensively in class, and the information is very rich, but very conservative.He started from the Three Emperors and Five Emperors, and it took half a year to talk about the Duke of Zhou.Some students asked him, if the lecture continues like this, when will it be finished? He replied: "It doesn't matter if you can't finish the talk. If you finish the talk, you can finish a sentence. If you can't finish the talk, then you can talk forever." It’s not over.” This was the ethos of professors’ lectures back then.

Now, a newly returned international student from the United States, a young man in his twenties, wants to teach at Peking University, and he can teach such an important course as the history of Chinese philosophy. The students are a little skeptical. Big face"; the teachers don't need to talk about it, and some simply wait to see Hu Shi's jokes. Sure enough, as soon as the handout was issued, it was called "Outline of the History of Chinese Philosophy". After reading it, the old Mr. Chen couldn't help laughing and said to the students: "I said Hu Shi didn't make sense, and it really doesn't make sense. Just look at the title of his handouts." , I knew that he didn’t understand. The history of philosophy is the outline of philosophy, and the outline of the history of Chinese philosophy, wouldn’t it become the outline of the outline?” In fact, this old Mr. Chen really didn’t understand. The history of philosophy is history, how could it be “ "Outline of Philosophy"? ① Hu Shi began to give lectures.Gu Jiegang, a student who attended the class at that time, recorded:

Regardless of his previous course work, he reorganized the lecture notes, and the first chapter was "The Era of Chinese Philosophy's Fertility", which was used as an explanation of the era, leaving Tang, Yu, Xia, and Shang aside, and started talking directly from King Xuan of Zhou.This change suddenly dealt a major blow to the minds of ordinary people full of the Three Emperors and Five Emperors, and the tongues in the room were so horrified that they couldn't speak. Many students didn't take it seriously; it was just because there were no violent elements in the class, and there was no riot yet. ②

Disapproving students discussed in private, saying that Hu Shi was so bold that he wanted to strangle the history of Chinese philosophy, which was simply "ideological rebellion"! They wanted to drive him away, but they were not sure.So, I went to Fu Sinian, who was quite famous among my classmates at the time, and invited him to attend Hu Shi's class to see if he should be driven away.After listening to it a few times, Fu Sinian learned a little bit about it, so he said to his classmates: Although this person did not read much, the path he took was correct.You can't make trouble. ③

With a few words from Fu Jun, he really protected Hu Shi and passed the test. Then, what kind of road did Hu Shi take to teach the history of Chinese philosophy? What he took was a new road, a pioneering new road.The professors who originally taught this course basically did not go beyond the scope of traditional historians of philosophy.Starting from the Three Emperors and Five Emperors, a large number of classic commentaries, half myths and half political history materials, are endless, making students feel as if they are in a fog, unable to see the road and grasp the clues.For the first time, Hu Shi used modern Western scientific methods to delete the myths and legends of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, started from Laozi and Confucius, and tried his best to find a little system of thought in the works of ancient Chinese philosophers and some clues to the development of Chinese philosophy.Therefore, the lessons he taught and the handouts he handed out refreshed the students.Mr. Feng Youlan, a third-year student in the Philosophy Department of Peking University and now a well-known scholar in the history of philosophy, recently recalled Hu Shi’s "Outline of the History of Chinese Philosophy" and commented:

This has the effect of removing obstacles and opening up the way for the study of the history of Chinese philosophy at that time.At that time, we were plunged into the boundless sea of ​​classic commentaries, and we had to climb for half a year to see Duke Zhou.After seeing this method, I feel refreshed and refreshed. ④ As a result, the number of students taking Hu Shi's homework gradually increased; besides Peking University students, students from other universities also came to attend.Later, the class was changed to the big classroom in the first courtyard. After teaching for one year, the lecture notes of "Outline of the History of Chinese Philosophy" were also compiled and printed.This is based on his doctoral dissertation, with additions, modifications and expansions.The book consists of 12 chapters with more than 100,000 words. In July 1918, it was sorted out; in August, Mr. Cai Yuanpei wrote the preface; in February 1919, it was published by the Shanghai Commercial Press.

Hu Shi's "Outline of the History of Chinese Philosophy" can be said to be a groundbreaking book and an epoch-making book in the study of the history of Chinese philosophy, and even in the study of various special histories and even general histories. , is a positive result of the "May 4th" New Culture Movement. ⑤ Mr. Cai Yuanpei said in the preface: Mr. Shizhi was born in the Hu family of Jixi, where "Sinology" has been handed down from generation to generation. He is endowed with the heredity of "Sinology". Literature and philosophy have a lot of experience in the history of Western philosophy.Therefore, the difficulty of compiling the history of ancient Chinese philosophy is much easier once it is in the hands of my husband.

Mr. Cai spoke highly of Hu Shi’s work, and pointed out that it has four specialties: the first is the method of proof, that is to say, his "Outline" uses the method of sinologists to examine the era in which philosophers lived, leaving behind The authenticity of the work and the dialectical method used "opened countless methods for later scholars".The second is a concise method, which is the so-called "cut off the crowd, and start with Laozi and Confucius".The third is the perspective of equality, that is, to get rid of the orthodox and unorthodox concepts, neither Confucianism is not Mohism, nor Mohism is not Confucianism, but believes that "all the sons after Laozi have their own strengths, each has its own shortcomings, and all have their own advantages and disadvantages. It is very equal to return him to his original face."The fourth is the systematic method, that is, to use the perspective of development and the systematic method to study the schools of philosophy, so that they can "show the traces of changes one by one" and "the context of gradual evolution".

Soon, in "Reply to Lin Junqin's Southern Letter", Mr. Cai said: Hu Jun's family background is "Sinology", although his old works and ancient prose are rare, but as stated in his "Outline of the History of Chinese Philosophy", his understanding of ancient books is not comparable to that of Qianjia scholars in Qing Dynasty. ⑦ Cai Yuanpei's high praise of Hu Shi's "Outline of the History of Chinese Philosophy" was by no means a compliment in terms of the academic situation at that time.Cai’s former Qing Hanlin background and status as the president of Peking University, such enthusiastic affirmation and praise of Hu Shi’s works, is undoubtedly a great support for Hu Shi, and also a great support for new ideas and new achievements in the academic circle.

According to Mr. Feng Youlan's recollection, Hu Shi's "Outline of the History of Chinese Philosophy" was very special at the time: In Chinese feudal society, the philosophical thoughts of philosophers, no matter whether they were new or not, were basically expressed in the form of annotations to ancient classics, so they always took the original text of the classics as the main text and wrote them down in large characters.In this book by Hu Shi, his own words are used as the main text, written in big characters at the top, and the quotes from the ancients are written in small characters at the bottom.This shows that the works of the feudal era were mainly written by the ancients.However, the works during the May Fourth period were mainly about themselves.This is also an inadvertent expression of the revolutionary spirit of the May Fourth era. ⑧ The views of Mr. Cai Yuanpei and Feng Youlan are naturally very reasonable.In addition, I think there is another prominent feature of "The Outline of the History of Chinese Philosophy", which is that "the book is all in vernacular", and it adopts new "sentence symbols and other symbols", that is, new punctuation marks.This should be said to be a pioneering work in the academic history of our country. ⑨ At that time, they were advocating vernacular Chinese and opposing classical Chinese.Conservative people think that those who advocate vernacular are probably those who cannot write classical Chinese or read ancient books, so they use vernacular to hide their stupidity.Unexpectedly, the "Outline of the History of Chinese Philosophy" used vernacular and new-style punctuation. Hu Shi, who advocated vernacular, was able to read ancient books, and "understood ancient books from the perspective of Qianjia scholars in Qing Dynasty." Their kind of demonstration strengthened the momentum of the vernacular movement. As soon as the "Outline of the History of Chinese Philosophy" was published, it spread like wildfire and caused a sensation, but it was reprinted within two months.With the publication of this book, Hu Shi really "gained a great reputation", not only gaining a firm foothold on the forum of Peking University, but also occupying a place in the history of Chinese academics. The young Professor Hu Shi's attractiveness and influence on young students has also become greater. On December 3, 1918, Peking University students established the "Xinchao Club" and invited Hu Shi as a consultant.In January of the following year, the magazine "New Tide" was published and became a right-hand man of "New Youth".The backbone of Xinchao Club is the aforementioned Fu Sinian. He turned out to be the "Huangmen Servant", that is, the favorite student of Mr. Huang Kan (Ji Gang), a traditional Chinese master.Hu Shi also admitted that he had a good foundation of knowledge.Later, Fu leaned towards the new trend of thought, and by 1919, he had completely shifted to the side of the new culture camp.At that time, Chen Duxiu was still a little skeptical, and once said to Zhou Zuoren: "Aren't they sent to do meticulous work?" Later facts proved that not only was it not "scrupulous work", but also explained the ideas, knowledge, and articles of the new culture and its advocates. , a great attraction to aspiring young people, and has added a group of young and promising new forces to the new cultural camp. ⑩From then on, Fu Sinian joined Hu Shi's family. At the beginning of 1920, due to Hu Shi's power, he went abroad with official expenses and studied in the University of London in England and the University of Berlin in Germany, and got the opportunity for further study.After Fu Sinian arrived in England, he wrote to Hu Shi, saying: Ever since Mr. Wang advocated the vernacular, the achievements of his career have been truly astonishing in the eyes of others, but if he finds them to be astonishing, it is human nature to be self-satisfied with achievements, and neglect the great achievements in the future.Therefore, high interest and deep thinking are often enemies.Human nature is most suitable for advancing due to pressure, and is used to being lazy when it is well deserved. ... During my period at Peking University, I was most influenced by Mr., so I was very impressed and thought a lot.I hope that my husband will eventually become a teacher, and create a great academic atmosphere. I don't hope that my husband will be a part of the Chinese idol world right now. This kind of outspoken remonstrance can also show that they have a good relationship between teachers and students, and they have really become irreversible friends. Later, Fu Sinian and Luo Jialun of Xinchao Society followed Hu Shi in terms of political views and academic thoughts, and followed suit. They were the backbone of the so-called "Hu Shi faction"; they finally fled overseas on the eve of the liberation of the mainland, and buried their bones in the isolated island of Taiwan. superior.This is not accidental, but it's a later story. ① See Feng Youlan's Preface to Sansongtang, Beijing Joint Publishing, December 1, 1984, p. 200. ②Gu Jiegang's "Ancient History Discrimination? Preface", reprinted by Beijing Pushe in September 1926, p. 36. ③ See Hu Shi's speech "Mr. Fu Mengzhen's Thoughts" at the commemorative meeting for the second anniversary of Fu Sinian's death on December 20, 1952, in "Hu Shi's Comments Collection", Part A, Taipei Huaguo Publishing House, April 1953 edition, pp. 95-96 Page.In this speech, he also said with emotion: As an international student in my twenties, I was teaching at Peking University, facing a group of mature students, and did not cause any trouble.After more than ten years, I realized that Meng Zhen was secretly my protector. ④ Same Note ① on page 215. ⑤Since 1978, the author has talked about Hu Shi’s contribution and his historical status at some academic conferences, and affirmed that his “Outline of the History of Chinese Philosophy” used modern Western scientific methods to sort out and study the history of ancient Chinese philosophy His first book, Blue Wisps on the Road, has the same pioneering significance as "History of Vernacular Literature"; but from today's perspective, it is also unavoidably naive, and it is also an unfinished "half book". In recent years, I read Mr. Feng Youlan's "San Song Tang Preface", which commented on Hu Shi's "Outline of the History of Chinese Philosophy", and also said: During the New Culture Movement during the May 4th period, an epoch-making book was published on the study of the history of Chinese philosophy, that is, the volume of Hu Shi's "Outline of the History of Chinese Philosophy".Hu Shi went to Peking University in 1917, and started school after the summer vacation. He took the history of Chinese philosophy as a first-year course in the Department of Philosophy.Lecture notes were issued at that time, and by February 1919, the first volume of "Outline of the History of Chinese Philosophy" was officially published.There is a preface written by Cai Yuanpei at the front of this book. (omitted in the middle) Cai Yuanpei gave this book such a high evaluation, considering the level of academic circles at that time, it was not admirable. (page 213-214) Mr. Feng is a well-known scholar in the field of philosophy in our country. His criticism gave the author a strong support.Mr. Feng also has many incisive analyzes and comments on Hu Shi's "Outline of the History of Chinese Philosophy". Readers can refer to pages 213-217 of "San Song Tang Preface". ⑥Cai Yuanpei's "Preface to the Outline of the History of Ancient Chinese Philosophy", see the first volume of "The Outline of the History of Chinese Philosophy" by Hu Shi, Shanghai Commercial Press, February 1919 edition, first volume.It is now included in the third volume of "The Complete Works of Cai Yuanpei", Beijing Zhonghua Book Company, September 1, 1984, pp. 187-189. ⑦ Cai Yuanpei's "Reply to Lin Junqin's Southern Letter", written on March 18, 1919, published in "Peking University Journal" No. 338 on March 21 of the same year; magazine, Vol. 1, No. 4, published April 1, 1919.It is now included in Volume 3 of The Complete Works of Cai Yuanpei, see page 271 for the citation here. ⑧ Same Note ① Page 215-216. ⑨Before Hu Shi, there was Mr. Liang Qichao who used the "new style" to write political comments and academic articles, but it was only a simple classical Chinese, or an improved style between classical Chinese and vernacular.Hu Shi's "Outline of the History of Chinese Philosophy" was the first academic work officially written in vernacular and new punctuation. On July 15, 1918, Hu Shi made the "general rules" of "Outline of the History of Chinese Philosophy", which consisted of four articles.The third article says, "This book is all in vernacular, but when citing ancient books, the original language is still used."Article 4 is "The sentence reading symbols and other symbols used in this book are listed as follows."A total of 12 kinds of symbols are listed, and there are explanations and example sentences. Basically, there is no big difference from the punctuation marks used today. ⑩Refer to Zhou Zuoren's "Reminiscences of Zhitang", "128 Weekly Comments (Part 1)". "Selected Correspondence of Hu Shi", Beijing Zhonghua Book Company, May 1, 1979, Volume 1, p. 106.