Chapter 13 Chapter Three: Early Contact with the West

My mother had two wall paintings that hung in a large living room.That drawing room was converted from an old church house into a vicarage.One picture shows a Western girl with a handsome and sweet face, holding a brimless woman's hat with several eggs in it.My mother must have cut it out of a good western magazine, probably The Saturday Evening Post, which she often used for needlework and small needlework.The other painting is of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty. He launched the reform movement in the 24th year of Guangxu. Everyone knows the "Hundred Days Reform" and issued imperial edicts one by one, abolishing imperial examinations, building railways, and developing mines. , and was suddenly imprisoned in Yingtai, Zhongnanhai by his aunt, the Queen Mother of the West, until she died for no apparent reason ten years later.He died on the same day as the Empress Dowager Xi, because the Empress Dowager Xi knew that her death was approaching, so she ordered Emperor Guangxu to be poisoned to death. The reason was that she was afraid that Emperor Guangxu would take revenge on her reputation and policies after her death. She thought that was impossible. tolerated.

My father did not have any political connections, but he wholeheartedly supported Emperor Guangxu who advocated the reform and his New Deal, which was the same as those Chinese leaders such as Mr. Sun Yat-sen who were in Japan at that time.Although the Empress Dowager Cixi fled to Xi'an in a panic when the Eight-Power Allied Forces defeated the Boxers and entered Beijing, she was still in power at this time.She was able to regain control of power because of peace talks with foreign powers, but she remained stubborn and domineering until the Qing Dynasty was overthrown in 1911 (that is, the third year of Xuantong's reign) and the Republic of China was established.

The theme of this chapter is the impact of Western civilization on China, from the ideological aspect to the industrial technology aspect.A series of adaptations and reviews of the whole problem are involved.However, the burden of reviewing this difficult task lies with China. Later facts can prove that China is in debt when it comes to cultural exchanges.That exchange has not ceased to this day. Dr. Fan Liwen (Warnshius), later Secretary of the London New York International Association.He was broad-minded, far-sighted, reasonable, and versatile, far surpassing the average missionary at that time.Somehow due to good luck, Xixi was able to have such a good pastor sent here, which is very close to Banzai.Dr. Fan Liwen is about six feet tall.It is this pastor who made us accept Western culture.In the "Shanghai Christian Literature Association", under the chairmanship of Lin Lezhi (Young J. Allen), at that time issued a one-sheet weekly newspaper called "Tongwen Bao" (Christian Intelligence), and the ink and paper were very bad.It would be great if my subordinates kept a copy today.Dr. Fan Liwen not only sent us this weekly newspaper, but also sent us many books and pamphlets published by the Shanghai Christian Literature Association.When my father met him, he was considered to have found a bosom friend, and soon became an inseparable friend with him.

Our earliest contact with the West was a collar button left by Dr. Fan Liwen, because he and his wife lived on the top floor of my house, and our house is also the old church.The children speculated for a long time as to what that shiny collar button was.He and his wife left a few more cans, which must have been filled with butter.We Chinese smell like butter in our whole house.I remember my sister opening all the windows after they left to get the smell out of the house.I believe that the copy of the Saturday Evening Post that my mother used to sew must have come from Mrs. Fleming. Although these are some irrelevant things that I have come into contact with in the West, I think they are very important to me.My father knew St. John's University, he read about it in the "Inquirer", so he dreamed of going to Oxford University and Berlin University.My father's monthly salary was 20 yuan, which was later increased to 24 yuan. Although the income was extremely meager, it still could not dissuade his desire to send his son to a high-level Christian institution in Shanghai to study.

I was about twelve years old when a new church was being built in Sakazai.Then something very important happened.Under the weight of the roof, thirty or forty feet wide, the church walls were visibly bent more and more crookedly.Dr. Fan Liwen purchased steel bars from the United States.After the steel bars gradually tightened, the wall was straightened again, and everyone could see the scaffolding on the roof standing up.Fan Liwen added another bell to the bell tower at the entrance of the church.In Buddhist temples that compete with Christianity, a big drum is also installed.The monastery was also on that street, about sixty feet away.

On Sundays, church bells ring and monastery drums ring. For the church, there are two adversaries.One is the son of a believer, already past middle age, everyone calls him Uncle Jin.His house sits across the river under a wooden bridge that leads to the only local market with shops.Every few years, the bridge must be destroyed by floods, and every time it is destroyed, old man Jin will make a fortune.Because he wanted to collect donations to build another wooden bridge.The boards are uneven and not straight, and people crossing the bridge can see the running water under their feet.We all know that building bridges is his livelihood.The street with the little shops was constantly being flooded, and by the time I was growing up, only half of those little shops were left.

One day, on a cool moonlit night, my father passed the wooden bridge on a whim to preach.I was told that my father was forty years old when I was born.Once, while out, he caught a cold and nearly died.While preaching, he sweated profusely, and after returning home without changing his clothes, he came down with severe pneumonia.Mother is very anxious.The mother was about to give birth to her fifth son, so she had to find a way to deliver it herself.As for how she reluctantly gave birth, it is unknown.My father told me how many times he went out to wash the dirty things after giving birth in the creek behind the house.

My second exposure to Western civilization was when I first saw a steam engine in action on a steamboat between Chioh-be and Amoy.I was fascinated by it at the time, and remained silent in a daze.Later, at school, I saw a diagram of a piston engine, so I naturally fully understood it.Since then, my interest has always been in science, and I really want to be a physics teacher in the future.Someone asked me what kind of profession I would like to enter when I grow up. My answer was (1) to be an English teacher, (2) to be a physics teacher, and (3) to open a "debating" shop.The last one is a local saying, not a real industry.Generally speaking, if you open a store, take part in a debate and challenge the other side. You call a white thing black, or call a black thing white, and challenge people in this way.I was obviously known for my eloquence at the time, so my brothers and sisters called me "The Debate Customer."

My secondary education was a complete waste of time.The school doesn't even have a library.The difference between Xunyuan Academy in Xiamen and non-Christian schools is that non-Christian schools read daily newspapers, while our school does not.We have geography, arithmetic, the classics, a thin book of geology.After class, we just play games.Kicking a blanket and playing with two wooden balls cut from a dumbbell were our favorite games.We all wear clogs, so whenever the ankle is hit by a wooden ball, it really hurts. One of the tricks we used to play tricks on the teacher was to recite the book, which was very fun and every student was very proud of it.We all stood in the hallway and waited, and some people were called into the room to endorse, usually within two to three pages.After he finished reciting, he opened the door as a signal to ask another person to come in and recite. He made a signal that the text to be recited was in the first half or the last half. Since he opened the door three or four times, Others will know which part to recite.

What I remember clearly is only the principal's abacus.The principal is a greedy man.At that time, Gulangyu was very prosperous, and real estate was a good business.I heard his incessant planning.His office is on the first floor, facing the landing, so he can manage the entry and exit of students.But that didn't stop us from going out to buy supper food, which we would hang upstairs in bamboo baskets. As for school books, I neither love nor loathe them.It's so easy, so simple. I am really fascinated by Western music.I was influenced by the American principal, Mrs. Pitcher.She was a dignified and elegant English lady, and she spoke with such soft and melodious intonations that, to my ears, it was the beauty of music.The soprano chorus of the missionary ladies was really impressive to my Chinese ears, and I will never forget it.

We have also seen French and American sailors, most of whom were drunk and staggering on the streets of Gulangyu Island.Occasionally, a British football team played football in a walled field. They did not drink tea, but other beverages. Sometimes there was a military band playing, and the drinks were served by Chinese servants.I was among the other children, peeping in through the cracks in the fence, envious of them foreigners. If there is a dance in the club, we students of Xunyuan College often stand outside the window and see men and women wearing evening gowns and embracing each other in a large crowd. The unbelievable spectacle in the world is really shocking. In the 33rd year of Guangxu, President Roosevelt of the United States sent the American fleet to Macau. At that time, the Russo-Japanese War had just ended.Because we are students of church schools, we were invited to visit.That is the best exhibition of great force.All these stimulated my desire to learn from the West.