Home Categories Biographical memories Lin Yutang's Autobiography

Chapter 53 8. My study①

Lin Yutang's Autobiography 林语堂 1642Words 2018-03-16
① The original title is. A guest asked what is the purpose of the name "You are not a vegetarian" and what is not included in the list. This question gave me a thoughtful thought.It turns out that the names of scholars' studies are quite unique.One school is the School of Confucian classics, such as "Baojing", "Researching", "Gujing", "Qianyan" and so on.One is the celebrity school, whose names are mostly poetic, such as "Han Fen", such as "Yong Xian", such as "Shuangmei Ying", such as "Shui Liu Yun Zai", such as "Looking up at the thousand seven hundred and twenty-nine cranes" and so on.One school is business-like, such as "Sanxi", such as "Iron Qin and Bronze Sword".Another school is about expressing ambition, such as "knowledge is insufficient", "perseverance", "knowledge is not believed".These all have a touch of Taoism, and "what not to do" may have to be classified into this school.There are also words and ambitions expressed in one word, which are very quaint, such as "Cangyuan", "Yiyuan", "Quyuan", "Jiyuan", etc. This probably belongs to the existing garden class, so it is possible Keep yourself clean and free from competition with the world.Although this name is sometimes unreliable, for example, in the concession, there is a village called "Gengdu", in a slum, it is called "Qingyu", in a pheasant nest, there is a square called "Jeanne", and there is even a "mountain house" on the third floor of cement on the main road. It is not impossible to have a "sweeping leaf" on Qipan Street. It is just a name anyway, we Chinese think. "Whether there is something or not" is a bit moralistic, as I have already said.It seems to be anti-Kang Youwei, but the fact is not.Because the more opposite names in the world, the more similar temperament.Trying to compare the anti-Kang people with those who supported Kang, six out of ten people in the anti-Kang camp once supported Kang, and eight out of ten people in the pro-Kang party once opposed Kang.For example, the pheasants in Zhendefang and the poor in Qingyuli are all just talking and screaming.Therefore, as Mencius said, you can do something after doing something, which just proves the truth that things must be reversed in extremes.But there is always something that a person cannot do.My friend's question forced me to do my own self-examination.I didn't pay attention at the time, but it was interesting to check it out.I seem to have felt in a trance that maybe I have done many things in my life and need to ask God for forgiveness, but the things I have not done are my virtues.I will write down what I think of and Laza as follows.

I have never worn a suit and leather shoes to promote domestic product conferences, nor have I ridden in a Buick car to encourage races at sports events, and I have never looked down upon those who do such things. I hate outdoor sports and unrefined postures. I have never straddled a wall or turned somersaults, whether physically, spiritually, or politically.I can't even watch the wind. I have never written an article commended by the government, or selected a famous sentence that the scholar-bureaucrats value, nor have I drafted a manifesto that is satisfactory to my colleagues. I have never sent, nor wanted to send eight and exquisite conversations.

I have a good memory, so I never say that the moon is round today, and that the moon is square a week later. I never vowed to resist the power-up that borrowed from the city to the end, nor did I make a declaration that my patriotism would not dare future generations.I never drove to the university to give lectures to persuade others to work hard to be rich, not to be promiscuous, mighty and not to be subdued. I have never seduced young girls, so I never regard female students as "dangerous goods".Nor did he maintain his morals with Zhang Zongchang and forbid women to visit the park.

I have never donated a penny to help save the country by air, nor have I given a penny to disaster relief committee members, although I often donate a few cents to old refugees with gray beards or beautiful and lovely little beggars. I have never advocated Confucianism and Taoism, donated for benevolence, donated for righteousness, donated for anti-Japanese and national salvation, donated for public security aftermath, and donated for saving the country with goodness.I never took money from the people for nothing. I don't read political science books, and I have never finished reading the Three Principles of the People, nor have I completely managed to make my mind obey my command during the three minutes of silence.

I have not been divorced, but qualified as an academic leader. I like revolutions, but never revolutionaries. I have never had a happy face like a dough ball, and I am very happy. When I look in the mirror, my face is not without redness and shame. I have never yelled at the servants to tell them that I am a master who can make money.My mother never whispered, praising their master for not knowing where the money came from. I have never allowed the servants to give me a kickback when they buy things, and I have never allowed them to feel that they are returning the money of the people of the Republic of China to the people.

I have never reported my great achievements and sent them to various newspapers for publication, or asked my secretary to write and send them for publication on my behalf. I never ordered enlarged photos of myself, distributed them to my sons, and asked them to hang them in the hall to commemorate them. I never like people who don't like me, make a smiley face to them.I have not practiced hypocrisy. I hate villains very much. No matter in any organization, I have never fought with them to show that my skills are capable.I always run away because I hate the way they look. I have never discussed state affairs calmly and calmly, and I have never been a liar who is a gentleman, a scholar, and a doctor.

I didn't tap a friend on the shoulder, be a philanthropist, be elected a member of Rotary.I have the same attitude towards the Rotary Club as I have towards the YMCA. I never forbade women to perm their hair, forbid men to wear long gowns, forbid people to race dragon boats, forbid people to burn paper money, forbid Taoism and Confucianism, maintain morality, advocate reading scriptures, close hospitals, rectify the style of study, shoot people, arrest dancers, hold opera singers, sing Beijing tunes, playing mahjong, banning killing, offering to the king, hanging floats, earning a living, building western-style buildings, issuing declarations, marrying assistants, connecting electricity, stealing ancient tombs, protecting the quintessence of the country, selling antiques, saving the soul of the country, stealing ancient objects, and printing Buddhist scriptures , ban superstition, praise the Panchen Lama, put up slogans, shout slogans, advocate resistance, hold champagne, trade in securities, talk about Neo-Confucianism...

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