Chapter 40 Mention Wang Guowei's suicide

During a gathering, someone mentioned the incident of Mr. Wang Guowei committing suicide by throwing himself into water a few years ago, which led to the suicide of Mr. Liang Juchuan more than ten years ago.At this time, Xu Zhimo and Tao Menghe argued.Tao Menghe, who has always been modest and prudent, criticizes and opposes their suicide, while Xu Zhimo highly affirms their spirit of martyrdom.The friends present either agreed with Menghe or supported Zhimo, and the dispute was very fierce for a while. Tao Menghe refuted Xu Zhimo: "Zhimo, no matter what profound insights you have on suicide, I still think that suicide is not a means to save the world. I declare that what I disapprove of is passive suicide. It is not a struggle. The glorious death of a martyr. If a person is killed by the world for his belief, that is what I admire. If a person kills his own life because his belief is not believed by the world, it is a kind of Negative behavior. The so-called "killing one's body to become benevolent" is by no means that anyone who kills one's body can become benevolent, and it does not mean that one must kill one's body to become benevolent."

Xu Zhimo said: "When we discuss a problem, we must first clarify the premise. The premise here is: what we respect is not the suicide behavior of Mr. Ju Chuan and Mr. Guan Tang, but the spirit they showed through suicide. "A country or a nation often produces one or two most shameless individuals in the most shameless era. For example, there was Wen Tianxiang at the end of the Song Dynasty, and Huang Lizhou at the end of the Ming Dynasty. Their names have permanent symbolic meaning. Their deaths are The nation wins the spirit that makes people human. I think that Mr. Ju Chuan and Mr. Guantang really can't stand the shameless doctrine that is popular today. They can't change anything while they live, and they are determined to sacrifice their lives to give this era a warning and a protest. .”

Tao Menghe said: "Zhimo, you must not think that opposing suicide means cherishing life and not cherishing doctrine and ideals. If you think that the value of your ideals is much higher than the value of life, then you are using suicide to get it. What about that ideal, or living to realize that ideal through various efforts? "Of course, I admit that everyone should have the freedom to commit suicide, but if you want to save the people of the world, you should not commit suicide. The noble behavior of the old man in his life cannot arouse the admiration and imitation of the world. People in the world? There is no shortcut to saving or awakening the world, only persistent and unremitting efforts. The result of suicide is only the loss of a life, and the relatives of the deceased are impoverished. This kind of influence also affects society. "

Xu Zhimo smiled: "Mr. Meng He is really a sociologist. A sociologist clearly cannot tolerate suicide that hurts relatives and society. This reminds me of Qian Muzhai in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties. He once made up his mind He wanted to die for his country, so he hired a boat to carry his relatives and friends, and wanted to die in a wide place in the middle of the river. But he sat on the bow of the boat and probed the river with his hands, but suddenly found that the river was so cold. So he decided not to die, Returning to the warm cabin, the original crew and horses shook back. There is also Wumei Village, who was at the same time as him. He once hung the rope for hanging on the beam. His wife's family knelt on the ground and wept bitterly, so he gave up the idea of ​​suicide. At that time, his thoughts may be consistent with Mr. Meng He's opinion: "The result of suicide is the loss of a life, and the relatives of the deceased are trapped in poverty." , and influence society.'”

The locust trees in Beizongbu Hutong turned yellow and then green, green and yellow again, and the gatherings of the Liang family and the Jin family in the alley continued all year round, no matter winter or summer.