Chapter 42 Ye Gongchao: Literati are the most free (1)

Ye Gongchao (1904-1981), whose name was Chongzhi and courtesy name Gongchao, was born in Panyu, Guangdong.He studied in the United States and the United Kingdom in his early years. After returning to China, he served as a professor at Peking University, Tsinghua University, and Southwest Associated University. Next door to Professor Ye is an American family.The urchins in his family often came over the wall to harass him, Ye was so annoyed that he stepped forward to stop him.The naughty boy didn't listen, but turned to each other with bad words, so the two sides scolded each other loudly and uttered obscenities.The parents of Meitong turned their eyes when they heard the sound, and Professor Tangtang was yelling: "I'll crown you with a pot of shit! (I'm going to pour a bucket of dung on your head!)"

The parent walked over slowly, without looking angry, and asked, "Where did you learn that phrase? It's been a long time since I've heard that phrase. You remind me of my hometown." Everyone was happy in the ending, and Ye Gongchao and his neighbor became friends with a swear word topped with feces. Liang Shiqiu recorded this anecdote for us.He was not surprised by his old friend's move, because "Gongchao entered college after finishing middle school in the United States, so he learned all the swear words of American children. He said that to learn a language, you must learn the whole set of swear words." Only when you learn the words can you be thorough.”

When it comes to the stage, it's another scene. Ye Gongchao was sent to the United States and was invited to give a speech, "I don't read the speech script, the words come out, I wave my hands and watch them off, and they are both solemn and harmonious. Sometimes the sound is like a loud bell, overwhelming mountains and seas; suddenly the voice is reduced to a whisper, and the audience holds their breath to listen." .After the speech, three or four hundred audience members stood up and applauded for several minutes.Many famous professors present praised his English as "King English", and his tone and posture were comparable to those of British Prime Minister Churchill.

As a typical scholar in politics, later generations commented on Ye Gongchao: From his behavior and words and deeds after he entered politics, it can still be seen that he is basically a scholar, a scholar, and an intellectual. Don't lose the arrogance of the intellectuals. In 1961, due to the issue of Mongolia's accession to the United Nations, Ye Gongchao was called back to Taiwan by Chiang Kai-shek, and was immediately removed from the post of "ambassador to the United States".The reporter asked him how he felt, and he said angrily: "Ye Gongchao is dead, don't come to him in the future!"

After being unemployed, Ye Gongchao worked as a part-time professor at National Taiwan University and National Taiwan Normal University, and the class he taught was still "Modern British and American Poetry".There were so many listeners in the audience, so he sighed: literati are the most free, if I knew today, why bother. However, after all, literati are the most naive.Soon, relevant parties intervened to put pressure on the school.After rushing through Professor Ye's class for a semester, it was forced to end. People asked: "If life could be restarted, what would you do?" Ye Gongchao replied without thinking: "I will never do the same thing again!"

Ye Gongchao, a diplomat, always has a neat suit and a personable demeanor. This is a set of rules he has "familiarized with".However, in his daily life, he gives people the impression that he "contempts foreign rules everywhere".He satirized suits, saying that the buttons on the sleeves of suits are now used for decoration, but their origin is to prevent people from wiping their mouths with their sleeves after eating and drinking.It is even more "unbelievable" for foreigners to wear a tie, because it is easy for people to lead the neck, and to express sincere surrender to the person who is leading him.