Chapter 4 Turbulent Jinan

After arriving in Jinan, a whole new world appeared before my eyes.Needless to say anything else, just seeing the mountains in Jinan made me both surprised and happy.I originally thought that the mountains were just huge stone pillars. Uncle is of course very concerned about my education, and I am the only one in the Ji family to carry on the family line.I went to a private school for about a year, and then entered a new-style elementary school, the Primary School Attached to the First Division of Jinan.Everything is relatively smooth.The May 4th Movement spread to Shandong.The headmaster of the first division was a figure of the new school, who first adopted vernacular textbooks.There is a fable in Chinese textbooks called "The Camel of Arabia".Coincidentally, this text was read by my uncle. His face changed suddenly, and he shouted: "How can a camel talk! This is nonsense! Transfer to another school!" So I transferred to Xinyu Primary School.At that time, transferring schools seemed to be very easy, and it seemed that I transferred without going through any back door.There was only one oral test, and the teacher wrote a word for "mule", which I knew, but my relatives who were one year older than me didn't.I was directly inserted into the first year of high school, while he was sent into the third year of junior high school.Just one letter difference, I just got a year of glory.This is called life!At first the textbook was still in classical Chinese, but later the vernacular was changed according to the trend of the times. Not only camels could speak, but even tortoises and toads could speak, but my uncle ignored it.

Uncle is a very talented man.He had no formal education.In the ups and downs, relying entirely on self-study, he gained knowledge and skills.He can compose poems, fill in lyrics, write characters, and carve seals.I also read a lot of ancient Chinese books.According to his background, he should never be interested in Song-Ming Neo-Confucianism anyway; however, he became interested, and it was extremely intense, which is extraordinary.I am still baffled by this matter.Every time I saw him sitting upright with a dignified appearance, when I was reading a very boring book like "Huangqing Jingjie", I felt ridiculous.

This certainly affected my education.I am the only seedling of the Ji family, he probably wants me to pass on my poems and books to the family. ,,, etc., he considers them to be "idle books" and absolutely forbids them to read them.Probably out of a kind of rebellious psychology, I love to read these books.I secretly read dozens of old Chinese novels, including, etc.He didn't go home after school, he hid in the pile of bricks and rubble, and watched with a flashlight under the covers.It's been like this for a few years. The uncle's education was another matter.When I was in Zhengyi, he paid me to read ancient Chinese, even "Zuo Zhuan" with a Chinese teacher after class.After returning home, after dinner, I immediately went to Shangshi English Institute to learn English until late at night.In this way, it will take a few years to turn around every day.

Uncle believes that "the middle school is the body", that's for sure.But do you also believe in "Western learning for practical use"? I don't know for sure.Anyway, the society at that time believed that learning a little foreign stuff could lead to promotion and fortune.This is a kind of pragmatism "worshiping foreigners", but not "favoring foreigners".The "distinction between Yi and Xia" in my uncle's mind is very obvious. Around 1926, I graduated from Zhengyi Middle School and was admitted to the High School Attached to Shandong University in Baihezhuang, Beiyuan to study Chinese.The faculty here can be described as a very short-term choice.Chinese teacher Mr. Wang Yu, English teachers Mr. You Tong, Mr. Liu and Mr. Yang, mathematics teacher Mr. Wang, history and geography teacher Mr. Qi Yunpu, ethics teacher Mr. Ju Simin (principal of Zhengyi Middle School), ethics teacher Mr. Wanyan Xiangqing (No. 1 Middle School) Principal), there is also Mr. "Great Qing Dynasty" who teaches scriptures (because the nickname is too loud, the real name is forgotten), and the other is the former Qing Hanlin.The two gentlemen taught "Book of Books", "Book of Songs", and never brought textbooks to class, and they could recite the Five Classics and Four Books even with annotations fluently.These teachers are all outstanding.In addition, the school environment is like a fairyland, surrounded by lotus ponds and weeping willows covering the sky, it is the best place to study.

I study hard consciously and start from here.I am a person who is easily dominated by circumstances.When I was in primary school and junior high school, my grades could not be considered bad, and I was always in the top of the class, but I never got the first grade in the exam.I didn't care, I still fished and touched shrimps.When I was in high school, my Chinese composition was inadvertently praised by Mr. Wang Yu, and my English was the first in the class.It is not difficult to get high scores in other courses, just a little memorization, and you can handle Yuru.As a result, for the first time in my life, I got a first-class test, with an average score of more than 95 points, and I was the only student in the school.At that time, Wang Shoupeng, the president of Shanda University and the head of Shandong Education Department, wrote a pair of couplets and a fan award for me.Being pointed out by others like this, my vanity was lifted.From then on, pay attention to the exam rankings carefully, and don't take it lightly.As a result, within two years, in the four final exams, I took the first four first-class exams, and my reputation was greatly shaken.

During this period of time, the outside world was not peaceful.The warlords are in chaos, and dogs and chickens are restless.The Zhifeng War and the Zhiwan War, the current situation is changing rapidly, "I will appear on the stage after you sing."One year Shanda offered sacrifices to Confucius, and we high school students were ordered to participate.It was the first time I saw Zhang Zongchang, who was then the bandit governor of Shandong, who didn’t know how many soldiers he had, how much money he had, and how many concubines he had.This scene is still in front of my eyes. In 1928, under the pretense of "revolution", Chiang Kai-shek used Mr. Sun Yat-sen's signboard as a new force. From Guangdong to the north, with the assistance of the Communist Party, he swept all the way with thunderous force, like a strong wind sweeping through the clouds, and the army occupied Jinan. .At this time, the Japanese militarists wanted to take advantage of the fire to loot and sent troops to Jinan, resulting in the famous "May 30th Massacre".High schools closed their doors.

During this period of time, the shadow reflected in my mind mirror was feudalism and reform education plus warlord melee.