Chapter 32 Preface to "Mr. Wang Xiaohang's Essays"

Preface to "Mr. Wang Xiaohang's Essays" Last September, I came to Beiping and stayed at the house of Ren Shuyong in Dayang Yibin Hutong.On October 8th, an old man with white hair came to visit. I was not in the apartment. He left a large package of texts and wrote a short note for me.After reading his note, I realized that he was Mr. Wang Xiaohang, an innovator more than 30 years ago and the founder of the Mandarin alphabet (photo).I have wanted to see this old gentleman for a long time, but unexpectedly he came to see me first. The next day, I finished reading all the manuscripts he had left, and then I realized that this seventy-two-year-old old New Party was still a new comrade of mine ideologically.He saw Mr. Liang Shuming's debate with me in a magazine, and he expressed sympathy for me, so he came to see me specially.I was flattered to have his approval.

On the third day, I went to Shuidong Thatched Cottage to see Mr. Wang and had a chat.I remember him saying very sadly: "China is so big that we can't find a few people who understand it. It's a pity!" Fall in mid-air?But to be fair, there are not all people who understand in middle school, just because they are too smart, and they understand the benefits too clearly, so they are not willing to stand out and be fools, to be honest.This country suffers from the lack of some big fools who dare to speak the truth. Mr. Wang Xiaohang is a fool who is willing to tell the truth.He has these eight words at the end of his article "The Responsibility of the Sages":

Friend Friend, Seriously! I read these eight characters in October last year, and was greatly moved spiritually.These eight characters can represent the spirit of Mr. Wang over the past forty years, and can also represent the spirit of Mr. Wang's four volumes of writing.Those who read the four volumes of the essay can disapprove of Mr. Wang's thoughts, but they should always pay respect to his spirit of daring to tell the truth. "Let's be honest", these four words seem to be very common, but in fact they are the most difficult. You must have the spirit of "the poor and the humble can't be moved, the rich and the honor can't be obscene, and the mighty can't be subdued" before you dare to speak the truth.In today's society, in addition to these three conditions, an even more important condition must be added, that is, "fashionable and unmovable".How many smart people don't care about poverty, don't envy wealth and honor, and don't fear authority, but they can't break through this juncture, lest people laugh at them as "outdated"!The mere thought of not wanting to be left behind can make them try hard to be fashionable and refuse to tell the truth.Mr. Wang said it best: trendy but sensational, and the anger is flat.Confidence grows day by day, and false words are recognized as truth.

At the beginning, it was just to win a few applause from the audience, but as time went on, after I anesthetized myself, I would recognize fashion as the truth. In June of 1898, two years before the "Boxer" disaster broke out, Mr. Wang had already advocated the introspection that "the Chinese people are far less intelligent than other people, and it is difficult to talk about superficiality and hypocrisy".After Gengzi's "rebellion", he was still a prisoner under strict orders. He hid in Tianjin and created Mandarin letters, hoping to create a sharp weapon for popularizing education for China.He risked his life to publicize his new Pinyin characters everywhere. Later, he was arrested and imprisoned for more than two months. After his release, he continued to promote the new characters.In the first year of the Republic of China, he published "Education as the Brain Theory for National Salvation" in Shanghai, advocating that the essence of education is to enable everyone to have the knowledge necessary for life; It is just a tool to maintain the country so that this education can be realized.In the nineteenth year of the Republic of China, he wrote an article "Saving the Country with a Solid Heart, No Time to Exaggerate", still only advocating that the fundamental solution is to popularize education.It all seems like a cliché, something fashionable people disdain to talk about.But Mr. Wang asked us: Is there a shortcut to the affairs of the world?

Let's listen to his old man tell a story: In the year of 1898, Yu had a discussion with Lao Kang (Youwei), saying, "...I think there is no effort to establish more schools and gradually expand them. The atmosphere is changing day by day, and then all new policies will be implemented."Lao Kang said: "The division of the great powers is just around the corner. How can you make it in time?" It has been thirty-two years since then. I hope that patriotic gentlemen all over the country will think about these few very ordinary truths, think about this old and new party who "has been inseparable from universal education for more than thirty years", and then ask our government officials: What are we still doing? Do we have to wait decades for universal education?

May 31, 1931 "Recent Works on Hu Shi's Studies" Volume 4, Volume 1