Chapter 20 Section 1 The Deaths of Hu Shi and Mei Yiqi

On the day when Mei Yiqi's condition was temporarily stabilized and her life returned to light, Hu Shi, who was admitted to the Special Ward No. 1 of National Taiwan University Hospital for the last time, also broke away from the call of death during the emergency rescue by the medical staff and stood up again.In the later period of hospitalization, Hu Shi often visited Mei Yiqi lying on the hospital bed in the special No. 2 ward opposite, and talked about some public and private matters.In the meantime, Hu Shi, who loved writing evidence all his life, was well aware of Mei's illness and treatment, and had a premonition that his old friend would die soon. During the conversation, he tactfully persuaded Mei Yiqi to write a will, no matter whether it was public or private, he would write a will. , Give yourself and future generations a clear explanation.After hearing this, Mei didn't answer, and she was displeased.It was inconvenient for Hu to continue talking, so the matter was left alone.After persuasion by Han Yonghua and Mei Yibao, the younger brother of Mei Yiqi, who came to Taiwan from the United States, it still didn't work.

On the morning of December 5, 1961, as soon as Hu Songping, who was in charge of taking care of Hu Shi's condition, arrived at the hospital, Hu Shi smiled and said, "At seven o'clock this morning, I wrote a love letter to an old friend opposite me." Show it to Hu Songping to watch, the content is as follows: Congratulations to Brother Yuehan on the 30th anniversary of being the principal of Tsinghua University, and wish you a full recovery as soon as possible! Little Brother Shizhi December 5, 1961 at 7 o'clock in the morning. ——This is the first time I write after entering the hospital, and I would like to tell you my brother, I feel very good!

According to Hu Songping’s records that day: “Today is the 30th anniversary of Mei Yiqi’s tenure as the president of Tsinghua University. The Tsinghua Alumni Association will hold a celebration and commemorative meeting. At the same time, he will initiate a donation for medical expenses, so that Mei Yiqi himself will not know. Cha Liangzhao sent it The method of birthday celebration and fundraising, sir donated US$500." At this time Hu Shi was not financially well-off, and he donated US$500 at a time, which shows his deep friendship with Mei and the demeanor of a scholarly leader. Ten days later, on the morning of December 16, Chiang Ching-kuo made a special trip to the hospital to visit Mei Yiqi and Hu Shi on behalf of Chiang Kai-shek.In the special 2nd ward, Jiang asked about Mei's condition and treatment in detail, and told the medical staff to continue Mei's life at all costs.At this time, Hu Shi's condition was under control and improved greatly. Jiang Jingguo made a simple inquiry after entering the ward, wishing Hu Shi his 70th birthday on behalf of Chiang Kai-shek, and agreed to hold a special banquet to celebrate Hu Shi's birthday after he was discharged from the hospital.

The next day, Hu Shi received visitors in the ward of National Taiwan University Hospital and had a lively birthday.His wife Jiang Dongxiu specially held a birthday celebration banquet at the temporary residence at No. 26, Fuzhou Road, Taipei. More than 40 people including Mao Zishui and Yang Lianggong attended the celebration.At this time, no one thought that this was actually Hu Shi's last birthday celebration. On January 10, 1962, Hu Shi recovered from his illness and was discharged from the hospital. He returned to the temporary residence at No. 26, Fuzhou Road, Taipei for recuperation. live. On February 20, Hu returned to National Taiwan University Hospital for reexamination. His blood pressure and heart were normal. Before leaving, he visited his old friend Mei Yiqi.Faced with the reluctance of the two old friends, those present were moved, and at the same time they all thought that Mei, who was lying on the hospital bed and relying on blood transfusions to maintain her life, must be ahead of Hu.Unexpectedly, the world is impermanent, and life and death have their own determinants. Hu Shi, who was chatting and laughing happily, left before Mei Yiqi.

On February 24, 1962, the "Academia Sinica" held the fifth academician meeting at Cai Yuanpei Hall in Nangang to elect a new academician.Hu Shi's overseas students, or his disciples from different generations, such as Wu Jianxiong, Yuan Jialiu, Wu Dayou, Liu Dazhong and other four "Academia Sinica" academicians, all came from the United States to help. A student at a Chinese public school, a participant in the American "Manhattan Project" (the development of an atomic bomb) during World War II, the first female researcher and professor at the Princeton Research Institute with a history of more than 200 years, Yang Zhenning and Li Zhengdao in the "weak interaction" The experimental prover of the law of non-conservation of parity and the "leading female experimental physicist in the world" gave a lecture on the "Law of Equivalence" at the Chemistry Hall of National Taiwan University the day before.Wu first talked about space and time, and then talked about the concept of left and right does not exist in the natural law.Later, when Yang Zhenning and Li Zhengdao overturned the basic law of equivalence in physics, they seemed to be in a big dark house, knowing that there was a place to go out, but they didn't know where to go out, so Wu himself How to prove it experimentally.During the proof process, Wu Jianxiong couldn't sleep for several weeks, pondered over and over again, and finally proved it with experiments.In the end, Wu concluded: "Science is not static, it is dynamic, but it is always in motion; we must have the courage to doubt the established theories, and then to prove it. It is what Dean Hu said 'bold Hypothetically, carefully verify your two sentences.” When Hu Songping, who went to listen to the lecture, came back to report Wu’s speech and the final summary to Hu Shi, Hu was very happy and excited. During the telephone conversation with his grandson, Yuan Jialiu, he specifically mentioned: "I already know the success of Jianxiong's speech today. I am very happy. Please congratulate Jianxiong for me." Hu Shi attended the academician election meeting held the next day.

At 8:20 a.m. on the 24th, Hu Shi appeared in the Cai Yuanpei Hall of the "Academia Sinica" in Nangang, and all 18 academicians attending the meeting were present. At 9 o'clock, Hu Shi announced the opening of the meeting and the election began.After three rounds of voting, seven new academicians were elected.They are: Mathematics group: Ren Zhigong, Mei Yiqi, Cheng Yuhuai, Bai Shiyi. Biology Group: Li Jingjun. Humanities Group: Chen Pan, He Lian. At 5 p.m., Hu attended the reception held by the "Academia Sinica" again, with more than one hundred people present.Hu Shi took the stage with a smile on his face and delivered a speech: "Today is the academician meeting with the largest number of participants since the relocation of the Academia Sinica 12 years ago. It is gratifying that four overseas academicians also returned to China to participate in this meeting. The first academician of the Academia Sinica It was elected on the mainland. Out of the 150 people nominated at that time, eighty-one were elected. Now some of them have passed away, some have fallen into the mainland, and only more than 20 people are in the free area. The Academia Sinica is here At the time of recovery, only 19 of them were alive in Taiwan.... Now with the help of the government and the help of overseas associations, it has reached its current scale. Seven research institutes have been established, four academician meetings have been held, and three sessions have been elected. Academicians. At the fifth academician meeting this morning, after three votes, seven academicians were elected. Two are in Taiwan and five are overseas. In Taiwan are Mei Yiqi and Chen Pan, and overseas is Ren Zhigong , Bai Shiyi, Cheng Yuhuai, Li Jingjun, He Lian. For more than ten years, we have been living in isolation on this isolated island. Under the difficult situation of knowledge and material difficulties, we finally made something..."

After Hu Shi finished speaking, Ling Hongxun and Li Ji spoke separately.Li Jixian said that the task of the "Academia Sinica" is to formulate national academic policies and study government deliberations.It is a long way to go to formulate an academic policy for the country, how do we explain it?Then the old story was brought up again. It was mentioned that on November 6, 1961, Hu Shi attended the "Asia-East District Science Education Conference". At the opening ceremony, he gave a speech "Social Reform Necessary for Scientific Development" and was besieged. Opinions are also inconsistent with my own in some places.He thinks that "the failure of scientific ideas to take root in China is the biggest problem. After 50 years of advocacy, what is our achievement today? All scientific equipment is bought from foreign countries, and students must go abroad in the end. What scientific works do we have in Chinese?" It’s not as good as Japan. I can’t be optimistic. If science can’t take root here, I always feel that it’s imported…”

Regarding Li Ji's statement, Wu Dayou, who continued to speak, did not take it seriously, and advised everyone not to be pessimistic. Wu said: "We have had a study abroad system for 40 years. The main reason why science cannot take root in China is the lack of environment. Those who study abroad and get a doctorate just find The introduction of research knowledge has not received enough training. If you return to China immediately, it will be difficult to continue your research. There is absolutely no shortcut for us to cultivate the foundation. Geniuses like Yang Zhenning and Li Zhengdao still need eight or nine years It takes 20 years for a country to work harder to reach a standard. I don’t think Mr. Li Ji needs to be too pessimistic..."

After Wu Dayou finished speaking, Hu Shi went on to say: "I agree with Mr. Wu Dayou's words. Mr. Li Ji is too pessimistic." Hu Shi said this because Li Ji brought up old things again, which aroused his unhappiness.Hu thought that his views were "encircled and suppressed" by the boring people in the society, and now even his own people don't agree with them, so he was a little annoyed.Although the subsequent speech followed Wu Dayou's "I don't know which gentleman was the first to propose 'catch up'" which was a bit overconfident and speculative, but he still used the old incident of "encirclement and suppression" in his heart to make use of it.Hu Shi said: "Our Academia Sinica has never talked about space and catching up... Let's not talk about space theory now, it will not be achieved. Today there is not even a complete physics department, so why talk about space? Tsinghua University flower I spent 2 million US dollars to purchase more equipment, but I still can’t hire middle-aged physics talents to lead...” Hu Shi seemed a little sad and emotional when he said this, and then said: “I talked about it for 25 minutes last year. The words caused "encirclement and suppression", don't worry about him, it's a trivial matter, a trivial matter. I have been scolded for 40 years, and I have never been angry, and I welcome it, because it represents the freedom of speech and thought in China .”

The "encirclement and suppression" mentioned by Hu Shi refers to the ideological and personal attacks of a group of so-called "New Confucians" and dissidents with Xu Fuguan as the leader.Judging from the situation at the time, Hu Shi was thinking of Xu Fuguan's words such as "shame", "thick-faced and black-hearted", "the most despicable Chinese" and so on. While swearing at him, we must not forget the three strategies Xu used to attack himself in order to maintain his current officialdom and academic status: The first big strategy is: use methods of slandering Chinese culture and oriental culture to cover up why he doesn't understand Chinese culture and oriental culture.He uses the method of praising natural science to cover up why he does not understand Western humanities culture, because he is interested in natural science.Use the method of confessing that the boy went wrong to cover up why he doesn't understand natural science.The second major strategy is: to talk about freedom and democracy in a way of "nonsense" and "following the occasion".

The third strategy is to use academicians as favors to send scholars who live in the United States or who have already naturalized in the United States, so they use the magic of correspondence voting to promote corporals and turn the Academia Sinica into the Hu family's ancestral hall. Although Hu Shi has repeatedly stated that he is never angry when others scold him, it is not easy to be calm.Therefore, when Hu Shi revisited the "twenty-five-minute talk" of the past, Hu Songping, who was at the reception at the time, said that he saw it: "Mr. is a little excited when he talks about it." It was the Overwatch Council's mockery of "a group of old gentlemen and ladies gathered together in that rundown house to discuss and criticize".Just when Hu was shouting loudly, he stopped talking suddenly, maybe he felt (physically) unwell. He hurriedly continued: "Okay, okay, let's stop here today, let's drink some wine and eat some more. Take it easy, thank you everyone'". At this time, Hu Songping, who was standing not far away, looked at his watch. It was 6:30, and the guests began to leave one after another. Hu Shi still stood there with a smile and shook hands with some people to say goodbye.When he was about to turn around and talk to a guest, he suddenly turned pale, swayed and fell backwards, the back of his head hit the edge of the table first, and then fell on the terrazzo floor.Ling Hongxun, Qian Siliang and others standing near him quickly reached out to help him, but it was too late.A generation of great scholars, Confucian masters, and ancestors of the New Culture Movement died suddenly due to a sudden heart attack. When the bad news came out, some people said that Hu was killed by Li Ji's anger, while more people believed that Li Ji just lit a wrong fuse at the wrong time and in the wrong place.The real cause of Hu Shi's death should be attributed to the violent abuse and siege of Xu Fuguan and others. Xu Fuguan was the real sky storm star and mourner who caused Hu Shi to fall to the ground. What Hu Shi said about being scolded for forty years meant that since the beginning of the May 4th Movement, forty years of old innovations and wounds broke out together in a mixture of sorrow and pain, leading to his death.Hu's sudden death reminded his disciples of Fu Sinian who walked in front.Back then, Fu Sinian was "pissed off" in the hall of the Taiwan Provincial Assembly, and now Hu Shi died in the hall of the "Academia Sinica". The two academic and cultural giants who were also teachers and friends both chose this way to collapse suddenly. A kind of spiritual echo, or God's intentional arrangement?When Fu Sinian was alive, he said more than once: "No matter who you are, you can't scold Hu Shizhi. Only I have the right to scold Hu Shizhi." Finally, there is another object to "blame". Hu Shi hurried away with a "friend" smile.The island of Taiwan was shaken, and everyone in the world mourned.When Chiang Kai-shek heard the news, he wrote a meaningful elegiac couplet with his own pen and ink that night: Mr. Hu Shi is a model of old morality in the eternal new culture, and a teacher of new ideas in the old ethics. Jiang Zhongzheng's elegiac couplet truly sums up and embodies the merits and demeanor of Hu Shi's life. It is the best masterpiece of all elegiac couplets, and nothing else can be compared with him.This evaluation is not only due to the wonderful combination of words and sentences in the couplet and the profound and extensive meaning, but of course it is also closely related to the fact that it was written by Chiang Kai-shek.This couplet became quite different when it was written by Jiegong. Later generations of researchers believe that its sentiment is very deep and its meaning is very deep.While commending Hu Shi's meritorious deeds, the couplet also implied Jiang's prejudice and grudge against Hu Shi. At the same time, it also hinted at ridiculing Hu Shi's privacy, especially the entanglement with many women in the jealous sea. The dust of the past. ——It’s just that no matter how you interpret it, you can’t deny the ingenious masterpiece of this elegiac couplet, as well as Jiegong’s respect and condolences for the deceased. On the second day of Hu Shi's death, Song Meiling made a special trip to Hu Shi's house to visit Hu Shi's wife Jiang Dongxiu who was crying like tears in grief, and advised her to mourn, take care of her body, and live a good life. On February 27, Chiang Kai-shek sent a special person to send the four characters "Zhi De Jian Long" written in handwriting on the forehead to express his condolences. On March 1, Hu Shi's body was publicly visited, and Chiang Kai-shek went to express his condolences in person. On June 27, Chiang Kai-shek frequently issued commendation orders, saying, "Hu Shi, the president of the Academia Sinica, is deeply involved in morality and righteousness, and he has developed new knowledge. His knowledge is extensive, and his knowledge is outstanding. He is the first to advocate Mandarin education. He has received a lot of attention for popularizing education and promoting the wisdom of the people." "And so on. The bureaucratic groups and politicians represented by Chiang Kai-shek and Chen Cheng sent condolences and curtains to express their condolences, and colleagues from the "Academia Sinica", who were closely related to Hu Shi, jointly wrote a sacrificial tribute, fully commending the extraordinary achievements of the old dean in his life. And praise, the text said: In the decades of debates you have had, you have only one unchangeable concept.You love and respect ancient Chinese sages the most, but you least like exaggerating distant glory.You also value the revolution and progress of modern China the most, but you also know the accumulated weaknesses of our nation the most.You constantly measure the inner and physical life of our nation with the world standard, so in your seventy-year-old illness, just like in your youth and prosperity, you are not afraid to go against the wind, stand up and shout, you You want the people of your country to be deeply aware of the decline of our old oriental civilization, and you want your people to sincerely appreciate the achievements of the new western civilization. We understand your intentions: You want the people of the country to practice Confucius' motto that "knowing shame is close to courage". You are like Mr. Sun Yat-sen who created the Republic of China by hand, and you want to arouse this nation whose knowledge and morality "have fallen asleep". We understand that your harsh and alarming remarks are not an injury to the dignity of the country, but a key to rebuilding civilization and rejuvenating the nation. Hu Shi's body was buried in a cemetery specially built for him by the "Academia Sinica" in Taipei at "Scholar Mountain" in Nangang.On the day of the funeral, more than 300,000 people from all walks of life in Taiwan voluntarily held the shackles for "my friend Hu Shizhi".Countless people from the Kuomintang, celebrities in the academic circle, friends who were friends during his lifetime, and colleagues went to see him off. The entire funeral road was crowded with people, and it was difficult for cars and horses to move. It was extremely crowded, forming a boundless ocean.Its scale and grand occasion are unprecedented on Taiwan Island, and it can be described as extremely honorable.Hu's little-footed wife, Jiang Dongxiu, wiped her tears. She was very moved and honored to see such a magnificent, vast and endless crowd of people through the window. : "Zu Wang, it's not easy to be like your father!" Four months before Hu Shi's death, this same Geng Hu was engaged at the age of 14, and spent his life playing mahjong and pushing Pai Gow Jiang Dongxiu, whose professional expertise and goal she strives for, brought a bulky and somewhat worn-out old bed from the United States to Taiwan to live with her frail husband.Two days before Hu Shi died, he asked his secretary Wang Zhiwei to find a house for him, and said: "My wife has many friends who play mahjong. I live in a public dormitory in Nangang. It is one of the good traditions left by Mr. Fu Mengzhen to Academia Sinica , but you are not allowed to play cards in the dormitory. I shouldn’t disobey the rules left by Mr. Fu.” After hearing this, Wang Zhiwei was very moved, and tried to contact him the next day.But the house was not found, but the Hu family drove west.When Wang Zhiwei helped his family count the relics, he found that apart from books, manuscripts, letters, etc., the money left by Hu Shi during his lifetime was only US$135. Mao Zishui, Hu Shi's student, former director of Peking University Library, and professor of Liberal Arts College of National Taiwan University, wrote an epitaph for him on behalf of the funeral committee.Wang Zhuang Shudan, a famous gold and stone master.The words in the epitaph are simple yet profound, simple yet solemn, and full of emotion. It can be called the highest state of vernacular Chinese advocated by the deceased. The inscription reads: This is the tomb of Mr. Hu Shi. Born in the 21st year of the Republic of China and died in the 51st year of the Republic of China. This is for academic and cultural progress, for the freedom of thought and speech, for the honor of the nation, and for the happiness of mankind. Those who have been pained and anxious, who have exhausted their energy and spirit to the point of death, now rest here. We believe that the body will eventually disappear and the mausoleum will mutate, but the light given to the world by the philosopher in the tomb will always exist. Mr. Shizhi, President of Academia Sinica, the funeral committee set up a stone on October 15, 1951 in the Republic of China, when Hu Shi passed away suddenly. The news reached National Taiwan University Hospital, and Mei Yiqi was deeply saddened.The rabbit died and the fox was sad, and things hurt its kind. After being stimulated by this, Mei Yiqi's condition worsened, and she fell into a coma for several times.That month, his position as "Minister of Education" was approved to resign. On April 29, Mei delivered his last speech to Tsinghua alumni on his sickbed. He was as sincere and humble as usual, but his words were slightly confused. On May 4, the fever went from mild to high, and the cough worsened, which could not be controlled by any antibiotics. On the 19th, Mei Yiqi fell into a coma and her body temperature rose to 41°C.Such a state of illness shocked the top KMT officials. Hearing the news, Chiang Kai-shek instructed Chen Cheng, Chiang Ching-kuo and others to organize medical staff from National Taiwan University to do their best to rescue him, and he died at 10:50 am.Mei Yiqi died suddenly at the age of 73. At noon on that day, the news of the tragedy was first broadcast by various radio stations in Taipei. Hundreds of Tsinghua students heard the news and rushed to the National Taiwan University Hospital in horror and grief.The special No. 2 ward was gloomy and gloomy. Han Yonghua was in the corner of the mourning room, while Mei's friend and National Taiwan University professor Cha Liangzhao was busy with cooking, screaming hoarsely.Alumni of Tsinghua University lined up in front of the couch, silently looking at the dead body, remembering the kindness of life in the past, and feeling the pain of being separated from each other at this time, all of them covered their faces and wept. Mei Yiqi had a handbag that she carried with her when she was alive. When she was admitted to the National Taiwan University Hospital, she put it in a relatively secret place under the bed. No one knew what precious things were in the bag.After May's death, the secretary quickly sealed the handbag while taking care of the funeral, and later unsealed it on occasions attended by various parties.When the bag was opened, everyone was dumbfounded. It contained all the accounts of the Tsinghua Fund, which were clearly listed.Seeing things and thinking about people, all those present were moved by it, and some had tears in their eyes.Only then did Han Yonghua realize that Mei Yiqi didn't have any property, and all the words had been spoken on the hospital bed, so there was no need to write any will. On the morning of May 23, a public memorial service was held. Song Meiling went to Mrs. Mei's apartment to express condolences. Chiang Kai-shek specially awarded the "Xun Zhao Zuo" forehead to honor the deceased's high-spirited demeanor.For a time, more than a thousand people including Chen Cheng, the dean of the Fifth Academy, the ministers of various ministries, the president of the university, heads of all walks of life, and Chinese and foreign scholars came to pay their respects.The teachers and students of Tsinghua University in Hsinchu held a ceremony at 12 noon.According to the plan, the body of the deceased will be moved to a special mourning hall on the Tsinghua campus in Hsinchu for teachers, students, friends and people from all walks of life to pay their respects.When the burial hearse drove from National Taiwan University Hospital into Hsinchu County, tens of thousands of people and students from various schools in uniform lined up on both sides of the road with bands organized by themselves, silently paying their respects to the body of the great scholar who dedicated his life to education. Condolences.Mei Yiqi’s body was buried at the foot of Shibajian Mountain in the southwest area of ​​the Tsinghua campus in Hsinchu. This place leans against the mountains and faces the water, and is condescending, overlooking the whole school and the mainland.To commemorate Mei's contribution to China's education, especially Tsinghua's entrepreneurship, the Taiwan authorities formally established Tsinghua University and recruited undergraduates on the basis of the Tsinghua Research Institute in Hsinchu this summer.At the same time, a cemetery was built for Mei Yiqi on the campus, named "Meiyuan".There are two tombstones in the garden, one is engraved with the four characters "Xunzhao Zuoyu" inscribed by Chiang Kai-shek on the front, and "Praise Order" on the back. On the front of the other is "the tomb of Dr. Mei Yiqi, principal" inscribed by Luo Jialun, and on the back is an inscription inscribed by Jiang Menglin.There is a "Plum Pavilion" on the left side of the tomb. Various rare flowers and trees are planted in the garden, including 287 apricot plums and 241 plum blossoms.