Chapter 8 Chapter 1 This Love Can Be Reminisced

When the sad news of Shen Xingren's death spread, the family members were devastated, and many friends who knew him also shed tears of sorrow.Fairbank once sighed sadly: "She was the first one among our friends to die." On the evening of January 23, Jin Yuelin received a telegram of Shen Xingren's death at Southwest Associated University in Kunming. When the elevator got off the high floor, it was suddenly dark", and when it stabilized, "I saw Xingren standing in front of me again".Eight days before his death, Shen Xingren wrote a letter to Lao Jin who was far away in Kunming, "The letter is well-organized, and the words are full of a kind of blandness, a kind of over-the-top feeling that the Chinese and British people appreciate most. The humorous" letter made Lao Jin unable to believe that "eight days will be a long time away".Therefore, with compassion, Jin Yuelin wrote a bloody and tearful eulogy to commemorate this radiant woman who made outstanding contributions to the history of the Chinese vernacular movement.

Lao Jin believes that Shen Xingren is "a very simple person, but she may live in the crowd, but she doesn't have to live in the crowd." There are so many things to do; as far as her character is concerned, maybe there are not so many things she can do." She is a truly elegant, indifferent, and charming woman who is afraid of being too deep in the mountains and not far from the city. Goddess of the world.The text also said: Those who know Xingren will inevitably feel that she is elegant, but she absolutely does not seek elegance, not only does she not seek elegance, but she seems to oppose elegance. ... I guess that although she stands by the side of the crowd, she is still very concerned about human suffering.Under the circumstances that most people have lived in such a difficult situation for more than ten years, Ya may be full of a gentleman's air that has nothing to do with the times...Although Xingren stands beside the crowd, she is sincere to her friends. Treat people with sincerity and sincerity, and take your friends' problems as your own.She is a person who has a very big imagination and uses her thoughts 100%, but the difficulties imagined are sometimes greater than the actual difficulties.When she heard about the rising prices in Kunming in Lizhuang, she was deeply worried for Mrs. Xi Ruo, and wished she could do a little help.However, she can't think about it, and in that helpless state, she can only imagine.The more you think, the greater the difficulty.This is just one example, there are many such situations.The difficulties of friends are often not as good as the emotional distress that Xingren has for their sake.Her life is almost self-centered, and sometimes I almost feel that her life is a life for others, not for herself.Perhaps her kind of mind is the best work of Chinese culture.

Jin Yuelin's prose "Mourning Shen Xingren" can be regarded as one of the most delicate and beautiful writings about women among all prose works in the history of the Republic of China. It contains the calm, pure, free and easy, and elegant style of a British gentleman. The profound and long classics and a touch of sadness are touching to read, and the charm is endless.Not only does Jin Yuelin have a philosopher's mind, he should also be regarded as the most rare good man and lover in the world.If you compare Lao Jin with Xu Zhimo, an old love who is romantic and wanders around women all day long, Lao Jin's understanding, understanding and sympathy for women are more thorough, farther and farther than Xu's. There is depth, and it is more able to enter a woman's heart.Just as Shen Xingyuan, Shen Xingren’s younger sister and wife of Qian Changzhao, said, “Recalling the respect and understanding of my second sister Xingren by Mr. Jin (Yue Lin). Mr. Jin believes that the second sister Xingren’s personality is introverted. She is quiet and thoughtful. , rich in connotation... etc. Jin Lao calls it "elegant". The second sister Xingren treats people sincerely and handles things well. These qualities left to her by our parents may be further deepened because of the philosophy she acquired from her love of literature and art. A little more." He said: "Second sister lives in the difficult old China, and lives in a family of intellectuals who are not well-off. In addition to housework, there are many social activities with friends, and she can spare time to translate works diligently. She translated Van Loon's masterpiece "The Story of Mankind", and also translated English novellas. These are also aspects that Jin Lao admires."

Jin Yuelin yearns for Shen Xingren, and Shen admires Lao Jin.Shen Xingyuan said: "From the occasional words of my second sister, I learned that Mr. Jin is engaged in logic, and his writing has a rare characteristic: he often spends a lot of effort to write a thick stack of manuscripts. When he finds that there are some dissatisfied He will destroy all the manuscripts, never "cherish the broom", let alone think that "the article is his own good". He will start again, discard it if there is any doubt, and never publish something he is not satisfied with Food for people. Mr. Jin, that's how "Lao Jin" wrote and studied in those days, and he was deeply admired by the second sister." From the articles of each other's memories, we can get a glimpse of the friendship between Jin and Shen, which is not bad at all. The love between Yu Laojin and Lin Huiyin may be more than that in terms of the deep emotions in human nature.

As Tao Menghe and Shen Xingren, who have experienced the vicissitudes of the world, turbulent life and death together, did not write a special text to miss his beloved wife. Suffering and loneliness cannot be expressed in words, so I chose to be silent and face suffering alone.According to Wu Baosan, a researcher at the Institute of Social Sciences at the time, recalled: "Although Lizhuang is a cultural area, it is quite different from Kunming, where the Southwest Associated University is located. Tongji is a university of science and technology, without a liberal arts department, so Mr. Tao is friendly to his peers. There are not many people here, and only Liang Sicheng, Brother Siyong, Li Ji, Dong Zuobin, etc. are the people who often come to talk. At the same time, Mrs. Tao’s wife was in poor health at the time. She went to Lanzhou to recuperate and died of illness in the late period of the Anti-Japanese War. Mr. Tao lived in the In Lizhuang, life is lonely. But despite this situation, his enthusiasm for supporting the research cause is still in the past. In summer, he wears a big straw hat and gray shorts, walking back and forth between the town and Menguantian , still vividly in mind.”

When Needham arrived, Tao Menghe, who was just 57 years old, was already gray-haired, stooped, taciturn and somewhat in a trance, which made people feel sad.Li talked with Tao Menghe and other researchers, large and small, obtained some materials, fully understood and affirmed the mental outlook and research results of each person, and wrote in his diary, "It can be seen that even though In the difficult times, the biological and sociological research in western Sichuan is also very rich," and other praises.During this visit, Needham was most interested in the research on China's economic losses during the Anti-Japanese War that the Institute of Social Sciences spent several years concentrating on.Prior to this, Tao Menghe had a detailed understanding and research on the loss estimates of the belligerent countries in World War I and the negotiations between representatives of all parties in the Paris Peace Conference after the war.After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, he proposed to the Nationalist Government with great political and strategic insight that "the economic situation and its losses during the war should be investigated and studied as a major topic as soon as possible, so as to serve as the basis for the peace conference negotiations after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War."Under the guidance of this academic strategic thinking, since he was in Kunming in 1939, Tao Menghe concentrated his energy on organizing manpower to investigate and study the relocation of factories and other economic and cultural institutions in the enemy-occupied areas.After coming to Lizhuang, the work of the entire research institute shifted from economics, law, sociology and other fields to economics, and determined the general policy of focusing on wartime economic research, and began to investigate and reveal problems. , and assist the government to solve the transformation of this major political and economic issue.During this period, Dow and colleagues in the research institute conducted a survey titled "Research and Estimation of War Losses", started to compile economic events since the War of Resistance, and published an economic investigation report and an overview of the enemy-occupied areas.Also during this period, entrusted by the Ministry of Economic Affairs of the National Government chaired by Weng Wenhao, the Institute of Sociology conducted a special study on the price changes during the war; Anti-Japanese War Loss Estimation" and other scientific demonstration reports.This investigation and research work of great social and scientific significance has been praised by the central government and has been valued by all parties for a while.

To Tao Menghe's embarrassment, he and his colleagues traveled tens of thousands of miles, endured hardships, and spent eight years investigating and researching the report with internationally accepted scientific calculation methods. Due to the complicated relationship between the KMT and the Communist Party and the Japanese government after the war However, this batch of important research results related to the great cause of national rejuvenation turned into a pile of waste paper, which was discarded by the authorities and ignored.The final outcome is: the Chinese people won the eight-year arduous war of resistance against Japan, but the KMT and the Communist Party, representing their own regimes, voluntarily gave up the war claims against the Japanese government. All kinds of economic losses, all were paid in vain, and no compensation was received.This move can be described as desolate, useless, and the "second driver's eye" has reached its peak, which will only make future generations mourn and indignant, and sigh.

Saying goodbye to Tao Menghe and the Sociology Institute, a group of poor researchers who worked hard, but did not expect that after eight years of hard work, they would be regarded as stinky shit by the authorities of both the Kuomintang and the Communist Party and thrown into the garbage dump, Needham came down the mountain, wanting to visit Liang Sicheng, whom he had admired for a long time.Because of Liang Qichao's great brilliance and social influence, it is possible that the person who introduced him at that time did not mention Lin Huiyin, a generation of talented and beautiful women who may be more fascinating to Joseph Needham. And—in fact, he only mentioned Liang Sicheng, "the son of the great statesman and scholar Liang Qichao".

Liang Sicheng, who was in the Moonfield Farmhouse in Shangba, got the news. Although he had never met Needham and did not know the details, he thought of a foreigner who traveled thousands of miles to China and came to Lizhuang, a remote and isolated village in southwest China. What kind of spirit?Due to the limitations of class and history, Liang Sicheng at this time has not yet thought of "this is the spirit of international communism" as Mao Zedong in Yan'an thought in "In Memory of Bethune".But since the other party claims to be here for Sino-English cultural exchange, at least it can be regarded as the spirit of cooperation between international friends.Because of this spirit, Liang Sicheng, as the host, naturally wanted to do his best to entertain.It's just that at this time, the Liang family, including the entire construction society, is impoverished, and it is a problem to eat normally. How can there be any special conditions for hosting a banquet?Six months ago, when Fairbank and Tao Menghe came to Lizhuang from Chongqing, the cultural official from the United States witnessed the poor living conditions of intellectuals.Seeing the dire situation of the Liang family and the Architecture Society, Fei once persuaded Liang Sicheng to sell a fountain pen and watch on his body in exchange for urgently needed food to support his livelihood.Regarding the difficult living conditions of scholars, Fairbank once said with emotion: "In my opinion, if Americans were in such a situation, they might have abandoned their books long ago, found another way, and improved their lives. But this man who once accepted The highly trained Chinese intellectuals, while accepting the primitive and unsophisticated peasant life, continued to devote themselves to their academic research career. The social responsibilities undertaken by scholars have been deeply rooted in the social structure and the expectations of personal future. "

Before Joseph Needham came to Lizhuang, the staff of the Construction Society experienced a period of prosperity, and then irretrievably fell into decline again.Because "the main members Liang Sicheng and Liu Dunzhen had different opinions on work due to the environment at that time, resulting in a situation where they could not cooperate, and other colleagues also left one after another."Liu Dunzhen left Lizhuang with his family and took a boat to teach at Chongqing Central University half a year ago, and Lu Sheng and others also went their separate ways.The Construction Society, which was already in turmoil, suddenly lost one of its two grand pillars. Liang Sicheng struggled to survive alone, and the tree was in danger of falling and the monkeys scattered.It is said that on the day Liu Dunzhen decided to leave Lizhuang to find another job, Liang and Liu talked all night, and finally shed tears.The vicissitudes of the world, gathering and parting, is normal, but saying goodbye under such circumstances makes people feel desolate and sad.

Faced with Needham's visit this time, Liang Sicheng, who was poor and face-saving, scratched his head and walked around the yard for a few times, when he suddenly found that the ducks were still croaking sadly.These are a few local ducks that the Liang family has been feeding since spring. Apart from hoping to lay down a few duck eggs to subsidize Lin Huiyin and Liang Siyong's sick bodies, they are also planning to slaughter a few ducks after autumn so that the colleagues in the Architecture Institute who rarely see oil stars on weekdays can live well. Treat yourself to a treat.Now that the distinguished guests are coming, Liang Sicheng has no choice but to part with the other, and decides to slaughter two male ducks first to entertain the guests.Needham, who stood in the courtyard and witnessed Liang Sicheng catching ducks, was of course unaware of this sad background, but watched this scene with rural characteristics with curiosity and surprise, and enjoyed a delicious meal.Lin Huiyin expressed the specific details of this situation in a letter to Fairbank and his wife: "Professor Needham just came here, ate fried duck, and has left. At the beginning, people bet that Professor Li was not at all in Lizhuang. No laughing, I admit that Lizhuang is not a place where guests get overly excited, but we still have reason to expect a smile from a man who worked tirelessly to come to China during the war for his love of early Chinese science." In fact, after Needham met Liang Sicheng, the "son of the great statesman and scholar Liang Qichao" in his mind, and Lin Huiyin, the "son and daughter-in-law" who was lying on the hospital bed, and had a brief conversation, the couple's outstanding talents and Lin Huiyin's Needham was greatly surprised by his beauty and smiled unexpectedly.The other party expressed in front of everyone that he was very happy and proud to meet Liang and Lin in the remote town of Lizhuang.At the same time, Needham did not forget to praise Lin Huiyin's English with an Irish accent with the demeanor of a British gentleman. Lin was of course very happy when he was praised. I still have such a good impression of Ireland.” At this time, Liang and Lin didn’t know that Ireland was the most memorable place in Needham’s life to grow up.Lin Huiyin's Irish accent just gave the other party a sense of bosom friend when he met an old friend in a foreign land.In a foreign country displaced by war, how can Needham, who has a deep affection for his hometown, not show a sincere smile to encounter such a happy event? After eating and drinking, Needham watched the research topics of the Academy of Construction in detail, witnessed the working attitude of the researchers in such a difficult and extreme environment, and was deeply shocked. He wrote down such a series of predictions in his notebook Type text: "If the Chinese government financially supports research and development on a really large scale after the war, China will become a major scientific country in about 20 years. The Chinese have a democratic sense of humor and Confucian noble social ideals. Think China It is inconceivable that people would succumb to the Japanese imperialist aggressors' temptation to surrender." Later facts proved that Needham's prediction was half right, and 20 years later, the mainland of China will have atomic bombs and hydrogen bombs, as well as a force strong enough to suppress all hostile forces. Tanks and armored weapons, but there is still a long way to go from a "scientific country", let alone a "main" and mainstream into the world's developed countries.On the isolated island of Taiwan controlled by the Kuomintang, its scientific development is also suffocatingly slow. On February 24, 1962, when Taiwan's "Academia Sinica" held the fifth academician meeting to elect a new academician, Li Ji made a speech about Taiwan's scientific prospects, and was somewhat pessimistic. argument.Although Hu Shi, who presided over the meeting, disapproved and fell to the ground within a few minutes, he still could not change the cruel reality. Half a century after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the two sides of the Chinese Strait still have not become a world-recognized and standardized "science and technology". nation".On the contrary, Needham had the honor to say the latter point. Not only did the Chinese people not succumb to the surrender and bloody massacre of the Japanese invaders, but they finally won the war of resistance against the bloody storm with the strength and tenacity of the nation. On June 13, Joseph Needham visited the Preparatory Office of the Central Museum located in the Zhang Family Ancestral Hall in Lizhuang Town, and at the same time gave a farewell speech for his trip to Lizhuang.Before the speech, an unexpected episode appeared, which left a deep impression on everyone——Tao Menghe and Fu Sinian, two enemies, put aside their differences and shook hands to make peace.