First, what kind of birth and family background?
Gu Hongming's ancestral surname is Chen, and he has been fishing in Tongan, Xiamen, Fujian for generations. When I arrived at Chen Dunyuan, I accidentally injured someone because of drunkenness. In order to avoid being arrested by the government, he took his family across Nanyang and finally settled in Penang, Malay Peninsula. He became a pioneer of Chinese who cut down hazel trees and reclaimed this wild land, and lived earlier than the British. Time has passed, and Chen Dunyuan learned from this painful experience and felt deeply guilty. He simply changed his surname to show his remorse.
1857, 18 In July, when Gu Hongming enthusiastically went to Malaya on a hot summer day, this tropical Nanyang Island had already been occupied by British colonists and renamed as "Prince of Wales Island". His parents have been dealing with British colonists for years. Gu Hongming's great-grandfather Gu, as "the most respected local Chinese", was appointed as the chief executive of local residents-the first captain by the first British colonists who landed in Malay Peninsula. The person in charge of this place has eight sons and three daughters. Among these sons, Gu Anping, Gu Guocai and Gu Longchi are the most promising. Gu Anping was sent back to China to study at an early age. Later, he became an official under Lin Zexu, and soon he was transferred to Taiwan Province Province and settled in Taiwan Province Province. Guguocai and Gulongchi inherited the mantle of ancient Li Huan and continued to maintain cooperative relations with British colonists politically. Because of his diplomatic acumen, Gu was sent to Singapore, led by Sir Raffles, an Englishman and an important member of the East India Company. He showed his talents in this newly developed land and became one of the first China people to come to Singapore. Gu Longchi once held a public office in Kedah and made outstanding contributions to local construction. He was awarded the title of Datuk by the Sultan of Kedah. He has a son who does not like politics. He helped Brown, a British businessman, run a rubber plantation in Penang, winning the trust of his boss and becoming a close friend. He is Gu Hongming's father, Gu Ziyun. Gu Hongming is the second son of Gu Ziyun, named Tomson.
Half-blood posture, extraordinary talent, clever words and deeds, and distinctive temperament make Xiao Tangsheng deeply loved by Brown. Brown adopted him as his adopted son, took him back to his hometown in Scotland 1867, and made meticulous arrangements for his studies. At the age of fourteen, Tang Sheng completed various courses offered by his adoptive father with excellent results, was sent to Germany to study science, and was admitted to Leipzig University with a diploma in civil engineering soon. After returning to Scotland, I went to the University of Edinburgh, an ancient and famous university in England. Hong? Beng kaw (Tang Sheng's English name at school, transliteration in Minnan), a small fish from the East, swam freely in the ocean of western culture, and finally settled on the romantic literature island under the guidance of Carlyle, the president of Edinburgh University, a famous British writer, historian and social critic. Tang Sheng knew by heart the incisive aphorisms of Carlyle, Arnold, Ruskin, Emerson and others attacking capitalism. What "today's kingdom is the root of people's poverty" and "today's west is chaos and guns" created a magnitude 7 earthquake in his young mind. These European sages sincerely appreciated China's Confucian civilization. In their vast sea of books, Tang Sheng listened to Leibniz's heart: "We don't believe that any nation in the world is better and more progressive than our ethics. China in the East has now given us a great awakening. " Leibniz thinks that China culture is a good medicine to cure western ills, so he gives advice to European society: "In my opinion, we are in a state of moral degradation, and I even think that we must ask China to send personnel to guide our purpose and the practice of natural theology, just as we send missionaries to China to teach theology revealed by God." Tang also traced the ideological roots of Voltaire's statement that "China is the only country in the world that combines politics with ethics". Carlisle gave China a mysterious color, which is desirable. In "Past and Present", the master who loves to be called "the emperor" compares the emperor China to a bishop and sincerely praises China's political system. Together with Goethe, Diderot and other great figures, these cultural elites in western society became the fascinating spiritual food for Tang Sheng to understand and identify with the civilization of his motherland, recovered the sacred national dignity of China people, and deeply influenced his life.
At the University of Edinburgh, Mr. Thompson insisted on learning Greek, Latin and so on. 20-year-old, 65438-0877, obtained the title of Master of Arts from Edinburgh University by studying and testing Latin and Greek, as well as mathematics, metaphysics, moral philosophy, natural philosophy and rhetoric. Later, I went to Oxford University for further study, and went to Italy, Austria and Germany to study. After receiving a Ph.D. (master's degree) from a college in Berlin, Germany, he moved to Paris. I studied in famous universities such as Leipzig, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Berlin and Paris for several years. With his genius and diligence, Tang Sheng has mastered more than a dozen foreign languages and obtained more than a dozen diplomas and degrees, covering literature, science, engineering, philosophy and other disciplines. , and become a knowledgeable, knowledgeable, eloquent, pen flying, the apprentice's young scholars. At this point, his parents had passed away, and Tang Sheng was determined to follow his father's will "return to the East and be a China native". Brown supported him to return to the east. This kind and friendly English gentleman told me that the purpose of taking him to study in Europe is to provide him with a pair of perspective goggles, connecting China and the West, and to play an important role in strengthening the country and educating Europe and America in the future.
1880, Tang Sheng boarded a ship returning to Malaya in the East, and was sent to Singapore by the British colonial government to work as an assistant secretary. 188 1 At the end of the year, Mr. Tang met Ma Jianzhong (the author of Ma Shi Wen Tong), and Ma Jianzhong was sent by the Qing court to comfort overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia to negotiate with the British colonial authorities. After three days of conversation, his outlook on life and lifestyle changed 180 degrees. He wholeheartedly admired the culture of the motherland and was determined to return to China to serve the troubled motherland. Shortly after Tang Sheng resigned from the colonial authorities, he came to Hong Kong where Chinese and foreign countries were mixed. He immersed himself in the works of Chinese studies and China classics, and had an epiphany on China's academic thought. He wrote the first paper on China, China Studies, which summarized the development of western sinology since19th century and severely criticized the attitude and academic defects of western sinologists. After this article was serialized in Lin Zi Xi Bao (an English newspaper run by the British in Shanghai), he rushed to Shanghai to consult Ma Jianzhong, but he didn't see him, but listened to some teachers teaching four books everywhere. "Tang Pan Ming said:' New is new, and new is new'." This sentence in "University" was originally about taking a bath, which left a deep impression on Tang Sheng. He further realized that spiritual baptism, moral cultivation and ideological transformation are different. Combining the daily confession of Christians, Tang Sheng is determined to make himself look brand-new and pursue and perfect the spirit of China. He borrowed the phrase "inscription on the soup plate" to give himself a word. Greatness is greatness. King Shang Tang wrote epigrams on the bath, and Tang Sheng enlarged them and engraved them in his heart, which became his motto.
Around 1885, on the boat back to Hong Kong, Gu Hongming had a war of words with several foreign devils who wantonly slandered China. Yang Yushu, the alternate magistrate of Guangzhou who was in the same boat with him, surprised him. He was introduced to Zhang Zhidong, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi. As a result, Gu Hongming entered the door of Zhang Zhidong, an important official in the late Qing Dynasty, and was appointed as a copywriter abroad to handle foreign affairs.
Second, how to be smart, eloquent and humorous?
Although george morrison, a famous expert on China and a former adviser to President Yuan Shikai, has been an enemy of Gu Hongming all his life, the conceited British doctor sincerely said: "Gu Hongming has a rare rich English vocabulary and is a language genius." Gu Hongming's linguistic genius is unprecedented, and his English attainments are praised by Sun Yat-sen and Lin Yutang as "the first in China". His German level is also excellent. German writer Paquet said: "Gu Hongming is the first China person I can talk with in authentic German." In the early years of the Republic of China, Gu Hongming made an impromptu passionate speech in German at a party held by Germans to celebrate the centenary of Bismarck's birth, which won applause from all German scholars and gentlemen. As for French, Greek and other languages, Gu Hongming is as easy to use as Gong Sundaniang's sword. Even a few lost Latin words are not a problem.
Gu Hongming is also a memory genius. The poems he learned when he was young will never be forgotten. Ling Shuhua, a famous modern woman writer, studied English under Gu Hongming, and once heard him recite Milton's 6 100 blank poem Paradise Lost, which is literally true! He tried to teach the method of memory, which means that the first step is impression, the second step is retention, and the last step is memory. When foreigners asked him why he had such a memory, he said, you foreigners remember it by brain, and we in China remember it by brain.
"What a good argument! I have to! " This is a Mencius quotation that Gu Hongming likes to quote. In real life, he is still an orator who catches up with Dong Fangshuo, and a satirical genius who enjoys a good reputation at home and abroad.
Genius comes from hard work, and Gu Hongming's cleverness is the result of hard work when he was young. Besides reciting ancient and modern Chinese and foreign classics every day, he also likes to copy books. When he was studying at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, he would go to the library to read books every Sunday. He has copied dozens of books over the years. Even some well-read people in the west dare not talk about it, because the books they read are not only for those who have never been interested, but also for those who can't buy them in the world.
Dr. Lian Dewu, a famous medical scientist in China and a Malaysian returned overseas Chinese, once said that "he (Gu Hongming) has made great achievements since he studied in his youth", which is well known in Penang. In the article "Remember My Understanding of Penang", Ling Shuhua said that he had heard his father say that several western scholars had said such things: "This eccentric, who can compare with him! He probably never came out of the womb and studied in books. He kept his mouth shut to Confucius and Mencius, but kept his mouth shut to Goethe, Voltaire, Arnold and Ruskin. There is nothing he can't refute you with a dozen of their sentences. Don't look at that little head. There are more books than the library of the British Museum. "
For those westerners who are self-righteous and don't respect the customs of other nationalities, Gu Hongming's talent for verbal warfare is fully displayed. When he was still studying in England, he would set up an altar in his east-facing room every major traditional festival in China to toast him and pay homage to his ancestors in an orderly way. The landlord's old lady quipped, "When will your ancestors come to enjoy your big fish and meat?" He replied loudly: "it should be just before your ancestors smelled your filial flowers and plants!" " Let the other side stunned.
/kloc-At the end of 0/9, Japanese Prime Minister Hirofumi Ito met with Gu Hongming during his visit to China. When asked about Confucius' theory, he was sarcastic: Mr. Ito studied in Europe and America and was proficient in Western learning. Don't you know that Confucius' teaching worked thousands of years ago, but it doesn't work today? Gu Hongming said with a smile that Confucius' thoughts are just like mathematicians' addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Thousands of years ago it was 339, and thousands of years later it is still 339. Do you think it will be March 38? If your country had not been taught by Confucius, how could it be today? I don't think it's because of foreigners' trifles! Without waiting for the other party to speak, Gu Hongming went on to say: However, what you said is not completely unreasonable. Mathematics was improved in the nineteenth century. Just now we said that three-thirds get nine, which is also incorrect. For example, when we in China borrow money from foreigners, we get seven out of three, and sometimes we can't even get seven, which is a big negative number. When it's time to pay back the money, nine thirds, but one third with interest! Hey, I'm really behind the times, behind the times! The words embarrassed Ito Bowen, and there was nothing to say. Later, everyone said that Gu Hongming had a golden face and an iron mouth.
Once, a foreign friend invited Gu Hongming to dinner and promoted him to be the chief. During the dinner, someone asked what was good about Confucius' teaching. Gu Hongming answered: Just now, the monarch gave way and refused to sit down. This is the teaching of Confucius. If the teaching of "natural selection" popular in the west today is based on the theme of "survival of the fittest", then the food and wine at this table today will have to wait until everyone has a life-and-death competition to decide whether to win or lose, then make a reservation, and then move chopsticks. If so, I don't know how long it will take to get the meal ready today. I'm afraid no one will get it in the end. Everyone calls it wonderful. At the beginning of the 20th century, when Gu Hongming was working in Shanghai, he visited the Shili Yangchang with several foreign friends. Outsiders were surprised at the number of prostitutes in Shanghai when they saw colorful flags and prostitution halls along the way. Gu Hongming used clever words to cover up his ugliness, saying: Rostite, destitude (prostitute, selling the poor), the implication is not that women in China have bad conduct, but that they have to do it because of despair.
Gu Hongming is sharp-tongued and defends braids and foot binding. Foreigners asked him, "Why do people in China wear braids?" ? He replied, "Why do foreigners grow beards?" When foreigners accuse China women of foot-binding barbarism, he will fight back: "So, why do you western women gird your waist?" Gu Hongming's most well-known world-class defense is "a pot of cups" for the concubinage system. When a foreign lady asked her why she couldn't be "polygamous", he replied plausibly, "Has your wife ever seen a teacup with four teapots?" That's ridiculous. In another version, after being questioned, he said to the lady in a gentle tone: "The lady usually takes the car as a means of transportation, and the car has four tires. How many pumps do you have? " When this language came out, it burst into laughter. Gu Hongming is witty and eloquent. Although he is sometimes sophistry, sophistry and unreasonable, his ability to justify himself and defeat the enemy is unparalleled at home and abroad. Gu Hongming is not only an old-timer of overseas students in China, but also an old-timer of humor. Lin Yutang, a great writer, translator and humorist, spoke highly of him and said, "He is a man of first-class intelligence. The most important thing is that he has insight and depth, which is beyond the reach of people in this era."
Perhaps because Gu Hongming is smart, humorous, interesting, knowledgeable and profound, he is very popular with students. According to Zhen Xuan, who graduated from Peking University, when Gu Hongming taught at Peking University, he was "very popular with students, and Mr. Hu Shizhi was not as good as him".
Third, what kind of "passionate patriot" is it?
Wu Mi, a master of culture, once praised Gu Hongming as an "extremely enthusiastic patriot" and said: "Gu's long-term residence in a foreign country has deeply hurt China's weakness and poverty, and it is humiliating to outsiders. In view of the strong traces of Japan's reform and prosperity in the East and its deep national concept, it is passionate to love China. To clarify the quintessence of Chinese culture and praise China's sense of responsibility in morality and ethics, the more firm he is, the more persistent he is.
When studying abroad, my father said a lot. What Gu Hongming remembers most clearly is the word "China people". After arriving in Europe, as the adopted son of the monopoly family, his life is completely aristocratic, but after all, he is a China native with black hair and yellow skin, a yellow race despised by Europeans, and naturally becomes the object of racial discrimination. This social background cultivated his strong self-esteem and patriotic complex.
As soon as Zhang Zhidong took office as a foreign copywriter in the Governor's Office, he was furious when he saw that China goods were called native goods in the official documents of westerners. He thinks that native means barbarism, so how can the goods produced in China be called native goods? Change it to Chinese immediately, and make it clear that it is "Made in China". 1889, Zhang Zhidong was transferred to the governor of Huguang, and Gu Hongming moved to Wuchang with him. At that time, there were many teaching plans in the Yangtze River Basin. Gu Hongming was furious at the national dignity that blood is thicker than water. He published an English monograph "Arguing for the Motherland and the People —— On the Relationship between Modern Missionaries and Modern Religious Plans" in Zilin Xibao under the pseudonym of "One China", defending the China people's anti-Westernization movement to the world. The Times of London summarized and commented on this article, suspecting that the author of this article came from China, because that "there will never be that noble calm in writing". It is not flattering to compare Gu Hongming's remarks to empty steps. Because since the Opium War, the whole English-speaking world has been dominated by European and American powers. The appearance of Gu Hongming finally gave China the voice to speak to the world and seek justice for the rights of the motherland, which was a rare spirit and roars in the humiliating modern history of China.
After Gu Hongming returned to China, a lofty sense of mission, like boiling steam, rose in his heart for a long time. An American captain shot China people for no reason in Fuzhou, killing several people, but he only paid $20 in compensation. The American consul in Fuzhou actually blamed him for overpaying, called him a fool and said, "Why do you want to give him so much money? He is just a China person. " Knowing this, Gu Hongming was outraged and publicly condemned foreigners who insulted China people with the discrimination of "foreigners". He wrote:
Real foreigners refer to people like the American consul in Fuzhou ... British and Americans who are proud of their race and rich, French, Germans and Russians who only pay attention to brutal force and bullying, and Europeans who pretend to be civilized without knowing what real civilization is!
Such a righteous condemnation by name is not seen in previous diplomatic documents or foreign conversations. Even today, people feel excited and a sense of national justice rises in their hearts.
Gu Hongming, influenced by modern western national consciousness, expressed great contempt for the invaders who often "clamored for gunboats to suppress". He attacked:
I think we should tell the foreign public that the first shot from a foreign gunboat will become a symbol of a war, not a confrontation with the government-just like our foreign wars so far-but a war against the people of China.
Between the lines, it is filled with strong national feelings and sacred national consciousness, which makes people respect.
After Eight-Nation Alliance invaded China, Gu Hongming, with ardent patriotic feelings, spared no effort to write articles such as "Respect for the King" in English, which were widely spread all over the world and sought justice from world public opinion. When Xin Chou proposed peace and the powers clamored for China to demolish Dagukou Fort, he shouted:
I would like to remind the world rashly that there is a more dangerous battery in China-Missionary Battery. I dare to predict that if this fortress does not attract the world's due attention, it will soon be impossible for even foreigners to make a living in China-unless they rob it!
This movement can be called a national declaration. The Draft of the History of Qing Dynasty praised Gu Hongming: "The Boxer Rebellion was chaotic, and the allied forces committed crimes in the north. Tang Sheng wrote "Respect for the King" in English. The powers know that China is an ethical country and cannot be bullied in the end. "
In addition to attacking the war of aggression against China and condemning foreign powers for interfering in China's internal affairs, Gu Hongming had to be angry at those frivolous remarks that were arrogant, despised China, and defended China and national dignity. /kloc-at the end of 0/9th century, a whirlwind of "yellow peril theory" aimed at China suddenly blew up in Europe. German Emperor William II specially painted a picture of the Yellow Disaster and gave it to Tsar Nicholas II, Russia. The picture means that the rise of the "yellow race" will pose a threat to Europe, and European whites should unite to resist the invasion of the yellow race. In order to dispel this groundless talk, Gu Hongming published the article Civilization and Chaos in English, which severely refuted this nonsense imposed on the Chinese nation and strongly criticized the hegemonic politics in the West. Bob Evans, a famous American political critic known as "Little Matador", wrote a letter to Gu Hongming, which said: "I read every word written in your article with great interest and thought it was worthwhile. In the end, I stood on the side of the people of China on many issues of deep interest. " For more than a century, some western countries, led by the United States, have always regarded China as an imaginary enemy, drooling from time to time and exclaiming the "yellow peril theory". Last year's "9. 1 1" incident and the attitude of the China government made those western dignitaries seem to have a clear understanding, and the kind western people distinguished friends from enemies. Reviewing 1 10 years ago Gu Hongming's article "Rejecting the Yellow Disaster", is it only the memory of China, the first just man who "rejected the Yellow Disaster"?
Wade, a British diplomat in China, came to the conclusion that "China people have poor intelligence". Gu Hongming despised him not only because he was uneducated, but also because he was extremely lacking in intelligence, because he didn't understand that China's cultural classics were profound, simple and simple, and what he could understand probably only belonged to the category of simplicity and simplicity. Finally, Gu Hongming did not forget to be silent: "When Mr. Wade madly accused China people of mental retardation, he must have seen children's books written specifically for children." China and China people are often ridiculed in the works written by Englishmen Prander and Bai Kehao, while books such as History of the Qing Dynasty and History of Empress Dowager Cixi are also quite popular in the West, and Gu Hongming is bound to write a rebuttal. All these have had a positive impact on the world's re-understanding of China. Jiu Zehe, a Japanese scholar and Beijing correspondent of Current Affairs News, once said: "Mr. Gu's articles have made people all over the world stand on the side of China's government and civilization. Mr. Gu is so famous that any excessive praise is superfluous. "
Gu Hongming always held high the banner of patriotism in that era of worshipping foreign things and obsessing foreign things. To be patriotic, we must first love its civilization. He pointed out in the article "Virtue in Braids": "Foreigners will never have a little respect for us just because we cut off our braids and put on our suits. I am absolutely sure that when we China people become westerners and foreign devils, Europeans and Americans can only show more contempt for us. In fact, only when Europeans and Americans know the real China people-a nation completely different from them, but not inferior in civilization, will they respect us. "
Gu Hongming spared no effort to praise and affirm Chinese civilization, even to the point where his writing would praise China. In his view, Chinese civilization is superior to all civilizations. Therefore, he is bent on promoting Chinese civilization to the whole world, claiming to transform the world with Chinese civilization. He firmly believes that the future world will be dominated by Confucianism. This kind of national character and extraordinary tolerance is rare, if not unique, in old China. Therefore, Gu Hongming's spirit was admired by people at that time, and even foreigners praised him.
Mao Mu, a British writer, visited Gu Hongming in China and wrote a letter inviting him to come and visit. Gu Hongming refused to go, which fully reflected the strong national dignity. Mao Mu had to visit in person, and Gu Hongming sneered, "Do you think we have to come when we wave?" He also vented his indignation at racial and cultural discrimination from the West to Mao Mu: "What makes you say that you are better than us? Is your art and writing more beautiful than ours? Aren't our thinkers as profound as yours? Is our culture not as delicate, complicated and subtle as yours? When you were in the cave, we were already evolved humans. Do you know that we tried a unique experiment in the history of the world? ……"
After abandoning the superior life overseas and returning to China without hesitation, Gu Hongming consciously became a brave guardian to safeguard the sacred dignity of the Chinese nation. In the name of China people and fluent English, he boldly challenged and protested the words and deeds of westerners and tirelessly taught them. Patriotism is the origin of Gu Hongming's thought and theory, and patriotism has simply become his foundation. He once said with deep affection: "I love my country ... before they were born, I criticized and opposed the despicable practices of' unequal treaties' and extraterritorial jurisdiction." "I knew what the motherland was when I was studying in the UK, but many China people didn't know much about it at that time; In order to better serve the motherland, I don't care about honor and money ... "He hoped that China would be prosperous and strong. "At that time, I will be deeply gratified in the Confucian kingdom of heaven." Su, a famous translator, writer and revolutionary, said with emotion: "The country's training of scholars, except Mr. Gu Hongming, is a blessing to the earth." "
Even foreigners were moved by Gu Hongming's patriotic words and deeds. French scholar Francis Polly said, "He is a passionate patriot. He first shouted' China is the master of China' and' China is his own master, just as Europeans are their own masters'. " In a word, in Gu Hongming's shabby and dirty jacket, there is an eternal fire of national pride. Of course, because of his narrow-mindedness, his patriotic words and deeds can not escape the ridicule of narrow-mindedness and loyalty.
Fourth, how to keep backward?
Although Gu Hongming took off his suit and tie and put on his robe and mandarin jacket at the beginning of his return to China, he was not very conservative in his thoughts and actions and also supported the Westernization Movement. He subscribed to hundreds of newspapers and periodicals from all over the world for browsing. There are new inventions and current affairs in foreign countries, and he will explain them to Zhang Zhidong sentence by sentence in order to enlighten him. Zhang Zhidong will "sit in an easy chair and listen tirelessly" every time. Wang Senran, a famous historian of literature and history, said in Biography of Mr. Gu Hongming: "All the major plans and issues of Hubei's New Deal were suggested by Mr. Xu (Gu) and sponsored and implemented by Mr. Liang (Ding Fen), so Hubei's meteorological splendor at that time was the highest among all provinces, and it was also the strength of Mr." "As a scholar, Mr. Wang has a profound insight into the major plans of national ideological development, which was a temporary achievement."
Gu Hongming became attached to Zhang Zhidong's Qing Ping. With his outstanding wisdom and diplomatic skills, he helped Zhang Zhidong to establish the world-famous Hanyang Iron Works and Arsenal, and made great contributions to Hubei's New Deal. Zhang Zhidong tasted it and said to the left and right, "Mr. Gu is an outstanding talent with both economy and knowledge."
After the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, the crisis of the Chinese nation intensified unprecedentedly, and people of insight called for the introduction of western learning and reform in order to survive. Facing this fierce trend of reform, Gu Hongming was afraid of destroying China culture. Therefore, he is good at western learning and politics, but in those restless years, he was "quiet, and what he said must be the past, calling him the former king or satirizing the world with harmonic language" (Luo Zhenyu's "Chun Ru Gu Hongming"). Not only did he have no obvious radical thoughts, but when Zhang Zhidong asked him to run a newspaper that translated and introduced western learning and western politics, he flatly refused, claiming that he would not do it even if there was an imperial edict. Afterwards, he specially drafted Zhang Shu, Governor of Shanghai Guang, in which he talked about the Confucian tenet of respecting the king, the distinction between righteousness and benefit, and the way of loyalty and forgiveness, in order to prepare for Chen Xizheng's defeat. He believes that "being good at current affairs, opening newspapers and advocating the establishment of parliament" is the origin of western chaos. "People's emotions cannot be calm, and if they are tamed to argue about chaos, they will get out of control." Some researchers have pointed out that this article can be regarded as a symbol of Gu Hongming's thorough transformation from the study of mind and western learning to a genuine cultural conservative. Later, he even went further and thought: "Changing China's political system with European and American theories will lead to chaos in China and save China at least."
Gu Hongming's conservative position became more and more stubborn. At that time, in order to get rid of the "carnivorous nation" in the west, the literati and intellectuals expressed their thoughts of saving the country. Zhang Zhidong put forward the dualistic method in his masterpiece "Persuading to Learn", that is, China as an individual must adhere to and strictly follow the Confucian principles, while China as a nation-state must abandon the Confucian principles and adopt the new learning ideals of modern Europe. Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao went further. They not only seek China's military strength, but also seek political strength, hoping to transform China's authoritarian regime into a constitutional monarchy. They think that if China has Japanese regime, guns and science, it will not be a failure. Of course, Gu Hongming is also drawing a blueprint for troubled China. However, his method is neither to retaliate against a man as he deals with you, nor to retaliate against each other in the form of scientific killing, nor to westernize China in part or in whole, but to make China more China and use the moral power of Chinese civilization to deal with western guns. He even thinks:
The way to stop a social and political evil in the world and reform Confucianism is to win a moral force through self-esteem and honest life. Confucius said, "A gentleman is respectful and the world is at peace." In my opinion, this is strength, which is the only strength that the Chinese nation can rely on. The best way to save the ancient civilization from the destructive power of material materialism in modern European countries lies in this ancient civilization. (China Oxford Sports Story)
From the perspective of cultural conservatives, Gu Hongming's thought is different from the general Westernization School, the die-hards and the quintessence school in the late Qing Dynasty, and also from the "Oriental Culture School" in the early Republic of China and the later Neo-Confucianism, which makes him unique and remarkable. In his later years, he entered Peking University and became a representative figure among conservative scholars. However, some people think that he is not the kind of stubborn conservative. For example, Cai Yuanpei, president of Peking University, said, "I invited Gu Hongming because he is a scholar, a wise man and a saint. He is by no means a monster with soaring ideas, and he is not a politically extremely conservative die-hards." Japanese sinologist Yasuzawa Shimizu also said: "Some people compare him to the most stubborn among conservative scholars, but this is probably because these people don't know him yet."
Gu Hongming studied in the west since childhood and received a systematic western education. His lifestyle and way of thinking are European. In the end, he tried his best to exclude foreigners and blindly opposed western civilization, thus maintaining China's feudal culture and ethics. In any case, it will surprise people. Prior to this, although Gu Hongming had some conservative behaviors and strange opinions, such as loving feet, indulging in prostitution and concubinage, these can be regarded as lifestyle differences. As an epidemic of scholar-officials and morbid society at that time, I don't think it is necessary to criticize too much. However, his politics and thoughts are so old-fashioned and backward. After the regime change to the Republic of China, his attitude became more and more stubborn and conservative. He brazenly used braids as passports and symbols, and defended such scum and vulgar customs at the top of his lungs, but it was to make people stunned and laughed at. Its so-called middle