Akutagawa Ryunosuke sees Gu Hongming's many problems

In 1921, Ryunosuke Akutagawa went to China as a special correspondent of Osaka, Japan's "Mainichi Shimbun", during which he interviewed Gu Hongming, and apparently regarded Gu as a strange work.

At that time, Ryunosuke Akutagawa was 30 years old. Still young at the time, he had already established himself as a famous novelist in Japan. Gu Hongming is 64 years old, but as a maverick scholar and celebrity, Gu has also achieved great success in China. For Gu Hongming, Akutagawa Ryunosuke is regarded as the younger generation of his grandchildren.

At that time, Gu Hongming was already famous all over the world for his speeches in many aspects, including weird ones. Many foreigners who visited China specifically sought him out and met him, in order to listen to all kinds of strange talks he made so as to entertain himself and the readers. Gu Hongming himself is obviously willing to play the kind of funny role that pretends to be stupid to show wit and satirize (the so-called "funny" here is what Sima Qian said in "Historical Records"; there are "funny biographies" in "Historical Records") .

On the other hand, Akutagawa Ryunosuke became world-renowned as a novelist (mainly because of the film "Rashomon" directed by Kurosawa Akira). According to the interview report, looking for Gu Hongming should also be regarded as following the trend of looking for celebrities.

Gu Hongming, who lived in the Republic of China, regarded himself as an elder of the dynasty and a supporter and spokesperson of traditional Chinese culture. He has studied in England for many years, and his English is very good. He praised the imperial system, women with bound feet, and polygamy, so he was a real cultural and political wonder at that time. But he was also a genuinely intellectually interesting man, then and for generations to come.

Of course, Ryunosuke Akutagawa, who is so smart as to die, should know that writing Gu Hongming is a challenge, because most of the interesting topics have been written before, and readers look forward to seeing what new tricks and perspectives he will write, and whether he can write better than others. deeper.

Carefully read the account of the meeting with Gu Hongming in "Beijing Diary Copy" written by Akutagawa Ryunosuke's travel notes on China, and the more I read, the more problems I find. Some questions are obviously suspense deliberately set by Akutagawa Ryunosuke, whose intention is to make readers think, and he himself is thinking (and not necessarily finally figured it out). There are also problems that the reader of today has, of which he himself is unlikely to be conscious.

Here's a list of some (but not all) of the issues I've seen and thought about, with a brief discussion.

***

For the convenience of discussion, I first post the meeting record of Akutagawa Ryunosuke’s meeting with Gu Hongming, which I translated as closely as possible to the original text (Akutagawa’s original text is also posted at the bottom of this article, so that readers who understand Japanese can criticize my translation).

A meeting with Gu Hongming of Akutagawa Ryunosuke

 Interview with Mr. Gu Hongming. He was led into the hall by the police. There are lithographs and blessings hanging on the plain walls, and carpets on the floor. Although there may be bedbugs, it can still be described as an elegant and lovely hall.

After waiting for less than a minute, an old man with embarrassing eyes opened the door and said in English, "Welcome, sit down." This is Mr. Gu Hongming. Gray and white braided hair, a white coat, and a face that looks like a big bat because of its short nose. The gentleman started to talk with the servant, put several pieces of straw paper cut in half on the table, and held a pencil to write Chinese characters quickly, and babbled in English. For those of us who are not enlightened, this is a way to facilitate conversation.

Mr. was born in Fujian in the south, studied in Edinburgh, Scotland in the west, married a Japanese woman in the east, and lived in Beijing in the north. Needless to say English, but also German and French. However, unlike young Chinese, they do not worship Western civilization. The husband scolded Christianity, the republican government, and the omnipotence of the machine. Seeing the servant in Chinese clothes, he said, "I'm not wearing a suit, I admire it. It's a pity that I don't have braids." Talking with the husband for 30 minutes, a girl aged 18 or 9 suddenly entered The hall seems shy. Mr. Gai and his daughter. (Mr. and wife have passed away.) Mr. put his hand on the young lady's shoulders, whispered in Chinese, and the young lady opened her mouth and recited the song of Elubo, "Elyboer's main department stopped Qianlinu Liuhu and Jia..." Presumably it was taught by my wife during her lifetime. The husband seemed to be satisfied and smiled, but the servant felt a little sentimental, just looking at the face of the young lady.

After the daughter-in-law retired, the husband discussed with the servant again, about Wu, and about Tolstoy (Tolstoy once wrote a letter to Mr.). After talking about it, the gentleman was in high spirits, his eyes became more and more like a torch, and his face became more and more like a bat. When setting off from Shanghai, Jones shook his servant's hand and said, "Don't look at the Forbidden City, but don't forget to see Gu Hongming." I was also touched by Mr. Wang's comments, and asked Mr. why he was so emotional about current affairs but didn't want to get involved. Mr. answered immediately. Unfortunately, the servant didn't understand, so he asked again, "Can you say it again?" The gentleman seemed to be writing something solemnly on the straw paper, "Old, old, old, old, old...."

One hour later, I left the husband's mansion and walked towards Dongdan Pailou Hotel. The breeze blows into a row of Albizia juliensis, and the setting sun shines on the servant's Chinese dress. Mr. Ran's bat-like face lingered before the servant's eyes. When walking towards the street, I looked back at Mr.'s door—Sir, it's fortunate that I don't blame him. I didn't lament Mr.'s oldness, but I praised him for being young and lucky.

A small note is needed here: Jones was a Western reporter stationed in China at the time.

In addition, a simple supplementary explanation is needed.

The original text is only a few short paragraphs. The translation is simple classical Chinese, not a product of the translator deliberately showing off or showing off, but because the original text is basically simple classical Japanese, with two or three short sentences mixed in, so the translation here is just Xiao Guicao Follow, follow the original text (and it is difficult to follow the same pace; but Akutagawa Ryunosuke himself has not been able to use classical Chinese consistently from beginning to end).

In the original text, English is spelled out with Japanese letters (katakana), and the translation directly restores this pinyin to English to show that it is a foreign language rather than Japanese. But this kind of pinyin restoration also has a problem, that is, loanwords spelled out in pinyin often have ironic meanings. For example, when translating, the pinyin (transliteration) of "图格图森破" in today's spoken Chinese in China is directly reduced to too young too simple, and the original indescribable irony of "图画格森破" will be lost. But this translation loss is inevitable.

***

The following are some of the questions I saw and thought of when I read Akutagawa Ryunosuke's Notes on the Meeting with Gu Hongming.

1. Bedbugs

If Akutagawa Ryunosuke interviewed a controversial figure like Gu Hongming as a special correspondent of the "Mainichi Shimbun" today, the editor of the newspaper would almost certainly not allow the bug to be published in his feature feature, because today's editor would think that this Words that are unrelated to the subject of the interview, clearly demeaning or show the interviewer's personal preference (cleanliness) should not appear in news reports/comments.

2. Gu Hongming's nose and face

As a novelist, Akutagawa Ryunosuke can freely write about the noses of novel characters. For example, the title of one of his famous short stories is "The Nose". He also wrote about the pustules on the protagonist's face in another famous short story of his, "Rashomon". However, as a special reporter for a news organization, he wrote about news figures such as Gu Hongming's nose and face, which is not allowed by regular news organizations.

On the other hand, although Akutagawa Ryunosuke visited China and published articles as a special correspondent of a news organization, his writing method is still that of a novelist, including not avoiding or even highlighting his own Personal preference, personal opinion. Of course, today's journalists can also not avoid or even highlight their personal preferences/viewpoints, but the times are different, and current reporters cannot show personal preferences/viewpoints like Akutagawa Ryunosuke.

Also, there are photos of Gu Hongming, why Akutagawa Ryunosuke said that his face looks like a bat because of his short nose is also incredible.

3. Foreign language / English

In this short profile of news figures, a looming and consistent theme is foreign language. Why did Akutagawa Ryunosuke use Japanese katakana pinyin to write English young Chinese (young Chinese)? Who is he satirizing by using katakana in this way? This kind of question is as hard to say as why the current Chinese people write "too young too simple" (too young too simple) in their writing, and who is satirizing.

Gu Hongming's English is very good. Although Akutagawa Ryunosuke also studied English at Tokyo Imperial University, it is hard to say whether he is as proficient in English as Gu Hongming. Gu Hongming does not understand Japanese, and Akutagawa Ryunosuke does not understand Chinese (the Chinese poems and Chinese characters he can decipher are still foreign languages for him, and he cannot understand or speak them), and during his visit to China, he would just say "don't" etc. There are only a handful of modern Chinese words), so the two met and talked in English. Akutagawa Ryunosuke said that unfortunately he did not understand Gu Hongming's words, probably because he had some English hearing problems.

In the era of Akutagawa Ryunosuke, English teaching in Japan and China still focused on text reading, and students' listening, speaking, and writing abilities were generally low, and Akutagawa Ryunosuke must be no exception. Although he is very smart, he is obviously inferior to Gu Hongming, who has studied in the UK for many years and obtained a degree from a British university. Akutagawa Ryunosuke himself admitted that he was obsessed with literary creation when he was a student at Tokyo Tei University, and he didn't put much effort into his English major.

In addition to being proficient in English, Gu Hongming also understands French and German, but Akutagawa Ryunosuke does not. However, the irony is that the examples of Gu Hongming and Akutagawa Ryunosuke tell us that knowing and understanding the general trend of the world can sometimes have nothing to do with whether a person knows a foreign language or how many foreign languages he knows.

4. Foreign language and Gu Hongming's youngest daughter

As a person who learned English from elementary school (Gu Hongming was an overseas Chinese in Malaysia, and Malaysia was a British colony at that time, English education was inevitable) and could use English proficiently and knew the usefulness of English/foreign languages, Gu Hongming asked his youngest daughter to give Akutagawa Ryunosuke Taking pride in reciting the Japanese Iroha Uta (traditional Japanese poetry made up of 47 non-repeating Japanese letters), Ryunosuke Akutagawa said the sight made him "sentimental". His words can be said to be meaningful, but it is a pity that he did not expand. It didn't unfold, maybe because he didn't feel necessary, or maybe because he didn't feel able.

There is no doubt that the song of Elibo is meaningless to the poor little girl, just like the Chinese people today will feel meaningless when they read "Eluboer's main part Zhiqianlinuliuhuhejia..." The meaning is the same (the general idea expressed by these sounds is "the color of flowers and fragrance will dissipate, in this life...").

As a reader today, I read that the little girl described by Ryunosuke Akutagawa also felt sentimental when she recited the Iroha song, and there were two kinds of sentimentality: (1) The little girl lost her mother at such a young age, and her father was so old, Can speak Japanese, mother tongue Japanese has become an incomprehensible foreign language for this little girl, so losing her mother is a double great loss for her; (2) The little girl's reciting without understanding is actually useless work.

Regarding the latter sentimentality, I can add one more personal story. A few years ago, in a small park here, I saw a Chinese woman who came from China to help her daughter bring up her granddaughter. She pointed to her seven or eight-year-old granddaughter and said to me proudly: She has already memorized nearly two hundred of the three hundred Tang poems. When I heard this, I felt "sentimental" just like Akutagawa Ryunosuke. I thought: Instead of making the little girl spend so much time reciting Tang poems that she basically doesn't understand, let her feel free It's great to have fun and enjoy childhood. But I just kept these words in my heart and didn't say them out.

5. Why use classical Chinese

Akutagawa Ryunosuke writes articles and reports for Japanese newspaper readers who have long popularized the same language and writing. Why use classical Chinese? A simple and reliable explanation is probably that "The Tale of Tono" written by Japanese writer and folklore scholar Yanagida Kunio in plain classical Chinese was still fashionable in Japan at that time, and readers at that time still liked that style of writing.

6. Gu Hongming's argument, on Wu

Akutagawa Ryunosuke directly wrote "the argument, on Wu" in the article without any explanation/explanation, which shows that he assumed (assumed) that his Japanese readers knew and were familiar with the Chinese news figure Duan Qirui (who served in the government of the Republic of China) at that time. Prime Minister) and Wu Peifu (who was a general of the Beijing government in the Republic of China), because the Japanese newspapers reported on China in a timely and detailed manner. His view may be correct, but the current editors will not let him write this way, and will definitely ask him or add a simple explanation/explanation for him.

7. Akutagawa Ryunosuke never expected

During his visit to China in 1921, Ryunosuke Akutagawa was very envious of the freedom of expression enjoyed by the Chinese people at that time, especially the Chinese literati, because in China at that time, both those who actively advocated the imperial system such as Gu Hongming or those who firmly opposed the imperial system could Speak freely on the issue of the survival and abolition of the imperial system. He certainly couldn't have imagined that about 100 years after his visit to China, the Chinese lost their freedom to talk about the imperial system (and won't get that freedom back in the foreseeable future), and there is a book in China called "Towards a Republic" because it denies the imperial system And when a book is banned, its author is considered lucky not to lose his job or go to jail.

8. Akutagawa Ryunosuke probably didn't expect it

At the end of the meeting with Gu Hongming, Akutagawa Ryunosuke praised his youth in a half-joking and half-serious tone. He probably did not expect that he would die a year before Gu Hongming, who lamented his old age (Akutagawa died in 1927 at the age of 35; Koo died in 1928 at the age of 71).

Here it is said that Ryunosuke Akutagawa "probably did not expect..." to mean that he often suffered from obvious depression before and after his visit to China, and finally he died of suicide due to depression. Perhaps, when he visited China, he also had the idea that life was meaningless and that it could be settled once and for all. Therefore, it is also possible that although Gu Hongming lamented his old age, he might live longer than him.

***

After reading Gu Hongming’s Meeting Notes, my general feeling is that this is Akutagawa Ryunosuke’s article and Akutagawa Ryunosuke’s point of view, which is very interesting; Gu Hongming must also have his views, which must be very interesting; What readers of later generations will see is the character comic portrait left by Akutagawa Ryunosuke, and it is Gu Hongming shaped by Akutagawa Ryunosuke.

To be precise, what Akutagawa Ryunosuke left behind is Gu Hongming's freehand caricature, which is very simple and has a lot of blank space. He met with Gu Hongming for an hour, but only recorded a few words of Gu Hongming. Those few words can be finished in less than a minute, which shows that there are so many gaps in the record.

Moreover, its very succinct account is interspersed with uninspired parrots, or remarks that the reader can easily think of, such as, "...Mr. , saying, 'No suit, I admire it. Unfortunately, there is no braid.'" Strictly speaking, such a record lacks fresh information for readers then and now.

After reading the records of Akutagawa Ryunosuke, I can't help but sigh: It would be great if I could see Akutagawa Ryunosuke shaped by Gu Hongming. Gu Hongming's writing style is very good, and his observation, expression, and logical thinking skills are very strong. Gu Hongming's writing by Ryunosuke Akutagawa will definitely look good, or even better.

Finally, an English article written by Gu Hongming is posted below. From this, readers can imagine Gu Hongming's knowledge level, thinking ability, and expressive ability, and how good his writing of Akutagawa Ryunosuke should be.
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Attached 1.
Akutagawa Ryunosuke - Beijing Diary Copy Mr. Gu Hongming

 Mr. Gu Hongming's visit.ボイに案内されて通りしは素墨に石改の箱物をぶら下げ、床にアンペラを应ける庁堂なり.ちょっとNanjing Chongはいそうなれど, Xiao Sanaiすべき庁堂と言べし.

Waiting for つこと一分ならざるに光目光々たる老人あり.闼を排して入り来り、Englishにて「よく来た、まあ坐れ」と言う. Regardless of Mr. Gu Hongming. Hu Ma 塩 の braided hair, white の big hanging child, Yan は nose の inch method short かければ, where is か big い na る bat ni si た り. Mr. の Servant と Tan ず る や, テエブル の 上 に を を を き き, 手 は pencil を 动かしてさっさとkanjiを书ずるがら, 口のべつ墓なしにEnglish をしゃべる. Servant のru く ear の strange しきものにはまことに convenience naru conversation method nari.

Mr., South is Fujian に生れ, West is Scotland のエディンバラに学び, East is Japan のWomanを婚り, North is Beijingに住するをててすす. English is not matter, Duyi language is セ仏Lanxi language も出るよし.されどどつング・チャイニイズと异り、西洋の文明を购い冠らず. Christianity, republic, mechanical omnipotence nado を curse る second hand, servant の China clothes を wear たる を 见て, "Western clothes を wear nai no は feeling だ. I only regret うらむらくは braided hair がない."と言う. Mr. and talk about ずること thirty minutes, suddenly ち eighty-nine-year-old girl Ari. Shame かしそうに庁堂へ入り来る. Mr. Gai の お 妹 さ ん な り. (Mrs. おに鬼书に入る.) Mr., お妹さんの肩に手をかけ, Chinese language にてとか嗫けば, お妹さんは小さい口を开き, "いろはにほへとちりぬるをわか..." Yunto々言う. Mrs. の taught えたるなるべし during her lifetime. Mr. は満足そうに笑笑していれど, servant はchatいさるセンティメンタンタルになり, お婆さんの颜を见むるのみ.

お婆さんのGo to りたる, sir, and servant の for ni Duan を を じ, 呉 を を じ, and せ て ト ト ル ス ト を を ず. (トルストイは Mr. へ toilet paper をよこしたたよし.) On じ来り, on じ去って, Mr. の意気大いに昂るや, 眼は易いよいよ火の如く, 颜は投ますますbat nilike たり. Servant の Shanghai を go to らんとするに东り, ジョオンズ, 今の手を把ってくくく, "Forbidden City は见ざるも可なり, Gu Hongming を见るを忘るること不れ."と.ジョオンズの言, Servant を bullying かざるなり. Servant, Mr. Yi の 论ずる に感じ, Mr. He ぞ の Current Events に 急して Current Events に关せんとせざるかを问う. Sir, He ka early mouth ni answer うれど, Sheng hate servant ni 闻きとること can わず. "もう一刻どうか" を缲り返せば, Mr., さも忌々しそうに草半纸の上に大书して said, "Old, old, old, old, old,..."と.

After a while, Mister's mansion wo Cishi, Walk して Dongdan Pailou のホテルに Xiang え ば, Breeze, Namiki の歓花を吃き, Xieyang, Servant のChina clothes をPhotosu.しかもなおbat に思たるMr. のface, servant のin front of the eyesをらざるが如し. Servant は Chase りへ出ずるに依り、Mr.の门を回看してして、──Mr.、兴に负むること不れ、Mr.の老を旦ずるよりも先に、Wei だYoung and useful なるYour own happinessを讃美したり.

Attached 2.
Gu Hongming——The Spirit of the Chinese People "Spring and Autumn Days", Chapter 1, Paragraph 1:

 LET me first of all explain to you what I propose, with you permission, this afternoon to discuss. The subject of our paper I have called "The Spirit of the Chinese people." I do not mean here merely to speak of the character or characteristics of the Chinese people. Chinese characteristics have often been described before, but I think you will agree with me that such description or enumeration of the characteristics of the Chinese people hither to have given us no picture at all of the inner being of the Chinaman. Besides, when we speak of the character or characteristics of the Chinese, it is not possible to generalize. The character of the Northern Chinese, as you know, is as different from that of the Southern Chinese as the character of the Germans is different from that of the Italians.

My translation:

 First let me explain what I propose to talk about this afternoon. I call our thesis topic "The Spirit of Chinese People". I do not want to simply talk about the character or various characteristics of the Chinese people here. Chinese characteristics have been often discussed before. But I think you can agree with me, that is, the description or enumeration of the characteristics of the Chinese people so far has not allowed us to see the inner side of the Chinese people. In addition, when we talk about the character or various characteristics of the Chinese people, we cannot generalize. As you all know, the personality differences between northerners and southerners in China are as great as the differences between Germans and Italians.