Memoirs of a Loser 10: The Prophet

When I was young, I bought a copy of "The Words of the World", which is my favorite. Wang Guowei's "realm" theory, one by one aesthetic comments on ancient poetry, makes people chew on it over and over again and think about it. Among them, it talks about "the ancient and modern people who achieve great undertakings and ask great questions must pass through three realms. "Last night, the west wind withered the green trees. Climbing up the tall buildings alone, looking out to the end of the world." This is the first realm. Do not regret it, because Yixiao makes people haggard.” This is the second realm. “The crowd searched for him thousands of times, and when I looked back, the man was there, where the lights were dim.” This is the third realm.” The three realms are quoted from ancient poems respectively. , not only for aesthetic interpretation, but also about the pursuit of career and learning in life.

Wang Guowei was a master of Chinese studies in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China. He wrote "Human Cihua" in 1910. He appreciates Chinese classical poetry from a Western aesthetic point of view, and has unique insights. Wang Guowei's knowledge is extensive and excellent. Chen Yinke, a master of Chinese studies, said that his academic achievements are "almost as far as the horizon and the traces of traces to be found."

Before the Enlightenment movement started in the late Qing Dynasty was not overwhelmed by the consciousness of national salvation, Chinese writers, scholars and celebrities appeared in large numbers. In 1925, Tsinghua University established the Institute of Chinese Studies, and hired Wang Guowei, Liang Qichao , Chen Yinke , and Zhao Yuan as tutors, known as the " Four Tutors " of the Chinese Academy . Mei Yiqi , who has been the president of Tsinghua University for a long time, once said: "The so-called great scholar is not just a building, but a master." It is precisely because the Tsinghua Institute of Chinese Studies has four masters that it was founded two years ago, and its prestige is immediate. Outstanding.

Back then, I was addicted to the aesthetic realm of "The Words of the World", but I didn't know about Wang Guowei's years.

After the October Revolution in Russia in 1917, socialist thought emerged in the world. In 1921, the Communist Party of China was established. In 1924, the Kuomintang introduced Soviet experts to transform into a Lenin-style party, and adopted the policy of "taking Russia as a teacher" and "joining Russia and supporting the Communist Party". This year, Wang Guowei wrote in an article titled "On Political Science": "So there is socialism, and there is communism. However, this matter of equalization of production will make the people of the country equally equal? Should it be entrusted to a few people to make it uniform? After the production is equalized, will the people of the whole country be managed? Or should it be entrusted to a few people to be the agency? The matter will be seen in a matter of minutes.” To distribute property equally, it is impossible for the whole country to share it equally, but must be represented by a few people, and it is inevitable that these few people will become privileged. This privilege will intensify and become totalitarian.

Wang Guowei also said in a letter to a friend: "Looking at the current situation in China, I am afraid that it will start with a republic and end with a republic."

The next hundred years of history have proved his prophetic prophecy.

In 1927, the news that the Northern Expedition Army was about to attack Beijing caused a bipolar reaction in Tsinghua Garden: the young students were ecstatic, but the "four major tutors" of the Chinese Academy were all worried. On June 2, Wang Guowei went to the Summer Palace in Beijing, where he sank to his death in Kunming Lake. A suicide note was found in his pocket, and it was written: "In fifty years, I only owe one death. After this world has changed, my righteousness will no longer be humiliated...." He was only 49 years old when he died.

In 1929, Chen Yinke wrote on the inscription erected for Wang Guowei in the Tsinghua Garden: "Scholars who study and study will be free from the shackles of conventional truths, and the truth will be carried forward. If you don't think freely, you'd rather die. "My teacher's writings may sometimes be inconsistent with chapters; your teacher's teachings may sometimes be negotiable; but this independent spirit, free thinking, has undergone thousands of sacrifices, and has lasted as long as heaven and earth, with a total of three lights and eternal light."

The "worldly truth" is the law in the Buddhist scriptures that refers to the changes of the world, which is different from the "true truth" which is stable and unchanging. "Three lights" refers to the sun, moon and stars.

The reasons for Wang Guowei's self-destruction have been debated for decades. However, from his anxiety about the political situation at that time, he foresees that with the collapse of the Beijing regime in the Republic of China, the environment that accommodates "independent spirit and free thinking" will also disappear, and the situation of "beginning with republic and ending with communism" will come. He said that "after this world has changed, there will be no more humiliation of righteousness." He seems to foresee the common experience of "after the world has changed and then humiliated" by intellectuals attached to it.

This was the "death admonition" of the Prophet to the Chinese people back then, but almost no one understood it.

Change the lyrics of <Vincent>: "China simply doesn't deserve to have a person as beautiful as Wang Guowei."

(Article published on May 12, 2021)

"Memoirs of a Loser" serial catalog (continuously updated)

1. Inscription
2. break through
3. Inside the circle outside the circle
4. murderous
5. torment
6. hurt
7. turbulent times
8. choice
9. that age
10. twisted history
11. prophet

 ("Memoirs of a Loser" was previously serialized in "Apple Daily" and is now being continuously updated by Matters)