Hu Shi (189 1 ~ 1962), formerly known as Hu Hongbi, Heimi, whose real name is Jiang, later renamed as Jixi, Anhui. Modern scholars, historians, writers and philosophers. He is famous for advocating the May 4th literary revolution. Professor Peking University, President Peking University, Dean of the Central Research Institute of Taiwan Province Regional Leaders, etc. The standard-bearer of the literary revolution

-Comments on Hu Shi's Improvement of Literature, On the Construction of Literary Revolution and Ibsen Doctrine (Excerpts)

Li Xuejiao

Nearly a hundred years ago, under the influence of western scientific spirit, a group of energetic and ambitious young people who were determined to reform Chinese literature opened their eyes to the world. They set sail on the sea of Wang Yang in China literature. They risked sailing, broke through many stormy waves and let the flag of "literary revolution" fly on this rough ocean. In this sea of Wang Yang, they are confident and depressed. Time has passed, and a hundred years later, when we look back at the troubled history, we can still see that the revolutionary pioneers have lost some "sighs" of their predecessors and become more determined. They have made indelible contributions to the development of modern literature in China. Hu Shi, as a "deep-water bomb that raises the banner of righteousness first", cannot and will not be submerged in the torrent of history. As Ouyang Shengzhe said: "Hu Shi's' overnight fame' is based on his early new cultural achievements." Hu Shi contributed to the New Culture Movement, which also made him. His three articles published in the early New Culture Movement: The Improvement of Literature, On the Literary Revolution of Construction and Ibsen Doctrine had a great influence on the literary development at that time and later.

First, Lei Yin in China today; The improvement of literature

19 15 years, the seemingly calm literary world in China set off a torrent of revolution. In Shanghai, Chen Duxiu founded Youth Magazine (renamed New Youth Magazine in 19 16), which became the vane of China's new cultural movement. At this time, Hu Shi, who is far away in the United States, is discussing China literature with several overseas students (Mei Guangdi, Ren Shuyong, etc.). ). Hu Shi's ideas about China literature at that time, especially the idea of "writing with poetry", were strongly opposed by Mei and others. Their opposition forced Hu Shi, who was "very conservative", to rise up, prompting Hu Shi to put forward the slogan of "literary revolution". 19 16 years, Hu Shi put his "thoughts and observations of these years" in Chen Duxiu's place and summarized them into eight propositions. At the suggestion of Chen Duxiu, Hu Shi finally "developed eight things into an article" and was called "Lei Yin of China today" by Chen Duxiu. In 19 17, Hu Shi put forward eight famous things:

As soon as you say it, you must have something to say.

Second, don't imitate the ancients.

Third, we should pay attention to grammar.

Four words, don't moan in vain.

Fifth, get rid of cliches.

Six words, no code.

Seven, don't talk about confrontation.

Eight words, don't avoid saying.

124 is a "spiritual revolution" and 35678 is a "formal revolution".

In terms of content, Hu Shi pointed out that "the serious illness of modern Chinese literature lies in the absence of words", that is, articles with "feelings" and "thoughts" should be made; At that time, he severely criticized young people for not making progress, only knowing the "sleepiness" of "complaining about others", and then hoped that young people would become people like Jia Sheng, Wang Mou, Qu Yuan and Xie when the country was in trouble. Secondly, he used the theory of evolution to shout out the pioneering slogan that "the literature of an era has an era", which broke the deep-rooted superstition of China people that "the literature of ancient people is better than that of modern people", and then put forward the concept that "today's China should be the literature of today", which promoted the vernacular novel of "only writing about today's social situation" to the status of "world-class literature" and called it "world-class literature".

In form, Hu Shi attacked the form and language of old literature as an arrow target. He believes that "today's composition as a poet" should first pay attention to grammar, which is specifically analyzed in his later "On the Literary Revolution of Architecture". With grammar, the second thing is to pay attention to what kind of method the article should be written. Hu Shi put forward "to get rid of cliches", and to abandon the old cliches when writing, "to describe and describe in your own words" and "to see with your own eyes, hear with your own ears and experience with your own hands"; At the same time, the composition should be "without allusions", "without antithesis" and "without avoiding common sayings and sayings" Because "no allusions" is "the most attacked by friends in eight things", he divided allusions into five categories and two narrow meanings for detailed discussion. In addition, he also combed the development history of China vernacular literature and took the development of western vernacular literature as a reference. Finally, he put forward the sober viewpoint that "vernacular literature is the authentic literature of China" and predicted that it would be "the necessary weapon of future literature".

This easy-to-understand and well-defined Improvement of Literature provides a new "standard" for the writing of later papers (from the new culture to the present), which is conducive to its standardization. First of all, the level is clear and the arguments are sufficient. The article first summarizes the "eight things", and then discusses the "eight things" in detail by using a large number of arguments at home and abroad. For example, in the article "Don't use the canon", every time he discusses a meaning, he will cite concrete examples, which can be said to be a deep effort, which fully embodies the rigorous attitude of being a scholar in academic research. It is this attitude that leads to the conclusion that "my humble opinion is still unclear, and Comrade China is right to correct it frame by frame." This attitude was criticized by people at that time and later as vagrancy and cowardice. In his reply to Hu Shizhi, Chen Duxiu was also extremely dissatisfied with Hu Shi's attitude of "tolerating dissidents and discussing freely", arguing that "when vernacular Chinese is regarded as authentic literature, its right and wrong are very clear and can not be discussed by opponents". It was Chen Duxiu's resolute attitude that made the literary revolution develop rapidly. In the early days of the literary revolution, this "one size fits all" resolute attitude is necessary, because it is a new thing in itself. However, when we review the history of the Cultural Revolution, we find very similar problems. The Cultural Revolution took an extremely decisive and tough attitude towards the so-called "petty-bourgeois ideology", which was absolutely unacceptable, but the result was completely contrary to the New Culture Movement. The literary revolution advocated by Hu Shi and Chen Duxiu laid the foundation for the prosperity of literature and trained many talents. However, the literary revolution of the Cultural Revolution almost caused the "desolation" of literature and lost a large number of talents. I think Hu Shi's attitude should be more cautious, and literary problems should be solved through discussion. Secondly, the method of evolution. Influenced by Yan Fu's theory of evolution in the early years in Chengzhong School, this paper studies China's new literature from the perspective of evolution, which provides a new method and opens a new horizon for the study of China literature after Wang Guowei.

Hu Shi's contribution to this article lies not only in the content and form of the article, but also in his sense of responsibility and sensitivity as a pioneer of literary revolution. Hu Shi, who was studying in a foreign country at that time, paid close attention to the development of China literature and deeply thought about the development of China literature, showing the sense of social responsibility that an China intellectual should have. Hu Shi's keen strength lies in his ability to analyze China literature from the perspective of language form, which hit the shortcomings of China literature at that time, but it also became a major drawback of Hu Shi's articles: he overemphasized form and inadvertently fell into this strange circle when criticizing China's literary tradition, and then Chen Duxiu made up for this deficiency in On Literary Revolution. Although the writing of vernacular Chinese did not begin with Hu Shi, he was able to take over the unfinished task of improving vernacular literature by Liang Qichao and Huang Zunxian, and reflect on it. In an era when vernacular literature was regarded as a "trail", he publicly put forward that "Cao Xueqin and Wu are authentic", which requires not only acumen but also courage. His momentum in the New Culture Movement laid the foundation for the prosperity of vernacular novels. Hu Shi: a version of modern China people's existence

horsepower

Mr. Gao Yuandong compared the spirit of Lu Xun to "medicine" and Hu Shi's thought to "rice". What a hungry nation needs most is "rice", but don't forget that Lu Xun's "medicine" is always indispensable. Perhaps this is the view of Lu Xun and Hu Shi.

Everyone's way of existence is unique, but this uniqueness is the way of existence. Sun Yu's "Smiling Heresy-Hu Shi in the Image" explains Hu Shi's unique lifestyle, which not only shows the fate of modern intellectuals in China, but also provides a version for the existence of modern China people. The basic construction of Hu Shi's way of life is career and family. In terms of career, Hu Shi was one of the pioneers of the New Culture Movement in China, which attacked the old literature and advocated the improvement of literature during the social transformation period in China during the May 4th Movement. He was also an early academic researcher who used western scientific methods. Dewey's Outline of the History of China's Philosophy and Textual Research on a Dream of Red Mansions adopted a pragmatic view. For these research results, the book "The Heresy of Smiling" gives a high evaluation: it shows the wisdom of a real philosopher, expresses his profound thoughts with the clearest sentence patterns, and does not favor ordinary people or flatter nobles. In his later academic career, Hu Shi always adhered to the pragmatic research method, which was almost pedantic, but actually contained unshakable belief in the scientific spirit. Hu Shi's greater contribution is to lead the May 4th New Culture Movement. He advocated democratic science, actively advocated vernacular Chinese, and set off a literary reform movement. He is one of the well-deserved leaders of the May 4th New Culture Movement. He also personally wrote vernacular poems and directly participated in the construction of modern culture and literature in China. It is precisely because of his academic and cultural contributions that "his name is entangled in the difficult process of China's modern history and modernization". Reading the history of China's modernization is an important existence. He spoke highly of the modernity of Hu Shi's soul and the heresy of laughter. In marriage and family, Sun Yu has another view. Hu Shi revealed in a letter sent to his mother from the United States that he had a like-minded classmate girlfriend while studying in the United States, and Hu Shi, who was engaged to Jiang Dongxiu, had a good impression on her. In the dilemma of choice, "Hu Shi feels that no matter what choice he makes, his heart will not be peaceful." So I had to give up what I wanted, and agreed to "this marriage arranged by my mother" and married an old-fashioned woman Jiang Dongxiu who didn't understand him at all. Join hands with her to "build a semi-old and semi-new home" and "walk along just visiting step by step, becoming numb little by little, so as to end the dream of a lifetime. Most conservative people in China can't escape this fate, but people's suffering is different. "Striving for progress in career, adhering to modern way of thinking and traditional conservative attitude in life constitute two sides of Hu Shi's cultural character. Hu Shi's existence value shows the version of modern China people's existence: they have worked hard to develop an ideal way of life all their lives, but they have to shoulder the dark door and are doomed to die together with the old society. Their beliefs and pursuits belong to modern times, but their personal fate is stuck in the old times. Their thoughts are acceptable, but their emotions are dominated by the old ethics, which shows the existing state of "old China people" in the May 4th period. Sun Yu believes that Hu Shi's cry is even more thrilling, because it has the double pain of home and country. Interpreting the cultural phenomenon of an era through personal feelings makes people feel that any modern rationality cannot be established without emotion and experience as the basis. In a sense, Hu Shi's way of existence shows the existing state of modern China people since the May 4th Movement.