Hu Shi's emotional course

On June 8, Hangzhou 1923 has entered the Huangmei season, and the air is filled with the sultry and humid atmosphere peculiar to Jiangnan. On this day, at Hangzhou Railway Station, the train from Shanghai is slowly entering the station and stopping on the platform. When the door opened, the passengers filed out. In a short time, a young man in a gray cloth gown with tortoise-shell myopia eyes on his nose got off the train. This man was Hu Shi, a nationally famous professor at Peking University and one of the founders of the New Culture Movement in China.

This time, the main purpose of Hu Shi's visit to Hangzhou is not to give a speech, nor to play, but to meet a woman who has haunted him for many years, although they have only known each other for more than a month. This year happened to be the sixth year that Hu Shi returned from studying in the United States.

Hu Shi

Out of the railway station, Hu Shi went straight to Xinxin Hotel on the north bank of West Lake in Hangzhou. Cai Yuanpei, president of Peking University, and Gao, director of the Compiling Institute of the Commercial Press, accompanied him this time. However, Hu Shi did not go to see the person he was eager to see at once, but waited until June 24, when Cai Yuanpei left Hangzhou, and went to Qingxiu Temple on the edge of Nanfeng Smoky Cave in Hangzhou alone. Here, Hu Shi is waiting for the appearance of that woman.

Hu Shi, 189 17 was born in Chuansha County, Shanghai in February, and his ancestral home is Shangzhuang Village, Jixi, Anhui Province. His father, Hu Chuan, was a magistrate in Taitung County, Taiwan Province Province, and died in the Sino-Japanese War. 1895 In February, 4-year-old Hu Shi returned from Taiwan Province under the leadership of his mother Feng Shundi (2 1).

/kloc-at the age of 0/3, Hu Shi left Jixi, Anhui Province, went to Shanghai to receive a new education and began to accept new ideas such as evolution. 19 10 summer, a rare opportunity changed the fate of Hu Shi's life. He passed the second batch of boxer indemnity's qualification for studying abroad at public expense and went to study in the United States.

After earning the second batch of official fees to study in boxer indemnity, Hu Shi first entered Cornell University to study agricultural science. After losing interest in agricultural science, he turned to liberal arts. 19 15 entered Columbia University and studied philosophy with the pragmatic philosopher Dewey. 19 17 After returning to China, he became Professor Peking University. Before returning to China, Hu Shi published Chen Duxiu's "My humble opinion on literary improvement" in "New Youth" and became one of the leaders of the New Culture Movement.

Hu Shi and his wife Jiang Dongxiu.

As the leader of the New Culture Movement, Hu Shi fell into a feudal arranged marriage soon after returning to China. Hu Shi, who abides by filial piety, got close to Jiang Dongxiu, a country woman one year younger than him, under the arrangement of his mother Feng Shundi.

19 17 In August, out of respect for his mother's life, Hu Shi returned to Shangzhuang, Jixi, Anhui, and married Jiang Dongxiu, who had been engaged since childhood. However, on the wedding day, it was not the bride that attracted Hu Shi's attention, but a girl around the bride. This girl is the half-sister of Hu Shi's brother and sister-in-law. Her name is Cao Peisheng, and her scientific name is Juan for short.

Hu Shi came to Hangzhou this time to meet Cao Peisheng, the little maid of honor at the wedding five years ago. Cao Peisheng 1902 was born in Wangchuan Village, Jixi, Anhui Province, only a few miles away from Shangzhuang Village where Hu lived. Hu Shi is a star in his hometown. At the wedding with Jiang Dongxiu, Hu Shi, with a handsome face and elegant manners, suddenly caught the attention of Cao Peisheng, the little maid of honor.

Cao Peisheng's "Mi Ge" made Hu Shi remember his life, and Hu Shi's imprint in Cao Peisheng's heart was also lingering for life. 19 18 In the winter, under the arrangement of his family, Cao Peisheng married Hu, a countryman who had been engaged since childhood. 1920, Cao Peisheng was admitted to Hangzhou No.1 Women's Normal School, and her husband Hu entered Zhejiang No.1 Normal School. Because Cao Peisheng has been studying abroad for four years after her marriage, she has not given birth to a child, which has caused her mother-in-law's dissatisfaction. This incident angered Cao Peisheng, who had begun to accept the May 4th new trend of thought, and decided to divorce her husband.

At the end of 1922, Cao Peisheng and her husband Hu dissolved their marriage. After the divorce, Cao Peisheng continued to study in Hangzhou No.1 Women's Normal School. This change made Hu Shi, who suffered from marriage, see the fire of hope of love again. On April 29th of the second year after Cao Peisheng's divorce, it was the brightest spring in Hangzhou, and Hu Shi appeared on the edge of the West Lake. Wang Jingzhi, a famous poet, a close friend of Hu Shi's neighbors and a relative of Cao Peisheng, once said: "The purpose of Hu Shi's visit to Hangzhou is to visit the little maid of honor who lives alone.

Cao peisheng

In Hangzhou, Hu Shi met Cao Peisheng again, and they have never met since they met at the wedding. At this time, Cao Peisheng was not the little maid of honor in Hu Shi's impression, but a slim female student. Although she lives alone after the divorce, she is still cheerful and somewhat sad. Wang Jingzhi once described Cao Peisheng like this: "She is not beautiful, but she is charming. First he fell in love with me, then he fell in love with Hu Shi. She belongs to the kind of woman who is not very beautiful but charming! "

Cao Peisheng, who was slightly sad, fascinated Hu Shi. After playing in Hangzhou for 4 days, on May 3, when he left, Hu Shi wrote a vernacular poem entitled "West Lake" for Cao Peisheng: "I dreamed of the West Lake in 17 years, which not only failed to cure my illness, but made my illness worse ... This time, I only felt that Yi was more lovely, so I was reluctant to leave in a hurry." -Hu Shi

The word "Yi" in this poem clearly describes the West Lake, but actually refers to Cao Peisheng, not that the West Lake is more lovely, but that people are more lovely. Only Cao Peisheng, who is 2 1 year old, knows the meaning of pun. It is Hu Shi who expresses his feelings through poetry.

Hu Shi was the first person who proposed to write poems in vernacular Chinese. 19 19 August, China published the first collection of poems in vernacular Chinese, becoming the first person to explore the country of new poetry. The new poems of the same period include Goddess by Guo Moruo and Hui Feng by Wang Jingzhi, all of which have great influence in this period.

Due to the promotion of Hu Shi and others, vernacular Chinese began to become the mainstream language style of new literature.

Hu Shi was all-powerful in the New Culture Movement, but he also began to get sick because of overwork. 1923, Hu Shi came to the south to recuperate and often lived in Shanghai and Hangzhou. Hu Shi, who met Cao Peisheng on May 3rd, has been fidgeting since he left Hangzhou. At this time, Hu Shi, although in Shanghai, was still in Hangzhou, still thinking about Cao Peisheng. Cao Peisheng has seen in Hu Shi's poems that this old brother has fallen in love with himself. In the face of Hu Shi's obscure emotional confession, Cao Peisheng couldn't hold back his pent-up feelings. Regarding the love affair between Cao Peisheng and Hu Shi, Shen Weiwei, the author of Biography of Hu Shi and a professor of Chinese Department of Nanjing University, interviewed the only witness at that time, the famous Huxiang poet Wang Jingzhi.

1923 On May 25th, Hu Shi posted eight photos related to the West Lake sent by Cao Peisheng in his diary, one of which was a single portrait of Cao Peisheng himself.

Late at night, under the dim light, Hu Shi began to really experience love, and Cao Peisheng officially began a short but unforgettable emotional journey between her and Hu Shi.

By the end of May 1923, Hu Shi in love could no longer sit still. A week later, Hu Shi got on the train to Hangzhou and appeared on the edge of the misty and rainy West Lake. In late June, after the school holiday, Hu Shi finally waited for his lover Cao Peisheng in the Smoke Cave in Nanshan, Hangzhou.

There are three famous caves in Nanshan of West Lake in Hangzhou, namely Shuile, Stone House and Yanyun. Among them, the clouds are the best scenery, and Qingxiu Temple is in the south of the clouds. Very quiet. The monks in the temple admired Hu Shizhi's name and rented two small rooms in the east of the main hall to Hu Shi. Here Hu Shi and Cao Peisheng began their cohabitation.

In Xiayandong, Hangzhou, two people quietly enjoy the happiness brought by love, and send their love to Xia Yan every day. They either play games, sit around drinking tea, or visit the mountains to watch the Buddha. It's raining in Hangzhou, and the West Lake and surrounding mountains are more beautiful and lovely after the rain. Hu Shi recorded in his diary that he and Cao Peisheng walked together between mountains and rivers. It's sunny today and the weather is very good. In the afternoon, Pearson and I went out to see osmanthus flowers, passing through Wengjiashan, and the osmanthus trees were in full bloom, welcoming guests with fragrance. We crossed Ge Hongjing, climbed the mountain and went to Longjing Temple ... (Hu Shi's diary)

When the weather is bad, the two of them are reading under the eaves. Hu Shi wrote in his diary: In the morning, I read the story of atos and Juan's night party. I said this story can be used as a chronicle poem ... (Hu Shi's diary)

When they lived together, it happened to be Cao Peisheng's summer vacation, but school would start soon, and Cao Peisheng took another month off to continue to accompany Hu Shi. Since then, Hu Shi has stayed in the south, and did not return to Beijing until the middle of 1923.

The time when I lived with Cao Peisheng in a cave in Xia Yan left an unforgettable impression on Hu Shi. Hu Shi once wrote in the diary of 1923 10/0/0. I spent the happiest day of my life in the moonlight these three months-Hu Shi's diary.

Although they live together, they are not known to many outsiders. 1923 Mid-Autumn Festival, Hu Shi invited his friend, Xu Zhimo, a great poet of Crescent School, to visit Hangzhou. Xu Zhimo, who claimed to be "I am sick, I am horny", saw the extraordinary relationship between Hu Shi and Cao Peisheng at a glance.

Although Hu Shi was an early contact with western culture in modern China, he was deeply influenced by China's traditional morality and always showed a contradiction in the face of free love and old-fashioned marriage.

Seeing that a friend had a lover in Hangzhou, Xu Zhimo encouraged Hu Shi to "revolution", but Hu Shi, who fell in love with Cao Peisheng, wanted to break through the shackles of ethics, but lacked courage.

Therefore, Hu Shi once comforted himself: "I would rather not be free than be free." -Hu Shi

Hu Shi wandered between tradition and modernity, new and old all his life. 1962 When he died of illness, Chiang Kai-shek wrote in his elegy that "the model of old morality in new culture and the model of new ideas in old ethics". This can be said to be Hu Shi's best life summary.

Autumn has come, winter has come, and the day of parting has come. I knew her a long time ago, but since we separated, the weather has gradually turned cold and has a bleak meaning. Hu Shi wrote in his diary: When I woke up, the waning moon was shining on my head, and it was already three o'clock. This is the last time to see the moon in Xia Yandong ... Now it's time to leave, and the moon will shine on me again. From then on, I don't know when I can continue Xia Yandong's "immortal life" for three months! Watching the moon on the pillow slowly move over the corner, I can't help feeling dejected (Hu Shi's diary).

At the end of the new calendar 1923, Hu Shi reluctantly left the paradise on earth-Hangzhou, Cao Peisheng, and returned to Beijing.

Hu Shi returned to Beijing in a slight cold wind. Xu Zhimo once heard the love affair between Hu Shi and Cao Peisheng. Back home, his wife Jiang Dongxiu pinned Hu Shi down with scissors. Hu Shi admitted his love affair with Cao Peisheng. Because his mother, Feng Shundi, had passed away, Hu Shi failed to fulfill his filial piety according to his mother's wishes, and finally filed for divorce with Jiang Dongxiu.

In the face of Jiang Dongxiu's death, Hu Shi flinched, but Cao Peisheng still lingered in his mind. After quarreling with his wife, Hu Shi left home and lived in a friend's house in Xishan, Beijing. There is no place to alleviate his pain, sadness and desolation. On a cold night, Hu Shi wrote, "Mountain breeze blows away the loose marks on enough paper, but it can't blow away the figure in my heart" (Moonlight on the Secret Cliff, Hu Shi)

The love affair between Hu Shi and Cao Peisheng faded away in the cold wind in the western hills of Beijing, but Cao Peisheng kept his love for Hu Shi in his heart until his death.

Yanglin Bridge, located at the entrance of Shangzhuang Village, Jixi, Anhui Province, Hu Shi's hometown, was destroyed by flash floods on June 25th. 1965. Cao Peisheng donated his savings to rebuild Yanglin Bridge.

Cao Peisheng never married again. She left her last words before she died. She must be buried beside the path beside Yanglinqiao, because that is the only way for Hu Shi to go home. (Photo/CCTV)