真正的中国人有着童子之心和成人之思。中国人的精神是一种永葆青春的精神，是不朽的民族魂。中国人永远年轻的秘密又何在呢？诸位一定记得我曾经说过：是同情或真正的人类的智能造就了中国式的人之类型，从而形成了真正的中国人那种难以言表的温良。这种真正的人类的智能，是同情与智能的有机结合，它使人的心与脑得以调和。总之，它是心灵与理智的和谐。如果说中华民族之精神是一种青春永葆的精神，是不朽的民族魂，那么，民族精神不朽的秘密就是中国人心灵与理智的完美谐和。（辜鸿铭
著 \黄兴涛 宋小庆 译）
辜鸿铭认为，要估价一种文明，必须看它“能够生产什么样子的人，什么样的男人和女人”。
joe>china has been breeding good people; west, good machines.
他反对西方的共和，热衷中国的帝制，视妇女缠足为国粹，把一夫多妻当作天理，似乎保守到了无法想象的地步，被人视为那个时代的怪物。辜鸿铭的确是一个旷世怪杰，他的怪，令人绝倒，令人瞪目。在国内备受奚落的辜老先生，在国外却是个人人敬仰的中国第一学士。他是20世纪二、三十年代在欧美名气最大、声誉最隆的中国学者，尤其在当时的德国，连一般老百姓都知道他的名字。他第一个将中国的古代经典《论语》、《中庸》用英、德两种语言翻译到西方，他又曾对昔日同求学于欧洲的日本首相伊藤博文大讲孔学，与俄国文学大师列夫托尔斯泰书信往来，在上海宴请德国皇太子，英国近代著名小说家毛姆1920年曾千里迢迢专程到重庆拜访他，日本作家芥川龙之介和印度作家泰戈尔都来华与他谋面，在他的客厅里还悬挂有俄国皇储送给他的金表。这个曾与泰戈尔同获诺贝尔文学奖提名的中国人，这个被印度圣雄甘地称为“最尊贵的中国人”，在国人越来越推崇西方文化的同时，却是越来越顽固地坚守着自己与众不同的立场，他倒读报纸嘲笑没有内涵的英国人，更为传奇的是，这个中国最大的反西学者1920年更是在美国最负影响力的报纸《纽约时报》星期杂志上发表了一篇题为《没有文化的美国》(The Uncivilized United States)的文章，辜先生把狂傲的美国人骂得一钱不值的同时，也为自己赢得了美国人对英国人王尔德、萧伯纳般的尊敬，因为他们也是靠这套方法赢得美国人对外国人少有的五体投地的。或许是因为辜鸿铭先生始终是在和洋人打交道，当国人对这个服装怪、行为怪、思想学说更怪的糟老头视为博人一笑的文化小丑时，他那些英文写成的著作却在国外广为流传并备受推崇,20世纪初的西方流传着这样一条谚语：到中国可以不看三大殿，不可以不看辜鸿铭。文化小丑还是饱学之士？辜鸿铭或许永远也不会在乎别人怎么说，因为特立独行或许本身就是这个狂士怪杰所喜欢的。抛开他的人为标新立异的成份不谈，他的许多做法是与受到他幼年的学习方法影响分不开的，他幼年在义父布郎的教导启蒙下学习西方经典时先不求甚解全部背诵下来然后再通达其义，这种方法类似与中国传统私塾的教育，效果也屡试不爽。辜鸿铭归国后也是蜕去洋装，先对传统的东西来个全盘接受，用这种方法来尽快和母国文化接轨，在国内经常有人讥笑他的汉诗和书法不好，他要通过某种极端的做法来摆脱那种精神“断乳”带来的危机感。
在他眼里，世界上最为优秀的文化——唐宋文化只存在于日本，中国自从经历过唐朝的繁盛后，曾经达到鼎盛的文化传统因为不断的战争而被人为地割裂，经历过元代和清代，这种鼎盛的文化传统几乎消失殆尽，而日本却因为国内环境的平稳而将在中国几近消失的唐宋文化完整地保留了下来。辜鸿铭晚年在讲学中，经常公开赞扬日本民族的优越性。在辜鸿铭看来，日本民族是世界上最为优秀的民族，因为他们留有世界上最为优秀的中国的传统文化，同时，他还把现在的日本人和中国的唐宋人民等同起来，把现在的日本妇女视为中国唐宋的妇女。辜鸿铭甚至还一再声称日本国在西方列强的入侵中，没有遭到像中国一样的命运，这是因为日本比中国更完整地留有中国的传统文化。因为在他看来，中国传统的文明，是精神、心灵程度的文明，而西方文明则是物质、机械的文明，后者自然是不可与前者同日而语的，因为前者是成熟稳固的文明，而后者则还在成长之中。在两者的对抗中，自然是前者胜于后者。
宣扬自己关于“东方文化优越论”的主张，他希望中日两国应该抛弃前嫌，坦诚交往，为共同复兴以中国传统文化为根基的东方文明而努力，中日现在的矛盾，在他看来属于“亲兄弟之间的争吵”，这种“兄弟间时常会有的矛盾”并不是不可调和的，只要诚心相对，两国很快就又会像亲兄弟一样团结在一起了。辜鸿铭还认为日本国之所以抵御住了西方列强的入侵，并不是因为日本实行了明治维新西化的结果，而是中国优秀传统文化的功劳，所以在他的讲学中，不管日本各界对他讲学的评价如何，对日本始终过于理想化的辜鸿铭多次警告日本应该立刻停止西化的一切活动，要“承担起复兴东方文明的使命”，通过“复兴东方”，以达到“拯救世界的目的”，他在《中国文明的复兴与日本》中写到“日本能否防止自身的西化……不仅关系到日本，也关系到远东的未来”，如果日本不西化则“也能够防止中国的西化，并最终依靠日本的努力将明治以前日本保存着的纯正的中国古代文明带回给今日中国，这是历史赋予日本的使命”。“日本必须把复兴真正的中国文明作为日本的天职”，“给全体东亚人民带来真正的中国文明的复兴，是日本的神圣使命”，这便是他“大东亚文化建设”的理论。辜鸿铭希望中日世代像兄弟般扶携帮助的善良愿望在二战中却被日本军国主义利用，成了发动战争的借口之一，这的确是有悖辜老原本的愿望的。前后长达三年的日本讲学，辜鸿铭并没有在日本实现自己复兴中国文明的伟大梦想。
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辜鸿铭还是个记忆天才。他在少年时代所学的诗歌，终生不忘。当外国人向他请教因何有如此记忆力时，他说，你们外国人用脑记忆（remember by brain），我们中国人用心记忆（remember by heart）。
“岂好辩哉，予不得已矣！”这是辜鸿铭喜欢引用的孟子语录。在现实生活中，他还是直追东方朔的能言善辩之士、一个为中外称道的讽刺天才。
在崇洋惧洋成风的年代，辜鸿铭始终高举爱国主义大旗。爱国，首先要爱其文明。在《在德不在辫》一文中，他指出：“洋人绝不会因为我们割去发辫，穿上西装，就会对我们稍加尊敬的。我完全可以肯定，当我们中国人变成西化者洋鬼子时，欧美人只能对我们更加蔑视。事实上，只有当欧美人了解到真正的中国人—— 一种有着与他们截然不同却毫不逊色于他们文明的人民时，他们才会对我们有所尊重。”
辜鸿铭不遗余力地颂扬中华文明，肯定中华文明，甚至到了言必赞中华的地步。在他看来，中华文明高于一切文明，因此，一心要把中华文明推向全世界，并声称要用中华文明改造世界。他坚信，未来的世界，必是儒教的天下。这种民族骨气和不凡的气度，在旧中国即使不是绝无仅有，也当属凤毛麟角。由是，辜鸿铭的精神颇得时人的钦佩，就连外国人也向他投以赞扬的目光。
辜鸿铭当然也在为多灾多难的中国设制蓝图，只不过他的办法，既不是以其人之道还治其人之身的报复，也不是以科学的残杀互相回敬，更不是通过部分地或全盘地将中国西化，而是使中国更加中国化，用中国文明的道德力量去对付西方枪炮。他甚至认为：
制止一种社会和政治罪恶、以及改革世界之儒教办法，是通过一种自尊和正直诚实的生活，赢得一种道德力量，孔子说：“君子笃恭而天下平。”我以为，这就是力量，这就是中华民族惟一可赖的力量，要想将其古老的文明从现代欧洲民族的物质实利主义之破坏力中挽救出来，最好的办法就存在于这种古老的文明之中。（《中国牛津运动故事》）
辜鸿铭最为时代诟病的，是他为帝制辩护，为那位垂帘听政、既阴险又凶残的慈禧老太太辩护，并向西方世界肉麻地吹捧她。武昌起义既发，他冒天下之大不韪，逆流而动，甘做腐朽王朝的孝子贤孙，在《字林西报》发表文论，反对革命，劝说列强出兵围剿革命军。随后又致信《字林西报》编辑，谴责该报诬蔑、诋毁慈禧太后。他满怀着对新时代的愤懑和抵触情绪，却堂而皇之地宣言：“许多人笑我痴心忠于清室，但我之忠于清室，非仅忠于吾家世受皇恩之王室——乃忠于中国之政教，即系忠于中国之文明。”丁巳年，辜鸿铭还不分良莠地加入到张勋复辟之列，更是成为一生无法洗去的污点。
joe>the verdict is far from in yet. dont forget that Ku was a very critical person.
关于辜鸿铭的国学，日本汉学家清水安三博士有段颇见心得的看法：“辜鸿铭的国学功底在于具有高瞻远瞩地批判、理解中国思想的眼光，他探究其精髓、特征及伟大功绩之所在，并指陈它的缺失，是相当充分的。在比较衡量西方文化及其思想的领域中，他是不可缺少的人物。他并非纯粹的国学家，但他只要具备理解、批判中国文化并与西方文化进行比较的能力，就足够了，因为除此之外的研究，对他来说都是多余的。”
徜徉于西学和国学的大海里，辜鸿铭的平生主张及学说大旨，具见于《春秋大义》及英译《中庸》。在辜鸿铭的文化思想中，最基本之点，即可作为他的文化思想逻辑核心的，是对“civilization”（文明）的理解。这也是他坚执儒家文明的思想底蕴。
辜鸿铭对西方文明有着深刻的认识，在思想上对西洋物质文明有所批判，并且认为西方民族的富强是由于战争和掠夺，所谓“文明”，流弊无穷，应当吸取中国文明的优点，用以补救。在欧战期间，他不遗余力地把中国的孔子之道推荐给西人，认为这是“贤人的宗教”，可以把欧洲从战争的困境中拯救出来。在1915年出版的《春秋大义》里，他如是偏执地告诉世人：
要估评一个文明，在我看来，我们最终必须问的问题不是它修建了和能够修建巨大的城市、宏伟壮丽的建筑和宽广平坦的马路；也不是它制造了和能够制造漂亮舒适的家具，精致实用的工具、器具和仪器，甚至不是学院的建立、艺术的创造和科学的发明。要估价一个文明，我们必须问的问题是它能够造就什么样的人性类型，什么样的男人和女人。事实上，正是一个文明所造就的男男女女、人性类型，显示了该文明的本质和个性，即可以说显示了该文明的灵魂。
当然，在辜鸿铭的学说里，世界上只有“中国文明是一种真正的道德文明”，他的文化观念上的褊狭由此可见。他认为，中国人的性格和中国文明的特点是深沉、博大、纯朴、灵敏，美国人博大、纯朴，但不深沉，英国人深沉、纯朴，但不博大，德国人深沉、博大，但不纯朴，因此都难以理解真正的中国人和中国文明。相对来说，只有法国人还差强人意。
作为学者，辜鸿铭有着深切的人文关怀。他所行虽不羁，但交友真诚，每以进德修业相勉。还在北大时，他深叹学生徒以语言文学为装饰，绝非真心向学为可惜。在《留学生与文学革命——读写能力与教育》一文中，他对那些初回国的欧美留学生欲将世界古老文化在一夜之间摧毁破坏深表忧虑。
辜鸿铭这种关怀和担忧，由人文推及政教，他认为：“将来科学愈进步，世界战争也愈激烈，要消弭这种灾祸，非推行中国礼教不可。”诸如此类思想见解，固有新颖可取处，但有时也怪论百出。由于过分钟情于中国文化，一味排弃西方文明，使得辜鸿铭的思想学说显得肤浅而空疏，有时还像其发辫一样，为生活的装饰品。
joe>this criticism of Ku came from a typical hollowed chinese
晚年，辜鸿铭应邀两次赴日本讲学，鼓吹儒学救世论，其中不乏政治言论。他在日本帝国旅馆泛太平洋会演说时，马伯援曾记下其演讲大意：
一、西洋人言性恶，因为性恶，则互相猜忌，互相攻伐，演成欧洲大战，为人类的浩劫；
二、中国人说“人之初，性本善”，其不善的原因，是为物欲引诱，主张四海兄弟，世界大同，是谓王道；
三、日本今后，当致力于中国文化，讲求道德，研究王道，万不可再学习欧洲的军国主义，扰乱东亚。
辜鸿铭的学生兆文钧在他那篇颇有争议的《辜鸿铭先生对我讲述的往事》一文中，曾记下辜鸿铭的一些政治观点：
古今时代不同，社会制度有变，水涨船高，后来居上，不能把三千多年前的汤武革命，和十年前的列宁革命等量齐观，相提并论；但是，民主精神是始终日月经天，江河行地的。帝王也罢，总统也罢，主席也罢。凡有民主精神的帝王，就是好帝王，尧舜是也；没有民族精神的帝王，就是坏帝王，桀纣是也；有民主精神的总统，就是好总统，华盛顿、林肯是也；没有民主精神的总统，就是坏总统，袁世凯、曹锟是也；列宁领导社会主义、共产主义革命，他具有高度的民族精神，是一位好主席，但是他的继承人是否也能像他那样具有高度的民主精神，克绍列宁的伟大革命事业，尚不可知。有好社会制度，又有好领导，当然再好没有啦。有好社会制度，没有好领导，则社会制度会变为僵尸，领导会变为恶魔——“人存政举，人亡政息”，这两句话是真理。
你们教育界人士，视教育为万能，不问政治，是错误的。要知，最重要的是政治。必须若干年后，世界大同的时代到来，那时，人们到处高歌：“日出而作，日入而息，帝力于我何有哉！”什么叫做帝？古人对自然现象，自然数雷为帝，认为它具有巨大的力量，鼓动万物之生机，主宰世界；对社会现象，把政治力量比做帝，教民勿惰，使民宜之。尧舜小康时代，人民开始见到了民主精神的光明，便欢欣鼓舞地歌唱：“帝力于我何有哉！”迨至世界大同时代，人民更要欢欣鼓舞地歌唱： “帝力于我何有哉！”不过把古老的名词——“帝”改变为新的名词——“政治”罢了。那时，政治服从教育——真民主教育。假民主教育比真专制教育还恶劣。现在，美国所讲授的民主教育，就是假民主教育。杜威集假民主教育之大成，扬其波而助其流，所谓小人之无忌惮者也！在他的心目中，哪里还有“人民”二字。我希望你再给学生讲课时，把现在美国的假民主教育，改写成“民诅”教育。
这些看法虽时见疏陋偏颇，但品读之下，读者诸君该不会把它们统统归入可笑、不当之列吧？至于辜鸿铭把Democracy（民主）拆字成 Demo-cracy（意思为魔鬼加疯狂）,既反映了他对西方民主的讨厌之情，也反映了西方民主的虚假一面。
joe>what!!! i give up!!! i hope Ku in heaven would like the new term: demobcrazy.
对辜鸿铭的思想政见，罗振玉是倾心佩服的，尝言：“天之生君，将以为卫道之干城，警世之木铎，其否泰通塞固不仅系于一人一国已也。”又说：“君论事于二十年以前，而一一验于二十年后，有如蓍龟，此孔子所谓‘百世可知’，益以见其学其识洞明无爽。”
joe>it's happening again on discussion forums, to me and surely others.
八、今人究竟该如何评价
在中国近代史上，辜鸿铭演足了自己的悲喜剧。
以他的聪明智慧，却没有与时俱进，这是为人所叹惋的。罗振玉甚至认为辜鸿铭“不见用于当世，乃国与民之不幸，而不在君也”。辜鸿铭的意义当然不是为我们提供了一个丑而可观的形象，而在于他是那个崇洋媚外的年头中坚定不移的民族主义者，在于他让世界了解到了中国文化的精义（虽有残缺之嫌），了解到中国人的不可欺。
“中国留学生之守旧最深，而主张复古最力者”云云)，是以一种思想的极端反对另一种极端。
joe>not with me, being an independent scientist. china is old and center. west is extreme, mostly bad.
“辜氏于中国之道德文化，具坚深之信仰，是其卓见；于西方之功利主义个人主义帝国主义痛斥不遗余力，且能以流畅犀利之英文文笔表达之，是其特长。对国家世界，其功自不可没”。
针对辜鸿铭言论多武断而偏激，加之其人品性格亦多缺失，傲睨一切，诙谐谩骂，放荡不恭，吴宓特别指出“决非崇奉人文主义而苦心化世者所宜出，决不足为今日中国及未来世界精神之师表”。
joe>i dont think Ku expect people to worship him. see how he looked down on his contemporay who won the nobel prize?
时过境迁，这些年来对辜鸿铭的评价渐趋客观公正。对其在宣传中国文化遗产方面所具的不世之功应予以充分肯定。如冯天瑜教授说，辜鸿铭乃是“中国近代思想文化领域在‘古今中西之争’中演化出来的一个奇特而复杂的标本”。黄兴涛博导认为：“他是五四时期以前惟一有分量的向西方积极弘扬中国文化的中国学者，是中学西渐史上一个独特的代表，只有他，硬是在传教士的垄断中挤得了一席之地。”中国社科院研究员王炎还为辜鸿铭的陋俗作善意的辩护，认为：“辜氏最为人诟病的，就是他对诸如缠足、纳妾、吐痰等这些现代人眼中的陋俗为之辩。其实，在现代性向全球拓展之先，世界各个民族都存在不少被今人视为陋俗的习俗，即使是自以为文明高人一等的欧洲人也并不例外。”鲁枢元以作家和学者的眼光来看他：“在历史的苹果园里，辜鸿铭是一只过早坠地的‘落果’，他的可贵之处是超前地看到了社会发展中的困境和危机，他的可悲之处也正在于此。”
##################end #################
真正的中国人有着童子之心和成人之思。中国人的精神是一种永葆青春的精神，是不朽的民族魂。中国人永远年轻的秘密又何在呢？诸位一定记得我曾经说过：是同情或真正的人类的智能造就了中国式的人之类型，从而形成了真正的中国人那种难以言表的温良。这种真正的人类的智能，是同情与智能的有机结合，它使人的心与脑得以调和。总之，它是心灵与理智的和谐。如果说中华民族之精神是一种青春永葆的精神，是不朽的民族魂，那么，民族精神不朽的秘密就是中国人心灵与理智的完美谐和。（辜鸿铭
著 \黄兴涛 宋小庆 译）
辜鸿铭认为，要估价一种文明，必须看它“能够生产什么样子的人，什么样的男人和女人”。
joe>china has been breeding good people; west, good machines.
他批评那些“被称作中国文明研究权威”的传教士和汉学家们“实际上并不真正懂得中国人和中国语言”。他独到地指出：“要懂得真正的中国人和中国文明，那个人必须是深沉的、博大的和纯朴的”，因为“中国人的性格和中国文明的三大特征，正是深沉、博大和纯朴，此外还有“灵敏”。
辜鸿铭从这一独特的视角出发，把中国人和美国人、英国人、德国人、法国人进行了对比，凸显出中国人的特征之所在：美国人博大、纯朴，但不深沉；英国人深沉、纯朴，却不博大；德国人博大、深沉，而不纯朴；法国人没有德国人天然的深沉，不如美国人心胸博大和英国人心地纯朴，却拥有这三个民族所缺乏的灵敏；只有中国人全面具备了这四种优秀的精神特质。也正因如此，辜鸿铭说，中国人给人留下的总体印象是“温良”，“那种难以言表的温良”。在中国人温良的形象背后，隐藏着他们“纯真的赤子之心”和“成年人的智慧”。辜鸿铭写道，中国人“过着孩子般的生活——一种心灵的生活”。
辜鸿铭狂放的姿态，是他带泪的表演，是以狂放来保护强烈的自尊。
joe>something that kim, almadinejad and chavey have picked up.
他学在西洋，却喜欢东方姑娘，尤其喜爱中国姑娘的小脚。他的夫人淑姑是小脚，他一见钟情、终身不负。
joe>well, veils, braids, and now bounded feet.
辜鸿铭在北京大学任教，梳着小辫走进课堂，学生们一片哄堂大笑，辜平静地说：“我头上的辫子是有形的，你们心中的辫子却是无形的。”闻听此言，狂傲的北大学生一片静默。
中国的语言也是一种心灵的语言。...
原因在于儿童和未受教育者是用心灵来思考和使用语言。相反，受过教育者，特别是受过理性教育的现代欧洲人，他们是用大脑和智慧来思考和使用语言的。有一种关于极乐世界的说法也同样适用于对中国语言的学习：除非你变成一
个孩子，否则你就难以学会它。
joe>we r losing big, simplying our characters!
其次，我们再指出一个众所周知的中国人日常生活中的事实。中国人具有惊人的 记忆力，其秘密何在？就在于中国人是用心而非脑去记忆。用具同情力量的心灵记事
，比用头脑或智力要好得多，后者是枯燥乏味的。
joe>how would i have also guessed this, i ll never know. maybe all chinese deep
down know that:
东方文化 讲情义 Eastern culture emphasizes emotion and
ideal.
西方文化 讲势理 Western culture emphasizes power and reason.
情义重因 势理果 Emotion and ideal focus on causes, while power
and reason, on effects.
心心相连 脑制人 Hearts can link people together, but
brains are used to control each other.
正是因为中国人过着一种心灵的生活，一种像孩子的生活，所以使得他们在许多方面还显得有些幼稚。这是一个很明显的事实，即作为一个有着那么悠久历史的伟大
民族，中国人竟然在许多方面至今仍表现得那样幼稚。
joe>secret of longevity. i truly feel a lot of us chinese have this "disease".
那么欧洲人现在所从事的所谓科学研究，那种为了证明一种科学理论而不惜去摧残 肢解生体的所谓科学，则使中国人感到恐惧并遭到了他们的抑制
joe>as an established scientist, i still feel quite anti-technology.
"中国人最优秀的特质是当他们过着心灵的生活，象孩子一样生活时，却具有为中世纪基督教徒或其他任何处于初级阶段的民族所没有的思想与理性的力量。换句话说，中国人最美妙的特质是：作为一个有悠久历史的民族，它既有成年人的智慧，又能够过着孩子般的生活──一种心灵的生活。
因此，我们与其说中国人的发展受到了一些阻碍，不如说她是一个永远不衰老的民族。简言之，作为一个民族，中国人最美妙的特质就在于他们拥有了永葆青春的秘密。
joe>well, logic converges. we both said the same thing.
20世纪初，西方人曾流传一句话：到中国可以不看三大殿，不可不看辜鸿铭。 辜鸿铭何许人也？他生在南洋，学在西洋，婚在东洋，仕在北洋。精通英、法、德、拉丁、希腊、
...
<www.guoxue.com/master/guhongming/guhongming.htm>
辜鸿铭1856年出生于马来亚槟榔屿一个英国人的一个橡胶园里，自小俊敏的他被在当地传播 ...
辜鸿铭是个矛盾的混合体，中西文化的激烈碰撞使他成为清末的第一大怪物。
"Whenever modern scientific men of Europe meet with any extraordinary manifestation of human soul which they cannot explain, they call it fanaticism. But what is fanaticism? It is this. The only impulse which can drive men to extraordinary acts of courage and heroism, and make them sacrifice themselves, is the impulse inspired by a desire to defend something which they in their hearts admire, love and reverence."
Author: KChew
Date: 10-18-06 22:49
I have been lurking in this forum for quite sometime, and enjoyed reading many
of the postings.
Thus, I would contribute a little bit back, by posting some interesting
information on Gu Hongming, the confucian philosopher. Gu was the old
philosopher that was mentioned by English writer Somerset Maugham (in the book
"On a Chinese screen") that was posted by Wankee in earlier posting - http://www.asiawind.com/forums/read.php?f=3&i=190448&t=190445
).
A little on his background that is taken from another forum.
Ku Hong-ming was born into a family of nanyang ethnic Chinese (nanyang meaning
"the South Sea", an old Chinese term for Southeast Asia). He received early
schooling at the Prince of Wales' Island Central School [in Penang], then when
he reached the age of thirteen, he was brought to Edinburgh by his Scottish
godfather, Forbes Brown, and stayed with the Brown family while furthering his
education in Europe. For the next decade or so, Ku immersed himself in the
European humanistic curriculum and mastered an impressive array of languages,
including Greek, Latin, French, and German. As one of the handful of Eurasians
or ethnic Chinese studying the humanities in nineteenth-century Europe, Ku
became conversant with the classics as well as the modern literature and
philosophy of the West. After finishing an M.A. degree at the University of
Edinburgh, he went on to study civil engineering in Germany for a period of
time. In 1880 he returned to Southeast Asia and began a career in the colonial
administration of Singapore.
A chance encounter with the Chinese scholar and senior diplomat Ma Jianzhong
(1844-1900)... as Ma was passing through Singapore and Penang in 1881 is said to
have brought about a miraculous transformation in Ku's outlook on life and the
world. Almost immediately after the two became acquainted, Ku made what would
become for him a life-changing decision: he quit his job with the colonial
secretary in Singapore and renounced his identity as "an imitation Western man".
Ku relates: "I was too impatient to wait for the boss's reply to my note of
resignation. I simply jumped on board a departing steamer and returned to my old
home Penang. The moment I arrived, I announced to the head of our clan who was
my cousin that I was going to grow a queue and adopt the Chinese long gown."
Undaunted by the fact that he had to acquire Mandarin and classical Chinese in
his mid-twenties in order to become Chinese, Ku plunged into an intensive course
of study; within three years he had learned to read and write classical Chinese
and had a tolerable command of the Confucian classics. In 1885 Ku sailed for
China and soon afterward was appointed top secretary-interpreter in the office
of Viceroy Zhang Zhidong. He rose to become a senior diplomat in Zhang's office
of foreign affairs and played an important role in the management of the 1900
crisis [involving the "Boxer Rebellion" and the punitive campaign on Beijing by
the Eight Allied States].
Ku's conversion was both thorough and tragically at odds with the currents of
his own time. Not only did he declare himself an orthodox Confucian just as
classical Chinese learning was in the process of disintegrating and giving way
to the models of Western education in which he himself had been brought up, but
he also began to insist on the importance of the queue as a sign of his identity
and loyalty to the Qing dynasty at the point when the dynasty was on the verge
of catastrophic collapse. ... Ku's steadfast refusal to cut his queue many years
after the overthrow of the Qing turned him into a national laughingstock in the
young Republic and caused him no small measure of pain and isolation at Beijing
University, where he taught English literature in the Department of Foreign
Languages until his retirement. During Maugham's visit, Ku pointed to his queue:
"'You see that I wear a queue,' he said, taking it in his hands. 'It is a
symbol. I am the last representative of the old China.'" After his English works
were translated into French, German, and Japanese, Ku became better known as a
Confucian philosopher in the West than in China. His idiosyncratic translations
of the Confucian classics were eagerly read and discussed by liberal
intellectuals in Europe, including Maugham, Tolstoy, and Georg Brandes.
...
Ku, an outspoken critic of British imperialism, wrote nearly all of his polemics
in English. His chief statement in defense of the Qing sovereign was published
in response to the Allies' retaliations against the popular Yihe Tuan ["Boxer"]
uprising in 1900. This and other articles appeared in an English-language
newspaper, the Japan Mail, published in Yokohama, and in the North China Daily
News, the largest-circulation English newspaper in China. In one of his
polemics, Ku wrote: "Whenever modern scientific men of Europe meet with any
extraordinary manifestation of human soul which they cannot explain, they call
it fanaticism. But what is fanaticism? It is this. The only impulse which can
drive men to extraordinary acts of courage and heroism, and make them sacrifice
themselves, is the impulse inspired by a desire to defend something which they
in their hearts admire, love and reverence."
...
Ku wrote his defense of the Manchu sovereign on July 27, 1900, when the Allied
Forces were advancing to Beijing to relieve the legations and seek revenge
against the Manchu princes and the Empress Dowager. Viceroy Zhang had entrusted
him with the task of translating a joint official telegram on behalf of the
southern viceroys urging the British authorities and the Allies to respect the
personal safety of the Empress Dowager. In the course of translating the
telegram, Ku took the initiative of elaborating on the official statements and
turning the text into a lengthy article, which he subsequently published in the
Japan Mail under the title "Moriamur Pro Rege, Regina! A Statement of the True
Feelings of the Chinese People Towards the Person and Authority of H.I.M. the
Empress Dowager." In a letter to the editor of the newspaper, Ku explained the
circumstances under which he had written the article:
QUOTE
I had at first obtained authority from H.E. the Viceroy to prepare a translation
of the substance of his telegram for publication. But afterwards on learning
that I had made a long article of his telegram, His Excellency, under advice and
other extraneous influence, which I could not control, withdrew his
authorization. I did not submit to His Excellency my whole article beforehand,
because, for one reasons, in order to make him see the force of it, it would
have taken me a long time to put the article into proper Chinese literary form,
and, in the agony of the situation, every minute was precious. For I had
intended with this article to save Peking as well as the Legations there. I
believed then, - and I almost believe it now, - that if I could have succeeded
in arresting and allaying somewhat the storm of indignation, natural at the
moment, on the part of the foreigners against H.I.M. the Empress Dowager and her
Government, the panic and mutual agony on both sides would calm down a little to
enable those responsible persons in authority to take a clearer view of the
situation and to solve it without any unnecessary bloodshed.
In a doomed attempt to stop the war and influence the policy of Britain and the
Allies, Ku took the step of forwarding his article to the attention of Lord
Salisbury. Although the Allies spared the life of the Empress Dowager in the
aftermath of the suppression, they punished the princes and rounded up victim
after victim for execution. Ku recalled: "The cool, callous, persistent demand
for heads was, I must say, an act of moral helplessness and cynicism in the part
of responsible statesmen more disgraceful to the state of civilization at the
present day than even the savagery of the foreign troops in North China. I
really pity the men who were responsible for the suicide of the Chinese Princes
and State Ministers."
The essay "Moriamur pro Rege, Regina!" was motivated by the need to defend the
Empress Dowager as the supreme sovereign of the Chinese people. To make his
opinion heard, Ku overstepped the bounds of his official position as translator
and presented his argument in a way that ran counter to Viceroy Zhang's
political objective, namely, to exonerate the Empress Dowager from the actions
of the insurgents. Ku defended the insurgents, as well as the Empress Dowager,
on the grounds that these men were trying to protect the guomu (the mother of
the nation) and were doing so by throwing their young lives at the muzzles of
European guns. His main argument states:
QUOTE
It is plain therefore that the real "causa belli", the real passionate impulse
which has led the people of China to assume a warlike attitude actually in the
North and virtually in the South, is the conviction that insult was offered or
intended to be offered to the person and liberty of H.I.M. the Empress Dowager.
It is, I may say, a war of the people, not of the Government; in fact, it is
rather in spite of the Government. That is the unfortunate reason why what are
called the strict rules of civilized warfare have not been scrupulously
observed.
Now, I do not know whether the more or less democratic people of Europe and
America, who are at the present day enthusiastic about "patriotism", are able or
willing to remember from their past history that there is a still more genuine
word than modern patriotism, a word the meaning of which I have tried to convey
by using the Latin phrase at the head of this article, namely, "Loyalty," the
loyalty o the servant to his master, the loyal devotion to his parents, of a
wife to her husband, and lastly, summing up all these, the loyalty of a people
to their sovereign! If the people of Europe and America will remember the
meaning of that word, they will understand why the Chinese people - and not the
Government - are now in a state of war, at bay against the whole world. For the
cry from one end of China to the other is "Moriamur pro Rege, Regina!"
... In a sentimental move, Ku believes that the only solution to the
Anglo-Chinese conflict is to let the female heads of state speak directly to
each other. At the conclusion of "Moriamur pro Rege, Regina!" he proposes "that
H.B.M. the Queen, as the Doyenne of the Lady Sovereigns of the world, be
graciously pleased to send, as soon as possible, a direct open telegram to H.I.M
the Empress Dowager - not in official language, but in simple language of the
heart, - expressing her sympathy for the trials and hardships which H.I.M. the
Empress Dowager, her son and her suffering people have gone through in the
present trouble."
#####################################
But his study of Western philosophy had only served in the end to
satisfy him that wisdom after all was to be found within the limits of
the Confucian canon. He accepted its philosophy with conviction. It
answered the needs of his spirit with a completeness which made all
foreign learnings seem vain. I was interested in this because it bore
out an opinion of mine that philosophy is an affair of character rather
than of logic: the philosopher believes not according to evidence, but
according to his own temperament; and his thinking merely serves to
make reasonable what his instinct regards as true. If Confucianism
gained so firm a hold on the Chinese it is because it explained and
expressed them as no other system of thought could do.
My host lit a cigarette. His voice at first had been thin and tired,
but as he grew interested in what he said it gained volume. He talked
vehemently. There was in him none of the repose of the sage. He was a
polemist and a fighter. He loathed the modern cry for individualism.
For him society was the unit, and the family the foundation of society.
He upheld the old China and the old school, monarchy, and the rigid
canon of Confucius. He grew violent and bitter as he spoke of the
students, fresh from foreign universities, who with sacrilegious hands
tore down the oldest civilisation in the world.
"But you, do you know what you are doing?" he exclaimed. "What is the
reason for which you deem yourselves our betters? Have you excelled us
in arts or letters? Have our thinkers been less profound than yours?
Has our civilisation been less elaborate, less complicated, less
refined than yours? Why, when you lived in caves and clothed yourselves
with skins we were cultured people. Do you know that we tried an
experiment which is unique in the history of the world? We sought to
rule this great country not by force, but by wisdom. And for centuries
we succeeded. Then why does the white man despise the yellow? Shall I
tell you? Because he has invented the machine gun. That is your
superiority. We are a defenceless horde and you can blow us into
eternity. You have shattered the dream of our philosophers that the
world could be governed by the power of law and order. And now you are
teaching our young men your secret. You have thrust your hideous
invention upon us. Do you not know that there are in this country four
hundred millions of the most practical and industrious people in the
world? Do you think it will take us long to learn? And what will become
of your superiority when the yellow man can make as good guns as the
white and fire them as straight? You have appealed to the machine gun
and by the machine gun shall you be judged."
But at that moment we were interrupted. A little girl came softly in
and nestled close up to the old gentleman. She stared at me with
curious eyes. He told me that she was his youngest child. He put his
arms round her and with a murmur of caressing words kissed her fondly.
She wore a black coat and trousers that barely reached her ankles, and
she had a long pig-tail hanging down her back. She was born on the day
the revolution was brought to a successful issue by the abdication of
the emperor.
"I thought she heralded the Spring of a new era," he said. "She was but
the last flower of this great nation's Fall."
From a drawer in his roll-top desk he took a few cash, and handing them
to her, sent her away.
"You see that I wear a queue," he said, taking it in his hands. "It is
a symbol. I am the last representative of the old China."
Author: wankee1
Date: 12-16-05 14:34
joe, want to have a good read?
William Somerset Maugham (January 25, 1874 – December 16, 1965),
despite being born and buried in France, was an English playwright,
novelist, and short story writer, reputedly the highest paid author of
the 1930s.
Between 1919 and 1921, he made two trips to China, and the book On a
Chinese Screen (published in 1922) was a result of those trips.
XXXVIII The Philosopher
It was surprising to find so vast a city in a spot that seemed to me so
remote. From its battlemented gate towards sunset you could see the
snowy mountains of Tibet. It was so populous that you could walk at
east only on the walls and it took a rapid walker three hours to
complete their circuit. There was no railway within a thousand miles
and the river on which it stood was so shallow that only junks of light
burden could safely navigate it. Five days in a sampan was needed to
reach the Upper Yangtze. For an uneasy moment you asked yourself
whether trains and steamships were as necessary to the conduct of life
as we who use them everyday consider; for here, a million persons
throve, married, begat their kind, and died; a million persons were
busily occupied with commerce, art, and thought.
And here lived a philosopher of repute the desire to see whom had been
to be one of the incentives of a somewhat arduous journey. He was the
greatest authority in China on the Confucian learning. He was said to
speak English and German with facility. He had been for many years
secretary to one of the Empress Dowager's greatest viceroys, but he
lived now in retirement. On certains in the week, however, all through
the year he opened his doors to such as sought after knowledge, and
discoursed on the teachings of Confucius. He had a body of disciples,
but it was small, since the students for the most part preferred to his
modest dwelling and his severe exhortations the sumptious buildings of
the foreign university and the useful science of the barbarians: with
him this was mentioned only to be scornfully dismissed. From all I
heard of him I concluded that he was a man of character.
When I announced my wish to meet this distinguished person my host
immediately offered to arrange a meeting; but the days passed and
nothing happened. I made enquiries and my host shrugged his shoulders.
"I sent him a chit and told him to come along," he said. "I don't know
why he hasn't turned up. He's a cross-grained old fellow."
I did not think it was propert to approach a philosopher in so cavalier
a fashion and I was hardly surprised that he had ignored a summons such
as this. I caused a letter to be sent asking in the politest terms I
could devise whether he would allow me to call upon him and within two
hours received an answer making an appointment for the following
morning at ten o'clock.
I was carried in a chair. The way seemed interminable. I went through
crowded streets and through streets deserted till I came at last to
one, silent and empty, in which at a small door in a long white wall my
bearers set down my chair. One of them knocked, and after a
considerable time a judas was opened; dark eyes looked through; there
was a brief colloquy; and finally I was admitted. A youth, pallid of
face, wizened, and poorly dressed, motioned me to follow him. I did not
know if he was a servant or a pupil of the great man. I passed through
a shabby yard and was led into a long row room sparsely furnished with
an American roll-top desk, a couple of black-wood chairs and two little
Chinese tables. Against the walls were shelves on which were a great
number of books: most of them, of course, were Chinese, but there were
many, philosophical and scientific works, in English, French and
German; and there were hundreds of unbound copies of learned reviews.
Where books did not take up the wall space hung scrolls on which in
various calligraphies were written, I suppose, Confucian quotations.
There was no carpet on the floor. It was a cold, bare, and comfortless
chamber. Its sombreness was relieved only by a yellow chrysanthemum
which stood by itself on the desk in a long vase.
I waited for some time and the youth who had shown me in brought a pot
of tea, two cups, and a tin of Virginian cigarettes. As he went out the
philosopher entered. I hastened to express my sense of the honour he
did me in allowing me to visit him. He waved me to a chair and poured
out the tea.
"I am flattered that you wished to see me," he returned. "Your
countrymen deal only with coolies and with compradores; they think
every Chinese must be one or the other."
I ventured to protest. But I had not caught his point. He leaned back
in his chair and looked at me with an expression of mockery.
"They think they have but to beckon and we must come."
I saw then that my friend's unfortunate communication still rankled. I
did not know how to reply. I murmured something complimentary.
He was an old man, tall, with a thin grey queue, and bright large eyes
under which were heavy bags. His teeth were broken and discoloured. He
was exceedingly thin, and his hands, fine and small, were withered and
claw-like. I had been told that he was an opium-smoker. He was very
shabbily dressed in a black gown, a little black cap, both much for the
worse for wear, and dark grey trousers gartered at the ankle. He was
watching. He did not know what attitude to take up, and he had the
manner of a man who was on his guard. Of course the philospher occupies
a royal place among those who concern themselves with the things of the
spirit and we have the authority of Benjamin Disraeli that royalty must
be treated with abundant flattery. I seized my trowel. Presently I was
conscious of a certain relaxation in his demeanour. He was like a man
who was all set and rigid to have his photograph taken, but hearing the
shutter click lets himself go and eases into his natural self. He
showed me his books.
"I took the Ph. D in Berlin, you know," he said. "And afterwards I
studied for some time in Oxford. But the English, if you will allow me
to say so, have no great aptitude for philosophy."
Though he put the remark apologetically it was evident that he was not
displeased to say a slightly disagreeable thing.
"We have had philosophers who have not been without influence in the
world of thought," I suggested.
"Hume and Berkeley? The philosophers who taught at Oxford when I was
there were anxious not to offend their theological colleagues. They
would not follow their thought to its logical consequences in case they
should jeopardise their position in university society.
"Have you studied the modern developments of philosophy in America?" I
asked.
"Are you speaking of Pragmatism? It is the last refuge of those who
want to believe the incredible. I have more use for American petroleum
than for American philosophy."
His judgments were tart. We sat down once more and drank another cup of
tea. He began to
talk with fluency. He spoke a somewhat formal but an idiomatic English.
Now and then he helped himself out with a German phrase. So far as it
was possible for a man of that stubborn character to be influenced he
had been influenced by Germany. The method and the industry of the
Germans had deeply impressed him and their philosophical acumen was
patent to him when a laborious professor published in a learned
magazine an essay on one of his own writings.
"I have written twenty books," he said. "And that is the only notice
that has ever been taken of me in a European publication."
But his study of Western philosophy had only served in the end to
satisfy him that wisdom after all was to be found within the limits of
the Confucian canon. He accepted its philosophy with conviction. It
answered the needs of his spirit with a completeness which made all
foreign learnings seem vain. I was interested in this because it bore
out an opinion of mine that philosophy is an affair of character rather
than of logic: the philosopher believes not according to evidence, but
according to his own temperament; and his thinking merely serves to
make reasonable what his instinct regards as true. If Confucianism
gained so firm a hold on the Chinese it is because it explained and
expressed them as no other system of thought could do.
My host lit a cigarette. His voice at first had been thin and tired,
but as he grew interested in what he said it gained volume. He talked
vehemently. There was in him none of the repose of the sage. He was a
polemist and a fighter. He loathed the modern cry for individualism.
For him society was the unit, and the family the foundation of society.
He upheld the old China and the old school, monarchy, and the rigid
canon of Confucius. He grew violent and bitter as he spoke of the
students, fresh from foreign universities, who with sacrilegious hands
tore down the oldest civilisation in the world.
"But you, do you know what you are doing?" he exclaimed. "What is the
reason for which you deem yourselves our betters? Have you excelled us
in arts or letters? Have our thinkers been less profound than yours?
Has our civilisation been less elaborate, less complicated, less
refined than yours? Why, when you lived in caves and clothed yourselves
with skins we were cultured people. Do you know that we tried an
experiment which is unique in the history of the world? We sought to
rule this great country not by force, but by wisdom. And for centuries
we succeeded. Then why does the white man despise the yellow? Shall I
tell you? Because he has invented the machine gun. That is your
superiority. We are a defenceless horde and you can blow us into
eternity. You have shattered the dream of our philosophers that the
world could be governed by the power of law and order. And now you are
teaching our young men your secret. You have thrust your hideous
invention upon us. Do you not know that there are in this country four
hundred millions of the most practical and industrious people in the
world? Do you think it will take us long to learn? And what will become
of your superiority when the yellow man can make as good guns as the
white and fire them as straight? You have appealed to the machine gun
and by the machine gun shall you be judged."
But at that moment we were interrupted. A little girl came softly in
and nestled close up to the old gentleman. She stared at me with
curious eyes. He told me that she was his youngest child. He put his
arms round her and with a murmur of caressing words kissed her fondly.
She wore a black coat and trousers that barely reached her ankles, and
she had a long pig-tail hanging down her back. She was born on the day
the revolution was brought to a successful issue by the abdication of
the emperor.
"I thought she heralded the Spring of a new era," he said. "She was but
the last flower of this great nation's Fall."
From a drawer in his roll-top desk he took a few cash, and handing them
to her, sent her away.
"You see that I wear a queue," he said, taking it in his hands. "It is
a symbol. I am the last representative of the old China."
He talked to me, more gently now, of how philosophers in long past days
wandered from state to state with their disciples, teaching all who
were worthy to learn. Kings called them to their councils and made them
rulers of cities. His erudition was great and his eloquent phrases gave
a multi-coloured vitality to the incidents he related to me of the
history of his country. I could not help thinking him a somewhat
pathetic figure. He felt in himself the great capacity to administer
the state, but there was no king to entrust him with office; he had
vast stores of learning which he was eager to impart to the great band
of students that his soul hankered after, and there came to listen but
a few, wretched, half-starved, and obstuse provincials.
Once or twice discretion had made me suggest that I should take my
leave, but he had been unwilling to let me go. Now at last I was
obliged to. I rose. He held my hand.
"I should like to give you something as a recollection of your visit to
the last philosopher in China, but I am a poor man and I do not know
what I can give you that would be worthy of your acceptance."
I protested that the recollection of my visit was in itself a priceless
gift. He smiled.
"Men have short memories in these degenerate days, and I should like to
give you something more substantial. I would give you one of my books,
but you cannot read Chinese."
He looked at me with amicable perplexity. I had an inspiration.
"Give me a sample of your calligraphy." I said.
"Would you like that?" He smiled. "In my youth I was considered to
wield the brush in a manner that is not entirely despicable."
He sat down at his desk, took a fair sheet of paper, and placed it
before him. He poured a few drops of water on a stone, rubbed the ink
stick in it, and took his brush. With a few movement of the arm he
began to write. And as I watched him I remembered with not a little
amusement something else which had been told me of him. It appeared
that the old gentleman whenever he could scrape a little money
together, spent it wantonly in the streets inhabited by ladies to whom
a euphemism is generally used. His eldest son, a person of standing in
the city. was vexed and humiliated by the scandal of this behaviour;
and only his strong sense of filial piety prevented him from
reproaching the libertine with severity. I daresay that to a son such
looseness would be disconcerting, but the student of human nature could
look upon it with equanimity. Philosophers are apt to elaborate their
theories in the study, forming conclusions upon life which they know
only at second hand, and it has seemed to me often that their works
would have a more definite significance if they had exposed themselves
to the vicissitudes which befall the common run of men. I was prepared
to regard the old gentleman's dalliance in hidden places with leniency.
Perhaps he sought but to elucidate the most inscrutible of human
illusions.
He finished. To dry the ink, he scattered a little ash on the paper and
rising handed it to me.
"What have you written?" I asked.
I thought there was a slightly malicious gleam in his eyes.
"I have ventured to offer you two little poems of my own."
"I did not know you were a poet."
"When China was still an uncivilised country," he retorted with
sarcasm, "all educated men could write verse at least with elegance."
I took the paper and looked at the Chinese characters. They made an
agreeable pattern upon it.
"Won't you also give me a translation?"
"Tradutore—tradittore," he answered. "You cannot expect me to betray
myself. Ask one of your English friends. Those who know most about
China know nothing, but you will at least find one who is competent to
give you a rendering of a few rough and simple lines."
I bade him farewell, and with great politeness he showed me to my
chair. When I had the opportunity I gave the poems to a sinologue of my
acquaintance, and here is the version he made [1]. I confess that,
doubtless unreasonably, I was somewhat taken aback when I read it.
You loved me not: your voice was sweet;
Your eyes were full of laughter; your hands were tender.
And then you loved me: your voice was bitter;
Your eyes were full of tears; your hands were cruel.
Sad, sad that love should make you
Unlovable.
***
I craved the years would quickly pass
That you might lose
The brightness of your eyes, the peach-bloom of your skin,
And all the cruel splendour of your youth.
The I alone would love you
And you at last would care.
The envious years have passed full soon
And you have lost
The brightness of your eyes, the peach-bloom of your skin,
And all the charming splendour of your youth.
Alas, I do not love you
And I care not if you care.
[1] I owe it to the kindness of my friend Mr. P. W. Davidson
William Somerset Maugham
On a Chinese Screen
ISBN 0195838637 Oxford University Press