A Man of Science and Engineering in Troubled Times Wandering in the Late Qing Dynasty

Chapter 432 A temple and a pot of wine on the top of the mountain
There were many masters in the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, and Li Shutong was definitely one of them.

But Li Yu is even more famous now because he is so special.After all, most of the masters of the Republic of China were engaged in history, literature, art, etc., and Li Yu suddenly appeared who was engaged in science, which was very attractive.

The key point is that science is now the most important science in the West, and it is quite respected in China, which naturally elevates Li Yu to a very high status.

So now many people want to visit.

Li Shutong introduced Li Yu to Kusakabe Minghe next to him. This person is known as one of the "Three Pens of Meiji" and is a great modern Japanese calligrapher. He also went to China to study with Wu Changshuo, a master of the late Qing Dynasty and the founder of the Xiling Seal Society.

As for his calligraphy skills... He is the same as Kawai Tsuenlu, who also mentioned that he learned seal cutting from Wu Changshuo before. He is famous in Japan, but in China, he is really nothing.

Kusakabe Mingkaku liked Li Shutong's calligraphy and paintings very much, so even though he was much older, he still humbly asked him for advice.

Li Shutong was absolutely young and energetic at this time, and he was a little arrogant because of his talent, so he regarded it as ordinary.

Li Shutong asked: "Have all the books in the Song Tower been properly collected?"

"They have all been transported to Yuyuan Garden in Shanghai. I have built a new library. There is a lake nearby. There will definitely be no danger of fire." Li Yu continued, "As for the future, I will put some of them in the university library. In the museum.”

Li Shutong said: "We have found a solution."

Li Shutong didn't know the original history of these things, so he just regarded them as Li Yu's normal collection.Anyway, there are quite a few collectors in the country, and it is common for them to buy and sell with each other. In addition to the Kaisong Building, there are also many famous collection buildings.

Li Yu said: "I also want to buy more scientific books in Japan and return to China to enrich my library. Does Shutong have the corresponding channels?"

It is relatively convenient to buy new learning books in Japan now.Because not only has Chinese had a profound influence on Japanese, in modern times, many Chinese words were also directly taken from Japanese, which made Japanese easier to understand for Chinese people.

There are countless related examples. The words "science", "democracy", "physics", "chemistry", "quality", "projection", "protein" and "cannon" are all from Japanese; some of them are literal translations of Japanese at first glance, such as "Debut" "First Night Right" DC, traditional Chinese would never create such words 0.0
But Li Shutong is now like an artistic prodigal. In Tokyo, apart from painting and picking up Japanese girls, he doesn't care about anything else and has no mood to care.

It would be unthinkable if this guy were to study in the United States or France again. The harem would probably have to promote the common language.

Li Shutong scratched his head: "Can't we just go to the bookstore to buy books?"

Fortunately, Kusakabe Mingkuru, who was next to him, knew something about the Japanese printing industry, so he said: "Academician Li Yu wants to purchase on a large scale. I heard that Feige specializes in publishing Western books. I happen to have my works published, so I can contact the middleman on my behalf. "

Li Yu said happily: "Great, what I want are Western books, either the original English version or one that has been translated into Japanese."

——In fact, it is faster to buy the Japanese version and translate it.

However, even the English version has little impact, because understanding English is an absolute must-have skill for college students nowadays, and many assignments are given in English.

Youfei Pavilion is the name of a large printing house in Japan. The word "Youfei" comes from the "Book of Songs" "A gentleman is as good as discussing, as sharp as polishing."

Kusakabe Mingkaku did not miss the opportunity to "ask for credit" and said to Li Yu: "I hope Mr. Academician can help put some pen and ink."

It seems that Kusakabe Minghe also thinks that Li Yu at least has some calligraphy skills, at least like a serious Jinshi.

Li Yu was very embarrassed, but he couldn't refuse in this situation, so he had to say: "I will give you half a poem as a gift."

Kusakabe Mingzuru wondered: "Why half a sentence?"

"Because there's only half a sentence," Li Yu said with a smile, "Let's get some pen and ink."

Li Shutong was greatly surprised. He knew Li Yu's bad handwriting, so he quickly took out a pen and paper: "Brother Shucai, please!"

Li Yu immediately wrote: "One temple on the top of the mountain and one pot of wine."

Kusakabe Mingzuru has been to China many times and must understand Chinese. He immediately praised: "What a poem! There are paintings in the poems. I can already make up an elegant picture of green mountains, temples and wine in my mind. What a poem!"

For later generations of big figures like Einstein, a letter could be auctioned for hundreds of thousands. Li Yu had not yet realized that he had such influence.

Kusakabe Mingzuru put away the calligraphy: "I want to bring it to Mr. Ito Hirobumi for appreciation."

Japan's political bigwigs, like those in China, must be a bit elegant, so they have a lot of connections with these cultural bigwigs.What's more, Ito Hirobumi is no longer prime minister and is very free.

Li Yu secretly thought that he was lucky to be in Japan, otherwise his calligraphy skills would be laughed at in China.

Li Yu held a banquet in the house and invited them to finish their meal before leaving.

Later Li Shutong once asked Li Yu: "Is there any profound meaning in this poem? I always feel that I can't figure it out. I carefully thought about the classics I have read, but I can't find the corresponding source. Could it be that I got it by chance?"

Li Yu laughed and wrote "3.14159" on the paper again.

"This is?" Li Shutong was a little confused.

"Read it out," Li Yu said with a smile, "Just read the dot after 3."

"Three o'clock, four hundred and fifty-nine...my God, one temple and one pot of wine on the top of the mountain?" Li Shutong exclaimed, "What is this string of numbers?"

Li Yu told him about pi, and Li Shutong suddenly realized: "Wonderful! It's really wonderful!"

-

Li Yu's stay in Japan this time was not short. Many students at Tokyo Imperial University have already regarded Li Yu as their model. President Kenjiro Yamakawa even wanted to hang Li Yu's portrait in the Faculty of Science earlier than Kyoto University.

He took physics professor Nagaoka Hantaro to Li Yu and strongly requested to find someone to draw a portrait of him.

Li Yu and Lu Bicheng already had a portrait of Repin before, but apparently the Japanese wanted a single portrait.

Originally, Li Yu suggested that just take a photo, but Yamakawa Kenjiro felt that it was not taken seriously and that a painter must specialize in painting.

Japanese people are really traditional sometimes.

The other party's request was very firm, and Li Yu could only agree, but in the end he insisted on finding a Chinese painter.It's a pity that Li Shutong hasn't learned oil painting yet and has been obsessed with sketching beautiful women.

This matter was not difficult for Kenjiro Yamakawa. He quickly found a suitable candidate, and he was also a top student at the Kyoto Academy of Fine Arts-Zheng Jin.

Zheng Jin was the first president of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, one of the eight major art academies, and the longest-serving president of the Central Academy of Fine Arts.

When he was the principal, CAFA was still called the National Beijing Fine Arts School.

Zheng Jin's later specialty was not oil painting, but painting a portrait was not difficult for him.

Zheng Jin came with Liang Qichao.

A few days ago, Liang Qichao wrote an article praising Li Yu, which caused a sensation in the Tokyo academic circle.

The recent writing war between him and Zhang Taiyan, Hu Hanmin, Song Jiaoren and others is almost unsustainable.At first, I had the upper hand, but who knew that "Minbao" suddenly went to full speed and published many supplements, which made me almost unable to resist.He certainly didn't know that Li Yu funded Min Bao.

Liang Qichao's writing skills were strong, but there were too many people on the opposite side, and it was difficult to deal with each one of them, not to mention someone like "Crazy Zhang" with explosive fighting ability.

Zhang Taiyan suddenly jumped up and opened his face, which was a bit unexpected.

Zhang Taiyan has scolded so many people in his life, but there are not many people who can challenge them head-on and scold them back.Even Mr. Yuan Shikai, Lao Jiang, and Mr. Zhongshan were scolded and there was nothing they could do.

Liang Qichao had to pay more attention. He wanted to find someone in Kangmen to fight alongside him, but everyone was not enough to hold him back.

Now Liang Qichao relies entirely on his stronger reputation to support him, but nearly half of the students studying in Japan have defected to the revolutionaries.

When Liang Qichao published an article about Li Yu, he actually wanted to use Li Yu as an intermediary. After all, he was a person favored by both parties, and he could also convey some intention of a temporary truce.

Liang Qichao came today not only because he was very close, but also because Li Yu was awarded the position of academician of the Imperial Academy of Japan, so he should be congratulated; there was also another reason: Zheng Jin was his disciple.

Zheng Jin took this task very seriously. After all, Li Yu was so famous, and Liang Qichao also wanted to see how Western paintings were painted.

Zheng Jin first sketched and then composed the picture bit by bit, very seriously.

Liang Qichao looked on and said with a smile: "I looked carefully and found that the portraits are more three-dimensional and colorful. Those photos are just black and white light and shadow, how can they have such expressive power."

Kenjiro Yamakawa gave up photography because he wanted color pictures.

Li Yu said, "If I'm too slow, my butt will hurt."

A few hours later, Zheng Jin completed the basic composition and said, "Mr. Academician, don't be so rigid. Get up and move around."

Li Yu was finally able to relax, stretched his waist and said, "I will definitely introduce color photography here as soon as possible next year."

"Color photography?" Liang Qichao had never heard of such a magical technology. "If this were true, wouldn't the painter have nowhere to go?"

Li Yu said: "No, it's just technological progress. As the price becomes lower, more people can retain images."

"This sounds like a good thing," Liang Qichao said. "Chinese people should be exposed to more new things. Half a century later, we still can't open our eyes to see the world."

"From the few to the many is a long-term process. Let intellectuals get in touch first, and then they will spread the word spontaneously. It is not impossible for Chinese people to reach the level of foreigners in the future." Li Yu said.

"It's difficult!" Liang Qichao took a sip of tea. "China's big problem is not that foreign powers regard us as cattle and horses, but that our compatriots think that they are cattle and horses, and that they are slaves."

Li Yu said: "If everyone can receive a few years of new education, there will be no need to worry about the country not being strong."

"It's not just education, it should also profoundly change the national character that has been backward for hundreds of years." Liang Qichao said.

Liang Qichao was the first person to propose "bad character" and had a great influence on the later Lu Xun.

Li Yu said: "Mr. Liang's words reminded me of an article called "The Ugly Chinese"."

"Oh?" Liang Qichao put down his tea cup, "What a meaningful name. Why haven't I read this article?"

Li Yu could only explain casually: "I saw it casually when I was in Germany, and I forgot the specific source."

"What a pity!" Liang Qichao sighed, "Otherwise I really want to translate it and publish it properly."

Li Yu said with a smile: "It's no pity, because this is a collection, the first volume is called "Ugly Americans", and then there are "Ugly Japanese" and so on."

"Ah?" Liang Qichao was even more shocked, "It turns out I'm not the only one who has this idea, but when I went to America before, the Americans I saw were not ugly at all."

Li Yu said: "Maybe it's because of comparison, or maybe it's because I haven't stayed long enough."

Later, the book "The Ugly Chinese" was somewhat over-interpreted, and many people who were not as capable as Lu Xun used the topic to their advantage.

Moreover, the author Bo Yang indeed first read the book "The Ugly Americans" which was published nearly 30 years ago, and then went back and wrote "The Ugly Chinese".

The names are quite similar, aren't they?

Later, there were also "Ugly Koreans", "Ugly Japanese", etc., which really looked like a series of books.

The original intention is of course to alert the world, but this method of fighting fire with fire requires very clever operations.

Liang Qichao said: "It would be good if you could find the original text of newspapers and periodicals, or paraphrase some of the content."

Li Yu thought for a while and said: "I only remember the sentence 'Ugliness is not terrible, the terrible thing is being ugly without knowing it'."

"Okay!" Liang Qichao patted the table, "I thought about what to write when I go back today!"

After Liang Qichao returned that day, his thoughts surged and he quickly wrote an article.

This article criticizing the bad nature of the people is still considered a truce in nature, because it is a view that the revolutionaries also agree with.

Liang Qichao's message was clearly conveyed, but Zhang Taiyan did not buy it and continued to publish articles criticizing the reformism that Liang Qichao insisted on.

Because what Zhang Taiyan wanted to see was the victory of the revolutionary faction of the "Min Bao", not just a truce.

In total, almost 70 million words have been written on both sides.

Zhang Taiyan had helpers, but Liang Qichao didn't, and his pen was almost bald.

Liang Qichao somewhat regretted what he had said earlier: "From now on, there are those who argue with (revolutionary) doctrines, but they insist on having reasons and what they say makes sense. I am happy to analyze them and appreciate them."

How can I still be in the mood to "appreciate and analyze" now?

Liang Qichao felt that he was too tired, but he could not rest because Kang Youwei sent another letter asking about the situation in Japan, especially about the outcome of his debate with the revolutionaries.

There was no other way. Liang Qichao could only write a letter to Kang Youwei, who was happily living on a small island in Europe:

"Teacher, the Revolutionary Party now occupies a huge amount of power in Tokyo. More than half of the tens of thousands of students follow it... and the whole country is close to it.

So crazy.A serious problem in the heart must not be underestimated. ... Nowadays, our fight to the death against the government is still the second righteousness; fighting to the death against the revolutionary party is the first righteousness.If there is that, there is no me; if there is me, there is no other. "

You are quite confident, but in the eyes of Zhang Taiyan and others, if you don't resist, it will be much less fun.

(End of this chapter)