The second volume is full of glory and splendor in the capital, and the spirit is full of vitality in the foggy city. Chapter 255 Seven Words Formula
This chapter's subtitle: Don't Speak Harshly Yuan (mu) Yan (rong) Shu (wu)
"Mr. Yuan Yanshu often said, 'If a person has no sense of humor, what's the difference between him and a salted fish?
He himself is indeed a witty and humorous person, and his literary works are even more interesting, which have attracted some people and even made some people faint.
In 1921, Mr. Yuan published his first two vernacular novels, "Wives and Concubines" and "The Rural Teacher".
"Wives and Concubines," published in the February issue of New Youth that year, became his masterpiece and a significant work in modern literary history. This novel instantly made him an idol for the intellectual youth of his time. Mr. Hongjian's name officially became known to the world.
"The Rural Teacher" was published in the June issue of "Reform " magazine. This science fiction novel, which even Albert Einstein admired, became an overnight sensation and sold like hotcakes in Shanghai.
At the time, Chinese literary criticism was momentarily silent, with many literary critics unsure how to assess novels like The Rural Teacher. They only knew that such a work existed in vernacular Chinese, and that it was no longer what the old-school viewer would call "Xia Li Ba Ren."
Although many people did not know Mr. Yuan Yanshu at that time, everyone agreed that he was a progressive scholar with outstanding literary talent, a global vision, love for the country, concern for the people, and anti-imperialism and anti-feudalism.
At this time, however, a doggerel poem by Yuan Yanshu was reported back to China. It was said that he wrote it for a "confidante" in Chinatown. The poem he wrote in his own handwriting is now preserved in the Yuan Yanshu Museum in New York.
The poem says: His romanticism is not inferior to Cai Songpo, and his magnanimity is so great that he dares to laugh at Hu Shizhi.
He protects flowers better than Chen Zhongfu and pays faster than Master Kong.
What these four sentences mean is that he is more addicted to prostitution than these four people, which is really laughable.
Mr. Hu Shi was a magnanimous and honest person. He just laughed it off and later became a good friend of Mr. Yuan.
Chen Zhongfu was well known for his extreme and stubbornness, and this was the greatest shame of his life, so he hated it deeply and later described Mr. Yuan as "a running dog of American imperialism."
Kang Youwei was considered "highly respected" at the time, so it was neither right nor wrong to criticize him, so he remained silent. However, the knot was planted in his heart, otherwise Mr. Kang would not have written the time-travel novel "Mercy of the Qing Dynasty" in the future.
Liang Qichao was rather unhappy after reading this poem, because it mentioned his beloved disciple Cai E. However, at that time, the China Public School had already hired Mr. Yuan as a professor of economics, and he was quite fond of Mr. Yuan's talent.
When someone asked him about it, Liang Qichao simply said, "Hongjian is a madman." This sentence immediately spread across the country.
Therefore, before Mr. Yuan Yanshu returned to China, he had already been labeled as a madman. He truly deserves to be called "China's last madman"..."
"Mr. Yuan's regulated verse is quite good, often with brilliant lines and couplets. For example, before their marriage, he wrote to his fiancée, Ms. Wei Mingzhu, 'I once whipped a famous horse while drunk, fearing that my love would burden the beauty.'
However, as the "Yuan Marshal" of the vernacular movement, he deliberately avoided writing this kind of classical Chinese works after returning to China. Instead, he wrote many doggerel poems and many famous couplets.
In 1922, Mr. Yuan had a little conflict with his father, so he wrote a couplet and asked his younger brother to bring it to his father.
The first line reads: Peach Blossom Fan in Peach Blossom Hermitage. The second line reads: Willow Poem on the Willow Bank.
This couplet contains four allusions to four talented men, which is really elegant.
After reading it, his father smiled bitterly and said to the others, "I cannot be a scholar, but I gave birth to a madman." The father and son then reconciled.
After this incident was reported by Shen Bao, it became a popular topic among the people.
In 1939, news of the death of Wu Peifu, a famous Beiyang general, reached Chongqing.
Mr. Yuan happened to be in the secondary capital at the time. Although he was always arrogant and looked down on others, he had a good relationship with Wu Ziyu. The latter also admired the young man's talent.
He was very sad at that time, and cursed in words that no one could understand: Damn S value!
So Yuan Yanshu set up a mourning hall for his good friend in Chongqing, but the elegiac couplet he wrote caused quite a stir.
The first line of this couplet reads: The old Beiyang still knew how to sacrifice their lives for their country, while the second line reads: The new Huangpu only knows how to collect (crossed out shit) wages. The horizontal banner reads: The new is not as good as the old.
As you can imagine, there was an uproar in Chongqing, and the National Government’s military was even more indignant. Some even wanted to lead troops to argue with Mr. Yuan.
However, he was a guest of honor in the national government and an important "friendly foreigner" from the United States, so the matter was eventually suppressed by the higher-ups.
In fact, Mr. Yuan Yanshu's most famous couplet was presented to the Jiang couple. Because it is too famous, I will not elaborate on it.
On December 1, 1927, the day of Chiang Kai-shek's marriage to Song Song, leaflets printed with this couplet were distributed throughout Shanghai. Actually, Mr. Yuan , but he was the leader of Baisui Mountain, and some of his disciples were helping him.
This couplet infuriated the newlyweds. Not only did Chiang Kai-shek fly into a rage, but Mrs. Song never spoke to Mr. Yuan again. That was the reason..."
"Mr. Yuan Yanshu was fond of commenting on influential figures of his time and even created a 'Seven-Character Rhyme'.
The last three characters of this seven-character rhyme are the name or nickname of the person he is evaluating, while the first four characters are an irony.
For example, Li Hefei, who was incorruptible, Zeng Changsha, who loved his people like his own children, Yuan Xiangcheng, a loyal minister of the Qing Dynasty, and Zuo Xiangyin, a friend of Islam.
These are all deceased figures, and their stories can be considered final. However, Mr. Yuan not only likes to compose songs for the dead, but also for the living.
He described Dr. Sun Yat-sen as "Sun Tanxiang, who led by example," and Huang Xing as "Huang Keding, a military god of his generation." He also used the phrases "Tao Huanqing, who died a worthy death," and "Dudu Chen (Chen Qimei), who kept himself clean" to mock the scandals committed by Guangdong. This embarrassed Dr. Sun and his colleagues.
If Yuan Yanshu had not had a very good relationship with the Japanese and had not had Japanese friends speak up for him, he might have died a "worthy death."
He also said that Wang Jingwei was "Wang Nanhai, a man loyal to his country", which turned out to be a prophecy.
Apart from the South, Mr. Yuan was even more direct about the North. He described the Zhang family father and son of the Fengtian clique as "the learned and knowledgeable Marshal Zhang" and "the young Marshal Zhang who brought glory to the family."
Cao Kun of the direct line is "never buy tickets Cao ZhongshanQi Xieyuan is "the one with straight eyes and straight heart"”.
However, he did not write a seven-character rhyme for his good friend Wu Peifu.
In fact, Mr. Yuan Yanshu is also very polite to his friends and colleagues around him.
He said the Zhou brothers were "brothers who loved each other and respected each other," Xu Zhimo was "Xu Yusen who never abandoned his wife," Wu Mi was "single-minded Wu Yuseng," Hu Shi was "the moral model Hu Shizhi," Zhang Dongsun was "modest and prudent Zhang Hangzhou," and Liang Qichao was "the consistent Liang Rengong."
Later, someone deliberately asked him in person which line of the seven-character rhyme he had written for himself. Mr. Yuan did not take it as an offense, and replied with a smile: "Don't speak ill of Yuan Yanshu."
——Excerpt from "Master Yuan's Great Humor"
