Foreword: Speaking of a six-year suicide incident
On the morning of November 10, 1918, with heavy fog, an old man wandered by the Jingye Lake in the suburbs of Beijing. Soon, he proudly plunged into the bottom of the lake. The old man's name was Liang Ji, and he was a morally distinguished scholar. But for this suicide, he planned for six years before and after, about why he died, how to die, on what day he died, and how he would publish it to the public... He recorded all the details in his diary, this book The diary can also be regarded as his suicide diary. In order to make this suicide cause a social sensation, he has continuously added and modified plans during the six years of planning the suicide. Finally, Liang Ji, who was unknown for his entire life, caused a huge sensation because of his carefully planned death in the new cultural movement that buried all passion...
Speaking of Liang Ji, many readers may not know who this person is. But everyone should be familiar with his son Mr. Liang Shuming. Mr. Liang Shuming is known as the last great Confucian in China. He is a master of Chinese studies, philosopher and thinker, and social activist . Before Liang Ji committed suicide, he called Liang Shuming, who was only twenty-five years old and was teaching philosophy at Peking University, and asked, "Will this world be good?" Liang Shuming replied, "I believe the world is getting better day by day. "Z11z. Three days later, Liang Ji committed suicide by throwing himself into the lake.
"Will this world be alright?" The question was left to Liang Shuming forever. His philosophy, his thoughts, and his writings are all thinking about this ultimate question. The picture of
comes from the Internet: Mr. Liang Shuming
We will not tell you about Liang Shuming's thoughts here today, but focus on the Confucian student Liang Ji. He lived in the troubled times between the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China. He was a Confucian student who was loyal to the court, but he was also an extremely enlightened father. He did his best to send his son overseas to study western learning, but he was extremely loyal to him in behavior. How did Confucianism, such a contradictory and complicated character like , and such an ordinary official in that fierce era complete his sacred mission by suicide? What is the meaning of life he is exploring?
1. The Qing dynasty under the curtain: the lost Confucian
On February 12, 1912, that is, December 25th of Xuantong three years, the Empress Dowager Longyu took the little emperor and sat in the hall with six gods and no masters. Those old officials of the Qing Dynasty forced them to abdicate under the banner of the Republic of China. At this moment, the Qing Dynasty of these hundreds of years has reached the last moment of life and death. This pair of orphans and widows can only retreat from the stage of history in the political vortex that is perilous... news. They suddenly fell into a daze and fell into the collapse of values, including Liang Ji.
Liang Ji, the word Juchuan. Born in Beijing in 1859. The Tianping Heavenly Kingdom movement is unfolding vigorously in the south, and both the rule of the empire and the thousand-year tradition of Confucianism have been hit by this force. Liang Ji's grandfather and father were both local officials, and although they were not rich or wealthy, they adhered to the integrity of Confucian scholars throughout their lives. When Liang Ji was eight years old, his father died in Shanxi. In order to avoid debts, his grandfather moved back to the capital to live incognito. His entire education fell on the learned aunt. Aunt Liu's is the daughter of an eunuch and the main room of Liang Ji's father. She is a resolute and dignified woman, whose love for Liang Ji is manifested in the seriousness and ardent hope of education. She regards moral education as the focus of Liang Ji's education, so Liang Ji's integrity and behavioral guidelines all follow the teachings of his aunt. The birth mother Chen is a side room, taking care of his daily study life carefully. The two women pin their life's love and expectations on Liang Ji. The responsibility he has taken since childhood is related to the revival of a Confucian family.
The picture comes from the Internet: Liang Ji like
Liang Ji was 27 years old, but he failed to pass the entrance examination. Change of posts in lower-level official positions all his life. He is not a revolutionary or a pragmatist who is running and shouting, but he supports his friend Peng Jizhong to run the newspaper. They popularize Western scientific knowledge to the people and hold the determination to enlighten the public. But that was twenty years before the New Culture Movement, and such newspapers were almost unattended, and the newspapers were struggling and almost desperate. Later, relying on Liang Ji's pawn to manage his family wealth, his business was dismal. In the case of poverty, he gave his son LiangShu Ming studied Western studies abroad.
In his diary, we can see that on the day Xuantong Emperor abdicated, he formally made an oath to ancestors in the ancestral hall. He was loyal to the spirit imparted to him by Confucian culture and used it as the value of life. Liang Ji has been upholding his upright character and moral self-denial throughout his life, eager to realize his self-worth through royal power and practice Confucian aspirations. In the history of the empire, tens of millions of Confucian students took this as the meaning of life. But in the face of the passing of the kingship and the increasingly degraded society, he has been under the weight of moral duties and conscience for six years, and finally decided to commit suicide to practice his meaning in life.
Liang Ji said in his suicide note:
"I was at the end of the Qing Dynasty, so Yun died of the Qing Dynasty; in fact, it is not based on the Qing Dynasty, but based on what I learned in childhood. The poems and rituals of my country for thousands of years, I The legacy of my ancestors, fathers and mothers, what I heard in my childhood is the responsibility to the world, and this doctrine is deeply imprinted in my mind, that is, this doctrine is the basis, so it is not allowed to die..." [1]
Liang Jiying He was a representative of loyal Confucian scholars in the late Qing Dynasty, but from the perspective of his life, he was not a pedantic and conservative person, on the contrary, he was an enlightened person who ran a newspaper and tried to spread Western science. But what kind of situation can you fall into to reach the level of "inhumanity"?
From a psychological perspective, the implementation of suicidal behavior is a behavioral manifestation of a sense of despair in an individual. And the longer this sense of despair, the greater the likelihood of suicide. The reason why people choose to commit suicide is not because of escape, but because death is regarded as the only solution.
The Statistics Section of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Beiyang Government compiled the "Ministry of Population" in 1916, including statistics on the total population and deaths of Jingshi, Jingzhao, and some provinces and regions. The cause of death is divided into five categories: death (death from sudden incident ), suicide, death from illness, congenital frailty and deformity, old age. The most common cause of death is death from illness, which is attributed to poor medical treatment and poor living conditions. Taking Jingshi and Jingzhao as examples, the proportion of suicides in the total deaths in 1916 was 4.3‰ and 1.0‰ respectively. The reasons for suicide in were summarized as mental confusion, difficult livelihoods, illness, family discord, unfree marriage, and debts. [2] There are no detailed statistics on suicide population, but judging from the recorded newspapers and magazines, the suicide of intellectual groups is particularly valued by the society, and even aroused huge repercussions, forming a unique suicide landscape of this era.
Image from the Internet: Liang Ji's book
2. Disappointment times: the despair of the desperate
Regarding Liang Ji's suicide, we know that it was caused by a kind of despair that has accumulated in the heart for a long time. First, we need to find out where his sense of despair comes from. Second, we need to observe how he views death and why he has to delay his death, and discuss his death in a calm tone.
In 1903, Liang Qichao published an article in "Xin Min Cong Bao" that people tend to commit suicide because of "disappointment":
Today, our people are in a disappointed era, hope the government, the government will be disappointed; hope that the stalemate, the stalemate will be disappointed; the hope that the Democratic Party, The Democratic Party is disappointed; hopes for gradual progress and gradual disappointment; hopes for riots, disappointed by riots; hopes for self-reliance, disappointment by self-reliance; hopes for his strength and disappointment. If the Chinese are eager to hope, once they are disappointed, they will immediately fall into despair or even commit suicide. [3]
The picture comes from the Internet: Liang Qichao
Most of the people who fell into despair due to disappointment in society are concentrated in knowledge groups. Because these people have the strongest public consciousness in society and have a kind of moral responsibility, and Liang Ji has also repeatedly stated this disappointment in his suicide note. "Seeing that China today is known for its deceit and hypocrisy. Private as a means, vowing today, fighting tomorrow, without a trace of reverence for the laws of nature. "[4]
's disappointment that seems stronger than others comes from his strong sense of morality. The teachings of his aunts have always been the coordinates of Liang Ji's growth, and his aunt's expectations of him are not only related to his fame and achievements, but also to his personality. Therefore, Liang Ji not only regards moral practice as a Confucian student who governs the world, but also a filial son who regards moral practice as a return to his aunt. Once this kind of practice cannot be performed, and this kind of practice will be ridiculed and scolded by new people, he not only feels lonely, but also has deep guilt. It is mentioned in the suicide note of
:
"I don’t know that there is life in the world.Pleasure and death are the most painful. However, in my "Resignation" in Ren Zi's year, I quoted a sentence from "Mencius" that "whatever you want is better than living", but my conscience monitors me and censures me, and I often feel guilty. "[5]
psychologically said: "Death is the only way to choose, it is some individuals who feel lonely and ashamed. "Perhaps this kind of "guilt" from time to time torture led to his deep despair. In Liang Ji's heart of despair, how does he view death? In his suicide note, he said:
Try to think about why today’s world situation is corrupted to this extreme. It is changing from one to the other. It sells both good friends and bosses, betraying the usual offers, under the pretense of patriotism, being bought by money, and privately instigated, buying assassins to destroy the Great Wall. , Because the individual breaks the overall situation, the transfer is uncertain, and the face is calm. The implementation of this will make the people of the whole country know what faith is, and if they don't support the heart of the kilometer, then people will not become people. Can a country become a country? In order to make a country a stable country, one must first make people a good person. Therefore, this idiot does not measure his strength and knows that the general situation is difficult to save, so he donates this district and talks as the front line of the nation. "[6]
Third, the sensational hot spot: the meaning of survival
Liang Ji wrote in his suicide note that he expected his suicide would arouse the ridicule of those intellectual groups in the New Culture Movement, and some people might even call him pedantic. He did not care. The purpose of his suicide was to arouse discussion. Two months after the death of Mr. Liang Ji,
did arouse heated discussions. In this issue of "New Youth" on January 15, 1919, each The various factions of the family launched an offensive of public opinion! Tao Menghe, Chen Duxiu and others exchanged long essays. This was a "hot" event on social media at the time! Of course, this is also part of his careful planning.
From the Internet
, but it’s not all what Liang Ji thinks. When we checked Tao Menghe, Chen Duxiu, Hu Shi and other articles, Tao Menghe’s remarks were fierce and disapproved of Liang Ji’s death, but Chen Duxiu’s evaluation was pertinent and believed that Mr. His death was full of integrity. Z3z
Mr. Tao Menghe insisted that "you can fight if you have life, and you can't fight without life." To fight for life, life should not be cut off. "Z11z It can be seen in Mr. Liang's suicide note that his biggest purpose is not to die for martyrdom, but to awaken a society of depraved morality through the influence of suicide.
Image from the Internet: Mr. Tao Menghe, former head of the Department of Philosophy at Peking University
On the issue of suicide, Liang Ji has always put death in his integrity. He is not afraid of death, nor cowardly. His death is not the same as ordinary life-fearing death. This is a cultural factor in Liang Ji's thought The role of China is like Jesus carrying a cross to accept judgment. He hopes to save mankind through his own death. Mr. Friday believes that no one can stop the pace of history. The beginning of the twentieth century was an age of agitation. On this noisy stage, they can only silently endure the loneliness and pain of the abandonment of the era, and defend their legacy of their era with their lives. Just like Mr. Lin Yusheng said: "In any case, they are exploring the reconstruction of Chinese cultural morality. All aspects have made their own explorations. This is the continuous experiment of this generation to the best of their knowledge and knowledge when faced with choices. "[7]
cannot deny that at the moment of life and death of our nation, they are full of blood and conscience. However, the misunderstandings of these two generations are like historical tricks, which cannot be eradicated and become a dead knot. This era has given Chinese knowledge. The test of man comes from inner torture, and it is also a serious philosophical question: the meaning of survival.
Note: The content of this article is selected from the first chapter of the author’s graduation thesis. Reprinting and copying are prohibited.
References:
[1] Liang Ji, "Suicide Note by Liang Juchuan" Shanghai: East China Normal University Press, 2008, p. 51
[2] Hai Qing, "The Coming of the "Suicide Era"?-The Intense Behavior and Value Choices of Chinese Intellectuals in the Early 20th Century" Beijing: Renmin University Press, 2010, p. 2
[3] Liang Qichao, "Hope and Disappointment", "National Suicide", in "Xinmin Cong Bao", No. 40, 41
[4] Liang Ji, "The Last Letter of Liang Juchuan" Shanghai: East China Normal University Press, 2008, p. 62
[5] Liang Ji, "The Last Letter of Liang Juchuan" Shanghai: East China Normal University Press, 2008, p. 62
[6] Liang Ji, "The Last Letter of Liang Juchuan" Shanghai: East China Normal University Press, 2008, page 52
[ 7] Lin Yusheng, Translated by Mu Shanpei, "The Crisis of Chinese Ideology——The Fierce Anti-Traditionalism during the May 4th Movement", Guizhou People's Publishing House, 1986
