附录
HAN FU-CHU, THE GOOD BULLY OF SHANTUNG
"If Machiavelli were to make a constitution for China, he would have to proceed differently. … He would assume that the militarists would always bully the civil authorities, but he would make this evil a blessing in disguise, by seeing to it that only good bullies (like Han Fu-chu) became militarists." —Wen Yuan-ning.
In the olden days, a mandarin beloved of the people was often deified and made an object of worship even while he was still living. Travellers to Shantung have brought back the tale that throughout the province, tablets with General Han Fu-chu's name inscribed on them are not infrequently seen on the altars of the temples formerly sacred to the memory of Kwang-ti (关帝)—the god of war—or Confucius. While people elsewhere in China are cursing the misrule of the warlords, those in Shantung are looking upon General Han as an emissary sent by Heaven to rule over them. What then is this man to deserve such respect and popularity?
To begin with, he is a true soldier. Unlike many other warlords, who were graduates of military colleges either here or abroad and who started their careers as commissioned officers, General Han rose from the ranks and is not ashamed of it. He began as a common soldier in the army of General Feng Yu-hsiang, whom he still regards as his superior officer. There is a story that when he was chief of the 6th Division of the Kuominchun Allied Army, he was one day slapped on the face by General Feng for something he said which was not exactly to the latter's liking. Another version of the story has it that he was not only slapped on the face, but even had to kneel down to beg Feng's forgiveness.
But, in spite of the fact that most of Feng's followers were avowed Christians, General Han has always been a staunch defender of the Confucian tradition. He has, for instance, made it compulsory for all school children to read the Four Books. Moreover, every year on the birthday of Confucius, he would go to Chu Fu (曲阜) and offer sacrifices before the image of the sage.
As follower of Confucius, he naturally subscribes to the doctrine of paternalism in politics. In the mandates which he occasionally issues, he would tell the people not only what they should do but also what they shouldn't do. Recently for instance he has forbidden women to curl their hair. Many young girls and concubines of the officials in Shantung were thus arrested and put to prison, and were not released until the General had ordered his bodyguards to have their curled locks shaved off.
As it might be expected, General Han is also a believer in the Confucian precept that government by superior men is better than government by law. In fact, General Han's words are law in the province of Shantung. When any subordinate of his is found to be guilty of "squeezing," he would order him to be shot without first having sent him to the court for a trial. One day, on one of his inspection tours to the country, he thought that he saw five shabbily dressed persons hiding under a tree. He immediately ordered his car to stop and told his bodyguards to have them shot at the spot. "But why should they be shot?"his bodyguards ventured. "Well," replied the General, "they look to me like bandits." Finally, however, his aid-de-camp suggested that perhaps he had better make sure first. Whereupon he did, and found out that the suspects were only a bunch of workers on the road; and when he saw them, they had just been sitting down under the tree to eat their lunch.
But let it not be inferred that General Han is in the habit of making wrong judgments. On the contrary, he is gifted with the extraordinary ability of seeing persons and things as they really are. The following, for instance, is what he said to a group of officials in Shantung: "You all think of yourselves as having great talents, therefore you refuse to listen to me. But let me tell you, I don't think that the whole bunch of you are worth two coppers. All you can do is to write official letters, to keep books, and above all, to squeeze the poor people. To tell you the truth, China does not really need 'talents' such as yours. The common people, although they haven't had your education, make much better citizens than all of you together."
Herein therefore lies the reason of General Han's popularity. He is a great lover of the common people.
Yih Chang-mung
[No. 1; Jan. 4, 1934]
DOLEFUL MEI LAN-FANG
What does it matter that Mei Lan-fang was born on October 22, 1894, and that some of his ancestors were brilliant ornaments of the Chinese stage? Readers of The Critic, I suspect, will regard with indifference the fact that the renowned Mei Lan-fang was once known as the "Foremost of the Pear Orchard" and that the ex-Emperor one time made him head of the Ching-Chung Monastery, both designations symbolizing his preeminence as an exponent of China's dramatic art.
Some of our readers may be mildly interested to know that Mei, with the assistance of scholarly friends, built up a library and museum of the Chinese drama from which he drew the inspiration that enabled him to contribute to the literature of the Chinese stage as a playwright. Everybody in China, and many people abroad, need not be reminded that Mei Lan-fang, as Hu Shih once described him, "is an artist with a most thorough training in the old dramatic arts of China," although some may be surprised to know that he is also a painter of considerable ability, and is more than slightly competent as a student of biology, entomology and some other practical and mechanical sciences.
All this hardly merits an article in this column at this time about a person who appears to be conspicuously inconspicuous in his own country whose people had acclaimed him and whose dramatic authorities had rhapsodized about his "expressive eyes," "mobile face," "interpretive smile," "supple waist" and "divine hands."
Four years ago this time Mei Lan-fang was on his way to the most brilliant achievement of his life, at least up to the present. He went to America and, as described by an American critic who witnessed Mei's first performance in New York, he reached "across a barrier of language,"besides (to the Americans) the alien conventions and dissonances of the Chinese stage—so far and so effectively that he became the ruling sensation of the American stage that season. American critics outdid their Chinese contemporaries in their boundless praise and appreciation.
Mei Lan-fang's acting was "beautiful as an old Chinese vase or tapestry," possessing "the strange ripeness of centuries." It was "as limpid as a forest pool." Every poem his Chinese admirers had composed to glorify his art was outdone by the American critics in delirious prose. For examples:
"He is a realization of perfection which is more rare and precious than anything a new world can produce. Our imaginations remain prostrate before its delicacy, grace and poetry."
"It is impossible to write of this man without superlatives, nor to look upon his work without a penetrating gratitude for the privilege of having seen him. He conveys more in the turn of a wrist, the swish of a sleeve or an arching of the eyes than do most of our foremost actors in a whole evening of the less subtle and more forthright performances."
"Anybody can realize the perfection, the delicacy, the emotional power of his pantomime. He is the most graceful man seen on the New York stage since Nijinsky was here last. His skill, tempo and agility are incomparable."
"One might run on for a column or two trying to convey to those who haven't seen Mei Lan-fang, his exotic and exciting charm."
And, we might ask, how many of his countrymen at home know so much about him? But it does not matter. Nor perhaps the fact that Mei Lan-fang is probably better and more affectionately remembered in the United States than any Chinese person who has ever visited that country.
Only recently a columnist for one of the leading newspapers of Los Angeles was in Shanghai. This is a part of what he sent back and was published in his column:
"If I came back to California without having seen Mei Lan-fang, I know I shouldn't be allowed to land. He is one of the most popular actors of any nationality who ever came to Los Angeles.
"I found him in an old hotel on Bubbling Well Road—very much depressed. He belongs in Peiping, which for 700 years has been the artistic center of the Orient. The Japanese cannon silenced its voice. And Mei Lan-fang came sadly away—to Shanghai, which is a great commercial city which favors cabaret girls rather than art.
"Mei Lan-fang said that he intended coming to the Chicago exposition this year, as the beginning of a great American tour. China's troubles stopped it. Now he doesn't know what he will do.
"George Bernard Shaw came to see him in Shanghai and encouraged him to make a tour of Europe; but that is off too, on account of the havoc in China.
"'I am not a politician,' he said sadly, 'so I don't know what is the matter with my unhappy country: but it makes my heart very sad.'"
There it is! Among all the personages whose names impinge upon the public mind in China, here is one who is not a politician, which accounts for his inability to know what is the matter with his unhappy country. His heart is sad, but he knows not what to do that might lessen the suffering of his people whom the politicians are so sure they can lead to peace and prosperity. Soon, Mei Lan-fang will come forth from his present retirement and again, as he has many times in the past, employ his art in benefit performances to succor the victims of war, famine and pestilence whom the politicians talk so much about helping while they themselves appear so helpless to prevent the creation of those victims.
E. K. Moy
[No. 3; Jan. 18, 1934]
LIN SHU-HWA, WOMAN NOVELIST
Perhaps in no other period in the history of Chinese literature did women play so important a part as they do at present. Since the New Culture Movement in 1919 women have offered their contribution to the foundation of contemporary Chinese literature. Today we have Misses Lin Shu-hwa, Ping-ching, Ting Lin, Lu-ying in short story writing; Misses Lin Hwei-ying and Fang Lin-yu in poetry; and Prof. Yuan Chang-yin in drama. These women writers, being intimate with the life of their own circle, reveal another aspect of society, which men may not perfectly understand. Here I choose to discuss Miss Lin Shu-hwa, because it seems to me she divines the life of womankind more than any other woman writer.
Miss Lin has already published two collections of her short stories, "The Flower Temple" and "Woman." In these twenty short stories, what strikes a reader most, I think, is that she chooses her materials from the feminine. Perhaps it is rather a lucky choice; of course, lucky for us to have found in her such a preference, since we might not otherwise understand women as we do now. Through her short stories we see different aspects of woman. "Miss Lee" portrays the melancholy of a middle-aged dean of girls in a secondary school, who has been persuaded to marry, yet refused. "It Is Said So" opens a secret, the love between two girl students, which is suggestive of homo-sexual love. "Laced Pillows"and "After the Tea Party" tell us the attitude or reflection of maidens to love-making, and once contemplated marriage. These are descriptions of women in their maidenhood. Descriptions of married women are also numerous. "After Feast" describes a married woman's conflict of passion and sense of duty to husband. "The Flower Temple" tells the story of a wife trying to test her husband's attitude to her by fun. To her husband she writes an anonymous letter in which she expresses her admiration of him and vaguely proposes a rendezvous with him in the Flower Temple. He goes there after deliberate consideration; to his great surprise the woman he meets is his wife. Here we see a touch of comedy in the story. "Consumption" delineates a dutiful wife who sacrifices her honesty in selling pictures of her imitation of some great painters in order that she can defray her husband's hospital expenses. "A Happy Old Woman"reveals the inner secret of a Chinese large family. The old woman has sons, daughters-in-law, grandsons, grand-daughters-in-law around her. They obey her and the family is under her control, yet there are jealousy and enmity under cover among them as once revealed on the anniversary of her eightieth birthday. In this story we see one of the ironies of life, of which Miss Lin bursts out without any conscious effort. Among her twenty stories it seems to me that "Miss Liu the Junior" and "Yang Ma"are the best. By "best" I mean the writer treats her subject with mastery of style and attains to perfection of art. Miss Liu the Junior, who was lively and intelligent, once led her classmates to expel her one married classmate by means of her piercing satire. Thirteen years afterwards she becomes the mother of several children. Her former liveliness has then entirely gone, and instead, only dullness of life and symptoms of ill-health appear on her once bright face. "Yang Ma" is the description of a good-natured mother whose son has deserted home to enlist in the army near the Mid-Autumn Festival. She profoundly loves her son and makes a new winter coat for him. Every month she asks for one day's leave of absence, and wanders in the streets under the delusion that she might thus find her son. Having overheard that her son might have gone to one frontier province, she suddenly leaves her master to pursue the futile search for him. Here in these two stories Miss Lin has attained such a perfection that the change of one word or the omission of one detail would ruin their life.
What arrests the reader's attention, I think, is Miss Lin's conception of woman. The main characters of her stories are women; or, if the main character is not a woman, the female character at least wields a great influence behind the scenes. Eighteen characters out of twenty are good women or blameless at least. Complicated and many-sided as feminine nature is, the truth of her conception may be questioned. Yet, if we refrain from inquiring into its truth and approach it from another side, it is very significant in contemporary Chinese literature. She differs from most contemporary writers in depicting the beauty of woman's spirit. Such a beauty gives us freshness and driving force. With this freshness we clear the dusty weariness of our journey; by this force we always happily resume our travel westward after short delays.
By Chien-Chao Fei (费鉴照)
[No. 26; Jun. 28, 1934]
LU TSO-FU (卢作孚)
After his extensive trip in Szechuan, Mr. Chang Kai-ngau in his authoritative and highly interesting statement to the press reveals to the outside world the Szechuanese characteristics of curiosity and eagerness in keeping up-to-date, — the signs of a progressive people, — and incidentally praises the spiritually-socially reformative movement set on foot by a group of pushing-forward type of men under the leadership of Mr. Lu Tso-fu. Besides being an embodiment of those two characteristics, Mr. Lu possesses that rare and remarkable combination of qualities which makes him a success in no matter what line he works. He is an excellent educator, the foremost industrialist and shipping man in Szechuan, a good mixer in society, an organizer of volunteer expeditions to Tibet, Kokonor, Lololand and other places bordering on Szechuan and the promotor of a museum, a scientific institute, schools and volunteer groups to defend his native district from being overrun by bandits. And the above-mentioned list by no means exhausts the whole range of his multifarious activities.
It requires volumes to record the many-sided interests and activities of the energetic Mr. Lu, but we shall confine ourselves to relating some of his more remarkable achievements in the shipping business. Entering into the shipping trade about nine years ago with a capital of eight thousand Chungking dollars which he invested in an inland river steam launch, he now commands a fleet of thirty river steamers with assets worth three million dollars. He does away with two deep-rooted and notorious elements in the shipping trade on the Yangtze, — the compradores and the tea-boys, — who infest the foreign steamers on the river so much that they have long been looked upon as necessary evils to shipping companies and scourges to the passengers. His efficiency in running his steamers is as popular with both consignees and passengers as it is much feared by competitive companies.
Significant as his success in handling shipping, his ten years' fight for social reforms is still more far-reaching in consequences. He antedated General Chiang Kai-shek by nine years in his starting a New Life Movement much more profound in ideology and not a little more practical in application than that of the famous General. Obscurity in position, inaccessibility in geographical surroundings and limitation in scope have not prevented Mr. Lu's attempt from being a success. They only succeeded in delaying for a considerable period of time that public recognition of his achievements which he thoroughly deserves. But eventually nothing succeeds like success. Pepei, originally a poor obscure village in the district of Pahsien, and the centre of Mr. Lu's activities, has been universally recognized as a model village. His simple living, his self-sacrificing devotion to duty and his unbounded enthusiasm in reforming deep-rooted social evils are an inspiration to thousands upon thousands of old men and youths, proletarian workers and feudal-minded gentry. Indeed, his influence is so much felt that in every corner of the wide province of Szechuan there are to be found people in masses who look upon him as the leader to lead them on the way to reconstruction, and happier and richer ways of living.
Magnetic and sincere in disposition, persuasive and convincing both in private talk and in public speaking, practising frugality almost to a fault and working more than fourteen hours or more daily, a profound thinker and facile writer, he possesses every qualification which any prospective leader of social reform would envy to have. Yet he prefers to influence his followers and compatriots by example rather than by words and by writings alone. He does not enjoy the privilege and benefits of a university education; but he has passed through a greater and more useful university, the university of society at large. His highly self-trained mind is wide-awake, ever ready to assimilate new ideas and adopt new methods to achieve his ends. We have no doubt but that his uplifting influence will be sure to make itself felt in China. It is indeed a thing of much interest to watch the unfolding of his career in future.
Chang Hsu-lin
[No. 28; Jul. 12, 1934]
吴宓（号雨生）
世上只有一个吴雨生，叫你一见不能忘。常有人得介绍一百次，而在第一百次，你还得介绍才认识，这种人面貌太平凡了，没有怪样没有个性，就是平平无奇一个面庞。但是雨生的脸倒是一种天生禀赋，恢奇的像一副讽刺画。脑袋形似一颗炸弹，而一样的有爆发性，面是瘦黄，胡须几有随时蔓延全局之势，但是每晨刮的整整齐齐，面容险峻，颧骨高起，两颊瘦削，一对眼睛亮晶晶的像两粒炙光的煤炭——这些都装在一个太长的脖子上及一副像枝铜棍那样结实的身材上。
头既昂起，背又挺直，雨生看来是有庄严气象。他对于自己的学问是有相当的抱负，而他的好友也视他为一位天真淳朴的人物。他为人慷慨豁达，乐为善事，每为人所误会。待人接物，每偏于忠厚，而对于外间之臧否也不能漠然。因此雨生的心灵永是不安的，不是在怅惘咨嗟，便是在发愤著作。他虽极崇拜哥德，但他却未达到哥德所称羡“不慌不辍”（ohne Hast, ohne Rast）的境地，这也如但丁吟着“Io fei giubbetto a me delle mie case”（我把我的厢房当做我的一架刑枷）一样的未能达到这种境地。
世上有一种人，永远不知所谓年少气盛是怎么一回事，雨生就是其中一个。虽然已年满四十，他看起来总在三十与百岁之间。他待人以宽，待己却甚严。是信儒道，立儒行的一个人。容貌非常端肃，对事非常认真，守己非常严正。但是仍不能令人望之生畏。
雨生现在清华大学西洋文学系当教授。此外曾主编《学衡》及《大公报文学副刊》，后者到最近才辞职。
雨生的教书，师道可谓无间然，只是在启迪后生的灵感有点缺憾。他照时上课，一秒不差；预备讲义，毫不敷衍。别人也许带了书本将要引用的一段文字念给学生听，雨生却无论那段文字怎样长，非先自背诵上口不可。他的阐扬发挥处是井井有条：甲、乙、丙、丁这样下去。有点干燥，是的，但总不会空疏。他不像另一种教员，说的天花乱坠，结果不知所云，
他所云的都有个内容，或有错误但断不空疏。他总不依违两可，他的是非非常坚确；换言之，就是不怕有固定的意见。关于记问的事实，尤其是那一类在百科全书及各种类书可以检得的事实，他百无一误。只在见解上面，我们可以抓到他的毛病。在这种地方，雨生露出他的弱点，但是这个弱点，病不在论理不明或者立意不诚，病在他人文主义的立场——而且是白璧德式的人文主义的立场。雨生不幸，坠入这白璧德人文主义的圈套。现在他一切的意见都染上这主义的色彩。伦理与艺术怎样也搅不清。你听他讲，常常莫名他是在演讲文学或是在演讲道德。
雨生办《学衡》，一切立论与胡适正正相反。《学衡》明明是大张旗帜以与白话文学反抗，而保守旧有生活的。反抗是失败了，但是其勇气毅力是可嘉的。他编《文学副刊》之勇气毅力也是一样的可嘉，他要叫中国读者注意西洋文学之史实，而不仅摭拾那文学的皮毛。史实、年月、数目，这是多么干燥乏味。现代人所要的是趋时喜新，随波逐流，摭拾这文学潮流上之泡沫草秽——Dowson、Baudelaire、Valéry、Virginia Woolf、Aldous Huxley等等。在现在时代，像雨生那样孜孜叫人研究Homer、Virgil、Dante、Milton雅典文学，就要遭人不齿。
悲哉雨生，你是那样孤芳自赏，不屈不移。更可悲者，是雨生对自身也没有了解。他立论上是人文主义者，雅典主义者；但是性癖上却是彻头彻底一个浪漫主义者。雨生为人坦白无伪，所以此点人人都已看出，只有他自己看不见。人家知道他是崇拜拜伦的，并且曾摹仿Childe Harold写过一篇中文长诗。这种矛盾，让别人看了不自在，他却处之泰然。
每回我想起雨生，就想起他的苦笑的容貌及他清华大学里净朴的书斋及那被他的窗幔摈出的外边一片风华浓丽的野景。也许是我自己在痴想，但我常疑心着，如果他肯拉开窗幔，凭眺那野景或是勿再矜持，放心怡情的赏那风华秾丽的一片野景，也许他生活上不至那样不安，而面容上也不至那样苦笑了。
——译自英文中国评论周报
林语堂 译
录自《今人志》专栏，《人间世》第2期，1934年4月20日
胡适之
适之绰号“胡大哥”并非偶然。梁漱溟多骨，胡适之多肉；梁漱溟庄严，胡适之豪迈；梁漱溟应入儒林，胡适之应入文苑。学者也好，文苑也好，但适之是决不能做隐士的。一人性格，大概难于分类，也大可不必分类。我想六分学者，四分才子，二分盎格罗撒逊留学生，约略可以尽之。也许加了三分学究气，减了三分才子气，适之的应酬可以少一点，学术著作可以丰富一点，但如此便少了一团蔼然可亲之气，而不成其为胡大哥了。这却何苦来！这一股才子气，又被他六分的学究气压下，所以若称之为“风流才子”也不甚适用，因为他的立身行世，也颇谨严，如对冬秀之始终如一，便可看出。然而适之对女子，又不是像漱溟、雨生那样一副面孔。在女子前献殷勤，打招呼，入其室，必致候夫人，这是许多学者所不会而是适之的特长。见女生衣薄，必下讲台为关课室窗户，这是适之的温柔处，但是也不超过盎格罗撒逊所谓“绅士”的范围。用这种体贴温柔于同辈及少辈，“胡大哥”之名便成了。
适之为人好交，又善尽主谊。近来他米粮库的住宅，在星期日早上，总算公开的了。无论谁，学生、共产青年、安福余孽、同乡商客、强盗乞丐都进得去，也都可满意归来。穷窘者，他肯解囊相助；狂狷者，他肯当面教训；求差者，他肯修书介绍；问学者，他肯指导门径；无聊不自量者，他也能随口谈谈几句俗话。到了夜阑人静时，才执笔做他的考证或写他的日记。但是因此，他遂善做上卷书。
今年似是四十四吧？气色虽然不甚红润，不像养尊处优的老爷，但也不像漱溟一般的瘦马相，只有一点青白气色，这大概是他焚膏继晷灯下用功之遗迹。衣服虽不讲究，也不故表名士气。一副相貌，倒可以令佳人倾心，天平是那么高，两眼是那么大，光耀照人，毫无阴险气，嘴唇丰满而常带着幽默的踪影。他的悟力极敏，你说上句他已懂到下句了。笑声不是像岂明的低微，是呵呵式的。
适之所以不能成为诗人就是这个缘故。在他呵呵笑的声中，及他坦白的眼光中，我们看不见他的魂灵深处。他不像志摩，不会有沉痛的悲哀，与热狂的情绪。在那眼光中，我们看出理智的光辉，那兀突不定的嘴唇，也老是闪过机智者会心的微笑。这样是不合做诗的。所以他的散文，也是清顺明畅，像一泓秋水一般，晶澈可爱，却很少波澜曲折，阐理则有余，
抒情则不足。人还是规矩人，所以文也老实。布风说过“文如其人”，正是此意。因此他的思想，也是近于厚重稳健，非近于犀利急进，他的观点是演化的（即所谓历史癖），非革命的（evolutionary, not revolutionary）。在此种地方，最可看出他盎格罗撒逊的素养。丁在君、胡适之都是这一派思想的好代表，于是“高等华人”的徽号便落在他的身上。在普罗作家，甚至在一切急进派作家眼光中，这种绅士气是极讨厌。但是，适之的态度，是极诚恳极负责的。这从他的刊物名称《努力》可以看出来的。他这种态度，使他常傻头傻脑作文章，见要人，向一般急进派所认为根本无望的官僚军阀作劝告，不免太不脱化。然而在这好人极少的中国中，我们不能不承认他是一位不甘自弃的好人，而发生爱惜甚至景仰之意。
适之写的英文，似比他的中文漂亮。
——改译英文中国评论周报
林语堂 译
录自《今人志》专栏，《人间世》第3期，1934年5月5日