My
Correspondence with Celebrities
Gao Lusheng
When I was young, I was fond of
having correspondence with celebrated persons. To be precise, I sent a lot of
letters, but received not many replies. However, those who enjoyed the
reputation of “masters” did write back to me.
Some time in 1947, I wrote to Mr.
Hu Shi1, then President of Peking University, and asked him what
ideal and aspiration we young people should cherish. To my amazement, Mr. Hu
replied with a remark of encouragement: “A man of virtue never wastes his life.
Quoted from Lu Gu2 by Hu Shi.” I thought Mr. Hu might be hinting
that I should learn from sages so as to become virtuous. However, it is a pity
that I still have not found out the secret to a worthy life, even at an
advanced age.
Once I wrote to Mr. Xu Beihong3,
the great artist and then President of Peking Art College, asking him what goal
young people should strive for. Instead of an encouraging remark, Mr. Xu sent
me his picture. The small picture shows a few lifelike sparrows with wings
spreading as if to fly, and there is also the artist’s signature “悲鸿”(Beihong).
As far as I could understand at that time, the picture conveyed a message:
young people should learn to survive as those little birds who, with tender
wings wide-spread, would launch into the sky and practise flying skills against
winds and storms. I really loved this picture, and perceived from it Mr Xu’s
concern and expectations for us young people.
Another time, I wrote to consult
Mr. Feng Zikai4, the well-known cartoonist in Shanghai. He sent me
neither remark nor picture, but only his autograph “丰子恺”
(Feng Zikai). As Mr. Feng was a cartoonist with a good sense of humour, I
thought he might have imbedded some well-considered message in it for me to
discover. So I racked my brains and worked out the following implication: “丰”,
meaning “abundance”, refers to an abundance of knowledge; “子”,
meaning “child”, refers to young people; as for “恺”, it certainly means “joy
and happiness.” Ah, yes, I had got Mr. Feng’s message—“Only by acquiring an
abundance of knowledge and skills, can young people have a bright future and a
happy life.”
In October, 1949, I wrote to Mr.
Guo Moruo5, the great writer and historian, to seek advice. He had
just come to Beijing (Peking) from Hong Kong by a detour via Dalian, to attend
plenary session of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference6.
While still staying in Peking Hotel, Mr. Guo managed, out of his tight schedule,
to send me a warm reply with some remarks of encouragement:
The ancient saying “Approach an
encounter with apprehension, and strive to succeed by strategy” is very
enlightening. As apprehension arises from anxiety about one’s own incapability,
the saying calls for caution and vigilance. One will eventually succeed if he
takes pains and devises ways to do everything without negligence.
As a matter of fact, Mr Guo’s
quotation comes from the Chinese classic The
Confucian Analects7, as the part of the text goes,
…Zilu said, “If you, Master, were
given command of all the three armies of a great state, whom would you take to
help you?” The Master said, “The man who would fight a tiger bare-handed or
cross a river without a boat, and even die without regret—that sort of person I
would not take. My associate must be one who would approach an encounter with
apprehension, and strive to succeed by strategy.” 8
So you see, Mr Guo had not only
quoted “approach an encounter with apprehension, and strive to succeed by
strategy”, but also briefly illuminated its implication. He emphasized caution
and vigilance as against rashness and negligence, and advocated the spirit of
trying to win success by deliberate, painstaking efforts. His advice greatly
inspired me.
It was worthwhile corresponding
with celebrities, but nevertheless I did not keep it up. After I had taken a
job in early 1950, I stopped writing to celebrated persons, so as not to
inflict inconvenience. It was not until the 1980s that I resumed that interest.
Over the years I have received from various celebrities more than one hundred
letters, and have preserved them carefully. When I sometimes browse through
them, I feel great delight and satisfaction.
(From Tianjin Daily, January 22, 2000)
Notes:
1.
Hu Shi (1891-1962), contemporary Chinese philosopher and essayist. 2.
Lu Gu (c. 240-170BC), ancient Chinese thinker, writer and poet in the Western
Han Dynasty. 3.
Xu Beihong (1895-1953), contemporary Chinese artist and art educationist. 4.
Feng Zikai (1898-1975), contemporary Chinese artist, cartoonist, essayist and
art educationist. 5.
Guo Moruo (or Kuo Mo-jo, 1892-1978), a major Chinese cultural figure: poet,
playwright, historian, archaeologist, philologist and social activist. 6.
The Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the patriotic united
front organization led by the Communist Party of China, promoting multi-party
cooperation and political consultation. 7.
The Confucius Analects (or The Analects of Confucius), one of the
13 classics of Chines philosophy and literature, attributed to Chinese sage
Confucius (c.551-479 BC), but probably written either by his disciples or by
their pupils. The book consists of the answers Confucius gave to questions put
to him and is the basic source for the main concepts of Confucianism. 8.
This passage comes from Book VII of The Confucian Analects. “The Master” refers to Confucius. Zi Lu
(542-480BC) was one of the disciples of Confucius.
（谷启楠 译） |
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