Lin Zixuan and Pearl Sai were in the crowd, and there were many Westerners and Western journalists in Nanjing.

The Chinese youth who came in handed out leaflets and shouted in Chinese: China does not welcome Tagore, you better go back.

They were very excited, thinking that they were doing a great thing, as long as they drove out Tagore, China would not be poisoned by the traditional culture of the East, and it would be able to become as strong as Western countries, and everything was Tagore's fault.

So, even if they are stopped, they still have to shout because they represent justice.

Lin Zixuan couldn't help but think of Einstein's situation in Shanghai a year ago, and the young students in Shanghai admired Einstein very much, and regarded Einstein as a mentor and God.

They thought that Albert Einstein, who won the Nobel Prize in physics, would be able to solve China's problems.

But Einstein was not willing to talk to them about science at all, because Einstein believed that the Chinese did not understand his theories, and he was not even interested in lecturing in China.

Rabindranath Tagore came to China specifically for cultural exchanges and to promote his ideas, but was driven out by Chinese youth.

Two Nobel laureates with the same Nobel Prize have very different treatment in China.

Which can save China, Western science or Eastern culture?

Lin Zixuan, who came from later generations, naturally believed that science was important, science and technology were the primary productive forces, and that China could not do without the development of science and technology if it wanted to be strong.

However, traditional culture cannot be discarded, which is the foundation of Chinese civilization.

Material civilization and spiritual civilization must be grasped with both hands, and both hands must be firm, in order to develop China well, and this has been proven in later generations.

In China at this time, some scholars were too admiral of Western society and criticized their own culture. They criticized Confucius and the old culture, thinking that if they got rid of the old culture, China would be able to usher in a new life.

As everyone knows, if the foundation of its own civilization is abandoned, the Chinese civilization will no longer exist.

Lin Zixuan agreed with Tagore's idea of attaching importance to traditional oriental culture. But at the same time, he opposes Tagore's criticism and rejection of Western culture, and his view is "take-it-or-leave-it".

For Chinese traditional culture and Western culture, it is necessary to carry out strict screening, the essence must be inherited, and the dross must be discarded.

This is the right path, and it should not be criticized and accepted in its entirety, and only what suits China is the best.

It's just that there were not many people who responded to this view during the Republic of China, and both Chen Duxiu and Hu Shi admired Western culture. Hu Shi wants to look further, so he is sorting out the history of the country and looking for an ideological basis for new literature.

Chen Duxiu wrote to Hu Shi and asked him to criticize Tagore together, but Hu Shi did not agree.

At the scene in the gymnasium of Southeast University, Tagore's speech ended in a hurry, and most Chinese scholars were aware of the ongoing debate in the domestic cultural and intellectual circles, while Westerners were a little at a loss.

Western society held Tagore in high esteem during this period.

They believed that Tagore's pantheism brought faith and hope to impetuous Western society. In particular, some symbolist poets admired Tagore even more.

The poet Yeats once said, "Read a line of Tagore's poem every day." Let me forget all the pain in the world. ”

Of course, with the development of the times, Western society gradually diluted Tagore, but even in later generations, Tagore still had a great influence in the West.

Pearl Sai is a China expert, and Lin Zixuan doesn't need to explain to her why Tagore was treated this way.

She still sighed for Tagore. Thought that such a great poet should not be boycotted.

There is a famous saying in the West that I do not agree with you, but I defend your right to speak to the death.

China can accept so many Western ideas, but it cannot tolerate the views of an Indian.

Lin Zixuan even saw such a statement in the newspaper, and some people believed that India was a British colony. India has already "perished", and Tagore, as a person who has "perished", is not qualified to save China.

China has not yet lost its country, so it is stronger than India, and there is no need for an Indian to come to China to preach, learning from India can only lead to the destruction of the country, so we should learn from the Western world.

What is surprising is that this statement is still very marketable.

This is to respect the strong and despise the weak.

By this time, Tagore had already sensed that Chinese society was not what he had imagined, and he did not stop in Nanjing, but on April 22 he went to Jinan to give a speech at the Jinan Provincial Assembly.

On April 23, Tagore rushed from Jinan to Beiping.

Xu Zhimo was extremely angry at what happened to Tagore, and wrote an article overnight to refute those who drove Tagore, and his rhetoric was quite fierce.

He begged Lin Zixuan to also write an article to say something about this rude behavior.

Lin Zixuan thought about it and wrote an article called "Where is China's etiquette?" 》。

He wrote more objectively about what happened to Tagore at Southeastern University.

It is believed that there is no need for China's cultural circles to be in such a hurry to drive out Tagore, that China will not perish because of Tagore's arrival, and that it will not become strong because of Tagore's arrival.

China's cultural circles should have a tolerant mentality, and the fact that the great China cannot tolerate a single Tagore can only show the narrowness of the Chinese cultural circles, a self-proclaimed country of etiquette, but wants to drive away visitors.

Tagore did not carry guns, but carried out cultural exchanges, what are you worried about?

Regarding Tagore's proposition, Lin Zixuan expressed his own opinion, what is suitable for China should be studied, and if it is not suitable for China, it is better to discard.

But if you don't even listen, you will rush people away, which is not the attitude of a landlord.

can only show that he has no politeness and does not understand hospitality, where is the etiquette in China? Where is the gentleman's wind?

This article was submitted by Xu Zhimo to the supplement of the "Morning Post" in Beiping.

This was the first time that the three standard-bearers of New Literature publicly expressed their opinions on Tagore's visit, and Hu Shi and Lu Xun remained silent.

By this time, Tagore had come to Beiping.

In Beiping, Tagore was warmly welcomed, including the cultural circles of Beiping, represented by Liang Qichao, Cai Yuanbao and Hu Shi, who greeted Tagore at the station.

Rabindranath Tagore will give lectures under the arrangement of the Lecture Society and the Commercial Press.

Lin Zixuan did not participate in it, came to Beiping, and after settling down, his first priority was to visit the Zhou brothers.

At the beginning, his poems were recommended by Zhou Zuoren for publication, and Lu Xun commented on them, which are all human feelings, and in China's humane society, visiting the door is something that should be done.

The only thing that embarrassed Lin Zixuan was that the two brothers had fallen out and lived in different places, otherwise they could visit together.

According to the distance of the relationship, he first went to visit Zhou Zuoren.

At the same time, his article published in the supplement of the "Morning Post" caused a lot of controversy, and while it was welcomed by the Baotai faction, it was also refuted by the critics of the Tai faction. (To be continued.) )