200504 to Song Chongyi [1] Zhifang's classmates and brothers: A few days ago, I was able to write a letter of favor, and I only know all kinds of things.

In the winter of last year, he came to the north with his family, and once he returned to Vietnam, he came and went in a hurry, and all the friends in Hangzhou and Vietnam did not have time to meet; I'm sorry so far!

Since the beginning of the year, the domestic turmoil has affected the academic circles, and it has been a year of turmoil. The old-fashioned people of the world think that this fact is the source of chaos; And the reformers praised even. The students of the whole country are either known as the Meng Meng or the people of lofty ideals; However, if you look at it from a servant perspective, it has no effect on China, and it is only a temporary phenomenon; It is said that the people with lofty ideals are too famous, and they are said to be chaotic and cute, and they are also very wronged.

The phenomenon of schools in the south seems to be more strange than this, and the teachers are divided into four classes, which can be said to open a new era in the history of education. However, because there is no principal to advocate this, students do not initiate it; If there is a method like that of President Jiang [2], then the phenomenon should be the same. The world's arguments are good, and the difference between the north and the south is actually the same Chinese, and their tempers are not very different.

Recently, the so-called new trends of thought have become common in foreign countries, and as soon as they enter China, they are very scary. The advocates are not thorough in their thinking, and their words and deeds are inconsistent, so there are always malpractices, and the new trend of thought itself is not to blame.

In any case, all the old things in China will surely collapse; If new theories can be adopted to help them change, the reform will be more orderly, and the disaster will not be as severe as the natural collapse. However, the society is conservative, and the new party does not care about its words, and it is scattered and cannot be adhered to, and there will be no other way in the future except for being out of control.

Today's commentators are also afraid that the Russian trend of thought will infect China and cause chaos, and this is also a paradoxical statement. Chinese people are not infectious, and other countries are very difficult to colonize; The future chaos will still be a Chinese-style rebellion, not a Russian-style rebellion. Whether the Chinese-style chaos can be better at other styles is beyond the measure of superficial view.

In other words, the old status quo cannot be maintained, and there is no suspicion; And its transformation is neither the status quo desired by the officials nor the new style advocated by the new scholars: but it is just a mess.

Unlike China, most of the talkers think that the republic is not suitable for China; In fact, how can the former autocracy be appropriate? When there is autocracy, there are no loyal ministers, and it is not a strong country.

Servants think that there is no root in learning, patriotism and the like, all are empty talk; If you want to figure it now, you are really only studying hard, and unfortunately this is not what today's scholars are happy to hear. This cloth, praise to Manfoy!

The first day of May 4th

Exegesis:

[1] This letter is compiled in Guilin's Culture Magazine, Vol. 1, No. 3 (October 15, 1941).

Song Chongyi (?) --1942), a native of Shangyu, Zhejiang. Lu Xun was a student when he was teaching at the Zhejiang Two-level Normal School. Later, he taught in Zhejiang Taizhou Middle School, Hangzhou Zongwen Middle School, Hangzhou Art College and other places.

(2) Principal Jiang refers to Jiang Qi, whose name is Bohan, and a native of Yongjia, Zhejiang. He graduated from Tokyo Higher Normal School in Japan, and served as the principal of Zhejiang No. 1 Normal School after Jing Hengyi.