Middle-aged photo of Hu Shi
On the evening of February 24, 1962, Hu Shi had a heart attack and died tragically.
Jiang Dongxiu endured grief, and after handling her husband's funeral with the help of her children, she had to work up to sort out her deceased husband's inheritance.
I didn't think that the husband, who was also a rich family in the first half of his life, now left only a small amount of assets and a large collection of books.
Jiang Dongxiu, as Hu Shi's wife, would not know the reason. Her husband has always been charitable and charitable, even if he is poor, he can't see others in suffering, and the salary earned in his daily life is naturally used up.
Thinking about this, Jiang Dongxiu, who has always been outspoken, couldn't help but lose his temper and complained: "What kind of philanthropist is he pretending to be?"
Hu Shi's family of four took a group photo
The daughter-in-law who stood aside smiled secretly, her mother-in-law has always been arrogant, and where this sentence is complaining, it is clearly an affirmation of Hu Shi's often charitable behavior.
The couple have shared happiness and hardships for decades, and Jiang Dongxiu has always been in charge of the family's financial power, no matter who Hu Shi wants to help, she knows it clearly. But she never objected, but instead joined the ranks of "charity" herself.
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Hu Shi served as ambassador to the United States, and Jiang Dongxiu had to take care of his children at home alone.
She had no job, and she was in the midst of war, and the only source of economic income was the money sent by Hu Shi, and her life was embarrassing.
But Hu Shiyi sent living expenses, but Jiang Dongxiu, who was bold and cheerful, was unambiguous, and immediately divided the 1600 yuan into several parts, gave it to other friends who were also struggling with life, and even donated 200 yuan to a school.
After learning of this, Hu Shi also wrote a special letter, "It is really rare that you can remember the poor people in your family and lend them money during the tribulations, and I am very grateful." ”
Jiang Dongxiu with children's photos
It can be seen that this big gentleman who has studied Western progressive ideas and this little woman who has been bound by feudal oppression, although they do not sound very compatible, their views on money are surprisingly consistent.
However, Under the influence of Hu Shi, Jiang Dongxiu gradually began to frequently receive relatives and friends around him, and Hu Shi's "charity" began as early as his youth.
Hu Shi and Jiang Dongxiu took a group photo
Hu Shi lost his father at an early age and has always been dependent on his mother.
Women in the feudal era lost their husbands, and the only thing they could rely on was their children. Naturally, all the savings left by Hu Shi's father, his mother invested in Hu Shi's education.
Probably thanks to his mother's gentle teachings from childhood, and never experienced the hardships of making money, Hu Shi's generous nature was also cultivated in this way.
Hu Shi youth photo
When he was a student, he often divided the education funds given by his mother into two parts, one for his own study trip and the other for helping his classmates and friends.
When he served at Peking University, his habits did not change. Gu Jie, a former student, could not find a job after graduation and had to ask him for help. For this kind of thing, Hu Shi is naturally very happy.
But Hu Shigang gave Gu Jiegang a professorship, but Gu Jiegang said that he wanted to serve as a librarian who was more convenient for learning. Hu Shi was not annoyed, but praised the student's ambition, and even helped him solve his work problems.
However, Hu Shi soon realized a problem, the salary of the librarian was much lower than the salary of the professor, and gu Jiegang's family living expenses were all dependent on his salary, and the meager salary of the librarian was far from enough for them to make ends meet.
The generous Hu Shi immediately decided to deduct 30 yuan a month from his salary to subsidize him, and Gu Jiegang was grateful for this.
Lin Yutang also sighed that treating literati and scholars with generosity is a typical style of Hu Shi.
Photos of Lin Yutang in his later years
In 1919, when Lin Yutang was studying at Harvard, the government suddenly stopped issuing his office scholarships, and the funds were not well spent, and Lin Yutang's failure to pay tuition meant that his study abroad career was about to end.
In desperation, Lin Yutang had to ask his friends for help, but at that time, it was the time of war, and the funds on the hands of other international students were not sufficient, and they finally found Hu Shi.
The relationship between the two was not very close at that time, but Hu Shi had heard about Lin Yutang's talent earlier, and after receiving the letter of help, he immediately remitted $1,000 to Lin Yutang.
Hu Shi (right)
However, Hu Shi is generous but also familiar with people's feelings, he is already mixed in the circle of literati, he is very aware of the arrogance of the literati, Lin Yutang to ask him for help must be a helpless move, so rush to send money, I am afraid that Lin Yutang will refuse to accept.
Therefore, Hu Shi deliberately attached a sentence to the $1,000 remittance slip, which was the salary advance of Peking University.
This sentence suddenly made Lin Yutang a little less embarrassed, and when the funds were difficult during the Doctoral Study in Germany, he was also much more calm, and sent a letter again hoping to advance the salary to the school.
After receiving the remittance of $1,000 again, Lin Yutang was relieved to spend on his studies, and he never thought that all this money was lent to him by Hu Shi out of his own pocket.
At that time, the life of the literati was mostly somewhat poor. The $2,000 remittance sent before and after this was also a huge amount of money at the time, and Lin Yutang, who had been living in the ivory tower of the school, where did Lin Yutang, who had a simple mind, want to get the real source of this money?
When he went to Peking University to teach as promised and returned the 2,000 US dollars to the principal, he learned the truth of the matter.
Peking University has never had the habit of paying advance salaries for professors, and the advance salary is just an excuse for Hu Shi to understand the backbone of the literati and let him accept remittances with peace of mind.
Such a thoughtful and thoughtful thought made Lin Yutang feel grateful and specially came to the door to thank him.
Who knew that this money was taken out of Hu Shi's own private money, Lin Yutang came to the door to thank him, but let Jiang Dongxiu know that Hu Shi was stealing private money behind his back, so angry that he scolded him and scolded him for blood, and incidentally confiscated all of Hu Shi's private money.
The first on the right is Jiang Dongxiu, and the second on the left is Hu Shi
This also became an interesting thing at that time, and I think this is also the reason for Lin Yutang's feelings. However, the borrowing of these two past expenditures is only a dime in the money that Hu Shi has lent out.
In 1946, Chen Yinke's eye disease worsened, and when he passed through the United States, he met Hu Shi who was in New York, and after a few moments of conversation, Hu Shi, after learning of Chen Yinke's illness, rushed to use his contacts and invited a number of American ophthalmologists to treat Chen Yinke's eye disease.
Unfortunately, Chen Yinke had been suffering for a long time, and he had not been able to recover when he left. The worried Hu Shi could not stop his return trip to China, so he had to entrust someone to bring him $1,000 in his busy schedule, hoping that his eyes would recover.
In 1956, the generous Hu Shi learned that Yu Jiaju was going to the United States to treat eye diseases, but the government's $1,000 was far from enough, and Hu Shi, who had always been enthusiastic about the ancient road, secretly funded him a lot of treatment costs.
Hu Shi photo
A few years later, Hu Shi heard that Li Ao, who had just graduated from college, was living in embarrassment, and his shorts had to be sent to the pawnshop, and he couldn't bear it, so he sent a check of 1,000 yuan a few days later to support Li Ao's life.
Years later, Li Ao, who was interviewed on television, did not forget to tell this past story. In his impression, the 1,000 yuan at that time was equivalent to 10,000 yuan today, and Hu Shi's generosity and generosity made him grateful.
To this end, he even took a special photo of the check as a souvenir, and later the economic situation improved, and Li Ao also donated to Peking University to make a bronze statue for his respected Hu Shi.
Hu Shi's later years
But it really responded to a sentence that Hu Shi once said,
The money I lent, never looked forward to getting it back. Because I know that the money I lend out is always "a million profits", and there will always be interest in the world.
But I think this remark was just a comfort for Hu Shi to the people who asked him to borrow money. In that era when everyone was struggling to feed themselves, it was not easy for Hu Shi to borrow money, and it was even more difficult for those literati who lived in poverty to repay the money.
However, although the money lent out is difficult to recover, Hu Shi's personal feelings from borrowing money are really worthy of a million profits.
Arrogant like Li Ao, when he mentions Hu Shi, he also has a face of respect, not to mention other scholars who have been favored by Hu Shi, and whenever they mention Hu Shi, even if they have different opinions, they never belittle him, but often praise his generous disposition.
I think this is also the reason why many posterity criticizes Hu Shi's shrewdness, Hu Shiming himself is not very rich, but he still has to help others, but he is just buying people's hearts with small favors and small benefits, so as to improve his prestige in society.
If Hu Shi is still alive, I am afraid that he will only laugh at these remarks.
His magnanimity is not a disguise, but a upbringing that goes deep into the bone marrow.
The young Hu Shi was influenced by his mother's identity and was often snubbed by others, and the living conditions of the mother and son were not too good. It is probably because of this that Hu Shi, who has been drenched in rain, wants to play umbrellas for others.
He knows the embarrassment of poverty and the harm that cold words do to people.
Do not do to others what you do not want, which is probably Hu Shi's life motto. Therefore, he is always generous and kind to others, and he is always generous and sincere.
Rather than saying that this is Hu Shi's shrewdness, it is better to say that Hu Shi really saw through the way of dealing with people and exerted his wisdom to the extreme- always treating people with kindness.
Lin Yutang
Hu Shi is also clear that the premise of kindness is equality. Whether it is a literati scholar or a business politician, Hu Shi has always treated him equally.
In the Republic of China in the 1820s and 1830s, there was a saying, "My friend Hu Shizhi."
From the president and the chairman, down to the enterprise desk, the chef, the pawn... There are hu shizhi's friends in various industries.
Such praise is by no means empty talk, and Hu Shi once became a pair of disparities with a street vendor selling sesame cakes.
The two were able to meet thanks to a letter from the peddler Yuan Ou, who wanted to ask Hu Shi about political issues. When he sent it, he was prepared that Hu Shi would not respond.
Many literati and scholars in the Republic of China period were arrogant and arrogant, and they may dismiss letters from other scholars, let alone a letter from a peddler who knew nothing about politics in their eyes.
Surprisingly, Hu Shi not only replied enthusiastically, but also often invited Yuan Ou to his residence and the Academia Sinica where he worked.
Hu Shi (left)
Every time he was invited, Hu Shi would also tell him the time and place in detail to avoid Yuan Biaobai from running away.
Such meticulousness and approachability were rare in the literary circles at that time.
Of course, this friend Hu Shi also borrowed money.
During a small talk between the two, Hu Shi inadvertently learned that Yuan Ou may have nose cancer, but he has not sought medical treatment because he cannot afford the high cost of treatment.
Hu Shi, who has always been righteous, patted his chest and assured Yuan Ou, "The president of NTU Hospital is my friend, you can rest assured to go to treatment, and I will bear all the costs." ”
What good is it for Hu Shi to help a hawker? They are just friends who have not known each other deeply, and a few more words of relief can also be regarded as a complete love. Hu Shi did not hesitate to lend a helping hand, how can such a lovely character be called shrewd?
However, Hu Shi's generous nature caused dissatisfaction with his wife Jiang Dongxiu.
Hu Shi and Jiang Dongxiu in a group photo
Hu Shi's income is not low, but their lives need a large amount of expenses, Hu Shi's purchase of books is also a big expense, but he still has such a large amount of money to support others, how should he live at home?
To this end, she complained to Hu Shi in person, "You fund Zhang San today, li si tomorrow, and if you continue to help in this way, we will also be funded by others." ”
While Hu Shi was relieved that his wife's own financial support could recover the interest, he carefully asked Jiang Dongxiu to take money to help others.
Over time, Jiang Dongxiu also completely understood that where her husband was a person who could bear to see death and not save, as for the return, it would not be just an empty talk.
Jiang Dongxiu, who wanted to open, no longer obstructed her husband, Hu Shi's charitable behavior was completely unhindered, and the support for his friends was more generous, but this laid hidden dangers for his later life.
Hu Shi's later life was unsatisfactory.
In 1938, Hu Shi received two telegrams in succession asking him to become the ambassador of the United States, and had no choice but to agree, which became the beginning of his drifting old age.
He has the talent to do learning and dealing with people, and in politics Hu Shi is clumsy like a headless fly that can't find its way. He could not distinguish between the situation in the country and could not make the right decision.
I think that since Jiang Dongxiu married him, he did not approve of Hu Shi as an official, and he hoped that his husband could study the knowledge well, but he was really prescient.
But sometimes, people can't decide their own destiny. Anyone is just a drop in the ocean of time, propelled forward by the wheel of history, and Hu Shi eventually stirred into the political storm.
In the end, because of the violation of Jiang Dongxiu's advice, every word in Hu Shi's letter was guilty, and even wrote frankly,
"I'm ashamed of my old wife, that's the truth."
But no amount of guilt could change the embarrassment of his later years, and Hu Shi, who had no political acumen, was naturally abandoned by politicians, dismissed from his position, and his financial resources were cut off.
Hu Shi has never had the habit of saving money, spending money lavishly when he was young, and he did not hesitate to fund others, and now at the age of 59, he cannot enjoy the welfare policy of the United States, so he has to drag his frail and sickly body to find a job.
However, the position of Oriental librarian is only two years, and the newly recruited administrator requires a lower salary, and Hu Shi naturally becomes the "uneconomical choice" and is eliminated.
Hu Shi, who was fired, was even more depressed, living with his wife in a small apartment in a dilapidated apartment all day, relying only on a small fee to survive, and Jiang Dongxiu's hobby of playing mahjong gradually became one of the sources of family income.
Even so, the couple did not improve their virtuous nature.
Jiang Dongxiu cooked a delicious Hand of Huizhou cuisine, especially good at roasting tofu residue, so she often invited fellow Americans to her home for a "tofu banquet". And Hu Shi's writing fees are occasionally surplus, which will also be used to support friends who are living in more difficulty.
Zhang Ailing once described the Hu Shi she saw in her later years, although she ran and toiled every day for her livelihood, she always smiled and squinted at the gray river exposed at the intersection, looking calm and serene.
The glory and reputation of the past were washed away by the changes of the times, and the style and fame of his youth were full of worldwide, and in his later years, he was poor and depressed, and he turned into a shallow smile on Hu Shi' body, and eventually disappeared with the name Hu Shi.