◆ Jiang Feng, chief writer of "Japanese Overseas Chinese Daily".
Forest Taro, as soon as he heard the name, he was very Japanese, and he was a little rustic. Outside Moriou, as soon as you hear this name, it seems that the elegance contains the confidence of culture. Speaking of "Mori Ouwai", everyone who is familiar with the history of modern Japanese literature knows it; Speaking of Forest Taro, not everyone really knows about it. However, "Mori Ouwai" evolved from "Forest Taro".
Born in 1862 in a family of doctors in Kazu-gun, Shimane Prefecture, present-day Japan, the family of a family of doctors had been doctors for generations. At that time, as a doctor, you could only prescribe Chinese medicine - called "Kampo" in Japan, so you had to know Sinology. Because of this, Sen Ouwai learned "Analects" and "Mencius" at home since he was a child, and went to the school-pension hall to learn the "Four Books and Five Classics". This foundation of sinology has benefited him for life.
When he was 10 years old, Mori followed his father to Tokyo. Admission to a government medical school where German teachers teach only German. Adults are always worried that their children's exposure to foreign languages will affect their own growth. As everyone knows, no matter how many foreign languages they learn in childhood, they will regard it as a language, and they will only add a "switch key" in their minds, and their future vision and thinking will not be the same as ordinary people. In the future, it will be difficult not to make them successful. If there are parents who have read this and feel that they have benefited from it, the author of this comic will have a "missionary" excitement.
In 1873, Mori entered the Tokyo Medical School. At first glance, it sounds like an ordinary school, but when you know that this is the predecessor of today's University of Tokyo School of Medicine, you realize that "this school is unusual". In order to be admitted to this school, Mori Ouwai faked - modified his age and gave himself two years older, which can be regarded as an effort. However, after being admitted, he seemed to be a different person, soaking in literary books all day long, and became a real "literary youth". So much so that on the eve of his graduation exam, his grandmother saw that he was keen on novels instead of brushing up on the questions, and in a fit of rage, she set the novels on fire, causing a fire. The old lady has a big temper, and the grandson is also smart and competitive, and he ranks 8th in the examination among the new graduates.
After graduating, the 20-year-old Mori became a military doctor in the Japanese Army, and also mixed the rank of "lieutenant" and worked in the Tokyo Army Hospital. At this time, he still likes literature, in addition to painting the "Four Gentlemen" - that is, orchid, bamboo, chrysanthemum, plum, and likes to watch the Japanese version of quyi when he has nothing to do, so his literary skills have been thickened.
Such outstanding young people will definitely be cultivated and activated. At the age of 23. Mori was sent to Germany to study at the University of Leipzig and the University of Munich. During this time, he developed a keen interest in Western literature. When he returned to China five years later, he not only had medical knowledge in his belly, but also the works of German Romantic writers such as Goethe and Schiller, which he greatly admired. He didn't realize that when he returned to Japan, he incorporated elements of Western literature into his creations, opening a new chapter in Japanese literature.
After returning to Japan, Mori continued to work as a military doctor in the Japanese Army. However, the spark of love he sowed while studying abroad is still burning, and the German dancer who fell in love with him chased him all the way to Japan four days later. The German dancer has been living in Japan for more than a month, but the unforgiving reality of Mori Ouwai's reluctance to meet her romantic ideals has shattered her romantic ideals. And Mori Ouwai's first "private novel" - "Dancing Queen" was born. Once love collides with literature, immortal works will be produced. The critic pointed out that "Maihime not only occupies an important place in the history of Japanese literature, but also becomes an important text for the study of cultural exchanges between the East and the West." Of course, I think it's okay to call this novel a "work of a negative man" and a "work of a scumbag". The important reason why Mori Ou refused to see him was that he returned to China to be an official, how could a big man let his love be fettered? !
Many writers in modern Chinese history have "abandoned medicine and followed literature", such as Lu Xun, Yu Dafu, and Guo Moruo. But Mori Ouwai is "both medical and literary", and the same is true of Junichi Watanabe later. It can be seen that "medicine" and "literature" are not completely opposite conflicts, once they are perfectly combined, there will be famous masterpieces coming out one after another.
It has to be mentioned that Mori Ouwai not only has the characteristics of "medicine" and "literature" among modern Japanese writers, because he has worked in the Japanese Army for a long time, and he also has the characteristics of "army". He participated in the Sino-Japanese War in 1894, and also went to Taiwan with the Japanese governor of Taiwan, Shikiri Kayama, and made significant contributions to solving the problem of athlete's foot and food problems of the Japanese army. In the end, he mixed up with the rank of lieutenant general, so it is not an exaggeration to call him a "military writer". In the history of Japanese literature, if Mori Ouwai is the second writer who combines the three characteristics of "literature, medicine, and the military", no one dares to say that he is the first.
In addition to Kaimori's love affair with the German woman, he also had the experience of "second marriage". The first wife was the daughter of Vice Admiral Norirashi Akamatsu, and the second wife was the daughter of Hirotomi Araki, a judge of the Supreme Court. In addition, he also has a concubine who is 19 years younger than him - Eryushi. Mori Ouwai changed his image of a "scumbag" in the past and became a "responsible man", and actually supported the concubine and the concubine's mother together. Conversely, can this also be said to be "literati have no line"?
On July 9, 1922, Mori Ouwai died of kidney atrophy and tuberculosis. It's kind of a sixtieth birthday. (Written on July 3, 2024 in Rakuhosai, Tokyo)