In 1927, Wang Guowei, a professor at Tsinghua University, borrowed 5 yuan from a colleague to hire a car to come to the Summer Palace, and told the coachman to wait in place and buy tickets to enter the Summer Palace.
Unexpectedly, an hour later, he actually committed suicide by jumping into the lake, leaving behind only the remaining four yuan and four dimes for buying a ticket and a piece that read, "Fifty years, only one death, after this incident, righteousness is no longer humiliated." ".
Since then, Wang Guowei's death has become an unsolvable mystery.
Wang Guowei was born in an ordinary family in Haining, Zhejiang, and his ancestors had produced famous generals who resisted gold, inheriting the remnants of his ancestors, and the Wang family was highly respected in the local area, but when it came to the generation of Wang Naiyu, the family gradually became embarrassed.
Wang Naiyu was unwilling to be mediocre and wanted to continue the glory of his ancestors, so he participated in the imperial examination many times, but he only won a show and made no progress.
He pinned all his hopes on his son, Wang Guowei was literate at the age of three and entered a private school at the age of seven, but Wang Guowei's performance was unsatisfactory.
It wasn't until he was 12 years old that he met a famous Confucian and opened his mind.
After that, he was well-read, familiar with the scriptures and history, and at the age of 15, he was admitted to Xiucai and became a well-known "talent" in the local area.
However, as if cursed, after that, he also participated in the imperial examination many times like his father, but he failed repeatedly, and he stopped at Xiucai.
The repeated blows and the pain of losing his mother at an early age made him more and more gloomy, and he and his father proposed to go out for a while, maybe there would be a way out.
The royal father felt sorry for his son, but considering that the Wang family's incense had not yet been inherited, he asked Wang Guowei to wait and go to Shanghai when Wang Guowei had a son.
Soon Wang Guowei married a fellow villager Mo, there was no love, only Wang Guowei's eagerness to fulfill his father's wish.
In 1898, Wang Guowei came to Shanghai and joined a newspaper, Wang Guowei's unspoken personality soon showed its shortcomings, and he was exhausted by interpersonal oppression, and his salary was meager, and he had the idea of quitting.
Depressed, he placed his affection on poetry and articles, and he wrote more than 20 poems, which were published in newspapers and magazines one after another. However, he never imagined that these poems would change the course of his life.
At that time, Luo Zhenyu, who was the president of the "Oriental Literature Society", couldn't put it down as soon as he read these articles, and concluded that the person who wrote the articles must have the talent of the world, so he found Wang Guowei along the way.
When he saw him, he was disappointed, under a melon skin hat was an old-fashioned ugly face, and there was a small braid dragged behind his head, which was incompatible with the new youth nowadays.
Fortunately, Luo Zhenyu does not judge people by their appearance, he arranged for Wang Guowei to work and study in his "Eastern Literature Society", and also paid him a salary, which solved Wang Guowei's urgent need.
Luo Zhenyu is a cultural businessman with very strong financial resources and connections.
Under the sponsorship of Luo Zhenyu, Wang Guowei went to Japan to study, but unfortunately not long after, he had to interrupt his studies to return to China due to health problems, and Luo Zhenyu arranged for him to be the chief writer and editor-in-chief of "Education World".
This opened the door for him to look into the new world, and he studied voraciously, and soon became a scholarly success, publishing a large number of translations on philosophy, pedagogy, aesthetics, literature, and foreign sciences.
From 1898 to 1906, Wang Guowei's main focus was on studying and teaching, and he dabbled in a variety of disciplines, "both world-class academics", learning both Chinese and Western, and pioneering many subjects in mainland education.
In 1921, when the Xinhai ge life broke out, Wang Guowei and his family followed Luo Zhenyu to live in Japan again, and at this time he and Luo Zhenyu had formed a family of children and daughters.
In Japan, his family's life almost entirely depends on Luo Zhenyu, which makes him feel pressured. He can only pin his spirit on his studies.
During this period, he used ancient literature as the basis to study and write about ancient clothing and architecture, and also studied the oracle bone inscriptions unearthed in Yinxu, so that the history of Chinese writing can be extended forward for a thousand years.
Guo Moruo commented that Wang Guowei is the originator of oracle bone science and "the founder of new historiography". Wang Guowei's achievements at this time have been beyond the reach of intellectuals of the same period.
Four years later, Wang Guowei took the initiative to return to China after dragging Luo Zhenyu down.
Under the recommendation of Luo Zhenyu, in 1922, Wang Guowei became the "imperial teacher" of the abolished emperor Puyi of the Qing Dynasty, and was appointed to "walk in the south study", and Puyi rewarded him with "five titles and five ranks" and "horseback riding in the Forbidden City".
Wang Guowei was educated by his father to enter the phase when he was a child, and now he can get Pu Yi's "such a special grace", and he is so moved that he went to his father's grave to tell his father the good news, in order to comfort his father's soul in heaven.
The time spent walking in the South Study was a rare stage of Wang Guowei's life, and his self-esteem and self-confidence were satisfied.
However, his illusory dream of being a courtier of the old country was soon shattered.
In 1924, Feng Yuxiang drove Pu Yi out of the palace, Wang Guowei's position as emperor was terminated, and many friends left Beijing for refuge, and persuaded Wang Guowei to quickly cut his braids and run away.
Wang Guowei does not cut his braids, he said: "I can't be humiliated, I can't be humiliated at all." This year, he wanted to throw himself into the water to die in the water, but was persuaded by his friends.
It didn't take long for him to receive an invitation from Tsinghua University, he didn't want to go, because he was worried that he would be overwhelmed by the authorities again, Wu Mi gave him the respect he deserved, and took him to Tsinghua University for an inspection, and Wang Guowei agreed to think about it.
And his consideration was to ask Pu Yi's opinion, and only after obtaining Pu Yi's "yes" answer did he go to Tsinghua to take up a post.
However, it didn't take long for Wang Guowei to usher in a fatal blow to his life, in 1926, Wang Guowei's eldest son died, but before he could recover from his grief, Luo Zhenyu hurried from Tianjin.
In addition to condolences, he also had another important thing on this trip, that is, to pick up his daughter, that is, Wang Guowei's daughter-in-law, looking at the back of his former friend and daughter-in-law who had decided to leave, Wang Guowei collapsed to the ground and was bedridden for a long time.
Luo Zhenyu never had contact with Wang Guowei again, and the friendship of more than 30 years came to an end. In fact, the two have long been different in terms of political views, and the rift has already appeared, and this time picking up their daughter is just an introduction.
Although Wang Guowei's reputation at this time has long been able to fly solo, in the company of Luo Zhenyu for more than 30 years, he has formed a dependence on Luo Zhenyu in his heart, Luo Zhenyu is his spiritual mentor, and now Luo Zhenyu's departure is equivalent to withdrawing his soul.
Wang Guowei is an academic giant, a dwarf in human affairs, Lu Xun once accurately described Wang Guowei as "honest as ham".
The country was broken, the loss of a son, and the loss of friends, the three blows crushed Wang Guowei, and there was no life on his face.
On June 2, 1927, Wang Guowei went to work as usual, which was the graduation season, and the students were busy exchanging cherishes with their teachers, and the atmosphere was warm and melancholy.
Wang Guowei and his colleagues borrowed five yuan to withdraw from the excitement, came to the Summer Palace alone, quietly smoked a cigarette by the Mingming Lake, and jumped into Kunming Lake with their heads down.
The stone steps on the shore left four yuan and five dimes and a suicide note: fifty years, only one death is owed, and after this incident, there is no more shame.
A generation of academics came to an end in this tragic way.
There are different opinions about the cause of Wang Guowei's death, but there is no conclusion until now.
Pu Yi said in "The First Half of My Life" that Wang Guowei was forced to die because of his debt to Lu Zhenyu.
But many descendants disagreed, thinking that Pu Yi was a blind eye, and when he saw Wang Guowei's embarrassment, he thought he was dying for money, and he was too busy to take care of himself at that time, where did he have the leisure to understand Wang Guowei?
There is also a theory that Wang Guowei was martyred, but Tsinghua University also recalled that this did not conform to Wang Guowei's style.
No matter what the reason, Wang Guowei is dead after all, and there is no way to verify the cause of the strange and bizarre death, and the fall of the academic master has left the world with sorrow.