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A good man three gangs. Zhang Yuanji is the soul of the Commercial Press; we must not forget that he has 3 important assistants: Xia Ruifang, Gao Mengdan, and Chen Shutong.
Gao Mengdan | Graph source network
Gao Mengdan (1870-1936), known as Fengqian, the character Mengdan, with character lines; advocating practical things, hating Qingtan; Fujian Changle people. When he was a child, he ruled the imperial examination, and after his death, he had no intention of making a name for himself, and dabbled in translating books. Guan Yu's cousin Fujian Shipping Administration Inspector Wei Han's family. He interacted with foreign students of the Shipping Administration Bureau, and devoted himself to restoration through Western politics, economics, justice, finance, education, etc. He once wrote an article advocating the abolition of kneeling, and was greatly influenced by the "Times" Wang Kangnian and Liang Qichao, and became a non-rebellious friend. Later, he taught at The Zhejiang Silkworm Politics School and Qiushi University, and went to Japan as an international student supervisor. In the rest of the year, I visited Japan so prosperous that it was ended up in education, and education was fundamentally in elementary school. In 1903, he resigned in 1903 because of his wish to edit primary school textbooks. He was later transferred to the Commercial Press until his death. In 1905, Lin Shaoyuzhao, the inspector of Guangxi, was promoted to the post of superintendent (principal) of Fudan Public School in 1909, and Brother Minchu Zhongzhong was recruited to serve in embassies abroad.
Gao Mengdan entered the Commercial Compilation Institute, where he presided over the Ministry of Chinese Literature and edited textbooks such as primary school Chinese language. Before writing, the principle is determined, the difficulty of each lesson, the number of words, and the proportion of life, society and other aspects involved are determined, and then the preparation is began. Adopting the principle of collegial system, the proposals of each of the kings were prepared, and they were established after debate. Since the author has accumulated habits, the text does not want others to add or lose a word. He thought that one person had limited knowledge, and that if he tried to correct it, he would correct each other in order to be right. Each volume is written, and it is criticized by a friend. So fine, the first volume was printed, and it was sold out and reprinted in only three days. As a result, the following volumes were continued and the remaining sections were prepared. Since then, there have been more scientific primary school textbooks in China. When Gao Mengdan was young, he read the translated books, and heng discarded them with the incomprehension of one or two terms, and urgently felt the necessity of the word book. After entering the business, I have repeatedly spoken of it. In 1908, he met Lu Erkui, discussed and wrote a dictionary, and discussed the great negotiation. Zhang Yuanji invited Lu Monarch to do his business. And Gao Wuri did not participate in it. More than 40 people participated in its work, which lasted eight years to be drafted, that is, the founder of China's modern dictionary" "Ciyuan".
"Ciyuan" ISBN 9789620704093 The Commercial Press (Hong Kong) Limited November 2015
High energy to judge big things, worry about everything. After the Xinhai Period, the Commercial Press expanded day by day, and Zhang Yuanji, director of the compilation department, presided over the head office. Gao Mengdan served as the director of the compilation as the Minister of National Languages. He is thoughtful and thoughtful, and has presided over the compilation institute for more than 10 years, and the topics he has set are suitable for the needs of society, and there is no backlog and other losses. Because of his careful thinking and careful thinking, the head office encountered major advances and retreats, all of them were cut off from gao, and Zhang Yuanji regarded it as his right and left hands; people called it the chief of staff.
Gao Mengdan is strict with himself, has a round sex, and treats others sincerely. Its initiatives, which have never retreated and spoken, have the highest prestige in business. The background, experience, interests, and personalities of business executives are different and incompatible. Gao Mengdan's rational lobbying for more than 30 years can be free of major conflicts, which is called the indispensable lubricant of business. In 1920, Gao went to Beiping to lobby Hu Shi, and because of the huge amount of business floating capital investment, the manager Zhang Yuanji and the general manager had a fierce argument, and no one compromised. Zhang resigned in anger. Zhang has a stubborn personality and must bear fruit in his words, and the persuasion of friends from the north and south is ineffective. Gao Zibei Pinghui, Chen Shutong and Mou, Gao Yu zhang, Bing Shi.
Gao Mengdan on the left, Zheng Zhenduo on the second from the left, Hu Shi on the third, and Cao Chengying on the left | Graph source network
Gao Mengdan is less than fame and fortune, and success does not have to be self-sufficient, and fame does not have to be in my purpose. In the early years, he studied unified pronunciation and simplified Chinese characters with Wang Kangnian, Lao Naixuan, Wang Zhao, etc., and had special knowledge, and later Li Jinxi and Qian Xuan implemented zhuyin alphabets equally, and Wang Yunwu and Lin Yutang studied the calligraphy method, and they were all happy to sponsor it, and advocated it and did not list it. The four-corner number checking method was just formed, multiple numbers, it was difficult to implement, he planned calculations day and night, set up corners, can only be applied to this day, and is not listed. After xinhai, the minister of national culture actually operated the compilation institute, and although there was no name or treatment in the past seven or eight years, there was no complaint. In 1918, he was promoted to director of compilation. In 1919, the new cultural movement was in full swing, and business could not adapt, So Gao Mengdan resolutely proposed to resign his post and invited Hu Shi to Beiping many times. Hu Shi recommended Wang Yunwu as his own. Wang Yunwu went to the compilation institute, and Gao reported the detailed content of the compilation work every day, which lasted for three months, and retired to the post of minister of publication, assisting Wang Yunwu.
Gao Mengdan had an article published in his early years, and since entering the business, he revised other people's texts in 34 years, filled in the gaps, and made wedding clothes for others. The text is the title of the book. After his death in 1936, Wang Yinian wrote to the board of directors, asking for the posthumous text to circulate, but unfortunately did not approve.
1936.9.13 Zhang Yuanji (second from right) and Cai Yuanpei (second from left) after Gao Mengdan's memorial service
This article is excerpted from "One Hundred Years of the Commercial Press"
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This article was originally published in the public account The Hong Kong Commercial Press