When it comes to Marshal Chen Yi, the first thing that comes to mind in the country is his side as an outstanding military, diplomat, and poet, in fact, Chen Yi is also a Confucian literati who is very good at dealing with intellectuals. Although he lived half his life, he always exuded a bookish nature: humble, loyal and tolerant, and sincere to others.
After the founding of New China in 1949, Chen Yi had contacts with many well-known intellectuals at that time, helping them solve various problems and receiving wide acclaim. His interaction with the big coffee in the academic circles is especially rumored to be a good story.
In April 1952, Chen Yi, then commander of the East China Military Region and mayor of Shanghai, came to Hangzhou for recuperation due to overwork and physical discomfort. Thinking that Mr. Ma Yifu lived in the local area, one afternoon, Chen Yi was accompanied by Liu Dan, director of the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Culture and Education, and specially went to visit Jiang Zhuang in the West Lake. In order to show respect for Ma Yifu, Chen Yi neither wore a military uniform nor a popular Zhongshan suit at that time, but instead wore the long shirt that the literati liked to wear at that time. When Chen Yi and his party arrived, it coincided with Ma Yifu's nap. Ma Yifu's family did not know who the guest was, so they said that the host was resting and waited for a while to report it, and Chen Yi immediately instructed Ma's family not to alarm the old man and come back to visit later. He made a circle around nearby Flower Harbor Park. When he turned back, Ma Yifu was still not awake, and at this time the sky was misty and drizzling. The Ma family invited Chen Yi and his party into the house to wait, chen Yi said: "Unless the lord promised, it is inconvenient to enter", insisting on standing outside the door and waiting. After Ma Yifu woke up, he learned that there were distinguished guests waiting outside the door, and it was also raining, and he immediately apologized.
It is necessary to talk about the horse here. Ma Yifu, who began to read Tang poems at the age of 5, returned to his hometown of Shaoxing with his parents at the age of 6, and took the Shaoxing County Township Examination with his brother Zhou Zuoren at the age of 15, and won the first place, and suddenly became famous in his hometown. At the age of 18, he went to Shanghai to study foreign languages, proficient in English, French, Latin, and Spanish, and was hired by the Qing government embassy in the United States as Chinese Wenmu of the International Student Supervision Office and the foreign language secretary of the Chinese Pavilion of the World Exposition. Later, he traveled to England, Germany and Japan to study in depth, and delved into Western philosophy and literature. From 1906 onwards, he lived in Hangzhou and quietly read Wen Yuange's "Four Libraries of The Whole Book", and was also very accomplished in classical Chinese philosophy and literature, and at the same time, he was also proficient in Buddhism, calligraphy and poetry. Ma Yifu's writings are rich, he does not accumulate wealth, and he has no fixed place to live in his life. In 1950, at the invitation of Jiang Guobang, a disciple of a wealthy businessman, he lived in Jiang Zhuang for 16 years.
Most of the learned people are somewhat arrogant, and Ma Yifu is no exception. He was the secretary general of Cai Yuanpei, who was also the education chief of Shaoxing, and the two had a good friendship, however, when Cai Yuanpei invited him to be the dean of liberal arts at Peking University, Ma Yifu actually said: "Ancient news came to learn, but did not hear about teaching", and resolutely refused. For a long time, Ma Yifu was obsessed with learning, did not ask about world affairs, and did not care about mundane affairs.
Perhaps feeling Chen Yi's high respect for himself, the two Jiang Zhuang were very happy when they first met, and they chatted very speculatively with each other, and the topics became more and more extensive, involving metaphysics, Zen, Song Ming theory, poetry, and so on. Chen Yi took the opportunity to invite him to go out of the mountains and do something for the country. Ma Yifu said that he had always been poor and happy, had no intention of pursuing a career, and planned to "write for labor" after liberation in order to seek self-support. Chen Yi then used the radical method and said, "In the past, when they (referring to the Kuomintang) came to power, you didn't go down the mountain; now that we are in charge, can you still watch from the sidelines?" Chen Yi's words caused Ma Yifu to ponder, he was silent for a short while, changed his lifelong thoughts, agreed to serve as a member of the East China (Shanghai) Cultural Relics Management Committee, the following year, he served as the director of the Zhejiang Provincial Museum of Culture and History, and in the third year, he was hired as a special invited member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. In 1964, at the age of 81, he also served as the deputy director of the Central Museum of Culture and History.
Chen Yi's humility is by no means a pretense, but runs through the entire process of life. He once described his state of mind of making friends with intellectuals in the article "Remembering Mr. Han Zishi": "Since Yu joined the army, every time he went to one place, HeLe traveled with the local sages and doctors, and he was able to accept elders such as Mr. Han Zishi. It can be seen that the courtesy of Ma Yifu is just a small episode of Chen Yi's friendship with intellectuals. Chen Yi's "Ma Men Li Yu" reflects his big pattern as a politician.
(Original title: Style Record | Chen Yi's "Ma Men Li Yu")
Source: Beijing Daily Client | Author You Yuming, Associate Professor, Hunan College of Humanities and Science and Technology
Process Editor: u016