Chapter 508 507 [China Also Has Masters]

George Bernard Shaw always felt that something was wrong. After pondering for a moment, he suddenly laughed: "Zhou, you are secretly changing concepts again, and almost got me involved. Since you think my comparison method is unfair, let's talk about it separately. Outstanding figures from all over the world in the past five hundred years. Italy has Galileo and Bruno, Britain has Newton, Darwin, Faraday, and Watt, Germany has Gauss, Goethe, Beethoven, and Einstein, and France has Voltaire, Rousseau, and Bass Germany, Descartes, Russia has Pushkin and Mendeleev, and the United States has Franklin and Edison... The list can be very long. But who is there in China? In the past 500 years, who has contributed to the development of world civilization in China? Have made outstanding contributions? Whether it is literature, art, or natural science, as long as you can name one. "

As soon as this remark came out, the Chinese people present began to think hard, and even Soong Meiling was scratching her head to recall Chinese celebrities.

Lin Yutang felt very sad. In the five hundred years from the Ming Dynasty to the Republic of China, there was really no Chinese artist, writer or scientist who had influenced the world.

Cai Yuanpei couldn't help saying: "Mr. Bernard Shaw, this is unfair. From the pre-Qin period to the Tang and Song Dynasties, China has produced a brilliant culture that has attracted worldwide attention, but it has fallen behind in the past 500 years. The West was still in the dark Middle Ages before the Renaissance. , began to develop rapidly in the past 500 years. How can you use the glorious era of Western civilization to compare it with the backward era of Chinese civilization?"

Bernard Shaw laughed and said, "So, I say that China has no culture at all."

Zhou Hexuan suddenly said: "Is it really enough to list only one?"

"Of course, can you find one? It must be an artist, writer, or scientist who has influenced the world." Bernard Shaw raised his eyebrows.

Zhou Hexuan said with a smirk: "Have you heard of Zhu Zaiyu, the Little Zheng King of the Ming Dynasty in China?"

Bernard Shaw wondered, "Who is this man?"

Little Zheng Wang Zhu Zaiyu has always been a neglected figure, even in the period of the Republic of China, very few people studied him. Zhu Zaiyu was not well known by scholars at home and abroad until Joseph Needham, a fanatical Chinese fan, published a book defining Zhu Zaiyu as a "Chinese Renaissance saint".

Lin Yutang was also full of doubts. He was born in a Christian family. Although he had a strong foundation in Chinese studies, he had little research on Chinese miscellaneous scholars of all dynasties. He turned his head to look at Cai Yuanpei: "Mr. Zhu Min, I seem to have heard the name Zhu Zaiyu somewhere?"

Cai Yuanpei laughed loudly: "Liu Bannong published a book half a year ago, and the title of the book is "Zhu Zaiyu, Inventor of the Twelve Equal Rates"."

Of course Cai Yuanpei was deeply impressed by this, because Liu Bannong's book also had a line of small characters printed on the cover-a collection of essays commemorating Cai Yuanpei's 65th birthday.

Bernard Shaw still didn't understand, so he asked Zhou Hexuan, "Zhou, can you describe this Zhu Zaiyu in detail?"

Zhou Hexuan said with a smile: "Zhu Zaiyu, the ninth grandson of Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, is titled 'King Zheng', which is equivalent to your prince with the highest title in Europe. He is a mathematician. He pioneered the method of using abacus to find the square. He was the first to solve the first term, the last term and the number of terms of the known geometric series, and solved the conversion of decimals in different base systems. He is also a dancer, dancer, metrologist, and astronomy and calendar scientist. And he is most famous as a musician, he created twelve equal temperament."

George Bernard Shaw, as a master of British drama, knew music very well. He exclaimed: "How could the twelve equal temperaments be invented by the Chinese? You are lying!"

Seeing Bernard Shaw's astonishment, Zhou Hexuan was immediately amused: "Mr. Zhu Zaiyu used a very large abacus with 81 gears to calculate the square root and cubic root, and put forward the 'theory of different diameter pipes', and based on this, he made the string standard. and temperament pipe, and finally invented the twelve equal temperament. This theory was spread to the West through missionaries, and the famous musician Bach made the world's first piano with it. 90% of all musical instruments in the West are now The twelve well-tempered temperament is the standard. It can be said that without Zhu Zaiyu’s invention of the twelve well-tempered temperament, the Western musicians you just listed, including Beethoven, would not be able to compose and perform beautiful music.”

To put it bluntly, Xiao Zheng Wang Zhu Zaiyu is the founder of Western modern music.

"Impossible, absolutely impossible!" Bernard Shaw shook his head repeatedly.

Zhou Hexuan said with a smile: "If Mr. Bernard Shaw doesn't believe it, you can read Zhu Zaiyu's "Complete Book of Rhythms". It is impossible for the historical classics handed down hundreds of years ago to lie, right?"

Cai Yuanpei secretly gave a thumbs up and blinked at Zhou Hexuan.

Lin Yutang liked to translate Chinese classics into foreign language books. Hearing what Zhou Hexuan said, he immediately became very interested in Zhu Zaiyu, and planned to concentrate on studying and translating Zhu Zaiyu's works when he returned home.

Soong Meiling clapped her hands and said with a smile: "China and the Western world have always had friendly exchanges, just like the Republic of China and Western countries now, we can promote and develop together."

Mrs. Lampson said: "China does have many excellent traditional cultures. The more you know about it, the more you will feel its charm."

Bernard Shaw was still skeptical about this, but he had developed a strong interest in Zhu Zaiyu, and immediately asked: "Zhou, can you tell us about Mr. Zhu Zaiyu, a nobleman of the Ming Dynasty?"

"Of course," Zhou Hexuan said in terms that Westerners can understand as much as possible, "Mr. Zhu Zaiyu has been extremely smart since he was a child. Although his father was a prince, he lived a simple life and was upright. He was imprisoned by the emperor because he advised the emperor not to believe in witchcraft (Dan Tao). Suffering, he built a house with mud next to the courtyard where his father was placed under house arrest, and lived a poor life every day. He lived in a shabby house for 19 years, and during this period, he read a lot of books and studied with famous teachers. It was not until the second year after his father was released that Mr. Zhu Zaiyu moved back to the Prince’s Palace. After his father’s death, Mr. Zhu, who could inherit the title of Prince, voluntarily gave up his title and focused on Based on his own academic research, he eventually became a generation of masters."

After hearing Zhu Zaiyu's story, Bernard Shaw exclaimed: "This is a respectable scholar and a nobleman with high morals."

Bernard Shaw's recognition of Zhu Zaiyu first came from his status as a prince. Prince, you must be respected in Europe, and Bernard Shaw, an Englishman, is very superstitious about it. The second is Zhu Zaiyu's own character. In order to accompany his father who was imprisoned by the emperor, he lived in a mud house for 19 years. The last is the purity of academics. In order to study knowledge, he actually voluntarily gave up the title of prince, which is worthy of respect no matter what.

After telling Zhu Zaiyu's story, Zhou Hexuan was about to launch a counterattack, and he wanted Bernard Shaw to bow his head and admit his mistake.