In the 30th year of Guangxu reign in Qing Dynasty, palace examination was held, and the top scholar was Liu Chunlin, the last top scholar in China.
Liu Chunlin (A.D. 1872- 1944) was born in Suning, Hebei. It is said that Zhu Ruzhen, a native of Guangdong, was the original champion, and Cixi was annoyed at first sight. Because of the word "Jane" in her name, Cixi immediately thought of Eight-Nation Alliance's recent call to Beijing. When she escaped, she took the opportunity to kill the concubine of Emperor Guangxu. From then on, when she saw the word "Jane", she was afraid, disgusted and ashamed. In addition, "Zhu" is the surname of the Ming Dynasty, and Zhu Ruzhen is a Cantonese, which reminds Cixi of Hong Xiuquan of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao of the Reform and Reform, and Sun Yat-sen, the leader of the revolutionary party. So Cixi crossed out Zhu Ruzhen and replaced her with the fifth Liu Chunlin. Because it coincides with the drought at this time, I most hope that "the spring breeze will turn into rain and the rain will fall."
Liu Chunlin won the first prize and was soon sent to study in Japan. After the Revolution of 1911, he once lived in seclusion at home and did not participate in political affairs. After the September 18th Incident, Zheng sent someone to invite him to be the Minister of Education in the name of Puyi. He said that you are not the king in the past, and I am not the minister in the past. I flatly refused. On July 7th, the Lugouqiao Incident broke out, and the Japanese invaders invaded Peiping and Tianjin. As a fellow scholar and classmate studying in Japan, Wang, chairman of the North China Government Affairs Committee of the traitor organization, personally invited him to be the pseudo-mayor of Beiping. Liu Chunlin reprimanded him to his face. The king became angry from embarrassment and sent troops to copy his home and drove him out of the house. Liu Chunlin was shocked by this. 1944 died of a heart attack at the age of 73.
Liu Chunlin is well-read and proficient in ancient Chinese characters, history and epigraphy. He is a calligrapher, especially good at small letters. Up to now, calligraphy still has the saying that "the big characters learn Yan (Zhenqing) and the small characters learn Liu (Chunlin)". In the poem Sixty Readings, Liu Chunlin reviewed the past and summed up his life, calling himself "the last person among the ancestors", "The ambition of life is not to have enough food and clothing" and "not to be lofty and noble".
Liu Chunlin can keep his integrity. He is a very good scholar.