Love reading
Rousseau was born in a watchmaker's family in Geneva, Switzerland on June 29th, 1712. My father is a clockmaker with excellent skills; My mother is the daughter of a priest, quite intelligent, dignified and virtuous. His mother died in childbirth. He lost his maternal love when he was born. He was brought up by his father and aunt. My brother, who is seven years older than him, ran away from home and never came back. There was no sound training. In this way, he is the only child left in the family.
when Rousseau was sensible, he knew that he had bought it with his mother's life. His young heart was very sad and he felt his father's love even more. His father loves reading, and this hobby is undoubtedly passed on to him. Rousseau's mother left behind many novels, and his father often read to each other after dinner. Every time I read a volume, I won't give up until I finish it. Sometimes I read it all night. When my father heard the birds calling in the morning, he said shyly, "Let's go to sleep. I'm simply more childish than you." In this case, Rousseau studied day after day, and formed the habit of reading invisibly, gradually enriching and nourishing his young mind.
at the age of seven, Rousseau browsed all the books at home. He also went out to borrow books to read, such as Le Seuer's History of the Church and Empire, Boucher's Speech on the General History of the World, Plutarch's Biography of Who, Nani's History of Venice, and several plays by Murray. Due to the exemplary influence of these historical figures and the inculcation of his father, Rousseau deeply realized the value of free thought and democratic spirit. He not only has his father's patriotic blood, but also follows the example of these great men, and even often compares himself to those figures in history between words and deeds. One day, he narrated the story of Schivara at the table, and all the people present were surprised to see Rousseau step forward and put his hand on the burning fire to perform Schivara's heroic feat. This precocious and precocious performance is the first manifestation of Rousseau's unique talent.
Make a living independently
Rousseau's happy childhood soon ended. At the age of 13, my uncle decided to send him to Mr. Ma Si Long to study as a lawyer secretary under him, hoping that he could earn some living expenses. However, Rousseau hates this kind of occupation that lacks interest only for making money. The trivial chores every day make him dizzy and unbearable. Mr. Ma Si Long doesn't seem to like Rousseau very much, and often calls him lazy and stupid. Rousseau couldn't stand the insult and quit his job.
Soon, Rousseau changed his career and became an apprentice under a sculptor. In view of many lessons he learned as a secretary before, he did as he was told in this new job without any complaints. Rousseau liked this kind of work very much, because he likes painting, waving carving knives is also very interesting, and carving parts doesn't need much superb technology, so he hopes to make outstanding achievements in this respect. One day, Rousseau carved knight medals for several friends in his spare time. When his master found out, he thought he was making fake silver coins and beat him up. In fact, Rousseau was very young at that time and had no idea about silver coins at all. He just took the shape of coins in ancient Rome as a model. Due to the tyranny of the master, Rousseau felt miserable about his favorite job.
Rousseau's life in the master's house was very unhappy, but it made him return to his long-lost reading habit. This kind of interest was restricted by the environment at that time and could not develop smoothly, but the more restricted it was, the stronger the interest in learning became. There is a female bookseller who runs a bookstore nearby. Rousseau often goes there, reading books, and sometimes even misses his working hours, and is scolded and punished by his master. In less than a year, Rousseau read all the books in this small shop. Influenced by these books, he corrected many childish temper and bad habits. At the same time, invisibly aroused more noble feelings in his heart. He feels that the environment here is not ideal for the sculptor, and everything lacks interest, which is unbearable. At the age of 16, he left the city, believing that he could live independently and dominate everything freely.
advocating nature
After Rousseau left the city, he met Mrs. Warren through the introduction of a friend. He thought Mrs. Warren was an ugly old woman in her dotage, but she was a young woman with a pleasant face and full of charm. This greatly surprised and excited him, and it was this lady who influenced his future life.
Rousseau listened to Warren Futian's advice and began his long journey. This is also suitable for his long-established roaming hobby. He thinks it is a beautiful thing to have the opportunity to climb mountains and climb the peaks of the Alps at this age. Along the way, Rousseau was in a very happy mood and there was nothing to worry about. Although the journey was short, Rousseau loved the natural scenery, and he had a panoramic view of the beautiful scenery along the way. He pinned his feelings on nature, but although he was wandering, he did not feel empty. Everything that caught Rousseau's eye made him feel an intoxicating enjoyment. The marvelous, colorful and practical beauty of nature deeply influenced Rousseau's outlook on life.
After that, he has traveled many times, and both the beautiful scenery during the journey and the rural life still fascinated him. He loves and respects nature. "His greatest teacher is not any kind of book, and his teacher is' nature'".
Rousseau loved nature since he was a teenager. This kind of enthusiasm, he has taken pains to imitate and express in his works. Nature permeated his whole life. He expressed himself with some sober and attractive qualities of Mrs. Warren, which made him fall into intense emotions, which was particularly clear in his later life and made him similar to the great mystic in the East.
dabbling in music
During his stay in Mrs. Warren's house, Rousseau felt very satisfied and happy. Mrs Warren has a soft voice and can play the piano. She often teaches Rousseau to sing and edifies Rousseau's interest in music. Later, Rousseau went to the seminary to study, and Mrs. Warren gave him books on music. In addition to studying in the seminary, Rousseau often practices singing with his music score. Mrs. Warren thinks Rousseau is interested in music and talented, and intends to let him develop towards music. She often held some small concerts at home, and introduced Rousseau's understanding with some composers, which made his music level improve constantly. Later, he kept on self-study and research, and came up with a simple notation with numbers instead of notes, that is, the number 1234567 replaced the scales of Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La and Si, and wrote a book with original insights, Music notation, hoping to innovate the music world. At the same time, he also wrote a paper on modern music and brought it to Paris, and presented it to the Paris Academy of Science and Art. He wanted to take this opportunity to become famous. At this time, Rousseau was inspired like a spring. He wrote an opera called Discovery of a New World, which fully demonstrated his creative talent.
Later, Rousseau took the revised manuscript to the Academy of Sciences and read his paper in public. Its concise content strongly attracted the attention of the members and won praise. He thinks that his notation is an innovation and reform in the history of music, but the members don't agree with this opinion. After several discussions, they come to a conclusion that Rousseau's notation can be used for singing, but it is not suitable for playing. In order to comfort Rousseau, the Academy of Art presented him with a certificate of commendation, and the wording praised him. Although Rousseau suffered a failure, he was not convinced. After rearranging his manuscript, he found a publisher who was willing to accept it and published it under the title of Modern Music. Rousseau was full of hope, hoping that this music book would arouse great repercussions, but the sales were very poor, which made Rousseau suffer a heavy blow again. Although he was bent on making innovations in music, hoping to inspire music lovers, the effect was not good, except for a few scholars who praised him more, which did not produce any big response.
Winning the Prize for Essay
Since leaving Mrs. Warren, Rousseau has been working for himself, and has worked as a tutor, a clerk and a secretary. At the same time, he also made a wide range of people, especially he met the great philosopher Diderot. Because of their common interests, hobbies and ambitions, they have established a profound friendship. They were both enthusiastic about academic work, so Diderot and Rousseau and others started to co-edit: an encyclopedia, with Rousseau in charge of the music part, which was interrupted by Diderot's arrest. Rousseau went around asking friends for help, hoping to let Diderot out, but with little success.
Rousseau often visited Diderot in the prison where he was held. In the summer of 1749, it was very hot. There is a long journey from Paris to the prison. Rousseau walks to see Diderot, often with a book, and can read books when he is tired. One day, he brought a magazine "French Courier" and suddenly saw an essay from Dijon Academy of Sciences: "Is the progress of science and art beneficial to improving fashion?" When Rousseau saw this topic, it seemed as if he had been shot by thousands of lights, and many vibrant thoughts emerged from his heart unconsciously. He suddenly felt suffocated, as if he saw another universe, and he became another person. Not only did thoughts related to the papers of Dijon Academy of Sciences emerge in his mind, but a series of ideas came one after another, which impacted him like a big wave. This spiritual shock shows the potential of his insightful thoughts.
Rousseau told it to Diderot. Diderot encouraged Rousseau to continue to develop his ideas and write articles to apply. Rousseau actively wrote this paper, and then sent it to Diderot for review. He revised it many times and sent it out with the title "On Art and Science". In 175, he won the first prize for this paper. In this article, he denies the value of art and science, demonstrates it from the opposite side, reveals his distrust and hatred of Paris society, and opposes the fraud hidden in this society. He denounced science, literature and art as being dominated by power.
reclusive writings
In p>1756, Rousseau, 44, accepted a gift from a friend-a small country house with beautiful environment, and began his seclusion.
Rousseau's personality is suitable for living in the country. He has lived in Paris for 15 years and is already tired of city life. After living in seclusion, he decided not to go back to Paris. At this time, Rousseau was a little famous, so he didn't have to worry about the cost of living. He continued to copy music scores. Although he couldn't make a lot of money, he was reliable and self-sufficient. There are still two francs left in his opera "The Village Prophet" and other works, and other works are being sorted out, so that life will not be poor. his