Xu Zhimo first met Tianjin in 19 16. At that time, the young Xu Zhimo gave up his research on natural science and was admitted to Tianjin Beiyang University (now Tianjin University), which is famous for teaching in English, to study for pre-law courses. His elective courses are logic, psychology, China literature and English literature, which shows his love for literature.
In the summer of the following year, it was time to be promoted to a formal undergraduate course. However, Beiyang University abolished the law department and merged with the law department of Peking University. So Xu Zhimo naturally transferred to Peking University and added French and Japanese. It is precisely because of this coincidence that Liang Qichao is widely known as a teacher. During this period of study, Xu Zhimo's ideological realm has been greatly broadened, and the real road to literature has been opened. While dabbling in ancient and modern literature and art, he also made many friends, and his poems began to pay attention to people's livelihood. I have to say that the merger of the law departments of the two universities can be described as unintentional.
In his collection of poems "Night of Cold Jade", we saw a poem named "Outside Dagukou in the middle of the night on March 12th", which wrote "Stay outside Dagukou tonight: prisoners in the sea complain and worry ..." That was his memory of Tianjin. This poem was written in the early spring of the 15th year of the Republic of China (1926). At that time, Sun Yue's army was guarding Dagukou in Tianjin and refused to perform military service. Xu Zhimo went north by boat and was forced to wait at Dagukou for a week. He wandered on the deck and wrote this poem. At this time, Xu Zhimo has returned from studying abroad for several years, but the realistic feelings of hating war and yearning for freedom in the article are still strong, which is more or less caused by the influence of life in the north on him.
If the first fate between Xu Zhimo and Tianjin is the identity of a student, then the second fate has become the identity of a mentor. 192 1 year later, Xu Zhimo began to write new poems with elegant writing and beautiful language, which won the essence of English romantic poetry. 1922 After returning to China, Xu Zhimo published a large number of poems in newspapers, which attracted attention in China.
Xu Zhimo stubbornly pursued "love, freedom and beauty" in reality and dreams all his life. His ideals were not only difficult to blossom and bear fruit in the real society at that time, but also often suppressed and destroyed. "Idealism" hit a wall, which made Xu Zhimo dissatisfied and rebelled against the dark real environment. At the same time, he also pinned his ideal on the fantasy world. This feeling also represented the thoughts of some young people at that time, so many young artists were fans of Xu Zhimo at that time.
Speaking of Tianjin, some young poets emerged at that time. Although there are many poems, they are limited to not knowing much about the outside world, and their works are slightly lacking. They hope to communicate with Xu Zhimo. At that time, a young man named Zhao and several young artists began to organize the Green Wave Society in Tianjin, which gradually expanded their influence and became a gathering place for young people in new literature. For example, Jiao Juyin, the author of Crying in a Foreign Land at Night, and Yu Gengyu, the author of Before Dawn, Dance of the Devil and Lonely Ghosts, are all students. Most members of this club are keen on the creation of new poems and are interested in Xu Zhimo's "Western-style" poems. Therefore, members of the club are eager to attend the master's lecture.
I didn't expect some things to be so coincidental. 1923 summer vacation, Nankai University opened a summer school, that is, held a series of lectures during the summer vacation. Sure enough, I invited Xu Zhimo, who was just famous at that time. The main contents of the lecture include ten lectures on modern English literature and one lecture on futuristic poetry. Of course, this great opportunity must be seized, so the Green Wave Society decided that all members of Tianjin head office should sign up for classes together. The lecture lasts two weeks and ten hours. Both of these remarks were recorded by Zhao and included in Modern Literature Series published by 1925.
In Zhao's article "Mourning for Zhimo Master", we can learn more about the content of this lecture and its far-reaching influence on this group of young people. During the lecture, Xu Zhimo once held an English translation of Goethe's poems for the students in the class to translate. As a result, Zhao won the first place, and there was a reward for winning the first place. What is the reward? It's Goethe's big picture Since then, he has also received a postcard of the Franciscan statue presented by xu teacher, which has been kept as a souvenir of Mr. Xu Zhimo.
After the lecture, students from Green Wave Society often visit Xu Zhimo's dormitory. Xu Zhimo also asked the students whether they had read Shakespeare. In order to understand the real English literature, he instructed students to read some original works of Shakespeare.
After the lecture of Xu Zhimo's trip, members of the Tianjin headquarters of the Green Wave Society invited the teacher to have tea and chat, also to say goodbye. On the lawn by the lake, the sun shines on the students through the shade, and the birds and flowers are accompanied by Xu Zhimo's elegant talk, which makes the students feel the baptism of their souls again and again. Finally, everyone took a group photo together. During this period, Xu Zhimo asked Zhao, "Do you take literature as your profession?" Zhao said, "I think so." Xu Zhimo shook his head and said, "A catastrophe is imminent! Literature is a sideline. " For young people who want to know about foreign literary schools and development history, Xu Zhimo has also written a list of representative books.
Zhao still maintained a long-term friendship with Xu Zhimo after he left. Zhao 1930 has been a professor at Fudan University, and has gradually grown into a China opera researcher, literary historian, educator and writer. Jiao Juyin also listened attentively to Xu Zhimo's lectures, and he will become a famous playwright in China in the future. It can be said that although Xu Zhimo only stayed in Tianjin for about fifteen days, he sowed the seeds of literature for Tianjin.
When Tagore, the Nobel Prize in Literature laureate and Indian poet, gave a speech in China, Xu Zhimo was the interpreter. They are also teachers and friends and have deep feelings. Xu Zhimo's life is just like Tagore's poem-"Life is as gorgeous as summer flowers and death is as beautiful as autumn leaves". It's just that this autumn leaf withered in a hurry and failed to leave more colorful colors in this world. Today, 82 years later, people will still remember that Xu Zhimo once injected fresh blood into China's literary world and brought a spring breeze to Tianjin's new literature.