Zhou Hexuan has too many things to worry about recently. He needs to worry about the supplement of "Popular" and needs to be taken care of by the radio station. Even Peking University sent a telegram saying: "Now it is the National Government. Principal, go and ask for money. The teachers are still
I’m waiting for my salary to be paid.”
He was so busy with everything that Zhou Hexuan had no time to move.
Zhang Leyi now manages the radio station, and Liao Yaquan basically takes over as secretary. She comes in with a telegram: "Brother Zhou, a telegram from the National Government College invites you to attend a meeting in Nanjing at the end of next month."
During the Northern Expedition, the Nanjing National Government followed the French system and did not establish a Ministry of Education. Instead, it was called a Grand College.
The dean of the university is equivalent to the minister of education, and there is an Education Administrative Committee (9 people) under him, who jointly discuss national education affairs.
The current dean of the university is Cai Yuanpei. The reason why he invited Zhou Hexuan to the meeting is because Zhou Hexuan is the counselor of the Beiyang Ministry of Education and the president of Peking University.
Zhou Hexuan was a bad principal. He was not going to continue to be the principal. He had too many worries, so he might as well leave it to Jiang Menglin.
Ten o'clock in the morning.
Zhou Hexuan was reviewing the manuscript of the supplement of "Popular" when Harriet Abban suddenly came to visit.
"Zhou, you guessed so accurately!" Abban exclaimed when they met.
"What guess is accurate?" Zhou Hexuan asked.
Harriet Abban said with admiration: "When you were in Shandong, you said that the Japanese would assassinate Zhang Zuolin, and it was on his way back to the Northeast. You actually guessed it right!"
Zhou Hexuan said: "It is not difficult to guess. From the Jinan incident, we can see the true intention of the Japanese."
"No, no, no, this is very difficult," Hallet Abban asked, "Have you finished writing "The Chrysanthemum and the Knife"? I can't wait to read the rest of it."
Zhou Hexuan said with a smile: "You came to Tianjin this time just to ask me for the manuscript?"
"Of course not," Hallet Abban said with a smile, "Chang Kaishen, Li Zongren, Feng Yuxiang and other senior generals will come to Tianjin soon. I am waiting here to interview them."
(Note: Feng Yuxiang did not accompany him and will not leave for the north until July.)
"Oh, that's just right. I also have something I want to talk to Principal Chang about." Zhou Hexuan said.
"Let's go together then," Hallet Abban said. "By the way, where is your "The Chrysanthemum and the Knife", have you finished it?"
Zhou Hexuan took out a book from the drawer, handed it to Abban and said: "This is the sample book of "The Chrysanthemum and the Knife". The official publication will have to wait until next month."
"Oh, great!"
Harriet Abban sat in Zhou Hexuan's office with his legs crossed and started reading. He also said: "You are busy with your business, don't worry about me."
Zhou Hexuan smiled helplessly and continued to review the manuscript.
But far across the ocean in the United States, the front page of the New York Times that day was a special feature on Zhang Zuolin. The big title was "The Assassination of a Chinese Local Powerful Party and the Ambition of the Japanese", and the following is a breakdown of each.
This subtitle tells in detail the causes and consequences of Zhang Zuolin's murder, and the last content is actually related to Zhou Hexuan.
Hallet Abban wrote at the end of the report:
"I met a famous Eastern scholar in Shandong, China. His name is Zhou Hexuan. I believe Americans who like to study history should be familiar with this Mr. Zhou. He is the author of "The Rise of the Great Powers". Zhou also recently wrote
Two books, one is called "Guns, Germs and Steel", which is about human history; the other is called "The Chrysanthemum and the Sword", which is a study of Japanese nationality.
I had a conversation with Zhou in Shandong. He drew a shocking conclusion from the Jinan incident, saying that as long as Zhang Zuolin returned to the Northeast, he would be assassinated by the Japanese on the way. I didn't think so at the time, but just a few days ago, the news of Zhang Zuolin's death made people
I was stunned... Mr. Zhou is not only a scholar, but also a prophet. His predictions are not based on mysticism, but are based on scientific research and analysis. In "The Rise of Great Powers", he also predicted that an economic crisis will break out in the United States, but
I hope he will make a mistake this time. For detailed facts about Zhou, please go to page six..."
On page six of the New York Times, half of the page is dedicated to Zhou Hexuan.
For an American newspaper to report Chinese news with such great color, only Harriet Abban has the ability to do so.
The headline of Zhou Hexuan's special topic is "The Second Gu Hongming". Well, maybe it's because Americans are more familiar with Gu Hongming. When Aban reported the news, he actually compared Zhou Hexuan to "the second Gu Hongming".
The news recounted Zhou Hexuan's life experience, elaborated on his academic and literary achievements, and finally talked about Zhou Hexuan's charitable deeds in relieving victims in Tianjin and Shandong, and highly praised and evaluated him.
The sales volume of the New York Times at this time was as high as 350,000 copies, and even top American politicians must read it every day.
As soon as this news feature was published, Zhou Hexuan became famous again, and many Americans had a good impression of him.
"The Goddess" did not sell well in the United States, and the publisher took the opportunity to hype it up. Unfortunately, the response was still not very enthusiastic.
In fact, since "The Rise of Great Powers" became a small sensation in the United States, the publisher took advantage of the trend and launched "The Goddess". The results were terrible, with cumulative sales of less than 10,000 in 4 months, including proofreading, editing, printing, shipping and publicity.
When it comes to expenses, this book is actually a bit of a loss.
Now, following the news in the New York Times, the sales volume of "Goddess" has finally increased in a small way, and the cumulative number has almost exceeded 12,000 copies.
No way, the background of "The Goddess" is oriental, the mythology is unique to China, and the narrative structure and writing techniques are too weird, making it particularly difficult for ordinary American readers to accept it.
Of course, there are also some literature lovers who like it, and they like it to the point of being crazy fans.
This year's Pulitzer Prize winner, future Nobel Prize winner in Literature, and founder of American national drama, Eugene O'Neill, publicly stated in an interview with reporters:
"China's Zhou Hexuan is the greatest modernist writer after Kafka. Their works have fragmented plots, incoherent ideas, great jumps, and strong symbolic meaning of language. This may be why "The Goddess" is popular in the United States
The reason why it is not popular is that it is difficult for ordinary readers to understand its meaning. But as long as you keep reading, you will appreciate the beauty of it. The profound criticism, the insights you read, and the penetrating characterization will take you into
A dreamy and bizarre world. After reading "The Goddess", I searched for many books about China's social conditions and then read this book again, and my experience became even more profound... This is a Nobel Prize-winning literature
Award-winning work, I highly recommend reading it.”
