George Bernard Shaw always felt that something was wrong. After pondering for a moment, he suddenly laughed: "Zhou, you are changing the concept again and almost got me involved. Since you think my comparison is unfair, let's talk 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, Mendeleev, the United States has Franklin, Edison... the list can be very long. And who in China? In the past 500 years, who in China has made contributions to the development of world civilization?
Have you made outstanding contributions? Whether it’s literature, art, or natural science, as long as you can name one.”
As soon as this statement came out, the Chinese people present began to think hard. Even Soong Meiling was searching for memories of Chinese celebrities.
Lin Yutang felt very sad. From the Ming Dynasty to the Republic of China, in the past five hundred years, there was really no Chinese artist, writer or scientist who influenced the world.
Cai Yuanpei couldn't help but said: "Mr. Bernard Shaw, this is unfair. From the pre-Qin Dynasty to the Tang and Song Dynasties, China produced a splendid culture that attracted worldwide attention, but it has only begun to fall 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 compare the glorious era of Western civilization with the backward era of Chinese civilization?"
George Bernard Shaw laughed and said: "So, I say there is no culture at all in China now."
Zhou Hexuan suddenly said: "Is it really enough to just list one?"
"Of course, can you find one? It must be an artist, writer, or scientist who affects the world." Bernard Shaw raised his eyebrows and said.
Zhou Hexuan smiled evilly and said: "Have you ever heard of Zhu Zaiyu, the little king of Zheng in China's Ming Dynasty?"
Bernard Shaw wondered: "Who is this?"
Zhu Zaiyu, the Little Prince of Zheng, has always been a neglected figure. Even in the Republic of China, very few people studied him. Until Joseph Needham, an avid Chinese fan, published a book and defined Zhu Zaiyu as a "Chinese Renaissance-style saint", Zhu Zaiyu
Yucai is well known by scholars at home and abroad.
Lin Yutang was also puzzled. He was born in a Christian family. Although he had a strong foundation in Chinese studies, he had little research on Chinese miscellaneous families. He turned to look at Cai Yuanpei: "Mr. Jiemin, where did I hear the name Zhu Zaiyu?"
Pass?"
Cai Yuanpei laughed loudly: "Liu Bannong published a book half a year ago, and the title is "Zhu Zaiyu, the Inventor of the Twelfth Grade Rate"."
Of course Cai Yuanpei was deeply impressed by this, because Liu Bannong's book also printed a line of small words on the cover to commemorate Cai Yuanpei's 65th birthday celebration collection.
Bernard Shaw still didn't understand, so he asked Zhou Hexuan: "Zhou, can you describe this Zhu Zaiyu in detail?"
Zhou Hexuan smiled and said: "Zhu Zaiyu, the ninth grandson of Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, is titled 'Prince Zheng', which is equivalent to your European prince title. He is a mathematician who pioneered the use of abacus square root method to develop sequence of numbers.
Equation, the earliest solution to the first term, last term and number of terms of a known geometric sequence, and solved the decimal conversion of different carrying systems. He was also a dancer, dance expert, metrologist, astronomer and calendarist. And he
Best known as a musician, he created the twelve equal temperaments."
Bernard Shaw was the most famous British drama master and knew music very well. He exclaimed: "How could the Twelve Equal Temperaments be invented by the Chinese? You are lying!"
When Zhou Hexuan saw George Bernard Shaw's surprised look, he immediately became happy: "Mr. Zhu Zaiyu used a large abacus with 81 gears to calculate the square root and cube root, and proposed the 'reducer theory', and based on this, he created the string standard
Harmonized pipes, and eventually invented the twelve equal temperaments. This theory was spread to the West through missionaries, and the famous great musician Bach used it to create the world's first piano. And 90% of all musical instruments in the West today are based on
Twelve equal temperament is the standard. It can be said that without Zhu Zaiyu’s invention of twelve equal temperament, none of the Western musicians you just listed, including Beethoven, would be able to compose and perform beautiful music."
To put it bluntly, Xiao Zheng Wang Zhu Zaiyu is the founder of modern Western music.
"Impossible, absolutely impossible!" George Bernard Shaw shook his head repeatedly.
Zhou Hexuan said with a smile: "If Mr. Bernard Shaw doesn't believe it, then you can read "The Complete Book of Music" by Zhu Zaiyu. It's impossible for 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. When he heard Zhou Hexuan's words, he immediately became interested in Zhu Zaiyu and planned to devote himself to studying and translating Zhu Zaiyu's works when he returned.
Song 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 dubious 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, trying his best to use vocabulary that Westerners can understand, "Mr. Zhu Zaiyu has been extremely smart since he was a child. When he was 10 years old, he was named the crown prince of Prince Zheng, which is also the first heir to the prince.
Although his father was a prince, he lived a simple and upright man. He was imprisoned by the emperor for admonishing the emperor not to believe in witchcraft (alchemy). Mr. Zhu Zaiyu was only 15 years old at the time. He couldn't bear his father to suffer alone, so he
Next door to the compound where his father was under house arrest, he built a house with mud and lived a poor life every day. He lived in a shabby house for 19 years. During this period, he read a lot of books and studied with famous teachers, and acquired a profound knowledge of mathematics.
History, history and music foundation. 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 his own
Academic research, and eventually become a master."
After listening to Zhu Zaiyu's story, Bernard Shaw sighed: "This is a respectable scholar and a noble man with high morals."
Bernard Shaw's recognition of Zhu Zaiyu stemmed first from his status as a prince. A prince's title must be respected in Europe, and Bernard Shaw, a British guy, was very superstitious about it. Secondly, it was Zhu Zaiyu's own character. In order to accompany his father who was imprisoned by the emperor, he
He actually lived in a mud house for 19 years. In the end, he was pure in academics. In order to study knowledge, he actually voluntarily gave up his title of prince. He deserves respect no matter what.
After telling Zhu Zaiyu's story, Zhou Hexuan was about to fight back. He wanted George Bernard Shaw to bow his head and admit his mistake completely.
