The Rise of the Writers of the Republic of China

Zhou Hexuan has too many things to do recently, the supplement of "Dazhong" needs him to worry about, and the radio station needs him to take care of it. Even Peking University sent a telegram saying: "Now it's under the Nationalist Government, principal, go and ask for money, the teachers are still waiting to be paid."

So much so that Zhou Hexuan didn't have time to move.

Zhang Leyi is now in charge of the radio station, and Liao Yaquan basically takes over as secretary. She came in with a telegram: "Brother Zhou, the National Government University has sent a telegram, inviting you to attend a meeting in Nanjing at the end of next month."

During the Northern Expedition, the Nanjing National Government imitated the French system and did not set up a Ministry of Education, but called it a university.

The dean of the university is equivalent to the minister of education, and there is an education administrative committee (9 people) under it, and the members discuss national education affairs together.

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 also the president of Peking University.

Zhou Hexuan, the lousy principal, is not going to continue to be the principal. He has 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 for the supplement of "Popular", when Hallet Aban suddenly came to visit.

"Zhou, your guess is too accurate!" Aban exclaimed when he met him.

"What guess is accurate?" Zhou Hexuan asked.

Hallet Aban said in 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 really guessed it right!"

Zhou Hexuan said: "It's not difficult to guess. From the Jinan incident, we can see the true intentions of the Japanese."

"No no no, this one is very difficult," Harrett Arban asked. "Have you finished your Chrysanthemum and the Sword? I can't wait to read the rest of it."

Zhou Hexuan laughed and said, "You came to Tianjin this time to ask me for a manuscript?"

"Of course not," Hallet Aban said with a smile, "Chang Kaishen, Li Zongren, Feng Yuxiang and other senior generals are coming to Tianjin soon, and I'm here waiting to interview them."

(Note: Feng Yuxiang did not accompany him, and will only leave for the north in July.)

"Oh, that's just right. I also have something to talk to Principal Chang about." Zhou Hexuan said.

"Let's go together when the time comes," Hallett Abban said, "By the way, what about your "Chrysanthemum and the Sword", have you finished it yet?"

Zhou Hexuan took out a book from the drawer, handed it to Aban and said, "This is a sample book of "The Chrysanthemum and the Sword". The official publication will have to wait until next month."

"Oh, that's great!"

Hallett Aban crossed his legs, sat in Zhou Hexuan's office and began to read, and said: "You are busy with your work, don't worry about me."

Zhou Hexuan smiled helplessly and continued to review the manuscript.

On the other side of the ocean, in the United States, the front page of the New York Times today featured Zhang Zuolin. The big title was "Assassination of a Powerful Faction in China—About Japanese Ambition", and various sub-headings were subdivided below, detailing the causes and consequences of Zhang Zuolin's murder. The last content was actually related to Zhou Hexuan.

Hallet Arban concluded the report:

"I was in Shandong, China, and I met a famous oriental scholar named Zhou Hexuan. I believe that Americans who like to study history should be familiar with Mr. Zhou. He is the author of "The Rise of Great Powers". Zhou also wrote recently Two books, one is called "Guns, Germs and Steel", which is about human history; the other is called "Chrysanthemum and Sword", which is a study of Japanese national characteristics.

I had a conversation with Zhou in Shandong, and he drew a shocking conclusion from the Jinan incident, saying that as long as Zhang Zuolin retreated 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, I was shocked by the news of Zhang Zuolin's death...Mr. Zhou is not only a scholar, but also a prophet. His predictions are not based on mysticism, but are scientifically researched and analyzed. In "The Rise of Great Powers", he also predicted that the United States will soon have an economic crisis. I hope he will be wrong this time. For Zhou's detailed deeds, please download the sixth page..."

On the sixth page of the "New York Times", half of the page is dedicated to Zhou Hexuan.

For an American newspaper to report Chinese news so heavily, only Haret Abban has the ability to do so.

The headline of Zhou Hexuan's topic is "The Second Gu Hongming". Well, perhaps 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 respectively told about Zhou Hexuan's life experience, elaborated on his academic and literary achievements, and finally told about Zhou Hexuan's charitable deeds in helping the victims in Tianjin and Shandong, and highly praised and commented on him.

The sales volume of The New York Times at this time was as high as 350,000 copies, and even high-level American politicians must read it every day.

As soon as this news feature was released, Zhou Hexuan became famous again, and many Americans had a good impression of him.

"Goddess", which did not sell well in the United States, was also used by publishers to hype it up, but unfortunately the response was not very enthusiastic.

In fact, since "The Rise of Great Powers" gained a small sensation in the United States, the publisher took advantage of the trend to launch "Goddess". The result was bad. The cumulative sales volume in 4 months was less than 10,000. Counting the costs of proofreading, editing, printing, transportation and publicity, this book was actually a little bit of a loss.

Now, thanks to the news of the "New York Times", the sales of "Goddess" have finally increased in a small range, and the cumulative sales have almost exceeded 12,000 copies.

No way, the background of "Goddess" is oriental, and the mythology is unique to China. In addition, the narrative structure and writing techniques are too weird, which is especially difficult for ordinary American readers to accept.

Of course, there are also individual literature lovers who like it, and like it to the point of being a fan.

This year's Pulitzer Prize winner, future Nobel Prize winner, and founder of American national theater 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 leaps, and strong symbolic meaning in language. This may be the reason why "Goddess" is popular in the United States. The reason for its unpopularity is that it is difficult for ordinary readers to understand the meaning of it. But as long as you keep reading, you will appreciate the beauty of it. The profound criticism, unique insights, and penetrating characterization will take you into a Fantastic and bizarre world. After reading "Goddess", I searched for a lot of books about Chinese social conditions, and then read this book, and my experience is even more profound... This is a novel that can win the Nobel Prize for Literature works, which I highly recommend reading.”