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Gu Hongming was proficient in the languages and cultures of nine countries, had profound expertise in traditional Chinese studies, and was awarded as many as 13 doctoral degrees. His intellectual influence spanned the East and West throughout the 20th century; he was a scholar well-versed in both Eastern and Western knowledge, proficient in both arts and sciences, and a pioneer in the history of the spread of Western education in modern times. At the age of 10, Gu Hongming followed his adoptive father, the Englishman Brown, to Scotland, where he was sent to a renowned local high school to receive extremely rigorous training in British literature. In his free time, Brown personally taught Gu Hongming German. Brown’s teaching method is slightly different from Western traditions; it resembles more the private schools in China. He asked Gu Hongming to recite Goethe’s long poem “Faust” with him. Brown told Gu Hongming, “In the West, there are divine people, but very few saints.” Sages know it by birth, while wise men learn it through study. In the West, only Goethe is the sage of literature, while Moltke is the sage of warfare. To master the German language, one must memorize Goethe’s famous work, Faust. ”He would always perform while gesturing and reciting, asking Gu Hongming to repeat after his movements, keeping things light-hearted and fun with constant laughter. Gu Hongming was very eager to know what was described in Faust, but Brown refused to explain it word for word. He said, “I only ask that you read it fluently; I don’t require you to understand it.” If you try to memorize before understanding, your mind gets confused, and as a result you can’t memorize it properly. I’ll tell you when you can recite Faust by heart! ”In just over half a year, Gu Hongming managed to memorize a rough version of Faust by sheer chance. It was not until the following year that Brown began to explain Faust to Gu Hongming. He believes that the later one discusses something, the deeper the understanding becomes, because classic works are different from ordinary works – no one can understand them just by hearing about them once. During this time, Gu Hongming did not stop memorizing Faust; he had by then mastered it by heart. After finishing studying Faust, Gu Hongming began to study Shakespeare’s plays. Brown set a plan for Gu Hongming to learn one play every half month. Eight months later, seeing Gu Hongming’s remarkable speed in memorization, the plan was changed to studying three parts every half month. In less than a year like this, Gu Hongming had memorized all 37 plays by Shakespeare. Brown believed that Gu Hongming’s proficiency in English and German had surpassed that of an ordinary university graduate with a bachelor’s degree, and he would be able to use these languages skillfully in the future. But Gu Hongming only studied poetry and drama, and had not yet formally engaged with prose. Brown arranged for Gu Hongming to read Carlyle’s famous historical work, \"The French Revolution.\" This time, Gu Hongming mainly relied on self-study, reading and memorizing things at his own pace, and seeking help from others only when he encountered words or phrases he didn’t understand. But after only three days of reading, Gu Hongming started crying. Brown asked in surprise, “What happened?” ”Gu Hongming replied, “Prose is not as easy to memorize as drama.” ”Brown asked again about Gu Hongming’s progress in memorization and found that he read three pages per day, so he said, \"You read too much every day.\" Reciting prose works, half a page to one page per day is sufficient. Memorizing prose also focuses on mastery rather than speed; speed without mastery is equivalent to not having learned anything. ” The coursework in the middle school where Gu Hongming studied was originally extremely demanding, but since he had already laid a solid foundation in all subjects under Brown’s guidance, the entire learning process proved to be effortless for him. Since his schoolwork was progressing smoothly, Gu Hongming would use his free time to continue memorizing Carlyle’s \"The French Revolution\". The more he read, the more interested he became, but after reading too much, he was unable to memorize it. If one follows Brown’s advice and takes things slowly, it’s still impossible to control one’s curiosity. In this way, I finished reading Carlyle’s \"The French Revolution\" at times fast and at times slow. Eventually, Gu Hongming obtained his stepfather’s permission to read freely the books in his stepfather Brown’s home. There were many books that Gu Hongming did not intend to memorize, but he still managed to recite them by heart without realizing it. Brown has high expectations for his adopted son. He once told Gu Hongming, “If I had your intelligence, I would be willing to become a scholar and save humanity.” ； Don’t become a millionaire just to benefit yourself. Let me tell you: currently, both Europe and the United States want to invade China, but scholars from European countries and the United States prefer to learn from China. I hope you can master both Eastern and Western knowledge, so that you can take on the responsibility of strengthening China and educating Europe and America, and show humanity a bright path that allows people to lead a truly human life! ” According to Brown’s plan, Gu Hongming should first study literature, history, philosophy, and sociology in the UK, and then go to Germany to study *science. Only after completing your studies can you return to China to study traditional culture. Brown was indeed right; by the age of fourteen, Gu Hongming already possessed academic achievements that surpassed those of ordinary people. In just four short years, he not only initially completed the home education plan devised by Brown but also essentially finished all the main courses at his high school. Brown couldn’t help but feel proud of his adopted son’s intelligence. At school, Gu Hongming acquired a basic knowledge of Latin and Greek, and he also performed excellently in all his other courses; he was now eligible to apply for graduation. Around the spring of 1872, Gu Hongming officially enrolled at the University of Edinburgh. During his undergraduate studies at the University of Edinburgh, Gu Hongming specialized in British literature, while also studying Latin and Greek; he doesn’t know how many times he cried in secret during that time. He resolved to read all the masterpieces in Greek and Latin on literature, history, and philosophy held in the library of the University of Edinburgh. At first, I would memorize as many pages as I read, and didn’t encounter any difficulties ； Later, as the amount of reading gradually increased, I began to feel overwhelmed. He has to persevere, keep going, and must recite all the way through. In his later years, Gu Hongming recalled this incident and said, \"It’s strange – once you understand one thing, you understand them all; it’s like a machine cable that, once pulled, reaches to the end.\" ” Eventually, not only Greek and Latin, but also the languages and literatures of countries such as France, Russia, and Italy – Gu Hongming was able to master them all quickly and draw connections between them. It is said that after returning to his home country, Gu Hongming was able to communicate in nine different languages in addition to his native language, and the foundation for this skill was laid primarily during his time studying at the University of Edinburgh. The Analects of Confucius, Ji Shi chapter, states: “Those who are born with innate knowledge are of the highest rank.” Those who learn and then come to understand it are of the next rank. Learning out of desperation is the next best option. An animal in a trap that refuses to learn will end up in a lowly state. ”As for the meaning of the character “kun,” older annotations state it means “something that is blocked or unpassable.” Mr. Qian Mu interpreted it as “going through difficult situations,” while Gu Hongming described it as “being unable to cope.” In his later years, he told people, “Actually, when I was studying, I mainly adhered to the method of ‘studying like a cornered animal.’” Over time, it is not difficult to master this art, reaching a state of great satisfaction. Others only see that I study a lot and quickly, but they don’t know it was achieved at the cost of tears! Some people believe that the quality of memory is innate; indeed, people do vary in terms of memory capacity. However, it is incorrect to think that memory cannot be improved. The more the human heart is used, the more agile it becomes! ”Recalling his days as a student, Gu Hongming couldn’t help but exclaim, “If even trapped beasts refuse to learn, then the people will surely fall to a low state!” ”(Zhao Wenjun, “Stories Told to Me by Mr. Gu Hongming”) At that time, many people believed that Gu Hongming’s erudition stemmed from his natural intelligence, though Gu Hongming himself did not admit this. In April 1877, Gu Hongming passed all the relevant examinations with excellent results; he performed particularly well in the exams related to British literature, and thus successfully obtained a Master of Arts degree from the University of Edinburgh. That year, Gu Hongming was only 20 years old. After graduating from the University of Leipzig, Gu Hongming went to Paris to further his French studies for a short period. Brown again arranged for Gu Hongming to enroll at the University of Paris, with the intention of having him study law and political science. In fact, at that time Gu Hongming was only 22 years old, yet he had already studied science, literature, and philosophy extensively, and was proficient in various languages; his skills were indeed beyond those of ordinary Chinese students. Gu Hongming read through the entire semester’s lecture notes and reference materials from the University of Paris at an astonishing speed; aside from attending a few classes that interested him at school, he would set aside some time every day to teach his landlady Greek. From the day he first began teaching her the Greek alphabet, Gu Hongming taught her to memorize a few lines from the Iliad. His landlady said with a smile, “Your teaching method is really novel; I’ve never heard of it before.” ”So, Gu Hongming told her about how Brown had taught him to memorize Faust and Shakespeare’s plays. She said, “Okay, I’ll keep learning like this.” ”Gu Hongming said, “Once you’ve memorized one book, you’ll want to memorize two more; nothing can stop you.” ” Gu Hongming’s landlady often brought the Iliad to his room, recited the verses she had learned to him, and asked for his guidance. Gu Hongming’s teaching method proved effective; his landlady made rapid progress in Greek. Many guests were greatly surprised to see Gu Hongming’s unique method of teaching her Greek. Gu Hongming once said to Ling Fupeng, the governor of Zhili during the late Qing dynasty, \"The best way to learn English is to do so in the same way that Britons teach their children. From a young age, they learn to recite nursery rhymes, and as they grow older, they are taught to recite poems and the Bible, just as Chinese people teach their children to memorize the Four Books and Five Classics.\" ”If Gu Hongming taught his landlady to receive a genuine Greek-style education, just like that in Greece. At first glance, this method seems to require high strength and be difficult, but that is not the case. If words are formed from letters and then simple sentences are constructed, the learner will psychologically develop a sense of barrier when learning a foreign language. Gu Hongming also used this method to teach his landlady basic Latin, and it took only three or two months to do so. Gu Hongming’s profound knowledge of Western literature was greatly influenced by his childhood experiences of memorizing works such as \"Faust\" and Shakespeare’s works. Later, when he was teaching English poetry at Peking University, a student asked him for tips on mastering Western knowledge. He replied, “First, memorize a masterpiece by a renowned author as a foundation.” ”Gu Hongming once said, \"People who study English for ten years can only read newspapers when they open their eyes and only write letters when they pick up paper; this is because from a young age they have been using textbooks that deal with topics like cats and dogs, which is why they achieve only limited progress throughout their lives.\" ”He argued that in Chinese private schools, since students begin their education at a young age, they should read the Four Books and Five Classics right away, and it is especially important for them to memorize them fluently. ” This post was last edited by soulwave on 2009-2-19 01:35]