Explore Chapter 3 of 'Sinking' with the original Chinese text, English translation, detailed Chinese vocabulary explanations, and audio of the Chinese original. Listen and improve your reading skills.
His hometown was a small town on the Fuchun River, only eighty or ninety li from Hangzhou by water. This river originates in Anhui and flows through all of Zhejiang. Its course is winding, and the scenery is ever new. A poet of the Tang dynasty praised this river, saying, "A river like a painting." When he was fourteen, he asked a scholar to inscribe these four characters and pasted them in his study. The small window of his study faced the river. Although the study was not large in structure, the views of wind and rain, brightness and gloom, spring and autumn, morning and evening could still rival the lofty Tengwang Pavilion. He spent over a dozen years in this small study before following his elder brother to Japan to study abroad.
He lost his father when he was three years old. At that time, his family was extremely poor. Fortunately, his eldest brother graduated from W University in Japan and returned to Beijing. There, he passed the imperial examination and became a jinshi. He was assigned to work in the Ministry of Justice. Within two years, the Wuchang Revolution erupted. By then, he had graduated from the county elementary school and was frequently switching middle schools. His family blamed him for being inconsistent. They said his mind was too restless. However, according to him, he thought he was different from other students. He could not study step by step with them. After entering K Prefecture Middle School, he transferred to H Prefecture Middle School within half a year. He stayed at H Prefecture Middle School for three months before the revolution started. After H Prefecture Middle School suspended classes, he had to return to that small study. In the spring of the following year, when he was seventeen, he entered the preparatory course of H University. This university was located outside Hangzhou. It was originally founded with donations from the American Presbyterian Church. Therefore, the school was permeated with an autocratic atmosphere. Students' freedom was almost compressed to the size of a pinhole. On Wednesday evenings, there were prayer meetings. On Sundays, they were not only forbidden to go out for leisure but also to read other books at home. Apart from singing hymns and praying, they were only permitted to read the Old and New Testaments. Every morning from nine to nine-twenty, they had to attend worship. Skipping worship would result in deducted points and demerits. Although he greatly loved the landscape near the school, his heart always harbored some resistance. He was a lover of freedom. He could not willingly submit to such superstitious restraints. Before half a year had passed, the university's cook, relying on the principal's authority, actually beat students. Some students who refused to accept this injustice went to tell the principal. The principal instead blamed the students. Seeing these unreasonable circumstances, he immediately withdrew. He returned home to his small study. It was already early June by then.
After staying at home for over three months, the autumn wind blew over the Fuchun River. The green trees on both banks were about to wither. He took a sailboat down the Fuchun River to Hangzhou. Coincidentally, at that time, W Middle School at Stone Archway was recruiting transfer students. He went to see Principal M and told the M couple about his experiences. Principal M allowed him to join the highest class. This W Middle School was also a missionary school. Principal M was a confused American missionary. He found that the school's quality was even worse than H University. After a conflict with a despicable dean-who happened to be a graduate of H University-he left in the spring of the following year. After leaving W Middle School, he saw that no schools in Hangzhou satisfied him. So he decided not to enter any other school.
At this very time, his eldest brother was also being ostracized in Beijing. His eldest brother was a man of integrity. He worked in the ministry with impartiality and had more knowledge than most officials. Thus, everyone in the ministry feared him. One day, a personal acquaintance of a vice-minister came to ask for a position. He firmly refused. Therefore, the vice-minister developed a grudge against him. After a few days, he resigned from the ministry and switched to the judiciary to become a judge. His second brother was then serving as an officer in the Shaoxing army. This second brother had deep military habits. He threw money around with abandon and enjoyed befriending young gallants. None of the three brothers could act as they wished at this point. So the idlers in that small town said their family's feng shui had been disrupted.
After returning home, he secluded himself day and night in his small study. The books collected by his father, grandfather, and eldest brother became his good teachers and friends. In his diary, he began writing poems day by day. Sometimes, he also wrote novels in ornate prose. In these novels, he portrayed himself as a passionate warrior. He depicted the two daughters of a widow nearby as descendants of nobility. He wove the scenery of his hometown into idyllic landscapes. When inspired, he even translated his own novels into a simplified foreign language. His fantasies grew ever more expansive. The roots of his melancholy were likely cultivated during this time.
After staying at home for half a year, by mid-July, he received a letter from his eldest brother. It said, "The ministry recently intends to send someone to Japan to inspect judicial affairs. I have agreed with the director to go east. This matter should be ordered soon. Before crossing to Japan, I plan to return home for a short stay. It is definitely not a good strategy for our third brother to remain at home. This time, he should accompany me to Japan."
After preparing in this preparatory class for a year, graduates could enter the regular courses of various higher schools and study alongside Japanese students. When he entered the preparatory class, he originally chose the liberal arts. Later, as he was about to graduate from the preparatory class, his eldest brother insisted that he switch to medicine. At the time, he had no strong opinion, so he followed his brother's advice and changed to medicine.
After graduating from the preparatory course, he heard that Higher School in City N was the newest. He also heard that City N was a place in Japan known for beautiful women. So he requested to go to Higher School in City N.