I and Gu Kun

Author: Chen Minzhi
Author Country: China
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-06-01
Features: Chen Minzhi's I and Guo Zhun, a collection of personal memories, chronicles Guo Zhun's last ten years, his life with his children and wife Wang Bi, and reflects the era of intellectuals, adding depth to Guo Zhun's character. It also includes prefaces to some of Guo Zhun's works and commemorative texts for the publication of his collected works. Notably, it features Guo Zhun's opinions on his brother's works, Laozi, Confucius, and Notes on Han Feizi, showcasing the sharp edge of this lone thinker.
Excerpt: Guo Zhun and His Children
Guo Zhun's children experienced the historical events that followed the founding of the People's Republic of China, but given their age, education, and life experiences, they could not fully grasp the true significance of these events or their impact on societal development. Even historians, at the time these events unfolded, found it difficult to make immediate, accurate judgments. Corrections were often necessary.
For Guo Zhun's children, fresh out of school and just entering society, it was understandable that they would rigidly reject their father's ideas, actions, and character, especially if their education and ideology had taught them to oppose such views. They believed this was the only way to achieve selflessness for the "revolution." They could not accept accusations from outsiders that their refusal to meet their father was selfish.
In 1979, my mother passed away in Shanghai (I had moved her there in 1975, where she lived until she was 95). After hearing of her passing, Chen Minzhi wrote to me: "With Grandma's death, so many memories of this family have flooded my mind. These are all past things, no longer reversible. This family no longer exists, but the pain it has left behind will forever be etched in my heart, never to be healed in this lifetime. For all of this—for my parents, my siblings, myself, my friends, the dead, and the living—I must strive, never content, always burdened with guilt and self-reproach, moving upward. The departed cannot return, but perhaps our achievements can be offered as a small white flower before their graves?" This can be seen as Chen Minzhi's confession and vow, and he indeed acted upon it.
In 1979, Chen Minzhi, with only a junior high school education, passed the Beijing college entrance exams as the humanities valedictorian through self-study. Guo Zhun's second son and daughter also entered the Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences through hard work. Now, one works in Hainan, the other in Hawaii, both married with children. His eldest son is now a leader at the China Academy of Space Technology Coordination Center. Driven by remorse, he worked with a fervor that bordered on obsession, achieving remarkable results.
Recalling this period of Guo Zhun and his children, as well as my own relationship with them, has been a source of sorrow and pain for me. In December 1974, when I carried my elder brother's coffin to the ossuary on Laoshan Mountain, my heart felt heavier than my steps. His children were nearby, yet they seemed to ignore him. What stood between them? These were tasks that should have been done by his children, yet I had to do them. I had promised my brother, but I still couldn't bridge the gap in their understanding. Even in life, until his death, he never met his children. In that era, where superstition and dogma reigned, changing their deeply ingrained beliefs was no easy feat, no matter how many letters I wrote.
When I tried to persuade them to visit their dying father, who longed for them, my emotions were so intense, my words harsh, lacking rational thought or the compassionate understanding of a elder toward his children. I felt guilty for possibly being too harsh or hurtful to them in some ways.
In February 1984, ten years after Guo Zhun's death, his eldest daughter read the handwritten "Correspondence Record" (later published as From Idealism to Empiricism) that I had compiled from 1973–1974. She wrote a postscript to it and sent it to me. Below are excerpts from her notes:
"Fluent writing, profound insight, and incisive analysis—words that leave one in awe. Behind this was his deep concern for the nation's future and his passion for seeking truth. It was so powerful, stirring my heart deeply. The image of my father had become completely clear and towering in my mind. The bond of family, the pain of memories from the turbulent years and family changes, the reflections on the issues raised in the book, and his harsh self-examination—all intertwined, keeping me up countless nights. It can be said that he touched upon almost every major issue related to the nation's rise or fall. I dare not comment on these issues themselves, but the character and temperament revealed in them remind me of what Einstein said when mourning Marie Curie: 'The significance of a great man for the era and the course of history may be even greater in terms of moral character than in mere intellectual achievement. Even the latter depends far more on character than is usually thought.' After 1957, he had to struggle his way out of hell step by step. His profound reflections were completed amidst countless struggles, humiliations, and even beatings. When he needed his family, they were distant. Yet his thoughts contained more truth. Life gives only one father. What have we done for such a father?"
Excerpt: Guo Zhun's Biography
Guo Zhun passed away on December 3, 1974, due to lung cancer, and it has been fourteen years since then. With the passage of time, the emotional shock of losing him has faded, replaced by rational reflection. However, writing his biography as his relative still leaves it tinged with emotion, though this brief account does not aim to provide a comprehensive evaluation of his life.
Guo Zhun was born on July 1, 1915 (May 19 in the lunar calendar), into a large family in Shanghai, with ten siblings, and was the fifth among his brothers and sisters. Since his maternal family had no male heirs, he was raised under his mother's surname. His ancestral home was in Suzhou, but his family moved to Shanghai in the early years of the Republic of China. His father practiced traditional Chinese medicine in his later years.
Due to poverty, Guo Zhun could not continue his studies and graduated from the three-year-old junior secondary division of the Huanyuan Vocational School, founded by Huang Yanpei, in 1927. Recommended by his former teacher Yin Yaha, he became a trainee at the Lixin Accounting Firm, introduced by Pan Xuren, who had studied accounting in the United States and introduced modern accounting principles to China. This new system, distinct from China's traditional accounting methods, used scientific principles to design specialized accounting systems for different economic activities, serving as tools for systematic recording, analysis, and inspection. It was more precise, timely, and scientific than the old methods, making it widely adopted by emerging industries and businesses using modern capitalist management.
To meet the demand for business knowledge among employees in small and medium-sized enterprises, Pan Xuren expanded his accounting firm into evening schools, vocational schools, an editorial office, and a supply store. Young employees, trainees, and apprentices, eager to improve their skills and social standing, embraced these flexible learning opportunities, which were also supported by many business owners.
In 1927, Guo Zhun joined the Lixin Accounting Firm as a trainee at the age of twelve. Through diligent self-study, he gradually mastered accounting. However, still young and immature, he once made a fool of himself: when he first taught at the Lixin evening school (at just sixteen), the students drove him off the stage. It wasn't until a year later, after his second attempt, that he finally gained their respect.
From 1927 to 1940, Guo Zhun worked at the Lixin Accounting Firm for fourteen years. He progressed from preparing teaching materials and grading exams to teaching at the evening school, becoming its director, and writing accounting books. He also served as a part-time professor at several universities, including Zhejiang University. He called this period his "professional ascent." In 1934, at the age of nineteen, he completed his first accounting book, Bank Accounting. Later, he published works such as Elementary Commercial Bookkeeping Textbook, Introduction to Bookkeeping, Accounting for Joint-Stock Companies, Accounting System of the Republic of China, Principles and Practice of Income Tax, and Government Accounting System of the Republic of China. Many of these books were written during his turbulent life as a refugee.