Imperfect Understanding Wen Ting Yuan.doc

IMPERFECT UNDERSTANDING by WEN YUAN-NING Sometime Dean of The Department of Foreign Languages and Literature of Peking National University S HANGHAI KELLY & WALSH, LTD. 1935 IMPERFECT UNDERSTANDING For what do we live but to make sport for our neighbours and laugh at them in our turn? (Pride and Prejudice) 80689706 80689706 All Rights Reserved. PRINTED IN SHANGHAI NOTE These attempts atan imperfect understanding of some people I happen to know are the fruits of idle moments. Their proper place is,of course, the waste-paper basket. But they have given pleasure to some friends; and it isat the latter's instance that they have here been brought together in book form. I hope where no offence is meant, none will be offended. However, it is just possible that one or two may object to some of the things I have said about them. If so, I beg their pardon. My thanks are due to Mr. Kwei Chungshu, editor of The China Critic, for his kindness in allowing me to reprint these papers, which first saw the light in the Intimate Portraits column of that journal. W EN Y UAN - NING . S HANGHAI , January, 1935 . A calendar, a calendar look in the almanac find out moonshine, find out moonshine. (A Midsummer-Night's Dream) CONTENTS. PAGE M UM I( 吴宓) .................................... 3 D US HIH (胡适)........................................ 11 T HE L ATE M SUT SE- MO (徐志摩) 19 M HOU T SO- JEN ( 周作人) ............. 27 T HE L ATE M IANG Y U- CH ' UN ( 梁遇春) 35 M OHN W ONG -Q UINCEY ( 王文显).. 43 T HE L ATE M HU C HAO - HSIN ( 朱兆莘) 51 D ELLINGTON K OO ( 顾维钧) ............... 57 -D R. V. ING ( 丁文江) ............... 63 T HEL ATE M UH UNG - MING ( 辜鸿铭)?? 69 M UL AI- HSI ( 吴赉熙) .................................. 75 M ANG P ING - CH ' EN ( 杨丙辰) ............. 81 M ENG HIU ( 周延旭) ................................. 87 M HEN T' UNG - PE( 陈通伯) ?? 93 M IANG C HUNG - TAI ( 梁宗岱) .............. 99 M HENG C H' ENG (盛成)..............................