Ma Yifu, a Confucian scholar, was a profoundly educated master of nationalism, who was famous with Liang Shuming and Xiong Shili during the Republican period. Xiong Shili, who seldom praised others, once said, “Mr. Ma is a man of high moral and far-reaching knowledge”; others praised him as “especially knowledgeable, insightful, rounded and unhindered”.
He was not afraid of the powerful people of the Republic of China
Born in 1883, Ma Yifu was well educated in poetry since childhood and ranked first in the county examinations when he was 16. As a young man, he also had the ambition of “taking the world as his mission”, but soon afterwards, he lived in seclusion in a humble alley in Hangzhou, studying traditional Chinese culture such as Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism every day and no longer caring about the outside world.
At that time, Sun Chuanfang, who was the commander of the allied army of the five southeastern provinces, was stationed in Hangzhou. One day, he went to visit Ma Yifu in admiration. Ma Yifu refused to meet with him. Being afraid of Sun Chuanfang’s power, his family advised him not to make too much of a fuss, so they asked if they could “tell him you are not at home?” Ma Yifu flatly refused: “Tell him that he is at home, but he is not here!” Sun Chuanfang had to go away resentfully.
In 1937, Japan launched a full-scale war against China, Ma Yifu broke the principle of “lifelong doumen” and “never gathering to lecture”, and successively held “national studies lectures” for students of Zhejiang University in Taihe, Jiangxi and Yishan, Guangxi. “He thought that the significance of this lecture was that it was a good opportunity for the students of Zhejiang University to learn the Chinese language. He believed that the meaning of this lecture was “to enable students to gain a clear understanding of the inherent academic knowledge of our country, and then they can develop their natural knowledge and abilities, and not be trapped by the environment, so that they can complete their own personality and take up great matters for the country and society.
In the summer of 1939, he founded the “Fusi Academy” in Jiading Wuyu Temple, Sichuan Province. In the summer of 1939, he founded the “Fusi Shuyuan” in Jiading, Sichuan, and served as the chief lecturer, lecturing on righteousness, selecting and carving ancient books, and training a group of outstanding talents to study traditional Chinese culture.
Later, Ma Yifu set up the Fusi Academy in Chongqing. At this time, Chiang Kai-shek asked him to “leave the mountain”, but he refused to do so.
One year, the mother of Kong Xiangxi, who was then the Minister of Finance of the Kuomintang, died, and the funeral was so extravagant that some powerful and elegant people wanted Ma Yifu to write an epitaph in praise of his virtues. They first sent an adjutant to Ma Yifu and said unceremoniously, “Minister Kong’s wife has died, please write an epitaph, and do it quickly.” Ma Yifu politely declined, “I am old and have not written for a long time, so please reply to Minister Kong. The visitor had to return in disgust.
After a few days, a secretary was sent again. This time he spoke more politely, first praising Ma’s moral articles, and then explaining his intention, saying how filial Minister Kong was to his mother and pleading for an epitaph. Ma Yifu pondered for a long time and did not say anything, the visitor said, “Minister Kong will never let your old man write for nothing, ready to send you a number of gold taels.” Ma Yifu heard about the money deal, immediately stood up from the chair, coldly said: “Although I am a cold Confucian, but never for five buckets of rice, you please go back to your orders!” This secretary also returned without success.
He passed away after being raided during the Cultural Revolution
After the victory of the war, Ma Yifu went back to Hangzhou to live in seclusion, and after the Chinese Communist Party took power in 1949, Ma Yifu became the director of the Zhejiang Literature and History Museum, but he still maintained his haughty nature, never seeing the opportunity to say flattering words.
After the outbreak of the Cultural Revolution, the Red Guards rushed into Ma Yifu’s home and searched it. Before the sackers swept away, he pleaded in a low voice, “Leave me an inkstone to write on, okay?” Who knows what he got was a resounding slap in the face from the Red Guards.
Ma Yifu, who was penniless, died soon after. Before his death, he left a poem, “Farewell to Friends and Relatives in Dingwei (1967)”: “I am at peace with my life, and the void is at my disposal. I am at peace with my body and soul, and my eyes and ears are always at ease. The froth is all gone to the sea, the flowers are in full bloom. The sun sets on the cliff and I wave my hand.
Ma Yifu, who “ate the past but did not transform it, and was born without floating,” was well versed in the essence of nationalism and probably never expected the Chinese Communist Party to be so cruel. What happened to him highlights the devastating blow of the Chinese Communist Party’s so-called proletarian revolution and dictatorship to nationalism and its masters.
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