Gu Hongming

Gu Hongming (辜鸿铭, pictured) was a somewhat fascinating character. Though his family originated from Tongan in Fujian province (福建同安), he was born in Penang, Malaysia in 1857. He died in 1928.

At 16, he began his education in Edinburgh University, before furthering his studies in Germany, France and Italy. After his graduation, he worked in the then colonial Singapore government for some time. In 1885, he went to China and worked in the think tank of the reform-minded Chinese politician Zhang Zhidong (张之洞). Gu occupied a variety of posts during his career, and was a Peking University professor since 1915.

Gu was familiar with French, Italian, Ancient Greek, Latin, Japanese, and Malay, as well as Chinese, English and German. Gu's English was even described by Chinese writer and inventor Lin Yutang (林语堂) as "the best in China."

Though exceedingly well-educated and well-traveled (and presumably ahead of his time), Gu was extremely conservative. He embraced polygamy and foot-binding. He was a strong advocate of monarchy and Confucian values. He also chose to preserve his plait even after the Qing Dynasty was overthrown.

Even though he wrote a number of books outlining his world view, few scholarly edition of his works remain. Gu was a cultural curiosity later on in his life. After he died, he was remembered as a cultural oddity.

In his book 中国人的精神 (The Spirit of the Chinese People, Hainan Publishing Press, 1996), Gu justified his support of polygamy by arguing that the greatest sacrifice a man could undertake was to protect and provide for his wives and children.

Hitting out at Europeans who argued that polygamy was immoral, Gu had this to say:

"那些摩托装备的欧洲人, 从马路上检回一个无依无靠的妇人, 供其消遣一夜之后, 次日凌晨又将其抛弃在马路上, 要更少自私和不道德成分. 纳妾的中国官人或许是自私的, 但他至少提供了住房, 并承担了他所拥有的妇人维持生计的责任. 事实上, 如果说中国官员是自私的, 那么我将说那些摩托装备的欧洲人不仅自私, 而且是些懦夫."

(Some of these Europeans who possess motorized equipment, they pick up a homeless and helpless woman from the streets, and after a night of enjoyment, they abandon the same woman on the streets the following morning. This is even more selfish and immoral. Chinese officials who have multiple wives - at least they provided accommodation, and take on the responsibility of maintaining the livelihoods of all the women he possessed. If Chinese officials were described as selfish, then I would say that these Europeans who possess motorized equipment are not only selfish, they are also cowards.")