Sunday, 9 March
I replied to Wang Chonghui’s letter as follows:
Dear Mr. Chonghui,
I received your letter on the fifteen of last month. In it you referred to “Travel Account of Paris” which was translated by someone of our time. In the account, it mentions the scene of Paris in the spring being the best in the world, while the scenes of the theatres of Paris are the best in the world too, and so on. Unexpectedly you took it as an evidence to prove that Paris was the evilest of places that even Zhu Xi, who had the deepest knowledge of the learning of Dao among the Song Confucians, would not speak like this if he was reborn. As you said, beauty is evil, and the most beautiful would be the most evil, but we cannot find such proposition in Chinese and Western logic. As for the place which has so many beauties, I really think that I can take it easily. Like the flowers in the Tulip Gardens of the Netherlands, as well as the Rose Gardens of France, people old and young are accustomed to them. They are not like the servant girls in Xiguan(西關)[1] who have never been to famous gardens so that when they see beautiful flowers they will think of sneaking to pick them away. With regard to the impeachment of Li Zongren and that the Deputy President has to be re-elected, I talked to Sun Fo to see if he would be interested to return to Taiwan, as instructed in your letter. He still wanted to stick to his original idea that for the time being he would visit various places in Europe to study the latest situation, as this would be more beneficial in private and public terms. He instructed me to relay the message to you. I have many more things to say, but I just stop here.
All the best,
Brother Chang, with a ceremonious nod.
[Wang Chonghui’s letter is attached to the diary. See original.]
Dear Mr. Bingchang,
I have received you letter. It seems to be that you did not really agree with the saying that “Paris is the evilest of places” in my previous letter. You must know that I am not the only one who claims it. Such opinion is commonplace. You can take a look at the “Travel Account of Paris” which was translated by someone of our time. It could prove that what I said is not wrong. I hereby extract the relevant sentences and list them under syllogism [deductive reasoning] as follows:
Major premise:
The scenes of Paris in springtime are the best in this world,
The scenes of theatre in Paris are the best in the world.
Minor premise:
Strip tease and lust;
Colorful, and the singing and dancing are wonderful.
Conclusion:
A hero could not tolerate the lure of beauty.
Though possessing the strong debating talents of Zhang Yi and Su Chin, one could hardly overthrow such logic. You should really reflect upon it. Because of the impeachment of Li Zongren, our friends thought of the by-election of Deputy President. I am not certain whether Sun Fo would be interested to go to Taiwan? I really hope that you can inform me at your convenience. I know I have many things to say, but I just stop here.
All the best,
Hui, with a ceremonious nod, 15th February.
At twelve noon Zhang Zenghai came. We went to the Shanglong restaurant to have lunch together. Then we went to Auteuil Racecourse with Feng Yanwei (馮燕薇) and Mr. Peng. At seven, we returned to the Shanglong restaurant for dinner. (Miss Feng’s treat) After dinner, Mr. Zhang accompanied us to the Northern Station. Originally, Kitty and I were not able to stay in the same sleeping car. But when I arrived I gave tips to the driver, he then tried his best to arrange for us to travel in the same room. The train departed at 9.40 p.m.
[1] Many rich people lived in this place in Guangzhou.