What does Professor Gu mean by psychological braid?

Gu Hongming was a famous figure in academic circles in the early years of the Republic of China. He studied Chinese and western cultures, laughed and cursed, and left many anecdotes and famous sayings. What alerted me most was one thing mentioned by Shen Congwen/Kloc-0 when he gave lectures at China Columbia University in the 1920s: Cai Yuanpei/Kloc-0 grew up in Peking University in the early 1920s and invited the royalist Gu Hongming to give lectures at some point. Mr. Shen said that he still remembers very clearly, "In that speech, Mr. Gu wore a small sleeve silk robe, a small hat with a green satin coral top and a dark blue belt. The most striking thing is that there is a brown pigtail at the back. As soon as the old gentleman went to class, all the students burst into laughter Mr. Gu said calmly, you don't have to laugh at my little tail. It doesn't matter if I stay. It is easy to cut off. As for your psychological braid, in my opinion, it is not easy to get rid of it! "

This statement is very meaningful. At that time, it was the time when the New Culture Movement was striding forward. "Knocking down Kongjiadian" and "throwing thread-bound books into the toilet" were all seeking innovation and change. Old people like Gu Hongming were among them, and they were easily knocked down. Because of this, his old gentleman moved against the current and said a lot to defend traditional culture. Of course, some defenses are unnecessary, and some words are also of a game nature and can only be heard. But the words "psychological braid" are really advanced and well said. The new culture movement was called by scientific democracy, but it is hard to say how much scientific democracy participated in the criticism of traditional culture at that time. Yun Qi, a student from all over the world, responded to the call of a few elites, thus forming a grand view and pressure. At this time, it is even more difficult to express some objections-isn't Zhang Junmai ridiculed as a metaphysical ghost in the debate between science and outlook on life? The tolerant ideological soil and independent personal opinions that science and democracy need most are lost here.

Gu Hongming's braid is a symbol of royalism. Did he ever laugh at his students and cut off some deep-rooted bad ideas and habits handed down from authoritarian society? Just kidding, some western countries still have kings. Can you say that they are not a country that stresses democracy and science? China overthrew the imperial system a long time ago (although there was a little emperor who stayed in the Forbidden City at that time, he was later forced by Feng Yuxiang). We have been pursuing science and democracy for many years. Can you say that it is difficult to see how our country talks about scientific democracy now? Therefore, Teacher Gu said that it is easy to cut off one's own braids, but it is not easy for students to cut off their own ideological braids, which is really thought-provoking. Regardless of whether what he said at that time was emotional and targeted, this metaphor has a high degree of generalization and eternal significance.

From this metaphor, Mr. Shen Congwen "aroused a kind of vigilance, got a kind of inspiration and produced a kind of confidence: independent thinking is of long-term significance to work". From the inspiration obtained by Mr. Shen, Gu Hongming's criticism of mental braid mainly refers to the lack of independent thinking, which refers to blind obedience and superstition. From this point of view, the royalist Gu Hongming, Hu Shi of "complete cosmopolitanism" and Chen of "independent and free thinking" are actually comrades in arms in the trenches.