Lin Yutang: The greatest contribution is mechanical invention
Yutang said: Everyone has a little bit of obsession, either with a woman, or with astronomy, or with For fishing. Insanity means concentration on one thing, which makes people forget to eat and sleep. People must be foolish, and then they will succeed. ?As a famous writer in the history of modern Chinese literature, Lin Yutang is obsessed with words and easy to understand, but to say that he is obsessed with inventions and creations will definitely make many people stunned.
Lin Yutang dreamed of being an inventor when he was a child. He was amazed at the efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine powder in treating trauma, so he collected many unknown herbs and blended them together to create a medicinal powder, which he named "Hao Si San". Although he was ridiculed by his sisters, he always believed in the efficacy of this medicine; after he learned the principle of siphon, he spent several months thinking about self-flow irrigation in his vegetable garden and prepared to build a water pump. Let the water in the well flow automatically to the vegetable garden; when he took a ship for the first time, he stared at the steam engine of the ship, and he was fascinated by machinery from then on; in middle school, he loved mathematics, physics and geography so much that he failed to pass Chinese.
Lin Yutang once made an astonishing statement: When I first entered St. John's University, I enrolled in liberal arts instead of science. That was completely accidental. To this day, I still believe that my greatest contribution in the future will be in the invention of machinery. I still believe that I will invent the most exquisite Chinese typewriter in the future? It would not be surprising if I suddenly joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a student. ?
"What you say must be done, and what you do must be resolute." Although Lin Yutang did not become a student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States, he did develop the Chinese typewriter that he had been obsessed with for a long time after he was 50 years old. In order to invent the most ingenious and perfect new Chinese typewriter, he seemed to be obsessed with it. He got up early every morning, sat on a leather chair in the study, smoked a pipe, read the English version of the "Mechanical Manual", and drew structural sketches. For typesetting, I changed the keyboard again and again. In 1932, when Lin Yutang went to Switzerland to attend a conference, he also went to England to find engineers to study Chinese typewriters. A few months later, he returned to Shanghai with only 3 cents in his pocket and an incomplete typewriter model.
In 1947, Lin Yutang finally developed the most advanced Chinese typewriter in the world at that time, and gave it a name: "Mingkuai Chinese Typewriter". This typewriter is 9 inches high, 14 inches wide, and 18 inches long, with a capacity of 7,000 characters. The font is cast on 6 rollers with 6 sides. The huge font is replaced by 64 keys. Only 3 keys are pressed for each word, and 50 words can be typed per minute. No complex training is required, and anyone can operate it after receiving guidance. In the world of Chinese characters, the typewriter invented by Lin Yutang can be described as a revolutionary initiative.
This typewriter embodies Lin Yutang’s nearly 30 years of hard work. Lin Taiyi, Lin Yutang's second daughter, recalled that her father spent more than 120,000 US dollars on this project and almost lost everything. It took several years for the family to repay the loans they borrowed from friends and banks.
Unfortunately, due to war and cost reasons, although this Chinese typewriter was patented in 1948, it has never been able to be mass-produced. Later, the keyboard of the "Mingkuai Chinese Typewriter" was authorized for use in IBM's Chinese-English translation machine and Itek's electronic translator; after Lin Yutang's death, Shentong Computer invented the "Mingkuai Chinese Typewriter" based on the upper and lower shape detection method. ?Simple input method? has become a commonly used computer Chinese input method for modern people.
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In addition to typewriters, Lin Yutang also drew hand-drawn drafts of "automatic toothbrushes", "automatic door locks" and automatic bridge playing machines, etc., and designed an ergonomic model for his wife. The comfortable seats were quite avant-garde at the time. (Text/Republic of China Wenlin)