culture
He chose the name 自清, 'keep oneself pure', so as not to drift with the crowd. His courtesy name 佩弦, 'wear a bowstring', recalls an ancient official who wore a taut bowstring to hurry his slow temper, a fault Zhu saw in himself.
history
In 1948, gravely ill, he signed a pledge refusing US-aid flour in protest at American policy on Japan. Mao later wrote that he 宁可饿死，不领美国的救济粮, 'would rather starve than take American relief grain'. He died that August, aged 49.
