His active mind and passionate nature were manifested in youth by a ravenous desire to learn to read and write. Without ever enrolling in school, he taught himself to read popular literature. Soon he was keeping up avidly with the latest developments on the literary scene.
他有太精細的記憶，記憶又轉化成洶湧的思想和感受，於是對認文識字便生出莫名的饑渴，沒入私塾前就可以自讀通俗演義，接著又接觸新文學作品。