辜鴻銘（1857～1928）是馬來西亞華僑，生於南洋，遊學西洋，娶東洋女，仕於北洋。學兼中西，通曉九種語言。生命漂泊支離，卻是最頑固的文化保守主義者。帶有浪漫色彩的儒教情懷，串連起了這個「東西南北人」。1924年11月，他應邀來臺停留近一個月，在日本官方備極禮遇下多次公開演講。當時臺灣充斥著追求現代化（Modernization）的氛圍，與辜鴻銘宣揚的價值理念有極大落差。他從世界文明的宏觀視野對現代化進行批判，藉此凸顯所謂中國文明價值，卻不免透露出其理念在實踐上缺乏憑藉，卒導致失落而孤懸。理念之虛懸，不僅造成他個人文化意識的悲劇性色彩，甚至可能將儒學一同殉葬。辜鴻銘的「不合時宜」提醒了，儒學的實踐不應忽略現實的語境及對歷史社會總體的關照。

Ku Hweng-Ming (1857-1928), a Malaysian overseas Chinese, was born in Nanyang, studied in the Western Ocean, married the Japanese, and became an official in the Beiyang government. Learn Chinese and Western, and know nine languages. His life experience is so drifting and apart, but it is the most stubborn cultural conservative. Perhaps it is a romantic Confucian sentiment that connects his wandering life. In November 1924, he was invited to stay in Taiwan for nearly a month, and he made several public speeches under the arrangement of Japan's official reserve. At that time, the Taiwan society was full of the atmosphere of pursuing modernization, and there was a great gap between the concept of Ku Hweng-Ming’s propaganda. He criticized modernization from the macroscopic view of world civilization, thereby highlighting the value of Chinese civilization that he is proud of, but it also reveals that his concept lacks in practice and ultimately leads to loss and vagueness. The failure to implement the concept will not only lead to the tragic nature of his personal cultural consciousness, but may even bury Confucianism together. Ku Hweng-Ming’s “out of date” reminds us that the practice of Confucianism should not neglect the context of reality and the care of the overall history and society.