Xia and Shun
△ Lei Mengshui's "Ancient Books and Eyes"
Lei Mengshui (1921-1994), a native of Jixian County, Hebei Province. At the age of 15, he went to Liulichang to study as an apprentice, and the master Sun Dianqi was his sixth uncle. Sun Dianqi was known as the "Sage of Liulichang", and he became a bibliographer from a book seller, and wrote "Book Selling Dolls" and "Three Records of Liulichang Bookstore". He explained to Lei Mengshui Zhang Zhidong's Bibliographic Answers and other bibliographies, and also talked about versionology and its value, Lei Mengshui listened to and wrote down, and forcibly wrote down the title and author of the book, and admired Sun Dianqi more and more. He thought to himself: My uncle has only studied for 3 years, and after painstaking research, he has achieved great achievements, and I have been studying for 6 years, so it should not be more difficult than him.
In the process of selling books and delivering books, Lei Mengshui met many experts and scholars. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, he often brought books to Yenching University to sell, and thus met Professor Deng Zhicheng. Deng Zhicheng has a rare Qing Dynasty notebook "Records of Earth Winds", written by Zhang Si, engraved in the Jiaqing period, but the first volume is missing, instructing Lei Mengshui to try to match it. One day, Tongxuezhai received a batch of ancient books, including this book, and Lei Mengshui rode to the Deng Mansion in Haidian Chengfu the next day. Deng Zhicheng repeatedly read it and praised Lei Mengshui. Lei Mengshui later recalled: "The process of buying books for him was also an excellent opportunity to learn from him. Because he has a profound study of the history of the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, whenever I find a collection of people in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, I ask him for advice, and he is also willing to tell me about it. ”
△ Lei Mengshui's "Book Forest Trivia"
Lei Mengshui had the idea of writing a book after an in-depth conversation with Professor Zhu Ziqing. Such a good teacher as Zhu Ziqing made him unforgettable, and he could still remember the details of their interaction until his old age. Once, when he was delivering books, Mr. Zhu suddenly talked to him about the problem of writing: "Lei Mengshui, you can practice writing!" Lei Mengshui said: "I am a book seller, and my education level is low, how can I write something?" Mr. Zhu said sharply, "Alas! If you look at Chen Qi in the Song Dynasty and your uncle Sun Dianqi in modern times, aren't they all selling books? As long as you can set up ambitions, be willing to study hard, and insist on exercising. Zhu Ziqing also told him: "The words used in writing articles should be used in daily language, and the tone of language should also be used in daily language... After writing it, ask someone with a higher level of education to correct it, can't you? ”
On August 12, 1948, Zhu Ziqing died. On August 2, Lei Mengshui also received his note: "Please find the "Key to Ancient Texts", written by Xie Fangde (press: should be Lü Zuqian), bother, for the feeling." He had always treasured this letter, and he would never forget Zhu Ziqing's words of encouragement to write.
There was also a key figure who encouraged Lei Mengshui to write books, Wang Yeqiu, who was then the director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, liked ancient books, had many contacts with liuli factory booksellers, and repeatedly encouraged Lei Mengshui to write articles. Lei Mengshui recalled in his later years: "I successively wrote and sorted on behalf of Sun Shi Yaoqing's "Journey to the South of Gengwu", "Ji Lun Zheru", "Liulichang Xiaozhi", "Ciren Temple Zhi", "Continuation of the Book Selling Doll Record", "Beijing Customs Miscellaneous Songs", "Taiwan Customs and Miscellaneous Songs", and my own "Four Records of Liulichang Bookstore", "Ancient Book Classics Eye Record", "Supplement to the Index of Room Names", "Shulin Trivia", "Longfu Temple Bookstore Record", "Ciren Temple Examination Strategy", "Book Selling Puppet Record School Record", "The Chronicle of Mr. Sun Yaoqing of the Ancestors", "The Chronicle of Mr. Sun Yaoqing". Most of the "Continuation of Beijing Customs and Miscellaneous Songs" were written and published under the kind and caring guidance of Director Wang Yeqiu. ”
Review: Tan Lugang