"When the people of the motherland are fighting a bloody war, why should I spend unnecessary time participating in such a ceremony as a personal honor?" "If there is any loss in the event of any loss when cultural relics are transported out, on the way or after arriving in Taiwan, the person who presides over the matter will always be a national sinner." Although he is not responsible for this matter, he has kept the cultural relics for this court for seven or eight years, and he has a strong affection for all things and knows that there are various dangers. ” "I was married to the museum a long time ago." —Zeng Zhaoyi, China's first female archaeologist
On October 11, 1811 (November 26, 1811 AD), a boy was born into a family of ordinary cultivators in Baiyangping, Heyetang, Xiangxiang Township, Changsha Province, Hunan (now Daping Village, Shuangfeng County, Loudi, Hunan). Twenty-seven years later, this boy entered Hanlin, and then moved seven times in ten years, and was awarded the title of Marquis of Yiyong of the First Rank, and he was Zeng Guofan, the head of the four famous ministers of the late Qing Dynasty.
Zeng Guofan ruled the family strictly, so Zhilan Yushu was frequently born in the court, and there were many scientists, educators, diplomats and so on among his descendants. In such a prominent family background, in the era of the old and new who still respects men, there is still a woman who can hardly hide her brilliance, and who struggles all her life and finally leaves her name in history, she is the eldest great-granddaughter of Zeng Guohuang, the eldest brother of Zeng Guofan - Zeng Zhaoyi.
For some people, coming from a famous family may only mean good clothes, pearlescent and pampered, but the best gift Zeng Zhaoyi received was a quality education. She attended a private school at an early age, and at the age of 12, she entered the Changsha Yifang Girls' School founded by her cousin Zeng Baosun (this cousin is also a fierce character, who has been involved in Chinese education all her life and has never married).
At the age of 20, Zeng Zhaoyi was admitted to the Department of Foreign Languages of Central University (now Nanjing University) and later transferred to the Department of Chinese Languages. Until graduation, her grades were always among the best, and together with Wu Jianxiong (the world-famous physicist, the queen of "nuclear physics") left a campus legend of "Liberal Arts Zeng Zhaoyi, Science Wu Jianxiong".
Wu
During her time at the school, Zeng Zhaoyi was fortunate to meet the mentor Mr. Hu Xiaoshi (professor of the Chinese Department and dean of the Faculty of Letters) who led her into the door of epigraphy and archaeology.
Hu Xiaoshi
At that time, with such a family lineage and such talent, she could have easily lived a decent life, but Zeng Zhaoyi was not satisfied with this, she had a strong interest in archaeology, so she resigned from the teaching position of Jinling University Affiliated High School and gave up her master's degree in the United Kingdom, going to the United Kingdom to continue studying archaeology, becoming the first woman in China to study archaeology. This was a groundbreaking feat at the time.
Just when Zeng Zhaoyi was busy studying for his degree, going down to the field, writing a thesis, and preparing to use the advanced methods of Western archaeology at that time to explore new cultural relics for the history of China's thousands of years of civilization, the Lugou Bridge Incident broke out, and then the Japanese Kou had already lit a war everywhere on the land of China. It was also at this time that Zeng Zhaoyi, who successfully graduated, received an offer from the University of London, on the one hand, a high-paid and stable overseas life, on the other hand, the road to the war of resistance with a worrying future, but this time she still did not choose a relaxed life, and resolutely returned to China in 1938, when the war was raging.
Even in the peaceful era of advanced science and technology, archaeology has never been an easy industry, and field excavations often have to face a harsh natural environment, simple living conditions, and boring work content, which is still a challenge for men, but Zeng Zhaoyi has not had a bit of stereotypical women's squeamishness.
The third from the right is Li Ji, the father of Chinese archaeology, and the fourth from the right is Zeng Zhaoyi
In early 1939, she served as a special design committee member of the Preparatory Department of the National Central Museum (the predecessor of the Nanjing Museum), traveled to Sichuan and Yunnan to engage in archaeological work, led the excavation of 5 cultural sites such as the Malong site, the Buddha Ding Jia Yi Er site, and the Longquan site, and obtained a large number of cultural relics, which is the Archaeological activities carried out by Chinese archaeologists after the excavation of Yin Ruins, and the advanced technology and scientific methods of modern archaeology are used again, and Zeng Zhaoyi, who presided over the excavation, became famous all over the world.
After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the liberation of the whole country was imminent, and the Kuomintang authorities planned to transport a large number of cultural relics, but Zeng Zhaoyi not only refused to go to Taiwan, but also organized a large number of scholars to jointly oppose it, and tried every means to intercept many fine cultural relics for the mainland, including the world-famous national treasure Houmu Peng Dafangding. Not only that, under her perseverance, she even successfully recovered more than 800 boxes of cultural relics that had been successfully transported to Taiwan, and her bravery and wisdom were admirable.
After the founding of New China, Zeng Zhaoyi was appointed vice president of the Nanjing Museum and professor of the History Department of Nanjing University, continuing her beloved career, and the various works she wrote have been passed down to this day; the rules of the academy that she personally set down: "All those engaged in cultural relics work, especially those who do archaeological work, are absolutely not allowed to collect antiques privately" has been adopted by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage and has been included in the industry ethics of practitioners.
I don't know if it was the cousin's original "if you are married, you can only serve a few people in a family, if you don't get married, you can serve tens of millions of people" The idea has long affected her, Zeng Zhaoyi has not been married, and has given all his time and effort to the state to archaeology. In 1953, the famous Yinan Han tomb in the archaeological community was excavated, and the archaeological reports and studies written by Zeng Zhaoyi are not outdated today, and their level even exceeds many contemporary achievements.
Originally, it was a good ending to dedicate his life to his career in this way, and finally to live in the company of his family and students. Who knows, the test of fate is sometimes too sudden, too heavy. In those years of mourning, the illustrious origin, the experience of staying in the ocean, those things that once made Zeng Zhaoyi stand on the top of fate turned to shoot her at the bottom of the valley, she was floating and sinking, and it was difficult to survive. On December 24, 1964, Zeng Zhaoyi, who had already had a nervous breakdown, jumped from the pagoda of Nanjing Linggu Temple to end his legendary life.
"On the old Tongjia family of the third emperor, the first time I saw the Credit of the Chang'an Years.
When Dejini knew Yun, he did not hear that Xu Nu was paired with Qin Jia.
Many talented and short-lived people are sorry, and it is easy to think lightly.
The Spirit Valley smokes treasure level every year, and it should be hated to the end of the world. ”
——Chen Yinke: "On the second day before the first day of the first lunar new year, Zeng Zhaoyijun, the president of the Nanjing Museum, died in the Linggu Pagoda"
Mr. Zeng has been dead for decades, and I would like to express my condolences in this article, once again paying tribute to this shining female archaeologist in the history of Chinese archaeology.