Recently, it was learned that Mr. Jonathan D. Spence, a famous historian, sinologist and honorary professor of the Department of History at Yale University, passed away on December 26, 2021 local time, at the age of 85. At the time of the surprise, the past is in the past. Thirty-two years ago, Mr. Shi Jingqian invited me to give a lecture in the History Department of Yale University, and I had an academic relationship with him. Enthusiasm, wisdom, peace and diligence are the impressions that Mr. Li left in my mind.
In 2014, Shi Jing moved to China to visit Muto
Three set the theme of the speech
On November 22, 1989, I was invited by Professor Susan Naquin of the History Department of the University of Pennsylvania to visit and lecture in the United States. It was the first time I flew from capital airport, crossed the Pacific Ocean via Shanghai Hongqiao Airport, stopped at San Francisco Airport, and then flew to New York JFK Airport for more than 18 hours. He was young, excited, and tired. After getting off the plane, my daughter, who is studying at New York University in the United States, picked me up at the airport.
Less than a week after I stayed in New York, many professors of history at universities in the United States, such as Columbia University, New York University, Princeton University, Washington University, Yale University, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth University, Indiana University, University of California, California Institute of Technology, University of Hawaii, etc., have invited me. I was amazed at how quickly academic information in the American academic community spread and the enthusiasm for Chinese mainland scholars. Mr. Shi Jingqian, who was the president of the American Historical Society and a professor and head of the history department at Yale University, asked me to arrange a time for me to give an academic lecture to the yale history department for professors and doctoral candidates, and I agreed.
Department of History, Yale University
The time when I went to Yale University to speak was finally determined after several consultations because I had to coordinate the time of several colleges and universities in the northeastern United States. However, until the time for my speech at Yale University has been determined, the topic of the speech is still changing and cannot be determined. At first, Professor Shi Jingqian asked me what I wanted to talk about, and I said, because the cultural backgrounds of China and the United States are different, and the academic information has not been available for many years, can I talk about "forty years of Qing history research"? He said that they needed this aspect, but they should discuss it with their colleagues. Soon, he called back and said, this topic is too specialized, can you change it? I asked him to mention it, and he said, how about Talking about Kangxi? I know that he had previously published Empire of China: Self-portrait of Kang-hsi, and had studied the Kangxi Emperor. Of course, I have read more literature and archives about the Kangxi Emperor, and I am confident in talking about the Kangxi Emperor.
Kangxi: Reconstructing the Inner World of a Chinese Emperor in English
But not long after, Mr. Shi Jingqian called again and said: Kangxi's topic is also too specialized, can we change it? I said think again. He said that they suggested that I talk about "new materials for the study of Qing history." My first reaction at the time was that this topic was not easy to talk about. What is new information? We think it's new, they may think it's not new, and that creates a gap in understanding and doesn't get the expected results. So I asked, can I discuss another topic? The gentleman said in an affirmative but kind tone: Colleagues still want you to talk about this topic, and we look forward to you. The meaning is obvious: there is no need to discuss, it is so fixed.
When I received this topic, I slept restlessly and thought about it at night. Because at that time, we Chinese mainland scholars to study the basic materials of Qing history as "one file and three records", that is, "Manchu Old Records" and "Ming Records", "Qing Records", and "Li Dynasty Records", which were good books at that time, and the procedures for borrowing them were extremely cumbersome. As far as I know, at this time, Professor Beatrice Bartlett of Yale University, who was on the other side of the ocean, had read manchu archives at the National Palace Museum in Taipei for eight years, and then read Manchu archives at the First Historical Archive of China in Beijing for three years; the three "records" were available in the Qing History Professor's Research Office at Yale University, and there was no need to borrow them from the library. As for the notes of the anthology, at this time, 4,000 copies had been photocopied and published, and Fang Zhi had also photocopied and published more than 5,000 kinds, as well as "strategies", etc. These are not "new materials" for American scholars.
So, what is the "new material"? The so-called past literati poetry inspiration comes from the "three uppers", that is, on the horse, on the pillow, on the toilet, one day on the toilet, suddenly remembering the "stone carving data", can correct the gap in history, correct the errors of history, and correct the facts of history. Yes, I immediately went back to the room, opened the information bag, found my paper on the stone carving materials, excerpted and compiled into cards, and the lecture was well known.
According to the practice of academic lectures in the History Department of Yale University, the academic lecture time limit is 15 minutes, and the question and answer limit is 25 minutes, for a total of 40 minutes. This is different from our habits. But I think about it and make a new point clear, 15 minutes is enough. Back in my student days, a lesson of 45 minutes, really important and wonderful, innovative and must-remember content, 15 minutes is enough. From this, I experienced Mr. Shi Jingqian's desire for innovation and refinement in academic pursuits.
Chinese professor at the Yale Pulpit
On The day of my speech on March 20, 1990, after meeting Professor Shi Jingqian, I sent him my first collection of academic papers, Yanbu Collection, newly published by Beijing Yanshan Publishing House, and signed it. After he accepted the book, he said happily: "Our professor is honored to be able to publish a collection of academic papers! ”
I first visited the Yale Library, where Shi Jingqian hosted lunch. At 4:00 p.m., the hall was silent, the listeners were seated, and Professor Shi Jingqian stepped onto the podium and said: Today, we gathered in the academic forum of our department to conduct academic exchanges. In this pulpit, Former Professor Qian Mu, wearing a robe and cloth shoes, gave a speech here; today there is Professor Yan Chongnian, who is also in this pulpit, and the difference is that Professor Yan is wearing a suit and leather shoes. Well, now I would like to ask Professor Yan to give an academic lecture on the topic of "New Materials for qing history research"!
In my speech, I first used one minute to point out the topic to be talked about, and then used three minutes to briefly exclude archives, records, official books, anthologies, notes, Fang Zhi, Genealogy, Jia Cheng, and other well-known historical materials, which naturally are not new materials for the study of Qing history. At this time, the professors in the audience were all paying serious attention to me--so, what was the "new material for the study of Qing history"? I proposed that the new material for the study of Qing history is "stone carving data", and then expound the five data values of stone carving inscriptions, inscriptions, epitaphs, etc. for the study of Qing history, each of which is expounded for two minutes. Last minute summary.
After I finished my speech and took my seat, Mr. Shi Jingqian took the stage and invited everyone to ask questions. After waiting for a long time, no one asked a question, and no one asked a question back. Finally, sir a brief summary.
After the meeting, we went to a Hunan restaurant for dinner. Professor Bai Binju ordered, she asked me if I ate spicy seeds, I said not to eat, although I wanted to eat, but after eating it, I coughed. She said humorously: I am the same, I like to eat spicy, spicy people do not like me. I was impressed by the American female professor's dialectical thinking and funny conversation. During the banquet, some professors said that we have studied the history of the Qing Dynasty all our lives, so why didn't we think that the stone carving materials are new materials for studying the history of the Qing Dynasty! In the summer of that year, the History Department of Yale University sent three or four doctoral students to Beijing to check the Qing Dynasty stone carvings in the Jinshi Group of the Rare Headquarters of the National Library of China.
Later, I went to the United States several times for academic exchanges, but due to the short time, I was mostly in New York, and I was unable to meet Mr. Shi Jingqian. By 2014, Inuko had graduated with a Ph.D. from Yale Law School, and I went with my wife to attend the graduation ceremony, but unfortunately Mr. Shi Jingqian was on leave and was not in school. Although we were not able to meet, I went back to the lecture hall where I was giving a speech and took a photo.
Tell a story about the chinese historical side
Mr. Shi Jingqian has made outstanding contributions in both teaching and writing. Professors in the history department of American universities are required to teach in person. Professor Shi Jingqian has a genius in teaching, a wise mind, a profound knowledge, a vivid language, and a lot of interest. He lectured, at Yale, in the United States, and was well known. Pamela Kyle Crossley, an American professor, told me: There were more than three hundred students listening to his class, and some students stood and listened without seats. One of the reasons for his wonderful lectures is that his study of history is deeply rooted and integrated.
Mr. Shi Jingqian devoted his life to the study of Chinese history, especially since the late Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty, with remarkable achievements and far-reaching influence. He completed 14 historical works on China, including Kangxi: Reconstructing the Inner World of a Chinese Emperor and Cao Yin and Kangxi. He told me that his Chinese name was given by Mr. Fang Zhaoyao, and Mr. Fang said to him, you study Chinese history, the first letter of the name S is consonant "shi", and when you study history, you must admire Sima Qian, you are called "Shi Jingqian". Later, the three words "Shi Jingqian" were widely known in the world's Qing historiography and cultural circles.
The two books "Kangxi" and "Cao Yin and Kangxi" had a great influence in China. In the previous book, Shi Jingqian incarnated as the emperor himself, and used the bold narrative method of the first person to write out the life, history, personality, emotions, psychology, and life of a generation of Kangxi Emperors, giving full play to the historical imagination and fully displaying the joys and sorrows of the Kangxi Emperor. This method, he called "self-portrait." In the first person, expressed in his own words and deeds, this is unprecedented in the field of Qing history research, allowing readers to see a flesh-and-blood Chinese emperor. In the latter book, Mr. Shi Jingqian focuses on the two characters of Kangxi and Cao Yinjunchen to develop the historical style of an era.
Mr. Shi Jingqian has always insisted on telling the historical aspects of China with one story after another, and his influence on Chinese readers is so great that it is difficult for foreign historians to find two. Some commentators have said that he writes in a "storytelling" way and is a master of academic bestsellers, which inherently has his strengths, but also has its shortcomings.
As early as the mid-1980s, Professor Philip Alden Kuhn, director of the Center for East Asian Studies at Harvard University, once talked to me about the method of historical research, and he modestly said: The biggest difficulty for us Americans in studying Qing history is the Chinese language and writing, because of its limitations, there are few historical materials, so we can only give play to our strengths, be imaginative, and good at thinking. I said that Chinese and American scholars should learn from each other's strong points and complement each other's weaknesses; Chinese historians are better than those who have more historical materials, but they are shorter than they are short of adhering to historical law; American historians are shorter than those who have few historical materials, but are good at thinking and innovating; they should not promote one or the other, but should complement each other's strengths, jointly promote the development of historical science, and enhance the friendship between the Chinese and American peoples. Professor Shi Jingqian is such a scholar, he has been teaching and researching Chinese history, in order to introduce Chinese history and culture to the West, for decades, painstaking efforts, outstanding contributions, admirable. (Editor-in-charge: Zhang Yuyao, Li Zhengrong)