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Three books that influenced my academic path
Yang Zhishui | Researcher, Institute of Literature, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
The original text is "Famous Physics in the Forty Years of Reform and Opening Up- An Interview with Yang Zhishui", in Frontiers and Reviews of Ancient Literature (Fifth Series), which is excerpted here
Unless noted, the pictures in the text are from the Internet
Yang Zhishui, born in 1954. He is a researcher at the Institute of Literature of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and enjoys special government allowances from the State Council. In 1986, he joined the editorial department of Reading. In 1996, he was transferred to the Institute of Literature of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and served as the director of the Classical Literature Research Office, specializing in literature and famous objects. He has published more than 200 academic papers, including "New Evidence of Famous Objects in Poetry", "New Evidence of Ancient Poetry and Famous Objects", "History of Pre-Qin Poetry", "The Color of Luxury - Research on Gold and Silverware of song and Yuanming" (three volumes), "Picking Blue in the Final Dynasty: Searching for Ancient Famous Objects", "Ancient Chinese Gold and Silver Jewelry", "Looking for Colors: Reading "Things" in Golden Bottles and Plums", "Fixing Names and Acquaintances: Records of Museum Visits", "Collection of Persimmon Buildings" (all ten volumes), etc. "New Evidence of Famous Objects in poetry" won the first prize of the second academic research achievement of the Chinese Poetry Society. The Color of Luxury: A Study of Song and Yuan Ming Gold and SilverWare (three volumes) was nominated for the 3rd China Publishing Government Awards and won the 4th Zhu Ziqing Prose Award together with Tang and Song Dynasty Furniture Search.
Mr. Yang Zhishui has won the recognition and welcome of the academic community and the general public for his amazing diligence and outstanding academic achievements. Her academic career has been accompanied by China's reform and opening up.
Q: In your ten years of reading, which books have influenced you so much?
A: I remember that in the thirty years of reform and opening up, the Shenzhen Business Daily Cultural Square column once made an interview, when I said that my thirty years are three books, and now forty years, I still say these three books - "Pipe Cone Compilation", "Zhitang Shushu" and "Jin Ping Mei Zi Zhi".
In 1979, I had just arrived at the library of the Folk Art Research Association, and there was a colleague named Fu Xin, who graduated from the department of Chinese of Peking University. He solemnly recommended "Pipe Cone Compilation" to me, and when the first edition of the book was first published, I bought it and read it carefully. I need to digest the profound knowledge in "Pipe Cone Compilation", but what I learned from this book is a method of reading, that is, reading in pieces, and this book is not beneficial to me on some specific issues, but a subtle influence. For example, massive reading, such as looking at a problem, must not only be from multiple angles, but also choose a unique perspective. The so-called "subset of the history of the classics" is also mixed together here, and there is almost no distinction. The "Pipe Cone Compilation" not only tells me how to read, but also tells us how to do learning, that is, to gather the statements about something as far as possible, analyze it in detail, and get a glimpse of it. Then there's radioactive thinking. So the first thing I learned from this book was the reading method and the way of thinking, which influenced my entire academic life later on.
As for the "Zhitang Shushu", it is a change in the way of conception in writing. Zhou Zuoren's writing does not have the smell of academic eight strands, I have always liked his language, and my own writing has been influenced by him until now. Of course, I am not simply imitating, but appreciating that language realm.
"Words and Sayings of plum in a golden bottle" introduced me to the study of famous objects. My initial interest arose when I was working in the library of the Folk Literature Research Association, when what I saw was a thread-bound edition of the Golden Plum Dictionary published by the People's Literature Publishing House, which sold for forty yuan and stipulated that it must be certified by cadres at or above the bureau level to buy it. At that time, the chairman of the Folk Art Research Society was Jia Zhi, who was eligible to buy it, so the reference room bought one with his certificate, but it was not allowed to borrow it, but it was locked in the safe for a long time, and the key to the safe was kept by me. Although it is near the water platform, I am also very obedient, never seen it, and has always been locked there. It was not until 1985, when the People's Literature Publishing House published Dai Hongsen's "Words and Sayings in the Golden Bottle" (deleting the "clean copy" of the obscenity language), that it was taken upon to see it, and it was found that it was a treasure trove of materials. For example, all kinds of clothing, various utensils, just the names of those things in it are particularly beautiful, attracting people to hold "names" to find "things". In 1995, inspired by the "Fifteen Years of the Wanli Calendar", he planned to write a "Sixteen Years of Chongzhen", describing the social situation and historical situation at the time of the ming dynasty's demise, and wanted to support it with more details. However, when I started, I found that the details about the history of life were too little, and to make up for it, the best reading was of course "The Words of the Plum in the Golden Bottle", which was like a detailed index of the daily life history of the Ming Dynasty, taking me into the study of famous objects.
Q: Since the reform and opening up, what do you feel most deeply about your academic path?
A: The first thing that made people in the 1980s was tolerance for academic qualifications. With a junior high school education, I was able to enter the Guangming Daily Publishing House and the editorial office of "Reading" with a pen and a love for books, and I did not become an obstacle to work because of my low academic qualifications, and I was not a special case at that time. I remember seeing a very interesting article in "Reading" a few years ago, entitled "The Fall of the Chinese Department of Rambling". It talks about "latent education" and "latent major", in other words, there are two kinds of knowledge, one is the "direct knowledge" belonging to the profession, and the other is the "indirect knowledge" outside the profession, the two interact with each other, and it is the source of creativity. If the eighties had tolerance for academic qualifications, it can also be said that the eighties had the recognition and recognition of "potential education" and "potential majors". This atmosphere was maintained in the Academy of Social Sciences until the 1990s, so I was able to seek the most ideal reading life here.
Q: So what did your studies mean when you transferred to the Institute of Literature?
A: In the mid-1990s, academic institutions could also open their doors to people like me who only had a junior high school education, and at that time they introduced themselves with a book called "The General Book of Fat and Ma" as a way to be accepted by the Institute of Literature of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. On April 15, 1996, I reported to the Institute of Literature. After entering the institute, I never encountered any academic discrimination, whether it was applying for a topic or applying for an award, I was always treated equally, so the literature was always sunny in my mind. At the beginning of my entry into the institute, I wrote the "Divine Wufu" study of the tomb of Yin Wanhan under the guidance of Yu Anshi, which was the first article to discuss this issue. After Wencheng, he asked Teacher Cao Daoheng for advice. Teacher Cao quickly perused my first draft and suggested revisions. There is also teacher Chen Yuyi, when I write "New Evidence of Famous Things in poetry", I often ask him for advice. Teacher Tan Jiajian in the institute recommended me to join the Poetry Research Association, and Both Mo Shuyi and Wang Xuetai wrote book reviews for my books. Mr. Xu Gongzhi, who was the editor-in-chief of Literary Heritage at the time, adopted my famous research article on the Book of Poetry. Colleague Wang Xiaoyun often helps me read manuscripts. In this atmosphere, I quickly completed the book "New Evidence of Famous Objects of Poetry" and published it in Beijing Ancient Books Publishing House in 2000. As a newcomer, I have no academic qualifications and use new research methods, but as soon as the book was published, it was recognized by the Institute of Literature, which is of course a great encouragement.
At the beginning of reform and opening up, there was an atmosphere of openness and exploration, it was a period of talent explosion, I benefited from such a special environment, as soon as I entered the literature institute, I was like a fish in the water. The current director, Liu Yuejin, was in the ancient room at that time, and as soon as I entered the office, I was in the same room with him, although it was only a "nod friend" who met once a week, but he knew and understood both my research. After the publication of the New Evidence of poetry, he said at a seminar in the room that "this is the pride of literature." I always remember this sentence, because at that time the book was just published, there was no social repercussion, and we did not have a personal relationship, but he was able to locate the book in this way. There is also a colleague Jiang Yin, we are completely two research directions, but he wrote a book review for the book "The Color of Luxury", evaluated its academic value and academic innovation, and made no perfunctory remarks about the promotion and contribution to literary research. In short, the recognition of my colleagues in literature is the greatest encouragement to me.
The tolerance of the Institute of Literature is reflected in its respect, support and recognition of my choices, and it is also important that it trusts. In 2011, I was invited to France to attend an international academic conference, intending to take this opportunity to visit the museums of various European countries, and that time the Literary Institute paid half of my round-trip fare, and this expedition was not a public assignment. This matter has passed for a long time, and some insiders told me that at the meeting to discuss the approval of funds, Liu Yuejin said that the funds can be assured to be approved for her, you just let her play, she will not go. Reimbursed by the accountant, they will not scrutinize the invoices one by one, they believe that my invoices will not be anything but books. This kind of trust is really rare. As mentioned earlier, the Institute of Literature has given me a relaxed research environment, the greatest trust and the most sincere support, and in my mind Chinese Institute has always been a bright sunshine, so I can devote myself to research and concentrate on writing.
There is also the question of job title evaluation. According to the regulations of the academy, those who do not have academic qualifications are not eligible to participate in the appraisal, and the conditions for breaking the rules are that the works have won the second prize or above at the provincial and ministerial levels, or enjoy the special government allowances of the State Council. After the publication of "New Evidence of Ancient Poetry and Famous Objects", it was recommended by the Institute of Literature and won the second prize of the Sixth Excellent Scientific Research Achievement Monograph of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and was rated as a researcher in the year of award. Before retirement, he was also recommended by the institute to enjoy the special government allowance of the State Council. The Institute of Literature set up the Classical Literature Research Office, and I was appointed as the director of the office, which was divided into four directions: the study of famous objects, the study of Dunhuang, the study of catalogue versions, and the study of ancient documents. In this regard, the study of famous objects was officially included in the scope of literary literature research. At the beginning of my appointment, I submitted to the institute a copy of the idea of the construction of the discipline in the office, including the compilation of "Poetry Famous Objects". Liu Yuejin replied: "Your idea is very good, practical, and has both academic and practical values. I fully support it. I suggest that you can apply to try it first. The title of the book can be considered, and the dictionary is indeed a bit inappropriate. The problem of books in the Institute of Literature also speaks to my heart. Over the years, books have been lost and not well utilized. This year we started a project that started with the basics, that is, the electronic bibliography. After that, he collated and published a bibliography of literary books. The third step is to make a narrative. ”
When looking back on the history of the development of the discipline in the future, it should be said that it was the Institute of Literature that created this new discipline of the study of nomenclature, which is also one of the purposes of establishing the Literature Office.
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