The Complete Biography of Zuo Zongtang is the most important one of Mr. Qin Hancai's many works on Zuo Zongtang. Qin Hancai (1894-1968), the title of the name, the word youyuan, the number Hancai, Shanghai Chen Xingzhen people, graduated from Songjiang County No. 3 Middle School, worked with Huang Yanpei in the Jiangsu Provincial Education Association, China Vocational Education Society, in 1927, was hired as the secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Public Utilities Bureau, during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in China Economic Construction Association, the Ministry of Communications, Gansu Water Conservancy Forestry and Animal Husbandry Company to work, after the victory of the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression into the China Textile Machinery Company, retired in 1955, in 1956 was hired as a librarian of the Shanghai Museum of Culture and History. Mr. Qin Hancai's life was ordinary, and for a long time he was only a low-ranking civilian; Mr. Qin Hancai's life is admirable; he is not a full-time historian, but a lover of literary and historical research, but he devoted his life to collecting historical materials about Zuo Zongtang, a great official of the Qing Dynasty, immersed himself in Zuo Zongtang's research, and described him as having forgotten to sleep and forgot to eat and worked hard for this, which is not an exaggeration.
The Complete Biography of Zuo Zongtang was first published at Zhonghua Bookstore in 2016 and printed for the fifth time in December 2021
Mr. Qin Hancai said that he was good at reading celebrity biographies and their writings, and when he was young, he browsed Zuo Zongtang's annals, family letters, and anthologies, admired his merits and personality, and regretted that there were many biographies of Hu Linyi, Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang, and other people in the world, who were also famous ministers of ZTE, but there were few Zuo Zongtang's research works, so he began to pay attention to collecting Zuo Zongtang's historical materials and concentrating on the study of Zuo Zongtang's life, accumulating over time, and gradually becoming one of the most important tasks outside his profession. In 1936, Mr. Qin Hancai began to write notes about Zuo Zongtang's life and deeds, which was also the beginning of the "Complete Biography of Zuo Zongtang". At the beginning of 1949, the "Complete Biography of Zuo Zongtang" was completed, and after more than ten years of writing, four drafts were changed, during which during the War of Resistance Against Japan, Mr. Qin experienced displacement and turmoil, went south to Hong Kong, went west to Chongqing, and went north to Gansu, life was already difficult, collecting and preserving materials was even more difficult, and the difficulty of writing could be imagined. Shortly after the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, life was still unstable in the War of Liberation, and Mr. Qin said to himself: "The pain of my life is not long, but it is also a work of books, and it has always been related to the drum." "What is admirable is that Mr. Qin did not give up his research because of this, and he insisted on his career with an indomitable spirit. The books and materials were lost, and they spent money to buy them; the first draft remained in Hong Kong without knowing its whereabouts, and it was rewritten. Except for Zuo Zongtang's research, Mr. Qin was almost undistracted and had no other hobbies. His children once recalled: "All his life, he did not pay attention to eating and drinking, did not go to restaurants, did not enter the theater, and his only hobby was to buy books, read books, and write books." Zuo Zongtang's great-grandson Zuo Jingyi recalled his impression when Mr. Qin Hancai visited him in 1949: "About fifty years old, small and medium-sized, wearing a pair of deep myopia glasses... He was a serious and upright scholar, and we talked for about half an hour, barely seeing him smile, but concentrating on his study of Wen Xianggong, his life's work. (Zuo Jingyi," My Great-Grandfather Zuo Zongtang Self-Introduction) This is an old-school intellectual and a respectable scholar.
As the result of a lifetime of painstaking research, Mr. Qin has completed a total of 5 books on Zuo Zongtang's research. In addition to the "Complete Biography of Zuo Zongtang", there are also "Zuo Wen Xianggong in the Northwest", "Zuo Zongtang Waiji", "Zuo Zongtang Anecdote Compilation", "Zuo Zongtang Collection of Foreign Texts", a total of more than 1.6 million words. One of the most important is the "Complete Biography of Zuo Zongtang". Unexpectedly, the appearance of "The Complete Biography of Zuo Zongtang" was also full of vicissitudes and ups and downs. In October 1941, the second draft of "The Complete Biography of Zuo Zongtang" was completed, and the Hong Kong Zhonghua Book Company intended to publish it, so it sent the manuscript for typography. Unfortunately, in December of that year, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and the Outbreak of the Pacific War, and the Zhonghua Book Company was worried about the unpredictable changes in the situation and the difficulty of preserving the book edition, so it returned the manuscript to the author and "agreed to reprint it again." The following year, the author returned to Guilin, and due to the inconvenience of the road, the manuscript of "The Complete Biography of Zuo Zongtang" was left with a friend in Hong Kong and did not dare to carry it. During the war, there was no information, and the whereabouts of the manuscript were once unknown, but Mr. Qin was not discouraged and decided to rewrite it, and later learned that the manuscript was brought to Shanghai by a friend from Hong Kong. Because of the fact that many relevant historical materials were found after the second draft, Mr. Qin claimed that the original manuscript had many shortcomings and changed it again and again until January 1949, when he completed the fourth draft of the book, which is the draft that is now published. During this period, due to the turmoil of the times, the publication of the manuscript has not been able to achieve the desired. After the liberation of the whole country, the evaluation of Zuo Zongtang generally tended to be negative, and Zuo Zongtang's biography was not asked about, which is also conceivable. A lifetime of painstaking work can only be shelved, and the pain of the literati is nothing more than this. During the Cultural Revolution, Mr. Qin was robbed of his home again, and all the books, manuscripts, and documents in his home were looted.
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Mr. Qin's five manuscripts on Zuo Zongtang's book, the best fate is "Zuo WenXianggong in the Northwest", which was published by the Commercial Press in 1946, and the social response has been very good. Because of his long-term garrison in Xinjiang, General Wang Zhen was very familiar with Zuo Zongtang's historical achievements in conquering Xinjiang and opening up the Great Northwest, and he had a high evaluation. In the 1980s, the understanding and evaluation of Zuo Zongtang in the historical circles changed greatly. In 1983, when General Wang Zhen, then vice premier of the State Council, talked about Zuo Zongtang's historical achievements when he met with Zuo Jingyi, a descendant of Zuo Zongtang, he specifically mentioned Qin Hancai's book "Zuo Wenxianggong in the Northwest" and asked Zuo Jingyi to find Mr. Qin. Unfortunately, it has been 15 years since Mr. Qin died at this time. In 1984, Suzhou held the first national "Zuo Zongtang Historical Evaluation Symposium"; in November 1985, the "National Symposium on Zuo Zongtang Research" was held in Changsha, and Qin Zengzhi, son of Qin Hancai, was invited to attend the "Zuo Zongtang Research Symposium" in Changsha, at which Qin Hancai was praised as "a pioneer in the study of Zuo Zongtang's history". In 1986, another of Mr. Qin's works, Zuo Zongtang Anecdotes, was published by Hunan Yuelu Book Society.
It is not an exaggeration to call Mr. Qin Hancai "a pioneer in the study of Zuo Zongtang's history." Before Qin Hancai began to write, zuo Zongtang's research works that had already been published were only one kind of "Zuo Wen Xianggong Annals" (Guangxu Twenty-three Year Inscribed Edition) written by Luo Zhengjun in the Qing Dynasty. As for Dai Muzhen's "Commentary on Zuo Zongtang", which is known as the first monograph on Zuo Zongtang's research, it was only published in 1943. Before this, Mr. Qin and his friends visited Mr. Liu Yazi, and Liu Yazi learned that Mr. Qin was writing the "Complete Biography of Zuo Zongtang", and gave them a poem on the inscription, and the note mentioned: "Han Caifang wrote the biography of Ji Gao, and its manuscript has more than ten volumes of clouds. "Deeply appreciated. Mr. Zheng Yimei, a literary and art critic, described it this way in "Yilin Scattered Leaves": "Qin Hancai had a left habit early on, and a spectrum habit later. The so-called left-wing fetishists collect historical materials of Zuo Zongtang. The so-called genealogists collect the genealogies of ancient and modern families. This comment summarizes Mr. Qin's academic career and is very appropriate. Although the "Complete Biography of Zuo Zongtang" has not been published for a long time, Mr. Qin's reputation for studying Zuo Zongtang has long been out.
Mr. Zheng Yimei mentioned Mr. Qin's "spectral habits", referring to his hobby of collecting and collecting biographical and genealogical materials. After liberation, due to the hopeless publication of the Complete Biography of Zuo Zongtang, Mr. Qin could only put the manuscript on the shelf and instead began to collect and collect biographies, especially the annals. In this regard, he was as attentive and persistent as ever, visiting the score everywhere, whether the source was public or private, whether the length was large or small, he treated all the same, cherished the collection, and made search cards for the collected genealogy one by one, personally repairing and binding the broken genealogy, just like building a genealogy library by himself. According to statistics, in recent years, he has collected more than 2,000 kinds of almanac materials, in addition to purchasing from bookstores, many of the almanacs do not have a single print, or published in periodicals and magazines, or an appendix to a monograph, these almanacs are borrowed and copied by Mr. Qin, and bound into a book in the form of wire binding. With the meager strength of a retired old man, tirelessly engaged in this unpaid literature collection work, not without achievements, known as "spectrum fetish", self-proclaimed "thousand spectrum landlord", for Mr. Qin, it is also a little satisfaction outside of the study of Zuo Zongtang.
Former residence of Zuo Zongtang
The rest of his life was also late, and he did not meet with Mr. Qin Hancai. I know Mr. Qin precisely because of the more than 2,000 kinds of genealogical materials collected in the Shanghai Library. During the Cultural Revolution, these genealogical materials were copied together with Mr. Qin's manuscript of Zuo Zongtang's research works, and mr. Qin's blows can be imagined. Fortunately, these documents were not destroyed, but were collected by the Ancient Books Department of the Shanghai Library, including the catalog cards that Mr. Qin made for more than 2,000 kinds of genealogies. Mr. Gu Tinglong, the director of the Shanghai Library, had the insight to treasure and properly kept mr. Qin's literature and materials that he had spent his life painstakingly collecting. After the end of the Cultural Revolution, the relevant departments informed Mr. Qin's family that all of Mr. Qin's manuscripts and annals were stored in the Shanghai Library, and asked if they could donate. Mr. Qin's family was overjoyed to learn that all the manuscripts and books that had been copied were still alive. Although Mr. Qin has been ancient, it is also his wish that the manuscripts and books can be permanently collected by the library, so he readily agreed, and the Shanghai Library held a grand donation ceremony attended by Zhang Chengzong, vice mayor of Shanghai. As a librarian of the Shanghai Library, I personally went through this batch of almanac materials and was deeply impressed by Mr. Qin's dedication and dedication in the process of collecting and researching historical documents.
After the 1980s, due to the increasing openness of the field of historical research, the evaluation of Zuo Zongtang has also undergone earth-shaking changes, and works on Zuo Zongtang's research have been published one after another, which have received social attention. Remembering that the manuscript of Mr. Qin Hancai's lifelong work "The Complete Biography of Zuo Zongtang" is still hidden in the library library and has not been published, Mr. Qin's children have deep regrets that their father's last wish has not been fulfilled. In 2004, Mr. Qin Zengqi, the son of Mr. Qin, personally came to the Shanghai Library despite the age of 80, hoping to copy the manuscript of the Complete Biography of Zuo Zongtang, which was stored in the Shanghai Library, to help organize and seek publishing opportunities. At this time, I was in charge of the work of the historical documents department, readily agreed, and personally participated in the collation of most of the manuscripts. Unexpectedly, although the manuscript collation work was quite laborious, it was even more difficult to seek publication. It is really like a white colt passing through the gap, and in the blink of an eye it is 10 years, it seems that the publication is still far away, and Mr. Qin Zengqi can only print a small number of "Zuo Zongtang's Complete Biography" collated manuscripts at his own expense and distribute them to relatives and friends. Fortunately, after learning of the historical causes of this manuscript, the Zhonghua Book Company gladly accepted the manuscript, and the "Complete Biography of Zuo Zongtang" could finally be officially published more than 60 years after the completion of the manuscript. Mr. Qin knows underground that when he can look away, Mr. Qin's ninety-year-old children can also be relieved and put down a period of thought. All the while, for an outsider, I was only moved. I was touched by those "historical fetishes" and "literature fetishes" who cling to cultural inheritance but seek usefulness in the world and do not seek returns. Suddenly, I remembered the phrase "fate." In 1941, the Complete Biography of Zuo Zongtang was first introduced to the Zhonghua Bookstore, but it could not be published due to war reasons. Time has passed more than half a century, but history has turned a big circle, this book was finally published by the Zhonghua Bookstore, starting in China, and finally in China, is it not fate? Then again, the contribution to China's historical and cultural heritage, Zhonghua Bookstore has indeed had an excellent tradition of more than a century.
Although the Complete Biography of Zuo Zongtang is an old manuscript from more than 60 years ago, published today, it still has its significance that cannot be ignored. First, this is the first monograph on the systematic study of Zuo Zongtang since the 20th century, which should have its place in the history of Zuo Zongtang's research; secondly, Mr. Qin Hancai has referred to a large number of historical materials and predecessors for the writing of "The Complete Biography of Zuo Zongtang", citing more than 360 kinds of bibliographies, and the exposition of historical facts in the book cites a large number of original texts to prove the facts. The annotation of the citation is very rigorous and professional, not only indicating the author, the title of the book, the title of the article, the number of volumes, and even the page number of the citation is indicated in each comment. Important authors also briefly describe their resumes when they are noted. In order to find historical materials, for a period of time, Mr. Qin consulted the "Declaration" in the Hongying Library in Shanghai, and read the "Declaration" from the inaugural issue to the newspaper for more than ten years from the beginning of the issue to the death of Zuo Zongtang, and only a dozen were quoted in the book. This rigorous approach to learning is highly commendable and the value of this book lies. In my opinion, the method of quoting and annotating articles in this way is unparalleled in other Zuo Zongtang research works. Mr. Qin has designed 34 maps for this book, attached to the relevant chapters, but unfortunately these maps were lost in the long process of circulation of the manuscript, which is a pity. Zuo Zongtang's great-grandson Zuo Jingyi praised Mr. Qin's two books that had been published, "Zuo Wen Xianggong in the Northwest" and "Zuo Zongtang Anecdote Compilation", which were important reference values for his writing of "My Great-Grandfather Zuo Zongtang", and the academic value was far above "Zuo Wenxianggong in the Northwest" and "Zuo Zongtang Anecdotes Compilation", which was able to be published today, which was fortunate. The reference value of this book to Zuo Zongtang's research and the study of modern history is self-evident.
Mr. Qin Hancai's other published works include "Happy Collection", "Notes on the Remnants of the Palace", "Law on the Scientific Management of Archives" and so on. Among them, "ManchuKuo Remnant Photo" is a historical novel about the pseudo-Manchukuo, which has been published many times and is also well known to many readers.
(This article is selected from the preface to the "Complete Biography of Zuo Zongtang", with deletions, and the title is prepared by the editor)
The Complete Biography of Zuo Zongtang
Qin Hancai
Simplified horizontal
16 open paperback
978-7-101-11507-9
RMB68.00
Synopsis
This book focuses on the management of the army and the government, and comprehensively reviews the life deeds of the master.
The "Complete Biography" was written for more than ten years, changed its drafts four times, and finally wrote it in early 1949, which was the first monograph on systematic study of Zuo Zongtang. In order to write the "Complete Biography", the author referred to a large number of historical materials and predecessor works, and cited more than 360 kinds of bibliographies, and in the existing research works of Zuo Zongtang, there was no one who could stand out from the right. In order to find historical materials, for a period of time, Mr. Qin Hancai read the "Declaration" in the Newspaper of the "Declaration" from the inaugural issue to the death of Zuo Zongtang more than ten years day by day in the Hongying Library in Shanghai, and the "Declaration" materials quoted in the book were only a dozen. This rigorous attitude towards learning is highly commendable. In short, this book can serve as a cornerstone for further research in the academic community.
【Printed by Zhonghua Bookstore and Bohong Bookstore】The Complete Biography of Zuo Zongtang
(Co-ordinator: Lu Quan; Editor: Bai Xinhui)