Zhou Ruchang
Since the release of "Dream of the Red Chamber", this lament song of prosperity and decline at the end of feudalism has attracted the love and intoxication of countless people. "Dream of the Red Chamber" brings too many surprises to the world with its huge literary value, delicate life and romantic and extravagant aristocratic relics.
To this day, people's research on "Dream of the Red Chamber" is still in full swing. Not only are there many factions and branches, but the scope of their coverage is getting wider and wider, and the debate is endless.
Scholars of the New Culture Movement represented by Hu Shi began to interpret and explore "Dream of the Red Chamber" as the beginning of New Red Studies. Zhou Ruchang, who is known as the "Titan of Red Studies" in contemporary times, followed Hu Shi's methods and ideas and became the first leading figure in red studies after the founding of New China.
The degree of controversy among scholars in the field of red studies, the breadth of content, and the novelty of imagination are wonderful, not only are not inferior to the academic research of oracle bone science and Dunhuang science, which are called the "three major prominent studies of the 20th century", but also attract more people's attention and discussion because of the extensive folk cognition.
As the main figure of the examination school, Zhou Ruchang became an expert figure known to women and children in the vigorous study of red studies in the last century. But it is also this prestige that makes his proposition too high-profile, as if his lifelong research and learning are widely related to red studies.
A brief look at the research in the field of red studies can be seen that the evaluation of Zhou Ruchang by the red scholars can be described as very polarized.
Proponents believe that he corrected the details of "Dream of the Red Chamber" with the historical archetype, calling him "the first person in the study of red studies in New China", "the pioneer of examination", and "the pioneer of enlightenment", just like Mencius worshipped Confucius: red learning without him, eternal eternity is as long as night.
A commemorative bronze statue in the Zhou Ruchang Memorial Hall
In the eyes of the opponents, Zhou Ruchang falsified and falsified historical materials, falsified the original meaning, distorted the facts, distorted the original meaning of "Dream of the Red Chamber," and regarded this rafter's huge work as a tool for his fame and fortune, which was simply an insult to the traitors and scholars of Hongxue.
This kind of mixed evaluation is strange and unfamiliar to most of us, most people's view of "Dream of the Red Chamber" is a literary masterpiece that has been passed down through the ages, and it is difficult to understand the antagonism between Zhou Ruchang's evaluation and the red school, especially the criticism school, and only in-depth or understanding can be understood.
Throughout Zhou Lao's life, his research and investment in the Dream of the Red Chamber can be said to be rarely compared.
Zhou Ruchang was born in 1918 and was talented at an early age. When he entered the Spanish Department of Yenching University, he was 21 years old, which was the war-torn years of the Japanese invasion of China, but Zhou Ruchang was able to immerse himself in reading and won the praise of Qian Zhongshu, Hu Shi and others at that time.
Yenching University
As a child, "Dream of the Red Chamber" left a deep impression on him like an enlightenment reading, and the real step into the field of red studies was because of an accidental letter. Zhou Huchang, the fourth brother who was studying red studies at the time, wrote a letter asking Zhou Ruchang, who was studying, to help verify a new thesis published by Hu Shi.
In the treatise, it is said that Dun Min and Dun Cheng were close friends of Cao Xueqin, and Zhou Ruchang found a "Yongqin Poem" in The Collection of Dun Min's Poems, which he wrote about and published in the Tianjin National Daily, which attracted Hu Shi's attention. It was also in the exchange of letters with Hu Shi that Zhou Ruchang's enthusiasm for the study of red studies became more and more enthusiastic.
In 1948, Zhou Ruchang paid a special visit to Hu Shi for the compilation of the new book "Dream of the Red Chamber New Certificate", and Hu Shi was very generous in lending him the manuscripts of the "Jia Shu Ben Stone Record", the "Four Song Tang Collection" and the Qi Preface with the Lithography of youzheng Bookstore, which made Zhou Ruchang very flattered.
Hu shi
In 1953, as soon as the "New Certificate of the Dream of the Red Chamber" was published, it caused a sensation in the red academic circles. Later, people learned that most of the wisps about Cao Xueqin's life and deeds were closely related to this book.
In reading these rare books and communicating with Hu Shi, Zhou Ruchang's red studies were greatly inspired, and he was quite grateful for Hu Shi's generosity: "Mr. Hu can treat him equally, and he also loves and cares for him, and his character and learning are rarely compared." ”
It is also because of this relationship between the two that when the literary nature and the scientific nature of Hu Shi's works are questioned, Zhou Ruchang and his works inevitably become the object of doubt.
Li Jun visits Zhou Ruchang
In 1974, Zhou Ruchang was a researcher at the China Academy of Arts, and he undertook a difficult task - to explain "Dream of the Red Chamber" to Chinese and foreign universities and institutions. His profound literary foundation and Spanish literacy contributed to the worldwide popularity of this famous book to a certain extent, causing a wave of enthusiasm among the diplomatic community and overseas universities at that time.
Zhou Ruchang devoted his life to research and research, and made unquestionable contributions to the research and dissemination of "Dream of the Red Chamber". He has a deep love for red studies, as he himself said: "Borrow jade to channel the spirit to save Hanmo, and work hard for Qin to see life." ”
Researching a school, paying attention to historical materials, whether it is written or actual, must have a conclusive source. However, in Zhou Ruchang's red studies, what most criticized other red scholars in this school was the falsification of several research historical materials, and even in his later years he was scolded as a liar.
Zhou Ruchang youth
In 1973, a poem called "The Legend of the Pipa Line" was widely circulated among scholars, which made everyone ecstatic. The last two poems of the poem are obviously Cao Xueqin's handwriting, and now the whole poem has come out, which really makes scholars praise it as a treasure.
In 1979, however, Zhou Ruchang admitted that the first six sentences of the poem were tried to be added for himself. This statement stunned many red science experts, including Wu Shichang and Yu Pingbo, and there was no doubt that the fact that they could not distinguish between true and false words had damaged their reputation.
Cai Yijiang, Shen Zhijun, and others also pointed out that in Zhou Ruchang's masterpiece "New Testimony of the Dream of the Red Chamber", a poem by the Qing Dynasty poet Zhou Shi, "Eight Voices ganzhou Jimen Deng, hanging snow parsley" was quoted to argue for Cao Xueqin's burial place.
Zhou Ruchang's family
This poem was also quoted by Cai Yijiang as an argument in his articles.
However, the last two sentences of this poem are indeed added and completed by Zhou Ruchang himself, not the author's original work, and it is these two sentences that bring the research goals of some scholars closer to the conclusion of accepting Zhou Ruchang.
Academic research is not afraid of convergence, but taboos are misguided and pulled. Cai Yijiang was particularly angry and wrote an article clarifying in the Journal of Dream of the Red Chamber. Some red scholars also used this journal as a position to criticize Zhou Ruchang.
In these two famous forgery incidents, Zhou Ruchang was not innocent. Therefore, it has aroused some scholars' doubts about the authenticity of other studies in his works, and the inextricable pursuit, the relationship between true and false, and the refutation of your comings and goings have made the atmosphere in this circle seem to deviate from the academic road.
"Dream of the Red Chamber New Certificate"
There are many schools of red studies, in addition to the examination school, there are also index school, critic school, and creative school. Critics and creatives focus on appreciating the work itself, the critical school aims to excavate Cao Xueqin's life, and the index school is willing to analyze the stories in the book as metaphors for historical facts.
"Dream of the Red Chamber" condenses the author's painstaking efforts, and perhaps also uses life encounters to thread the needle and pave the way for this magnificent and sad corner of the last days.
Art comes from life, but at the same time art is higher than life. An overly scrutinized study of the source of artistic inspiration, like pointing to venus with a broken arm, examines the composition of its stone, lowering the spiritual significance of art itself.
Zhou Ruchang and his wife Mao Shuren
Having said that, Zhou Ruchang, as a free and talented figure, has far more than that. But between his in-depth knowledge in the field of red studies, people tend to overlook his academic contributions in other fields.
When he was still studying Spanish at Yenching University, he translated "Wenfu" with great talent. WenFu is a theoretical work of ancient Chinese literature, which is extremely obscure and difficult to understand, and even translating it into the vernacular requires great energy, let alone English.
His English translation paper was unanimously approved by the professors. Later, he was recommended to enter the Research Institute of the department of Chinese, translated literary classics such as "Twenty-Four Poems" and exported them overseas, and introduced Shelley's "Ode to the West Wind" with the rhyme-footed poetry of "Leaving the Troubles", becoming a rare talent in Cultural Exchanges between China and foreign countries at that time.
Zhou Ruchang's "Lanting Autumn Night Record"
In addition to shining in the field of literature and poetry, Zhou Ruchang also has a lot of experience in the study of calligraphy. He not only published the "Questions and Answers on the Art of Calligraphy", but also conducted in-depth research on the ink brushwork and inheritance and transition of the "Orchid Pavilion Preface", and also won the praise of three calligraphers, including Qi Gong.
In this book, he put forward many unique insights, which are refreshing in the calligraphy world, and are reasonable and admirable in the judgment and analysis of imitations of past generations.
But people who have surrounded a person's fame for too long are often dazzled by this glow and lack an objective judgment on the picture of facts.
Zhou Ruchang calligraphy
Although Zhou Lao has made achievements in calligraphy theory, his own calligraphy works are not as much as those that some people praise before and after.
Zhou Ruchang's calligraphy does not survive much, because his eye disease worsened in his later years, and he rarely took a pen again.
In fact, as a literati scholar deeply influenced by literature, his calligraphy skills are naturally not unfamiliar, but he still boasts a little about pure fire and self-contained style.
As can be seen from several of his surviving works, although the handwriting is sharp, it does not adapt to most people's identification with the beauty of calligraphy. The reputation of "first-class thin gold body", "calligraphy master", "generation of masters" and so on, coupled with the above, is more exaggerated.
Yu Pingbo
Yu Pingbo, one of the famous scholars of red science, once said: "This kind of person should ignore him." In addition to the bad impression of Zhou Ruchang's continued poetry in the early years, those vain praises that the outside world spontaneously put on Zhou Ruchang also ruined Zhou Ruchang's reputation in the academic circles from the side.
People like to create gods, in addition to providing certain spiritual guidance, there are many small nines and nines hidden behind this reputation. Whether it is to become inflamed for the sake of sociality, or to express his own views through the shell, Zhou Ruchang has been praised too much in the field of calligraphy, and there are always countless cold eyes outside of the group of self-congratulatory people.
Zhou Ruchang died in 2012, and the night before his death, he was still sketching and conceiving some texts about "Dream of the Red Chamber". It can be said that he has a deep love for "Dream of the Red Chamber" and bows to Hongxue.
Zhou Ruchang's "Poetry Appreciation"
However, looking at Zhou Ruchang's life, his achievements are not something that can be summed up by just a few studies of red studies. Mr. Zhou Cezhong once said: "Zhou Ruchangzhi's study is mainly based on language, poetry theory, endorsement, and translation of Chinese and foreign languages; ”
Appreciation works such as "Appreciation Dictionary of Tang Poetry and Song Poetry", "Selected Poems of Bai Juyi", and "Poetry Appreciation Meeting" can be seen in his literary research skills, and are one of the few poetry appreciation works on the market with high acceptance and recommendation.
In "China's Beijing Olympic Endowment", Zhou Ruchang's words and sentences are all magnificent; in "Remembering Fu Poems After School", Zhou Ruchang shows his feelings for the author and the book; when editing the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", he also shows the maturity and exquisiteness of his methodology.
Young Zhou Ruchang
In the two poems that add Cao Xueqin and Zhou Shi, it is difficult for many scholars today to distinguish between true and false, and it can also show his profound skill.
Zhou Ruchang has been praised and criticized several times in the field of red studies and calligraphy, but there is no controversy in the high altar of poetry and literature, but people's attention in these aspects is obviously much colder than the first two.
Zhou Ruchang regards red learning as the supreme pursuit of his life, and he does not take a break from rest, hoping to excavate and examine the real life behind "Dream of the Red Chamber" and the details of the characters in the book, and publish it to the world.
He himself once said: "From 1947 onwards, he made a vow with his brother Hu Chang, first, to strive to restore the true book of Xueqin, and second, to examine the truth of Xueqin's family life, in order to break the popular fake books and inaccurate conclusions in the academic circles." ”
Zhou Huchang and Zhou Ruchang
However, from the perspective of its literary value, for a portrait of an aristocrat who has been constructed by virtual words, even if the characters and stories have a strong root of reality, there is no way to investigate a few words that are true and a few colors that are true.
There are a thousand Hamlets in the eyes of a thousand people, not to mention that Cao Gong has been gone for hundreds of years, and even if the details in the text are explained, how to say it is the author's original intention.
Just like the "strange light" that flashed at the end of the fish's eye in the 2017 Zhejiang Provincial Language Volume "A Delicious", it seems that the author himself cannot explain it, and it is ridiculous.
Mr. Wuliu once said that reading "does not seek much understanding", and the pursuit of too much detail will often fall into the shackles of self-bound thoughts, but it is really "because of small losses".
Zhou Ruchang served as a guide during the filming of the 87th edition of "Dream of the Red Chamber", telling the character understanding for Zhang Li, played by Xue Baochao
For example, in Zhou Lao's "Dream of the Red Chamber", he loves Xiangyun too much, and extends his archetypal speculation with a large space, as well as a long-term farewell reunion with Baoyu and the end of love. However, under the review of Zhou Ruchang's works, many readers reflect that his "harmonic tone" excavation traces are too heavy, "reverse cutting" is too much, and the association is exaggerated.
However, it is undeniable that Zhou Ruchang strongly opposes the viewing of "Dream of the Red Chamber" as a sad song of love and love, believing that behind this, the author most wants to express the decline of feudalism and the oppression of the times, which also has great inspiration for future generations to appreciate.
Moreover, in terms of his original intention, "restoring the true book" and "examining the life of Qing" are also throughout his life and have not given up.
Zhou Ruchang's life in his later years was not rich and leisurely, and his lifelong wish allowed him to devote most of his energy to literary research, eating and drinking, and not changing his enjoyment. Before his death, he told his daughter that the funeral should be done in a simple manner and not to be extravagant.
In his later years, Zhou Ruchang continued to work hard even though his eyesight was severely impaired
In his later years, Zhou Ruchang's eyesight and hearing were severely impaired, but even so, he still wore hearing aids, wrote words the size of dates on large cut paper, and when he finally could not write, he insisted on dictation for his family to record, slowly and firmly.
His excavation of the spiritual world of "Dream of the Red Chamber" is not lacking in excitement, and many of his views are widely recognized by everyone. And these objections outside of identity, or the excessive speculation of the Zhou Ruchang family's words, or the occasional debate between different schools of thought, are inevitable in any academic community.
His fame was always mixed with a bit of utilitarian interference, and his mixed academic career was full of too much noise. When it comes to learning, Zhou Ruchang's profound academic skills, rich academic spirit, and respectful research attitude can all be said to be models for scholars.
Liang Guizhi wrote "The Dreamer of the Red Chamber in the Wind and Rain - The Biography of Zhou Ruchang, a Red Scholar Taidou"
The death of everyone in any field is a great pity and regret for this level of learning. The contribution of Mr. Zhou Ruchang's research to the literary world is irrefutable, and it is only after a certain number of quzhi have undergone the washing of events that they have become clearer.
For most people, tolerating their controversies and perusing their poems, judging their views and analyzing their arguments, and finding their own independent judgment in the exposition of hundreds of schools of thought, is to consciously read and grow.