Mr. Zhou Liang followed Master Chen Yinke in his early years, and later received his doctorate degree from Harvard University in the United States, and worked hard in many fields such as the history of the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the history of Sino-Japanese relations, and the study of Dunhuang Turpan. It has been more than 20 years since Mr. Zhou's death, but we can still see the remembrance and commemoration of him by the academic community. Recently, I sorted out the letters exchanged by my teachers and friends, and turned out a letter from Mr. Monday Liang, which instantly pulled my thoughts back to 1992, thirty years ago. Looking at this yellow-haired and brittle letter, the ordinary and unremarkable envelope, and the simple but philosophical writing, I had the desire to write something.
Mr. Monday Liang's letter envelope
In mid-September 1992, the fourth annual meeting of the Chinese Wei and Jin Southern and Northern Dynasties History Society was held at Shaanxi Normal University in Xi'an, and my teacher, Professor Zhao Wenrun, was responsible for the preparation of this annual meeting. At that time, shortly after I joined the Institute of Tang History, the conference work assigned to me by Mr. Zhao was very unique, that is, Professor Monroe Yoshio Andi Tanigawa of Japan accompanied and cared for Professor Monyaso from afar during the conference. On the 17th, I went to Xi'an Xianyang Airport to pick up and met Professor Zhou Liang of Peking University, who enjoys a high reputation and reverence in the academic circles. Greeting Mr. Zhou, I explained that I was a graduate student of Sui and Tang History recruited by Niu Zhigong and Professor Zhao Wenrun, and now working at the Institute of Tang History of Shaanxi Normal University, and I was instructed by Teacher Zhao to pick up Yunyun. Mr. Zhou humorously said that Professor Niu Zhigong had studied as a graduate student at Peking University and had not met for decades. He also asked about Mr. Niu's recent situation, the weather in Xi'an in recent days, etc. The opening ceremony of the conference was held on the 18th, and there were many Japanese and Korean (then known as South Korea) scholars attending the annual meeting, and I knew that there were Japanese mr. Michio Tanigawa, Fujike Nosuke, Yoshimune Koto, Shiro Sekio, and others, and Korean scholars included Professors Park Hanji, Ji Peishan, and Lee Yun-ho. More than 80 famous scholars in China, such as Zhu Shaohou, Gao Min, Huang Lie, Jian Xiuwei, Huang Huixian, Zheng Peixin, Li Hu, Zhou Weizhou, Bai Cuiqin and other scholars, attended the meeting. In particular, Xiangyang in Hubei Province and Nanyang in Henan Province sent a group of researchers to the academic public case of "Zhuge Liang's Cultivated Land" and brought books representing their respective ideas to the meeting, which became a beautiful landscape for this academic annual meeting.
Group photo of the meeting
The first from the right is Mr. Feng Huifu, the third right is Professor Monday Liang, the fourth right is Bai Genxing, the fifth right is Mr. Xin Changqing, and the sixth right is Mr. Hong Tingyan.
In the preparatory process of the conference, Professor Zhou Weizhou, a well-known scholar of ethnic history, presided over the opening ceremony and the agenda of the conference. At the opening ceremony, Mr. Michio Tanigawa of Japan read a congratulatory message, a Japanese translator invited from Northwest University made a mistake in the translation of individual words and sentences, and Mr. Zhou, who was seated on the rostrum, prompted the translator sitting next to him in time, and the translator completed the task more smoothly, everyone began to be a little surprised, and then applauded and welcomed. In the afternoon, Mr. Zhou was invited to meet with the teachers of the History Department to talk about his academic research in the 1980s and the evaluation and response of the academic community, and finally answered some questions raised by the teachers.
Xi'an those days a little cold, Mr. Zhou carried limited clothes, I led Mr. Zhou to the Tang History Research Institute across the road, took one of my sweaters to Mr. Zhou to wear, did not expect Mr. Zhou to wear very fit, he also praised my clothes are good. Professor Niu Zhigong paid a special visit to Mr. Zhou on the sidelines of the meeting, talked about why he did not quit his postgraduate studies and returned to Xi'an at the end of 1959, and apologized for not reporting to Mr. Zhou, the head of the department, and Mr. Zhou would smile and smile. Mr. Hu Ji, who is still teaching at Xi'an Jiaotong University, and Mr. Liu Jiusheng, a teacher from the History Department of Normal University, came to visit, and Mr. Zhou heard about their respective situations and had more comfort and guidance.
After the meeting, the participants were organized to visit and inspect the surrounding areas of Xi'an. I first accompanied Mr. Zhou to visit the Terracotta Warriors and Horses of Qin Shi Huang, Huaqing Pond, and the Shaanxi History Museum, which had just opened. On the 21st, Mr. Zhou, Mr. Michi Tanigawa, Mr. Ma Chi and I took a minivan sent by the conference group to Famen Temple and other places. I remember that the road to the Famen-ji Temple Museum was difficult to walk, and it took about three hours to get there. On the way, Mr. Zhou asked me the title of my master's thesis, I couldn't think of it for a while, very embarrassed and embarrassed, Mr. Zhou was very patient, happily patted my shoulder and said: "You are too nervous, it doesn't matter." He also mentioned that he was working very well at the Shaanxi Division's Institute of Tang History, that the study of tang dynasty political history should be strengthened, and that there was still a need for further exploration of the history of East Asia in the Tang Dynasty. Other participants took two rented buses to visit the Famen Temple Museum and Yang Guifei's tomb, it rained lightly that day, and when they returned, the rain became heavier and heavier, and the front tire of a bus on the way was missing, and the driver had a hard time finding it; Korean scholars said that the roof of the car leaked, and they played umbrellas all the way, which became the main topic of the participants' complaints, which showed the difficult conditions of the division and university meeting at that time.
The author poses with Michio Tanigawa and Professor Ma Chi
The author poses with Professor Michio Tanigawa at Famen Temple
Because my professional direction is Sui and Tang Dynasty history, and this conference is the annual meeting of the Wei and Jin Southern and Northern Dynasties, I wrote a small article entitled "On Tourism in Shaanxi during the Wei and Jin Southern and Northern Dynasties" to participate in the conference. In those days, he accompanied Mr. Zhou to visit and investigate back and forth, he was kind to people, others asked academic questions, he patiently answered, can not see the impatience and disdain that some university people often have. The annual meeting elected Mr. Zhu Dawei as the president of the new society and Professor Zhou Weizhou as the secretary general, and the conference was a complete success. On the 24th, Mr. Zhou was sent to the airport, and when he was parting, Mr. Zhou repeatedly thanked me for encouraging me, and said that when he returned to Beijing, he would send me a copy of his own book.
With the end of the six-day annual meeting of the society, I was commissioned to write a review of the conference, a brief introduction to the conference papers, etc., which were later published in the Shaanxi Normal University Daily (No. 1, 1993) and the Journal of the Wei and Jin Southern and Northern Dynasties Society (No. 9), so I forgot about mr. Zhou's sending me books. However, in late December of that year, I received the letters and photos written by Mr. Lao on the 17th and sent out on the 18th, as well as the "Continuation of the Collection of Treatises on the History of the Southern and Northern Dynasties of Wei and Jin" sent by Mr. Lao. The letter reads:
Comrade Genxing
Xi'an meeting Domon took care of it, thanks to the most! The photo was printed recently, very sorry, please check it! Comrade Ma Chi please forward. Comrade Hu Ji's transfer of forgiveness has been satisfactorily resolved. Comrade Liu Jiusheng also begged for greetings.
That's it
salute! And celebrate the New Year
Monday Liang 92·12/17
Photographs of the original manuscript of the letter
"Continuation of the Collection of Treatises on the History of the Southern and Northern Dynasties of Wei and Jin" sent by Mr. Zhou Liang
The envelope is a normal khaki envelope from Peking University, with a postage of 0.2 yuan and a vertical letter. At this time, Mr. Zhou is already eighty years old, and his writing hand may be a little shaky, so the handwriting is a bit choppy. The letter mentioned that he had attended the meeting and inspection activities in Xi'an for a few days, thanked me for my care for his elderly family, and sent us a number of photos with the letter. In the early nineties, the camera was missing, unlike now, you can take pictures with your mobile phone anytime and anywhere, as if Mr. Zhou came with a small camera, so he went to Famen Temple, Yang Guifei's tomb, and Lintong Huaqingchi and other places, he took pictures of us, and also asked others to take a group photo, so he sent me the washed photos and entrusted me to hand over to Teacher Ma for a group photo. The letter also mentioned the transfer of Work by Teacher Hu Ji from Xi'an Jiaotong University, but in fact, Teacher Hu came to the History Department of Shaanxi Normal University until 1994 to finally complete it; Teacher Liu Jiusheng had visited Mr. Zhou, so he also asked him to greet him. That is to say, although this letter is only seventy-five words short, it contains many meanings.
Thirty years have passed since 1992, and the letter was first sandwiched in a book sent to me by Mr. Zhou, and then placed in a folder. I remember that in early May 1998, I went to Beijing to apply for a student visa, during which I had a lot of leisure, and I had the idea of going to Peking University to visit the elderly, but I heard that my husband was in poor health, so I did not dare to bother. When I heard the bad news of my husband's death in November 2001, I was studying in South Korea. Twenty years have passed since 2001, and I often think of Mr. Zhou's teachings, and occasionally take out this letter to appreciate, so as to inspire and spur myself to study hard and achieve more results. Fortunately, I later engaged in the teaching and research of East Asian history in the Tang Dynasty, which was related to what Mr. Zhou said at that time, thank you Mr. Old! In 2019, Professor Rong Xinjiang of Peking University came to Shaanxi Normal University to give a lecture, and at a symposium I mentioned the matter of cherishing Mr. Zhou's letters, and Professor Rong said that this is a very good historical material and instructed me to treasure it well.
Yes, this letter should be treasured. Next year is the year of the 110th anniversary of Mr. Zhou's birth, and I write this small article to express the sincere nostalgia of future generations.