Qingming remembers the deceased - Han Maoli: Tearful farewell to Teacher Zhang Xiugui

On September 12, 2021, Zhang Xiugui, a historical geographer and professor at the Institute of Chinese Historical Geography at Fudan University, passed away at the age of 87. After his death, teachers and friends in the academic circles expressed their condolences in various forms and expressed their gratitude for His morality and articles. On the occasion of the Qingming Dynasty, in memory of the deceased, The Paper, Private History selects a group of articles to share with readers.

Zhang Xiugui (1935-2021)

At the beginning of September, I had been reading Zhang Xiugui's book "Research on China's Historical Landforms and Ancient Maps", pondering the problems of Teacher Zhang's research and looking at the author's photo. Teacher Zhang in the photo is slightly locked with a frown and a sharp eye, which should be the moment when teaching a certain problem. Those days, while reading books and looking back on the past few decades, Teacher Zhang was usually easy-going and kind to everyone, only meticulous about academic issues, just like the expression of the photo, the eyes have penetrating power, keen and serious. Teacher Zhang's books, those years just got their hands on the beginning of reading, but the harvest of reading at different ages is completely different, at this time reading books may really go in. I didn't want to just look at the photo, and it was such a serious photo, to taste the experience of reading, so I sent a WeChat message to Teacher Zhang. No, two days on, no reply. The WeChat sent again still did not reply to the letter, at this time I was a little panicked, this is not the usual practice of Teacher Zhang. Then he wrote to Xiaohong and Zhaoqing, and they replied that they were fine. Just when I thought that Teacher Zhang was too lazy to read WeChat, the unfortunate news came. My interaction with Teacher Zhang finally stopped on the two WeChat that only went and did not return, and there was no teacher Xiu Gui in the future.

I met Teacher Zhang at the annual meeting of history and geography held in Taiyuan in 1988, in fact, Teacher Zhang does not belong to the category of people who are familiar with everyone, the first conversation, Teacher Zhang's gaze is as sharp and sharp as in the photo, and Mr. Zou's modesty is not the same. Soon after seeing Teacher Zhang again, I already knew him, and then I found that Teacher Zhang was not only easy-going, but also very humane. Mr. Shi and Mr. Hou almost never chatted with us outside of academics, but for more than 30 years, Teacher Zhang has always been a teacher and a friend, although he saw him once a year or a few years, but all kinds of things will be told to Teacher Zhang and supported by his heart.

In this lifetime, the existence of teachers has different meanings at different stages. When we are young, we gain knowledge from teachers, and with the help of teachers, we walk more steadily on the academic road; when we are old, teachers are the identity of the academic system. When I was young, I wanted to get the help of teachers, I had no relationship with Teacher Zhang and Mr. Zou, but I had the same treatment as their own students, and for many years when I thought of the Fudan Institute of History and Geography, my heart was always warm, because of them, but also because of all the teachers and friends there.

Professor Zhang's research is very good, not only creating the research field of historical and physical geography, but also laying the foundation for this research field. Mr. Hou Renzhi did not easily praise people, but repeatedly mentioned Teacher Zhang's research, and repeatedly emphasized that the study of historical geography should be applied to the world and serve the development of the country, Comrade Zhang Xiugui's research on the changes in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and Dongting Lake is not only very good, but also directly serves the local construction, providing a very necessary construction principle for the development of the south bank of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. While Mr. Hou praised Teacher Zhang, he also hoped that we could also do such a level of research.

Mr. Hou praised Teacher Zhang, and I only have respect for Teacher Zhang. Teacher Zhang's research has a distinct rational thinking, each problem is well thought out, clearly organized, there is no bluff theory, and the final presentation is science. For example, the interpretation of the changes in Yun Mengze, archaeology, landforms, historical documents, the ring is closely linked, especially in the Jiangling land delta according to the times, the Huarong, Jinling, Zhouling, Shaxian, Yundu, Anlu, Jianli, Qiuyang, these county-level administrative establishments are mentioned one by one, which is very exciting, almost using dynamic land-to-people relations, showing the process of lake water and land disappearing one by one. From Mr. Zhang's independent works and the two works of "China's Historical and Physical Geography" cooperated with Mr. Zou and others, the highlights are the highlights. These books, from the beginning of publication, I still read them to this day, tasting their vision and problem perspective, and at the same time deeply feel the difficulty of them. I came from a geography background, and perhaps this is why I know that it is not easy to gain insight into the changes in the landscape of the historical period that have been "vicissitudes of the sea". Teacher Zhang is "the first person to eat crabs" in this field, and he uses his own research and the ideas and methods he has explored to open a door for future generations to enter the study of historical geomorphology and historical physical geography.

Teacher Zhang's research is very exciting, but every time we meet, we don't talk much, except for a few questions to ask, I know that I can't do those studies, and I don't dare to pretend to understand people to make Teacher Zhang laugh. In those years, the most talked about with Teacher Zhang was trivial, whether annoyed or happy, Teacher Zhang did not have a lot of words, listened with his usual expression, and always added a sentence of "In the end..." when he finally expressed his position. I believe that "in the end..." must not be a Fujian term, but a habit of Shanghainese. Listening to Teacher Zhang talk a lot, I have become a habit, leaving a sentence from time to time "In the end...". Teacher Zhang is open-minded and does not care about fame and fortune, the sentence "In the end..." contains many words of relief, with Teacher Zhang's "always ...", the troubles are suddenly much less. It seems easy to think of these past events, but everything will not be repeated.

Mr. Zhang is easy-going, sincere, but very upright, and in those years he was responsible for the work of the "Historical Geography" magazine and the Historical Geography Professional Committee, and never favored personal feelings because of personal friendships. At that time, Mr. Shi once said that Comrade Xiu Gui was very serious in doing these things, and Mr. Tan was very good at choosing people. It is precisely because of Mr. Zhang's integrity that Historical Geography has always won a high reputation in the academic community, and foreign scholars I know have given high praise to this journal.

In the past ten years, I have been too busy, rarely come out to meet, a few years ago came to Fudan, saw Teacher Zhang again, saw that his hair is white, his hearing is not very good, his eyes are less sharp, I suddenly realized that the interval is too long. But Teacher Zhang's voice is still loud, and I clearly remember that Teacher Zhang said, "I know that Maoli is coming, and I always want to come and see." The last time I met Teacher Zhang was in 2020, I went to Shanghai for classes, and the place where I lived was not in Fudan. Zhaoqing heard that I really wanted to meet Teacher Zhang, and invited us to gather that day. Zhaoqing accompanied me to the place where I was eating, Teacher Zhang arrived first, a person hovered outside the door, at that moment my tears flowed out unconsciously, and suddenly felt that people were old, maybe very lonely. At the dinner table, we talked about what Teacher Zhang still couldn't hear, but I was very concerned about what Teacher Zhang said. Teacher Zhang's home is across the road from the Fudan campus, because of the epidemic, he cannot enter the school to buy food, nor can he go to the school hospital to get medicine. Teacher Zhang's words were light and calm, like telling other people's stories, and I listened very sadly. I didn't know it was the last time we saw each other, but the mood when we separated was very heavy.

Walking into a profession, I naturally became a member of this professional team, and for decades, I have been obsessed with historical geography, because there are research that I will do all my life, and there are teachers that I admire and trust. The personal charm of these teachers, like a magnet, gathers the whole team, Teacher Zhang must be in it, easy-going and sincere, and it is my luck to meet them.

I know that no one will stay in this world forever, but I still can't hold back tears in the face of farewell. I miss all the teachers who have traveled far away, and I miss Teacher Zhang. The magnet that can gather everyone is getting smaller and smaller, and an academic era has passed.