Beijing, 21 Apr (Xinhua) -- On 21 April, the Xinhua Daily Telegraph published a report entitled "'Sweeping Monks' in the National Library."
Until the unit asked to sweep the health treasure at the door, "post-80s" Gu Xiaojun had to start using smart phones.
However, he soon unlocked the "magic" of his smartphone - reading.
Gu Xiaojun used to read books on the subway before commuting to work, and now he finally does not have to encounter inconvenience and embarrassment in the crowd. He pulled out his mobile phone to read easily, and he even stored ancient Greek teaching materials on his mobile phone.
Talking about this, Gu Xiaojun said with excitement: "To be honest, reading books on the subway always feels too conspicuous, and now I also brush my mobile phone, just like everyone else." ”
However, Gu Xiaojun still stubbornly insists on not touching social software, including WeChat. "Reading and studying require a long period of concentration, And WeChat may interrupt you at any time, what a waste of time." Life is too limited to be wasted. ”
Gu Xiaojun is a librarian at the National Library of China (hereinafter referred to as "Guotu"), over the years, the outside world is changing with each passing day, the life of the library has always been simple and pure, he has to do what he likes in this quiet corner: he has learned more than a dozen languages, read many Chinese and Western classical texts, and "swims freely in his own environment".
Gu Xiaojun in the national map. The pictures, in addition to the signature, are screenshots of the documentary "But There Are Books"
In early 2022, the second season of the documentary "But There Are Books" aired, which told the story of Gu Xiaojun's work in Guotu and his legendary learning story. Some people call him the "sweeping monk" of the national map, which means that he has extremely high skills but is deeply hidden, and more people are infected by the gentleness and peace revealed in his speech and demeanor: "A book lover who is gentle and sincere" "Perfectly interprets the poetry and bookish atmosphere in his belly"...
"Do what you love"
Slightly curly hair, wearing metal-framed glasses, kind and introverted eyes, authentic Beijing accent, recently, the reporter met Gu Xiaojun in the national map, his daily work is ordinary and trivial, help readers find the books they need, new books on the shelves, sort out the shelves, answer readers a variety of questions, such as how to pay the deposit, where the toilet is, where there is drinking water... But as soon as he had time, he buried his head in the book "The Defense of You sulfron, Klitson Feldo", a collection of Greek-English dialogues, with the original ancient Greek text on one side and the English translation on the other.
The book was put on the shelves after the Spring Festival, "I went to work after the festival to see, a special surprise, you know? I think it's a New Year's gift for me! Gu Xiaojun was a little excited, "I can first carefully study the original ancient Greek text, and then look at the English next to it, so as to verify my feelings." ”
Gu Xiaojun is learning a foreign language.
In addition to this collection of Plato dialogues, Gu Xiaojun's desk also has a copy of the "Ancient Greek Chinese Dictionary" written by Luo Niansheng and Shui Jianfu, the original dark green cover has been turned white, and a German novel "Desolate House". These two books are Gu Xiaojun's own. He picked up the German novel and told reporters: "I am tired of ancient Greek language, and if I want to change my brain, I will read these books and enjoy them very much." ”
Even if it is positioned as a "brain change", the words of "Desolate House" are still covered with his handwriting, which is Gu Xiaojun's handwritten German or English annotation.
In 2003, Gu Xiaojun graduated from the History Department of Capital Normal University, and he liked to read historical documents in college, because of the failure of Baoyan and The Examination and Research Institute, there was a brief period of confusion. Later, he worked in sales, "mainly selling tourist routes", and also worked for a period of time in the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee. No matter how busy and tiring he is, he will find time to learn foreign languages and read historical documents. His love of language and Chinese and Western classical culture never stopped.
In January 2009, Gu Xiaojun came to Guotu, where he could access all kinds of original texts and learning materials, and also had a relatively relaxed and comfortable environment. During his 13 years at Guotu, he studied more than a dozen languages in his spare time. Talking about the past, he said with deep feeling that although there have been setbacks, those setbacks have become an opportunity to achieve his current state of life, "I can do what I like to do, I am very satisfied."
Gu Xiaojun was looking for the books he needed.
In Beijing, the income of guotu librarians is not high, but this is not a problem for Gu Xiaojun, "I don't spend anything except ordinary food and clothing."
"What is most needed to learn a language?" Drain your effort! In Gu Xiaojun's view, if his work is as tense and busy as white-collar workers, then many study plans cannot be talked about. Even in universities or research institutions, he may feel pressured to publish papers and evaluate titles, and he said that he is not willing to lose his original intention of doing research.
After the documentary aired, Gu Xiaojun "got hot" on the Internet, but his life and reading were as good as ever. He doesn't like the feeling of "internet celebrity", and he doesn't like to be labeled like this or that, "Even if you get explosive attention in an instant, what's the point?" There's no trace of it afterwards, right? I think that a person is how you are, whether others praise you or belittle you, these external things have no meaning to you. ”
"It was a real pleasure to learn the language"
There is a detail in the documentary that has touched countless people.
"When a people is reduced to slavery, as long as they keep their language well, it is like holding the key to opening a prison..." This is a passage from Tudor's "Last Lesson". After Gu Xiaojun read this passage in French in front of the camera, he could not suppress his feelings and shed tears.
Reading this passage in "The Last Lesson", Gu Xiaojun couldn't help but burst into tears.
A year later, talking about his emotional loss in front of the camera, Gu Xiaojun could not say why he was in tears at that time, "Maybe this is the feeling of language."
In Guotu, Gu Xiaojun has taught himself many languages, from the relatively common German, French, Russian, Italian, Japanese, and Korean, to the Persian, Hindi, and Arabic that Gu Xiaojun describes as "some wild roads", to the extraordinarily niche Sanskrit, Latin, and ancient Greek.
"There is a beauty in words." Gu Xiaojun said firmly, "For me, I am really happy to learn languages and read the original texts. ”
Gu Xiaojun's study notes. Photo by Liu Mengni, a reporter of this newspaper
At present, Gu Xiaojun invested the most time in ancient Greek, and his learning of this esoteric and niche language is very interesting and personal. "I was studying Latin because I was particularly fond of the ancient Roman statesman Cicero, whose work was a model of Latin. It is said that many people wrote biographies of Cicero at that time, but only one has survived to this day. ”
The only "biography of Cicero" was written in ancient Greek by the ancient Roman biographer Protak, and is now translated into Chinese published and included in the Greco-Roman Celebrity Biography. But Gu Xiaojun was not satisfied, he wanted to see the original text.
"I was depressed because this biography of Cicero was not written in Latin. Cicero's own work is a model of Latin, but his biography is written in ancient Greek. But there was no way, I took it seriously, and from then on, I turned to ancient Greek. Gu Xiaojun recalled.
Gu Xiaojun especially liked this ancient Greek "Cicero Biography", he tirelessly copied it repeatedly, "I copied each paragraph no less than 50 times."
Today, Gu Xiaojun has been deeply attracted by the elegance of ancient Greek, "it has many changes in each word, the basic changes of a verb may be hundreds, and the basic changes of a noun are also dozens."
"It's so complicated, it would seem very uneconomical for this language." But once you get into this atmosphere, you will find that it can express a lot of subtleties, this subtlety, not to mention Chinese and English, not even Latin. Gu Xiaojun spoke in detail about the beauty of ancient Greek, and his face showed an intoxicated look.
Poetry and far away
In Gu Xiaojun's eyes, the library is poetry and far away. "Poetry is an ideal state, a metaphysical thing, and the far is the far side of reality. There are books in the library, and you can't surpass them mentally, and you can see how people transcend them through books. Where you can't get to the space, you can also find a book to see, and get something from the book. ”
"Poetry and far away can be found in the library, as long as you want." Gu Xiaojun said.
Gu Xiaojun in the national map.
To take the reader to poetry and far away, for a national map person like Gu Xiaojun, it is usually some very basic and trivial work. But gu Xiaojun seemed to be able to do more.
A reader once came to Guotu to thank Gu Xiaojun for his "guidance and encouragement" and let him pass an exam, which was recorded in the second season of "But There Are Books".
Gu Xiaojun said that this reader is a Chinese medicine doctor who often comes to review the national map when preparing for the doctoral exam in 2019. For him at that time, professional English was the biggest obstacle to Cooper. One day, when the scene was cleared, Gu Xiaojun came forward to chat with him. Recalling this, Gu Xiaojun was a little embarrassed, "I was a bit 'ashamed' at that time, what was the difficulty in saying English? At that time, I happened to be learning Sanskrit, so I showed him Sanskrit books and read him some short sentences. ”
Speaking of the help that such a simple exchange brought to the reader, Gu Xiaojun felt that it was "too mysterious." "I really didn't expect to inspire him, and I didn't expect him to come to Guotu to thank me."
Gu Xiaojun answered readers' questions.
In addition to helping readers through exchanges, Gu Xiaojun's unique temperament and style also invisibly infected readers, and netizens who had contact with him recalled: "Before, I had the honor of chatting with Mr. Gu Xiaojun in Guotu, and I was impressed by his enthusiasm for academics and his firm and distant thoughts. Scythians are like jade... Gentle and clear, it illuminates some of the passers-by who are also in the world of truth and knowledge, searching up and down. ”
For Gu Xiaojun, "Whether it is communicating with readers in normal times or various jobs in the library, what is the final analysis?" It's about making every reader have their book. In the trivialities of daily life, he discovered more of the meaning of the work itself.
At 5 p.m., Guotu began to clear the scene, and Gu Xiaojun, who had completed a day's work, entered the subway with the flow of people. In the crowded carriage, he was like the people around him, his eyes were fixed on the mobile phone screen, but he was looking at the ancient Greek that needed to be repeated over and over again.
This line of writing, which to ordinary people is like a book of heaven, has the poetry and distance in his heart.