[Global Network Culture Channel reporter An Qi] light a lamp, brew a cup of tea, without any disturbance, calm down to read, is Shan Jixiang's most enjoyable time in life. Although he has stepped down as the "gatekeeper" of the Forbidden City, he is still busy with his daily schedule, caring for and participating in the protection of China's cultural heritage, and is also eager to recommend new prefaces for friends or descendants. But he still wants to say that the biggest benefit of retirement is that he spends more time studying than before, which makes him most happy.
On 23 April 2022, the 27th World Book Day arrived as scheduled. Mr. Shan Jixiang, president of the beloved Chinese Cultural Relics Society, the sixth president of the Palace Museum and the president of the Dongcheng Cultural Development Research Institute in Beijing, was invited by the Global Network Culture Channel to share with you the secrets of his reading and the story of writing books on World Book Day.
Shan Jixiang, President of the Chinese Society of Cultural Relics and Sixth President of the Palace Museum (Photo/ Zhou Gaoliang)
The family has a collection of 10,000 books, and reading + writing is a way of life
Shan Jixiang's family has a very large collection of books, two rows of large bookshelves that stand on the top of the sky can not be put down, including his collection since his student days, as well as gifts from mentors and friends over the years, and some of the books here are full of precious memories and emotions of the past.
Recently, he was reading books on urban planning and architecture, which was his specialty. "My teacher, Mr. Wu Liangyong, is a teacher of the famous architect Mr. Liang Sicheng, who has made great contributions to the preservation of ancient cities, urban planning, architectural design and architectural education. There are also a lot of stories between them, and I'm going to put them together and publish them. In the process of reading and writing, I have a deeper understanding of the two gentlemen and experience the development of the urban planning and architecture field in New China. ”
The enthusiasm for reading has always run through Shan Jixiang's life, not only to read two or three hours of books every day, but also to write down some of his own thoughts, "reading + writing" has long become his living habits for many years, which is also his most special way of reading.
Every year he works in the Forbidden City, he publishes a collection of essays, which lasts from the "Nongchen Collection" in 2012 to the "Self-Hai Collection" in 2019, carefully recording his participation in the restoration, protection and development and utilization of the World Cultural Heritage Palace. The story of his experience in working in the Forbidden City is also condensed in the book "I am the janitor of the Forbidden City", which opens the door of the 600-year-old Forbidden City for the majority of readers with more relaxed words, and also inspires more young people to have the desire to participate in the protection of cultural relics. This also makes people wonder, growing into an excellent cultural relics protection scholar, how to choose books and read books?
Shan Jixiang's "Si Xing Wen Cong" series (Courtesy photo)
Reading the classics is inspiring to think and more fun
Talking about how to choose a good book, Shan Jixiang sighed that the information dissemination in our modern society is very convenient, and there are many books published, which can be said that a person cannot read it in a lifetime. Therefore, he also believes that which books to read and which books not to read need a standard.
Shan Jixiang recalled that when he was in school, the books he could see were far less than now. There are two main types of books he reads, one is the professional books he needs for study and work, and the other is the classic books.
"The transmission of information in ancient times was not as developed as it is today, and there were not as many books and materials as today. When the ancients read books, they would definitely read the classic articles, like the works of the scholars, great writers, and great experts in the subset of the history of the classics. These classic articles are a summary of the wisdom of predecessors that has been precipitated over time. In his view, by reading classic books, you can talk to your predecessors, absorb the experience of your predecessors, and understand what has happened, how people have coped with it, and what results have been achieved.
The most important thing is that "after reading the book, after thinking about it, you can get your own understanding, and you can also stand on the shoulders of your predecessors, you can see higher, farther, and you can get more fun." Shan Jixiang said that this is also today, reading classic works for the greatest inspiration and significance of modern people's lives.
Shan Jixiang in front of the office bookshelf (Photo / Zhou Gaoliang)
New knowledge needs to be screened, and good books give people the enjoyment of beauty
"It's the age of knowledge explosion, where a lot of new knowledge is being summed up, and the number of books published every year is innumerable." Shan Jixiang believes that the prosperity of the publishing industry is undoubtedly a good era for readers. But there are also readers who ask, follow the book best-seller lists of major reading platforms to choose books, is it reliable to do so?
In Shan Jixiang's view, many people pay attention to books with good sales, which means that the best-selling books are read by many people, and some people will choose books that everyone is reading in order to improve the efficiency of book selection. This is a relatively convenient way to do this, but there are also some questions, such as whether the books that everyone is reading are really needed by themselves. ——This is what everyone needs to pay the most attention to when choosing a book.
Shan Jixiang feels, "A good book should be a book that truly meets people's needs, helps people solve problems, brings people the enjoyment of beauty, and spreads positive energy." This is also the principle of his book selection.
"Shan Jixiang Takes You To the Forbidden City" series of works (Courtesy of guests)
Advocate calm down to read, alleviate the psychological pressure of modern people
"When reading a book, you still have to read it word by word and carefully understand the meaning of the book." Shan Jixiang told the Global Network reporter that until now he still subscribes to more than a dozen newspapers and magazines, and when he sees the articles he needs, he will cut them out and collect them, so that he will accumulate a lot of information, and his wife will also help him print out the information.
Shan Jixiang does not reject network reading, he said, now that network information has developed, it is more convenient to obtain information, many articles can also be found on the Internet, and he will also search for relevant articles on the Internet when writing books.
At the same time, he also pointed out that "today, people's time is more fragmented, the form of information is shorter, and the content is more emotional." He feels that in this case, it is not easy for people to calm down and seriously read and think, to receive information in fragments, and it is not easy to form a systematic understanding of the whole.
"It's not conducive to a comprehensive understanding of the world." Shan Jixiang advocated that everyone should still take some time to "calm down and read more books, especially those classic works and new knowledge that have been precipitated over time." In this way, after a more comprehensive and systematic understanding of the world, people can make better improvements and arrangements for their work and life. ”
"There are many summaries of previous experiences in the book, which will provide reference for how people can solve the current pressure." So reading is the best way for us to solve problems and improve our lives. Shan Jixiang added that now the work pressure and life pressure in society have increased, and many people read to alleviate the needs of stress.
The knowledge contained in fragmented information is very small, and although it can temporarily relieve stress, it will eventually make people feel empty, and the loneliness of the mind will increase anxiety and eventually cause more stress. The process of calming down and reading the book itself relaxes the nervous nerves. Therefore, he hopes that everyone can read more books and read good books.
Shan Jixiang's book and the Forbidden City cultural and creative dolls (courtesy of guests)
Explore the reading punch card in the Forbidden City
In the seven years as the director of the Forbidden City, Shan Jixiang measured every corner of the Forbidden City with his footsteps and walked through the 9371 ancient buildings and houses of the Forbidden City. He told the Global Network reporter that in ancient times, the emperor undertook the heavy responsibility of governing the country, in fact, he had to study harder than ordinary people. Emperors living in the Forbidden City, in addition to reading classic books such as subsets of scriptures and histories, also had to read the living notes, records, hadiths and other texts of the emperors of previous dynasties. At that time, the imperial court would also specially organize literati to compile some books on the gains and losses of governance in previous dynasties for the emperor's reference, such as the Zizhi Tongjian and the Siku Quanshu.
As the imperial palace of the Ming and Qing dynasties, there are many places in the Forbidden City for the emperor or prince to study. For example, the Yangxin Hall at the southernmost end of the West Sixth Palace, a small room of 4.8 square meters on the westernmost part of the south window of the front hall of the Yangxin Palace, named "Sanxi Hall", is where the Qianlong Emperor read and wrote. In the twelfth year of Qianlong (1747), he was named "Sanxitang" for collecting Wang Xizhi's "Qing Ti in the Fast Snow", Wang Xianzhi's "Mid-Autumn Festival Post", and Wang Xun's "Boyuan Ti".
In addition, the Yuqing Palace complex at the southernmost end of the East Ting Road in the Forbidden City was originally built for the Crown Prince's Palace, and later Emperors such as Guangxu and Xuantong studied here, as an important place for Qing rulers to accept Han cultural ideas.
Located in the southwest of the Royal Garden, Yangsheng zhai was originally built in the Ming Dynasty, called Le Zhi Zhai, and changed its name to the present day in the Qing Dynasty. In the past, emperors used to come here to rest and study. In the early years of the Republic of China, the Englishman Johnston taught Emperor Puyi English here. Puyi deliberately gave Johnston a study and bedroom. Readers who have the opportunity can also visit these reading places in the Forbidden City and feel the atmosphere of royal reading in the past.
On World Book Day 2021, Shan Jixiang shares his reading experience at the public welfare reading live broadcast event (courtesy photo)
Ten years to witness the power of a library
During his 10 years as director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, the books in Shan Jixiang's home accumulated to more than 10,000 volumes, and many books were stacked on the ground without shelves at that time, more than a meter high. "My wife once told me whether these books were used to read or to pile up, and do you remember the books that were piled up underneath ten years ago?" So he made up his mind to spend seven days sorting it out, leaving behind the books he often read, and donating the remaining seven thousand or so books.
Before that, he had been to the Heshun Library in Tengchong, Yunnan, and saw many rural children become pillars through the cultural cultivation there, which made him deeply feel that the power of the library is immeasurable. In 1999, after Shan Jixiang's father died, he donated all of his father's 3,000 books to the Fangshan District Library according to his will. Erzhan Village, Shilou Town, Fangshan District, is the hometown of the great Tang Dynasty poet Jia Dao, who suggested building a private library based on the Jia Dao Ancestral Hall. Therefore, with the support of Teacher Tian Xiong, a model worker in the country, a rural library was built in the Jia Dao Ancestral Hall. Asked Zheng Xinmiao, director of the Palace Museum, to name it "Drinking Room", and asked Mr. Jao Zongyi, a famous scholar in Hong Kong, to write the name of the museum. He hopes to have more small libraries for ordinary people to really walk into to read books.
On World Book Day 2012, the library was opened, and "when more than a hundred elementary school students read Jia Dao's poems in unison, it was a very touching scene." Shan Jixiang recalled that in addition to his many donations of books, he also contacted Mr. Zhang Zhongpei, the fourth president of the Palace Museum, Mr. Zheng Xinmiao, the fifth president, and some friends of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference also donated their own books.
Today's World Book Day, the library is exactly ten years old, and the books here not only provide reading materials for nearby villagers and visitors to the library, but also provide valuable materials for experts and scholars who are interested in cultural relics and come here to consult materials. In 2021, Shan Jixiang donated a batch of books to the Anji County Library in Zhejiang Province. He said that he hopes that more people can go to the library to read, and they can also donate books that are not used at home to make more contributions to society.
Books at the 2021 World Book Day Charity Reading Live Event (Courtesy of Guests)
Writing sublimates life and shares stories about protecting cultural heritage
From reading to writing, from absorbing the wisdom of predecessors to spreading cultural knowledge that is easy for more people to understand and read, Shan Jixiang uses the writing of one text after another to string together the ancient and modern dialogues in the protection of cultural heritage, and also allows him to keep thinking with the times at all times in his life. From the beginning of the epidemic to the present, he has written 11 books, 10 of which have been published, and his writing and publishing plans are still advancing.
Shan Jixiang told the Global Network reporter that Hong Kong has implemented the "Revitalization of Historic Buildings Partnership Program" since 2007, which has provided a very good experience for the protection of historical buildings. He has compiled the results of his many visits to Hong Kong into a book, which will be published soon. The audio program "Hearing the City", which he participated in recording, is to tell the story behind the Forbidden City through 46 different voices in the Forbidden City, and the manuscripts written for this purpose at that time will also be published. In 2020, he also participated in a program "I Am a Planner" on Beijing Television, telling the story of Beijing's urban planning, which made Shan Jixiang, who came from a major in urban planning, have some experience, and he also recorded these feelings into 5 books, one of which has been published by the China Encyclopedia Publishing House.
Shan Jixiang revealed that the matter of writing books was still inspired by his teacher, Mr. Wu Liangyong.
"Mr. Wu once told me that the most intensive time for his own reading and research was after he retired at the age of 62. To this day, Mr. Wu still reads and writes every day. When Shan Jixiang retired at the age of 65, he visited Mr. Wu's home, and Mr. Wu said to him: "Make full use of your retirement time, conduct a comprehensive and comprehensive study of your work experience, you will be sublimated, you will be summarized." So he wrote these books as a summary of his past work experience.
Similarly, these books have become the best way to share the story of Shan Jixiang and the protection of China's cultural heritage with readers.
Shan Jixiang's work "Ten Thousand Miles and a Single Ride: The Diary of Old Shan" (Photography / Zhou Gaoliang)
Recommend friends who love history and culture to read the "Old Single Diary"
On the special day of "World Book Day", the Global Network reporter also invited Shan Jixiang to choose a book list from his works published in recent years for readers who love history and culture. He suggested that friends who want to understand the culture of the Forbidden City can start from "Shan Jixiang Takes You to the Forbidden City". This series is a set of three books, which are from his perspective to interpret the architecture of the Forbidden City, the cultural relics of the Forbidden City and the people of the Forbidden City.
The construction of the Forbidden City, the predecessor of the Forbidden City, is inseparable from the Grand Canal, another World Heritage Site on the mainland. Shan Jixiang participated in the application for the Grand Canal during his work at the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, and in 2014, when the Grand Canal became a World Heritage Site, he wrote the story of the Grand Canal. The book "The Grand Canal Drifts to the Forbidden City" hopes to tell everyone about the important role of the Grand Canal in the history of the continent by telling the relationship between the Grand Canal and the Forbidden City.
In the past two years, Shan Jixiang has also launched a variety show "Ten Thousand Miles of Single Riding", leading the audience into the "heritage displayed on the vast land", and he also summed up the experience of participating in the program and published "Ten Thousand Miles of Single Riding: The Diary of the Old Single". Shan Jixiang said: "I hope that through this list of books, you will better understand our cultural heritage and the stories behind these heritages, as well as the excellent traditional Chinese culture contained in these heritages, and hope that everyone will fall in love with our cultural heritage and protect them together." (End)