In the preface to the first edition of "Reading is a Fun Thing", I once laughed at myself: "Compared with imparting various professional knowledge, persuading people to read or teaching people how to read, it seems that there is not much technical content, so that professors who have specialized knowledge are generally reluctant to get involved." After teaching books for decades, it is inevitable to develop the problem of "being a good teacher", and every World Book Day, local book festivals or university opening ceremonies, etc., I can't resist the temptation to be invited to say "read".
After saying a lot and receiving a lot of applause, some people continue to suggest writing a systematic "Reading Theory" or "Reading Theory" to explain the principles, ways, methods, and know-how of reading. I accept such kindness, but politely decline. The reason is that, in my opinion, reading books is one's own business, and the experience of others is only for reference and cannot be copied. As for the "know-how", when I answer similar questions, I always flash my words, sometimes saying yes, sometimes saying no. When people asked, whether there was or not, I borrowed the quip from the thirty-seventh "Wen Zhi" of the Golden Man Wang Ruoxi's "Collection of the Elders of the Southern Dynasty" - "There is a general body, but there is no fixed body." "It depends on what era you live in, what context you are in, what kind of audience you are facing, and what kind of work goals you want to achieve.
For example, in the face of officials, I talked about "Reading Life in the "Leisure Era"", discussing the changes in the lifestyle of Chinese people, and how the combination of culture and tourism affects the function and effect of "reading"; For college students or graduate students, I talk about "Manga Poetry Book" "Ecstasy", discussing the "materiality" of literature, such as the writer's interest in life, the way literature is produced, and the attention to "things" in the work, and distinguish why it has become an interesting academic topic. These expositions are aimed at specific groups of people, and changing a group of listeners is not so appropriate. So, before each presentation, I ask who the audience is.
1. Three strategies for reading books and others
In the face of the public talking about reading, I have published three books: "Inside and Outside the Book", "The Landscape of Reading - The Spring and Autumn Moon of College Life" and "Reading is a Fun Thing". But the first thing I want to offer today is my ever-changing "three strategies for reading".
In 2005, I gave a speech at East China Normal University entitled "Reading as a Way of Life", which was the beginning of my cross-border talk about reading. The last paragraph of the article: "When it comes to reading strategies, my opinion is simple: first, read poetry, novels, essays, dramas, etc., which have no practical function; Second, pay attention to modern and contemporary literature that is closely related to the lives of today's people; Third, all reading must have its own life experience as the background, so as not to read dead books, read books to death. To be honest, except for a few interesting examples, "linking life's troubles with book knowledge" is not very new.
In 2013, I was interviewed by a reporter from Southern Weekend with a very open-minded title - "Please Read the Useless Book: Dialogue with Chen Pingyuan". When I talk about reading, there are three different dimensions: first, advocating classics and denigrating bad books; Second, build your own reading taste; Third, advocate reading more useless books. The key is in the third sentence: "Why do you say that?" Because today's Chinese reading is too focused on 'immediate results'. During the school period, read according to the course regulations; Out of school, read books according to work needs. Books that have nothing to do with exams or employment are generally dismissed as 'useless', most typically shelving literature, art, religion, philosophy, history, etc. In my opinion, the so-called 'elite reading' refers to these works that have no practical use for the time being, but are meaningful to the cultivation of human life experience, cultural taste and spiritual realm. ”
In 2016, I gave a speech at the launching ceremony of a reading activity, entitled "Three Strategies for Reading", the first strategy: read less to read good books; The second policy: appreciation first, criticism second; The third strategy: own experience, simmer soup.
If condensed into three sentences, it is: "linking life's troubles with book knowledge"; "Please read the useless book"; "Own experience, simmer soup". However, when it comes to reading, we can't just talk about it. In the final analysis, reading is not only a personal behavior, but also a social phenomenon, or a landscape worth lingering in the history of human civilization, depending on how you and I are positioned. This time, in the "Illustrative" section, I want to talk about three interesting facts about my reading.
During this year's Spring Festival, many public names were retweeting a light interview "Chen Pingyuan, Xia Xiaohong: Scholars collect books, not known for their curiosities". Among them, my complaint about "too many books" makes many readers/lovers/book collectors feel concerned: "Too many books will also become a disaster, it will squeeze our living space." Just kidding, buying a house is for people to live in, not books. But we really can't help it, because of the needs of work, constantly let books occupy our living space. So I often have conflicts with Teacher Xia, the main reason is, which books should be sent away? Which books can I keep? Problems occur when two people disagree. Our friends are greater. He said that as long as one of the couple said to send it away, he would send it away. We are two people, as long as one of us says stay, we have to stay. I repeatedly applied that when there could be no books on the sofa, I could lie on the sofa and rest. So far, this wish has not been fulfilled. ”
The second story is inspirational. Since 2018, I have also served as the cultural advisor of Shenzhen Nanshan District and the first director of Nanshan Library, so I have the following affairs. Nanshan District, which has developed science and technology, decided to set up a fully self-help intelligent public welfare study room-Nanshan Study Room, and it started with me. In December 2020, the first Nanshan Study Room Pingyuan Xuan was completed in Baidu International Building, with a study area of 170 square meters, with 21 immersive reading seats and 27 leisure reading seats, including 150 books donated by me, 510 edited books, and 5,000 ancient and modern Chinese and foreign language history and art books. As for the operation effect, according to the "2021 Nanshan District Grassroots Library Development Report": "Since the official operation of Nanshan Study Room Pingyuan Xuan on February 1, 2021, as of December 31, Pingyuan Xuan has been open for a total of 285 days, with 64,000 readers and a total of 120,000 online appointments. The study room immersive reading area is the most popular among readers, and the study room immersive reading area has become the preferred area for readers to make appointments. During the peak hours of the immersive reading area (09:00-21:00), the annual average attendance rate reached 86.43%. This is certainly very encouraging news, but I quietly asked local friends if readers would laugh at middle school students doing homework.
The third interesting incident happened ten years ago, when a courier brother in Shijiazhuang posted a passage of my reading on a tricycle, swaggering through the market every day and publicizing it. This story, which I introduced in "Literary Education and Growth Experience", will not be detailed here.
Second, not only read books, but also read pictures
In April 2016, I gave a lecture entitled "Reading, Reading Pictures and Reading PhD" at the "Citizen Academy" of Dongguan Library in Guangdong Province. Recently, he was invited to give a speech at the "2023 Corner Tower Forum" hosted by the Reading Promotion Committee of the Chinese Library Association, and he did not want to repeat the same old tune, hoping to respond to the new era topics according to the changes in the situation and the advancement of his own thinking, so he changed it to "Reading Ph.D., Reading Pictures and Reading". The two speeches were mediated by "reading pictures", connecting "reading" and "reading PhD", but the focus was different.
When speaking in Dongguan, I said: "Images in daily life are not only entertainment, but also a way to spread knowledge, so today read more books, not only read words, but also read images." It includes pure text, pure images, books mixed with pictures and texts, and even audiobooks and video materials, etc., which together are a complete modern reader. ”
Two years later, the expanded edition of my "History of the Left and Right and the Study of the West and the East: A Study of the Late Qing Pictorial" was published, and I won the "Top Ten Good Books of 2018" and the 14th Wenjin Book Award at the Shenzhen Reading Festival, which gave me a little confidence in talking about "reading pictures". I am a professor in the Chinese department, and I have no professional training in art history, so talking about "reading pictures" is actually a bit out of line. After the book was published, in more than a dozen book reviews and interviews, this passage in response to Yang Zao's question was most memorized by me: "Today's Chinese students cannot only be satisfied with 'speaking and interpreting words', but also learn to understand the charm of sound and the power of images." I believe that there will be more research in this area over time. The era of relying only on words to convey knowledge and emotions has passed. We must be aware that words are increasingly challenged by images and sounds. ("Chen Pingyuan: Learning to understand the power of images," Xinhua Daily Telegraph, November 30, 2018)
"Left Picture Right History and Western Learning East" consists of ten chapters, and the earliest writing time is "From Popular Science Books to Science Novels - An Investigation Centered on "Speeding Cars"", which was completed in early 1996. The report says that twenty years to sharpen a sword is an exaggeration, but it is true that many years of searching and trying a lot in how to read/interpret images. Looking at my early less successful "Dian Shizhai Pictorial Selection", "Image Late Qing Dynasty - "Dian Shizhai Pictorial", "Looking at Pictures and Telling Books - Chinese Novel Embroidery Reading Notes", it is not difficult to understand my starting point. As a researcher of modern literature, my initial "reading pictures" was deeply influenced by Lu Xun, Zheng Zhenduo, A Ying and other predecessors.
Although you can also read the books of the British art historian Sir E.H. Gombrich (1909-2001), and also quote John Berger (1926-2017) The Way of Seeing, Peter Burke (1937—) A History of Pictorial Evidence, or Mitchell, W.J.T. (1942—), to be honest, these are irrelevant embellishments. What I am really good at and strive for is not image interpretation, but the discussion of "image narrative in the era of great change" through urban culture, ideological trends, artistic concepts, printing technology, etc. Therefore, what I refer to and cite is mostly urban history, news history, book history, printmaking history, illustration history, comic history, etc., rather than image theory. In the specific discussion, from time to time, the figure of Aying's "Late Qing Dynasty Literature and Art Newspaper Review", "Aying Art Essays", "Zheng Zhenduo's Art Archaeology Anthology" flashed, as well as many of Lu Xun's individual articles, such as "Opinions on the Art of Intended Broadcasting", "Afterword of "Picking Up the Flowers and Evenings", "A Glimpse of Shanghai Literature and Art", "Defense of "Comic Pictures", "Preface to "Beiping Notes", "Trivia on Comic Pictures", "Talking about "Comics", etc.
My main concern is not image interpretation, but "graphic evidence", especially highlighting the "low-key enlightenment" behind image narrative, which is both my strength and weakness. Specific to the "Late Qing Pictorial Research", my strategy is effective. But the real sense of "reading pictures" obviously has to be more refined and professional than mine. I remember reading Tai Jingnong's "Night Banquet Picture" and Han Xizai for the first time more than 30 years ago, and I felt like I was empowered - the image could contain such rich historical details. In recent years, reading the works of Wu Hong and others has given me a deep understanding of the technical height and ideological depth that art history can achieve.
In the past ten years, the enthusiasm of Chinese people to read art history has been high, and their ability to read pictures has rapidly improved. The reason for the launch of last year's graphic book "The Sound of the Great Sage - China's Simplest Art History" is not a new insight, but a nostalgia for an adventure more than a decade ago. After many years, Sanlian Bookstore has made a picture book with beautiful pictures for my long introduction to the art history books of external propaganda, which is of course a great encouragement to me. But I clearly feel that in the past two decades, the younger generation's interest in museums/galleries and reading skills have increased rapidly, and they are not experts in this field, and they have ventured beyond the boundary, once enough, and never do it again.
When it comes to "reading pictures", in addition to museum and art gallery albums, illustration or pictorial research, art history monographs, and the rapid rise of "picture books" at the beginning of this century. In the past, when talking about "reading", what came to everyone's mind was dense words. In fact, today's Chinese people's way of acquiring knowledge, images are not inferior to words. Therefore, "reading pictures" is also a kind of "reading" - or in other words, combining words and images, which is the right way to read today.
In any era, once it becomes a trend, there will be drawbacks - hence the need to "learn to save the evils". Twenty years ago, I wrote "From the History of Left Picture to Right History to Graphic and Text Interaction: The Rise of Graphic Books and Its Prospects", discussing the extensive use of image materials in China's publishing industry, which will inevitably have a great impact on the writing ideas of books and the reading interest of readers. What I care about is how to continue to maintain the unique charm of text itself in academic graphic books. The conclusion of the article is - "In my opinion, a good graphic document should be able to highlight the beauty of the text, deepen the meaning of the image, and enhance the author's intention at the same time, and all three are indispensable." Of course, such a realm is difficult to achieve; It's just that 'although it can't be reached, the heart yearns for it'. Not only good at reading and analyzing images, but also being able to appreciate and maintain the charm of words, which is not easy, requires cultivation and training. In other words, reading pictures is fun, but not easy – it's also a science that deserves serious management. ”
Twenty years on, graphic writing is in the ascendant and becoming more and more beautiful, and my basic position has not changed, that is, I am open to "left picture and right history" and firmly believe in "the charm of words". A few years ago, the PEN Club, a supplement of Wen Wei Po, commemorated its 70th anniversary, and I was invited to write an article congratulating me with a clear title - "Still Believe in the Charm of Words".
3. How to read museums
Talking about graphic books allows us to communicate "reading pictures" and "reading books"; Looking through the exhibition album, it is easy to cross "reading pictures" and "reading Ph.D." - "reading Ph.D." here does not mean, of course, studying for a doctorate, but reading museums, art galleries, and memorials. Museums/galleries collect historical memories, human knowledge, and the tastes and moods of generations of literati, scholars, and painters. However, as a museum/art gallery as a building and exhibit, once it falls on paper, the reading perspective should be transformed from "reading PhD" to "reading pictures".
Of course, I know the beauty of "Museum on the Cloud" and I generally understand its development prospects, but this is not my specialty, and young scholars are more adaptable and articulate than I am. I'm still more interested in, or more experiential, of "museums on paper". That's because of the habit of watching wonderful museums or special exhibitions over the years, and inviting back to print beautiful albums for further appreciation and reading. What's more, for various reasons, it is often impossible to visit in person, so I can only read the exhibition album to wander around. For example, the Tokyo National Museum held "Yan Zhenqing - Beyond Wang Xizhi's Famous Pen Special Exhibition" from January 16 to February 24, 2019, and the "Gao Guqi Horror - Chen Hongshou Calligraphy and Painting Works Exhibition" held by the Shaoxing Museum in Zhejiang from September 28 to December 20, 2022.
In 2006, the Capital Museum held the "250 Years of the British Museum's 250-Year Collection Exhibition", inviting three scholars to give lectures during the exhibition. The first is the director of the British Museum, the second is the director of the Capital Museum, and the third is me. The reason why I invited a professor of the Chinese department to give a lecture at the museum was because I had previously published "Diary of the British Museum", which received a very good response, and CCTV's "Reading Time" column also produced a half-hour feature film "Chen Pingyuan takes you to the British Museum" (November 2003). The choice of such a crappy "tour guide" is of course not because of my modest knowledge, but because it is easier for the public to enter this ocean of knowledge with the help of this non-professional perspective. In addition, I try to historicize the "museum" from the perspective of knowledge exploration.
For example, when talking about the British Library, I would introduce the "Public Study" from the 1893 Dian Shizhai Pictorial. When it comes to collecting, Chinese also has a long history, and the question is whether collectors are willing to "openly display" their treasures. What opened the eyes of the late Qing people the most was not the collection ability of foreigners, but the fact that they allowed the public to visit. Just like the same book, "library" and "library" are not the same. It is gratifying that libraries and museums have finally taken root in China and entered the daily lives of ordinary people.
For another example, the entry of collections into museums is not necessarily because of their preciousness, but more likely because they are representative, or occupy an important position in the knowledge chain. I have visited the Chinese Pavilion of the British Museum many times, and I often hear the audience complain that this kind of thing is not unusual in our China. In the late Qing Dynasty, we translated Museum as "treasure museum." The function of the treasure museum is to collect treasures, and the museum pays more attention to the research and exhibition of collections in addition to collection. Through the exhibition, we can understand the historical scenes that have disappeared, as well as the continuity and variation of human daily life.
More importantly, I arrange Wang Tao, who traveled to Europe from 1867 to 1870, and his "Wandering Companions" was serialized in the "Dian Shizhai Pictorial" from October 1887 to February 1889, in which the "Museum Compound" said: "Even if the priests are watching, so the reading is not caught and the knowledge is widespread, and the intention is not deep!" Guo Songtao, China's first minister to Britain and France (1876-1878), also mentioned the museum in his "London and Paris Diary": "Visitors are forbidden on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and the rest of the day allows people to enter for viewing." The modern writer Zhu Ziqing's "London Miscellaneous Records and Museum" (1936) said: "All the houses may not have tickets, like the British Museum; Or two days a week for tickets, and the ticket price is also extremely low. ...... This kind of intention is all for educating the people, and the intention is worthy of our admiration. "It's not surprising that the museum has changed from three days a week 150 years ago to daily opening now; What makes people sigh is that in the contemporary society, where the market economy is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, there is still such a move to seek merit without reckon of profit. In fact, not only the British Museum, but also the National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery, the Tate Gallery, the Tate Modern, the Victoria and Albert Museum, etc., are also free to visit.
Inspired by this, when writing the British Museum Diary, I mentioned the significance of free museums many times. Unexpectedly, five years later, under the order of the Chinese government, all museums and memorials (except museums of cultural relics and ruins) were open to the public free of charge. From the opening of Beijing Wanji Garden on July 19, 1907, on behalf of China's official museum industry, to 2008 China Museum free of charge to the public, a century of China, the museum industry is booming, remarkable. Especially in the past ten years, every May 18 on the eve of International Museum Day, major media will report the achievements and development plans of museums in major cities. Copy two recent news, just look at the title to see at a glance: "There are 350 existing museums on record in Shaanxi Province Which museums will be added in 2023?" "There will be more than 460 museums in Beijing in 2035". My hometown, Chaozhou, is a fourth-tier city with an underdeveloped economy but a deep cultural heritage, and it is a "living ancient city". Chaozhou City started the construction of "Museum City" in 2016, and has built 80 "Museum City" series museums so far, and it is planned that by 2025, the city will build 100 museums of various types with complete categories, complementary functions, distinctive characteristics and reasonable layout of the "Museum City" system ("10 new series museums in the city's "Museum City"). Of course, it is also called a museum, the scale has size, the quality is high, and it will not be analyzed in detail here. In any case, such a performance is still worthy of praise.
However, in "Visible Scenery and Invisible City", I still mention the shortcomings of China's museum industry: "I flew from Hong Kong to Beijing that day, and I still didn't feel comfortable reading the Sing Tao Daily report on the rapid growth of theme parks in the mainland and the ranking of museums around the world. In 2017, the number of museums in France ranked first in the Louvre (8.1 million), the National Museum of China (8.06 million), and the National Air and Space Museum of the United States (7 million). On the surface, the gap is not too big, but considering the country's population, more importantly, the Louvre charges a fee, while the National Museum of China is free, it is inevitable to worry about the enthusiasm of Chinese to see the museum. "What do you mean? The topic I want to bring up is the urgency of cultivating Chinese people to read museums. "At present, the current situation of China's museum industry is that architecture is better than collections, collections are stronger than exhibitions, and exhibitions are better than audiences. The most important thing to do is how to improve the public's desire to visit the museum and the ability to read the museum. In my opinion, the task of cultivating the "taste" of Chinese audiences to appreciate all kinds of high-level museums is no easier than building 30 or 300 or 3,000 large museums. To be able to build, raise well, and use it, it requires the joint efforts of the government and the private sector, scholars and the public. It seems that there is still a long way to go from rich to literate. ”
At present, not only are museums being built more and more beautifully, but also through government advocacy and publicity through various new media such as television, books, documentaries and even Douyin, the number of people entering museums has increased significantly. But it must be realized that there is still a long way to go from "Internet celebrity check-in" to "deep reading". That's because, whether the museum is comprehensive or specialized, its reading and appreciation have a certain threshold, not casually go in and stroll, there will be obvious gains. Helping ordinary people read museums better is "another kind of enlightenment." In this process, experts should play an effective leading role.
I am not an expert in museology, but I have a deep understanding of "there is a threshold for doctoral studies". Nineteen years ago, it was also a wonderful "April day on earth", I had the privilege of traveling to the Greek island of Crete. The car turned left and right, and came to a certain Minoan civilization site, in the silent valley, in addition to the sound of the wind, there were wilderness and ruins, and a number of silent and solemn signs. For Europeans, that is the origin of Western civilization, and it can be imagined from scratch alone. And my knowledge reserve is not enough, coupled with the hectic before leaving, did not seriously do my homework, really blindfolded. At that moment, I was ashamed and annoyed. In hindsight, ordinary people, if they did not have enough knowledge preparation and imagination, would have had a similar embarrassment when they came to a site like Gaochang Ancient City. That's why I say that not all museums are easy to "enter".
For the younger generation, perhaps "reading a PhD" is fashionable, and "reading" is out. In fact, reading must be both old and new - here it is both a boundary, a skill, or a mood. With the ancient and mellow "reading" as the foundation, the ever-changing King Kong's "reading map" as the flank, coupled with the "reading PhD" that is currently in the ascendant, the three support each other and stir each other, so "vast and subtle", is the ideal state of "reading".