In 1999, after graduating from Peking University, Tian Xiaofei, the youngest female doctor from Harvard, married an old American man who was 25 years older than herself, which shocked the academic community.
Although this marriage has been criticized by many people, Tian Xiaofei is not afraid of the evaluation of the outside world, bravely pursues love, and achieves a different kind of good story.
Now that time has passed, what is Tian Xiaofei's current situation? This makes people who are concerned about this matter very curious.
In 1971, she was born in a bookish family in Harbin. Tian Xiaofei's father is the chairman of the Tianjin Federation of Literary and Art Circles, and her mother is a literary practitioner, so it can be said that she was born in a scholarly family.
In the process of growing up in childhood, Tian Xiaofei received a good education and cultural influence, and showed outstanding talent since she was a child. She has been fond of literature since she was a child. When she was 4 years old, her father discovered a "poem" written by her, although the handwriting was not very neat, but a few sentences expressed a profound artistic conception, which made her father deeply surprised and gratified. Such encouragement and recognition made Tian Xiaofei more determined in her pursuit of literature.
She spends a lot of time reading books and writing poems every day. Whether she writes well or not, she will be praised and polished by her father. When she couldn't write poetry, she would read it in the study. In this situation, she was able to accumulate a lot of reading.
This year, due to her parents, she moved to Tianjin with them. Later, her talent was gradually revealed in front of everyone. Many elders would praise her for her talent when they saw her. They all think that she is very talented in the field of poetry, and she will definitely make great achievements in the future, and should not be underestimated.
Her father once submitted a poem she wrote to Tianjin Daily, and unexpectedly, once this poem was published, it attracted praise from all walks of life, and the well-known writer Liu Xi became her old friend, often discussing poetry with her.
At the age of five, Tian Xiaofei published her first book of poetry, a moment that seemed to ignite the flame for her creative path. Before she was twelve years old, she had published five collections of poetry and won awards for literary creation, attracting the attention of many literary masters in the country.
Peking University also heard the news and admitted Tian Xiaofei, who was only 13 years old, and she became a student majoring in English and American literature in the Department of Western Languages of Peking University.
IQ and EQ are two different things, not that Tian Xiaofei's EQ is not good, but that a 13-year-old child has a gap with older youth in other aspects of life in addition to his superior intelligence. This made Tian Xiaofei look a little depressed. It even affected her to make friends. Usually I always stay alone in the library, and rarely do anything else.
In 1985, Tian Xiaofei met her lifelong friend Hai Zi at Peking University, a literature lover who was also known as a "genius boy". Hai Zi, who used the pen name "Hai Zi", was already famous at that time, and his poetry collection "Facing the Sea, Spring Blossoms" was widely known.
He is not only Tian Xiaofei's friend, but also her teacher, and the two often discuss poetry together.
Haizi said to her, "If you persevere, in time, you will definitely become a great poet."
Under Haizi's patient guidance and encouragement, Tian Xiaofei gradually accumulated more literary confidence.
At the age of 16, Tian Xiaofei, who was in her third year of college, published "Thirteen-Year-Old Encounters", which is an article created based on Tian Xiaofei's three-year study and life experience at Peking University.
In the article, Tian Xiaofei wrote with emotion: I never doubted that I would become a student of Peking University. That childish self-confidence seems to indicate a wonderful dusty relationship......
Later, "The Encounter of the Thirteen-Year-Old" was selected into the seventh-grade textbook of the Sujiao Edition.
In 1989, Haizi's suicide by lying on the rails hit Tian Xiaofei very hard.
At the age of 18, she suddenly felt pain and confusion after hearing the bad news, and became more and more silent from being vibrant.
Tian Xiaofei couldn't understand why a poet who always encouraged her gave up first? The answer is still a mystery.
After two years of thinking, she decided to continue to fulfill her unfulfilled dream of poetry and literature.
With new hope, the path of life seems to be extraordinarily smooth.
In 1991, Tian Xiaofei stepped on a plane to the United States and entered the University of Nebraska to study her undergraduate major: English and American literature.
When she came to the U.S., the first thing she faced was the language barrier. Although her English is passable, it is still difficult to adapt to life in the United States. In the first few months, she worked hard to learn English every day and practiced communication diligently. In her spare time, she also reads English and American literature, which is also very helpful for improving her English.
In the United States, she met the wider world and made friends from all over the world. This gave her a new inspiration and a new understanding of literature and life. She began experimenting with different genres and made friends with some like-minded literature lovers. They often get together to exchange ideas and discuss literature.
After receiving a master's degree in English literature from the University of Nebraska, Tian Xiaofei went to Harvard to pursue a doctorate in comparative literature.
At Harvard University, Tian Xiaofei not only gained knowledge, but also met the love of her life for the rest of her life. He is Stephen Irving, the head of the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations at Harvard, and in order to show that he resonates with Tian Xiaofei, he also gave himself a Chinese name, called Yuwen Suo'an.
He loves Chinese culture and can speak Chinese fluently, and he has devoted himself to the study of classical Chinese literature, especially Tang poetry. During Tian Xiaofei's doctoral studies, Yuwen Suo'an was her supervisor.
Although he had brought many Chinese students before, Tian Xiaofei's classical temperament and erudition impressed Owen, and this simple appreciation eventually evolved into love.
At an event, Tian Xiaofei wrote a pair of calligraphy words for everyone in public: "Two yellow orioles sing green willows, and a line of egrets go to the blue sky". Yuwen Suo'an affirmed Tian Xiaofei's calligraphy attainments, but also boldly put forward his own views on ancient Chinese poetry, feeling that ancient Chinese poets were not particular enough in the use of words.
Tian Xiaofei told him the allusion of Chinese poets "scrutinizing", and Yuwen Suo'an hurriedly apologized: "It seems that my understanding of Chinese poetry is still very superficial. ”
Since then, Yuwen Suo'an has developed a good impression of this girl who loves the culture of the motherland, and their common hobbies have also made them talk about more and more topics, and also let Yuwen Suo'an have a more comprehensive understanding of Tian Xiaofei.
Because of their common hobbies, the two often exchange Chinese poetry in their spare time, and they get closer and closer. However, Yuwen Suo'an has always hidden his admiration for Tian Xiaofei in the deepest part of his heart, after all, he is over 50 years old and has been divorced twice.
However, in the blink of an eye, Dr. Tian Xiaofei was about to graduate, and seeing that she was about to leave her side, Yuwen Suo'an boldly confessed.
That day, he invited Tian Xiaofei to climb the mountain.
When it was time to go down the mountain, he expressed his love to Tian Xiaofei:
"I want to spend the rest of my life with you..."
The sudden confession made Tian Xiaofei at a loss but expected.
But the two have an age difference of 25 years, or are they from different countries, can they really come together in the end?
Whether it was before or now, Tian Xiaofei is used to looking for answers in confusion.
She loves poetry, and even after being hit, she can still get up and start again.
Compared with the world's eyes, she wants to listen to her inner voice and be her truest self.
However, Tian Xiaofei and Owen's relationship was not blessed by their parents. A young girl in her twenties and eight-year-olds married to a bad old man in her fifties in the United States, anyone who listens to it will not understand.
Tian Xiaofei's parents wrote a letter to dissuade their daughter's insistence: "Please don't get married hastily and return to China as soon as possible." ”
The opposition of her parents made Tian Xiaofei very sad, but she did not give up her love.
On New Year's Day 1999, she registered her marriage with Yuwen Suoan in the United States and followed her husband to become American citizens.
When the news came out, public opinion was embarrassed, some people said that she did not hesitate to sacrifice herself for the green card, some people questioned her to be an "academic daji", and some people even publicly scolded her for not returning to the motherland.
In the face of doubts from the outside world, Tian Xiaofei only responded lightly: marriage is because of love, and academics have no borders, no matter what nationality they are, they will promote Chinese culture in this life.
After marriage, Tian Xiaofei stayed at Harvard University in the United States to teach.
Although Tian Xiaofei chose to stay in the United States to develop, she did not give up her research on Chinese culture. She is often invited to give lectures in China to share her appreciation and research results on Chinese poetry. Her academic achievements and work have been widely appreciated and are well received by Harvard students.
Owen has a pen name called Yuwen Suo'an, and in order to express her love to her husband, she deliberately chose a new pen name for herself--- Yuwen Qiushui.
With autumn water, a good pair of talented and beautiful women.
Both of them are very fond of Han culture, and often exchange ideas together, and sometimes they can talk about a poem for a day. With the help of her husband, Tian Xiaofei devoted herself to poetry and published "Sappho: The Making of a European and American Literary Tradition", "Postmodernism and Popular Culture", "Dust Records: Tao Qian and Manuscript Culture", etc.
For many years, "The Golden Bottle" has been regarded as an unsightly erotic novel, it is a masterpiece of Ming and Qing novels like "Dream of Red Mansions" and "Water Margin", but other novels have been hailed as classics, but it has always been infamous and even listed as a banned book.
In 2003, Tian Xiaofei spent 3 years doing extremely detailed research on "The Golden Plum Bottle" and published her new book "Qiushuitang on the Golden Plum Bottle", which justified the name of this literary work.
In 2006, Tian Xiaofei was hired as a tenured professor at Harvard University, and when the news broke, many people accused Tian Xiaofei of marrying the old man's husband for today's treatment, and many of her works were completed by Owen on his behalf.
In this regard, Tian Xiaofei has always maintained an indifferent attitude. Responding only occasionally in her own work, she said, "Now some people say that my work was done by my husband, when in fact, I wrote it myself." ”
In fact, Tian Xiaofei's research direction is completely different from her husband's. Her husband prefers the literature of the Tang Dynasty, while Tian Xiaofei likes to study the literature of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, so naturally she can't rely on her husband for everything.
When she returned to China in 2016 to participate in an academic seminar, she was once again the focus of attention with her white hair in front of the camera, and was criticized by netizens.
Later, people gradually understood that the gray hair on her head was not because she was unhappy, but because she had been focusing on research for a long time and wasting her mind.
Her research is often discussed with students from all over the world in her teaching, and Tian Xiaofei is very happy to see more and more foreigners like Chinese culture.
In addition, she also used her advantages to help many Chinese students in the United States and gave them a lot of care.
In 2018, Owen also won the Tang Prize for Sinology. And Tian Xiaofei also participated in the CCTV documentary "Su Dongpo" to explain the literature of the Song Dynasty.
They all use practical descriptions to prove to everyone that scholarship knows no borders.