Qian Zhongshu in Zhang Ailing's letters
Text | Arthur Cao
Although Zhang Ailing and Qian Zhongshu were in Shanghai in the 40s of the 20th century, they did not intersect. Has Zhang Ailing's pen appeared in Qian Zhongshu? In 2020, the two-volume "Collection of Correspondence between Zhang Ailing" published by Crown Culture includes more than 700 correspondence between Zhang Ailing and Kwong Wenmei and Song Qi, which talks about Qian Zhongshu.
Song Qi Kwong Wenmei and his wife
"Qian Zhongshu must be very good at being a person"
In July 1979, Zhang Ailing probably saw the news in the newspaper that Qian Zhongshu was visiting United States with the delegation of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and then Jingjing, who had interviewed her, sent a photo of her and Qian Zhongshu. On July 21, she wrote to Song and Kwong:
Qian Zhongshu didn't seem to have passed through Hong Kong when he went abroad? Crystal took a photo with him and sent me one, which is clearer than in the newspaper, I really don't see the old, I will forward it to you, and I don't have to return it.
Qian Zhongshu and Xia Zhiqing, at Harvard University
Song Qi was a good friend of Qian Zhongshu in the forties of the twentieth century, and he was very concerned about Qian Zhongshu's whereabouts. On August 19, 1979, he replied to Zhang Ailing:
Qian Zhongshu first went to Italy to hold a conference on sinology, and after returning to China, he came to the United States with a group of people from the Academy of Social Sciences...... The money robbed the camera, and when he was in China, he made an appointment with his wife and the two, and took turns speaking English, French, and Italy every week to avoid being unfamiliar, so the export was a chapter, and the bite was correct, which frightened the foreigners. Everyone admired him so much...... So Zhiqing and Crystal each wrote long essays and praised it, I was a little worried at first, afraid of causing trouble for money, but Qian is so showy, even if someone hates it, I don't dare to do anything to him, not to mention that Qian is sharp on the surface, and he is quite calculating in his heart, and he knows how to protect himself.
On September 4, 1979, Zhang Ailing saw Song Qi's letter, and she commented in her reply:
I also thought that Qian Zhongshu must be very good at being a person, with an attractive personality and a very good popularity, so that he can be okay all these years.
Zhang Ailing and Song Qi talked about Qian Zhongshu's two overseas visits in correspondence. The first was from August 31 to September 23, 1978, when the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences sent an academic delegation consisting of Xu Dixin (head of the delegation), Qian Zhongshu, Xia Nai, Ding Weizhi and two translators to Italy to attend the 26th European Conference of Sinologists. At the Sinology Conference, Qian Chunshu gave a lecture entitled "Classical Literature Studies and Modern China" in standard "Oxford English", and when answering questions from the participants, he used Italy, German, and French, quoting the anecdotes and folk proverbs of these countries.
Mr. Qian Zhongshu at the University of Colombia, Xia Zhiqing photographed in April 1979
The second time was from April 14 to May 16, 1979, when 69-year-old Qian Zhongshu joined a delegation of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences to visit United States, including Eun Xiang (head of the delegation), Fei Xiaotong, and Li Xin. During this period, many seminars were held, and Qian Zhongshu's breadth of knowledge and humor once again amazed everyone, and his fluent and elegant English, interspersed with French and German, and used many homophonic and pun language games, which made everyone fall in love. Qian Zhongshu talked about "The Legend of the Ping Demon", "Golden Bottle Plum", "Water Margin", "Journey to the West", "Mirror Flowers" and the poems of Li He and Zhu Xi at the symposium, and the scene was very enthusiastic. When visiting the Library of Congress in United States, the library administrators were very proud of their collection, and they asked Qian what he thought of the book, and Qian said with a smile:
I'm amazed that there are so many books in the world that I don't want to read!
This witty answer surprised those at the scene.
Behind the "madness".
Zhang Ailing said that "Qian Zhongshu must be very good at being a man" and other words, because of the impression that Qian Zhongshu hid in the anti-rightist movement and later a series of movements, and did not suffer too much. This is somewhat related to the fact that he joined the English translation committee of "Mao Zedong's Selected Works" in 1950 and joined the team for finalizing the English translation of "Mao Zedong's Poems" in 1960. Moreover, just like what he analyzed to Xia Zhiqing, he did not actively ask for progress, "he has never been in the limelight, scolded anyone, praised anyone, so there is no 'bad deed' for people to catch" "Qian Zhongshu also participated in the struggle meeting, but he never spoke at the venue, and people couldn't do anything about him."
Zhang Ailing and Lai Ya
In terms of Qian Zhongshu's personality, he was quite crazy when he was young, and his character was open-mouthed, and he could even be called a bit of a "poisonous tongue". He was determined to finish reading the collection of books in the "Full Beetle Building", and made a list of more than 40 English erotic novels for Wu Guanyi, and in "The Siege of the City", he "snarky and sarcastic" certain intellectuals, etc., were all his crazy side. Qian Zhongshu discusses "madness" in "Pipe Cone Weaving":
Ruan is a madness to escape the world, so avoid disaster; Ji is mad about the world, so he invites trouble. Wind madness is a change of opportunity...... Escaping from the world and being mad, that is, it is a machine change, the trace seems to be true, and the heart is fake and fake......
Qian Zhongshu when writing "The Siege".
Qian Zhongshu knows the way of "escapism", in the face of strong winds and waves, he has not harmed others, and at the same time does not fall into the "trap", if this is also considered to be "very good at being a man", I am afraid it can only be said that he has maintained the bottom line of being a man. Therefore, when Crystal saw Qian Zhongshu, he felt that he was "gentle and kind, and his sharp and top-notch pen strokes will never match".
Qian Zhongshu commented on Zhang Ailing
When Qian Zhongshu interviewed United States, there was also a small episode that commented on Zhang Ailing:
在加州大学伯克利校区时，水晶提问：“那么你觉得张爱玲怎么样？”钱回答：“She is very good，她非常非常好。 ”水晶刨根问底：“Is she just clever？Or is she more than clever？（她仅止于聪明吗？还是，她比聪明犹多一筹呢？）”钱答：“她比聪明犹多一筹。 She is more than clever.” 水晶接着问：“在抗战末期，钱先生和张爱玲女士同时是上海红极一时的作家，那时候钱先生有没有跟张女士见过面？”
Eileen Chang's Green Card (address is Port 26, District 13, San Francisco)
Qian replied: "I am not as good as her." I've never met her. I'm a retired person, but I haven't seen her new work in a long time. Crystal then said: "Among the books I brought today, there are some of Ms. Zhang's works, such as "Nightmare of the Red Chamber" and "Zhang Kan", as well as her "Lust, Caution", "Floating Flowers and Waves", "Seeing Joy" and so on published in 1978 and 1979. Qian said, "Then you can send it to me together." ”
Mr. Qian Zhongshu talking Ji Hong in August 1990
Here, we might as well regard Qian Zhongshu's evaluation of Zhang Ailing as "she is more intelligent than others" as a diplomatic rhetoric, which does not represent his real opinion. We can see from Yang Jiang's evaluation of Zhang Ailing later that Yang Jiang has some opinions about Zhang Ailing, but I don't know if this also represents Qian Zhongshu's views.
Source: Book House, Issue 8, 2024