Author: Xinhua Daily Telegraph reporters Huang Haoyuan and Deng Ruixuan
He was praised by Wang Guowei as one of the "weak guanzhi paleographers in this world, and yu saw four people".
A dictionary he compiled in his youth is still a must-have book for many paleographers.
He went north to study at the age of 28, knocked on the door of Peking University as a middle school student, and became a graduate student at Peking University.
When the country was in turmoil, he painstakingly collected national treasures and donated all his life's collection to the country and the people when the country needed it.
The name Rong Geng may be a little unfamiliar to most people. However, in the field of ancient texts, especially in the field of golden texts, he is an academic who cannot be bypassed.
Rong Geng (1894-1983), formerly known as Zhaogeng, the character Xibai, the initial name Rong Zhai, later changed to Song Zhai, Dongguan Guancheng people. Devoted to scholarship all his life, especially in the study of golden stones, calligraphy, painting, inscriptions have been involved, compiled more than 30 kinds of monographs, outstanding achievements, Jiahui Xuelin.
Why can Dongguan, a small island in Southern Guangdong, be able to nurture and create Rong Geng? Why did the young Rong Gengzhi school begin in Jinshi? Why did Rong Geng leap from middle school to graduate student at Peking University and then grow into an academic? And how to devote his life to learning and collecting for the country?
In his later years, Rong Geng. The pictures in this group are provided by the curatorial team of Dongguan Municipal Bureau of Culture, Tourism and Sports
Commonplace: Also played greedily
Jinwen, what kind of text is it?
The text cast on the Bronze Ware of the Shang Zhou Dynasty is called Jin Wen. The reason why it is called "Jinwen" instead of "Bronze Script" is because during the Zhou Dynasty, copper was called Gold, and the inscription on bronze was called "Jinwen" or "Jijin Script". There are many such texts in Rong Geng's works and collections that are being exhibited in Dongguan, which makes the audience very interested.
Rong Geng once said that the so-called ancient script is the word that our ancestors used but do not recognize today. Why did Rong Geng study such a "partial door" text?
In Rong Geng's time, Dongguan was just a small county, but in fact, it had a long cultural context.
Yang Yefan, director of the exhibits department of Dongguan Exhibition Center, and her partners have done a lot of research on Rong Geng. She introduced that since the Tang and Song dynasties, with the southward migration of clans and economic development, the trend of teaching and educating talents in Dongguan has gradually become stronger. Especially in the Ming and Qing dynasties, the government promoted learning, officials promoted learning, squires studied, clans re-studied, and there were many public and private schools and complete systems. "In Guancheng, where Rong Geng was born, there are 18 traditional schools in less than 1.5 square kilometers."
Rong Geng was born in Dongguan in two famous families, his grandfather Rong Heling was a jinshi in the second year of Tongzhi (1863) and the eighth in the third rank of the temple examination, while his grandfather Deng Rongjing was a jinshi in the tenth year of Tongzhi (1871). Rong Geng's growth is inseparable from the fourth uncle Deng Erya, who once said that without Deng Erya, there would be no Rong Geng.
When Deng Erya was young, he studied in Japan and studied fine arts, poetry, books, paintings, printing and communication, and especially Shanzhiyin. Engraved in the south has a good reputation, the name is shocked. Deng Jiazhi has been passed down to Deng Erya for 11 generations, and Deng Erya once said, "My family seal carving is a common thing, and it is constantly rumored that there are Indians." ”
When Rong Geng was young, he followed Deng Erya to learn to govern the seal, and the rule of the seal needs to learn the characters, Deng Erya thinks that he does not know these words, why talk about the rule of the seal? As a result, Rong Geng was printed and written, and his interest in the ancient script of Jinshi increased greatly. Xu Shen's "Commentaries on the Interpretation of Texts", Wu Dayi's "Commentaries on the Ancient Texts of Texts", and Duan Yujie's Notes on the Interpretation of Words in Shuowen are all books that Rong Geng often reads.
Rong Geng's younger brother Rong Zhaozu recalled their experience of studying with Deng Erya when they were young: "From the interest of engraving, he (Deng Erya) gradually and deeply integrated our learning center into the normal track, so that our young people's curiosity consciousness consciously shifted to the must-read literature and history books. ”
"Saying Wen Gu Zhen Supplement" is Rong Geng's preferred reference book, which is the most complete golden tool book at that time, but it is precisely because of this book that Rong Geng has the ambition to supplement. "Because Rong Geng felt that this dictionary was not complete enough, he wanted to compile a newer and more complete one." Yang Yefan said.
Manuscript of the first draft of the Jin Wen Bian.
After graduating from middle school in 1917, Rong Geng, while teaching in Dongguan Middle School to help supplement his family, wrote the "Jin Wen Bian", which lasted 6 years to complete the first draft of the 4 volumes of the "Jin Wen Bian". The Jin Wen Bian collects a lot of texts from the Shang Dynasty to the Qin and Han dynasties, and pioneers the collection of pictorial texts. Until now, the Jin Wen Bian is still a must-have book for many ancient writers.
Rong Geng, a middle school student, can make up such a masterpiece, people can't help but wonder, is he a talent? In fact, he is just an ordinary person. Rong Geng also had bad habits when he was young, and he once said: "Gambling, card, heaven nine, sparrow, crane, chess are not happy." Intermittently relapse opium and drink alcohol for pleasure. The mother knows, blames, repents, repents, and repeats. Yu zhi is not finally a fallen, and the mother's religion is also. ”
Gambling, opium smoking, drinking... Mother Deng Qiongyan is very sad, in addition to patient persuasion, Deng Qiongyan also imitates Meng Mother, with Deng Erya traveling to Guangzhou and Dongguan to accompany the study, hoping that Rong Geng can be more taught by his uncle and find a direction for life. After his mother's death, Rong Geng wrote in the preface to the "Ode to Jai Ji Jin Catalogue": "The loving mother sees her back and wants to raise her, so those who repay their mother should only strive to learn by themselves." ”
Young Rong Geng.
Skipping: From middle school students to graduate students
When he was teaching at Dongguan Middle School, Rong Geng had the idea of further education. In 1922, Rong Geng and his third brother Rong Zhaozu went north together, and when they passed through Tianjin, they took a letter of introduction written by Deng Erya's friend to meet Luo Zhenyu. At that time, Luo Zhenyu was already famous all over the world and was a well-known scholar in the study of oracle bones.
Although it was only written by a middle school student, Luo Zhenyu was moved by the "Jin Wen Compilation", and he believed that since xu shen's "Explanation of Texts and Characters" in the Eastern Han Dynasty, although there have always been scholars who have studied ancient seals and have not systematically written books, Rong Geng has done what he wanted to do but has not done, so he immediately wrote to Professor Ma Heng of Peking University, praising Rong Geng for "ruling the ancient Jin Wen, but also creating it."
Ma Heng attached great importance to it after receiving the letter, but he did not know where Rong Geng was, and it took a lot of trouble to find Rong Geng, who had been admitted to the law department of Chaoyang University. After Ma Heng read the "Jin Wen Bian", he agreed with Luo Zhenyu's view that "it can be cultivated", decided not to take the exam, and admitted Rong Geng, who only had a middle school education, as a graduate student of the Institute of Chinese Studies of Peking University.
In 1923, the teachers and students of the BeidaGuo School took a group photo, rong Geng was in the middle row, and the 9th person from left.
When he was halfway through the work in the north, Rong Geng continued to revise the "Jin Wen Compilation", thinking bitterly and anxiously, and forgetting to sleep and eat. Under the guidance of famous teachers, several drafts are changed. In 1925, the "Jin Wen Ed. Edition" was written. Originally, Luo Zhenyu recommended it to the Commercial Press for publication, but due to the small number of people studying golden texts at that time and the high cost of publication, the Commercial Press finally decided not to publish it. After Luo Zhenyu learned the news, he once again gave a helping hand and funded the printing and distribution in the name of the bookstore he operated, "Yi'an Tang". This was a great help to Rong Geng, and it was written into the world.com.
The Jin Wen Bian has opened up a convenient path for the study of Shang Zhou characters, and is the first specialized Jin Wen Da Zidian in China. Wang Guowei said in the preface to the "Jin Wen Compilation": "There are many places in his book that are in the ancestral narrative of zhongcheng and correct the zhongcheng book, and he is a person who can use the method of zhongcheng and be glorious." Zhongcheng is Wu Dayi, and Wang Guowei gave high praise to this book.
Rong Geng can become a famous scholar, inseparable from his perseverance in learning. Rong Geng never stopped studying and governing in his life, and about 90% of the contents of Rong Geng's Beiping Diary are about daily research work, such as flipping through materials, drafting papers, compiling works, and revising manuscripts.
Rong Geng compared himself with Guo Moruo, Tang Lan, Yu Shengwu, Shang Chengzuo, Wu Qichang and other scholars of the time with "five inferiorities", "My eyes are sharp and I can see its big, I am not as good as Guo Moruo." Non-xuan thoughts, left and right, I am not as good as Tang Lan. Chewing words, fine needles and dense wisps, I am better than the province. Oracle bone seal, no body and no work, I am better than Shang Chengzuo. Writing a book, the text does not add points, I am not as good as Wu Qichang. ”
However, he turned his words sharply again and said, "If you persevere and gain only a lot, then none of the five of you seems to be as good as me." ”
Rong Geng also passed on this spirit of "perseverance" to his students. He encouraged the students that it was not difficult to learn ancient chinese, and that he was a middle school student when he first learned jinwen. Zeng Xiantong, a student of Rong Geng and a professor at Sun Yat-sen University, said that Rong Geng and Shang Chengzuo's predecessors had a profound influence on him, "especially Rong Geng's unremitting spirit of advocating 'one person can be one hundred, and ten people can be one thousand' is my motto." ”
Luo Zhenyu, Wang Guowei, Liang Qichao and other scholars of the previous generation gave a lot of selfless support to Rong Geng's scholarship, which had a great influence on Rong Geng, and he also gave this care and help to his students. Some students could not find the information, and Rong Geng found it and rode his bicycle to the student dormitory that night to deliver the door.
In the "Biography of Rong Geng" co-authored by Yi Xinnong, Xia Heshun, there is such a small story that Rong Geng still insists on going to the student dormitory twice a week to talk to the students and learn about their studies. Every time students came, they carved a bar on the wall, and in the blink of an eye, the word "positive" had been formed. Chen Chusheng, a student of Rong Geng and a master of Lingnan calligraphy, once wrote such a poem: "Eight or six years old, happy to cultivate talents, attentively convey words and send feelings." The orthography on the wall should still be there, remember mr. several times. ”
Circle of mentors and friends.
By word and instrument: holding the crippled and missing, for the national collection
From coming to Beijing in 1922 to teaching in 1946, Beijing witnessed The development of Rong Geng's governance in more than 20 years, "from words to utensils, from artifacts to historical sites", and also witnessed the heyday of his entire academic career.
Jin Wen research is inseparable from artifacts. In 1926, Rong Geng was given the opportunity to study bronzes up close—he was hired as a member of the Antiquities Identification Committee of the Antiquities Exhibition Center to study the vast collection of antiquities in the Forbidden City.
In the committee at that time, Rong Geng was the youngest. Although he did not know much about bronzes, he was proficient in gold script and could distinguish the age and authenticity of bronzes through words. At the weekly appraisal meeting, everyone expressed their opinions on the shape, name, age, authenticity, inscription and other issues of the artifact. Rong Geng often seriously argued with other experts: others said true, he said false; others said Shang Dynasty, he said Zhou Dynasty. Later, Rong Geng told people that he was not easy to argue, but just wanted to learn from the debate that others identified bronzes.
Rong Geng, like a fish in the water, plunged headlong into the vast ocean of cultural relics of the Forbidden City, and the field of research began to expand from ancient texts to ancient artifacts. His brother Rong Zhaozu wrote in the reminiscence article "The Biography of Rong Geng", saying, "The precious ancient artifacts and ancient artifacts of the Forbidden City are dazzling, rich like the ocean, which broadens the horizon of Rong Geng's antiquities research." These artifacts, like magnets, attracted his passion for research. ”
Since then, Rong Geng has even drilled into the study of bronze artifacts, and he has been unable to receive it. After identifying many bronzes with a mixture of authenticity and falsity, he successively compiled many works such as "Baoyunlou Yi Ware Catalogue" and "Wuyingdian Yi Ware Catalogue" to conduct unremitting research and research on bronzes. After that, he devoted 8 years to the study of Shang Zhou bronzes, and systematically and comprehensively compiled the "Shang Zhou Yi Instrument Examination".
This collection of masterpieces has made the study of bronze ware from the old epigraphy to the category of modern archaeology, and has been rated by the academic community as "a milestone in the history of bronze research". This book has also become a must-have book for bronze researchers.
Another influence of "Qing Palace Treasure Hunting" on Rong Geng was to open his life of collecting bronzes.
After being hired at Yenching University, his monthly salary rose a lot, and with the income from writing articles and printing books, Rong Geng had a lot more money. From time to time, Rong Geng's figure appears in the Liuli Factory in Beijing. Although he is not a big collector who spends thousands of dollars, among the utensils he buys, there are also many fine works such as Luan Shuyi, Yue Wang Sword, and Wang Cheng Zhou Ling.
The original starting point of Rong Geng's purchase of bronze ware was to provide physical materials for the study of ancient scripts and bronzes. As the collection increases, there are more and more interesting things that come with it, and Rong Geng is even more happy. There is a Han Dynasty bronze cup "broken mirror and reunion" story is the most talked about.
In 1931, Rong Geng found half a Han Dynasty bronze cup on an antique stall with the inscription "Cheng Undefeated Profit". Rong Geng did not understand his meaning, but bought it because of the unique shape of the residual cup and the exquisite decoration. A few months later, he visited the glass factory again and found the other half of the cup, with the word "Houshi" inscribed on it. Taken together, the two are the complete inscription: "Undefeated, Li Hou (Later) World". The clever timing and the auspicious meaning of the inscription make people lament that this is a "match made in heaven".
Recently. After the outbreak of the "918" incident, the Japanese army invaded and occupied the northeast, and the authorities' policy of non-resistance made patriots, including Rong Geng, angry. What makes Rong Geng even more distressed is that foreigners took advantage of the fire and looting to cause a large number of precious Chinese cultural relics to flow out. In order to save cultural relics from being lost, he even cut down on food and clothing, preferring to suffer hardships and to buy a large number of precious ancient books, calligraphy and paintings, bronzes, etc., hoping to help the country retain more national treasures with his own strength.
Middle-aged Rong Geng.
In the preface to the 1933 edition of the Catalogue of Song Zhai Ji Jin, he said: "The Shang Zhou Yi ware is not dared by the Han people, but looking around the Uchi, the gang is disturbed, the number of days is too much, the government cannot prohibit it, and there are museums that come out and buy them. Nothing also. These kinds of people will not go overseas, will they return to peace? Holding on to the shortcomings, but also the rest of the responsibility. He is a factory that has wandered from time to time, and he can buy it as much as he can, and take one or two in between. ”
After all, his own strength is limited. In 1934, in the residence of Rong Geng of Yenching University, Rong Geng initiated the organization of the establishment of an archaeological society, with members all over the country, covering epigraphers, antiquarians, field archaeologists, etc., becoming one of the most important academic groups in the field of archaeology at that time. Yung Founded the Archaeological Society, whose primary purpose was to preserve national antiquities from being lost.
In addition to the study and collection of bronzes, Rong Geng, as a paleographer, has purchased more than 10,000 rare books of ancient books, more than 1,200 pieces of calligraphy and paintings from past dynasties, and also contains nearly 1,000 pieces of oracle bones, gold and stone rubbings, cong ti, and celebrity letters. His profound academic cultivation makes him unique and unique in the collection of calligraphy and paintings, "people abandon me to take, to take the small and the big". Rong Geng likes to collect in series, and he likes to collect the works of the townspeople, sort out and study the literature of the township, and contribute to the inheritance and development of Dongguan's history and culture.
In his later years, Rong Geng adhered to the idea that "cultural relics are the public instruments of the country" and donated his life's collection to the country one after another. After his death, his relatives inherited his legacy and donated many of his collections to various collection institutions.
In 1956, 95 bronzes, 21 calligraphy and paintings, and a batch of bronzes and oracle bones excavated from Yin Ruins were donated to the Guangzhou Museum of Art in batches, totaling 1,083 pieces (sets).
In 1975, he donated 13 large oracle bones from the Institute of History of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
In 1980, he donated more than 130 boxes and more than 10,000 sets (volumes) of Jinshi scripts, calligraphy and paintings, ancient literature research books, rare books and rubbings, etc. to the library of Sun Yat-sen University.
In 1998, the family donated 460 cultural relics numbers such as rare books of ancient books, golden stone rubbings, celebrity rulers, correspondence, manuscript schoolbooks, engraved books, and manuscripts of Guangdong Province; the family donated a batch of cultural relics and ancient books to the Institute of Paleography of Sun Yat-sen University.
……
According to rough statistics, over the years, Rong Geng and his relatives have donated more than 200 bronzes, more than 1,200 paintings and calligraphy to the society, and more than 10,000 rare books and rare books, and the quality and quantity are breathtaking.
Rong Geng's daughter Rong Pu remembers her father saying to them, "These things were collected one by one, and finally became a system." After I left, everything returned with others. You want you to pick, but don't pick what's important. ”
"It's not easy to gather solid, but why is it difficult to disperse?" Instead of letting them be lost behind, it is better to dedicate it to the country in its entirety now, so that more people can make better achievements on the basis of their predecessors. Rong Geng said before he died.
When these antiquities were in his hands, they produced dazzling academic achievements. In his later years, he contributed the antiquities that he had worked hard to gather in order to let more people study them, so that these books and treasures could be turned into stars and light up people's way forward.
This is the pure feeling of a generation of collectors and cultural people.
"Rong Geng and Dongguan" exhibition prologue hall.
"Rong" returns to the hometown: the hometown behind him, the eternal pursuit
99 years ago, 28-year-old Rong Geng set out from Dongguan, Xiaoyi, Southern Yue, and resolutely embarked on the road to the north. Today, in his hometown of Dongguan, a series of themed exhibitions entitled "Rong Geng and Dongguan" are on display, telling the story of Rong Geng for posterity for more than 100 years.
"Academic cultural masters can only be cultivated in a specific cultural atmosphere. Deep family roots, a good growth environment, and rewards and promotions from governments and educational institutions are all indispensable conditions. Xia Heshun, the author of "Rong Geng's Beiping Diary", said that it is precisely because of the above conditions, especially benefiting from the reward measures of the dongguan local authorities to re-teach and revitalize education, rong Geng can stand out from a large number of students.
Growing up in Dongguan, Rong Geng was nourished by a deep cultural context here, laying a solid foundation for research. During his study in the north, Rong Geng has also benefited from the financial support of Dongguan Minglun Hall and the care of his fellow villagers in Dongguan.
Dongguan Minglun Hall was originally the place where the Xuegong lectured. During the Republic of China, Mingluntang actively participated in local affairs, especially strongly supported the cause of education. After the establishment of the new type of education, Mingluntang funded the establishment of 5 middle schools, funded more than 200 public and private schools in Dongguan Quanyi from kindergartens to normal schools, and also provided subsidies and scholarships for college and middle school students. A group of outstanding Guan students like Rong Geng were able to go to Beijing and study in foreign countries, and made many achievements in various fields.
The "Diary of Rong Geng's Beiping" records that rong geng and Rong Zhaozu were sponsored by the Minglun Hall in Dongguan when they were studying in Beijing, and even Rong Geng's eldest daughter Rong Huan was also funded when she went to college.
In the past 20 years in Yujing, Rong Geng has met many friends of good teachers and friends, and it is inseparable from the dongguan hometown friendship bond. The Dongguan Guild Hall in Rotten Man Hutong and the new Dongguan Hall on Shangxiao Street witnessed Rong Geng's meeting with relatives and friends, exchanging academics, and comings and goings between the country and the country. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Peiping fell, and the Rong Geng family lived in the dongguan new museum for more than four years, becoming a shelter for a hard time.
In 1946, at the age of 53, Rong Geng returned to Guangzhou and became a professor, head of the Department of Chinese Literature and editor-in-chief of the Lingnan Journal of Lingnan University. Since then, he has carefully cultivated talents, immersed himself in the study of calligraphy and painting, and compiled works such as "Cong Timu" and "Song Zhai Calligraphy and Painting Notes". He also actively contributed to his hometown of Dongguan, serving as a member of the Mingluntang Education Committee and contributing to the study of Dongguan's history and culture.
In 1983, Rong Geng left.
In the past 40 years, the hometown he has always cared about has a very different appearance.
The millennium Guanyi has given birth to countless literati and celebrities, including Rong Geng. Starting from the former residence of Rong Geng in Zhiting Street, Guancheng District, along the yo-yo East River, Dongguan's historical context and today's urban culture are skillfully merging. This "world factory", which is known to more people, has always been nourished by a long and profound context.
Yang Xiaotang, member of the Standing Committee of the Dongguan Municipal Party Committee and director of the Propaganda Department, said that as a young immigrant city that has entered the level of tens of millions of people and is moving towards trillions of GDP, Dongguan needs to study and sort out the historical context in more depth, so that citizens can recognize, identify with and inherit the foundation of the city, and coexist with the city. In Dongguan's "14th Five-Year Plan", it is also clearly proposed to vigorously develop cultural undertakings and cultural industries, and shape cultural advantages that match the urban status of the Bay Area.
In Dongguan Keyuan, one of the four major gardens in Lingnan, the theme series exhibition "Rong Geng and Dongguan" is exhibited here, where Mr. Rong Geng's old bronze ware full-shaped rubbing exhibition and Dongguan Tibetan RongGeng cultural relics exhibition are exhibited. Many spectators walked into the exhibition hall with curiosity and left with admiration and emotion.
"Rong Geng is a nutritious book, and we want more people to know him and remember him." Dong Hong, deputy director of the Dongguan Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism and Sports, said that he hopes to find the cultural roots of Dongguan that distinguishes it from other cities, so that Dongguan can shine with a cultural glow that matches its economic strength.