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Why did Xu Guozhang's English, which was a book in everyone's hand, sweep all over China

author:China Daily bilingual news
Why did Xu Guozhang's English, which was a book in everyone's hand, sweep all over China

In the past 70 years, the foreign language industry has been full of talents.

There are famous teachers Hongru who cultivate the world's peach and plum, there are translators who support cultural bridges, and there are linguists who devote their lives to the cause of dictionary compilation.

During the National Day, China Daily Bilingual News launched the "70 Years of Foreign Language People" series, telling the stories of people who have made important contributions to cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries and the development of foreign language education in the 70 years since the founding of New China.

Today we will learn the story of Mr. Xu Guozhang, a famous English educator and linguist.

Xu Guozhang

Why did Xu Guozhang's English, which was a book in everyone's hand, sweep all over China

"To learn English is to be lawless, to be fearless."

"People who learn foreign languages and engage in linguistics research should not circle themselves in the narrow world of only reading foreign languages, but must have a good foundation in traditional Chinese studies."

The simple and unpretentious two sentences condensed the essence of Xu Guozhang's lifelong study of English.

Why did Xu Guozhang's English, which was a book in everyone's hand, sweep all over China

As a well-known English educator, linguist and language philosopher in modern times, Xu Guozhang has made pioneering contributions to the cause of foreign language education and language research in China.

The university "English" textbook (i.e. "Xu Guozhang English"), which he edited, has been popular throughout the country since the early 1960s. In the early days of reform and opening up, this introductory textbook was extremely popular, which can be described as "one book for everyone".

Why did Xu Guozhang's English, which was a book in everyone's hand, sweep all over China

Xu Guozhang, editor-in-chief of "English"

Under such influence, the word "English" is linked to Xu Guozhang, and when English is mentioned, no one knows Xu Guozhang.

Diligently study chinese and Western

Born in 1915 in Haining, Zhejiang Province, Xu Guozhang was admitted to Jiaotong University in 1934 to study management; in 1936 he transferred to the Department of Foreign Languages of Tsinghua University; and in 1939 he studied in the Department of Foreign Languages of Southwest Union University.

Why did Xu Guozhang's English, which was a book in everyone's hand, sweep all over China

Source: Haining Daily

He spent the last two years of his university life with the Southwest United University through Nanyue, Mengzi and Kunming.

Why did Xu Guozhang's English, which was a book in everyone's hand, sweep all over China

Former site of the Southwest United Congress

At the Southwest United University, Xu Guozhang listened to Luo Changpei talk about linguistics, Qian Mu talked about Chinese history, Wu Mi talked about European classical literature, Jin Yuelin talked about "time and space in philosophy", Qian Zhongshu talked about the European Renaissance and contemporary literature, and also listened to William Empson comment on British and American prose and analyze poetry.

Why did Xu Guozhang's English, which was a book in everyone's hand, sweep all over China

Former Site of Changsha Bible School (Former Site of Southwest United University Changsha)

In his autobiography "Remembering the Student Era", he praised Mr. Qian Zhongshu's lectures with great praise.

"When Master Qian gave lectures, he was never satisfied with telling historical facts and analyzing famous works. Everything that is concrete, summarized and brought through, and dedicated to sorting out the ideological context, the history of literature is actually the history of ideas. ...... When a teacher gives a lecture, he must write a lecture, but he will never read it in the classroom. Not only are the sentences free and the expressions are free, but also the evil system is forbidden, and there is no length. ”

Why did Xu Guozhang's English, which was a book in everyone's hand, sweep all over China

Qian Zhongshu

Professor Wu Mi, who has been teaching for many years, still carefully prepares each lesson, which also makes him remember it deeply.

"Professor Wu Mi of the Department of Foreign Languages, who has been teaching European classical literature for many years, hastily traveled south, never brought books, told Homeric epics, walked in the woods every day, recalled chapter by chapter, and returned after doing every detail, seriously."

Why did Xu Guozhang's English, which was a book in everyone's hand, sweep all over China

Wu Mi

The knowledge he learned at Southwest United University deepened his understanding of Chinese and Western grammar. Later, he studied in England for two years, studying English literature in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Such a rich study experience and experience in different disciplines and fields have created Xu Guozhang, who has learned from the past and the present, and has studied in both China and the West.

Why did Xu Guozhang's English, which was a book in everyone's hand, sweep all over China

Xu Guozhang in his youth

Mr. Ji Xianlin commented on Xu Guozhang, saying that he was an outstanding scholar who was "profoundly accomplished, both Chinese and Western, and could absorb new theories of contemporary languages at any time".

A lifetime of research has been very fruitful

Foreign language education

Compiling the university 'English' textbook was the first major thing Xu Guozhang did after returning to China to teach.

Why did Xu Guozhang's English, which was a book in everyone's hand, sweep all over China

In the early 1960s, the reform of foreign language education was put on the agenda. However, there was no teaching material, no plan, no precedent, and everything was impossible to start.

With the practical need to "understand his own specialized business and handle his own business in foreign languages", he began to compile the university "English" textbook.

Why did Xu Guozhang's English, which was a book in everyone's hand, sweep all over China

Table of Contents of English

He taught himself English in high school, knowing that self-study is more convenient and popular, and large-scale foreign language education is not realistic for China, which has just opened up, and step by step is the most suitable way for Chinese people.

Therefore, the university's "English" textbook pays attention to practicality, pays special attention to listening and speaking training, and successfully leads the Chinese people into the door of learning English with the teaching method of "listening and speaking leading".

The "English" edited by him was first published by the Commercial Press in 1963, which was the first set of mature English textbooks in the history of New China, which has been used throughout the country for decades, not only for domestic English learners, but also for overseas students.

Why did Xu Guozhang's English, which was a book in everyone's hand, sweep all over China

English companion tape

Mr. Li Liangyou of Shanghai Foreign Language Education Publishing House once wrote:

"In the United States, I found that many people brought out of China had English textbooks edited by Xu Guozhang in the books they brought out. I occasionally wonder why I have traveled thousands of miles to carry this set of teaching materials? Answer: It seems that Xu Guozhang's practicality is still there. ”

Professor Gui Shichun of the Department of English of Guangdong University of Foreign Studies believes that the reason why the textbook can last for a long time is because it grasps two characteristics, one is to combine the actual situation in China, and the other is suitable for adults to study by themselves.

The proportion of "English" texts is not large, and various explanatory exercises occupy a large part. At that time, the number of foreign teachers in China's colleges and universities was limited, so it was necessary and effective for students to digest and absorb the vocabulary and expressions learned in the texts through translation and practice.

This way of writing is very creative, and it has been imitated by many textbooks in the future, and from this point of view, "English" is the first to open up the atmosphere.

Why did Xu Guozhang's English, which was a book in everyone's hand, sweep all over China

While focusing on foreign language education, Xu Guozhang also emphasized that to learn foreign languages well, you must first learn your mother tongue, and both are indispensable.

"Early (that is, primary and secondary school) to learn the ethnic language , that is, the mother tongue , early learning the grammar of the mother tongue, mastering a rich vocabulary of the mother tongue, early learning the basic knowledge of science and culture through the medium of the mother tongue is a reasonable education, but also the education that can most cultivate potential foreign language learners."

In addition, he took over as editor-in-chief of Foreign Language Teaching and Research. He attaches great importance to this Journal of Beiwai, personally organizes and reviews the manuscript, and even participates in the revision and revision.

Why did Xu Guozhang's English, which was a book in everyone's hand, sweep all over China

1984.04 Foreign Language Teaching and Research

The well-known Foreign Language Teaching and Research Publishing House (Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press) was born out of the editorial department of Foreign Language Teaching and Research.

In the 1990s, Li Pengyi, then president of the Foreign Research Agency, sincerely asked him to republish "English" at the Foreign Research Agency.

Why did Xu Guozhang's English, which was a book in everyone's hand, sweep all over China

Xu Guozhang and Li Pengyi

Li Pengyi recalled that at that time, Xu Guozhang expressed his willingness to compile another set of "New Compilation of Xu Guozhang English" for the Foreign Research Agency. However, the cycle of new textbooks is too long, so Li Pengyi suggested to him that he could add "introduction" in front of each chapter of "English" and then attach "self-study tutoring" to the back, so as to distinguish it from the original version.

In the end, Xu Guozhang went to the Commercial Press to negotiate, hoping to get the copyright back:

"The Foreign Research Institute is the publishing house of the university where I teach, and now I need my support. Besides, others are raising children to prevent aging, and I want to write a book to prevent aging. ”

Why did Xu Guozhang's English, which was a book in everyone's hand, sweep all over China

Xu Guozhang English Catalogue

In fact, he is not to earn a pension for the manuscript fee, although his manuscript fee is not cheap.

Most of his money is spent on sponsoring students and friends.

He lived all his life in the faculty dormitories outside the North. His son, Xu Zhengben, said that the bed where his parents slept for most of his life was actually made up of two single wooden beds, and all the furniture in the family also used for most of his life.

Why did Xu Guozhang's English, which was a book in everyone's hand, sweep all over China

The furniture used by Xu Guozhang during his lifetime

Xu Guozhang regarded his books as flesh and blood, and regarded the revision of Xu Guozhang's English as a lifelong task. When it was republished by the Foreign Research Agency, he carefully wrote each introduction.

His serious attitude towards the cause of foreign language education is the real "anti-aging".

Why did Xu Guozhang's English, which was a book in everyone's hand, sweep all over China

Linguistics and philosophy of language

Xu Guozhang's specialty was the study of English literature, but he was impressed by the lack of chinese and Chinese the theory of linguistics, and in the late 1960s he turned his research to linguistics.

His definition of language goes like this:

"Language is a symbol system peculiar to human beings, and when it acts on the relationship between people, it is the intermediary for expressing mutual reactions; when it acts on the relationship between man and the objective world, it is a tool for knowing things; when it acts on culture, it is the carrier and container of cultural information."

Why did Xu Guozhang's English, which was a book in everyone's hand, sweep all over China

1986 Gathering of Scholars in Linguistic Circles (from left: Ji Xianlin, Lü Shuxiang, Xu Guozhang, Zhou Youguang, Ma Xueliang)

His views on linguistic scholarship are unique and objective, and he is rarely influenced by the views of others.

Many people have read the preface to "Explaining Words", but Mr. Xu regards it as an encyclopedia. In order to understand the "Shuowen", he also enrolled in a cram school, and the words were interpreted in contrast.

He is a scholar of foreign Chinese, but his articles are often admired by Chinese language scholars, who jokingly call it "beating them on their own ground" (away win over home teams).

Why did Xu Guozhang's English, which was a book in everyone's hand, sweep all over China

"Xu Guozhang on Language"

At the same time, he also summarized his own set of language philosophy system, and at the age of 75, he completed the treatise "Xu Guozhang on Language". This is Xu Guozhang's culmination of 25 articles published between 1978 and 1990, covering many Western philosophical views on language.

Translation

Xu Guozhang not only studied foreign language education, dabbled in linguistics research, explored the philosophy of language, but also summarized his own translation methods.

He advocated the "interpretive translation" method, that is, the interpretation and labeling of the translation.

He worked and lived in Nanyue for three months by his teacher at the United Nations University, William Empson, and had great affection for Nanyue, writing a 234-line Long English poem "Autumn on Nan-Yueh", which specifically depicted the environment of Nanyue at that time, the scene of teaching and the style of students.

Why did Xu Guozhang's English, which was a book in everyone's hand, sweep all over China

Yan Busun

Xu Guozhang felt empathy for the poem and chose to translate several of them.

Using the "interpretive" method, he divides the translation into two steps: first, the translation, and then the annotations under each translation to explain the translation.

The souls aren’t lonely now; this room

Beds four and as I write holds two.

In the four-person room, the two professors will talk, talk, discuss, and there is no shortage of friends.

[Note] "Will be done": To deal with disasters with humor, intellectuals have this arrogance. "There is no shortage of friends", translated as "The souls aren't lonely now".

The abandoned libraries entomb

What all the lectures still go through.

The original library has been abandoned, and what is contained is analyzed one by one on the podium.

[Note] It is said that the Beijing collection of books has fallen into the hands of the enemy, but the connotation of the books is explained in the lecture hall as before. "Entomb" echoes the "abandoned" above, and points out the spirit of "still go through" below.

We teach a poem as it grew.

Remembering prose is quite a trouble

But of Mrs Woolf one tatter

Many years have failed to smother.

Poetry is easy to remember, prose is difficult to remember, Mrs. Wu's famous article, very good memories.

[Note] Yan taught Shakespeare opera, often abandoned books to recite, "poetry is easy to remember", this can be evidenced. Mrs. Woolf, Mrs. Virginia Woolf. Famous essay, one of the third year English anthologies of "The Patron and the Crocus" in the second volume of the Combon Reader.

His annotation is rigorous and serious, carefully marking his own translation of what he thinks, providing the background of writing, explaining the origin of the translation and commenting on the poem itself for future generations to think about and judge.

This method of "expository translation" is unique and provides new ideas for translation.

Friends are idle and peach and plum world

Xu Guozhang has such a nickname, called "Shelley".

This is because when he studied in England, he was particularly fond of the English poet Shelley, so his friends affectionately called him "Shelley".

Why did Xu Guozhang's English, which was a book in everyone's hand, sweep all over China

Shelley

He also emotionally commented on Shelley's poem "The Cloud", which was appreciative and objective, and this small comment was enough to reflect his writing skills and vividly express his "obsession" with Shelley:

"The words echo, the wind and clouds, I revere the song of the west wind; the clear and ethereal, the sound and shadow, I love the chapter of the lark; the rhythm is bright, the song is beautiful, and I only choose the song of "Cloud"."

Why did Xu Guozhang's English, which was a book in everyone's hand, sweep all over China

Over the rills, and the crags, and the hills,

Over the lakes and the plains, Wherever he dream, under mountain or stream,

The Spirit he loves remains;

And I all the while bask in Heaven’s blue smile,

Whilst he is dissolving in rains.

Over lakes, rivers, plains, over cliffs

and rolling hills,

Wherever he aspires, the elves he loves

Always at the bottom of the mountain, in the water;

Although he would dissolve in the rain, I always did

Bathed in a sky blue smile.

——Excerpt from "Clouds" (translated by Jiang Feng)

Mr. Xu Guozhang is a true scholar, but he is also an ordinary person.

He was approachable and amiable in life.

For young Chinese scholars, his experience is that "without money, you can't do cultural work." He pays out of his own pocket for his students to buy books, and if they don't receive them, he gives them away. He spared no effort to cultivate their "true skills".

Why did Xu Guozhang's English, which was a book in everyone's hand, sweep all over China

Xu Guozhang and his wife Huang Huairen and his students

His student Ho Naturally recalled:

"He told me to be wary of 'monkeys and crowns' at all times. As a scholar, we must always be modest and cautious, and we must not 'crown the city and be laughed at by the intellectuals'. 'Pretending is not as good as hiding', this is a quality that must be possessed in doing learning. ”

Whether it is for academia or for the whole world, Xu Guozhang has great tolerance and curiosity.

Why did Xu Guozhang's English, which was a book in everyone's hand, sweep all over China

In December 1990, at the age of 75, Xu Guozhang told everyone at the Chinese English Teaching Research Conference held at Tsinghua University:

"I am seventy-five years old this year, and I am still reading new books with great interest, absorbing new knowledge, new ideas every day, and enjoying the joy of intellectual enhancement."

But time has not given Xu Lao more length, measuring this ever-changing world.

On September 11, 1994, Xu Guozhang unfortunately died of illness at the age of 79.

Why did Xu Guozhang's English, which was a book in everyone's hand, sweep all over China

Statue of Xu Guozhang

In this life, he treated others sincerely, modestly disciplined himself, frank and frank, and was full of love for academics and life.

Elder Xu wrote in his autobiography:

Every spring and summer, imitate the old law of the season, sleep at nine o'clock, get up at four o'clock, read until seven o'clock, eat a little, write until ten o'clock, and are not very tired.

In autumn, in the small courtyard in front of the house, there are two clusters of chrysanthemums, each with four or five hundred flowers, and there are friends in the south garden, and He Worries sits alone.

Among the friends, there are many things that are the same, and it is especially fortunate that the people who are the opposite of the three corners are lucky.

Reading, writing, meeting friends, discussing, "picking chrysanthemums under the eastern fence, leisurely seeing the South Mountain", this simple, simple and fulfilling life is the portrayal of Xu Lao's life.

Editor/Writer Zuo Zhuo Zhao Xuan (Intern)

Broadcast/Editing Ma Yimin (Intern) Xiong Shiyu (Intern)

Planned by Zuo Zhuo and Tang Xiaomin

Resources:

"Mr. Xu Guozhang's Commemorative Essays"

Haining City Museum

Xu Guozhang's autobiography "Remembering the Student Era"

Why did Xu Guozhang's English, which was a book in everyone's hand, sweep all over China

China Daily bilingual news

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