Text/Jiang Lan
In March 2012, I went to the "Fuhe Zhuyuan" community on the edge of Zhulin Village in Chengdu and interviewed Professor Yang Wuneng, a well-known Translator of German literature.
The old man was very talkative, recalling his life when he entered Nanjing University in early 1957: "At that time, the German major, which was only a hundred teachers and students, had its own German library. The collection of books filled the two large classrooms on the ground floor of the Southwest Building, which was really a treasure trove of knowledge with an open door, and I seemed to have inadvertently walked into the treasure mountain of the fairy tale. What's even more amazing is that this treasure mountain even has a dwarf who acts as a guard! Don't look at this person is short, but he is very powerful, not only knows the treasure he holds, but also dutifully, always sticks to his position when he is open and borrowing, and can answer the questions of teachers and students one by one.
Since the second semester of my second year, I have been dealing with this little old man almost every week, receiving his services and help. At first, I was both lamented and glad that the university I had entered was really a place where dragons and crouching tigers were hidden. Only later did I learn that this old gentleman, who was not proud of his appearance and was cautious in his words and deeds, was actually Chen Quan, a university scholar and a great writer who was one of the masters of Germanic studies in our country. The librarian received his ph.D. from Kiel University in Germany as early as 1931, four years before Yang Wuneng's supervisor, Mr. Feng Zhi.
Chen Quan
Maybe they are all Sichuanese, Chen Quan is very concerned about Yang Wuneng, the Dragon Gate Array is happy, and occasionally mentions Sichuan shadow puppetry.
Shudi shadow puppetry, also known as "shadow drama" and "lamp shadow play", has a number of simple and simple rhymes of Eastern Han stone carvings, which flourished in the Qing Dynasty. Shadow puppetry is divided into east and west roads, the east road is distributed in the mountains of eastern Sichuan and northern Sichuan, and is commonly known as "Weinan Shadow" by the locals, which refers to the reason why it came from Weinan in Shaanxi. The shadow humanoid system is mostly straight and finely carved, made of cowhide leather, and the height of the body is about 30 cm. The West Road is distributed in The Damzi of Western Chuanxi, and the shadow figure is influenced by the northern shadow puppet, which is generally about 60 cm high. Chengdu people are commonly known as "Chengdu lamp shadow", and the subdivision has two categories: "paper lamp shadow" and "leather lamp shadow". The figure is huge, the largest up to 70 to 80 centimeters, and its characteristics are generous in shape and changeable in combination. "Chengdu Lantern Shadow" has gorgeous costumes, handsome faces and is more realistic. It is reasonable to say that shadow puppetry belongs to the Riba people all the way, and it is not expected that it has already attracted the attention of a group of university students.
Ren Naiqiang, a famous historian in Sichuan, had an indissoluble relationship with the "Shadow of Weinan"; before him, it was Chen Quan, a famous writer, dramatist, sino-German comparative literature expert, and the core figure of the "Warring States Policy School". The "Warring States Policy School" is a cultural group formed in the 1940s by the Southwest United University and a group of professors in Yunnan. In addition to Chen Quan, there were also Lin Tongji, Lei Haizong, He Yongyi, Hong Siqi, Wang Ganyu and others.
Chen Quan (1903-1969) was a native of Fushun County. Graduated from Sichuan Provincial No. 1 Middle School (now Chengdu Shude Xiejin Middle School), was admitted to Tsinghua University, studied at Abilene University in the United States, and then studied at Kiel University in Germany, and obtained a doctorate. After returning to China, he taught at Wuhan University, Tsinghua University, Southwest Union University, and Tongji University. After 1949, he became a professor at Fudan University and the director of the German Language Department of Nanjing University. He was one of the four talents of Tsinghua (Zhang Yinlin, Li Changzhi, Qian Zhongshu, and Chen Quan), and died of illness in 1969.
From left: Zhang Yinlin, He Lin, Chen Quan
"Sino-German Literature Studies" is a doctoral dissertation in literature written by Chen Quan at the University of Kiel in Germany in 1934, which for the first time comprehensively and systematically sorted out and studied the influence of Chinese pure literature on German literature, systematically sorted out and studied the history of the influence of Chinese pure literature on German literature, and specifically demonstrated the influence of ancient Chinese novels, dramas and lyric poetry on German novels, dramas and lyric poetry. The book is divided into five chapters: Introduction, Novel, Drama, Lyric Poem, and General. The introduction section defines the concept of pure literature, clarifies the guiding theory and purpose of academic research, and clarifies the historical background and research time limit of the influence of Pure Chinese Literature on German literature. Because Hu Shi had a contradiction with Chen Quan's teacher Wu Mi and hated Wu and Wu, he expressed great disdain in his diary: "Looking at Chen Quan's "Studies in Chinese and German Literature", this book is very inferior, and Wu Mi's proud students are so useless!" And laughed at Chen Quan for not knowing that the author of "Journey to the West" was Wu Cheng'en! This is a good example of the so-called liberals' open-mindedness.
This book even lists more than 2,000 words of "German Scholars' Research on Chinese Lantern and Shadow Drama", which analyzes the translation and introduction of Chinese lantern and shadow drama by Scholars such as Wei Lixian, Volk, and Yakbu, which is also the pioneering work involving the study of sinologist shadow puppetry in the works of Chinese at that time.
Germany's Hun Si Lou pointed out in "People's Theater": "When talking about the source of sound films, we cannot but worship Chinese film dramas and be the originators of the mountains. "The inventor of silhouette animation, Lot Reinigel of Germany, began to study the art of Chinese shadow puppetry at the beginning of the 20th century, and under his inspiration, he shot the first long-length animation film. Shadow puppetry also provides favorable conditions for the creation and development of Chinese paper-cut films. Xu Zhifu, a librarian at the Sichuan Provincial Research Museum of Culture and History, pointed out in "Chen Quan in the Anti-Japanese Salvation Movement" that in 1931, chen Quan, who was 28 years old at the time, met Professor Yakbu of the university while studying at Kiel University. Given that shadow puppetry is a wonderful window into China, Professor Jacob would like to have access to first-hand shadow puppetry materials from China. He often invited Chen Quan to come to his home for a gathering and inquire about the relevant situation. Chen Quan did his best, and when he did not know, he wrote a letter back to China to inquire, and entrusted people to buy props and Sichuan scripts about the lantern and shadow drama in Chengdu, which made Professor Yakbu feel very happy when he entered Baoshan. He proposed to study light and shadow drama with Chen Quan, which also opened Chen Quan's theater career and laid a rich foreshadowing for the future creation of the sensational "Wild Rose".
In November 1932, Chen Quan received a set of lantern and shadow plays sent from Chengdu by his fourth brother Chen Yongnan. How to show the essence of Chinese culture to the Germans? Chen Quan decided to direct the shadow puppet play himself. The material sent was the shadow puppet of the two plays "Hitting the Golden Branch" and "Borrowing an Umbrella", Chen Quan translated the story into German and performed it, and dozens of scholars watched this original Chinese shadow puppet and were greatly addicted. The next day, the city's newspaper published Chen Quan's opening speech and stills. This is Chen Quan's first time as a director, and it can also be regarded as his cattle knife test. In "The Study of Chinese Lantern and Shadow Drama by German Scholars", Chen Quan modestly attributes this achievement to the Special Institute of Literature and Drama of Keel University, without mentioning himself.
At the beginning of 1934, Chen Quan returned to China by boat and immediately entered the education circle, but his shadow puppetry research did not stop. In July 1935, he wrote a short treatise entitled "Jacob:", which was published in the Journal of Tsinghua. Such an article is epoch-making and is still the empty valley footnote of an era.
In 1941, his four-act play "Wild Rose" was staged in Chongqing. Who could have predicted that this would almost become a trap dug for him by the times, and the evil words of "han traitor literature" drowned out the path of philosophers, thus turning into a journey of eternal doom. After 1949, his pen name was actually changed to "Chen Zhengxin", but it did not reduce the size of the top hat on the head. Under great mental pressure, this Nietzschean believer finally died on January 31, 1969, at the age of 66...
I remember that it was the Spring Festival in 2012, and I searched for Mr. Chen Quan's grave next to Taihu Lake without success. Looking at the vast surface of the water, I felt that Chen Quan could leave with the chivalrous guests, the national hero Han Shizhong Liang Hongyu, and the holy daughter Lin Zhao to live with the water, perhaps just by chance. Life is like a shadow puppet play, we are all pulled by the line to complete our lives, and the additional honors after death are like water shadows, good-looking, but can't afford a bunch. Therefore, after studying the drama of a lifetime, we must understand this simple truth, as Chen Quan said in his later years: "To make a good stage, we must observe real life, and life and the stage are inseparable." ”
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