In the study of learning, his heart is also sincere, and his ambition is also firm
——From "My Father Gu Jiegang", I saw my relatives write scholars
"My Father Gu Jiegang" by Gu Chao by China Encyclopedia Publishing House
In March 1979, Gu Jiegang and his wife Zhang Jingqiu. The pictures in this article are selected from "My Father Gu Jiegang"
In April 1975, he took a group photo with his old friend in Ye Shengtao's apartment (front row from left: Gu Jiegang and Wang Boxiang; rear row from left: Ye Shengtao, Zhang Yuanshan, Yu Pingbo).
Ancient History Discernment, vols. 1 to 7
The first volume of the Ancient History Discernment is a self-prologue manuscript
Editor's Note
Mr. Gu Jiegang deserves to be a giant in the history of modern Chinese historiography. In the past, when we talked about him, we often relished the large academic garden he had opened up and his work in the field of historical research. Although in Mr. Gu's own writings, we can see his memories of his grandmother, grandfather, childhood, and youth, after all, these experiences are fragments of his life, not the content of academic history research. Through Ms. Gu Chao's masterpiece, we can vividly and completely understand Mr. Gu's undulating life. This book allows us to see a more vivid character, a real flesh and blood historian.
We have read many biographies of various scholars, and these biographies that tell the life experience and academic career of scholars are undoubtedly an important reference for us to study academic history and understand history. Among the biographies of many scholars, there are fewer and fewer masterpieces written by relatives, and Ms. Gu Chao's "My Father Gu Jiegang" is one of the best. This book depicts the father of a historian from the perspective of a daughter, which is particularly rare in the richness of the material, the delicacy and uniqueness of the perspective, and the objective and unbiased position. This book not only enables readers who are not familiar with Mr. Li to know his teaching and personality, but also shows many unknown details of Mr. Li's life, so that experts and insiders can better understand Mr. Wang's ups and downs.
An academic history that transcends personal feelings
In China's modern academic history, Mr. Gu Jiegang is undoubtedly a central figure. Mr. Gu's historical research, represented by the "Ancient History Discernment" movement led by him and the seven volumes of "Ancient History Discernment", directly contributed to the structural shift from traditional scholarship to modern scholarship and laid the foundation for modern Chinese historiography. At the same time, Mr. Gu has a wide range of interests and maintains a strong curiosity throughout his life, in addition to the historical research such as classics, Shangshu studies, ancient historiography, and historical geography, which he regards as "the true color of the practice", Mr. Gu can also be said to be the first in the fields of folklore, ancient mythology, storytelling, religion, ethnology, and frontier geography. To this day, whether it is history, folklore or literature, our academic research in various disciplines is still inseparable from the nourishment of Mr. Wang's writings.
In fact, in addition to Mr. Gu Jiegang, there are hu shi, Qian Mu, Fu Sinian, Lu Simian, Chen Yinke and other people, but we have to admit that among these people, Mr. Gu is very special. His peculiarity is not only manifested in his maverick and untamed temperament, but also in the fact that Gu Jiegang has such a close connection with Chinese history itself in the past hundred years—as an ancient historian, he has been honored and humiliated by political and social turbulence in his life. Of course, in a sense, Mr. Li also participated in the shaping of history: historians interpret history, and historical concepts affect the future development trend of the nation, and Mr. Wang's "ancient history theory caused by layers" and the "ancient history discernment" movement triggered by Mr. Li undoubtedly profoundly changed the way the Chinese nation identified with ancient history in modern times. It can be said that if we understand Gu Jiegang, we can understand half of the historiography of the Republic of China, and we can understand the history of the more than one hundred years from the end of the Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China to the reform and opening up of New China.
Ms. Gu Chao is the daughter of Mr. Gu Jiegang, since the sudden death of Mr. Gu Jiegang in 1980, Gu Chao began to sort out Mr. Gu's manuscripts, diaries, and letters, and it is naturally most appropriate for her to tell mr. Gu Jiegang's life. In "My Father Gu Jiegang", Gu Chao shows some fragments of Mr. Gu's personal diaries and letters, and also reveals a considerable number of mr. Wang's unknown real situations of life, especially some details that only his relatives who accompany him day and night know, such as how Mr. Gu struggled to cure his studies in his old age, what unfinished research work has been remembered, etc., which are the first-hand materials for our study of academic history. What is even more precious is that Gu Chao remembers his father as a daughter, and it is not difficult to imagine his deep affection, but when we open this "My Father Gu Jiegang", we can only read the calm and restraint of the story. With a bystander's vision, Gu Chao tells the honors and humiliations, twists and turns, and experiences of Gu Jiegang's life as objectively and comprehensively as possible, which makes this book transcend the barriers of private emotions and become a masterpiece of academic history with important reference value.
A three-dimensional history of the interaction between scholarship and life
The greatest value of Mr. Gu Jiegang in the history of scholarship should lie in the fact that he contributed to the revolution in the study of the old classics and in his skeptical concept of "the theory of ancient history caused by layers". Of course, we can trace the academic context from the perspective of academic history, and trace Mr. Gu's research methods and academic concepts to the song people's doubtful antiquity or the Qing people's examination of evidence, but we must also see the unique life experience has a great impact on Mr. Gu's approach to governance. For example, in the preface to the first volume of the famous "Ancient History Discernment", Mr. Li talked about the influence of grandparents' upbringing on his academic path when he was young, but the life scattered in Mr. Li's articles and diaries was after all fragmentary and unsystematic. Gu Chao's "My Father Gu Jiegang", from mr. Gu Jiegang's childhood to the end of his life, presents the experience of various stages of mr. Gu's life in a panoramic way, and compares mr. life with his studies, so that readers can more clearly understand that friends, relatives, and daily chai rice oil and salt, which belong to the "part" of Mr. Gu's living world, how to act on the "part" of Mr. Wang's scholarship.
Mr. Gu Jiegang was born in 1893 in Suzhou to a family of scholars, and was taught literacy by his grandfather when he was still in Tibao, and at the age of six or seven, he was able to read concise ancient books, which can be seen in his old learning skills. His grandmother was a wise and stern old-fashioned woman who was good at telling folk tales, and in addition to nurturing him and giving him meticulous care, she also cultivated his love for the culture of the people. The upbringing of his grandparents in his early years had a lasting impact on his husband throughout his life. In 1913, Mr. Gu first left his hometown to study in Beijing, and graduated from university in 1920, during which time Mr. Gu not only came into contact with old masters such as Zhang Taiyan and Wang Guowei, but also became acquainted with hu Shi and other scholars of the new school who returned from overseas and brought Western, so-called "scientific" academic theories back to China. When he was in Beijing, the young gentleman also had a year to linger in the opera garden to listen to the play, and it was when listening to the good plays of the historical figures that the gentleman accidentally "touched an opportunity, so he suddenly got a new eye and a special understanding of ancient history", and only then did he have the idea that ancient history may be written in layers like a drama story. In 1922, Mr. Qian Xuantong published "On ancient history books with Mr. Qian Xuantong" in the "Reading Magazine", and for the first time openly put forward the view of "ancient Chinese history caused by layers", and a major historical earthquake officially came.
During the relatively peaceful years of Mr. Wang's youth, Mr. Li's academic work was mainly based on "distinguishing falsifications" and "doubting the ancient", which was also the purpose of Mr. Li's lifelong academic work. After the "918" incident, the subjugation of the country was imminent, and Mr. Gu's academic research was inspired by the sense of mission of "saving the dead and trying to survive" and turned to the study of frontier geography.
It can be said that since his youth, Mr. Li has almost changed his life in the great changes of current events, first Peking University, then Xiamen University, then Sun Yat-sen University, then Yenching University, then Yunnan University, and then moved to Qilu University in Chengdu, and then Lanzhou University... Going back and forth between several universities far apart, there was hardly a stable life of more than two years. It is conceivable that in that historical background, how the gentleman dragged his family and mouth, carrying a heavy book box and running for his life. However, although he could not always have a stable desk, although he often had a difficult livelihood and could not support his family, and even lived in the city where the shells were bombarded, and heard the shells blowing in his ears, Mr. Li never changed his heart of governance. Gu Chao recalled in "My Father Gu Jiegang" that in her memory, her father was always an image of reading and writing on a desk. Mr. Gu's honesty in his heart and the firmness of his ambition really make my generations learn.
The history of academic conferral passing down the torch
Although Mr. Gu Jiegang has supernatural talent, he is not arrogant and arrogant to others, not only the peers and juniors engaged in academic research, as long as they are people who pray for knowledge from Mr. Gu, Mr. Gu does his best to meet their needs. Among the young students, Mr. Li has a great reputation, among the students who have been discovered and cultivated by Mr. Yang Xiangkui, Tong Shuye, Liu Qilu, Tan Qijun, Shi Nianhai, Xu Wenshan, an expert in the "History of History", Zhu Shijia, an expert in the study of Zhifangzhi, and even Qian Mu, who was introduced by Mr. Wang... Most of the giants of modern Chinese historiography were taught or promoted by Mr. Gu. These young students surrounded Mr. Li and formed a group of living forces that "continued to learn for the sake of the saints". The story between mr. Li and the disciples has always been enjoyed by the academic community, and the details of these teacher-student friendships are also vividly displayed in Gu Chao's "My Father Gu Jiegang".
His life has been tortuous in several universities and cultural institutions, and everywhere he goes, whether it is Sun Yat-sen University, Yenching University, Yunnan University, Qilu University, Lanzhou University, etc., he has been admired and followed by young students. For example, when Mr. Lanzhou University was lecturing, the narrow classroom was full, and some students who should have returned home from vacation had to listen to Mr. Li's lectures even if they were stranded at school. He treats young students with a family heart and is absolutely not selfish. When he taught his students, he never read the textbook and asked them to transcribe the class notes and memorize the things, but inspired them to read books and find problems from the books. Liu Qimin, who had been taught by Mr. Yu, recalled that in his first year of college, Mr. Gu asked him to punctuate the "Ancient Wen Shang Shu", but he just punctuated according to the interpretation of the "Biography of Kong", and Mr. Gu smiled after reading it, and asked him to look at other school books, Liu Qimin suddenly realized that Mr. Gu was inducing him to take the road of self-study, not to believe in the book, to find problems from the book. Later, Liu Qimin did indeed become an expert in the study of the Book of Shang. Mr. Gu taught everyone who asked him for advice, regardless of their background and skills. In 1965, when Mr. Gu was recuperating in the Xiangshan Sanatorium in his later years, there were no reference books around him, and He Qijun, who lived with him, was interested in ancient history, Mr. Yang talked about it, and Mr. Gu actually briefly told him a concise "Introduction to Chinese Historiography" from beginning to end. This book later escaped the fire and was compiled and published by He Qijun, which is really a clear proof of Mr. Gu's heart to preach and teach karma.
In 1947, Mr. Gu said in the "Re-publication Speech" for the "Magazine of Literature and History": "We are all people who serve the cultural circles, and our lives will always end one day, and it is not worth too much nostalgia, but the wax torch of this culture must always be lit in no matter how difficult the environment, so that the widows or their descendants can accept this tradition." What is this tradition? It is our national spirit and the foundation of the founding of the country. "Taking one's own body as a wax torch, burning up one's life to continue the tradition and establish a family and country, this is the fundamental reason why Mr. Gu loves and cherishes talents and cultivates later learning."
At the end of the book, Gu Chao recounts the situation when his father died: Mr. Jie Gang is still reading the Thirteen Commentaries on the Thirteen Classics as usual, with notes for markings in the book, and his diary for the month has long been filled with dates- the thinker who never knows to stop thinking has suddenly passed away! He still has many wishes that have not yet been fulfilled, his study of the Book of Shang, his work of distinguishing the falsification of ancient history, and his wish to compile twenty-four histories of punctuation, too much. When Gu Chao wrote this book, he did not so much miss his father as he reminded my generation: Mr. Gu Jiegang, with the weak body of a literati, can still "go through the flames of a bomb" and "never lose his mind through the end of the disaster", and his unfinished ambition is waiting for my generation to be completed.
(Author: Wang Xuedian, Vice President of the International Federation of Confucianism, Executive Dean of the Institute for Advanced Study of Confucianism, Shandong University, and Editor-in-Chief of Wenshizhe Magazine)
Source: Guangming Daily