Mr. Fan Wenlan
On January 16, 2019, Zhu Hong published in the China Reading Daily "Did Fan Wenlan give up the theory of expelling Buddhism in his later years?" on November 9, 2015, I questioned the part of fan lao's Buddhist theory in the article "Ten Years of Thoughts on the Teacher's Origin - Reading wujiang manuscripts" and others published in Wenhui Reading Weekly on November 9, 2015. The reason why I did not reply immediately is because Zhu Wen quoted all the arguments and arguments of the humble text on Fan Lao's theory of Buddhism in its entirety in the first part; in the second and sixth parts, it repeatedly analyzed the main thrust of the humble text, and wishfully speculated on Fan Lao's words and deeds, but could not put forward strong evidence. The third, fourth, fifth, seventh, and eighth parts, on the basis of Zhao Pu's (chu) lao's nine completely repetitive conversations between 1984 and 1998, speculate on Fan Lao's remorse -
He had never read Buddhism before, and the part of the General History of China that he wrote about criticizing Buddhism was written by someone else, because he had not read Buddhism, so he did not write it, and asked others to write it, and then he read Buddhism himself... As a historian, he believed that he had to make up classes to read Buddhism and write notes. (Zhu Wenzhi 5)
Emperor Wu of Liang was great, Mr. Fan Wenlan scolded Emperor Wu of Liang in the history books, and later he admitted that it was not right. Fan Wenlan said that he did not understand Buddhism, and that the things involving Buddhism were written by others, which was what Mr. Fan Wenlan himself said. (Zhu Wenzhi 4)
Mr. Fan Wenlan's abandonment of the viewpoint of comprehensively "expelling Buddhism" in the early days of the "Cultural Revolution" can be described as "committing crimes against the wind" and breaking through the barriers of the "ultra-left" political environment. (Zhu Wenzhi 8)
Zhu Wenyang wrote a full page, in fact, two thousand words can be explained clearly. The only basis for his above-mentioned assertions is Zhao Pulao's repetitive conversations, and the only basis for these conversations is the fragmentary words in the two letters written by Zhou Jian (Ren) to Zhao Pulao more than ten years after the so-called Fan and Zhou talks. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary to publish the original two letters of Zhou Jianlao. Of course, even if the full text is published, it is still a lone evidence.
When I participated in the review of the Qu Qiubai case of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection in 1979, I consulted the ninety-year-old Zhou Jianlao (born in 1889) in person, and his daughter Zhou Ye was always by his side. When they learned that I had worked in the General History Group of the Institute of Modern History, they talked about Fan Lao's friendship with them before his death, but they did not talk about Fan Lao's "change" of Buddhism. Zhou Jianlao gave me the impression that his memory was declining, and he often did not know clearly about personnel, places, and time, and most of them were supplemented or corrected by Zhou Ye. The two letters written by Zhou Jianlao to Zhao Pulao should be at the same time or later (according to Zhu Wen, Zhao talked about this letter as early as September 1984). The credibility of the two letters is not guaranteed, not to mention that the credibility of the two letters is to be discounted.
I don't think Zhou Jianlao's understanding of Fan Lao's historical thought (including his understanding of Buddhism) will be more deeper, more comprehensive and more accurate than that of his colleagues who have long followed Fan Lao's compilation of the Compendium of General History of China, such as Wang Chongwu, Wang Zhong, Cai Meibiao, Zhang Zunluo, Wang Qiyu, Bian Xiaoxuan, Yu Yuan'an, Yu Songqing, Pan Ruxuan, and so on. Although I arrived late in the General History Group and had little contact with Elder Fan, I knew better than Zhou Jianlao in the early days of the Cultural Revolution. Mr. Li Xin was the head of the General History Group at that time, and Fan Lao was transferred from Chinese Min University to assist in the revision of history, and there was nothing between them. If Fan Lao's understanding of Buddhism had changed, from the buddha to the praise of the Buddha, it would never have been possible to keep a secret from Li Xin and his colleagues in the general history group. In the summer of 1968, after Li Na conveyed to Fan Lao's instructions to Ask Fan Lao to continue writing the Compendium of the General History of China, Fan Lao ru had given up the theory of expelling Buddhism, let alone concealed his new views, and let his assistants continue his "mistakes" in dispelling Buddha; "In July 1969, Fan Lao was seriously ill and hospitalized, and still consulted with comrades in the hospital about future preparation plans" (Cai Meibiao, "Recalling Fan Lao's Four Principles of Study", "Looking Back at Yijiazi" compiled by the Institute of Modern History, Social Science Literature Publishing House, 2010 edition, p. 754). However, he did not talk about the remorse and revision of the Buddhist theory. If the assistants already knew that Fan Lao had the meaning of "wrong", but still retained the original appearance of the Buddha in the subsequent editions of the general history, it was not easy to say a word, how unbearable would it be, why did they face the deceased Fan Lao, why did they face the vast number of readers, and why did they face Chairman Mao Zedong, who was regarded by Fan Lao as the "saint of heaven" and had always paid attention to the continuation of the general history?! May I ask Mr. Zhu Hong, is this "very normal"?
Fan Wenlan's Compendium of General History of China
As for Zhao Pulao's assertion that the Buddhist part of the Compendium of General History of China was not written by Fan Lao, but written by others, it is even more inexplicable to add the theory of Buddhism to Fan Lao. He repeatedly said that this was "Mr. Fan Wenlan's own words" and "and wrote notes". None of Fan Lao's assistants heard what Fan Lao said, and these "notes" were not seen in the writings left by Fan Lao after his death (Fan Lao's manuscripts, stored in the Archives of the Institute of Modern History). What else can people say about these colorful remarks in Zhu Wen other than using the four words "sub-fiction" to judge them? It is not known whether Zhu Hong read the third part of Fan Lao's Compendium of General History of China when constructing these statements. If he had read it, he should have seen the following text written by Fan Lao in April 1965 -
The first and second verses of the seventh chapter of this book (Part III) (that is, the two sections on Buddhism - the author) are the two sections that Comrade Zhang Zunluo spent five or six years of hard work to classify and record millions of Buddhist materials, and I have the basis to write these two sections. (Fan Wenlan, "Compendium of General History of China", Volume III, Volume I, Revised Edition, People's Publishing House, 1965, Page 2)
This passage unmistakably indicates that the two sections of Buddhism in the Compendium of General History of China were written by Fan Lao himself on the basis of the million-word information provided by Zhang Zunluo. In the face of the diametrically opposed statements of Elder Fan and Elder Zhao Pu, it is self-evident what kind of judgment people should make. If, according to Zhao Pulao's view, the Buddhist part was not written by Fan Lao but was written by someone else, then this person should be None other than Zhang Zunluo.
However, this possibility is not. There are two reasons: First, the highly respected Fan Lao will not plunder the beauty of others for his own use, and Fan Lao understands in the publication notes that Zhang Zunluo is the provider and arranger of information, not the writer. Second, Zhang Zunluo was the great-grandson of Zhang Zhidong, a high-ranking official at the end of the Qing Dynasty, and his wife Wang Xiandian was the great-granddaughter of Wang Yirong, a famous minister who committed suicide and martyrdom when the Eight-Nation Alliance invaded Beijing. Zhang Zunluo's old roots are deep and talented. In his youth, he was beautiful and graceful, generous and righteous, willing to be kind and charitable, jealous and hateful, and had strong feelings of family and country. But after the Ding Revolution, the political movements have completely changed. Low eyebrows, cautious, words and deeds often with a frightening look, leaving little writing. (See Li Daxing, "Behind the Robe of Life", Sanlian Bookstore, 2017 edition, pp. 144, 196) During political studies, he occasionally spoke, mostly following the wind. Obviously, the Buddhist writing in Fan Laotong's history is not almost the handwriting of Mr. Zhang who is a man with his tail between his legs.
Mr. Li Shu was an articleist, and before his death, he repeatedly praised Fan Lao's historical writing and style, saying that "Fan Lao's general history is written smoothly and vividly, making people love to read, especially the cultural parts of the Tang Dynasty, especially Buddhism, and the deep truth is written in plain and easy to understand words, which few people can write." ("Interview with Mr. Jiang Dachun", "Looking Back at Yijiazi", p. 452) If the reader carefully reads the Compendium of the General History of China, he will believe that the profound, thick, clear, eloquent, confident, and humorous words are not substituted by other people's words. The theory of Buddhism, in particular, highlights the enlightenment, criticality, and the sharpness of personality and the power of determination in the writings of Fan Lao as a revolutionary and scholar; from the style of writing to the collection of words, the two sections on Buddhism are in line with the texts of the previous and subsequent chapters, in one go, the clouds flow, without any delay, where will there be others to insert the pen?!
July 29, 2019, is the 50th anniversary of Fan Lao's death, and I would like to use this article as a tribute to Fan Lao's heart and eternal nostalgia.
Author: Chen Tiejian Editor-in-Chief: Xue Weiping Responsible Editor: Jin Jiuchao