(Vientiane History Special Author: Ling Kongzi)
Luo Zhenyu: The "traitor" master of the Republic of China who studied oracle bones, found Yin Ruins, and protected Dunhuang
On August 8, 1866, Luo Zhenyu was born in Huai'an, Jiangsu Province, No. Xuetang, whose ancestral home was Shangyu, Zhejiang. Luo Zhenyu has been brilliant since childhood, familiar with the history of the Bible, and loves gold and stone. At the age of 16, Luo Zhenyu passed the Xiucai examination, but later failed to pass the examination, so he taught private schools in the countryside.
In 1894 (at the age of 28), after China's defeat in the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War, he was deeply shaken and believed that only by learning from the West could he strengthen the country, first and foremost developing agriculture.
(Young Luo Zhenyu)
In 1896 (at the age of 30), Luo Zhenyu came to Shanghai and founded China's first modern agricultural society and agricultural newspaper museum, translating a large number of modern Japanese agricultural books. In 1898, he founded the Tohoku Literary Society, inviting Japanese people to teach and cultivate talents. The famous master of traditional Chinese studies, Wang Guowei, was a student of the society.
(Agronomy Series edited by Luo Zhenyu)
In 1900 (at the age of 34), Luo Zhenyu was invited by Zhang Zhidong, the governor of Huguang, to serve as the premier of the Hubei Agricultural Affairs Bureau and the superintendent of the Agricultural Affairs School. Later, he served as the principal of Shanghai Nanyang Public School Hongkou Branch, went to Japan to investigate education, and founded the Jiangsu Normal School in Suzhou, where he served as a supervisor.
In 1903 (at the age of 37), Luo Zhenyu saw the oracle bone ink Tuoben for the first time in Liu E's home, and from then on began to study the oracle bone, becoming one of the earliest scholars to study the oracle bone in China. In 1906, Luo Zhenyu went to Beijing to serve as a counselor of the Qing Government Department and a supervisor of the Agricultural Science Department of The Beijing Normal University. During this period, he searched for a large number of cultural relics and studied knowledge.
(In 1906, Wang Xiaoyu, Luo Zhenyu, Fang Yaoyu and Liu Yan (from left to right) took a group photo in Beijing)
In 1909 (at the age of 43), the Frenchman Bo Xihe, who had obtained a large number of Dunhuang documents, passed through Beijing when he returned to China, and met with Chinese scholars such as Luo Zhenyu to show off the Dunhuang documents he had obtained. Luo Zhenyu was greatly shocked by the discovery of the Dunhuang Tibetan Scriptures, and when he returned to the Faculty, he immediately asked the Faculty to send a telegram ordering local officials to seal the stone chambers, strictly prohibit foreigners from purchasing them, and apply for funds to collect the lost cultural relics and send them to Beijing for preservation.
Luo Zhenyu collected oracle bones extensively, totaling nearly 30,000 pieces, making it the largest collection in the early days. At that time, antique dealers concealed the real land of oracle bones in order to make high profits. Luo Zhenyu personally visited this, took the lead in investigating the real land - Anyang Xiaotun (Yin Ruins), and determined that these oracle bones were unearthed in the capital city of the late Shang Dynasty and were royal relics.
(Luo Zhenyu oracle bone calligraphy)
In 1910 (at the age of 44), Luo Zhenyu published the "Yin Shang Zhenbu Character Examination", which released a large number of oracle bone words, most of which were recognized by the academic community. He pioneered the method of classifying the study of the words, setting a precedent for later generations of research. Luo Zhenyu's research on oracle bones has made great achievements, and he is known as the first of the "Four Halls of Oracle Bones" by later generations!
In 1911 (at the age of 45), the Xinhai Revolution was successful, Puyi abdicated, and the Qing Dynasty collapsed. Luo Zhenyu, who claimed to be an old man left behind in the late Qing Dynasty, fled with his family to Kyoto, Japan, and continued to engage in the research and collation of oracle bones, Zhong Ding, Jian Mu, and Dunhuang cultural relics.
(Luo Zhenyu and Wang Guowei in 1916 in Nagamuen Garden, Jodojimachi, Kyoto, Japan)
The Englishman Stein archaeology at the Loulan site in China in his early years obtained a large number of Wei Jin mujian and handed them over to the French scholar Sha Qi for study. Luo Zhenyu tried to get in touch with Sha Qi to obtain the manuscripts of this batch of Jian Mu. Together with Wang Guowei, he translated and sorted out the interpretations, and in 1914 published the founding work of modern JianMuxue, "Quicksand Falling Jane".
(Group photo of Japanese friends holding a farewell party for Luo Zhenyu (third from left) before returning to China in 1919)
In 1919 (at the age of 53), Luo Zhenyu returned to China, but resolutely did not want to be a Republic of China, lived in the Tianjin Concession, organized the "Oriental Society", and advocated the protection of traditional culture.
In the early years, some people in the Qing court played and burned the Great Inner Documents, and after Luo Zhenyu learned about it, he negotiated with the relevant ministers many times to preserve them. After the Xinhai Revolution, the government of the Republic of China also did not attach importance to these documents, and sold them to paper mills as papermaking raw materials in large quantities.
In 1922 (at the age of 56), Luo Zhenyu was in a hurry, and borrowed money from many parties to raise 12,000 yuan, only to rescue this batch of internal documents, which were later returned to the Academia Sinica and protected. Later, Luo Zhenyu sorted out and published the "Catalogue of Historical Materials of the Great Treasury", "Records of the Ancestors of the Qing Dynasty", "Preliminary Compilation of the Historical Materials Series", "Discussion of the Emperor qing song", etc., which preserved precious first-hand materials for the study of Qing history.
(Luo Zhenyu's book "Zhensongtang Jijintu")
In the same year, Puyi was married in Beijing, and Luo Zhenyu and a large number of former Qing widows entered the palace to congratulate. Puyi summoned Luo Zhenyu and ordered him to "go to Chen in case of trouble" and reward him with a plaque of "Zhenxin Gusong". He was grateful to Zero and called himself "Old Man Zhensong".
In 1924 (at the age of 58), Luo Zhenyu was summoned to the palace and served in the South Study, responsible for inspecting the collection utensils and furnishings of the Ningshou Palace and the Yangxin Hall. In November, Feng Yuxiang staged a coup d'état in Beijing and expelled Puyi from the palace. Luo Zhenyu and Zheng Xiaoxu tried their best to smuggle Puyi to the Japanese embassy and flee to Tianjin.
In 1931 (at the age of 65), after the September 18 Incident, Luo Zhenyu actively assisted Puyi in his restoration. In 1932, Manchukuo was established, Puyi was in power, and Luo Zhenyu delivered a speech to foreign guests on behalf of Puyi. On March 1, 1934, Puyi ascended the throne as emperor, and Luo Zhenyu served as the president of the Control Yuan. In 1936, Luo Zhenyu was appointed president of the Manchurian Cultural Association, a veritable "traitor"!
(Luo Zhenyu calligraphy: learning to lose)
In July 1937 (at the age of 71), Luo Zhenyu officially resigned and returned home. He continued to sort out the historical materials of the cultural relics he collected, and published works such as the "Yin Ruins Book Deed" and the "Three Generations of Jijin Wencun". In his lifetime, Luo Zhenyu successively trained Rong Geng, Shang Chengzuo, Ke Changji and others, all of whom were experts who had made achievements in modern Chinese history.
After resigning from the government, Luo Zhenyu went to pay homage to Puyi every year according to the custom of the Manchu Qing dynasty, and did not forget the courtesy of the monarch. On May 14, 1940, Luo Zhenyu dragged the braids of the former Qing Dynasty and died of illness at the age of 74 at the age of 74 at his home in Lushun.
(The 676th work of the Vientiane History and Biography Writing Camp, and the 50th work of the camper "Lingkongzi")