Chief Correspondent Gao Yuan
2020 is the 110th anniversary of Qian Zhongshu’s birth. In the history of contemporary Chinese academic thought, Qian Zhongshu is owed the solemn recognition of a "great scholar and thinker"
Interviewee profile
Xia Zhongyi: born in 1949, professor and doctoral supervisor of the School of Humanities, Shanghai Jiaotong University, and vice president of the Chinese Society of Literary Theory.
He was a professor at East China Normal University and adjunct professor at Shanghai University. He has studied Qian Zhongshu's works for 35 years.
No one does not talk about Qian Zhongshu.
However, few people read Qian Zhongshu.
2020 is the 110th anniversary of Qian Zhongshu's birth.
Before the world, Qian Zhongshu is the Taishan Beidou of Chinese academia, and there are many legends about him.
Either he swept across the Tsinghua Library in rows of bookshelves, or he could not find a book he hadn’t read in the bookstore, or foreign reporters said that he came to China for two purposes, one is to witness the Great Wall, the other is See Qian Zhongshu in person.
What is less well known is that Qian Zhongshu did not collect books in his life.
There is only one bookcase in his residence. Except for a few foreign reference books, most of them are precious classics and documents left by his father Qian Jibo.
But he does read all the books, from the sub-collection of classics to the barnyard official history, novel notes, Buddhist Taoist books and so on.
His speed of reading and his mastery of key points are indeed very rare.
Once he told his assistant that he had recently spent two weeks warming up all the Thirteen Classics and discovered many good things, and then he kept talking about his new discoveries.
Many people believe that the starting point of "Qian Zhongshu fever" was in the late 1970s, because the 1.1 million-word "Guan Zhu Bian" came out in August 1979, and in October 1980, the novel "Siege of the City" was 33 It was republished a year later, and it can be described as "Shuangshi stirred up a thousand waves."
In fact, in the 1940s, there was a "Qian Zhongshu fever".
In 1946, his novel "The Besieged City" was serialized in Shanghai's "Renaissance" magazine. The following year, it was published by Shanghai Chenguang Publishing Company. The paper was expensive in Luoyang.
In 1948, the academic monograph "Taking Art Records" was also published in Shanghai, which made Qian Zhongshu famous.
At that time, Yang Jiang was very famous in Shanghai. She not only taught but also wrote scripts. Three plays had already been performed.
In the past, when others introduced Qian Zhongshu, they would say that this was Yang Jiang's gentleman.
After the release of "Siege" and "Talking Art Record", their social status was reversed. Everyone would introduce Yang Jiang as Qian Zhongshu's wife.
Between the two "Qian Zhongshu fever", he was silent for nearly 30 years.
However, after the late 1970s, Qian Zhongshu’s reputation grew. Whether it was his death in 1998 or the death of his wife Yang Jiang in 2016, the enthusiasm did not seem to have been affected much. The whole society relished his anecdotes. All hands pushed him to the "Altar of God".
But while deifying Qian Zhongshu, voices of doubt against him also appeared from time to time.
For example, someone wrote an article that he asked Qian Zhongshu the source of "Pi Li Yang Qiu" during his stay at the cadre school, and Qian was silent.
In fact, anyone who has read some ancient books knows that "Pili Yangqiu" wrote "Shi Shuo Xin Yu", which means there is judgment in the heart.
Qian Zhongshu is very familiar with Shi Shuo Xin Yu. There are as many as 101 citations in Guan Zhu Bian. How could he not know this?
Others say that Qian Zhongshu does not know who the author of "The cuckoo still sips blood in the middle of the night, if you don't believe that the east wind can't return".
In fact, this poem by Wang Ling of the Song Dynasty is included in "Thousands of Poems".
Qian Zhongshu obviously "pretended not to know" for not answering these two questions, because he asked him small questions that should not be asked.
In recent years, there have also been some doubts from well-known scholars.
For example, Li Zehou said that Qian Zhongshu "read so many books, but only got a lot of odd results." Yu Yingshi said that "Guan Zhuobian" is like losing money.
This led to another public case, the evaluation of Qian Zhongshu's historical status.
At the moment, there should be no objection in society to call Qian Zhongshu a scholar and writer.
But if Qian Zhongshu is a thinker, it will cause a lot of controversy.
Because in the "Guan Zhu Bian" of his lifelong academic work, he wrote his own thoughts very obscurely, and they were like fallen leaves on the autumn fields, throwing them at will.
Is Qian Zhongshu deified or underestimated?
Or, is he deified on the one hand, and underestimated on the other?
This requires his dedicated researchers to interpret and analyze. It is somewhat like whether Li Zhengdao and Yang Zhenning won the Nobel Prize in Physics. The key depends on how Wu Jianxiong experimentally proved the "parity nonconservation law."
Chapter 1: Lantian Teachers College
Gao Yuan: The prototype of Sanlu University in "The Besieged City" is generally considered to be the National Lantian Normal College where Qian Zhongshu had taught, and the first half of "Talking Art Record" was completed at Lantian Normal University.
Can it be said that the source of the first "Qian Zhongshu fever" was Lantian Normal University?
Xia Zhongyi: This will start in the fall of 1938.
At that time, Qian Zhongshu received a bachelor's degree from Oxford University in England, and the couple took a cruise back to China.
When Mei Yiqi, the president of Southwest Associated University, learned of this news and Feng Youlan's recommendation, he hired Qian Zhongshu as a professor of the Department of Foreign Languages at Southwest Associated University. He was only 28 years old.
But Qian Zhongshu was not happy at Southwest United University. He called his house in Kunming a "cold room" because he received a cold reception in the foreign language department.
There are many rumors in this regard. One theory is that Qian Zhongshu really looks down on those professors in the Department of Foreign Languages. He said, “The Department of Foreign Languages at Southwest Associated University is not good at all. Ye Gongchao is too lazy, Wu Mi is too stupid, and Chen Futian is too vulgar.”
In this way, all three professors in the Department of Foreign Languages were offended.
In the second year, Qian Zhongshu was not re-employed, so he could only go to the National Lantian Normal College where his father Qian Jibo taught as a professor and head of the Department of Foreign Languages.
Gao Yuan: After Qian Zhongshu arrived at Lantian Normal University in 1939, what caused him to start writing "Talking Art Record"?
Xia Zhongyi: I want to mention a person here. His name is Mao Xiaolu, whose pen name is Uncle. He is a descendant of Mao Pijiang, one of the four sons of the late Ming Dynasty, one year older than Qian Zhongshu.
They met on the ship returning to China, pretending to be a talent in the Republic of China, and self-esteem, they were called one of the ten madmen back then.
He didn't put Qian Zhongshu in his eyes at the beginning. The two fought old-style poems on the deck. This battle convinced him. Later, he compared himself and Qian Zhongshu to Yunlong and Qian Zhongshu. The book is the dragon among the people, a generation of wise men, and he himself is the cloud, and it is the dragon.
Before Qian Zhongshu left Shanghai for Lantian in 1939, he risked Lu to visit him and said something very interesting.
The general idea is that you have a profound insight into the art of Chinese poetry, and it is great to talk about it casually. It would be a pity not to write these golden and jade words.
This sentence touched Qian Zhongshu. He later said that his hands started to itch after hearing his uncle's words.
In fact, Qian Zhongshu wrote "Talking Art Record" at Lantian Teachers College, and also wanted to use this book to prove that he is indeed a generation of heroes.
In other words, 29-year-old Qian Zhongshu thinks that if I don’t write, others may write, but I can’t write as well.
Gao Yuan: How was his life at Lantian Normal University?
Xia Zhongyi: Qian Zhongshu went to Lantian Normal University alone. Because his daughter Qian Yuan was only two years old, he naturally couldn't bear to let his daughter follow him to remote places in Xiangxi, so he asked Yang Jiang to stay on the seaside to teach and take her daughter.
The days when Yang Jiang was not around made Qian Zhongshu feel very hard.
Because Yang Jiang's ability is too great, he not only knows the book well, but also goes to the hall and the kitchen, making soup for him on weekdays, drinking and chatting with him.
In this case, his only spiritual sustenance is to write "Talking Art Record".
But in the first half of 1941, he fell ill, so he returned to Shanghai with his half-written "Tan Yi Lu", saying goodbye to Lan Tian.
Gao Yuan: After Qian Zhongshu finished writing "Taking Yilu" in Shanghai, why did it take several years to publish it?
Xia Zhongyi: Their family of three lives in a pavilion on Huaihai Middle Road. In 1942, they completed "Taking Yilu".
But I put it aside after writing it, because it was the most difficult period of the Chinese War of Resistance, so it was not published until 1948.
In my opinion, after Wang Guowei's "Human Cihua" was published in 1908, if in the first half of the 20th century, there was still a Chinese poetic theory monograph comparable to it, it would be Qian Zhongshu's "Taking Art" .
Gao Yuan: After "Talking on the Art", Qian Zhongshu suddenly turned to narrative writing. What is the reason for this?
Xia Zhongyi: There may be many reasons. One of them should be that Qian Zhongshu does not have a fixed job in Shanghai and his health is not good. The "Taking Art Record" has also been written.
He is a person who can adjust his mentality very well, and he is especially aura around Yang Jiang.
Therefore, he started to write "The Besieged City" in 1943. I think first of all, to make his wife happy, he would show Yang Jiang what he wrote every day. Yang Jiang always laughed happily when he saw how naughty he wrote. .
Chapter 2: Ancient Color Trick
Gao Yuan: Since 1950, Qian Zhongshu was seconded to work in the English translation of "Selected Works of Mao Zedong". Four years later, his work came to an end. He did not continue to engage in foreign language teaching and research, but went to the Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences ( Now the ancient group of the Institute of Literature of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, why is this?
Xia Zhongyi: Qian Zhongshu can speak both Chinese and English, which is recognized by everyone.
He became a professor in the Department of Foreign Languages of Southwest Associated University at the age of 28. It should be said that English is his strong point. In fact, he wanted to go to the Foreign Languages Group of the Institute of Literature, but he couldn't.
The reason is very simple, his business ability is too strong, if he is a gentleman, others may be acceptable.
However, he always looked down on others, his speech was very sharp, and he could only go to the ancient group.
So in 1955, he began to write "Annotations to Song Poems", which was amazing at home and abroad after its publication in 1958.
Gao Yuan: But after seeing Hu Shi, he once said that he was very dissatisfied with the selection of the book.
Xia Zhongyi: At that time, there was a rule of the game. It was not the author's decision to choose the specific poems, but the collective discussion and approval.
Many years later, Qian Zhongshu wrote an article in the People's Daily and revealed that this book selected a lot of poems that he didn't think he needed to choose, but he thought the optional poems were often not included.
But the key to the success of "Selected Notes on Song Poems" is not in the selection of poems, but in comments.
In addition to the part of the poems that Qian Zhongshu had to choose, he still chose some poems he likes as much as possible.
The comments on the poems I like are very talented.
Gao Yuan: His so-called "poems that have to be chosen" are those that conform to the Soviet Union's theory of reflection and reproduce the social conditions of the Song Dynasty.
Xia Zhongyi: Qian Zhongshu didn't agree with the theory of reflection, or he was unwilling to dominate the theory of reflection, so he played "micro-judgment".
In the book, he does not directly say yes or no. Instead, he writes that at first glance, it is ambiguous and confusing. In essence, it is concentrating, carefully laying, and logically saying goodbye to the reflection theory step by step. There are no flaws like a golden cicada's escape from the shell. come out.
His "resign and retreat" of reflection theory roughly divided into four steps.
On the first step, he said that there are indeed many poems in Song Poems reflecting the sufferings of the people, which can be confirmed in the official documents of the court, which can be explained by reflection theory; on the second step, he said that a good poem is so charming There is no direct relationship with whether there is a corresponding fact or not, because many poems are unconstrained; in the third step, he said that Fan Chengda had a poem "Zhouqiao", writing that the people in the occupied areas dream of the imperial army to recover lost soil. Hugging onto a bridge to meet the king, on the surface seems to be reflection theory, but from the perspective of the architectural history of the Song Dynasty, this bridge does not exist, but is imagined by the poet; in the last step, he said that if the reflection theory is to be released If it is universally applicable, why is there not a poem about Liangshan Juyi, which was passed down by later generations, not mentioned in a poem?
Gao Yuan: For these four steps, Qian Zhongshu's writing in "Annotations to Song Poems" is very obscure, right?
Xia Zhongyi: In the first edition of the book in 1958, Qian Zhong wrote a preface of 18,000 characters. In the article, he proposed that the history of Song poetry should be systematically sorted out from a special perspective, and then analyzed. How the poems were delivered from the mother of Tang poetry, and how to establish the artistic characteristics of Song poetry on the basis of Tang Shifeng's expression.
He studied the poets of the Song Dynasty, such as Su Shi, Yang Wanli, Huang Tingjian, etc., to see how they differed from Tang poetry in technique.
This is not the theory of reflection, but the theory of aesthetic form. It is to explore how it has found a different path from the art of Tang poetry within the art of Song poetry, and the theory of reflection cannot explain this.
I couldn’t help but laugh when I read it back then, because there are 9 "reflections" in Qian Zhongshu’s preface, but he is like changing an ancient color trick, wearing a big red robe, and "reflection theory" is written on the robe. But it was not.
What he really brought out was the "formalism" consistent with "Tan Yi Lu", and he regarded form as the key to measuring art.
Gao Yuan: He is so "juggling" that others really haven't seen it?
Xia Zhongyi: After the publication of "Selected Notes on Song Poems", Qian Zhongshu was nervous for a while, because he did not use the most fashionable theory of reflection at the time to interpret it.
After a while, the book really received criticism from the masses, but the more criticized Qian Zhongshu, the happier he was, because he found that all the criticisms had not been criticized to the point, and no one found his hidden meaning.
In 1959, he wrote two lines in a poem to Yang Jiang: "The shadows of the shadows are endless, and the peaches and plums are always ignorant." The meaning is that I have my shadows of the shadows, and they are full of peaches and plums. But it can't be seen at all.
Chapter Three: The Book of Heaven
Gao Yuan: Actually, for those who study classical literature, "Selected Notes on Song Poems" is not difficult to read, but it is difficult to understand the deep meaning behind its literal meaning.
The Emperor's masterpiece "Guan Zhu Bian" published in 1979 is almost like a heavenly book.
In this book, does Qian Zhongshu take the "Gu Cai Trick" to the extreme?
Xia Zhongyi: Actually, it was circulated in Beijing's academic circles in 1978 that Qian Zhongshu was about to publish an academic work that shocked the world, which has attracted a lot of attention.
After the publication of "Guan Zhu Bian" in the second year, everyone discovered that the four books with more than 1.1 million characters were all written in classical Chinese, and they were written in traditional Chinese characters vertically. It was really hard to read.
At that time, the historian Yu Yingshi visited Beijing and had a long talk with Qian Zhongshu.
He later wrote a reminiscence article saying that he asked Qian Zhongshu why he wrote "Guan Zhuobian" in classical Chinese. Qian told him something that he still didn't understand very well, saying that he wanted to "reduce the spread of illicit drugs."
Obviously, Qian Zhongshu writes in classical Chinese for the purpose of making reading more difficult.
Gao Yuan: He also mixed a lot of English and German in the book, is it the same purpose?
Xia Zhongyi: Some people say that Qian Zhongshu's use of foreign language is to show off his knowledge. I think it is not the case.
We need to know that Qian Zhongshu is a university scholar who has studied Chinese and Western. When he wrote "Guan Zhu Bian", he might immediately think of related foreign expositions and put it between the lines.
This is just like the "joking" and "pengchao" in cross talk. The foreign language in the "Guan Zhuobian" plays the role of "pongchao", and it is attached to the side: "right, right, yes, yes."
Gao Yuan: Qian Zhongshu once said to people, "Don't let the devil catch one of our hair." He wrote "Guan Zhu Bian" so obscure, what is he worried about?
Xia Zhongyi: This has a very important social background.
Qian Zhong wrote "Guan Zhu Bian" mainly from 1972 to 1975, writing an average of 1,000 words a day.
It was still during the "Cultural Revolution" and the hat of "reactionary academic authority" on his head had not been taken off. The Red Guards could break in anytime and anywhere to check what he was writing.
Therefore, if his things are to stand up to others, they must be written so that most people cannot understand them.
And he continued to write "Guan Zhu Bian", there is another background in this.
In the spring of 1972, more than two years after the "May 7 Cadre School" was delegated to Henan, Qian Zhongshu and his wife returned to Beijing. They only found out that a young couple had been living in the house when the door was opened.
At that time, the whole society was busy with sports and did not build a new house, so some newlyweds were allowed to live in the houses of other house owners.
The two families are squeezed under one roof, there is no privacy, and conflicts inevitably arise.
They could only move to the office building of the Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and found a small room full of clutter, with extremely simple furnishings.
During the "escape" period, Qian Zhongshu was still seriously ill. At the most painful stage of his life, if he didn't write something, he was likely to become mentally ill.
Reading ancient books is the best at this time, because the more you read the ancient books, the calmer you feel.
To some extent, he forced himself to write "Guan Zhu Bian", which is a process of spiritual self-saving.
Gao Yuan: Everyone in the world says that "Guan Zhu Bian" is great, but few people can say exactly what is great?
Here, can you provide your experience?
Xia Zhongyi: After the publication of "Guan Zhuobian", since the 1990s, some professional treatises have been published from a purely academic perspective, but over the years, there have been almost no research results that have been truly interpreted from an ideological perspective.
I started to read Qian Zhongshu's works in 1985. I didn't dare to write Qian Zhongshu until four years ago. I still dare not say that I really understand Qian Zhongshu.
"Guan Zhu Bian" is Qian Zhongshu's greatest work. In my opinion, he put forward two big judgments, or two big systems, in the book.
One is the modern interpretation and transformation of Chinese classical poetics. In this regard, Qian Zhongshu is the first person in ancient and modern times.
He is doing research on Chinese poetry, and all the materials come from classical Chinese poetry creation and poetry, poetry theory, and poetry. He independently completed the new national quintessence theoretical system of why literature is literature and why poetry is poetry.
Although there is no need for a little foreign theory, it also has human feelings.
Of course, this also requires us to further change after learning, to make it understandable to everyone, this is also the most worthwhile work in my later years.
Gao Yuan: Has the second major system of "Guan Zhuobian" surpassed the level of literary theory?
Xia Zhongyi: Another major contribution of "Guan Zhu Bian" is the establishment of an ethical system of how knowledgeable persons can speak safely and with dignity in a special context.
This book was written in a special period of the "Cultural Revolution", when intellectuals had only two ways to live.
One is to be as upright and strong as Chen Yinke, but this is definitely not going to pass the "Cultural Revolution"; the other is to join the "Gang of Four", which is a despicable way of living.
In the eyes of many scholars, the former method of living is good, but the price paid is too great, and the latter method of living is too low in price. Not only at that time, but also in the future, it will be despised.
At this time, Qian Zhongshu proposed a third method in "Guan Zhuobian".
He is not as lofty as Chen Yinke, because lofty is too tragic.
If Chen Yinke is innocent, Qian Zhongshu is innocent, with dignity and safety.
This set of ethics constructed by Qian Zhongshu is the "dark thought" hidden in the "Guan Zhu Bian", just like the "dark matter" in the universe. We cannot grasp it, but we cannot deny it.
Chapter 4: Scattering Money and Losing Strings
Gao Yuan: In recent years, there have been some heavyweight doubters.
For example, Mr. Li Zehou repeatedly expressed that "Qian Zhongshu is a pity", saying that he "read so many books, but only got a lot of odd results."
What do you think about this?
Xia Zhongyi: Li Zehou does not deny that Qian Zhongshu is erudite, but he thinks that Qian Zhongshu is only erudite.
He thinks that Qian Zhongshu has bought cinnabar and returned pearls, but he has not wiped out some brilliant pearls. In fact, he thinks that Qian Zhongshu has no thought system.
But what I want to say is that Li Zehou became famous very early, it is impossible to spend a lot of effort to read Qian Zhongshu.
He said in the 1980s that I don’t want to write a book that can be written 50 years ago, and I don’t want to write a book that can be written 50 years from now. I only write books that need me to write today.
And if Qian Zhongshu's works do not swear to sit on the bench for ten years, how can he read the profound thoughts behind his words?
Gao Yuan: Unlike Li Zehou who always said "Qian Zhongshu is a pity", Mr. Yu Yingshi went through a process of transformation. From the beginning he admired him sincerely, and later he felt that Qian Zhongshu had little contribution to the ideological level.
Xia Zhongyi: When it comes to overseas academic circles' familiarity with "Guan Zhuobian", I am afraid that no one can compare to Yu Yingshi.
In 1978, he met Qian Zhongshu very late, and Mr. Qian also autographed the "Guan Zhu Bian" and other works several times and mailed them to the other side of the ocean. Yu Ying Times wrote "Reading "Guan Zhu Bian"" Rebate.
In his words, "Although the "Guan Zhu Bian" is mysterious, but the language of the world change with emotion is everywhere." It can be said that it is not profound.
In 1998, after Qian Zhongshu's death, Yu Yingshi was invited to write a memorial. He said he was a literary layman and he did not deserve to say anything of praise.
He believes that Qian Zhongshu is a peak of classical culture that emerged in China in the 20th century. He is the person who has read the most ancient books and is the richest person.
But in 2007, as a historian, Yu Yingshi came to the field of literature and contemporary thought to comment on Qian Zhongshu, focusing on the keywords "summary bound" and "big judgment".
Gao Yuan: Does he think that Qian Zhongshu has only "summary" and lacks "big judgment"?
Xia Zhongyi: "Summary knot wrapped" and "big judgment" are a pair of terms used by Qian Zhongshu in "Annotations to Song Poems", and the ancient book "Yingkui Lusui" is quoted as "poetists have big judgments and summary knots".
In Qian Zhongshu's view, "summary" and "big judgment" are not completely opposites. It can be "you in you and you in me".
Yu Yingshi's comment on Qian Zhongshu has two main points.
The first is that "Guan Zhu Bian" often "pays attention to small knots, less attention to big judgments, he does not care about big judgments".
Mr. Yu said that Qian Zhongshu, like the "Late Qing Dynasty", blindly paid attention to the source of exegesis and allusions. "Guan Zhu Bian" "is dedicated to small places and precise places, to compete with others, to surpass others. He is a very good and strong person, always knowing what everyone does not know."
He said that Qian Zhongshu "occasionally has some big judgments", but there are not many such things, just like losing a bunch of scattered money. Although each scattered money has its face value, the overall value is not great.
Then, he tried to analyze why "Guan Zhu Bian" rarely saw "big judgment".
He assumed three reasons. One was to trace back to Qian Zhongshu’s scholarly source, saying that he “has been obsessed with the exegesis of the elder at the age of 20”, and the result was a baffle; the second is the origin of this school of textual research, which made Qian Zhongshu become According to Isaiah Berlin, "the fox who knows everything, but can't become a hedgehog who must make big things"; third, he thinks that "Guan Zhu Bian" rarely sees "big judgment" and may be restricted by Qian Zhongshu The academic method aims to “bring through” the Chinese and foreign countries, because “he focuses on the similarities between China and the West, and rarely talks about the differences, and the differences must be explained by a large background and a large structure.” Qian Zhongshu did not The emphasis on the differences between China and the West means that logically "this kind of big judgment can be avoided."
Gao Yuan: Yu Yingshi said that "Guan Zhu Bian" is like losing money. It is very similar to Li Zehou's statement. Do many people feel this way when reading "Guan Zhu Bian"?
Xia Zhongyi: First of all, I have to admit that "Guan Zhu Bian" is really fragmentary. The book is full of casual reading experience, just like the fallen leaves scattered on the autumn field, without integration, or no system.
But if he says that he has no "big judgment", it is logically problematic, just like Confucius and Zhuangzi have no system, can it be said that they have no "big judgment"?
And many high-level sermons, although the expression has formed a system, they are all nonsense.
I think that Yu Yingshi was entangled in reading "Guan Zhu Bian". The key lies in the inconsistency of "smell" and "vision".
As a world-renowned university scholar, his nose should be able to smell the extraordinary "big judgment" in "Guan Zhu Bian", but his eyes have never been able to find direct confirmation from it.
Moreover, he has taught at Harvard, Princeton and other universities, and his life is very good. It is difficult to truly understand Qian Zhongshu's mentality when writing this book.
Later generations cannot easily assert that this book lacks "big judgment" because of the reading inertia developed by academic writing.
In the face of Qian Zhongshu, the peak of academic thought, even if it is a great person, if he lacks enough awe and speaks casually, he will show his feet sooner or later.
Chapter 5: Fallen Autumn Leaves
Gao Yuan: You just said that there are at least two "big judgments" in "Guan Zhuobian", namely the modern transformation of Chinese classical poetics and the ethics spoken by intellectuals in a special context.
Especially for the second "big judgment", what kind of crawling is used to prove its existence?
Xia Zhongyi: The "dark thoughts" on ethics in "Guan Zhu Bian" is like a secret book. I divide it into three stages and ten links.
In this "ethics chain", its logical composition is divided into three segments: from "why to say" to "how to say" to "to say what fruit", each paragraph is connected by related links in turn, all scattered throughout the book in.
The first stage "Why do you say" contains the four rings, which are "saints are not benevolent", "noble people are honored", "uneasy to be humble" and "indignantly writing books".
That is to say, in an unstable social environment, a gentleman with a clean heart cannot follow the crowd, but should still make some own voices.
The second stage "how to say" contains three rings, which are "bending for extension", "without words" and "cough".
This means that a gentleman must hide his true meaning when speaking, and use some language that others cannot understand, such as ancient Chinese plus foreign languages, to make a soft-shelled turtle cough almost inaudible.
The third stage "Said Heguo" contains three rings, which are "to be mature", "not to blame", and "big sound to be heard".
The general idea is that when it rains and the sky clears and everyone can read this book, I hope you don’t blame me for writing it so difficult to understand. You have to understand my embarrassment when writing this book. The better the voice, the more distant and low potential.
It is very interesting to say that after Qian Zhongshu completed "Guan Zhui" in 1975, the "Gang of Four" was shattered the following year. It can be said that the world turned upside down. In 1978, he became the vice president of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. "Guan Cone" was also published.
The word "to be familiar" appears four or five times in "Guan Zhu Bian", which is enough to explain his mood of waiting for the dawn while writing.
Gao Yuan: Are the fallen leaves of these ten links distributed in order or disorder throughout the book?
Xia Zhongyi: When Qian Zhongshu wrote "Guan Zhu Bian", how to write it depends on the mood and instant inspiration at the time, and he has great flexibility.
Judging from the micro-context of each chapter, the writing of the whole book is not out of order, but judging from the content or the meaning of the chapters and chapters, there is not necessarily a sense of overall flow.
I have read this book for more than 30 years, and I deeply feel that reading such a book is a joy in life, almost ecstasy.
The sequence of the ten fallen leaves is not clearly arranged in an orderly manner, but I have been collecting bits and pieces between the lines in the hidden words for many years, and then I will detect the logical induction that may occur between links and links, and then they are combined into one.
This only needs to check the source of the page numbers of each link, and it is clear at a glance. For example, "Your body is still honored" is between pages 515-519 of Book 2, and "Uneasy at Happiness" is on page 465 of Book 2, and "Reading a Book" Moved to page 937 of Book Three, "Quiet for Stretching" returns to page 50 of Book One, and "Don't Strange What's Strange" falls to page 1238 of Book Four...
Gao Yuan: In other words, if another scholar is replaced, it is possible for him to find other fallen leaves in the whole book and arrange them into a new logical system?
Xia Zhongyi: The "dark thoughts" contained in "Guan Zhuobian" are actually precious raw materials for making "thoughts", and they can only be interpreted by professional readers and authors who jointly build a "production line".
Qian Zhongshu has planted too many uncertain "traps" in the book. How each professional reader selects and refines these raw materials, and what products are arranged and combined, it is difficult for different people to have their own opinions.
"Guan Zhu Bian" has been published for 41 years, and the real ideas contained therein require not only professional readers to concentrate on screening and salvaging, but also the common recognition of academic circles. This is a "thought experiment" that is not without risk.
For so many years, scholars who specialize in the history of thought have been discouraged from this, and some people in other academic circles occasionally comment on it, let alone the point.
Gao Yuan: Is it because of this that the ideological value of Qian Zhongshu has been underestimated?
Xia Zhongyi: In 1943, Mr. Chen Yinke wrote an article devoted to Tao Yuanming.
He believes that Tao Yuanming is not only a great poet, but also a great thinker, because he provided a fourth life style besides making meritorious deeds, seeking immortality and prolonging life, and acting in a timely manner during the Wei and Jin Dynasties, that is, letting nature take its course without thinking of life and death. Attitude.
If you evaluate Qian Zhongshu in Chen Yinke's way, he is of course a thinker and a great thinker, because he not only lived up to his high standards, but also formed an ideological system that can provide important enlightenment to future generations.
The so-called thought is an original warning by a wise man on public propositions of great significance. If the wise man continuously releases original opinions, he should be regarded as a thinker.
Chapter 6: Immortality and Immortality
Gao Yuan: In his later years, Qian Zhongshu resolutely stopped the establishment of the China Qian Zhongshu Research Association, and later terminated the publication of Qian Zhongshu's research special issue.
Is he unwilling to be studied by others?
Xia Zhongyi: We need to understand his situation back then.
The publication of "Guan Zhuobian" and "The Besieged City" caused a sensation during his visit to the United States. Professor Xia Zhiqing of Columbia University in the United States gave a high evaluation of "The Besieged City". Become a conversational resource for the whole society.
In this atmosphere of "deifying Qian Zhongshu", regardless of whether he has read his book or not, I feel that talking about him is a kind of elegance and treat him as a "snack".
Qian Zhongshu did not like this.
He disgusts people from the bottom of his heart who always want to claim that he is connected to him.
In my opinion, Qian Zhongshu is not about not wanting others to study him, but not for those who don't want to study well at all, who keep him on his lips and hold him all day long to consume him.
Gao Yuan: Deep down, do you want others to read his deeply buried true thoughts?
Xia Zhongyi: Qian Zhongshu has been playing "Soldiers are not tired of deceit". He himself once said: "The old saying in the West is that there is a difference between'good deceit' and'evil deceit'. The use of military deceit and upright courage is not contrary to the deceit. Those." Both "Guanbian" and "Song Poetry Selected Notes", of course, belong to "good fraud."
For example, in "Selected Notes on Song Poems", Qian Zhongshu was happy that he could not read his true attitude towards "reflection theory" to others.
But after a long time, he realized that everyone really couldn't understand it. He was a little sorry, so he wanted to remind him.
So in 1979, when his old work "Chinese Poetry and Chinese Painting" was republished, he couldn't help adding a paragraph. He said that when we understand and judge an author, we must know the era he lived in and the style of literary theory. Under the influence, he had to take a different approach to escape or correct that ethos.
But later discovered that everyone still didn't know what he was talking about.
Nine years later, when the Hong Kong edition of "Selected Notes on Song Poems" was published in 1988, he wrote a preface and published it in the "People's Daily". The last paragraph said: "Under the atmospheric pressure of the academic world at that time, I tried Speaking of things, but can't help being consciously clever, and a little ingenious." At this time, some people may understand, but most people still don't.
Therefore, Qian Zhongshu is very lonely, he is too smart.
Gao Yuan: Will Qian Zhongshu worry that later generations only know his literary and academic attainments, but his thoughts are really submerged in the dust of history?
Xia Zhongyi: When he was 22 years old, he wrote a piece of "Ghost Talk", which put forward the proposition of "immortality" and "immortality".
To some extent, this is also his fantasy of himself.
There is a sentence in the article, "I quickly declare that I have neither immortal hopes nor immortal beliefs. I just want to take this opportunity to clarify these two concepts." In his later years, he was indeed thinking The possibility from "immortality" to "immortality".
His works can survive, this is the material "immortality"; his thoughts can enter the hearts of future generations, this is the spiritual "immortality".
Back then, Qian Zhongshu had expectations for the younger scholars who interacted with him.
For example, he has passed more than 70 letters with an overseas scholar. It is hoped that this scholar will turn his "immortality" into "immortality."
But unfortunately, that scholar did not have truly amazing research results.
Gao Yuan: Does Qian Zhongshu's work have an ideological system? It has become the key to whether he can be recognized as a thinker in the academic world.
Xia Zhongyi: Some people in the academic circles mentioned both Chen Yinke and Qian Zhongshu. The former was recognized as a thinker by the academic circles 16 years after the publication of "The Biography of Liu Rushi" in 1980.
Although "The Biography of Liu Rushi" is also written in classical Chinese, Chen Yinke's presentation is systematic, while "Guan Zhuibian" is deliberately scattered, making it extremely difficult to study and judge.
It has to be said that the two different modes of expressing ideas directly affect the probability and time rate of opportunity recognized by the academic community.
Because in the final analysis, the process of any "thought" being certified by "the history of thought" is actually the process by which the publicity contained in this "ideology" is appealed to the public.
This is a bit like whether Li Zhengdao and Yang Zhenning won the Nobel Prize in Physics. The key depends on whether Wu Jianxiong can use experiments to prove the "parity non-conservation law."
Qian Zhongshu is also a bit like what Xin Qiji said in Southern Song Dynasty Xin Qiji's poems: "The railings are shot everywhere, no one will come up with the intention." So far, in the history of contemporary Chinese academic thought, Qian Zhongshu is still owed the solemnity of a "great scholar and thinker". Ratify.