Diaries of Four Famous Names in the Late Qing Dynasty (2)

Four famous diaries in the late Qing Dynasty

In recent years, major libraries, including the National Library, have cooperated with publishing houses to photocopy and publish manuscripts and diaries collected in the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China over the years, so that readers can see rare manuscripts that were previously shelved, which is beneficial to academic research. This is a mutually beneficial issue, which deserves academic appreciation. On the other hand, some units regard the diaries purchased by public funds as exclusive to the family and keep them secret from others. This is a sharp contrast. Historian Fu Sinian once had a wonderful theory about field archaeological work. In his letter to Wu Jinding, a colleague of the Institute of Historical Linguistics, he said this:

How can I leave the Qintai Newspaper unfinished? Pengshan report hasn't been written yet, how can you give up halfway? Generally speaking, to do field archaeology, we must also do indoor archaeology. Otherwise, Yuan Xiyuan only digs and doesn't write. What's the difference between him and the weasel? This is also the work plan of the institute and must not be interrupted. (Fu Sinian's Legacy Zagreb, Volume III, pp. 1487- 1488, Taipei? Academia Sinica? Published by Institute of Historical Linguistics, 20 1 1)

? What is the difference between digging and not writing? It's really a blow to the narrow and humble mentality, and so on, which is enlightening. If some units that use public funds to collect diary manuscripts are unable to do their own research, have not seen results for a long time, and do not allow others to borrow, sort out and publish them, this is undoubtedly an act of treating academic instruments as private property in a small circle. This is different from the miser's possession of the gold ingot, and he doesn't know how to circulate it to benefit the world.

While reading the diaries of public figures of the Republic of China published at home and abroad, the author also pays attention to the diaries of the Republic of China that occasionally appear at auctions held by many auction companies in China in the past decade. Although sporadic diaries can be seen from time to time, the most important one is undoubtedly the diary of Wang Boqun, a senior Kuomintang official. There are 80 manuscripts written with brush (including one volume "Guangxi Jianmin League and Education"), which first appeared in the "Wang Boqun Special Collection of Shuangyu Mountain Pavilion" held by Shanghai Duoyunxuan Auction Company in the spring of 20 13. (1885- 1944) He joined the China Revolutionary Party in his early years and was highly valued by Sun Yat-sen. Later, he became the Minister of Communications of the Nanjing Government of the Republic of China, co-founded Daxia University with Ma and others, and served as chairman and president. He once held an important position in the Kuomintang government and participated in central decision-making. There must be a lot of political secrets in his diary.

On the first day of preview, the author spent half a day browsing these 80 diary manuscripts quickly, and only felt that there were too many prominent figures in the history of the Republic of China. 193 1 65438+February 9, 2008, the Kuomintang government held a central political conference, at which several issues were discussed, one of which was provoked by the Japanese aggressors. September 18? Incident, the fall of Northeast China, the national disaster is coming, how to deal with the surging national student petition movement. According to this day's "Wang Boqun Diary", what do the Kuomintang lords think? Students are gradually cheating on diplomatic issues, which is serious and abnormal. Do you want to try to deal with it? , Dai, It is said that young people are crazy, and the whole education problem deserves attention? But under no circumstances should you use force against students. Cai Yuanpei was elected chairman of the Special Education Committee at this meeting. Cai Yuanpei, a leading figure in education, was praised by Wang Shijie, Minister of Propaganda Department of the Kuomintang Central Committee? Gong Jian (whose name is Cai Yuanpei) seems to be harmonious and generous, but in fact, he is the first person in the Party. (Wang Shijie's Diary, Volume II,1March 5, 940, Taipei? Academia Sinica? Institute of Modern History, 1990). Cai Yuanpei usually upholds justice and is upright, so it is natural to take a conciliatory attitude towards all participants in the student movement.

Wang Boqun expressed his unique views on the student movement in his diary on February 9, 65438:

The crux of this matter lies in the faculty of universities in Shanghai. Because university teachers rarely join the Kuomintang, most of the party members in Shanghai are young people. Once they leave the party, the intellectual class will not come back. However, the intellectual class will not return to the Kuomintang with talent and ability, so they will find another way out or wait and see the gains and losses of the Kuomintang's measures. Most universities are watching this student movement, and no one is willing to take the initiative to take responsibility. Those who turn the tide will be held accountable.

Although Wang's point of view may be incorrect, he did see the crux of the problem. As an important figure in the Kuomintang government, Wang Boqun's diary is really unusual. During the half-day quick browsing, the author saw a lot of valuable information, which was no less than Juzheng Diary and Kuomintang Veteran Xie Zhi Diary.

The diary secretly hidden in the hands of the Wang family finally appeared in the auction house of Shanghai Duoyunxuan Auction Company from overseas in 20 13, with a starting price of 300,000 yuan, which attracted the attention of all parties. On the day of the auction, the author raised a sum of money and had a wild dream, hoping to find a fish that escaped from the net at the auction. Later, it was rumored that the dean of a university in Shanghai raised millions of dollars and went to the auction in an attempt to collect it for the study of school history. Unexpectedly, there are so many rich people in China today that they were finally won by an unknown collector at a price of nearly two million yuan (including commission). Guess this diary? As soon as I entered the Houmen, it was as deep as the sea. I don't know when I will see the light of day again.

As we all know, there are four kinds of diaries in the late Qing Dynasty, namely Yuetoutang Diary, Weng Tonghe Diary, Xiangqilou Diary and Lu Diary. If you want to choose the four diaries of the Republic of China, according to my personal reading experience of more than ten years, these four diaries should be Zhu Kezhen's diary, Gu Jiegang's diary, Jin Yufu's quiet room diary and Wu Mi's diary (to be continued). Zhu Kezhen Diary is undoubtedly the first choice, and no one can match it. The importance of this diary will be discussed below. Gu Jiegang's Diary (published by Taipei Lianjing Publishing Company in 2007) consists of twelve volumes. As a representative of the school of ancient history, he has been studying knowledge almost all his life, and all the people he contacts are well-known figures in academic circles. More importantly, Gu Jiegang's diary is rigorous in writing and wonderful in content. Jin Yufu's Quiet Room Diary consists of ten volumes (published by Liaoshen Bookstore 1993) with 5.5 million words. As a proud disciple of Huang Kan, a master of Chinese studies, he has profound knowledge and excellent writing skills. In addition to studying history, his diary also describes many secrets of the political situation in Northeast China. At that time, someone named Jin Yufu? The crown of Liaodong literati? 、? Northeast reading seeds? , is worthy of the name. It is quite important that Gu Jiegang's diary and quiet room diary are well arranged with few punctuation errors. Like Zhu Kezhen's Diary, it can be said to be a high-quality publication with benchmarking significance. The Diary of Wu Mi continued to write 20 volumes with more than 7 million words. Wu Mi studied in the United States in his early years and entered the Department of Comparative Literature of Harvard University for a master's degree, mainly studying the history of western literature. After returning to China, he founded Xue Heng magazine with his friends and became interested in the study of Chinese studies. Later, he served as the director of the preparatory office of Tsinghua University Institute of Chinese Studies, and had close contacts with four mentors, namely Liang Qichao, Wang Guowei, Chen Yinque and Zhao Yuanren. In his later years, he still held a unique view of world life and did not change his original intention. The importance of Wu Mi's diary has been discussed in academic circles, so I don't need to repeat it here.

It seems that several other diaries are also likely to be selected: for example, Hu Shi's Diary, an eight-volume book with more than 3.8 million words, was published by Anhui Education Press 200 1. In the early years of the Republic of China, someone excerpted Hu Shi's early diary of studying abroad and published it in New Youth magazine in the name of Reading Notes of Canghui Room. In the article "How to Write Night One", Lu Xun first pointed out all kinds of disadvantages of "Yuetang Diary", which was sold in public and popular for a while, and made a bit of fun. I heard that Mr Hu Shizhi later kept a diary and passed it on to others. According to the literary evolution theory, it must be much better. I hope he prints them one by one in advance. ? (The Complete Works of Lu Xun, Volume IV, page 24, People's Literature Publishing House, 2005) In short, Hu Shi's early diaries are rich in content and have a sense of freshness that opens the era, and he himself feels that they can be made public and passed down from generation to generation.

However, throughout Hu Shi's diary, although it is rich in content, there are many notes about people and things and academic research, but it goes without saying that many contents appear repeatedly in his collections and letters. Reading Hu Shi's Diary is far less than reading Zhu's, Gu's, Jin's, which can bring a brand-new reading experience, an unprecedented pleasure and shock. For example, Gu Jiegang's diary records in detail his academic ideal, life ambition and the process of unremitting efforts to pursue it all his life, and records in detail the various factions and complex grievances of academic figures (even the various attacks and denials of others against Gu are full), including the emotional waves in his private world. Everything is frank and open. Such as Mou Runsun scolding Gu? Too ambitious, want to be a scholar and a politician? (See page 182, Volume III of Gu Jiegang's Diary). Gu Jiegang at least shows in his diary that he is a man with temperament. Hu Shi is a completely different kind of character. He has reservations when writing. Although he occasionally reveals his true feelings like a volcanic eruption, there are few such examples. Compared with Gu Jiegang, his real inner world is quite convergent and rarely revealed in his diary.

It is an important historical period from 1947 to 1949. Hu Shi is mainly interested in Zhu's research. As a historian, he did not leave many valuable records in his diary about the major historical changes that are taking place and will take place. He only remembered that Chiang Kai-shek entrusted people to urge him to hold important positions in the National Government and even invited him to run for the presidency. Hu Shi's diary (1947- 1949) is generally a simple record of some items or an excerpt from a newspaper article. For many days, he didn't even remember a word, nor did he see his inner feelings about the drastic changes in the current situation, which fully showed that the city was extremely profound, just like a comment made by Lu Xun in his later years. Every time New Youth is published, an editorial meeting will be held to discuss the next issue. At that time, Chen Duxiu and Hu Shizhi attracted my attention most. If the military strategy is compared to a warehouse, Mr. Duxiu's idea is to erect a flag outside, which reads:? There are weapons in it, be careful! ? But the door is open, and there are several guns and knives in it. It's clear at a glance, so don't be wary. Teacher Shi's idea is to close the door tightly and put a small note on it. There are no weapons in it, please don't doubt it. ? This can naturally be true, but some people, at least people like me, sometimes have to think sideways. Half-farming is a shame, isn't it an arsenal? A person, so I admire Chen Hu, but I am close to a semi-peasant. ? (The Complete Works of Lu Xun, Vol.6, pp.73-74)