Nowadays, the academic circles often mention the names of "South Around the North" and "Moving North Around the South". Here, "Northern Qian" and "Northern Ji" refer to Qian Zhongshu and Ji Xianlin in the north, and "Southern Rao" refers to Zong Bairao in the south.

China's academic master. All three are contemporaries: Qian Zhongshu can be said to be the eldest brother,

Ji Xianlin is the second brother and Zongrao is the third brother. Both the former and the latter are dead. It is no exaggeration to say that Rao Lao, who is 98 years old, is a pillar of the academic circles in China today.

Zong Rao, whose real name is Gu 'an, Bolian, Bozi,No. Xuantang, was born in Chaoan County, Guangdong Province, China. Famous master of Chinese studies, honorary professor of Chinese University of Hong Kong and Nanjing University, president of Xiling Printing Society. His knowledge covers almost all aspects of Chinese studies and he is proficient in Sanskrit. He has published more than 80 monographs and more than 500 papers. The representative works include The Collection of South Around the North, Dunhuang Calligraphy Series, A General Examination of Yin and Zhen Buzi, A Study of Ci Collection, Lao Zi's Annotation to Children, Shirley and Xue Fanji. 20 13 won the "World China Research Contribution Award" and was called "the encyclopedia of life wisdom" by Phoenix.com. In 20 14, he won the "Lifetime Achievement Award of Chinese Studies" in the first Global Chinese Studies Festival. He has been devoted to academic research for a long time, involving literature, history, philosophy, art and other fields. He is proficient in poetry, calligraphy, painting and music, and has profound attainments and is well versed in China and the West. Academic circles call him "an internationally renowned sinologist,

"The pride of the whole Asian culture".

Rao Lao's life is also legendary, and his academic experience can be said to be a miracle in the cultural circle. As we all know, Qian and Ji are both graduates of Tsinghua University. Later, they also went to study in Britain and Germany and came back with titles. Rao didn't go to college. He is the only person in HKU history who was appointed as chairman without a degree. This is a well-known story. In fact, most of Rao Lao's knowledge comes from self-study and family study.

All this should start with Rao's family in Chaozhou.

According to research, Rao Lao's ancestors lived in Meixian County, Guangdong Province. So he is a Hakka from his ancestral home. However, his old gentleman's 12 generation Shibao began to sell Hakka tofu in Chaozhou, and its development was slow. When it comes to forgiving the older generation, it means forgiving the nineteenth generation. Rao Lao was the third generation of the richest man in Chaozhou when he was born. According to him, "My grandfather has four brothers, and each brother owns a silver shop that issues silver tickets. At that time, a large number of overseas remittances and domestic military salaries were transferred through the silver village of Rao in Chaozhou, so the Rao family was the richest man in Chaozhou for two or three generations. " It is easy for a rich family to raise a spoiled child, with Rao as an exception. It can be said that it is a miracle in the cultural history of China to stand out from the family of the richest man and become a master of Chinese studies. But it can be traced, because his father Rao Kai is a scholar besides running a family business. Young Tsung i Jao grew up under the influence of family history.

Rao Lao said: "My academic development is because I have family precepts, which can be said to be family studies. I have four foundations that come directly from my family studies: one is the foundation of poetry, which I learned from my father and family teacher. He was trained to write poetry, lyrics, parallel prose and prose since he was a child. The second is the foundation of Buddhism; Thirdly, it is the basis of bibliography; The fourth is "Research Methods of Ganjia School". " In the unrestrained learning environment, I have developed unique learning habits and methods since I was a child, which is very helpful for me to do various academic research in the future. I have cultivated these four foundations before 15 years old. In my experience, studying at home is a convenient way of learning, because it is very important to "enlighten" when studying. If you have family study, you can avoid detours when your elders introduce you. The "family origin" of Waijiang Owners' Forum means that there are many books at home and knowledge handed down from generation to generation. This is actually a person's learning system. If we can expand and upgrade the existing learning system of our elders, the foundation of Chinese studies will be more solid. "He added," In fact, I didn't even go to the primary school mentioned in some articles, and I taught myself completely. I went to an ordinary junior high school.

There was a private library-"Xiaotian Building", which was the largest library in eastern Guangdong at that time. I have been studying and playing there since I was a child, whether I understand it or not. So he has long known the basic types of books borrowed from China; I am familiar with history even earlier. In addition, my parents' friends are local intellectuals, who often recite poems in the back garden and learn from each other. Young Tsung i Jao grew up in such a strong family culture atmosphere. With later efforts, it succeeded. Zong Yirao 16 years old lost his father. As the eldest son, he will inherit the family business and complete his father's book Chaozhou Literature and Art.. He may lack business genes and can only continue his father's academic work. However, due to the unfavorable business situation, the family wealth is slowly dispersed in his hands.

1935, 18-year-old Tsung i Jao completed the above-mentioned book "Chaozhou Travel Literature and Art", which enjoys a high reputation in the cultural circles. Since then, he has gone from the "Xiaotian Building"

He came to the outside world and was hired as a researcher at Sun Yat-sen University in his early twenties. At that time, Sun Yat-sen University had moved to Yunnan because of the Japanese invasion. On the way to Yunnan, Tsung i Jao was seriously ill and stayed in Hong Kong, which gave him the opportunity to meet Wang and others who had a far-reaching influence on him, thus formally stepping into the door of China studies. The war made him lose the collection of Xiaotian House, but he met Fang Jiren, a Confucian businessman who strongly supported him in Hongkong. From 1952 to 1968, Tsung i Jao taught in the Chinese Department of HKU and got to know Lin Yangshan, the originator of the department. Everybody, appreciate each other. It can be said that a swift horse finally meets Bole. This is a great blessing for the academic circles in China.

Rao Lao's knowledge extends in all directions, involving almost all categories of Chinese studies, including Dunhuang studies, Oracle bone inscriptions, Ci-poetry, history, archaeology, bibliography, Chu Ci-poetry, epigraphy, music history, Taoist history, Buddhism, ancient prose, poetry, Chaozhou studies and so on. In addition, he is proficient in books and paintings. Rao's paintings won the true biography of Dunhuang manuscript "Tang Shu" with its white characters, and worked hard to develop and create a kind of Rao's line drawing. Zhang Qian once commented: Rao's description is unique in the world. His landscape paintings are more innovative and unique.

Rao is known as the last "master" in the field of "Chinese studies" for his scholarship and specialization. As can be seen from the following achievements, he really deserves it: in some fields, he occupies the position of pioneer. The first one compiled a catalogue, a bibliography of Chu Ci, the first one studied Japanese books, the first one studied Dunhuang calligraphy and painting, the first one linked Li Yin with Oracle Bone Inscriptions, the first one put forward the concept of "Maritime Silk Road", the first one put forward Chu culture and Wu Yue culture as subject names, the first one talked about Zhu Mo stone carvings in the history of China fine arts, and the first one talked about 0755-. Like Sanskrit, in order to taste the "original flavor", I just started to learn Sanskrit in my forties, and I studied it for decades until I could understand it.

Let's listen to Rao Lao's self-report:

"My curiosity is too strong. This thirst for knowledge conquered me and swallowed me up. I think learning is a pleasure. I study many, many problems. I study word by word. In order to find the root of a thing, I must find the original sentence. In this process, I have to be patient. I have been studying some issues for more than ten years. " "Literature is the most difficult to cultivate. Now students in China can't write classical Chinese and poems, so they are separated from the ancients. They can't create, they can only theorize. They pretend to be foreign theories, and what they think they know is actually a misunderstanding. Nowadays, students can write a book, but they can't write an ancient poem. China's traditional culture is contained in these ancient styles. Without mastering them, there will be no breakthrough in the study of Chinese studies. "

He added, "The ancient literati's scholarship, chess, calligraphy and painting all have a lot to do with this, which is a kind of edification of traditional culture. My interest in painting and calligraphy was cultivated by my father from an early age. It is a pity that the fault of family education now makes it difficult for children to get in touch with traditional culture and be influenced by Chinese studies.

Finally, he said: "My two daughters did not inherit my academic research, and I have always regretted it. But today, academic research in China has been very prosperous since 1980s, and there are many real scholars. I'm not worried that my study will be interrupted. However, there may not be scholars like me, because they are too stupid to delve into some problems that even many experts are bored with. What is the reason? No money to earn. "

In this way, Rao Lao is satisfied with the state of "liberation" and is not lonely at all. His knowledge seems to have nothing to do with the world, and his works cannot reflect the background of the times. Reading his poems and paintings is an ancient fashion, just like men in Wei and Jin Dynasties. In fact, this is what makes him proud, that is, studying for interest and asking questions for college.

Someone said, "He has three hearts. The first is curiosity, the second is childlike innocence, and the third is self-confidence. One is taller than the other. " With these three hearts, Rao Lao's quest for wisdom is persistent, persistent and tireless.

This is the miracle of Zong Rao. Some people predict that "there will be no second master of Chinese studies like him in 50 years". Sincerely.