Author: Li Zuzhen
Source: Journal of Literature and History, 1989, No.4, PP 3-5.
My father Li Sichun (Sheng Zhe) was born in Kunming, Yunnan, with the age of 1893. 19 19 autumn, my father and three young people, Li and He Lu Zhi, went to France for work-study programs at their own expense. At that time, many young people gathered in Shanghai went to Europe, and they went abroad under the influence of the May 4th Movement.
I still remember that in the summer and autumn of 19 19, Li introduced some young people from Chengdu to form the "Youth China Society" and took a group photo as a souvenir. I know Li, Hu Shaohuan, He Lu Zhi, Li Youchun, Sun Shaojing, Zhou Xiaohe (brother of Zhou Taixuan), Mu Jibo, etc. There is also Wu Youling (Yu Shi), an old hero who later defeated Kongjiadian. He is a backer, not a teenager, but has a young heart. This society was prepared in Beijing as early as one year before the May 4th Movement. The sponsors include Li Dazhao, Wang Guangqi (Runyu, from Wenjiang, Sichuan), Zhou Taixuan, Ceng Qi, etc. Later, Mao Runzhi also participated. Wang Guangqi is the most active, full of illusions about transforming society, with the spirit of theory and practice, so he was elected as the director of the preparatory department and later served as the director of the executive department. It can be said that the young China society represented by Wang was born under the influence of various social thoughts during the May 4th Movement.
My father and Wang are old friends. They were both reporters for Sichuan Daily and Qunbao (Wang was a reporter in Beijing at that time). They met and made friends with Huang many times in Shanghai Bansong Garden, and then made friends in Berlin for more than a year (Wang went to Bonn after studying at Berlin University). Both of them are independent in "society". They are neither Marxists nor nationalists, but Wang's ideal speech, which has an anarchist tendency (that is, anarchism). At that time, many people thought that Wang's eighteen years in Germany was not a pity, but his father reflected on it and thought that foreign research results were greater than domestic ones, and Wang had his own theoretical knowledge and was unwilling to make political predictions. Both Wang and my father are patriotic intellectuals. It is said that Wang did a lot of anti-Japanese and aggression against China in Germany and made great achievements. Wang is a scholar-type doctor, so he is very suitable for my father. Father and Wang are similar in character, knowledge and even road (middle route).
Father went abroad in tears because he didn't get the money! His father was only an alternate county magistrate in the border county of Yunnan Province, and his alternate qualification was naturally cancelled after Xin Haiping's life ended. His grandfather is a judge. In the Sino-French Vietnam War, Guang (Zhou) declared victory in the battle of Guang (Zhou) and made great achievements. Dante You returned to Sichuan after less than two years as an official, and did not return to his official position, and soon died. Although my father was an official's family, there was a poem of "Begonia falling into rags" in the late Qing Dynasty. When he went abroad, he was lucky to get the support of Zhang Junmai and the European correspondent of Current Affairs News. 004
My father studied liberal arts at the University of Paris for three years. He listened to Professor Cerneau Booth's lecture on modern history and historical methods. From the preface, the situation is as follows: "I attended classes day and night with a book, and then moved to Berlin, where I lived in a small building on Kant Street, where I spent a lot of time and leisure. This book was translated into The Original Theory of History." This book is co-authored by Searle and Longenova (director of the French National Library). They are all famous French historians. Father's life in Paris is very difficult. Winter in Paris is very cold. He has no money to build a stove in the apartment. It was so cold that he picked up the newspaper and lit a fire to keep warm. He often wears a tweed suit. However, his apartment is also a Paris exchange place for a group of international students, and his fiery heart is burning that he will cross from today to tomorrow. He was busy studying French, Latin and writing newsletters in Paris, and he also made many new friends. I especially want to mention Cai Hesen, Cai Chang, Wang Ruofei, Xu Beihong and Li Huang. He said that he and Wang Ruofei get along better.
Father finally went to Berlin to eat cheap bread, because grandma died and there was nothing the family could do. Knowing that he would come back after his academic failure, he made great efforts to translate this book (that is, The Original Theory of History). Father said: this book is "a work that explores abstract historical methods and makes in-depth thinking." He also said: "There is no book on historical methods that exceeds this point." (This book (1926) was first published by Shanghai Commercial Press, and later reprinted and included in the historical series. It was also included in the Wan You Library as a history book. There are several points worth mentioning in this book: 1, there is no history without historical materials, and even the first-hand historical materials are biased by the author. Therefore, proofreading, textual research, identification and other methods should be used. We should not be credulous and blindly follow. Books published in the early stage may not be credible in the later stage. 2. The purpose of all textual research is not the real purpose of historians. The real purpose of historians is to explore the origin of history. That is, the originality of the work, the perspective of the true image of history, and the exposure of the true face of history can naturally examine the past, learn from the present and understand the future. The translation also emphasizes: "History has made us familiar with all social changes and cured infectious diseases that we are afraid of changing." It can be seen that this book about history has a vision of change and foresight. Has entered the category of new historiography. 3. This book identifies historical materials and puts forward the idea of "separating from all the records it contains", which is the shadow of modern "screening method". This book also says that "the harmony between man and nature" is not the same as what China sages said. However, it obviously coincides with the "laws of the universe" theory of the new trend of thought in modern historiography. The above points show that this book is closely related to the pulse of new thoughts in modern history.
My father lives in Berlin (1923), so he naturally learned German. At the same time, he gradually fell in love with music (he was a fan of Kunqu opera in his early years) and liked listening to symphonies and operas. I also made some new friends. I especially want to mention that he met Zhu De and Kang Keqing on the dance floor. Naturally, at that time, he didn't know that he was so honored; He will dance with the future Red Army Marshal. Meeting Chen Yinque in Berlin was a blessing in his life. Mr. Chen was three years older than him and later became a bosom friend. In 1950s, he wrote letters, sent poems and exchanged heartfelt words. My father stayed in Europe for more than four years, dieting and saving money. He also bought hundreds of books in foreign languages, such as horvath's History of Mongolia and books on the history of Central Asia and India. His father has no official expenses and little money. In addition, the situation in Sichuan deteriorated and war broke out again. 1923 wrote the poem "Leave Berlin for Chen" and returned to China. Translate the appendix of the original theory of historiography on board.
After returning to China, he became a professor in the Foreign Languages Department of Nanjing Southeast University, and later wrote poems for Xue Heng. His translation "The Collection of French Poetry" (namely "The Collection of Crane") was also published, as was the article "Reading and Examining Gegeyu and Magu". He is not a Xue Heng school, but a patron. He wrote the manuscript with his love for classical literature and cherish for traditional culture. His thoughts are free from retro-ism, and there is little feudal dust in his works.
During his one year in Nanjing, he mainly wrote the book Meta History. His direction in the study of Yuan history is to correct mistakes and proofread, that is, to introduce new materials from abroad to make up for the shortcomings of domestic master works. It can be seen that his father was ambitious in his early years and wanted to become a "general history of Mongolia". Write in the plural. As he said: "A bunch of branches, a leaf, divided into five parts (including Tamerlane and Mongolia), together become a history." However, although ambitious, it is difficult to achieve great ambitions. His ambition is just a sigh of "sitting in the room doing nothing and running to the horizon" in his later years.
However, my father's metahistory (published by Zhonghua Book Company 1926) was instructed by several experts and scholars such as Wang Guowei, Liu Yizhi, Chen Yuan and Zhu Xizu, and the false mistakes were corrected (see the preface to metahistory). He did make up several metahistory's poems, such as An Introduction to Kyle Polo and An Introduction to the Spread of Christianity in Yuan Dynasty.
My father also has a volume of Xue Hai, and the third edition of China Literature and History was published in 1963. It's a reading note. Very pithy. It shows the depth of reading, the depth of skills and the extraordinary knowledge. Another book, Ten Treatises on Jiangcun, was published by Shanghai People's Publishing House 1957. It has collected ten academic papers related to Yuan history, such as Saying Evil, Saying Li, Singing and Examining, and Saying Different Translations of Foreign Kings' Names. In addition, there are Talk about Warmen and Weapons, Talk about Martyrdom, Talk about National Hairstyles, Textual Research on Women's Studies in the Tang Dynasty, Textual Research on the Process of Translating Classics, Textual Research on Guankou's Expression, etc., which involve research on general history, folklore, sociology and ethnic minorities.
1924 went back to Chengdu to visit relatives, and Governor Yang Sen appointed him as the dean of Sichuan International Studies University. Father said: for a year, I have nothing but run to the general's yamen to ask Yang Sen for money to run a school! More nerve-racking than teaching! 1925 Li Helin (Pixian native, international student, producer of * * *, later dismissed? I sent a letter to Wuhan. But went to the academic center in Beijing.
He came to Tsinghua campus and visited his old friends Chen Yinque and Wu Mi. I also met Wang Jing 'an (Guowei) and Liang Rengong (Qi Chao), masters of Chinese studies. Mr. Wang personally wrote five words and several sentences; Mr. Liang, on the other hand, "talked all night". Every father has a poem to record his events. In the same year, he taught in Peking University (preparatory school), Fu Jen Catholic University and Beijing Normal University. He and Mr. Zhang, Zhang, Yuan 'an Chen and Ma Xulun are friends of teachers and friends, and met with He Lin and Liu Bannong successively. Later, I worked as an editor in the National Compilation Museum, so I had many acquaintances. 005
After returning to Sichuan, he was laid off for two years, and only taught in "chengdu normal university" and "Special School of Chinese Studies" (formerly known as Zunjing Academy).
In the year of the Anti-Japanese War, my father was a professor in the history department of Sichuan University, and later he was the head of the department of history and geography of Normal University. He also taught the history department of the philosophy department of Huada University, which ended in liberation. 1960 19 fell ill (cerebral hemorrhage) in the provincial museum of literature and history on March 4, and died after being rescued by the hospital! 67 years old.
Father's manuscript has been copied! But there are still many things left. For example, there are nearly a thousand poems and nearly a hundred words, and I have published Poetry in the Cloud. He is a disciple of Lao and his disciples, so his lyrics are also excellent. In addition, there are Textual Research on Historic Sites in Chengdu, Textual Research on Daci Temple in Chengdu, Guicheng Records, etc., which shows that he wants to learn from Changqu to write local chronicles. There are also Notes on Kunqu Music, Compilation of Four Different Translations of Geographical Names in National History (incomplete draft), Kangxing Diary, Travel Notes in the Past and so on.
I think my father's knowledge is comprehensive, and he has made great efforts in literature, history, philosophy, politics, law, journalism, diplomatic translation and so on (naturally he is good at history and poetry). From a spatial point of view, it spans Asia, Africa and Europe, and from a temporal point of view, it has experienced three periods: the late Qing Dynasty, the Republic of China and the decade after liberation. He has a pen for writing history and a pen for writing poetry. He has scientific knowledge and intelligent feelings, and is good at writing without being stale. Therefore, "Father" is not a painting or a novel, and it can be described perfectly. His mind is also better. Let's record a poem by my father as a souvenir.
Wuyin (1939) works for nine days.
Heshuo Jianghuai lacks soldiers, whose pure land has passed Chongyang?
Smoke crows geese crow, blood and tears coagulate maple and dye everywhere.
The gaunt yellow flowers hang down the late calyx, and the hard green temples are covered with frost.
It's raining, and it hurts not to climb!