Meng (1894- 1968), formerly known as Erda, is an outstanding historian in China. Mr Meng has made great achievements in the study of China's ancient history and ancient academic culture.

Chinese name: Meng.

Alias: Monda

Nationality: China.

Ethnic group: Han nationality

Place of Birth: Sichuan Province

Date of birth: 1894

Date of death: 1968

Occupation: historian

Graduation school: Sichuan Ancient Preservation School.

Representative works: Wei Zhen in Ancient History, Notes on Lao Zi by Li Rong, and Shu Shu of Lao Zi in Xuan Ying.

Research direction: ancient history and ancient scholarship.

Expert introduction

Basic information

Meng (1894- 1968), whose real name is the second largest, is from Miaoxiang, Yanting County, Sichuan Province. China is an outstanding historian in modern times. Since the 1920s, she has taught in Chengdu University, chengdu normal university, Chengdu Institute for Nationalities, Central University, Henan University, Peking University and Hebei Women's Teachers College. In the 1940s, he was the director of Sichuan Library and a professor at West China University and Sichuan University. After the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), he served as a professor of West China University and Sichuan University, a researcher and academic member of the Institute of History of China Academy of Sciences, a member of Chengdu People's Representative, CPPCC, Chengdu Municipal Committee of NLD and Sichuan Provincial Committee. Mr Meng devoted his life to the study of China's ancient history and ancient academic culture, with profound attainments and high achievements. Mr. Meng's knowledge of Buddhism is also very high. According to the cloud, he is one of Zhu De's successors.

His main works are: Wei Zhen in Ancient History, Notes on Lao Zi by Li Rong, Yi Shu by Lao Zi, Studies on Ethnic Minorities in Zhou and Qin Dynasties, Studies on Confucian Classics, etc.

life experience

Meng's education was carried out under the careful guidance of the masters of Chinese studies. He was educated by the master of Chinese studies in the late Qing Dynasty and Liu, and began his long academic career by studying traditional Confucian classics. Later, he asked Mr. Ouyang Wujing, a master of modern Buddhism, about Buddhism and ancient academic thoughts.

1927, Mr. Meng wrote a famous book "Ancient History", and put forward the theory that ancient nationalities in China can be divided into Jianghan, Haidai and Heluo, each with different tribes, surnames, places of residence and economic and cultural characteristics. Later, with the publication of Confucian Classics, this theory was further enriched and perfected from the perspective of academic culture. The theory of "three schools" is very different from the ancient history school at that time, but it can still be compared with it in terms of its extensive and far-reaching influence on academic circles.

Chengdu University, Chengdu Normal University and public Sichuan University were forcibly merged into the National Sichuan University. The Japanese puppet government "invited" him to write political academic articles many times and lured him with huge sums of money. Meng, a family of seven, refused to come despite economic difficulties, the outbreak of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the increasing poverty of her family. Later, our family moved to Sichuan and taught at Sichuan University. His attitude towards Hu Shi is almost a bit "cow". During his stay at Peking University, he never went to Hu Shijia's house once, which Mr. Qian Mu also called "a rare thing". This made Hu Shi very embarrassed. Hu Shi even ignored the fact that Peking University did not teach the history of Sui and Tang Dynasties, and no longer hired Meng Le. Meng also took it in stride and went his own way. Later, he was transferred to Tianjin as a female teacher, and his contacts with Xu Xiyu and others remained the same.

Mr. Meng has never left the lecture desk for decades, tirelessly teaching and educating people, and training a large number of academic talents for the country, which can be said to be full of peaches and plums.

1968, Meng died at the age of 74 after writing the first draft of Shi Yue Cong Kao. Rest in the beautiful Chang Song Temple Cemetery.

Learning course

Different from Xu Zhongshu's self-study, Meng's education was carried out under the careful guidance of the master of Chinese studies. Meng entered a private school at the age of five. 1906, he joined the Sichuan Higher School with his uncle and set up a middle school. Five years later, he was elected to Sichuan Cungu School, the highest institution of Chinese studies at that time. Sichuan Ancient Preservation School is a national institution set up by Zhao Qilin in Hubei Province after imitating Zhang Zhidong. It requires students to be extremely high, mostly top talents in juren, Gongsheng and new learning. Its purpose is to "preserve Chinese studies and respect the sages of Shu". After entering the school, Meng still "turned a deaf ear to what's going on in the world and devoted himself to reading classics and history books". He always delves into Chinese studies, no matter what the masters usually say. After school, he bought a large number of books, covering classics, history, philosophers, books collection and other aspects, and began to set foot in Sikuquanshu. The extensive knowledge in his early years enabled Meng to show his profound knowledge in later studies of Confucian classics, history and Buddhism.

research results

Buddhist philosophy

Meng's Buddhism originated from the ancient and modern discussions in China in the early 1920s. 19 18 After graduating from Sichuan Gugu School, Meng returned to his hometown Yanting to start a private school to make a living, and continued to study classics and history in the ruined temple for three years. After the May 4th Movement, China began a new cultural revolution. New cultural leaders represented by Lu Xun and Chen Duxiu had a heated debate with Wu Mi and Zhang. In this dispute, Meng was hard to decide, and resigned from Chongqing Fulian Middle School and Chongqing Provincial No.2 Women's Normal School. "She wandered between wuyue, visited major historians and discussed the changes of ancient and modern times with Zhang Taiyan, but Ouyang had no influence on Buddhism." During the long-term study tour, Meng still found it difficult to choose between the two. However, aware of the deep subconscious influence of Buddhism in China's thought, Meng stayed in Ouyang's "inner court of wisdom" where he had nothing to do, and devoted himself to studying Buddhism for four years, from 1923 to 1927. During this period, Meng, Tang Yongtong, Xiong Shili, Lu Cheng and others made friends happily and argued endlessly. Although their views were different, even quite different, they played an extremely important role in the study of Buddhism in Meng.

In the long-term "gossip" and "debate", Meng was able to touch upon it on the basis of the debates of various factions and in the process of debate, thus making his own system more precise and rigorous, so that few people could achieve it in the study of Buddhism at that time. Ouyang had no hope for Meng and hoped that he would inherit the mantle and specialize in Buddhism. "Change the engraving (the doctrine of the mean), starting with this. Only my brother knows this, a middleman said, wanting to get there quickly. It all depends on observing the line, a trace of Jiuding; It is sad that the disaster continues, and it is sad to be alone! " "Confucius, on its end, great things are boundless, and I hope my brother will follow suit." After Meng left the "zhina Imperial Palace", Ouyang lost his ego and often wrote to inquire, hoping that "* * * cut the candle at the west window * * * lettering to talk", "Why didn't you leave me a word after many years!"

Meng lived up to Ouyang's fate and made a major breakthrough in Buddhist research. Ouyang was overjoyed when he didn't finish reading China Kao Chan, but he reread it, sometimes writing angrily between manuscripts, and sometimes brushing ink on manuscript paper. Later, two articles written by Meng were published in the first issue of Internal Medicine, followed by two articles written by Ouyang, Buddhism and Mind.

Historical literature

As far as Confucian classics, history and literature are concerned, Meng showed a deep foundation as early as in Sichuan. Meng wrote 19 14 on Confucius' ancient prose, and his brushwork went deep into the foundation of ancient history and six classics, thus distinguishing differences and solving the crux of the dispute between the two scholars in the future. Meng's unique insight won the appreciation of his teacher: "Literature is like the bottom of a bucket. Admire! Admire! In the future, I will become everyone. " Since then, Meng has successively written monographs such as A Review of Sinology in Recent Twenty Years, Tracing the Source of Confucian Classics, Tian Wen himself, History of Zhou and Qin Dynasties, History of Chinese Historiography, Archaeological Analysis, Development of Confucian Political Thought, and Evolution and Principles of Mohist Thought.

Meng has always regarded Confucian classics as the longitude and latitude of history, and they overlap with literature to form a torrent of history. In his writings and debates, history is often dominated by classics, and classics are annotated by history. The two overlap and reflect each other. 1968, Meng's book Shi Yue Cong Kao quoted 130 kinds of ancient documents in detail, confirming each other. This paper discusses the origin, development, expansion and decline of Vietnam from twelve angles. The arguments are rigorous, informative and convincing. In the early 1980s, Vietnamese authorities instructed domestic scholars to write "Ancient History of Vietnam" to find an excuse for public opinion to invade China. 1984, Zhonghua Book Company is about to sort out and publish Meng's General History of Vietnam, and the public opinion effect produced by the book Ancient History of Vietnam has disappeared.

Mr. Meng's most important historical thought is "knowing people and discussing the world", and he believes that history is developing and changing. The task of historians is to point out the traces of historical changes and reveal the reasons for development. In practice, Mr. Meng pays attention to exploring the causes of historical development from the study of social and economic history. The article "The Expansion of Agricultural Output in China in Past Dynasties and the Evolution of Tax System and Academic Thought" is a representative work of the viewpoint of "taking history as a change". Mr. Meng devoted himself to the study of national history and local history in his later years, and proposed that Kunlun should be the cultural center of ancient times. He believes that Bashu culture is gradually spreading from west to east, and Chu culture is also deeply influenced by Bashu culture. Shan Hai Jing is a famous academic viewpoint of Ba Shu Chu culture. Here, it is worth writing a book. As a historian, with a sense of responsibility to safeguard the lofty interests of the Chinese nation, Mr. Meng spent the last four years of his life writing a monograph on the history of the ancient Baiyue nationality, Shi Yue Cong Kao. This is a book full of true patriotism, and its achievements mark a new level in the study of ancient Chinese national history. In addition, there are dozens of monographs and academic papers, such as Ancient Wei Zhen, Five Theories of Confucianism, Ten Kinds of Daoism, Discussion on the Ancient History of Bashu, and Research on the Ethnic Minorities in Pre-Qin Period. He left great achievements in ancient history, ancient geography, ancient nationalities, ancient learning, ancient religion and many other fields. In addition, hundreds of thousands of manuscripts need to be sorted out and published.

Related contribution

Meng is a student of modern famous Confucian scholars. His revision, development and development of Liao Ping's Confucian Classics highlight his revelation and interpretation of the ideal system of modern writers and their ideological essence.

Revision and development

Historically, Confucian classics in Han Dynasty were divided into modern Confucian classics and ancient Confucian classics. Liao Ping is a famous Confucian scholar in modern times. He pioneered the distinction between Confucian classics and modern literature by the "ritual system", and his Confucian classics was the peak in the history of Confucian classics. As a student, Meng not only inherited the new theory, but also revised, developed and perfected it.

Liao Ping mainly distributes modern literature by region and ancient literature by classics. His division is unscientific and irregular. To this end, Meng revised his view on distinguishing between ancient and modern schools.

Meng believes that in the composition of ancient documents, Jin Xue accounts for the vast majority, there are books in the walls, and knowledge is also circulated among the people.

Meng pointed out: Six Arts is the learning of Lu people, the learning of Lu people, the authenticity of the Six Classics, the clique of Confucius' theory, and the pure Confucianism that is conservative, loyal and faithful to learning from others. History of a Floating Life, History of Xiahou, Tianhe Yi, Liang Qiu Yi, Lu Shi and Hou are all Lu studies.

In Meng's view, Confucianism, which was exclusively respected by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, was not real Confucianism, but changed its taste. This kind of Confucianism abandons the ideal of Confucianism and the true meaning of Confucius' theory. Those who teach the true ideals of Confucianism are in danger of their lives and can only enter a secret state to spread, thus forming the study of Wei Shu in Han Dynasty. However, the spread of modern literature has not disappeared, and the Confucian "micro-speech and great righteousness" has gradually turned from esoteric biography to practice. The thought of "revolution" in modern literature "Qi Baishi" and "Yi Zhuan" has entered Taoism and become the guiding ideology of the Yellow turban insurrectionary.

Interpreting connotation

Meng's greatest contribution to the study of modern literary classics is that he classified the main systems of modern literature into five types and made a detailed analysis, which profoundly revealed the essence and significance of modern literary thought. Meng believes that modern literature in Han Dynasty can be divided into internal learning and external learning, and internal learning contains the Confucian "micro-expression of meaning". Foreign studies not only betrayed the revolutionary thought of modern literature, but also did not study the "ritual system", which was "obscure without knowing its source" and fell into the complicated philosophy of "analyzing words but annoying words", which had a far-reaching and extremely bad influence in history. Meng did not take Kang Youwei's road, but followed the new academic direction. He emphatically analyzed the ideal system of modern literature, and through the analysis of its ideal system, he revealed the revolutionary and progressive nature of modern literary thought, thus greatly enriching the connotation of modern literary thought.

main sourc

Meng believes that Mohism and Legalism have the greatest influence on modern literature.

First of all, the progressive thoughts of today's writers are deeply influenced by Mohist thoughts, which mainly include the following aspects: the "equality thoughts" of today's writers come from Mohist thoughts; Tang Ming, the center of today's writer's ideal system, also comes from Mohism. Today, the most remarkable thing that writers have absorbed from Mohism is Liu Yun's theory of great harmony. The theory of "Wang Su" originated from Mohism. The idea of the Book of Filial Piety also comes from Mohism.

Secondly, Meng also believes that the literature of Han Dynasty and today also absorbed the thoughts of Legalists. That is to say, today's writers have absorbed the legalists' idea of opposing "hereditary aristocracy" because the hereditary system is opposite to the idea of "equality for all"; Secondly, it also absorbed the legalists' thoughts of "unification" and "respecting the king".

Therefore, in Meng's view, because modern literature has absorbed hundred schools of thought's thoughts, it has developed and summarized the thoughts of Confucianism and hundred schools of thought in the pre-Qin period, most notably the thoughts of Mohism and Legalism; When creating the tree theory, we should pay attention to the system and make it more detailed. Therefore, the ideas of modern literature are richer, more grand, more comprehensive and more specific, thus meeting the requirements of social history and meeting the needs of the rulers at that time. This is not only the inevitability of its historical development, but also its internal logical basis.

It can be seen that on the basis of inheriting Confucian classics, Meng revised and developed it, and was "independent" to some extent. These "revised" and "independent" parts are Meng's contribution to the study of Confucian classics.

Related anthology

Meng Wen Ji has six episodes, which are published by Bashu Publishing House (1987 ~ 200 1). The Anthology is divided into volumes according to categories, namely, Wei Zhen of Ancient Learning, Wei Zhen of Ancient People, Origin of Confucian Classics, Wei Zhen of Ancient Land, Wei Zhen of Ancient History and Ten Taoist Books, and contains nearly 100 works with about 2.3 million words.

The contents of this book include the study of Confucian Classics and hundred schools of thought in the pre-Qin and Han Dynasties, the history of the late Saturday and Song Dynasties, the study of Zen and epistemology in Buddhism, Taoism and Taoist teaching, Neo-Confucianism in the Song and Ming Dynasties, ancient geography, ancient national history, ancient social and economic history, etc. For example, few people in modern times have this right. It is amazing that the scope involved is wide and the exposition is profound. What you say is always unexpected, and many chapters have become the most representative chapters in the academic field in the 20 th century. It is famous at home and abroad, impressed by many scholars, and full of great academic charm.

Focus on learning

The dynastic history of Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Sui and Tang Dynasties written by Mongols was the domestic authority at that time. Mr. Tang Yongtong once mentioned Meng's expertise in the Academic Committee of China Academy of Sciences on 1957: "Now many people know that Meng is a historian and an ancient historian, but few people know that Meng is also good at the history of China's thoughts, because the study of China's ideological history is particularly inseparable from Confucian classics and Buddhism. In addition, he also studied the development of the history of thought in Tang and Song Dynasties, paying special attention to thinkers who had not been noticed in the past. " Therefore, when Hu Shi no longer hired Meng, Qian Mu once said: "Wen Tong's appointment is the dynastic history of Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Sui and Tang Dynasties. I dare say. As far as I know, Guo can't find a successor for at least three years. " Later, Meng left Peking University, and the History of Sui and Tang Dynasties was first edited by Mr. Chen Yinque. A month before teaching, his wife threatened: "If you don't resign from Peking University, you won't ask about his three meals." Students are very dissatisfied with the need for scholars from all walks of life to award prizes in the history of Sui and Tang Dynasties. Hu Shi was also very depressed about this, but he couldn't pull down the face of scholars and went to Tianjin to hire Meng, so he had to perfunctory teaching.

Teaching experience

As a scholar, Meng is straightforward and does not easily disagree with others. He has taught in Chongqing Fulian Middle School, Chongqing No.2 Women's Normal School, Chengdu University, Central University, Henan University, Peking University, Tianjin No.1 Women's Normal School, Sichuan University and Huaxi University. During his teaching, Meng was not only different academically, but also strong-willed. 193 1 year, in order to save education funds and use them for other purposes, Sichuan warlords forcibly merged Chengdu University, Chengdu Normal University and public Sichuan University into national Sichuan University. Meng angrily resigned in protest and later taught in Kaifeng, Henan; During her stay in Hebei Women's Normal School, the Japanese Puppet repeatedly invited her to write political and academic articles such as Shi Yue Cong Kao.

After Meng transferred from Hebei Women's Normal College to Sichuan University, she was invited by Guo to be the director of Sichuan Provincial Library. At the beginning of the founding of New China, Meng was a historical researcher and an academician of China Academy of Sciences. In this issue, Meng likes to write about thinkers who have never been noticed, find out their origins, test their changes, and then discuss their influence in history. At the same time, the attention to regions and legends has been greatly improved compared with the previous period. In the study of Bashu history, Meng's study also runs through his style of study which pays equal attention to Confucian classics and history.

1968, Meng died at the age of 74 after writing the first draft of Shi Yue Cong Kao.

Anecdotes of life

Meng is a descendant of "Shu Studies" in modern times and a great master of classics and history. He has served as a professor at Central University, Peking University and Sichuan University. Recalling the master's life can be summarized as "heroic Confucian".

Learn to be a man.

Meng studied the history of Confucian classics all his life and wrote a lot, but he once told his son Meng Mo that he learned the most about Neo-Confucianism in the Song and Ming Dynasties. "Neo-Confucianism is not for talking, but for practice." Meng Moneng, a retired professor in the history department of Sichuan University, recalled his father's words verbatim.

Meng Mo said that his father's guidance to graduate students began with two sentences. The first sentence quoted Lu Xiangshan as saying: "I don't know a word here, but I want to be an open person." The second sentence is his own creed: "People with malicious intentions will not achieve much in learning."

Employment storm

Meng took teaching as his career, but he was embarrassed twice because he was not rehired by the school. Once in Peking University in the 1930s. He has taught in the history department for many years, but he has never been to Hu Shijia, dean of the College of Liberal Arts, once, so he was called "this is also a rare thing" by his colleague Qian Mu. It is said that this incident embarrassed Hu Shi so much that he ignored the fact that Peking University didn't teach the history of Sui and Tang Dynasties and no longer hired Meng Le. However, Meng took it calmly and went his own way. Later, she was transferred to a female teacher in Tianjin to teach, and her contact with the "leader" remained the same.

The other time was in Sichuan University in the 1940s. Meng was not reappointed by the College of Liberal Arts because of his tricks. But a bunch of students fell in love with his knowledge and asked him to continue teaching. He said: "I don't have to take money, but I am from Sichuan and I have to teach Sichuan children." So let the students who are willing to take classes go to their own homes to continue teaching.

Teacher's demeanor

A student of Sichuan University once recalled Mr. Meng: "Mr. Meng is short and plump, with a beautiful beard, drooping chest, bright eyes, holding a two-foot-long leaf tobacco rod in his hand, smiling, calmly and smartly walking onto the platform, which is full of scholars, elders and respected people."

His lecture has two characteristics. First of all, he doesn't have a speech. Sometimes he just draws a few crosses on the platform with a piece of paper, but he never reads it and doesn't care if it is blown away by the wind. The second is to ignore the bell after class, listen but not smell, and speak correctly. Every time the teacher in the next class arrives at the door of the classroom, he leaves with a smile.

His exam is also quite interesting. It is not Mr. Wang who tests the students, but the students who ask Mr. Wang. Usually, as soon as a candidate's question is asked, Mr. Wang Can knows the students' knowledge level. If the students' questions are well written, Mr. Meng always laughs, then lights a cigarette, takes a sip and begins to comment in detail. The examination room is not in the classroom, but in the tea shop in the bamboo forest of Wangjiangta Park next to Sichuan University. Students are assigned tea in the exam, and Teacher Meng pays for tea.

Meng once told Meng Mo that he knew everything about the questioner like the back of his hand, just like a clock, "A big knock makes a big sound, while a small knock makes a small sound". His students often come to ask questions at night. He always warmly receives Kan Kan, answers his questions and talks with him. Late at night, the student left, often not letting him go, just chatting for a while, and then burning two pieces of paper with water smoke can be put down.

If he goes to his house during the day, he will probably invite him to the teahouse next door. While lecturing while drinking tea, he proudly said, "What you hear in the teahouse may not be heard in class."

His student Wu Tianchi said, "Mr. Wang is open-minded, informal, approachable and likes to make friends. In society, all religions are treated equally, so many monks and Taoists have friendship with him. I like sitting in a teahouse on the street, chatting with people and inviting acquaintances to restaurants for snacks. "

Heroic and ambitious

Meng loves Sichuan Opera, and many people in the theater know this "Mr. Meng". He can drink well, too. According to Meng Mo, his father drank at least a catty of yellow wine.

Many literati came to Chengdu to visit Meng. After their contact, they often sigh: "I thought I was just a scholar after reading my husband's book, but I didn't expect my husband to be so heroic."