Chapter 19 scholarship

In 1917, Liu Wendian was introduced by Chen Duxiu to teach at Peking University, teaching courses such as "Classical Literature", "Selected Works" and "Collation of Ancient Books".At that time, the residual heat of Liu Wendian's revolution was still there. During the "May 4th" Movement, he acted as a "night watch dog" for the students, and actively participated in the movement to expel Zhang Shizhao, the chief education officer. The "Eight Massacres" and the resignation of Zhang Shizhao made Liu Wendian feel exhausted and disappointed.From then on, Liu Wendian "farewell to the revolution", began to sink into the collation of ancient books, and devoted himself to academic research.

Liu Wendian has been committed to the collation of ancient books all his life. He often said to his students in class: "Every ancient book has a process of copying and publishing. It takes thousands of years and only a few decades. Mistakes are hard to avoid. There are many people who forged and tampered with ancient books under the guise of a name. They can’t see the problem, and they can’t tell the truth from the fake. Extensive knowledge of culture, history, and the system of names and objects, as well as the study of editions and catalogs must also be carefully studied.” In 1923, Liu Wendian's "Huinan Honglie Jijie" was published by the Commercial Press in 21 volumes.Hu adapted to Liu Wendian's request and made an exception to write a preface in classical Chinese. In the preface, he was not stingy at all with praise: "Shu Ya's treatment of this book is the most rigorous and methodical... His skill is so difficult, and his achievements should be the only ones." Afterwards, Hu Shi spoke highly of this book in his book "The Long History of Chinese Thought": "In recent years, Liu Wendian's "Huinan Honglie Collection" is the most complete collection of collations by scholars in the Qing Dynasty, and it is the most convenient. A practical book." After the publication of this book, Liu Wendian became famous in the academic circle for a while.

As soon as Liu Wendian's "Huinan Honglie Jijie" was published, it attracted the attention of the academic circle.At that time, Hu Shi and Liang Qichao, at the request of Tsinghua Weekly, gave young people a minimum bibliography of Chinese studies.In the bibliography, Hu Shi naturally recommended this "Huainan Honglie Collection" by his friend Liu Wendian.At that time, Liang Qichao, who sneered at Hu Shi's bibliography, also recommended Liu Wendian's new book in his newly listed "Introduction to Chinese Studies and How to Read it". A collection of Taoist words between the Qin and Han Dynasties, it is advisable to read them intensively, and Liu Wendian's "Huinan Honglie Jijie" is quite good for commentaries."

Lu Xun "advised young people to read less Chinese books, or not to read them at all", but after hearing that his colleague Liu Wendian's "Huainan Honglie Collection" was officially published, he went to the Commercial Press to buy a set and put it This matter was written in the diary. When Liu Wendian reviewed "Huainanzi", he wrote to Hu Shi and said: "I saw that Liu Ji and Zhuang Kuiji were scolded too bitterly by Wang Nian and his son, and I was very afraid. If there is one extra word, later generations will say that I have added indiscriminately; It's all about proofreading today."

In 1923, Liu Wendian's "Huainan Honglie Jijie" was published. The book caused a sensation in the academic circle and was reprinted three times in ten years.Twenty-five years later, Liu Wendian re-edited "Huinan Honglie Jijie" and published it. On the basis of the original book, this book added new materials and new thinking that he encountered in his more than 20 years of reading and teaching. When Liu Wendian collated Huainanzi, he needed to consult the classics of Daozang.Liu Wendian heard that there was a copy of "Tao Cang" published in the Zhengtong period of the Ming Dynasty in the collection of Baiyun Temple in Beijing, so he asked a friend for help, and he began to live in Baiyun Temple and was able to read this book.He devoted himself to reviewing "Tao Cang" in Baiyun Temple. He didn't go out on weekdays. He often didn't think about eating and drinking, and had trouble sleeping and eating.

Liu Wendian often reads all night long, often goes to bed when the cock crows, and eats breakfast at one or two o'clock in the next afternoon. Most of his works are completed at night.When reading at night, often accompanied by tea and cigarettes.Some of his works were eaten by mice, which became a lifelong regret. Liu Pingzhang, Liu Wendian's son, also recalled his habit of writing at night.In order to concentrate on studying knowledge, he always started reading and writing at nine or ten o'clock at night, and did not go to bed until seven or eight o'clock the next day, and never had breakfast.At noon, after the meal was ready, his wife Zhang Qiuhua was in charge of waking him up and "leading" him out of the room.Liu Pingzhang said: "Sometimes he is still hazy. My mother puts food for him, and he just eats it without looking at it. He doesn't pay much attention to things other than knowledge such as appearance and diet."

According to Liu Pingzhang, in addition to making great achievements in the study of Chinese classical culture, Liu Wendian is also proficient in English, Japanese, and German, and usually reads books in foreign languages, so he is also very familiar with the international situation.He has written many articles, analyzing the environmental situation at that time, and they all have extremely high political foresight from today's perspective.Liu Wendian also has a lot of research on medicine and has put forward many new ideas. When Fu Laisu was packing up the books for Liu Wendian once, he accidentally read a copy of "Zhuangzi Supplement" that Liu read by himself. There are also foreign languages.Fu Laisu and his classmates were all amazed by Liu's rigor in academic research. It seems that the teacher has indeed achieved what he said "the similarities and differences of a word must be found (same as 'true')".

Liu Wendian has many ancient books in his collection, among which there are many unique and rare books.After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, Liu went south alone. He wrote to his wife Zhang Qiuhua, asking her to meet him in Yunnan, and asked Zhang to bring his collection of books.Zhang Qiuhua took his children and four large boxes of books on a bumpy journey. Finally, because the books were really inconvenient to carry, they were deposited with Liu's students in Hong Kong.After the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, these books were looted.After the end of the Anti-Japanese War, he was very happy when he learned that Japan would return the looted Chinese books, but the result disappointed him.Until his death, he was still looking for his own collection of books.

In 1961 after Liu Wendian's death, Liu Pingzhang reported this matter to Zhou Enlai, but the Prime Minister's Office replied: "Since Sino-Japanese relations have not yet been restored, it is not appropriate to mention this matter at present." It is known that Liu Wendian's collection of books has long been returned to Japan, but at the time when the Kuomintang retreated to Taiwan, it is still unknown where the collection of books is now. Among the references of Yu Dan's "Experience from Zhuangzi", Liu Wendian's "Supplement to Zhuangzi" ranks second, while No. 1 ranks first.