Chapter 72 6. Qian Mu

Qian Mu's hometown is Qifang Bridge in Wuxi, a water town in the south of the Yangtze River.After his father, Qian Chengpei, passed the examination as a scholar, he had no intention of getting a title due to frailty and sickness, but he had high hopes for his two sons, hoping that they could study and become officials.Qian Mu entered a private school at the age of 7, and when he was 12, his 41-year-old father passed away.Orphaned and widowed, the family is poor.But the mother insisted not to let the child drop out of school. She said: "I will follow my husband's behest and keep a few seeds of study for the Qian family..." So Qian Mu was able to continue studying.

When he was young, Qian Mu studied at Guoyu School in Dangkou Town, Wuxi.At that time, the teacher who taught gymnastics was 21-year-old Qian Bogui, who had studied at Shanghai Nanyang Public School. He was radical in thinking and was a member of the revolutionary party at that time.Seeing that Qian Mu was smart and intelligent, he asked him, "I heard you can read?" Qian Mu answered in the affirmative.The teacher used this to teach: "Don't read these books again. At the beginning of this book, there are words such as the world will be divided for a long time, and the world will be united for a long time. This is because Chinese history has gone on the wrong path, so There is such a state of affairs. Today, the countries of Britain and France in Europe will no longer be divided when united, and will no longer be chaotic when they are united. We should learn from them." These words greatly shocked Qian Mu, who was only ten years old. When he recalled this incident, he said: "After studying, Bogui's teacher's words are always in my heart. Which one is better or worse in Eastern and Western cultures... The rest of my life has also been trapped in this problem."

In 1907, Qian Mu was promoted to Changzhou Fuzhong School.Before the year-end exam, Qian Mu's fourth grade collectively proposed to ask the school to make some changes to the curriculum for next year, requesting to subtract self-cultivation courses and add Greek courses.The students recommended Qian Mu and other five people as representatives to discuss with the principal, and threatened to withdraw from school collectively, but the school refused.As a student representative, Qian Mu has a stubborn personality, so he refuses to take the exam, fills out the withdrawal form, and automatically withdraws from school.Among the five representatives of this student movement, besides Qian Mu, there were two other famous figures in modern Chinese history.One is Zhang Shoukun from Changzhou, who founded the monthly magazine "Guogu"; the other is Liu Shoupeng from Jiangyin, that is, Liu Bannong, who was famous during the "May 4th" New Culture Movement; Grade Qu Qiubai.

Qian Mu dropped out of school due to the student riot and returned to his hometown in Qifangqiao.Because Qian Mu's grades in Guowen and history were the highest among his classmates, and he was the youngest, so although the principal Tu Yuanbo dismissed him, he still admired Qian Mu, so he recommended Qian Mu to Nanjing Zhongying Middle School. Not long after Qian Mu studied at Zhongying Middle School in Nanjing, the Revolution of 1911 broke out.The school closed and Qian Mu dropped out.He knew that his family was poor and that he had no hope of further education. Although "he often regretted not being able to enter university, he did not become depressed because of this. He was determined to study by himself and studied hard behind closed doors. At the age of eighteen, he moved to the countryside to teach for a living." Ten years of rural education, ten years of hard study, and ten years of searching have laid a solid foundation for his future academic research.In the past ten years, he has made a lot of achievements in the research of Chinese studies.Later, under the introduction of his friends, he began to teach and write in middle schools in Wuxi, Suzhou and other places, and published many academic works in journals.

In 1913, Qian Mu regretted that he did not go to university. After seeing the admissions advertisement of Peking University, he planned to apply for Peking University, but for some reason there was no result.However, Qian Mu diligently read Zhang Xuecheng's "Wen Shi Tong Yi" and Xia Zengyou's "Chinese History Textbook" in preparation for the exam (the former is a compulsory bibliography, and the latter is a Peking University textbook). This is the beginning of Qian Mu's self-study.He imitated the example of the ancients who recited scriptures on a regular basis and read history on a soft day. He set a schedule to read hard-to-read books in the scriptures every morning, read history books in the evening, and read miscellaneous books in the afternoon.After a few years passed, he was already known as a learned man.

Qian Mu often learns from the ancients' scholarship and conduct when studying, and reflects on himself in time.Once reading Zeng Guofan's family letter, he once said that he would read every book carefully from beginning to end.From then on, Qian Mu demanded that every book must be read carefully without missing a single word, and that he would change another book after reading it.He summed up an effective experience from the ancients, and practiced it personally, stipulating that he should read the scriptures in the morning, read history in the evening, and read idle books in the middle, so as to fully improve the efficiency of reading (chanting scriptures in the early days and reading history in soft days).

Qian Mu said: "I have written all the books and put them there. They will definitely be useful in the future." Qian Mu wrote books in his life, amounting to 17 million words. Since the late Qing Dynasty, with the profound changes in social and historical conditions and the large-scale spread of Western learning to the east, the study of the study of the philosophers has gradually emerged.In this context, Qian Mu started from Zixue, studied the thoughts and deeds of the pre-Qin philosophers, and finally completed the masterpiece "The Years of the Pre-Qin Philosophers" in the history of modern Chinese scholarship.This work has made great contributions to the chronology, behavior and academic origin of the pre-Qin philosophers, as well as the study of the history of the Warring States Period, and has won praise from the academic circle.

Although Qian Mu was self-taught, he never believed in authority.At that time, Kang Youwei's views in "Xinxue Apocryphal Classics" were popular in the academic circles, and Gu Jiegang was also a supporter of Kang.Qian Mu was very skeptical of Kang's point of view. He did not give up his opinion just because Gu Jiegang was kind to him, but wrote the Chronicle of Liu Xiangxin's Father and Son against all opinions, proving Kang Youwei's point of view wrong with facts.Gu Jiegang didn't mind this, not only published this article in "Journal of Yenching", but also recommended him to teach in Yenching.Qian Mu said, "Such kind of mind is appreciated by Yu Te." The research has made epoch-making contributions, and its views have gradually been generally accepted by the academic community.The courses of all universities used to use Kang Youwei's theory. This year, when the new school year started, Kang's theory was stopped and Qian Muzhi's theory was adopted.

Qian Mu wrote the "Outline of National History", adopting a continuous perspective to understand the flow of history, insisting that Chinese people must have warmth and respect for national history, so as to stimulate enthusiasm and sincerity for the protection and protection of their own history and culture, and to expound the concept of national cultural history. It is publicly recommended as the general history of China best book. Although Qian Mu is an expert on history, he has read extensively. When he found a good book in the hands of a student, he would borrow it to read it.When I was at Southwest Associated University in the 1940s, I saw a copy of Kropotkin's "My Autobiography" by Li Yang, a student. great interest to readers.

In October 1963, the British Hong Kong government gathered Chung Chi College, United College and New Asia College to establish the Chinese University of Hong Kong.Qian Mu had long planned to get rid of his administrative duties.Qian Mu Nai submitted his resignation letter to the board of directors, but it was not approved. He resigned again the following year, and the board of directors proposed to take a one-year leave before resigning. In the past 16 years, he has published "History of Chinese Thought", "Summary of Neo-Confucianism in Song and Ming Dynasties", "Comprehensive Discussion of Zhuang Lao", "A Discussion on the Classics of the Han Dynasty", "Confucius and the Spring and Autumn", "Confucius and the Spring and Autumn Period", etc. "The Analects of Confucius" and other works.At this point, Qian Mu dived into the study again and buried himself in studying.

Since 1964, Qian Mu completed the masterpiece "Zhu Zixin Learning Case" in seven years.This book was supported by funds from Harvard.In the book, Qian Mu not only discussed Zhu Xi's academic thoughts in depth, but also spent a lot of effort to systematically sort out the materials of Zhu Xi's thoughts, including narration and discussion, with subtlety and subtlety.The author examines Zhu Xi in the entire history of Chinese thought, highlighting Zhu Xi's important historical position in the second half of the history of Chinese thought, and at the same time resolving some issues that have been debated and unresolved in the history of academic thought for more than 700 years after Zhu Zi's death. important question. "Xue An" is an important work on his study of Neo Confucianism.Yang Lian, an international critic of Sinology, praised "Xue An" after he was promoted to "Xue An", saying that Qian Muzhi's history of Chinese academic thought is "broad and profound, and there is no one who can surpass him in the world." In October 1967, at the invitation of Chiang Kai-shek, Qian Mu returned to Taiwan from Hong Kong as a returned scholar. He built Su Shulou in Waishuangxi, Shilin District, Taipei City.In his later years, he devoted himself to lecturing and writing. Although his eyesight was getting weaker, he still put forward new ideas at any time. Mrs. Lai recited, compiled and published it, and modestly called it "Late Learning Blind Words". Hu Meiqi, Qian Mu’s wife, recalled: After he (Qian Mu) got seriously ill at the age of 73, his body had not yet fully recovered, and he also suffered from eye diseases. The doctor prevented him from reading for too long, especially at night, so his life was easier than before. He still works full-time, so until his book "Zhu Zixin Learning Case" is completed, which is a major ambition in his life.He himself said: I will reduce my working hours in the future.But he still maintains a half-day normal work; and when he encounters a topic that he likes, he can't bear to work twice as much.In recent years, sometimes he told me that I was really happy these days and wrote a proud article.But after the article is finished, he will always have an illness.My relatives and friends all advised me to limit his study time. They said with concern that Bin Si had been writing all his life, and those over 80 should take a rest. Qian Mu was blind in his later years, and when he wrote on the paper, he only occasionally repeated words.Mrs. Lai looked up old books and quoted idioms.After the manuscript is finished, please ask your wife to read it aloud and dictate corrections.This is how his last book, Learning Blind Words in the Late Period, was born.The wife took good care of the husband and was considerate.Husband and wife are very affectionate, old and obedient.The last article written by Mr. Qian Mu in his later years was dictated in March before his death and compiled by his wife's records, expressing his final belief in Chinese culture.He is "dedicated" to the highest proposition of Confucianism "the unity of man and nature", and feels "comfortable" because he has finally "understood".This is his final conclusion and last words in his later years.He pointed out many times during his lifetime: "The unity of man and nature is the highest belief of Chinese culture, and the unity of culture and nature is the ultimate ideal of Chinese culture." Qian Mu is a scholar who has established his position in the academic circle entirely by self-study and hard study. His scholarship is quite influenced by the thought of "the six classics are all history" of Confucian Zhang Xuecheng in the Qing Dynasty.The research and examination of Chinese history, especially the thinkers of past dynasties and their ideological origins, are all in their own right.It is proposed that in the pre-Qin period, Confucianism and Mohist schools were the origins of the later schools of thought, and thus divided into different schools, bypassing the four directions, and mutual origins of ancient Chinese culture.In addition, Qian Mu has conducted in-depth research on Neo-Confucianism of the Song and Ming Dynasties, especially Zhu Xi's, and Qing Dynasty scholarship, especially the Qianjia School. Qian Mu believed that Sima Qian's "Historical Records: The Family of Confucius" was a mixture of authenticity and falsehood, and the order was reversed, and the legends of later generations should not be credulous. Qi, Shiwei, Guokuang, Guosong, Shilu, Zhichen, Zhicai, and Julu in his later years, as well as Confucius' political activities and writings, have high academic value. Qian Mu attached great importance to exploring the inner essence of Chinese national culture and spoke highly of it. He believed that "the future of our nation will still depend on the internal vitality of our ancestors' culture." On the first anniversary of Qian Mu's death, Yu Yingshi, his favorite student, wrote the book "Qian Mu and Modern Chinese Academics", which systematically expounded his lifelong intellectual strength, moral articles, and great contributions to Chinese academics, which can be regarded as the final conclusion of his life's prosperity .