Chapter 27 Sinology Institute

Zhang Yong's family left, 1937 came, my exchange period expired, and it was time for me to return to China.However, the "July 7th Incident" broke out in China, and soon my hometown, Jinan, Shandong, was occupied by the Japanese army. I cut off my retreat and had a relationship with the Institute of Sinology. I don't know the history of this institute, and I never wanted to study it.Although Sinology also belongs to the category of Oriental Studies, it is not located in the Gauss-Weber Institute of Oriental Studies, but in another place, in a building.There is a large lawn in front of the building, covered with green grass, and there are many towering ancient oak trees.The whole building looks ancient and majestic, quite a bit of style.As soon as you enter the door of the building, there is an extremely spacious and tall hall, and the stairs are also extremely wide and tall, and they are made of wood.There is no one here, but the cleaning is also shiny.The institute is on the second floor, with seven or eight large rooms, a director's office, a classroom, and the rest are libraries and reading rooms.I am amazed by the wealth of books here.In these large houses, the bookshelves are neatly lined with books from the floor to the ceiling. Chinese books and Chinese books published in Japan account for the vast majority, and there are also a few shelves of Western books.There are quite a few precious ancient books in it. I remember that there are several Ming edition novels, even if they are placed in domestic libraries, they must be regarded as rare books.Is there an overseas copy among them, because I am not an expert in this field, so I dare not talk nonsense.How these books came to Göttingen, I have not asked.Some may have been brought back by missionaries in China.

The director is Professor Gustav Haloun, who is a Sudeten. In terms of emotion, he is not so much a German as he is a Czech.He opposed fascism, of course.Shortly after I arrived in Göttingen, Zhang Yong took me to see Harlon.In the past two years, we have had some contacts, but not very close.The news of the expiration of my exchange reached his ears. He took the initiative to talk to me about this issue and asked if I would like to stay.I already have a home and can't return, and I am worried that I have no choice.His suggestion naturally overjoyed me, so as soon as the exchange period expired, I was immediately appointed as a Chinese lecturer.It turned out that I came to the Institute of Sinology as a guest, but now I can also be regarded as the host here.

Professor Haroon is a kind and friendly man, about twenty years older than me.After I arrived at the Institute, I was still a doctoral student at the Institute of Sanskrit, and I still went to the Gauss-Weber Building to study every day, and my base was still at the Institute of Sanskrit.However, since I became a lecturer, I have the task of teaching, and the teaching place is in the Institute of Sinology, so I have more opportunities to come here, and more opportunities to meet Haroon and his wife.We have finally become bosom friends who talk about everything, it can also be said that it is a year-end friendship.Although Halong can't speak Chinese, he has a solid foundation in Sinology.He has a high attainment of ancient Chinese literature, such as "Laozi", and the like.Oracle bone inscriptions, especially his specialty, speak clearly and logically, and he has some extremely insightful insights.He has studied the history and geography of the ancient Western Regions deeply, and his famous work "Yueshi Kao" is famous among scholars all over the world.He is very concerned about the construction of the library.The library of the University of Göttingen, which is well-known in Europe, does not collect Chinese classics, and all Chinese books are concentrated in the Institute of Sinology.He also seemed to control the money for buying books in Chinese.I have written many letters for him, and ordered Chinese ancient books to many second-hand bookstores in Liulichang and Longfu Temple in Beiping, China.It is true that ancient Chinese books have been sent to the research institute continuously across thousands of mountains and rivers.I once specially ordered tiger skin Xuan from China, wrote bookmarks for these thread bindings, and pasted them on them.As a result, small yellow strips were pasted on the blue envelopes of the whole shelf. The yellow and blue contrasted each other, giving off a strange light, which added infinite brilliance to the research institute.

Because Professor Haroon is well-known in the international Sinology circle, he has contacts with authoritative Sinologists in many countries.And because the Institute of Sinology at the University of Göttingen has a rich collection of books, it has attracted many foreign sinologists to come here to read books.I personally met some world-renowned sinologists in the library of the Institute of Sinology.What left the deepest impression on me was Arthur Waley, a British sinologist, who was famous all over the world for his translation of classical Chinese poetry.Tang poems he translated were included in the famous "Oxford Anthology of British Poetry".This "Selected Poems" is a bit like an anthology such as "Three Hundred Poems of Tang Dynasty" in China. The selected poems are all immortal masterpieces that have been rated for a long time.The value of Waley’s translation of Chinese Tang poetry can be imagined, and Waley’s status in the English literary world is also clear.

I also met the German sinologist Otto von Mönchen-Helfen here.He is studying the lacquer making process of the Ming Dynasty.One day, he took a book in our institute and asked me to translate a few passages for him.I forgot the title of the book, but I only remember that the printing on the paper was very old, and the white rice paper had turned pale yellow, maybe it was a Ming edition book.I have no general understanding of lacquer making, so I managed to translate a little for him, and I don't know much about it myself.But he nodded repeatedly.Because he has studied for a long time and is proficient in this way, he can understand it at a glance.Since that meeting, I haven't seen him again.Then I saw his name in a British magazine.This man has probably emigrated to the New World for a long time and has become a German-American.

Perhaps within a year or two after the "July 7th Incident", Haroon suddenly told me one day that he was leaving Germany to go to Cambridge University in England to be a professor of Sinology.He has been depressed for many years in Germany, and the university obviously doesn't take him seriously. I have never seen him associate with anyone.Every morning, he and his wife came to the institute from home.Madame does some needlework, or reads some idle books.He sat at his desk and studied hard, and he didn't go home hand in hand until late at night.In the loneliness and desolation, the couple lived a life almost alone.Seeing this scene, I was filled with sympathy.Before leaving, Tian Dewang and I gave him a farewell farewell in the underground restaurant of the municipal government.He told us in an extremely low tone that he had only two Chinese people as his real friends in Göttingen for so many years! Tears glistened in his eyes.I seem to understand his mood very well at this time.He was forced to go abroad and left behind his poorly managed library. How did he feel? Isn’t it worthy of my tears of sympathy? Later, he wrote a letter from England asking me to teach at Cambridge University in England.I replied yes.But when I returned to China in 1946, my relatives were old, my family was poor, and my son was young.I can't bear to leave them anymore.I wrote back explaining the situation, and Haroon wrote back expressing his understanding.I never got to see him again.He had died many years ago, and he was not too old.To this day, when I think of this true friend of mine, my heart is filled with grief.