Chapter 21 The second part of the cultural relics, the 21st section of "Research on Ancient Chinese Costumes" postscript

From drafting, printing to meeting readers, the book has gone through many tortuous processes, and it has been delayed for about seventeen years.The progress of the early stage of work is inseparable from the hard work of colleagues such as the preservation team and art team of the Chinese History Museum.The first plate-making layout of the plate, the work enthusiasm and high sense of responsibility of the former master of the Financial and Economic Publishing House also made significant contributions.However, the final completion of this book is entirely dependent on the results of the leaders of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences preparing for good working conditions and fully supporting them with human and material resources.As far as the Institute of Archaeology is concerned, the most human assistance is provided, so that the supplementary work can be carried out relatively smoothly.Without this kind of help and all kinds of support, it would be impossible for this book to be presented to readers as it is now.

Since 1949, I have worked in the Chinese History Museum, specializing in miscellaneous cultural relics research.According to the rules, all departments of cultural relics have to understand a little bit.Regular business, in addition to collecting and identifying cultural relics and participating in a series of new unearthed cultural relics exhibitions, it also provides some relevant materials for drawing historical figure paintings and sculptures in the museum.It is also necessary to face the masses, try our best to do chores for scientific research, production and teaching of foreign units, and fulfill some obligations.I belong to the display group by name, but in fact, when any group needs me, I am willing to do it.Although I feel that my ability is weak, the issues involved are extensive, the work is complicated and cumbersome, and I work hard but see little success, but I understand that if the work can be done well, it is very meaningful.I deeply believe that many new business contact problems are still unfamiliar, and if I persist in learning for ten or twenty years, I will always make due progress due to the accumulation of knowledge.

In the past 30 years, millions of newly unearthed cultural relics have been unearthed, and the number has continued to increase, providing incomparably rich materials for the study of China's material and cultural history.If a cultural relics worker is good at learning, learns from extensive knowledge, and knows how to use it, it is obvious that he can fill in the gaps in the research of cultural relics one by one and create a new record. Starting from this understanding and belief, I have kept my job under circumstances that most people find difficult to understand, and have passed through thirty years.Although the first ten years were relatively smooth, most of the various cultural relics had the opportunity to be handed over, tens of thousands, but in any aspect, they could never reach the level of in-depth specialization.In the next twenty years, in fact, most of the time, the whole country spent intermittently in various sports.I don't ask what the conditions are. I can't say anything except to persist in studying the industry seriously, to do chores and make suggestions for other production and teaching aspects, and to do my best to help.

As for the compilation of this book by me, it seems to be accidental, but it is not entirely accidental.During the spring and summer of 1964, when Premier Zhou Enlai talked about going abroad with several people from the cultural department, he was often invited to see the clothing museum of that country, because it represented the country’s cultural development and craftsmanship.The general impression is that most of them are materials from the Middle Ages to the 17th and 18th centuries.Our country has such a long history and culture, and there are so many new and old materials. I wonder if it is possible to compile some of these books systematically, and give them as cultural gifts when going abroad in the future.At that time, Mr. Qi Yanming was the vice minister of the Ministry of Culture, and I was the one who recommended it.Long Qian, the curator of the History Museum, has a certain understanding of my work and enthusiastically supports me, and arranges three capable people to assist me from the art team.Since it was carried out as a pilot project, the working method was to arrange the materials in the library and personal experience first, arrange them in chronological order, and copy them respectively.Based on each drawing, I tried different styles, appropriately extended literature, conducted some comprehensive analysis and comparison, wrote thousands of words of explanations, explained some problems, and raised some new problems for further discussion in the future.

The general requirement is to give readers a clear impression of the development and changes of ancient Chinese clothing styles from various aspects.Since the work is close to the beginning, it is expected to seek understanding from exploration, and it is not perfect.If there are still some merits in the method and judgment, it can give a little inspiration to experts and scholars at home and abroad, or enrich it according to this book, or use another method to conduct new explorations from another angle to obtain greater results. Achievement, I also feel very happy.Because this work was completed, according to the estimate at the time, if there were ten years, without too much interference, and with the convenience of work, there would be no lack of materials for continuing to publish several books.

From the early summer of 1964, thanks to the enthusiastic efforts of several colleagues in the art team of the History Museum, I was more familiar with the problems contained in these materials, so the work progressed very quickly.In less than eight months, there were 200 plates and about 200,000 explanatory texts, and the sample draft was basically completed.After I rework, check, delete and make corrections, the book is expected to be published in the winter of 1964.However, the signs of great political turmoil have already been seen, and the value and significance of all publications have to be reconsidered.The printing of this book was naturally put on hold.

Not long after the "Cultural Revolution" began, this manuscript to be printed, without any serious and specific analysis based on the gains and losses of the content, was regarded as a black book and poisonous weeds advocating "emperors, generals and ministers" and advocating "talented scholars and beautiful ladies".All the principal persons in charge of the ministries, bureaus, and libraries who once agreed to the compilation of this book will not be immune to varying degrees of impact.I myself was naturally more difficult to escape.Later, in the winter of 1969, I was sent to the Huze area in Xianning, Hubei, where I lived a life that was almost isolated from the outside world.In a little over a year, the residence moved six times, and finally moved from southern Hubei to the northwestern corner of Hubei.I have no books or other materials at hand, so I can only write down the negligent omissions or redundant parts in the drawing as far as I can remember, so that I can make corrections when I have the opportunity in the future.After returning to Beijing in 1971, an old colleague told me that the new director had re-read the draft and thought it was still a valuable book. Many references were relatively new and could be printed out for all parties. refer to.Therefore, after taking back the drawings, under extremely bad working conditions, after about a month, some new drawings were replaced, and the text was revised again, and handed over.But since then there has been no whereabouts.It's another four or five years.At that time, it was during the "Ten Years of Catastrophe", so it seemed very common, not surprising.

Until May 1978, I was transferred to the Institute of History of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. I received full support from the leaders of the Academy of Social Sciences in my work, and provided many conveniences for solving many specific difficulties in terms of manpower and material resources.So in October of the same year, a small working team was formed, and in a relatively short period of time, major revisions and supplements were made to the manuscript of this book.First of all, use and increase many newly discovered cultural relics as much as possible, and at the same time, edit and add many original and new chapters, so that the whole book has about 250,000 words and more than 150 new illustrations. , which was supplemented and completed in January 1979, and will be handed over to the Light Industry Press for printing.Afterwards, I contacted several domestic and foreign publishing houses, and after many twists and turns, it was finally handed over to the Hong Kong branch of the Commercial Press for publication.

Those who are worth remembering are Mr. Qi Yanming, Mr. Long Qian, and Mr. Liu Yangqiao.All three became ill due to injuries during the "Ten Years of Catastrophe", and they have become ancient people one after another.Especially for Premier Zhou Enlai, it is too late to see the publication of this catalogue, which I feel is a great pity.If this book still has some merits for readers, it should be attributed to the encouragement and support of several of them for this work. During the process of adding and modifying this book, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage has also received constant attention, as well as Hunan Provincial Museum, Yunnan Provincial Museum, Shaanxi Provincial Museum, Hubei Provincial Museum, Palace Museum, Nanjing Museum, Office of Foreign Cultural Exhibitions, Central Academy of Fine Arts, Music Research Cultural relics and academic institutions such as Institute and Rongbaozhai are full of enthusiasm and friendly help in all aspects.The second is the contribution of those who have directly participated in the labor of drawing, photography, plate making, and typography.As for me personally, I just completed a small part of the tasks in a more orderly, concentrated and sustained manner in terms of my due duties.

Shen Congwen Founded in Beijing on May 1, 1981