Chapter 80 Section 4 The Palace Museum in Beigou

It can be called a strange fate. While teaching at Chung Hsing University, I worked part-time at the National Palace Museum in Beigou, Wufeng Township, Taichung County for six years. Just after the Spring Festival in 1959, the phone rang. There was a senior Li Ziwang from Wuhan University who was working in the Palace Museum and was in urgent need of a secretary. , and having just returned from a Fulbright exchange program, I seemed like the perfect candidate. At that time, in addition to preparing for classes in fear, I still had three children in elementary school and kindergarten at home. How could I go to work in Beigou, Wufeng Township? Li Xuechang said, I only need to translate Chinese and English, and the official documents will be delivered When you get home, you can pick it up when you’re ready, instead of going to Beigou every day.His tone didn't sound like a discussion, but like an order, and the way of working was set, so I couldn't help but say "no".

This job brought me new perspectives.In order to make data on cultural relics one by one, I have to ask experts for advice on art, such as Zhuang Yan, Tan Danwen, and Mr. Na Zhiliang; I study relevant literature, take notes, and ask them various questions. I also gained a lot by accident.At that time, in order to memorize important data, the scene of holding a child in one hand and memorizing the famous kiln name and characteristics is as vivid as before. In addition to document translation, when the heads of state with diplomatic relations visit the Forbidden City, sometimes I have to interpret on the spot.Among them, the most memorable ones are the two times when Mr. Ye Gongchao, the former foreign minister, accompanied the Shah of Iran and the King of Thailand to visit. I had close contact with them and left a deep impression on me.

Mr. Ye and Mr. Wang Gongji are teachers. He often asked me with his head sideways: "What is that thing called in English?"His character made me dare not neglect him, and when he asked, I quickly responded to him.The chairman of the committee at that time was Mr. Kong Decheng.The most senior, Mr. Zhuang, taught me the most. At that time, the Shah of Iran, who was a country with diplomatic relations, was Pahlavi. He was tall and handsome, with the elegance of a modern gentleman in the royal majesty, just like the prince charming in a fairy tale. I almost use the mood of an admirer to pay attention to all the information related to him, and I also want to find a few books to see how history evaluates him.Therefore, I thought it was a great honor to be able to interpret for him in the Forbidden City at that time.I still remember that day, he looked at the bronze and porcelain very carefully; while walking, because there were men all around, he was afraid that I would be left out, so he often talked to me.When looking at the porcelain, he said to me: "I have some porcelain in my palace that is as big as yours, but they are not as good as this one." He also asked me: "Are there many women working like you in Taiwan?" Said: "probably quite a lot." Actually, I don't know, I think it's more face-saving than the school.Iran is an Islamic country, so it's probably hard for him to imagine what it's like for a woman to work.

Pahlavi was a British lord at that time, not a tyrant. When I was studying in the United States in 1968, I saw that the headlines of various newspapers read: "Will not be the king of beggars", and there is a There is a photo of his coronation. He was officially crowned more than ten years after he succeeded to the throne, because he was determined to turn Iran into a country without beggars, so he waited until the economic reform was successful before he was officially crowned.I am very impressed with this news.Unexpectedly, years of hard work led to a coup, and he was forced to go abroad, and soon died of depression and died in exile in a foreign land.

That evening, I went back to my Japanese-style house from Beigou, and I put on big briquettes to cook dinner at home. In the gray smoke, I thought of the handsome and elegant figure of King Pahlavi, and suddenly remembered the story of Cinderella. Has the broken car from get off work turned into a pumpkin? At that time, the Forbidden City received many distinguished guests, and later the king and queen of Thailand also came.King Hussein of Jordan, many presidents and vice presidents... More importantly, art historians from major European and American museums and universities have come to Beigou.The huge splendor and the country road from Wufeng to Beigou remind me of Beijing's Miyagi at dusk and thousands of miles of rivers and mountains.

Mr. Hu Shi often goes to the Forbidden City and stays in a guest house for a few nights, away from the hustle and bustle of the world, to do some homework in a clean place.One year before his death, there was a table for him in the courtyard, probably because of my father, and I was also invited. They talked about collecting ancient books that day, and Mr. Hu also talked about modern literature with me. I remember he said: “Recently a female writer sent me a book and asked me for some advice. When it comes to Jiang Gui’s, after reading the two books, I feel that this lady’s works can’t be compared with Jiang Gui’s, she can’t write Jiang Gui’s large-scale and epic works.” These words have a great influence on me ,

When I went to the United States in 1968, I took Epic courses twice, so I had to figure out what was going on.Later, Mr. Hu said that his work is a research between literature and history, and he used literary techniques when writing his thoughts. He said: "I don't just feel joy, anger, sorrow, and joy, but also some Depth. There is no way to talk about depth, but you can find it yourself. If you have it, you have it. If you don’t, you don’t have it, but you can cultivate it.” These words are all inspirations to me.Mr. Hu knew a lot about my father.He is also very respectful, so he will say something related to me.Later, when I gave lectures or speeches to students, I felt that the most important thing in literature is structure, interest and depth, which cannot be explained in words.

I also had conflicts in the Forbidden City for a while, and I wanted to follow these scholars to do art history research, and maybe I could learn another subject.Thinking about it later, my background was not enough, and I wanted to talk about literature wholeheartedly, so I went back to teaching and tried to further my studies. In 1965, the Forbidden City moved to Wai Shuangxi, Taipei. Occasionally I visited it, and many people knew each other until they passed away one by one.