Chapter 37 Section 1: Li Ji's Sorrow

Just when Fu Sinian was planning to raise funds and treat Liang Siyong and Lin Huiyin's illnesses, Li Ji, the most ambitious and important pillar of the Institute of History and Philology and the Preparatory Office of the Central Museum, collapsed again due to the sudden misfortune of his family. signs.After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, Li Ji took his family of six (father Yingke, wife, daughters Fengzheng, Hezheng, and youngest son Guangmo) from Nanjing to Chongqing, Changsha, Guilin, Vietnam and Kunming, traveling thousands of miles , suffered hardships, and finally had a chance to breathe.Unexpectedly, in the summer of 1940, when the Institute of History and Language was discussing moving to Lizhuang, the 14-year-old second daughter, He Zheng, suddenly suffered from acute pancreatitis and died due to lack of timely medical treatment.A budding flower silently withered on the red soil plateau, and under the warm sunshine of the southwestern border, it was forever accompanied by the green mountains and lush forests.

In great grief, Li Ji and his wife came to the tomb of their beloved daughter to say their final farewells. Immediately, with tears in their eyes, they packed their bags and led the whole family to move to Lizhuang in a hurry.The grief accumulated in my heart has not faded away. In the early spring of 1942, when she was about to graduate from Lizhuang Middle School, her 17-year-old eldest daughter, Feng Zheng, unfortunately contracted typhoid fever and could not afford it.Due to lack of doctors and medicines in Li Zhuang, he finally died.On the afternoon before her daughter left, she held her father Li Ji's hand and said weakly, "Dad, I want to live on. I want to be admitted to Tongji University and study in Lizhuang. I will never leave you, my mother, and my grandfather... ..." Even if the great scholar Dr. Li Ji, together with several German "sea turtle" professors who moved to Lizhuang, Tongji University School of Medicine, worked together, they were unable to recover. They could only watch their daughter's beautiful eyes slipping down the two sides. Dropping tears, with endless regret, left.

Feng Zheng's cemetery was chosen on a flat spot on a small hill outside Lizhuang. This is a land that Zhang Guanzhou, a squire of Lizhuang, specially set aside for free from his own garden out of respect for the old man Yingke and Li Ji and his son.On the small hill, the heart-piercing cry of Mrs. Li, who lost her beloved daughter, echoed in the grassy mountains.There were pools of painful tears in Li Ji's eyes, and he gently sprinkled handfuls of warm soil on his daughter's grave.Yellow petals that bloomed in early spring in the southwest were thrown into the sky, dancing and whirling over the new tombs.There is no funeral, no eulogy, only the rolling river and the gusts of mountain wind, which makes people feel the poignancy and sadness of life.

During the two years from 1940 to 1942, Li Ji's two beloved daughters, "Crane" and "Phoenix", left behind their dying grandfather, grief-stricken parents and young brother, and passed away quietly. wind away. Faced with the ensuing disasters, Li Ji's heart was severely injured. In the painful insomnia and lamenting night after night, his spiritual pillar began to tilt.The bone-piercing desolation and excessive sadness finally made Li Ji fall ill on the bedside.Li Ji's father, old man Li Quan (Ying Ke), a small Beijing official in the last years of the Qing Dynasty and a famous poet, died in the face of two granddaughters who surrounded him and chirped, who were as cute as birds. , was even more tragic, and his body quickly collapsed, and soon he suffered a stroke and was paralyzed in bed, unable to take care of himself.The old man felt that he would die soon, so he made a will. Once his soul returned to Daoshan, he asked his family to engrave "the tomb of Li Quan, the poet Yingke" on his tombstone as a memorial.Five years later, when the elderly Yingke, who was frail and skinny, passed away in Nanjing, Li Ji wrote the inscription without changing a single word according to his will, which is considered to have fulfilled the old man's last wish.In a desolate and miserable state of mind, Li Ji reluctantly got up from the hospital bed to find Fu Sinian, and had a long talk by candlelight on a month-high and windy night in Chinli Ao, outside Lizhuang.According to Li Ji's idea, he would resign from the positions of the director of the archaeological group of the Institute of History and Philology and the director of the Preparatory Office of the Central Museum, and remove the two "official hats" placed on his head, in order to get rid of the turbulent administrative affairs, adjust his mentality, and do something. Desk research work, in order to alleviate the daily mental pain.Fu Sinian was deeply saddened by Li Ji's situation, and was clearly aware of what it would mean to the work of the Institute of History and Philology and the Preparatory Office of the Central Museum once this grand pillar collapsed.At such a difficult and critical juncture, what he did was not to push the boat along with the current, but to cheer up the other party as much as possible from the depression and fatigue, and to open up a new world in his career.

On March 27, 1942, Li Ji wrote a letter to Fu Sinian in a melancholy tone at the leased office of the Central Museum Preparatory Office in Zhangjiaci, Lizhuang Town, and sent someone to Chestnut Ao several miles away. The letter said: : What I talked about the day before yesterday was deeply touched by my brother.My younger brother also knows that it is necessary to make major adjustments to his life recently, but he is afraid that the trip to the northwest (if he does not want to) may not be effective immediately, or there may be other side issues.Over the past few months, insomnia has become a habit, and I toss and turn in the middle of the night. Since the establishment of the Stealing Research Institute, there have been many talents accomplished, but my brother is not among them. blame.My younger brother realizes that the most urgent need of reciting the sun is liberation, not brilliance.Years of quiet time are what I sincerely pray for.If it is no longer available, it may become a permanent waste.

It can be seen from the letter that in the conversation the night before yesterday, Fu Sinian not only offered sympathy, understanding and kind words of comfort, but also thought of some relief methods for Li Ji, such as conducting field research in the northwest region, etc., to ease the spirit of the other party. Stress and bad mood.However, Li Ji, who has been in extreme pain and grief, was moved by Fu's sincerity and enthusiasm, but finally failed to change his mind. Three days later, Fu Sinian wrote back, again with sincere and frank words of comfort: Huishu respectfully, deeply appreciate!Deeply!About forty is a big mark, and you have to cherish your time when you pass this. My brother's serious illness has one advantage, that is, he can resign as the director-general.Although today's scholarship may not be hopeful, it will certainly be hopeless in the post of Director-General.Yuan'an①'s "drive fast" (he also feels the same way), Yinke's "damage and damage"②, the former brother can't, and the latter brother also asks for the same.Brother's current affairs are not in the museum, but in the concentration of the spirit.The affairs of the museum seem to be handled by as many people as Shiyu, so you don’t have to worry too much (this person advised me, brother, maybe because of Qiu’s ③, but those things can’t happen again? And don’t have abnormal psychology).The Anyang report is certainly one thing, and it seems that there is still a big job to do before we can be worthy of this life.This is why my brother persuaded my brother to go to the northwest.In short, it is a pity that there is no writing at the stage of my generation.In my brother's life, at least there must be another major event outside of Anyang, so that I can afford to study for thirty years.However, the northwest is only one method; there are other methods, depending on how the war is going.One of my illnesses probably has no end, so I dare not think about such problems.

Fu Sinian's heart-to-heart words made Li Ji embarrassed to continue the stalemate, so he could only support with a sad, depressed, and lonely heart between the archaeological team of the Institute of History and Philology and the Preparatory Office of the Central Museum.As far as the situation at that time is concerned, no matter what aspect, Li Ji is not allowed to easily let go of the business he has worked so hard for.What's more, at this time, the Northwest Scientific Expedition Group organized by the Institute of History and Philology is under intense planning. The main force of the Central Museum has just achieved great success in the field excavation in the Pengshan area of ​​the Minjiang River Basin, and is planning to investigate the Mumashan tomb. Excavations on a large scale.Li Ji, who is wearing the two "official hats" of the Director of the Archaeological Group of the Institute of History and Philology of the Academia Sinica and the Director of the Preparatory Office of the Central Museum, is like putting dry hands into wet face at this time, and it is almost impossible to shake them off completely.What history has given him can only be like what Hu Shi, who was the ambassador to the United States, laughed at himself: "I have become a pawn crossing the river, so I can only move forward desperately."

As early as the spring of 1941, under the influence of the "Northwest Expedition Fever", at the initiative of Li Ji, with the approval of Fu Sinian, Zhu Jiahua, and Chen Lifu, the Minister of Education of the Nationalist Government, and other powerful officials, it was planned to organize a Northwest Scientific Expedition Mission and Chuankang Historic Sites The investigation team conducted a large-scale survey and excavation of the ancient sites in the northwest Dunhuang area and Sichuan and Xikang provinces.The Northwest Scientific Expedition was co-operated by the Institute of History and Philology of the Academia Sinica, the Preparatory Office of the Zhongbo Museum, and the Institute of Geography of China. Xiang Da (Jueming), a tutor at the Institute of Liberal Arts of Peking University, who is famous for his research on the history of transportation between China and the West, was selected from the Faculty of Liberal Arts of Southwest Associated University as the head of the delegation.Due to the involvement of many institutions, this matter has been in continuous contact and organization, and it has not been possible for a long time.However, the Chuankang Historic Site Investigation Team was carried out relatively smoothly as planned.

The Chuankang Historic Site Investigation Group was jointly composed of the Institute of History and Philology of the Academia Sinica, the Preparatory Office of the Zhongbo Museum, and the China Architecture Society, which were exiled in Lizhuang during the Anti-Japanese War.The delegation headed by Wu Jinding fully presided over the work. In January 1941, Wu Jinding led a team to conduct archaeological investigation and excavation in the area of ​​Syria, and within a relatively short period of time, he obtained the Nanxi Burial Site, Jiujia Village Cliff Tomb, Shuangjiangtou, Jiuzhou City and other sites.From March to April of the same year, the delegation went up the Minjiang River from Xufu to Chengdu and its surrounding areas, and discovered the Burial Site of Baozi Mountain in Xinjin, the former site of the old county seat.Then Caijiashan burial site and Shuangjiang burial site were discovered in Pengshan; the ancient city ridge site was found in Wenjiang;

The investigation work came to an end, and the members of the inspection team withdrew to Lizhuang to rest. In May 1941, Wu Jinding once again led the Academia Sinica delegation to go up the river by boat from Lizhuang, and went straight to Pengshan along the rapids of the Minjiang River. When the delegation arrived in the Pengshan area, after investigation and visits, they found that there are many mountains and mountains here, and there are many historical sites.Since the Han Dynasty, with the rise of various burial systems and funeral customs, Pengshan County has become the most widely distributed, dense and important area of ​​cliff tombs in the Han Dynasty in Sichuan.After a general understanding of the geographical location and the distribution of cliff tombs, the delegation decided to focus on the mountains around Jiangkou, which is about five kilometers northeast of Pengshan County, at the confluence of Wuyang River, Fuhe River and Minjiang River. In the southeast of the town, a temple called Jizhao Temple was set up as a workstation.Afterwards, starting from the cliff tombs in the mountains near Jiangkou, excavations began all the way westward.Although the number of the delegation is small, it is an elite group of high-spirited and talented teachers, especially Wu Jinding, Zeng Zhaoyue, and Xia Nai. Among the molecular communities, the brilliance is so dazzling that it is impossible to ignore their existence.And the strong power and vigor exuded by the three, as well as the freshest blue light of thought and technology brought from the other side of the ocean, will also create unprecedented brilliance in Southwest China with this investigation and excavation.