Chapter 39 Section 3 Two academic tripods in the archaeological world

Xia Nai (character Zuo Ming) was born in 1910 in the former old house of Cuoku Si in Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province. He was originally a student of the Sociology Department of Yenching University. Xiao Gongquan's "Politics", Ren Zongji's "Economics", etc. In the summer of 1931, he was admitted as a second-year transfer student of Tsinghua University and changed to the Department of History.Elective courses include: "General History of China" by Wu Qichang, "General History of the West" by Kong Fanqi, "History of the Warring States and Qin and Han Dynasties" by Qian Mu, "Anthropology" by Shi Luguo, "Studies on Yinxu Characters" by Shang Chengzuo, and " "French", and then choose Lei Haizong's "Historical Method" and "Chinese Ancient History", Tao Xisheng's "Chinese Social History", Jiang Tingfu's "Chinese Modern Diplomatic History", Liu Chongxuan's "Western Nineteenth Century History", and " French", "Japanese", etc. In May 1934, he completed his graduation thesis "The Issue of Land Fu in the Yangtze River Basin Before and After the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom", which was praised by his supervisor, Professor Jiang Tingfu, and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in July. In August, with the highest test scores (total average of 83 points), he was admitted to the Modern History Department of Tsinghua Research Institute. In October, with an average test score of 78, he won the scholarship for studying abroad provided by the "Geng Fund" of China and the United States.According to Meng Fu, a Xia Nai researcher, at that time, only one history and one archeology were eligible to study in the United States.Xia Nai’s classmate Yang Shaozhen knew that his level was not as good as Xia Nai’s, so he said to Xia, if you and I both take the history exam, I will definitely fail the list. If you take the archeology exam and I take the history exam, then we all have hope.In this way, Tsinghua University will have two publicly funded international students.As soon as Xia Nai heard that he thought he was right, he agreed, and sure enough, both of them were admitted.As far as Xia Nai’s studies were concerned at that time, he was originally devoted to the history of modern Chinese diplomacy and economic history, and he knew little about archaeology. He regretted this and once wanted to give up his place and planned to re-apply for Tsinghua’s graduate student of modern Chinese economic history. .After being persuaded by friends, I decided to go abroad to have a look first.

At that time, students were going to study archaeology abroad. According to regulations, students must have field archaeological excavation experience before going abroad. Therefore, Tsinghua University appointed Fu Sinian and Li Ji as their tutors.Xia Nai began to read archaeological books, and the first academic paper he read was Li Ji's excavation report "The Prehistoric Remains of Xiyin Village" in Xiyin Village, Shanxi when he was in the Tsinghua Research Institute. On January 4, 1935, Xia Nai arrived in Nanjing, visited Li Ji at the Institute of History and Linguistics of the Academia Sinica, and read extensively Chinese and foreign archaeological books and periodicals in the institute for more than two months.Under the arrangement of Fu Sinian and Li Ji, in March of this year, Xia Nai arrived in Anyang, Henan, and joined the Yin Ruins excavation team led by Liang Siyong for archaeological practice. Carriage pit.During this period, he met archaeologists such as Shi Zhangru, Liu Yao, and Hu Fulin.I also met Paul Pelliot, a French sinologist and explorer accompanied by Fu Sinian.Many years later, in 1983, at the invitation of the Japan Broadcasting Association (NHK), Xia Nai gave three academic lectures on the origin of Chinese civilization in Japan. When talking about the civilization of the Shang Dynasty and the excavation of the Yin Ruins in Xiaotun, Anyang, Xia said: " I participated in the archaeological excavation for the first time in Yinxu, Anyang in the spring of 1935, and it was also the first time I visited this archaeological holy land. In that season, we excavated the Xibeigang tomb group. The excavation team rented a few rooms in Houjiazhuang. Because the tomb robbers were rampant at that time , once sent an anonymous letter, asking us not to get involved in the Northwest Hill Tombs that they regard as a treasure, or risk our lives, so there are majestic armed soldiers standing guard in front of the residence."

What Xia Nai said is of course the situation in the late period of the Anyang excavation, but the difficulties and obstacles in the previous excavations were much more serious than that at this time.The earliest soldiers stationed in Anyang were sent by General Feng Yuxiang who sympathized with the situation of the archaeologists of the Institute of History and Philology, and they continued thereafter.The presence of soldiers objectively protected the lives of Yin Ruins excavators and unearthed cultural relics in an era when thieves were rampant. This is a very fortunate thing in an era of endless wars.

Xia Nai received training from Li Ji and Liang Siyong during the archaeological excavation practice at Yin Ruins in Anyang. Therefore, after Wu Jinding, Xia Nai was regarded as a direct disciple of Li Ji.Nai, big tripod also.History is such a coincidence. Previously, Li Ji would not have imagined that in the beautiful galaxy of field archaeology in China, there would be two great tripods gathered under his door, and they would lead a moment of coquettishness and shine brilliantly in the years to come.When Li Ji and Liang Siyong were studying at Harvard University in the United States, they both learned from Professor Dixon and benefited a lot. Therefore, Li and Liang both advocated that Xia Nai should still study under Dixon after going to the United States.Unfortunately, Dixon died of illness just this year, and Li and Liang then designated the University of London as the training base for Chinese archaeology.With the consent of relevant parties, Xia Nai changed to study in the UK.As a result, a college student who knew little about archeology changed from studying in the United States to studying in the UK due to fate, and switched from his favorite history to unfamiliar archaeology.

Xia Nai is about to go to England to study, and he is full of curiosity and reverie about the equally unfamiliar British Empire, especially the University of London, which is about to go to study. At this time, he happened to meet Wu Jinding, an international student who temporarily returned from this school, at the Yin Ruins excavation site. , The two naturally got close to each other.Regarding this experience, Xia Nai said in his recollection: "Mr. Wu and I first met at the workstation in Houjiazhuang, Anyang in the spring of the 24th year of the Republic of China. Come to our excavation team to have a look. His sincerity, his appearance, made people heartbroken when we first met, and we hate seeing each other later."

In the summer of 1935, Xia Nai finished the excavation practice at the Yin Ruins in Anyang, and left for England on August 7 in Shanghai by Italian cruise ship.Passing through Hong Kong, Singapore, Colombo, Mumbai, Suez Canal, Venice, and then by train, it arrived in Paris on September 2 and London on September 3. In October, officially registered at the University of London Cote Ord Institute. Although Wu Jinding is 9 years older than Xia Nai, because they are both Li Ji's disciples, they have acquainted each other at Yin Ruins in Anyang, and they have a common ideal and pursuit. , Mutual help and learning from each other in learning is inevitable.In this regard, Xia Nai once said vividly in his memories: "When I was in England, I rarely communicated with others, but I often ran a few miles and climbed dozens of stairs to the three-story pavilion where he lived. Go up to see him, chat with him, and sometimes come out together after working in the British Museum, in the fog of England, arm in arm, walking and talking at the same time." This narrative is like a scene of a movie scene, which makes people feel like they are in the In the misty and fantasy life of the foggy city, I saw with my own eyes two young oriental students in their prime, in the foggy ancient city of London, beside a street made up of old and magnificent buildings, full of passion physically and mentally Prospects for the future of Chinese archaeology.The thin figure drifted away in the wild fog, looming, like the fate of their eastern motherland, ups and downs in the political fog and war smoke, with an unpredictable future.

In 1937, Wu Jinding passed his dissertation defense and obtained a doctorate from the University of London.In the following year, his doctoral dissertation "Prehistoric Pottery in China, Kegan Paul, London, 1938" was funded by the University of London Publishing Fund and successfully published in English in London. A pioneer of regional pottery.Regarding the purpose of writing this thesis, Wu Jinding clearly stated in the preface: "The most puzzling issues in Chinese archaeology are the origin of Chinese culture and the relationship between China and the West in ancient times. The discovery of painted pottery has revived and caused controversy.” Through the analysis and comparative study of pottery in various regions, Wu proposed to establish a chronology table of Chinese prehistoric culture to solve the endless debates in the archaeological circles at that time.Chen Xingcan, a later historian of archaeology, made a pertinent evaluation of the achievements of this work: "It should be affirmed that Wu Jinding has correctly divided the cultural remains of Yangshao Village into two periods based on the comparison of pottery (mainly in terms of production techniques) This is a step further than what Liang Siyong casually called a mixed culture." He also said: "Although Wu Jinding did not discuss the source of painted pottery, but through the analysis of pottery, he placed the prehistoric culture of Gansu far away from Yangshao, Henan. culture. This approach also indirectly negates the assumption that Yangshao Culture came from the West.”

Xia Nai, who was in England at the time and witnessed Wu Jinding’s process of writing this long dissertation, later commented with emotion: “In order to do this research, Mr. Wu not only searched all the published books on Chinese prehistoric pottery , personally observed tens of thousands of unearthed pottery objects, and also practiced the original method of making pottery at the Central Institute of Technology in London. His book, because of the rich materials it contains, has become a foreign An essential reference book for the study of Chinese prehistoric pottery. Although archaeologists in Northwest China have made many new discoveries in recent years, and Andersen has recently written reports and published the results of his excavations in China 20 years ago, so A lot of new materials have been added, and there are many that can supplement or correct the statements in Mr. Wu's book. However, before anyone comes out to do such a comprehensive work, Mr. Wu's book is still the most detailed about Chinese prehistoric pottery. Reference book." Si Yan is also true.

In the winter of 1937, Wu Jinding and his wife Wang Jiechen took advantage of the halo of Dr. Yang, the reputation of "Sea Turtle", and the power of the famous book "Prehistoric Pottery in China", crossing the ocean and returning to the hometown where he was born.It just coincides with the autumn of the "lord's great evil" when the land of China is filled with gunpowder smoke, people's heads are rolling around, and blood is flowing.The Institute of History and Philology of the Academia Sinica and the Preparatory Office of the Central Museum have moved to Changsha Bible College. After hearing the news, Wu Jinding and his wife rushed to Changsha to look for Li Ji, Liang Siyong and other mentors during the war.Unexpectedly, he had just arrived in Changsha to be bombed by an enemy plane, and almost died under the enemy bomb.As soon as he was in shock, he followed Liang Siyong and others to investigate Xiaowumen and Beiguan, because there are often Bronze Age tombs unearthed there. "Nanjing fell in December, the research institute was tightened, and it was planned to move elsewhere."

In the spring of 1938, the Institute of History and Philology and the Preparatory Office of the Central Museum moved to Kunming, and Wu Jinding was hired by Li Ji as a special committee member of the Preparatory Office of the Central Museum.Since then, Wu and his wife have assisted Li Ji to conduct a comprehensive review and sorting of more than 200,000 pieces of typical pottery specimens unearthed from Yinxu in Anyang.In October of the same year, under the specific organization of Li Ji, the "Cang'er Historic Site Investigation Group" jointly organized by the Institute of History and Philology of the Academia Sinica and the Preparatory Office of the Central Museum was established. Wu Jinding was the head of the group. Ms. Zeng Zhaoyu from China was a member of the group, and she took several technicians to Dali, Yunnan and Erhai to conduct prehistoric site investigations. In January 1941, under the auspices of Wu Jinding, Ms. Zeng and Wang led technicians to discover Cangshan, Malong, Longquan, Xiaguanxi and other sites.

From February 1939 to June 1940, Wu Jinding led Wang Jiechen, Zeng Zhaoyu and other "Cang'er Historic Site Investigation Group" to the outskirts of Dali, and began to excavate the sites obtained by modern scientific means.According to an autobiography submitted by Zeng Zhaoyu to the CCP’s organization department in 1951: “Wu’s couple are both Christians, and their personalities are relatively conservative, so they have a very harmonious relationship in the process of studying and living together.” Judging from the later facts, What Zeng Zhaoyu said is true, but the setbacks and even tragedies Wu encountered in his work and life also have a lot to do with his character. At this time, Wu Jinding, Zeng Zhaoyu and his party learned from the people in Dali that the customs and habits in this area are different from those in the Central Plains. Men basically do not work in the fields, and all field work is undertaken by women. However, this excavation can only adopt the method of going to the village and doing as the Romans do. , the technicians employed are almost all women, so some people say that the "Cang'er Historic Site Investigation Group" under the chairmanship of Wu Jinding opened the precedent of "female archaeology" in China and created a new record in the history of archaeology.The excavation team successively excavated 7 Neolithic sites and 17 ancient tombs in Malong, Qingbi, Fodingjia, Fodingyi, Zhonghezhong, Longquan and Baiyunjia.After sorting out and studying the excavated relics, Wu Jinding and his teachers Li Ji and Liang Siyong all believed that the cultural outlook of this area is very different from that of the Central Plains.In view of the fact that the excavated sites are distributed at the foot of Cangshan Mountain and the shore of Erhai Lake, it is named "Canger Culture". ——The discovery and naming of this culture created a precedent for cultural research in Southwest China, laid the foundation for the development of field archaeology and archaeology in Southwest China, and established coordinates for the cultural system of the entire Southwest region, and produced broad and far-reaching impact. In 1942, Wu Jinding and Zeng Zhaoyu presided over the compilation and completion of the "Archaeological Report on the Cang'er Territory in Yunnan", which was published in Lizhuang, Sichuan as a special issue of the Preparatory Office of the Central Museum. It is rare, and it has aroused the enthusiastic attention of industry experts from both content and form.As a teacher, Liang Siyong was full of praise, and praised that "Mr. Wu Yuming can be regarded as the orthodox field archeology". Opened up a new road and so on. At this point in history, the context of Wu Jinding's growth process and his relationship with Li Ji became clear.Let’s revisit the old saying here. Just imagine, if Su Yunfeng’s evaluation of several tutors of the Tsinghua Academy of Chinese Studies is based on Li Ji’s "no word about the Tsinghua Academy" in his "Ganjilu", it can be arbitrarily judged. It can be seen that he has not established an intimate relationship with the students like Wang Guowei and Liang Qichao, which is really unfair and suspected of talking nonsense and nonsense.As for a man named Li Ao in Taipei, he said that Li Ji's character was too "pessimistic", "serious and unfriendly, narrow-minded and domineering" Employing people, rejecting dissidents, and being the only one who respects me", plus old age, lack of successors, and mediocre personality, it is inevitable to walk on the cross streets of "evil and evil and can't go, love talent but can't use (or dare not use)," and so on. A series of " crimes", it is no longer normal academic criticism and moral discourse, but like some foreign devils with "bad intentions" mentioned by Deng Gong Xiaoping, they have completely changed from biting words to "biting people", and even Barking and biting like a sick little mad dog.A scholar named Xu Fuguan once denounced "the few two or three people who rely on Hu Shi as their parents... raise one or two little mad dogs, and teach them the mentality of 'only biting people without power and power'. All the scholars have been framed and insulted by this little mad dog."The "little mad dog" refers to Li who is biting Wen and people everywhere. As far as Li Ji is concerned, he once said that he "would rather commit the great evil of the world than be disturbed by my heart".He didn't say what he meant by this "big shame", but presumably it should include the helpless things and shameless words imposed on him.Although many people in the academic world may not be like Xu Zhuoyun, a graduate of the Department of Archeology and Anthropology at National Taiwan University, "in Mr. Li, we see the combination of Greek spirit and Confucian cultivation!" But from Wu Jinding, it can be seen that as a preacher, Li Ji has at least tried his best to encourage and support the mentor who teaches and solves doubts. If Li Ji sits alone at night and daydreams, his "heart" should be quite "peaceful". If there is no hard evidence to the contrary, it can be said that if it were not for Li Ji's continuous teaching and encouragement for more than ten years, it would be impossible for Wu Jinding, who is not outstanding in talent, to achieve such impressive results.Perhaps as Li Ji’s son Li Guangmo said: “Li Ji has always regarded Wu Jinding as his successor in academic work. The friendship between teachers and students established during the Tsinghua Academy of Chinese Studies also drove Wu Jinding to regard Li Ji as his successor. The object of lifelong learning. Whether it is the completion of "Study of Shandong Human Constitution"; the discovery of Longshan Chengziya site and black pottery culture; the writing of "Chengziya" excavation report; They were all supported and encouraged by Li Ji." It should be considered fair and just not to avoid relatives.Sadly, due to Wu Jinding's untimely death, he lost the opportunity to inherit Li Ji's academic tradition.On the other hand, Xia Nai, another young student who followed Wu Jinding, inherited Li Ji's academic mantle and learning methods, and created a brilliant situation in mainland China more than ten years later, inheriting the past and ushering in the future. According to what Xia Nai later told others, when he had just walked out of Tsinghua Garden and came to Anyang Yin Ruins, besides serving as a mentor with Fu Sinian himself, Li Ji also arranged for him to be the best excavation site at that time—Gang Yin Ruins in the northwest of Houjiazhuang. The eleventh excavation site was handed over to "China's first professional archaeologist" Liang Siyong to personally cultivate it.At this time, no one in the academic circles paid special attention to what the young Xia Nai’s internship in Anyang and studying in the UK meant for China’s future archaeology, but at this time Fu Sinian, Li Ji, Liang Siyong and other famous figures already knew it very well. With Xia Nai's outstanding talent and talent, if he completes his studies, he will return to China.Undoubtedly, he is the main candidate to succeed Li and Liang in the development of Chinese archaeology. Therefore, in the eyes of Fu, Li, Liang and other academic figures, Xia Nai's crossing the sea to study is related to the future of Chinese archaeology and the international reputation. The status and prestige in the university cannot be synonymous with the general overseas students, and the later facts have also made this exact proof. Perhaps Fu Sinian and Li Ji placed too much hope on Xia Nai, and after only half a year of internship, Fu and Li began to urge him to go to England.Regarding this historical fact, Xia Nai disclosed it in a letter to Tsinghua President Mei Yiqi asking for an extension of the study period after going to the UK: On December 23 [1934], Mr. Chen asked the school to plan to stay in China for another year of preparation. At that time, he accepted the approval, and the matter had to be approved by the instructor.Sheng once discussed with his mentors Li Jizhi and Fu Mengzhen, both of whom advised him to go abroad as soon as possible (Mr. orally by Mr.Because domestic archaeological specimens are extremely scarce"... Seeing my own lack of preparation skills and the difficulty of domestic preparation, I tried to transfer to modern economic history, but failed, so I had to go abroad rashly... In this situation Under such circumstances, Xia Nai carried the letter of introduction written by Li Ji to his friend and professor of archeology at the University of London, Yates, and embarked on a ship bound for England. From the moment Xia Nai set foot on the land of Great Britain, China lost one An economic historian, and a great archaeologist with international reputation. Xia Nai, who arrived at the University of London, vacillated between the University of London and the University of Edinburgh on the question of whether to study prehistoric archaeology or posthistoric archeology, and finally decided to study "China" with Professor Yates at the University of London. Archeology and Art History", elective general courses such as "Petrology and Mineralogy", "General Surveying", and learn field archaeological work methods under the tutelage of Professor Wheeler.Later, he majored in the most famous Egyptian archeology at the University of London.Because archeology is too complicated and profound, especially the difficult ancient Egyptian writing, even though he is as smart as Xia Nai, he had to apply to Tsinghua University for an extension of one year of study time on the basis of four years.After being approved by Principal Mei Yiqi, Xia Nai got his wish and continued to study abroad. In December 1937, Xia Nai was appointed by the school to participate in the Egyptian delegation sent by the United Kingdom to conduct field archaeological practice in Egypt. He passed through Paris in France, Turin, Venice, Brindis and Rhode Island in Italy until he arrived in Egypt. Alexandria and stations at the Armant site near Cairo and da Luxor. At the beginning of 1938, visit the Ptolemaic temple ruins and Sahara ruins excavations in Elmante area.Then go to the Valley of the Kings on the west bank of the Nile, and visit the tomb of Tutankhamun, Ramses II, and the Temple of Deir Bahari in detail.Then go to the Valley of the Queens to visit the tombs of Queen Nefertiti (after Amerses II) and Karnak's Kusu, Amon, Ameses III, Mentu, Thutmose III, etc. Temple, and dozens of tombs on the west bank of the Nile, and made academic investigations on these sites. On March 2, Xia Nai and his delegation arrived in Gaza, Palestine from Cairo to participate in the archaeological excavation of the TellDuweir site.One month later, he left the excavation site, went to visit Jerusalem and Bethlehem, and stopped in Naples to visit the two ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum in detail. Arrived in Rome on April 19, visited and inspected many ancient Roman ruins.Until return to London on April 23. This trip, excavation and investigation took more than four months, and Xia Nai feels that he has gained far more than four years of indoor study.The so-called "reading thousands of books and traveling thousands of miles" will open your mind, broaden your horizons, and make you knowledgeable. The ancient Chinese motto has been fulfilled in the young Xia Nai.During this period, Xia Nai saw the opportunity to communicate and consult with Wu Jinding's mentor, the octogenarian Egyptian archaeologist Professor Petrie.With his extraordinary talent and hard work, Xia Nai approached the door of ancient Egyptian history step by step like entering the tomb of the pharaoh in the Egyptian pyramid, until he entered the palace of glory, and glimpsed the mysterious secret hidden in the sea of ​​academics. At the beginning of 1937, Li Ji took advantage of the opportunity of giving lectures in England to meet with Xia Nai many times. He cared about the writing of his thesis and asked Xia to work with him after returning to China. potency. On October 21, 1939, according to the arrangement of his supervisor Professor Glanville, Xia Nai left England to work in Egypt, and further collected materials needed for writing a doctoral dissertation, and arrived in Alexandria and Cairo on the 30th.Because of the war.Xia Nai's doctoral dissertation "Beads in Ancient Egypt" was finally completed and sent to the UK in 1943 after returning to China.After the war, the University of London resumed classes in 1946. In July, as a special case, the defense was exempted. By awarding Xia Nai a doctorate, Xia Nai became China's first Egyptian archeology expert (South Press: October 6, 1947, Xia Nai Nai received a doctorate certificate from the University of London in China). Like Wu Jinding, before returning to China, Xia Nai had received an invitation letter from Li Ji on behalf of the Preparatory Office of the Central Museum.As a talented and radiant "sea turtle" who shoulders the important mission of inheriting and developing China's future archeology, he set off from Cairo to return to China without hesitation on December 6, 1940.First go to Palestine by train, then take a car from Yangon, pass through Mandela and Lashio, and drive to the motherland after five and a half years. On January 24, 1941, he arrived in Wanding, the border of Yunnan, China. Arrived in Kunming on February 3, and met with my teachers and friends in the border city in the southwestern part of the motherland.But the dust has not been washed away, and he has to leave again to live in a small town that he has never heard of.Thinking back to those days, the grand scene excavated at the Yin Ruins in Anyang and the majestic and heroic demeanor are so yearning and proud, but now, facing the melancholy, depressed, and flustered faces caused by war disasters, there is a great feeling of "in the mountains". A few days away, the world has been thousands of years", as if a world has passed away.Facing everything in front of him, Xia Nai's scorching heart suddenly became more tragic and desolate. On February 28, 1941, Xia Nai went back to his hometown to see his parents, wife and children who had been separated for five years. According to the telegrams from Fu Sinian and Li Ji, he drove from Kunming to Chongqing by car, met Fu Sinian and Li Ji, and reported on studying abroad. . Arrived in Lizhuang by boat on March 19, reported to the Preparatory Office of the Central Museum, and served as a special committee member of the Preparatory Office. He successively communicated with Guo Baojun, Ma Changshou, Wang Tianmu (Zhenduo) and other staff of the Preparatory Office of Zhongbo Museum, as well as the archaeological team of the Institute of History and Philology. Dong Zuobin, Liang Siyong, Shi Zhangru, Gao Quxun and other teachers and friends met. On July 7th, Xia Nai, appointed by Li Ji, departed from Li Zhuang to Pengshan to join the investigation team headed by Wu Jinding, and began the field archaeological investigation and excavation of the most famous Han Dynasty cliff tomb in China during the Anti-Japanese War.