Li Hongyi/Compilation 13:16 Video: Rong Xinjiang talks about the experience of visiting bookstores during his school days (Source: Yueyue Culture) (13:16) [Editor's Note] Recently, the "Yueyue Forum" of Shanghai Zhida Bookstore invited Zhejiang University Fu Jie, Distinguished Pr

Li Hongyi/Compilation

13:16

Video: Rong Xinjiang talks about the experience of visiting bookstores during his school days (Source: Yueyue Culture) (13:16)

[Editor's Note]

Recently, "Yueyue" of Shanghai Zhida Bookstore "Lecture Forum" invited Distinguished Professor Fu Jie of Zhejiang University's Mayifu College to host a series of lectures entitled "My Reading Experience". Fu Jie said, “I will invite my admired teachers and friends to the bookstore from time to time, or to recall their reading experience, or to talk about their book buying stories, or to talk about their reading experience, or to recommend some books to young friends. A good book in their mind. "The Paper" Yueyue Book (public account: yueyuebook1124) authorized the publication of the lecture transcripts and videos.

In the first lecture, Fu Jie invited Rong Xinjiang, Peking University Liberal Arts Chair Professor, President of China Dunhuang Turpan Society, and member of the National Ancient Books Compilation and Publishing Planning Leading Group. Professor Rong Xinjiang mainly studies the history of Sino-foreign relations, Silk Road , the history of the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the history of the Western Regions and Central Asia, Dunhuang Turpan studies, etc. He is the author of "Ten Essays on the Study of Medieval Chinese History", "Middle Ages China and Foreign Civilizations", "Dunhuang" "Eighteen Lectures on Learning", "New Commentary on Dunhuang Studies", "Distinguishing Falsehood and Preserving Truth", "Research on the History of the Guiyi Army", "Academic Training and Academic Standards: An Introduction to the Study of Ancient Chinese History", etc.

Rong Xinjiang at the lecture

Cycling and visiting bookstores in Beijing

At the beginning of the lecture, Rong Xinjiang said that he went to elementary school in 1968 and "barely studied anything" until he graduated from middle school in 1976. He joked that during the "Cultural Revolution" he didn't have many books to read, so he read all five versions of "Water Margin" and knew the 108 generals by heart. As a result, he developed an interest in historical figures and chose to get admitted to Peking University. Department of History.

Because all the books in the middle school library were thrown away by the administrator, only books related to the history of science and technology were left. In his early years, Rong Xinjiang came into contact with Joseph Needham's " History of Chinese Science and Technology ", history of chemistry, history of mathematics and other books. In my first year at Peking University, I also spent all my time reading books related to the history of science and technology. "But I couldn't read until the end. I couldn't enter science calculation at all because I didn't study well in middle school." Rong Xinjiang recalled. It just so happened that Peking University started to hold classes on Dunhuang and Turpan studies, so he “dived headlong into the pile of old papers about Dunhuang and Turpan.”

Rong Xinjiang shared a series of pictures he found on his mobile phone, the first of which was Beijing Chinese bookstore distribution map. At that time, in addition to enjoying good book resources at Peking University, Rong Xinjiang also rode a bicycle from Peking University about once a month, "riding to Chegongzhuang, crossing over from Guanyuan, going up Di'anmen Street, and then starting from Wusi Street Here we first go to the sales department of Cultural Relics Publishing House, then to the sales department of Zhonghua Bookstore and Commercial Press at the west entrance of Dengshi City, and then to the sales department of China Bookstore at the east entrance of Dengshi City..." Rong Xinjiang used a map of the distribution of Chinese bookstores Tu recalled, "In addition to selling traditional Chinese ancient books at the east entrance of Dengcheng Market, there is a room inside the door curtain, where pirated books are sold. For example, "Guangci Yuan" where we learn Japanese is 5 yuan, and "Guangciyuan" is 5 yuan. "Oxford English-Chinese Bilingual Dictionary" is also 5 yuan. Without those pirated books, China's generation would really not be able to produce those foreign language talents. "There are also old Western academic books for sale at the east entrance of Dengshi, such as Stein's """ from the 1940s. "The Ruins of Khitan Buried in the Sand" and "The Ruins of Khotan Buried in the Sand". Rong Xinjiang only had a stipend of 13 yuan a month at that time. "I couldn't afford it, so I just went to see it." "There is a Chinese bookstore in Dongdan, and then I ride along Chang'an Avenue to Liubukou. There is a bookstore in Liubukou that specializes in magazines. If you want an article from " World Religions Research ," you have to go there to find it. A little further south is Liulichang, then to the Chinese Bookstore in Xidan, and then to the Chinese Bookstore in Xinjiekou. The Chinese Bookstore in Xinjiekou ships the books directly from the printing factory, and the prices are particularly low.”

"There is a pot sticker shop at the east entrance of Dengshi. I basically eat a pot sticker at noon and then ride a bicycle. In fact, it is not mainly about buying books, but reading books. Because a new book has to be entered into the Peking University Library Cataloging in takes half a year, but you can see many new books just by riding a bicycle a month."Rong Xinjiang chose a one-way road with tree shades at that time. It took about an hour to ride to the east entrance of Dengshi City. To him today, these are happy days that are no longer common.

He never Stop borrowing books and turn over books

Rong Xinjiang recalled that the Peking University library had a rich collection at that time, especially Western books: Due to limited national funds, all the money for books purchased by doctoral students was paid to Peking University, and the books were purchased and then opened to other universities across the country. Peking University students can borrow 10 books at a time, and Rong Xinjiang almost never stops borrowing books. He often carries a pile of thread-bound books in a plastic mesh bag, "like a fisherman." He was told to keep reading the books, one by one. He not only read the Dunhuang scrolls three times, but also read many other books many times because the loan period was only one month, and many books were returned and borrowed.

Library card from Peking University Library

Rong Xinjiang showed two library cards from Peking University Library, one with his student number and the other with his name on it. “We don’t dare to put it on the library card. Write names. Those who write names are usually people like Ji Xianlin, Geng Shimin, Ma Yong, and Zhang Guangda. They also borrowed all the books on the history of Central Asia that I borrowed. Many books in the library have my student number on them, some of them behind Mr. Su Bai. "Rong Xinjiang said with a smile that in fact, such a card can actually write an article.

Overseas book search

In his last year as a graduate student, Rong Xinjiang went to the Netherlands Leiden University to study. At that time, he was less than 25 years old and qualified. Purchase a European railway joint ticket. With this joint ticket, which costs about more than 200 yuan, he can take any train to Helsinki in the north, Casablanca in the south, Istanbul in the east, and the coastline in the west. , Stockholm, Copenhagen, Berlin, Bremen and other places, and traveled around Europe for two months with a backpack.

Rong Xinjiang believes that Europe does not have a bookstore culture like China, and reading mainly relies on libraries, and bookstores are very large. Little. He went to the Brill bookstore in Leiden (also an internationally renowned publishing house) every week. On Saturdays, the Brill bookstore rented out a young man to sell used books. Printed copies of this book, and these printed copies are often inscribed by famous writers as gifts to a famous professor. After the professor dies, he sells them. If he buys a suitable one, he will return to his country and give it to his friends. ” (For more past events about Brill Bookstore, please refer to Rong Xinjiang’s article “The Pursuit of Academic Excellence—Leiden’s Brill Bookstore and Its Publications” published in the 3rd issue of “Chinese Classics and Culture” in 2003. Or later published on the Internet in "Leiden's Negative Master (Part 3)")

After traveling to the West and the East, the most rewarding thing for Eishinjiang is the Jimbocho Bookstore in Tokyo. If there are no other arrangements, he visits the Jimbocho Bookstore every year from the end of March to the beginning of April. According to his introduction, the end of March is the time for Japanese professors to retire. Japan strictly stipulates that professors must empty their research rooms on the day of retirement, and Japanese professors cannot hold so many books in their homes - a Japanese professor. The books accumulated were equivalent to our small research institute, so Jimbocho took away many books that Japanese professors had sold or threw away, and some of them were sold at a cheap price of 300 yen each, which was cheaper than a cup of coffee! Xinjiang once bought the "Khotan-Serbian Dictionary" for 7,000 yen from a Buddhist bookstore opposite the University of Tokyo. The original price was 150 pounds.

If it is to buy new books, Yong Xinjiang mainly goes to Isei every year. Tang Bookstore has Japanese books downstairs and Western books upstairs. The books are very comprehensive. He recalled that from the first time he went to Japan in 1990 to now, the price of books in Japan has basically not changed. However, due to changes in the exchange rate, In recent years, I have become more willing to buy books.

Iseido Bookstore

"So every March I carry two boxes of "Tang Research" and save the same amount of postage as air tickets and accommodation fees. I get friends every day. I eat, and other than that I just visit bookstores. If I give two more lectures, I can still make some money. Rong Xinjiang laughed and called this his "capitalist reproduction."

"In terms of my research on Dunhuang and Turpan, the Silk Road, Sino-foreign relations, etc., my books are very comprehensive; in terms of Tibetology and Sui and Tang Dynasty history, my previous books were also very comprehensive. Later, all the books on Tibetology were donated. Or give them to others. I never hide any rare books, thread-bound books, rare books, etc. I just use books. What I am most proud of is that after a book comes out, I usually get it quickly. Yes. But I don’t usually talk about collecting books. Exchanging books is also a way to obtain books. At the time of the earliest exchanges, there was no mail exchange between mainland China and Taiwan. It can only be sent to bookstores in Hong Kong first, and then forwarded by bookstores in Hong Kong.

"Feudal management" and "capitalist management"

Rong Xinjiang said that he has never received a doctorate, but he has worked with several overseas universities. Good libraries include Leiden University, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Yale University, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Ryukoku University in Japan, etc. He has stayed in each of these places for more than three months, so he has reviewed each book one by one on the bookshelf. "Of course some of them have not been completed, but most of them have been passed over again." He also used the French Advanced Experiment for a short period of time. The library of the Sinology Institute of the Institute, the library of the Institute of Humanities at Kyoto University, the Oriental Bunko, etc. Here Eishinjiang also shared an interesting story. Although he stayed at the Oriental Bunko for three months, in the winter, There is no heating in the library, and in Japan you have to wear slippers when entering the library. You will need to go out to warm up soon, so I didn't finish reading it.

"This photo was taken at the patio of the Leiden University Chinese Institute. On the left is Mr. Han Zhenhua of Xiamen University who happened to be visiting at that time, and on the right is me."

He introduced the Leiden University Chinese Institute in detail. The Chinese Institute was originally a Square barracks with a patio. The courtyard is complete with all the organs and organs, with four classrooms in the four corners, and each room is a teacher's research room. Half of the room is a patio in the middle for chatting, and the other half is used to store books. Therefore, Western scholars do not accumulate books very much. They all go to the research laboratory to "work" and go directly to the library to get books when they need them. So after Rong Xinjiang returned to China, he joked with Mr. Deng Guangming: "Your family has all kinds of books. This is a feudal management, and they are a capitalist management." The books Rong Xinjiang gave to Professor Leiden were also stored in The scholar himself had almost no books on the bookshelves in the research room of the Sinology College. He thought this was a very good system. Later, Mr. Deng Guangming founded the Medieval History Research Center out of this concept. (You can refer to Rong Xinjiang’s article “The Epitome of the European Academy—Leiden University Sinological College” published in the 2003 issue 1 of “Chinese Classics and Culture”, or “Leiden’s Young Man Who Defeats the Righteous Study” published later on the Internet. 1)》.)

made information card

Rong Xinjiang introduced that since the Netherlands is an old imperialist, the library of Leiden University has a very rich collection of books on the Middle and Near East. All Western magazines on Orientalism are from the 18th century. The first volume in several years to the latest volume, including various collections of monographs, are all in a reading room in the Department of Oriental Manuscripts and Books on the second floor of the Leiden University Main Library. Rong Xinjiang was often the only one in the room at night. He bought a manual typewriter and used the backs of old cards from Leiden University's Chinese School to make cards. He read them one by one, going through all the Western magazines up to 1985. Due to this accumulation, he now has a general impression of what articles a scholar has written in which magazine issues before when he lectures. Such cards were shipped back to China in four boxes, and now most of them are entered into computers. "This is very useful for my current academic work. I first look through the catalog, and I go inside to read some content. Then when there is content, I punch a card or even copy it. There is a copier on the first floor, but I can't afford to make copies. There is basically no copy. Copying means copying." It took him two or three months to go through all the relevant books in the Leiden University library. (For a more detailed description of the library card, see Rong Xinjiang's "Sacred Hall: Oriental Manuscripts and Library of Leiden University Library" published in the 2003 issue of "Chinese Classics and Culture", or the WeChat version of "Leiden "The Negative and Positive Young Man (Part 2)".)

Rong Xinjiang has a notebook in which he records the progress of reading all the magazines. The library at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, has five floors of open shelves, of which the fifth floor is entirely devoted to magazines. There, according to the progress of browsing, he completed all the history-related magazines until 1991. He used the same method to browse art history magazines at the Qian Mu Library of the Chinese University of Hong Kong and religious studies magazines at Chung Chi College. At that time, photocopying at the Chinese University of Hong Kong was much cheaper than in mainland China. He made photocopies. Extensive literature.

thirsty for books

Rong Xinjiang also recalled some past events of searching for books in university libraries. "Weinstein is actually buying books at Yale University, and the collection of books is almost unimaginable." According to him, the libraries of Harvard, Yale, Princeton and other universities "have no books left to buy", so that "today's students can only check a book if they want to." If a book is missing, go to the Harvard library to check first. "According to him, many old university libraries still adhere to this tradition of collecting books and make copies of books they don't have. "For example, Xie Zhiliu's "Dunhuang Stone Chamber" published in 1949 is very difficult to find. I can't find it in China. Yale University has a copy. As long as their library does not have it, even if it is copied, it must be completed."

Rong Xinjiang In the old library inside the British Museum

John Ma, whom he met at Leiden University (Note: In 1985, he became the director of the Chinese Institute Library of Leiden University) also reflects this thirst for books. the spirit of. Ma Daren visited various libraries around the world. Leiden University has a copy of the manuscript of Pelliot's "Concise Catalog of Chinese Manuscripts and Printed Books in the Vatican Library", which is why Ma Daren went to Copied from of the Vatican Curia Library. "This copy is inserted in a corner. I have seen it before. In 1991, I took Li Xiaocong and Takada Tokio to visit the Leiden University library. I said there is a book here that you two must have never seen before, and then Just pull it out. Takada immediately went to the Vatican to check the original book, and then published the Vatican catalogue.

Reading experience

In the second half of the lecture, Rong Xinjiang shared his own reading experience. He gave five suggestions: read everyone's books, read the most classic books, read backwards, read by topic, and focus on one person.

Rong Xinjiang believes that at that time, as long as they were published, most of them were everyone's books, but there were still differences in everyone's books. Some books - such as Chen Yinke 's works, although they contain boring historical materials, are thoughtful and flavorful, which will attract readers to continue reading; while there are also textbook-style books that, although they can be used to increase knowledge, are too uneventful. , it’s hard to watch. "I have read many of Chen Yinke's books and articles several times and took detailed notes." Rong Xinjiang recommended the audience to read the reading notes he wrote for Chen Yinke's " Chen Yuan Preface to the Dunhuang Tribulation Record", which reflects The way he writes reading notes. He believes that reading everyone's books is like standing on the shoulders of giants. "To do knowledge is to stand on the shoulders of our predecessors and move forward generation by generation."

Chen Yinke's works

Rong Xinjiang also recommended Zhou Liang ( " History of Cultural Exchanges between China and Foreign Countries "), Zhang Weihua ("Ancient China's Foreign Relations"), Tang Changru, Ji Xianlin and other works. He believes that after reading everyone's articles, it will be easy to see whether the latest work is just a piece of cake, or whether it really makes progress in a certain aspect.

Regarding reading the most classic books, Rong Xinjiang said that Peking University, where he works, is influenced by European academic circles. People often only publish papers rather than write monographs. However, now Chinese academic circles are more following the American route, focusing on writing books, or will The collection of papers is published, which he believes is a good trend. Here he recommends " Cambridge History of China ", "History of Central Asian Civilizations", "Dunhuang and Turpan Documents and the Silk Road", "Chang'an and the Comparative Capital History of East Asia in the Sui and Tang Dynasties", "What is Urban History" and "Selected Collections of Silk Road Studies" 》 and other books are a good foundation for young people to do academic work.

"Cambridge History of China" and "Dunhuang Turpan Documents and the Silk Road"

In addition, Rong Xinjiang also talked about the need to "read backwards" when doing academic research and general reading.For the purpose of increasing insight and knowledge, reading backwards allows you to see the latest results. In particular, select the latest works of experts, and then choose which related books to read further based on the reviews in the books. Here he recommended books such as "The Silk Road" by Liu Yingsheng and "Ming and Qing Social Economy and Jiangnan Regional Culture" by Fan Jinmin .

Rong Xinjiang continued to talk about that for researchers, when they reach a certain level, they need to read by topic and only read one topic within a period of time. For example, when he was interested in Tibetology, he read several papers on a certain topic written by the Hungarian scholar Geza Uray and the Japanese scholar Z. Yamaguchi. "From Princess Wencheng's entry into Tibet, to the Annals of Achai, to the era of Trisong Dezan, to "The Sage's Wedding Banquet", Uri wrote every article first, and then Yamaguchi Zuiho 'beat' him, Uri Counterattack, Yamaguchi Zuiho counterattacks again." He said that reading like this is particularly helpful for memory and understanding. He also mentioned that the translation of Yamaguchi Mizuho's article into English is much clearer and easier to understand than the original Japanese text. The Japanese academic community has translated some important works into English and included guidance for relevant research in the Japanese academic community, thus achieving a good consensus. The effect of dialogue with the international academic community is worthy of learning from the Chinese literary community. Here he recommended books such as "Research on the History of the Relationship between the Ancient Mediterranean and China", "Research on the History of the Relationship between the Han, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties and the Western Regions", " Research on Early Silk Road Documents " and " New History of the Silk Road ".

Finally, he suggested to focus on reading one person - if you read all the works of one person within a period of time, you will have a very clear understanding of a subject. He cited Bailey as such a person, and recalled the time when he visited Bailey and received two large bags of books as gifts. In addition, he mentioned that Edward Conze is also a person worthy of reading in this way in the field of Buddhist studies.

"Notes from the Old Barracks", "Yunluju Essays" and "Chunming Neighbor Collection" from "Phoenix Branches"

At the end of the lecture, Rong Xinjiang also recommended a series of "little books for everyone", including those published by Guangqi Bunku "Studying History by Yu Shen", "History with Thoughts", "Walking in the Tang Dynasty" and "I See the Green Mountains" by Chen Shangjun , "Notes from the Old Barracks" by Fenghuang Zhiwencong, "Yunluju Essays" and "Chunming Bu Neighbor Collection" , his new book "Learning and Remembering: Miscellaneous Notes of Rong Xinjiang's Teacher and Friends", etc.

At the end of the lecture

After Rong Xinjiang finished his sharing, Fu Jie described how he was shocked when he saw the massive collection of Dunhuang studies at Rong Xinjiang's home. He especially recommended Rong Xinjiang's book "Academic Training and Academic Standards" It is an excellent introduction to literature and history research.

"Academic Training and Academic Standards"

Rong Xinjiang's doctoral student at that time, Professor Yu Xin of the Department of History at Fudan University, also came to the scene. Yu Xin recalled that as a student, she participated in Rong Xinjiang’s “Weekend Talks” held every weekend. During this period, Rong Xinjiang and his students talked about their recent reading experiences, discoveries and insights, and sometimes conducted some academic foundation based on the lecture notes. Training: Which Western-language magazines on archeology need to be read frequently? Yu Xin can still dig out these handouts to this day. He agreed very much with Rong Xinjiang's research method of flipping through the first issue of a magazine to the latest issue, and flipping through the first issue to the last one in front of the library bookshelf - this is the idea in Yu Xin's doctoral thesis It was slowly produced in this process. He also mentioned in particular that Rong Xinjiang continues to follow the latest research in international journals, which made him feel ashamed and moved.

At the end of the lecture, the host Fu Jie laughed and talked about his book-visiting experience in Shanghai, which was similar to that of Rong Xinjiang who cycled around the Chinese bookstores in Beijing at the beginning of the lecture: "The bicycle started from East China Normal University, first to Fuzhou Road, and then to Nanjing East Road , sometimes turn to Huaihai Road , park your car on a busy street like Huaihai Road, and eat Jiaxing rice dumplings on Fuzhou Road with Chen Yinchi and Yang Yang, each carrying a bag of books among the beautiful people on Huaihai Road. Sometimes I just buy two tea eggs, but it’s really happiness.” Fu Jie finally quoted the words of the late Professor Zhang Shiying, saying that you should visit bookstores frequently, not only to buy books, but also to learn a lot of information.Zhang Shiying likens this process to "recognizing house numbers." After turning two pages of a book, you will have an impression when you need to use it.

Editor in charge: Zang Jixian

Proofreader: Zhang Liangliang