There are countless academic works on Guo Tingyi. This article will not be superficial. On the basis of a brief summary of Guo Tingyi's life and academic thoughts, it will focus on his relationship with scholars at Nanjing University and famous scholars.

Song Yiwei ( Postdoctoral researcher at Xueheng Research Institute of Nanjing University)

Guo Tingyi (1904-1975), courtesy name Liangyu, was born in Wuyang, Henan. He devoted his life to the study of modern Chinese history and organized the establishment of the " Central Research Institute " Modern History Research Institute. He can be called the founder of the "Nangang School". There are countless academic works on Guo Tingyi. This article will not be superficial. On the basis of a brief summary of Guo Tingyi's life and academic thoughts, it will focus on his relationship with scholars at Nanjing University and famous scholars.

Guo Tingyi

Guo Tingyi was born in a well-off family in Wuyang, Henan Province on November 25, the 29th year of Guangxu's reign (January 12, 1904). The family fortune of my great-grandparents declined, and my ancestors and fathers were diligent in farming and business. Guo Ting started teaching at the age of four, and then studied at the New Sericulture School for ten years.

In 1918, Guo Tingyi applied for Kaifeng No. 2 Middle School. He excelled in his studies and began to be exposed to the works of Hu Shi, Liang Qichao, and publications such as "New Youth" and "Weekly Commentary", and actively responded to the May Fourth Movement. In 1920, Guo Ting went south to study and studied at the Middle School Affiliated to Nanjing Normal University. He achieved excellent results in subjects such as English, Chinese language, mathematics, and history. In the autumn of 1923, Guo Tingyi was admitted to the History Department of Southeast University with first place recommendation. In his peaceful campus life, he studied under famous teachers such as Chen Zhongfan, Liu Yizheng, and Liu Boming. Beginning in 1925, the trend of East University gradually emerged. Although Guo Tingyi was deeply influenced by Luo Jialun's teachings, he graduated in a hurry in early 1927 amid the drumbeat of the Yi Chang trend. He served successively in the Political Department of the National Revolutionary Army and the Compilation Committee of the General Headquarters. , the Central Party Affairs School and other institutions.

In 1928, Luo Jialun was transferred to the position of president of Tsinghua University, and Guo Tingyi followed him northward. He first served as the director secretary of the principal's office, as well as the director of the clerical department and the director of the publishing department. Due to the shortage of teachers in the history department, he co-taught a course on modern Chinese history with Luo Jialun, and often visited major libraries and antique bookstores in Beijing. During this period, he met and recommended Jiang Tingfu , and gradually focused on teaching and research. In 1930, when the Central Plains War broke out, Guo Tingyi taught at Henan University, Political School, and Military Academy. By the autumn of 1933, he officially transferred to the National Central University of China and served as professor and director of the Department of History. In the first five years of the Anti-Japanese War , Guo Ting specialized in learning, offering courses such as modern history, history of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, history of transportation between China and the West, and history of the Western Regions, and completed manuscripts such as "History of Modern China" and "Diary of Major Events of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom".

With the rise of the Anti-Japanese War, Guo Tingyi moved westward with Central University, making it difficult for his academic career to continue. After returning to Ningxia in 1946, Guo Tingyi went to Taiwan to teach many times, and briefly served as the director of the Frontier Education Department of the Ministry of Education. At the beginning of 1949, Guo Tingyi went to Taiwan again to contact CUHK about the relocation of the campus. However, he was unable to return to the mainland because of the rare availability of ferry tickets. After staying in Taiwan, he taught in the Department of History and Geography of National Taiwan Normal University and concurrently served as the dean of the School of Liberal Arts. In February 1955, at the invitation of Zhu Jiahua, he served as director of the Preparatory Office of the Institute of Modern History of the "Academia Sinica". In April 1965, the Institute of Modern History was formally established, with Guo Tingwei as its first director. In the following decades, Guo Ting worked hard with his pen, worked hard to govern, and rewarded the underachievers. In 1968, he was elected as the seventh academician of the Humanities Group of Academia Sinica, but he could not escape the complex whirlpool of personnel and politics.

In July 1969, Guo Tingyi, who was physically and mentally exhausted, asked for leave to go to the United States. In the summer of 1971, he officially resigned from his posts as director of the Institute of Modern History. Although he was in a difficult situation, he still concentrated on writing and teaching. In the early morning of September 14, 1975, Guo Tingyi died of a heart attack at St. Luke's Hospital in New York. Two days ago, he had just completed the book " An outline of the history of modern China ", which was a collection of his life's work.

"Outline of Modern Chinese History"

Guo Tingyi's historical thoughts have been described in detail in Nangang scholars such as Lu Shiqiang. Guo Ting has devoted his life to the study of modern Chinese history, especially in the fields of Sino-foreign relations, the Taiping Rebellion, Taiwan history and border history. In summary, his basic work in compiling historical materials and his thinking on modernization issues had the greatest impact.

While teaching at the former Central University, Guo Tingyi devoted himself to the compilation of "Historical Events Diary" and published chronological historical works such as "Daping Heavenly Kingdom Events Diary", "Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Calendar Research" and "Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Historical Events Diary".After going to Taiwan, he completed the "sister" works "Diary of Historical Events in Modern China" and "Diary of Historical Events in the Republic of China", aiming to provide the academic community with "a comprehensive record of modern China" and "a reference book for the history of modern China." . In his view, "historical event diary" is very important to historical research: "Historical research must first clearly understand historical events before understanding its significance. Historical events must be connected with historical time. If historical time is not correct, history will be lost." Things are therefore chaotic, and all processes, causes and consequences cannot be understood, and the interrelationships cannot be known. If the historical events are arranged in historical order, the overall situation will be seen in detail, and there will be a sense of fragmentation. The evidence can be found in its own context system." ("Editor's Note" in "Diary of Modern Chinese Historical Events") In the examples of "Diary of Historical Events of the Taiping Rebellion", he also mentioned: "The nature of this book belongs to the category of tools. The editor personally only wants to make preparations for others, hoping to save the energy and time of historians with talent, knowledge and ethics, and that is enough." Just as his disciple Wang Ermin wrote in " Non-mainstream history and historians in the 20th century . "" summarized in the book: "Mr. Guo Tingyi's academic skills in history are basically based on the authentic academic training of the Spring and Autumn Period. He studies historical events and attaches great importance to chronology." The chronology is detailed and historical materials are given priority. Guo Tingyi is undoubtedly The core essence of historical methods. During the decades when

chaired the Institute of Modern History, Guo Tingyi focused more on the compilation and preservation of historical materials. At the beginning of the establishment of the institute, he traveled extensively to collect various archives and documents at home and abroad, and led young scholars in the institute to compile historical materials. Guo Tingyi was very demanding and spared no effort in cultivating his students. According to Li Guoqi's recollection, when compiling the files, "first make the summary list, and then the bullet points." For each summary list, "Mr. Guo checked every word. If there was anything inappropriate, Mr. Guo asked us to modify it." ( "Guo Tingyi's Oral Autobiography", China Encyclopedia Publishing House 2016 edition, page 127) Under this rigorous academic style, by the time Guo Tingyi left office, there were nine volumes of "Haifang Files (1861-1911)". , "Mining Documents (1865-1911)" in seven volumes, "China-France-Vietnam Negotiation Documents (1875-1911)" in eight volumes, "Historical Materials on Sino-Russian Relations (1917-1919)" in nine volumes, One volume of the Supplement to the Preparation of the Barbarian Affairs in the Daoguang and Xianfeng Dynasties (1842 to 1861), four volumes of "New Records of the Four Kingdoms (1850 to 1863)" and other books were published successively. After leaving office, Guo Ting took the lead in presiding over eleven volumes of "Historical Materials on China-Japan-Korea Relations in the Qing Dynasty (1864-1911)", three volumes of "Historical Materials on Sino-Russian Relations (1920)", and "Historical Materials on Sino-US Relations (1805)". Three volumes of "Compilation of Materials on Modern China's Understanding of the West and Great Powers (1821 to 1861)", three volumes of "Historical Materials on Sino-Russian Relations (1921)", and "Academic Affairs Archives" (1 to 4) (edited from 1860 to 1886), three volumes each, and other books were also published. Decades of work have not only provided the historians with a large amount of precious research materials, but also cultivated Nangang scholars’ rigorous attitudes and methods of conducting history.

Relying on the platform of the Institute of Modern History, Guo Tingyi actively carries out academic exchanges and cooperation. Since 1958, Harvard-Yenching Institute has established the East Asian Academic Research Committee in Taiwan to fund the compilation and publication of relevant archives. Since 1962, the Ford Foundation has supported young scholars to study in the United States. From 1960 to 1963, the Institute of Modern History cooperated with the Center for East Asian Studies at Columbia University in oral history cooperation. With the planning and participation of Guo Tingyi, more than 60 people were interviewed and rich reminiscences were preserved.

Guo Ting's great emphasis on historical materials has brought a lot of criticism to himself and the Institute of Modern History, and some people have even questioned his level of historical management. However, if we return to Guo Tingyi's writings, we can see the depth of his research. This is mainly reflected in his understanding of "modern China" and his thinking on the issue of "modernization".

The two volumes of "History of Modern China" published from 1940 to 1941 not only arranged a large number of historical materials in a long format, but also elaborated on Guo Tingyi's basic understanding of "modern China". He pointed out in the book: "From the perspective of the entire history of China, 'modern China' was an era of great transformation. Although the forces that caused this transformation were quite complex, the main or central factor was the relationship between China and the West during this period.Whether political, military, social, economic, academic, ideological, or any other aspect, modern China is significantly different from China in the past, and these differences are all directly or indirectly dominated or affected by these factors. . Therefore, when we study the history of modern China, we will never tolerate the omission of ‘Sino-Western relations’. "The main line of development of modern Chinese history is Sino-foreign relations, and the turning point was the Opium War : "This event not only has strong historical interest, but also has far-reaching and huge impact, at least on the entire Chinese nation in the future. China joined the international community, felt the threat to its existence, came into contact with a new culture, was stirred up by new forces, and finally changed its way of life; all of this must be traced back to this conflict. "Of course, the break between tradition and modern times is not so obvious. The historical facts of Sino-Western exchanges before the Opium War already imply continuity. Therefore, the first volume of "Modern Chinese History" is subtitled "Sino-British Relations between China and the West before the Opium War" and traces it in detail It covers the historical background of the Russians' eastward march, the Western arrival in China, and the early Sino-British relations since the 16th century. It is not until the second volume that the process and impact of the Opium War are fully examined. Guo Tingyi realizes the far-reaching impact of the Opium War: "The Chinese government. After experiencing this major blow, its weaknesses were completely exposed, and its national prestige was wiped out. The country that had been in power for hundreds of years finally succumbed to the "red-haired rebels". "But he is more aware of the limitations of this influence: "According to common sense, if you learn from a bad thing, you should learn a lot of lessons. But in fact it was not like that. The battle was defeated. The only reason for the defeat was that the ships and cannons were not as strong as others and the sergeants were not as brave as others. However, for a long time, I did not know how to be like a human being. The peace treaty was signed, but after it was signed, there were concerns at first, and then unwillingness to do so, and internal and external discord recurred; this is a story for later. "Unfortunately, "History of Modern China" has only completed two volumes, and its ideas can only be glimpsed in works such as "Outline of Modern Chinese History".

"Treaty of Nanjing"

"Outline of Modern Chinese History" also started in the 16th Exploring the background of "world changes" from the perspective of Sino-Western transportation since the beginning of the century, the turning point in modern China lies in the combined effect of "Western power impact" and "internal unrest". The first change in China's situation was the Opium War and the signing of the Treaty of Nanjing: " In the past, everything in Sino-Western relations was decided by China, but in the future, almost everything will be decided by others; in the past, China did not treat others as equals, and the British claimed to strive for equality, but now and in the future, they will treat China as unequal. The Battle of the British and French Allied Forces not only opened the country, lost sovereignty, legalized the opium trade, and "formed a united front against China" with the interests of all countries, it also made "Chinese people of insight, after this almost national subjugation or dynasty change, We have also gained some lessons and understandings from the crisis." Coupled with internal attacks such as the Taiping Rebellion, the Qing Dynasty had just embarked on the "modernization" path of the self-reliance movement amid the crisis. As for the reasons for the changes in modern times, he summarized it as follows: "Because the nations that we contacted in the past could use their temporary force to take advantage of China's disadvantages to achieve their goals, but their situations were still comparable to each other. The Western countries that we contacted in modern times were vast. Otherwise. In addition to powerful force, there is also a unique political organization, economic power, and high culture. Once they come into contact with each other, China's barriers will be broken and the foundation of the country will be shaken. Then fell into misfortune." In short, "The fate of any nation depends on its adaptability to the environment of the times, that is, on culture."

In fact, in a series of papers published by Guo Tingyi. , we can also see his overall understanding of modern Chinese history. In the article "The Delay of China's Modernization—Also on the Nature of Early Sino-British Relations" published in 1950, Guo Tingyi pointed out: "The history of any country and nation can be said to be a history of competition for survival. Competition. Competition The success or failure of the process and the success or failure of the outcome determine the fate of the country and the nation. The success or failure depends on the nation's ability to adapt to the environment of the times, that is, on the degree of modernization that it can adapt to the environment. Or modernization, we must first have a correct understanding of the environment and the times, otherwise it will be impossible to talk about it.There is no doubt that in the great national competition of modern China, even if it cannot be said to have completely failed, at least it should be admitted that it was temporarily lagging behind. "In the article "The Importation and Understanding of Modern Western Culture" published in 1951, Guo Tingyi pointed out: "The contact between China and the West has a history of at least two thousand years. The introduction of Western culture into China did not occur in one day. The real significant impact in China occurred in modern times. The so-called modern times refers to the beginning of the early nineteenth century, specifically the beginning of the First Sino-British War or the Opium War. "In the article "The Importation of Modern Science and Democratic Thoughts - Translation of Books and Western Learning in the Late Qing Dynasty" published in 1953, Guo Tingyi divided the history of the introduction of Western learning into China into three periods: the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the Daoxian-Tongguang period , since the early years of the Republic of China. "Strictly speaking, the second period of translation of Western learning should be counted from the early years of and Tongzhi . The pain and humiliation China suffered from 1857 to 1860 was so profound that people at the time felt it was far more severe than the disaster from 1840 to 1842. In the war against the Taiping Army from 1860 to 1863, important and useful lessons were learned. "What is "modernization"? In the article "On China's Modernization Issues from Contact with Foreign Countries" published in his later years, Guo Tingyi pointed out: "A country, a nation, and even an individual, in order to make its way of life, spiritual and material The efforts and achievements made to adapt to the environment of the times to enhance their welfare are modernization. " Regarding the current situation and future of "modernization", Guo Tingyi is full of confidence by reviewing history: "China should abandon its suspicion and sense of self-righteousness, and outsiders should abandon its power policies and sense of superiority"; "Modernization is one's own. You have to rely on your own strength to do anything. But if we can get the sympathy and help of others, it will be easier to move forward smoothly." "Power cannot solve problems, and political and economic measures alone cannot easily eliminate barriers. Everything depends on the consistency of each other's ideas, and with China's 'forgiveness' and ' "Benevolence" is the criterion, "forgiveness" means "don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you"; "benevolence" means "if you want to establish yourself, you should establish others, and if you want to achieve yourself, you should achieve others." '"

Essentially, Guo Tingyi explored the origin of modern China from the history of transportation between China and the West in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties on the premise of affirming the continuity of Chinese history. The Opium War was undoubtedly a turning point that affected the course of modern Chinese history, but the British and French allied forces The combined effects of the Battle of the Taiping Rebellion and the Taiping Rebellion cannot be ignored. In his view, the fate of national history depends not only on force, but also on culture.

It is not difficult to find that Guo Tingyi devoted his life to the study of modern history and the "academic community." "Construction. There is no need to care about the merits and demerits of others, and there is no need to pay attention to the complexity of personnel disputes. Guo Tingyi was extremely meticulous in the compilation of historical materials, and it was vast in the field of modern China. What he left to future generations is not only volumes. Numerous masterpieces are the legacy of Nangang's academic style.

As the founder of the "Nangang School", Guo Tingyi also has his own teachings and academic accumulation. When it comes to this, academic circles often quote him in "Modern China". A self-statement in the "Example" of "History" (Volume 1): "The editor studied history and was inspired by Liu Yimou (Yizheng) Xu Yangqiu (Zeling), and devoted himself to modern Chinese history. Under the teachings of Mr. Luo Zhixi , the editor of this book received a lot of guidance and assistance from Mr. Luo. Mr. Jiang Tingfu's scientific research on modern Chinese history is actually the same as Mr. Luo's. Directly and indirectly, the editor has also been greatly influenced by him. "However, commentators often only pay attention to Guo Tingyi's close contacts with Luo Jialun, Jiang Tingfu and others, but ignore his relationship with Liu Yizheng and Xu Zeling. In fact, through Guo Tingyi's memories, it is not difficult to find that Liu Yizheng was The "Xueheng School" represented by "Xueheng School" and "Xueheng School" also had a significant impact on his academic studies. Since he went south to Jinling in 1920, Guo Ting began to receive the cultural influence of the "Xueheng School" while studying at the High School Affiliated to Nanjing University. Mr. Xu Cheng, a Chinese language teacher, introduced Guo Tingyi to his professional teacher Liu Yizheng. Guo Tingyi said in his oral autobiography in his later years that Liu Yizheng once told their young students: "Don't be influenced by Hu Shi and stop reading old books. You must have the ability to read them." It would be better if both " Historical Records " and " Hanshu " are highlighted."Liu Yizheng not only handed over his "History of Chinese Culture" to Guo Tingyi, but also asked him to punctuate Duan's explanations and explain the characters. Because of this, Guo Tingyi made up his mind to read history. At this time, Guo Tingyi had He has had many opportunities to listen to speeches by professors and scholars. In his opinion, the one that has had the greatest impact on him is Liu Boming, Professor of Philosophy at Nanjing University of Science and Technology: “The most rare thing is that Mr. Liu often comes to our middle school to give speeches, talking about issues related to moral knowledge, and he is very eloquent. Engage your audience. He emphasized that a scholar must have basic training - that is, scientific training, and scientific training puts mathematics first, physics and chemistry second, and the third is the use of reference books. ”

After entering the History Department of Southeast University, Guo Tingyi directly learned from famous scholars. In his freshman year, Liu Yizheng personally taught Chinese cultural history, Western history, Western philosophy history, etc. He attached great importance to students’ extracurricular reading. Solve the questions raised by students. In his sophomore year, Liu Yizheng taught a modern history course. Guo Ting said in his oral autobiography in his later years: "The history of China in the past century from the Opium War to modern times is about seventy years, because of the materials. The problem is not easy to solve. We use Japanese materials to teach. In addition, we have to read Donghualu ourselves. At first we were confused, but then we became more and more interested. From the Daoguang Dynasty to the Xianfeng Dynasty, and then to the Qianlong Dynasty, I made up another This set of chapters was highly praised by Mr. Liu. Later I read "Shengwu Ji" and "Chronicles of the Qing Dynasty" and benefited a lot. "The course on historical methods is undertaken by Xu Zeling, the director of the history department. "(He) uses Chinese historical examples to explain the new Western historical methods. He is proficient in Western history and research methods, and has a foundation in Chinese culture. He teaches comprehensively and convincingly. . "In addition, Mr. Liu Boming, Tang Yongtong, Miao Fenglin, , Liu Chonghong, Luo Jialun and others also taught in the history department. The Southeast style of study also profoundly affected the development of Guo Ting's academic habits: "I was influenced by Mr. Liu when I was a sophomore. I took reading notes all day long, and later applied the habit of taking notes to recording current events. I kept track of the changes in the cabinet , the army numbers in each province, the changes in the military garrison areas, the origins of the officers, and listed the tables. I remembered them very well. These tasks were equivalent to my preparation for later studying modern history. "

Four years of study at Southeast University laid the foundation for Guo Tingyi's lifelong history. After a few years, he returned to Nanjing again after traveling around. At this time, Southeast University had been renamed National Central University, and Guo Tingyi became A modern history teacher at his alma mater. Before 1937, Guo Tingyi focused on his studies. According to his memories: “In order to study the history of the Taiping Rebellion, I often consulted books and newspapers in the National Library, Jiangsu Provincial Library, and Jinling University Library. , Jinling University is a church school with many English books. Unexpectedly, there are as many as 700 or 800 kinds of local chronicles. These were collected by priests from various places. Li Guoding ’s elder brother Li Xiaoyuan helped me a lot and let me stay in the attic of the library. I looked up books online and found that I had read all the local chronicles and all the rare books. I put a lot of effort into it. At that time, I wore good clothes to prevent mosquito bites. However, it was very hot in the summer and the temperature was so high that I was sweating profusely. It was very painful. "As soon as his book was published, it caused a huge response in the academic world.

"Nangang Academic Style: The Story of Guo Tingyi and the Institute of Modern History, Academia Sinica"

In the decades from 1949 to 1949, Guo Tingyi taught diligently in the History Department of Central University. Widely praised by students. Wang Juefei once recalled: "I took Mr. Guo Tingyi's 'Modern History of China' in my junior year. This course is a compulsory course. Mr. Guo's class has rich historical materials. He teaches it in detail according to chronological order and historical events. The students listened attentively. He has a small voice and speaks very fast. Taking notes is very difficult and he is not able to write everything down. Back then, when we participated in student movements and demonstrations, Mr. Guo neither encouraged nor interfered. "As far as I know, Mr. Guo is very diligent and he attaches great importance to historical materials." ······In addition, some other professors also attach great importance to historical materials. Central University has this characteristic. These teachers pay attention to the accuracy and richness of historical materials. Therefore, students are influenced by their teachers and also pay attention to historical materials."("Nangang Academic Style: The Story of Guo Tingyi and the Institute of Modern History, Academia Sinica", Jiuzhou Press 2013 edition, page 386) Liu Jingkun also has the following memories: "Mr. Guo is never late for class, and when the time comes, , no matter where you talk, get out of class ends on time. He is very strict with our classmates. For example, in the first class, he called the names one by one and looked at them carefully. After that, he stopped calling the names; in the next class, he just pulled out the card and looked at it. , I knew which person was missing and marked it on the spot. "Mr. Guo designated us to read books, such as "The International Relations of the Chinese Empire" (The International Relations of the Chinese Empire) by Hosea Ballou Morse, "Modern Chinese Diplomatic History Materials", "Preparation" "The Beginning and End of the Barbarian Movement" and other Qing Dynasty diplomatic historical materials", "Later, my research was still influenced to some extent by Mr. Guo's belief in working hard on historical materials...Mr. Guo laid a very good foundation for us, and I admire him very much for his scholarship. With his spirit and serious attitude in teaching, he taught us practical historical knowledge. "("Nangang Academic Style: The Story of Guo Tingyi and the Institute of Modern History, Academia Sinica", Jiuzhou Press, 2013 edition, pp. 390-393) Guo Ting's historical method of attaching importance to historical materials not only influenced young students in the History Department of Central University , and it is also the practice and inheritance of the academic traditions of Nanjing Normal University and Southeast University.

It is true that Guo Tingyi's academic philosophy was greatly influenced by Tsinghua scholars such as Luo Jialun and Jiang Tingfu. However, in the Republic of China, the two academic peaks of the north and the south stood side by side. In the era of , although Guo Tingyi did not write articles in publications such as "Xueheng", he grew up and taught at the base of the "Xueheng School" for more than 20 years. Whether it was the emphasis on the compilation of historical materials or the "modernization" of historical views, The conception is the result of drawing on the strengths of various schools. This inclusive and inclusive style of study is undoubtedly an excellent interpretation of the spirit of Xueheng.

Editor: Peng Shanshan

Proofreader: Luan Meng