Collected Works of Ji Xianlin, Volume 13: Prefaces, Postfaces, Miscellaneous Writings, and Other Essays (Part 1)

Author: Chief Editor: Wu Minghua
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1996-12-01
Features: Preface to the Publication of The Collected Works of Ji Xianlin
The The Collected Works of Ji Xianlin began to be edited and published in 1992. It includes the author's creative works, reviews, essays, monographs, and translations to date. Based on content or genre, the The Collected Works of Ji Xianlin is temporarily divided into the following twenty-four volumes:
Volume 1: Prose (I); Volume 2: Prose (II); Volume 3: Ancient Indian Languages; Volume 4: Sino-Indian Cultural Relations; Volume 5: Indian History and Culture; Volume 6: Chinese Culture and Eastern Culture; Volume 7: Buddhism; Volume 8: Comparative Literature and Folk Literature; Volume 9: A History of Sugar (I); Volume 10: A History of Sugar (II); Volume 11: The Translation and Interpretation of the Meeting of Sakyamuni in Tocharian; Volume 12: Tocharian Studies; Volume 13: Prefaces, Postfaces, Miscellaneous Writings, and Others (I); Volume 14: Prefaces, Postfaces, Miscellaneous Writings, and Others (II); Volume 15: Translations of Sanskrit and Other Language Literary Works (I); Volume 16: Translations of Sanskrit and Other Language Literary Works (II); Volume 17: Ramayana (I); Volume 18: Ramayana (II); Volume 19: Ramayana (III); Volume 20: Ramayana (IV); Volume 21: Ramayana (V); Volume 22: Ramayana (VI, Part 1); Volume 23: Ramayana (VI, Part 2); Volume 24: Ramayana (VII). Except for the prose and translation volumes, the articles in the other volumes are arranged in chronological order based on writing or publication time. Some personal names, place names, country names, and terms in the articles have varied translations across different periods; some punctuation marks and numerical conventions also differ from current standards. To preserve the original form, no uniform treatment has been applied. All works in the The Collected Works of Ji Xianlin have been carefully proofread this time, mainly including correcting traditional characters, variant characters, printing errors, and punctuation marks, standardizing the usage of terms, and verifying citations. For some citations that are difficult to locate in China, we had to leave them open for future correction. Articles with repeated content have been retained, with the most complete and detailed one preserved, while the rest have been omitted. Although we have made our utmost efforts in collecting the articles, omissions are inevitable. If any missing articles are found in the future, they will be included along with the author's new works. We sincerely hope for the readers' guidance and assistance.
The Collected Works of Ji Xianlin Editorial Committee, December 1994
Excerpt:
After that, we should also take a look at the state of foreign literature research in our country: the achievements are great, which is the primary point; but there are still many shortcomings, which is the secondary point. Even if we temporarily set aside the introduction of Indian literature before 2000, our modern history of introducing foreign literature has been nearly 100 years long. During this period, our advanced scholars have introduced a large amount of foreign literature into China. At first, it was indeed a difficult and laborious endeavor. Lin Qin'an, who knew no foreign language, collaborated with others to translate a large number of Western and Eastern literary works, which had a considerable impact. By the time of Lu Xun, he introduced foreign literature with astonishing perseverance, dedicating his life to the cause, and even sacrificing himself for it. It may have been under his influence that the 1920s and 1930s saw a brilliant and splendid scene. After liberation, our achievements in introducing foreign literature far surpassed those of the past. Both in quality and quantity, they cannot be compared to the pre-liberation era. It is wrong not to see this point. But merely recognizing this is not helpful for progress. If we take a retrospective and summary look at the nearly 100 years of history, we will find that our introductions, whether in terms of countries or the works of individual writers, have been unbalanced and one-sided. We have rarely formulated any introduction plans, and even when we did, they were not fully realized due to certain reasons, and such results were inevitable. Summarizing the above points, we feel that it is still very necessary to add a little more beauty to the brocade. How can we add this beauty? We believe there are at least the following aspects:
, Filling the Gaps
Since our past translations and introductions were still somewhat incomplete, our task today is to make up for these shortcomings or defects. There are many such examples, almost too numerous to list. I will only give one example of a country we are relatively familiar with—India. Once, I encountered a young enthusiast for Indian literature. In conversation, he thought that the history of Indian literature was like this: ancient times had two great epics (and even these epics were only heard of by name), in the middle there was Kalidasa, whose masterpiece was Shakuntala, and in modern times there was Tagore and Premchand, and that was it. I was simply shocked and speechless: is Indian literature really like this? Upon further reflection, I realized that it was ourselves who had caused this situation. Those of us who study Indian literature had not introduced it comprehensively. Even the two world-famous epics, Mahabharata and Ramayana, had not been seriously introduced in the past. The reason for this disastrous outcome was ourselves. The situation in other countries was similar. Even countries like the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia, and Japan had similar problems. This had not been noticed before, but now that we are aware of it, we must correct it. Generally speaking, we have introduced relatively little literature from the Middle Ages to classicalism in Europe, and similarly, we have introduced very little medieval or comparable literature from other countries. When it comes to the Middle Ages, people often think of the Dark Ages. Now, some people have discovered that this period was not entirely dark. Of course, we must not say that the literature of that period was particularly flourishing or outstanding, as that does not conform to the actual situation. The few works from that period have their own characteristics, and we should introduce them appropriately. As for some small countries and minor languages in large countries, we often overlook them. The ancient literature of some countries, such as Iran and Egypt, has been almost completely ignored. In the past, when we introduced foreign literature, there were often trends. If Tagore was the focus, everyone focused on Tagore. If Balzac or Gorky was the focus, everyone focused on Balzac or Gorky, all at once. It is not that these great writers should not be introduced, but that we should use our efforts systematically and comprehensively. We failed to do this in the past, and now we must make up for it.
Postscript:
In life, changes in thoughts and emotions are inevitable. Even those with relatively short lifespans experience this, let alone someone like me, who has reached the advanced age of old age! The so-called "scholarly" figures who wield the pen, these changes inevitably manifest in their writings. When one reaches old age and wants to compile a collection of works, how should one handle articles where thoughts and emotions are contradictory, even completely opposite, from earlier periods? There are two ways to do this. In the past, some scholars regretted their early works and tried their best to conceal their youthful image, cutting down on their young writings to make themselves appear as if they had always been correct and consistent in their thoughts and emotions throughout their lives. Personally, I do not approve of this approach, as it has a hint of hypocrisy. I believe that one should honestly express what one was like in life—how one was in youth, middle age, and old age. At a certain stage, if one's thoughts and emotions were biased or even wrong, one should not hide them but should openly acknowledge them. Such articles should not be arbitrarily cut or even completely removed but should be preserved in their entirety to preserve the truth. In my prose and miscellaneous writings, there are indeed some instances where my thoughts and emotions are contradictory. For example, the praise for a certain stage of Chinese society or the worship of a certain individual, which I wrote sincerely at the time; later, I felt some disappointment, and that too was sincere. I have left these articles unaltered and preserved them all. Regardless of how naive or absurd they may seem now, I do not hide them, with the same purpose of preserving the truth. As a person with such a personality, I have a fair amount of self-awareness. I am quite distant from being a social activist. I originally hoped to be like my teacher, Chen Yinque, to live a life of simplicity and clarity, to seek tranquility to achieve distance, to avoid fame, and to dedicate my life to academic research, but I was never indifferent to national affairs or unloving of my country—that is not the tradition of Chinese intellectuals. However, things did not go as planned, and I ended up as the person I am now. I could not avoid writing ceremonial articles, and I had to decline writing prefaces, "When will the spring flowers and autumn moon end? How many meetings are there?" Meetings could not be avoided either. Things did not go as I wished, and my worldly ties were hard to break. I am already old and frail, and it is too late to change course—only future generations can wait for that. This relates to the articles I wrote. Because writing the postscript triggered my reflections, I added this concluding thought. March 18, 1995