Listen to the sound of the wind -- From the Wen Wei Readings Weekly Book Series

Author: Wu Guiping, Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-08-01
Features: I once read "A Concise Chronology of Gu Jiegang's Academic Life" compiled by Zheng Liangshu, a Malaysian, and was astonished by the proportions in it. Divided by 1949, the first thirty years of Gu Jiegang's six-decade academic career occupied over 200 pages, while the last thirty years were barely more than a dozen. Zheng Liangshu lamented the () later life of the master, and his unfulfilled twilight years seemed to have become a widely acknowledged regret among scholars. However, the over 200 volumes before me speak of a different story; the master had the habit of jotting down notes, most of which were written after the War of Resistance, as turbulent times prevented him from conducting comprehensive work. These notes were his intellectual records during his "unsuccessful" days, centered around the theme of "critiquing the doctrines of the Warring States, Qin, and Han periods," covering all aspects of ancient Chinese culture. During the Cultural Revolution, the master's notes were written in elementary school exercise books with a fountain pen. Holding these books in my hands, I instantly realized that the question of whether the master was "successful" or "unsuccessful" was truly futile. The elegant small building in Shajiagou, Sanlimen, was the master's final residence. Gu Jingqiu, the master's wife, quietly sat in a rocking chair, her eyes blankly staring out the window. Now, there was no need to worry about the master being criticized and having his manuscripts taken away, nor to hide his books out of concern for his health. Under the care of his children, the old man had entered a transcendent state, oblivious to worldly matters. Another daughter, Gu Chao, continues to use the master's study and narrow desk to compile his chronology.
On the top of the bookshelf, () () fifty-seven diaries of the master, starting from 1921, which were also self-made. The covers are labeled "Jiegang Schedule," with three days per page, two columns per day—one labeled "Plan" () and the other "Actual Work" (). Each two-hour interval is marked in the vertical columns. Opening the last diary, the handwriting is already very messy, with clippings of news about the death of Jian Bozan and details of his memorial service, as well as many blank spaces. The date is filled in up to December 30, 1980, but the handwriting stops on the 18th. The master passed away on the 25th, his trembling hands no longer able to hold a pen, leaving behind much unfinished work, including his diaries, which did not reach the end he had envisioned.
In his reading notes, the master was a deep and thoughtful scholar, but in his diaries, he was a living, breathing person. When the master used elementary school exercise books for his reading notes, his diaries were written in a fountain pen on old calendars. Flipping through a page, I see it written: "Read the newspaper. Chunyu asked me to explain the picture book, took the newspaper from my hand, and threw it away. Although I reluctantly explained it, I felt upset. After dinner, I lay in bed and felt chest pain. Took nitroglycerin and urgently telephoned the hospital." A few days later, it reads: "Chunyu has made progress in speaking recently. When asked where Grandpa is, she says he is in the hospital. When asked where the chicken came from, she says her mother bought it. On sunny days, she often stands in the yard, playing with the other children." The scene of an eighty-year-old white-haired old man squabbling with his two-year-old grandson and then reconciling is vividly before my eyes—this was in February 1976.
Reading the diaries together with Gu Chao, tears shone in her eyes. In her heart, her father had always been an elderly man who never put down his books. It was only after his death that she began to understand him—his greatness and solitude, his achievements and regrets. Now, his daughters are his confidants, but unfortunately, only in his posthumous life.