Chronicle of Youth Movement and Communist Youth League Work in Heilongjiang

Author: Jiang Fangzhen
Publisher:
Publication Date: Not available
Features: Preface Introduction Chapter 1 General Theory Chapter 2 The Renaissance in Italy (Part 1) Chapter 3 The Renaissance in Italy (Part 2) Chapter 4 The Renaissance in France (Part 1) Chapter 5 The Renaissance in France (Part 2) Chapter 6 The Renaissance in Northern Europe (Flanders, German, England) Chapter 7 The Reformation (Part 1) Chapter 8 The Reformation (Part 2) The Spread of Protestantism and the Improvement of the Old Catholic Church Chapter 9 Conclusion The End of the Renaissance
Jiang Fangzhen himself stated that the book was written based on temporary lectures by the Director of the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, Paul-émile Littré, "drawing on various sources to complete it," while Liang Qichao described it as "merely drawing on it," adding, "As for the judgments, they are all the result of my own insights." The book was published in 1921 and went through three editions within 14 months. The entire book is about 50,000 words, and Liang Qichao wrote a preface that was also about 50,000 words, matching the length of the original book. "There is no such preface in the world, so I had no choice but to declare it independent and named it Introduction to Qing Studies," asking Liang Qichao to write another preface for it, creating an unprecedented literary anecdote. Liang Qichao praised the book as "extremely valuable," stating, "This book, I dare not call it the dawn of Liang's insights, but I can see the path to it. I prove its great value because it combines description with creative spirit." Jin Baoshan reviewed the book with "," calling it "the first major work on the Renaissance written by Chinese scholars." Jiang Fangzhen's "discovery of humanity and the discovery of the world" in the book perfectly aligns with the spirit of "democracy and science," reflecting the times.
The renowned historian Cao Juren reviewed the book after reading it, comparing Jiang Fangzhen to Leonardo da Vinci's "multifaceted brilliance," stating, "Mr. Jiang Fangzhen is also such a figure—both a military strategist and a political commentator, skilled in literary and historical research, with excellent poetry and calligraphy, and eloquent and witty."
@#￥%amp;%￥#@#￥%amp;amp;%￥@#amp;%￥#% The Russian poet Lermontov once wrote in A Hero of Our Time, "No matter what the book is, the preface is always written after the and placed before the ." This merely explains the order of the preface in the text. The Dictionary of Modern Chinese defines "preface and postscript" as follows: "A literary form. The preface, also known as 'narration' or 'introduction,' is an article that explains the purpose of a book's writing, its organization, and the author's background. It may also include comments on the author's works and research on related issues. In ancient times, it was often placed at the end of the book, such as in The Records of the Grand Historian by Sima Qian. The latter is generally placed at the beginning, while the one placed at the end is called a 'postscript' or 'postface.' Both have similar formats and are collectively referred to as 'preface and postscript.'"
From the change in the order of prefaces in books, it can be seen that the order of the preface is not important. Some prefaces and postscripts themselves have the nature of book reviews, which perfectly aligns with the idea: "Some book reviews, including prefaces and postscripts, are worth reading before reading the book and are also worth reading after reading it. They themselves have certain academic and aesthetic value and are excellent independent articles." Indeed, prefaces and postscripts should not be mere formalities but should have certain academic value and be good articles. Introduction to Qing Studies is an excellent work with the significance of a preface and postscript, and its writing is also an interesting anecdote in the history of academia.
The story goes, "Jiang Fangzhen completed A History of the Renaissance in Europe, asking me (referring to Liang Qichao) to write a preface. I felt that a general preface would not enhance its excellence, so it would be better to use similar historical periods from my own works for comparison, so that I could compare the strengths and weaknesses of both and challenge myself. I agreed to write this article as a preface. Once I started writing, I couldn't stop and ended up writing tens of thousands of words, almost matching the length of the original book. In the world of literature, there is no such preface. After finishing it, I had no choice but to declare it independent of Jiang Fangzhen's book."
Liang Qichao's five- to six-thousand-word Introduction to Qing Studies is a long preface that perfectly complements A History of the Renaissance in Europe. However, because the Introduction to Qing Studies is too long, Liang Qichao also wrote a preface of over 440 words for A History of the Renaissance in Europe. More interestingly, Liang Qichao asked Jiang Fangzhen to write a preface for Introduction to Qing Studies, and according to Professor Zhu Weizheng, Jiang Fangzhen once paid respect to Liang Qichao as a teacher and student. A teacher asking a student to write a preface is rare. Liang Qichao, despite writing a five- to six-thousand-word Introduction to Qing Studies, completed it in just half a month, which is truly miraculous! Although Liang Qichao himself said that the Trends of Changes in Chinese Academic Thought (1902) was the foundation and blueprint for Introduction to Qing Studies, only a small part of it dealt with the Qing Dynasty. Therefore, we can see Liang Qichao's genius.
Of course, starting from 1902, Liang Qichao began to re-examine the history of Chinese academic thought. For example, in 1918, he taught his children about the "Academic Thought of the Late Qing Dynasty." This shows that before the completion of Introduction to Qing Studies, Liang Qichao had already been thinking about the history of Chinese academic thought, especially the Qing Dynasty, for a long time. The Trends of Changes in Chinese Academic Thought had a profound impact on academia. Hu Shi once said he enjoyed reading this article because "it was the first time to organize Chinese traditional academic thought with a historical perspective and gave us an understanding of 'academic history.'" Therefore, it is no surprise that Introduction to Qing Studies was well-received by readers. Zhu Weizheng called Introduction to Qing Studies the "classic of Qing academic history" and the "non-genius of genius," which is a very high evaluation. Whether from the praise of readers or the controversies in academia, the impact of Introduction to Qing Studies was great.
Since Liang Qichao and Jiang Fangzhen wrote prefaces for each other, they naturally had many common points. Jiang Fangzhen strongly agreed with Liang Qichao's statement in the preface of A History of the Renaissance in Europe, "Can I discuss the Renaissance in my country and compare its shortcomings with those of others?" Therefore, in Introduction to Qing Studies, Liang Qichao stated, "What is the 'Qing thought' after all? Simply put: it is a major reaction against the Confucianism of the Song and Ming dynasties, with 'revival' as its goal. Its motivation and content are extremely similar to the 'Renaissance' in Europe. The new influences that emerged after the Renaissance in Europe are exactly what we see in China today. The rise and fall of its traces are exactly as discussed in the conclusion of the previous chapter."
In summary, both authors wrote in the context of severe social crises in Chinese society. In the first half of the 20th century, China was in turmoil, from the Self-Strengthening Movement, the Hundred Days' Reform, the Xinhai Revolution to the New Culture Movement. All strata of Chinese society stepped onto the historical stage to seek a path to save the country. The core issue was how to view Chinese and Western civilizations and what attitude to adopt toward them. After the Second World War, how to treat Western natural sciences reflected different attitudes toward two different civilizations. Liang Qichao adapted to the changes in international politics by proposing the view that "science is not all-powerful." Hu Shi, Li Siguang, and Liang Shuming all had their own ideas. It is noteworthy that these views often became extremes—either extreme Westernization or extreme tradition. Under such circumstances, Liang Qichao's argument that "science is not all-powerful" could easily lead people toward traditionalism. In reality, how to view Chinese and Western civilizations cannot be solved solely through theoretical discussions. As history progresses, people have become more aware.
There are also many differences between A History of the Renaissance in Europe and Introduction to Qing Studies. First, Introduction to Qing Studies only deals with thought and not art, while A History of the Renaissance in Europe discusses both. Jiang Fangzhen pointed out that the Renaissance has both a narrow and a broad definition. "Narrowly, it refers to the Renaissance in art; that is, the art of the Middle Ages, influenced by Greek and Roman art, shining brightly." "Broadly, it refers to the Renaissance in thought and literature." Therefore, in terms of research objects, the two works differ. Although Liang Qichao mentions in the book that Qing Dynasty art was underdeveloped, he did not discuss it at all!
Second, the writing threads of the two books are different. Introduction to Qing Studies summarizes the changes in thought with "birth, residence, difference, and extinction." "Birth, residence, difference, and extinction" can reflect the changes in things, but using them to analyze specific events can easily lead to absolutism and commit the error of relativism. A History of the Renaissance in Europe highlights the changes in society and the times through the evolution of the Renaissance.
Third, Introduction to Qing Studies focuses on academic reviews and is a history of thought, with the author not placing it in a broader social context. A History of the Renaissance in Europe has a grand background, discussing art within the social atmosphere and society and academic thought within art. This point exactly reflects the difference in writing depth between the two books. Jiang Fangzhen's preface to Introduction to Qing Studies is actually the self-introduction to A History of the Renaissance in Europe. In the preface, Jiang Fangzhen raised several questions: "Why did it abruptly stop after Kangxi, leaving only astronomy to maintain the remnants?" "Why did the direction turn to classical textual research, which flourished, while others did not develop?" "Why was this theory ignored at the time, not only by those who supported it but also by those who opposed it?" These questions are related to the fate and direction of China, and Jiang Fangzhen tried to answer them, which was also the main basis for writing A History of the Renaissance in Europe. Liang Qichao added three sections to Introduction to Qing Studies to explain these issues as well. Unfortunately, Liang Qichao did not delve deeply into these issues in Introduction to Qing Studies, which created a sharp contrast with A History of the Renaissance in Europe. Jiang Fangzhen's preface is the finishing touch on A History of the Renaissance in Europe, and it is also the biggest flaw in Introduction to Qing Studies.
Because of this, the social significance of A History of the Renaissance in Europe far surpasses that of Introduction to Qing Studies. Liang Qichao's comparison of Qing Dynasty academic thought and the European Renaissance is not accurate. The Renaissance, with the slogans of "ancient Greece and Rome," opposed the religious and political of the Middle Ages, giving rise to the experimental spirit of empirical science in modern times. If the Qing Dynasty's academic thought is also a Renaissance, what was it reviving—Sui-Tang, Wei-Jin, or pre-Qin? Liang Qichao did not explain this. Moreover, the goal of revival was to break tradition, while both the Qing Dynasty's academic thought and the Song-Ming dynasties were traditional. Therefore, it is more appropriate to say that the New Culture Movement was a Renaissance.
In addition, Jiang Fangzhen's A History of the Renaissance in Europe reveals an important phenomenon: cultural exchange and localization. The Renaissance that originated in Italy took on different characteristics in different countries. For example, Italian art emphasized imagination, while Northern European art emphasized realism. Italy had more textual revivals in art, while Northern Europe had more religious revivals. Geographically, Italy was more open to the influence of ancient Greece and Rome, while Northern Europe emphasized introspection. Jiang Fangzhen also mentioned the role of language in cultural exchange, with war becoming one form through which France adopted Italian styles.
In summary, the influence of Introduction to Qing Studies is limited to academia, while A History of the Renaissance in Europe not only has important academic value but also guides people in exploring the path to save the country. However, the origins of writing both books have become an anecdote in the history of academia and still have reference significance for writing book reviews and prefaces today.