The Back of History (Selected Works of Jia Zhifang)

Author: Editor-in-Chief: Ji Xianlin
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1998-10-01
Features: This book collects articles written by Mr. Jia Zhifang from 1936 to 1947 and in the early 1980s, organized into five sections: "Let Me Talk About Myself," "Historical Experience Is Worth Noting," "Starting from Cleaning Up the Hard-Hit Areas," "Openness and Exchange," and "Regression and Transcendence," with an additional appendix titled "Others' Perspectives on Me." Most of the selected articles are rare in other anthologies and hold great documentary value.
Excerpt: This small book is mostly composed of short essays I wrote between 1936 and 1947. Amidst the turmoil, the articles collected here would have been lost if it weren’t for the help of several enthusiastic friends. I am truly grateful for the value of friendship, especially to my brothers Qiao Tiao, Liu, Sun, and Minjun. I am an accidental writer, though this interest has greatly strengthened and encouraged me, it has also brought me greater frustration and sorrow in this era. I often reflect on Andrei Bely’s words: "For the dying, to live through their works is a sad thing." Though I have no aspirations to become a literary saint, in the true sense of life’s path and the personal choices shaped by the times, this work can be seen as an "escape," and yet this tragic "escape" is not easily avoided! It is like the dull phase of foreign wars, where a friend I deeply respect kept urging me to write something, as if playing with sorrow. This feeling of finding something amidst helplessness truly moved me to tears! At that time, I was in an old-style military unit, unable even to put my face on the ground like a wolf to vent my frustrations. I was filled with the dark, simple emotions of a soldier, faith in the bayonet. Time flies—I was "ill" for nearly a year, though still in an environment far from recovery, due to the encouragement of friends who loved me, I compiled this small book. "There is no voice in the height of battle," as a former soldier, I understand this principle. So, while I couldn’t help but feel sad about what this small book amounts to, I thought of naming it "Toys of Sorrow," born from this sense of apology and quiet heartache. But some friends said it wasn’t suitable, though living in a faded life, we cannot lose our color as humans; we must have some fire. So, let’s call it "Heat," I had to smile silently and agree. But "Toys of Sorrow," I want to shout and call out loud in my heart.
Postscript (1948): The postscript for this collection was written with the aim of compiling a relatively complete academic of Mr. Jia, allowing his years of academic achievements to be fully reflected and providing a practical reference for us to read his works. This idea has been discussed among us "disciples and grand-disciples" who have often been around Mr. Jia in recent years. Since his return to prominence, various works and anthologies have been published, including collections like "Remnants After Disaster—Jia Zhifang’s Prefaces and Postfaces," which reflect his achievements in specific fields. However, the absence of a systematic collection of his academic accomplishments across different periods and fields has left a sense of dissatisfaction in our reading and understanding. Originally, in the mid-1980s, a publisher in Mr. Jia’s hometown had planned to publish a multi-volume of his works, with Chen Sihe, then his assistant, compiling the first two volumes. For reasons unknown, the manuscript sat in the publisher for years before the plan was ultimately canceled, replaced by a slim "Selected Works" with a print run of only 1,000 copies. While this was no great loss for Mr. Jia himself, he still expressed sincere gratitude to those involved and the "hometown publisher" in the postscript of the "Selected Works," though his tone was cheerful and composed. As readers with expectations, we couldn’t help but feel a sense of injustice at the loss of this "what could have been" opportunity, especially when certain persistent criticisms buzzed around us like flies.
Thus, when Shandong Education Press approached Mr. Jia to compile a self-selected, he hesitated, concerned about repetition due to two recent works already in publication. I was one of those who strongly encouraged him to accept the invitation. My reasoning was that since Shandong was compiling a series titled "The Century of Humanities and Scholarship," with a clear focus on academia and generous page limits, we could use this as an opportunity to create a "summary" of his lifelong academic activities. Perhaps my bold proposal worked—Mr. Jia accepted the publisher’s invitation and even entrusted me with co-editing the "Self-Selected Works." Naturally, I couldn’t just speak empty words; under Mr. Jia’s close attention and detailed guidance, I had to approach this as a serious scholarly endeavor. Looking back, I am quite pleased with a few aspects of the work. First, in terms of material, we unearthed and collected a batch of primary documents never before included in any anthology, alleviating Mr. Jia’s concerns about repetition. These documents span two periods: the early 1950s, when he published some contemporary essays,, and critiques of foreign writers before his imprisonment, and the early 1980s, when he, after his rehabilitation, worked in a and served as an editor for two major series, "Comprehensive Collection of Materials on the History of Modern Chinese Literature" and "Materials for the Study of Contemporary Chinese Literature." As a result, he left behind a wealth of previously unpublished, valuable documents. We now believe that serving as an editor in a collaborative work should be a honorary role, but the lengthy, detailed review comments and research articles we unearthed prove that Mr. Jia was deeply involved, not just superficially, but with meticulous attention to detail. This "discovery" in the realm of "materials" was no lessing to me. I believe its significance far exceeds the documents themselves, lying more in understanding that the "basic literature" collections we take for granted today are not inherently fixed in any particular form, but are instead a "civilizational achievement" worth cherishing. Behind the silent, faded pages of those books, how much effort, life, cries, and struggles of scholars like Mr. Jia and others in theroom have been condensed and locked away, most of them undiscovered or long forgotten.
In October 1990, Mr. Jia accepted an invitation from his alma mater, Tokyo Japan University, to visit Japan for a month as a visiting scholar, accompanied by his wife. During this time, he delivered lectures on topics such as "My Relationship with Hu Feng," "My Social Sciences," and "Hu Feng’s Literary Thought" at several universities. Most of these lecture drafts had not been published in China before, and we have included them all here. On the other hand, my design for the book’s structure was fully endorsed by Mr. Jia, another point of pride for me. The idea is simple: based on the purpose of compiling a "summary," we aimed to reflect Mr. Jia’s academic achievements and contributions from both temporal and disciplinary perspectives. For this, I first categorized his works by subject, organizing his achievements in modern literature, comparative literature, and foreign literature (including other miscellaneous studies) into three sections: "Starting from Cleaning Up the Hard-Hit Areas," "Openness and Exchange," and "Regression and Transcendence" (the third to fifth sections of the book). Then, we sought to be comprehensive while making selections, with the selection criteria naturally guided by Mr. Jia’s own judgment.
Moreover, Mr. Jia was never a scholar confined to his study, buried in books, but a figure with dual cultural identities as both a writer and a scholar, marked by a turbulent life. His own experiences, social interactions, thoughts, and academic journey are in themselves a significant "subject of study." Many of his views, expressed in theoretical forms, often carry implicit backgrounds and subtext of his real-life observations and insights. Therefore, to truly "understand" Mr. Jia’s scholarship, one must also know him as a person. With this in mind, I specifically compiled his "self-narratives" ("Let Me Talk About Myself") and "memorials" ("Historical Experience Is Worth Noting," including on historical themes) and placed them before the "scholarly" sections as the first and second parts of the book, aiming to guide readers through a gradual, immersive journey from to. As an appendix, I included ten essays titled "Others’ Perspectives on Mr. Jia," a rather bold decision on my part. Over the years, countless writings by various individuals describing Mr. Jia’s scholarship and character have been published. Here, I have selectively included a few, using others’ words to indirectly express my own understanding of him. Whether praised or criticized, we are all genuinely respectful of Mr. Jia himself.
Finally, the title of the book was settled as "The Back of History." Initially, this was chosen to align with the publisher’s naming conventions, who insisted on a poetic title for the main subject above the subtitle "Self-Selected Works." This caused Mr. Jia some difficulty for a few days. Ultimately, this phrase was selected not for its poetic merit, but because it was a topic Mr. Jia often brought up during gatherings at his home or in his study after drinking, a phrase we had grown so accustomed to that it had become deeply ingrained in our minds, as if "something eerie lingered in his thoughts," making it easy to recall him or his deeds. As for its meaning, Mr. Jia himself explained it in his memoir "In Prison and Beyond": "The things that are richer and more real than official histories and government records" likely exist only "behind the back of history."
Assisting Mr. Jia in compiling this "Self-Selected Works" gave me a profound sense of fulfillment. To preserve this joy for longer, I share it here. During the compilation process, many teachers and friends, including Chen Sihe, Xie Tianzhen, Yan Feng, Song Binghui, Zhang Xinying, and Ms. Jia Ying (Mr. Jia’s daughter), offered advice or practical help. I am grateful to all of them.
Zhang Yesong
November 21, 1997
At My Cozy Nest in the Southern District