Regard "culture" as "skin" and "existence" as "hair", otherwise it is suspected of "idealistic historical view"; It is obviously unacceptable for many people to assert that China's traditional benevolence and morality is "more progressive and brilliant than western capitalism". But who can deny that what Qian Mu put forward here is really a big problem that all China people-and all those who advocate Chinese culture and even pursue world harmony-have to face up to and solve in the 2 1 century?
(China) The new general history should be concise and to the point, and two conditions should be met: first, it should clearly show the truth of the past cultural evolution of our nation, which is necessary knowledge for people interested in understanding the past political, social, cultural and ideological evolution of China; Both of them should be able to reflect all kinds of complicated and intractable problems in China in the historical integration, which is a necessary reference for those who are interested in innovating reality. The former is actively seeking the source of the permanent life of the country and the nation, which is issued by the spirit carried forward in all history; The latter is a negative indication of the symptoms of the country's recent illness, which is the basis for improving the current plan. The main task of this new general history, especially before spreading the true state of national history to the people of China, is to make Xiao Ran understand the responsibilities our ancestors made for the country and the nation, and to give birth to heartfelt ideas and strive to cherish and protect them. -Qian Mu (Outline of National History, 1940)
China's culture is reflected in the whole historical process of China in the past. There is no way to talk about culture except history. We should look at the truth of China culture from the objective aspect of the whole history. -Qian Mu (Introduction to the Cultural History of China, 1948)
People in modern China say that politics in China has not changed for two thousand years. How did this happen? How did this happen? ..... Because we don't attach importance to history at the moment, we don't study history, so China's politics has been like this for two thousand years from the Qin Dynasty to now, but the word autocracy is included, but it is not. -Qian Mu (China's political gains and losses in past dynasties, 1955)
Mr. Qian devoted his life to the whole academic tradition of China, not his personal opinions. Overemphasizing or highlighting his personal role is not to raise him or expand him, but to lower or narrow him. -Yu Yingshi ("Mourning the Fourth Division of Qian Bin", 1990)
(1895.7.30. ~1990.8.30.) was born on June 9, the 21st year of Guangxu in Qing Dynasty, at the age of 95.
Some commentators compare Qian Mu with Lu Xun and Hu Shi: "Do we endlessly repeat Liang Shiqiu's Elegant House, Zhou Zuoren's Bitter Tea and Lin Yutang's Recipe, or honestly tell our students that we once had Lu Xun's social criticism, Hu Shi's free thought and Qian Mu's rigorous scholarship? The combination of the three should be that we introduce the three main images of intellectuals in the 1930s to students. [Note 1] This statement has its own reasons. But one thing, except Lu Xun, the other two have greatly surpassed the "1930s", especially in the life span: Hu Shi's "free thought" continued into the early 1960s, and Qian Mu's "rigorous scholarship" continued into the end of the century. Secondly, as far as "rigorous scholarship" is concerned, it seems open to question whether it should be represented by Qian Mu, humanists such as Chen Yinque and Li Ji, or scientists and engineers such as Hu Xiansu and Liang Sicheng, or even more than one person.
What is important is that Qian Mu's influence is far from being summarized by the word "rigorous scholarship". Fang Keli said: "Qian Mu can be said to be the first person in the field of history who holds high the banner of modern neo-Confucianism and opposes the historical nihilism of' abandoning the past and maintaining the historical and cultural spirit of China'"; The Xinya Academy founded by Qian Mu is "an important fortress for spreading Chinese culture" and "the base camp of the second stage of modern neo-Confucianism" [Note 2]. American scholar Deng Erlin said: "Qian Mu is different from some people who tend to enlighten the West and abandon China's traditional culture." His "opposite" is neither the past of culture nor the present of modern times. Qian Mu believes that what is incompatible with the reality of China is the truth standard respected by western culture "; He "didn't stick to tradition blindly, but after profound reflection, he saw that some traditional values of China can still make China culture unique and different from western culture" and "he saw that traditional cultural values can still spread in the great political and economic changes, thus consolidating and deepening his belief and understanding of these values". [Note 3] Wang Xuequn said: Qian Mu "comes from the lowest social village in China, and is an unpretentious rural person in China, which has created his simple and tenacious life and academics. He is a generation of historical giants who came out of the native China and a pioneer in creating a' cultural China'. " [Note 4] Q. Edward Wang said: Qian Mu "is famous for his history, but his extensive and profound knowledge has made his scholarship beyond the scope of history and become a so-called' master of Chinese studies'." [Note 5]- Although Qian Mu himself said more than 70 years ago: "Academics have no borders. The word' Chinese studies' has never been passed down before and will never be established in the future. This is the term of an era. As far as its scope is concerned, it is hard to say which one should be included in Chinese studies and which one should not. " (Introduction to Chinese Studies)