A rat has skin, but a human has no manners. If a person has no manners, what is the point of not dying? Rats have teeth, but humans have teeth. There is no end to human beings, why wait until death?
Wherever there are people, there are rivers and lakes, and where there are people, there is a vanity fair that no one can escape. In today's flashy society, we are used to seeing "absurd" masters wearing various titles. There are presidents of such-and-such associations, experts in such and such fields, and there are also many self-proclaimed "masters of Chinese studies." Nobody.
I remember that when Mr. Ji Xianlin was still alive, he wrote an article requesting that the three laurels on his head be removed. The most important one was "Master of Chinese Studies." For Mr. Ji, he deserves this crown, but he always feels that he cannot bear this title.
Compared with Ji Lao, another Wen Huaisha, who is often called the "Master of Chinese Studies", is somewhat eclipsed.
01 Age is questionable, who is right and who is wrong
There are many popular people, and big trees attract more wind. Wen Huaisha, who was a hit in the academic world in the past few years, has countless dazzling auras, but there are also many voices of doubt about him in the cultural circles, and the focus of the doubts is simply whether he can be regarded as a great scholar. A veritable master of Chinese studies.
After all, during that period, those real masters who were born in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, grew up in the Republic of China, and witnessed China’s most vicissitudes of life, gradually left us.
This is a loss for the cultural and scientific communities. It is also an important stage in the inheritance of Chinese culture, when the workforce is in decline and talents are withering. I have also gone through that period, and people who are slightly famous have been carried out one by one and put on the crown of master. Wen Huaisha is one of the most typical representatives.
The reason why Wen Huaisha is being pursued by some people in academia is probably because he has too many criticisms, and they are not easy to explain and difficult to refute. Among them, the issue of his age caused great controversy, so much so that he himself could not justify it.
Wen Huaisha has publicly stated on many occasions that he and Mr. Qian Zhongshu are the same age, and the two had a close friendship for a while, but due to some reasons, they gradually distanced themselves from each other. No more contact. Qian Zhongshu and his wife have not commented on this, and there is no way of knowing whether it is true or false.
It’s just that after liberation, when Wen Huaisha settled in Beijing, the birth date on his household registration was 1920, which was far 10 years younger than the 1910 he claimed. In fact, this point is not worth discussing. Many famous people have come out to prove this issue and used various evidences to verify that he was born in 1910.
In fact, whether it is 10 or 20, it does not mean much to him. It is just that he is 108 or 98.
In fact, Wen Huaisha made achievements in his life and had rich experiences. His first teacher was Mr. Xu Zihua, a famous female poet in the Republic of China, and later he followed Mr. Zhang Taiyan. This also laid a solid foundation for him to move forward in the field of poetry and poetry.
02 There are many works, but no masterpieces
Wen Huaisha also wrote many works in his life. When he was young, he was active in many areas as a war correspondent, often publishing poems and articles in newspapers. Later, he participated in underground work and served as an editor in newspapers. It's just that he is a little hypocritical and has been criticized by many people.
After liberation, he spent a period of time in prison and participated in many activities during the ten years of turmoil. There are times when he excuses himself for past mistakes, and he does so out of necessity to protect others. Whether this is the case, of course, only he and the parties involved know clearly.
Later, he expressed many opinions in "Chu Ci" and Lu Xun's articles. Some people even praised him as "the first person in Chu Ci", but later someone discovered that many of his articles and opinions were pieced together and had no ideological value of his own. Many people object to calling him a master of Chinese studies, basically because of this, because his works are not academic or research-oriented.
However, Wen Huaisha has many works. His poems and songs often appear in major media. From time to time he throws out a short poem, and from time to time he writes something about "Chu Ci" article.
Probably because he had special feelings for Qu Yuan, or because he had a deeper understanding of Qu Yuan, most of the articles were inextricably related to Qu Yuan.
Wen Huaisha and Mr. Ji Xianlin also have a good friendship. Ji Lao also said that he and Wen Huaisha are about the same age. Ji Lao was born in 1911. From this point of view, his age is not a big problem.
However, he and Ji Lao have different personalities. Ji Lao has been a low-key person throughout his life. He always digs deep into his own research field before bowing his head before a case, hoping to leave something useful to future generations.
Wen Huaisha is a much more high-profile person. He always travels across the country. He likes to be on the stages of major universities and talks about his cultural opinions with a flamboyant personality. Whether it is TV programs or various cultural forums, Wen Huaisha's shadow can always be seen, and whenever he appears, he will probably share his thoughts on the study of Chu Ci.
The past is like smoke. Looking back at the past memories, as long as you find topics related to Wen Huaisha, you can always see the poems he left behind with his splash of ink. This fact allowed his student Fan Zeng to obtain the true biography. It seems that his calligraphy works can be seen everywhere, whether it is the school's reading library or the names of corporate units, he can always be found.
Is 03 considered a master of Chinese studies?
To be fair, Wen Huaisha’s literary influence is indeed inferior to that of Qian Zhongshu, Ji Xianlin, Ai Qing and others of similar age. It has to be a little far. Among their peers, there are very few people who can be called masters of Chinese studies, or even a handful. But we have to admit that Wen Huaisha still had certain attainments in literature, and he also trained several proud disciples.
Like Fan Zeng mentioned above, the famous hard-ink calligrapher Pang Zhonghua and others all came from Wen Huaisha's disciples. And looking through some historical materials, we can find that both Mr. Qian Zhongshu and Mr. Ji Xianlin have a relatively high opinion of him. Moreover, Wen Huaisha and Guo Moruo have also been close friends for many years. If you don't have a little bit of literature and knowledge in your heart, it may be difficult to get involved with these people.
Of course, when the turmoil started in 2008, the focus was simply on judging whether he could be called a master of Chinese studies. Judging from his works or academic research articles, perhaps the title of master of Chinese studies is too heavy for him.
Even Ji Lao, who was recognized by the Chinese people, did not dare to bear the weight. Presumably, Wen Huaisha could not bear it, but it cannot be denied that he still had certain attainments in literature, at least. It is much better than those fake moralists and fake experts in the current society.
This man has passed away. Two and a half years ago, at the age of 108, Wen Huaisha left this mortal world where he once inspired words.
Maybe it was controversial, maybe it was unbearable, but it all disappeared the moment he closed his eyes. As the saying goes, the final conclusion is final. We should still maintain the respect we deserve and let those things go. , let everything go away with the wind.