In the field of modern literary studies, Sun Yushi, a professor of Chinese at Peking University and a famous literary historian, is a heavyweight scholar who has been around since the 80s of the 20th century. He is a representative figure of the "second generation of scholars" in the discipline of modern Chinese literature, and has pioneered, laid the foundation and led the research of Lu Xun and Chinese new poetry. On January 13, Sun Yushi passed away in Beijing due to illness, which triggered the memory of many teachers and friends in the academic circle.
On November 14, 2015, at the "Celebration of Professor Sun Yushi's 80th Birthday and Professor Sun Yushi's Academic Thought Seminar", Qian Liqun, a professor of the Department of Chinese at Peking University, once said that "serious study and clean life" can be used as a summary of Sun Yushi's life.
There is a "religious-like sincerity" towards learning
In the autumn of 1955, after graduating from Anshan No. 1 Middle School in Liaoning Province, Sun Yushi was admitted to the Chinese Department of Peking University. This year was also the first year of the Journal of Peking University. Sun Yushi once wrote in an article recalling his long-lasting friendship with the Journal of Peking University: "Every time the journal is published, I almost spend my time in the long pigeon-cage-like liberal arts reading room on the third floor of the Literature and History Building, or in the dim light of the pull-and-pull switch of the old desk in the silent big library, gently flipping through the table of contents of this magazine and selecting my favorite articles. "Every tree there exudes the fragrance of the academy. I dreamed that the words I had written would ever be able to approach this holy garden. ”
While studying in the Department of Chinese at Peking University, Sun Yushi began to publish poetry, and his first poem "Dew Drop Collection" was published in the campus poetry magazine "Red Mansion" No. 4 in 1957. "I love to listen to and sing beautiful songs, but I used to play other people's reed flutes for a long time, and it's time, and now that I'm older, I should put my horn in my mouth ......After publishing some poems one after another, some people called Sun Yushi a "campus poet".
After graduating with a bachelor's degree, Sun Yushi continued to study modern literature in the Department of Chinese at Peking University under the supervision of Mr. Wang Yao. In 1963, Sun Yushi, who was still studying with Mr. Wang Yao as a graduate student, published the first article in the Journal of Peking University, "Lu Xun's Contribution to the Chinese New Poetry Movement", which was the beginning of his research on Lu Xun and New Poetry. In 1964, after graduating with a master's degree, Sun Yushi stayed on as a teaching assistant and has been teaching at Peking University for most of his life.
When he first started teaching modern literature to undergraduates, Sun Yushi's mood was no more relaxed than that of his students. In his later years, he recalled this lecture experience: "When I first stepped on the floor of the podium and was still a little trembling, my heart pounded in front of a large field of eyes full of excitement and anticipation. At this time, I did feel a kind of inner pressure from little experience, a kind of anxiety from the lack of knowledge and confidence. "These trembling lectures and practice have made me experience the greatest happiness and joy of being a teacher of the Chinese Department of Peking University since the beginning of my truly belated teaching career. ”
Wang Jinglin, a 1977 student of the Department of Chinese at Peking University, recalled Sun Yushi who once taught them in the article "Mr. Sun Yushi Although Far and Near": "He was not tall, his eyes were bright, and he did not smile. When he spoke, he was unhurried, calm, and had a little Northeast accent. The biggest feature of Mr. Sun's lectures is that the logic is rigorous, the organization is clear, the words are accurate, and there is no nonsense. Whether it is talking about the works of writers or genre societies, it is like a well-structured, well-informed, and well-argued academic work.
From 1978 to 1981, Wen Rumin was a graduate student in the Department of Chinese at Peking University, where her supervisor was also Wang Yao. And Sun Yushi is Wang Yao's "big **", and he is also the most true teacher's **. Wen Rumin commented on Sun Yushi: "Sun Yushi has devoted himself to academia and teaching for decades, and has a sincerity similar to religion in learning, and does not tolerate the slightest adulteration or error. When he writes an article, an argument, a piece of historical information, and even a commentary, he has to think it over and over again without being careless. ”
Lu Xun's research represented by "Wild Grass".
Kong Qingdong, a professor at the Department of Chinese at Peking University, wrote an article "Sun Yushi with an Iron Mask and Soft Intestines" after Sun Yushi's death, recalling Sun Yushi's style of class: "Teacher Sun ......The lectures were not lively, and even a little boring. ......Teacher Sun's lecture is not only like reading **, but also brings the enter key - the speed of speech is slow, the voice is small, and there is an occasional pause. Peking University students in the 80s were very scattered, and it was common for them not to choose classes or attend classes, but Mr. Sun's class was full. ......Because the content he talks about is dry goods, and it is the 'jade' that he has worked hard to dig out from historical materials. ”
One of Sun Yushi's most important academic achievements is the study of Lu Xun's prose and poetry collection "Wild Grass". "Wild Grass" is a collection of prose poems written by Lu Xun, which contains 23 prose poems written between 1924 and 1926. Since its publication, scholars and readers have commented that "Weeds" is "difficult to read". In the 80s of the 20th century, Sun Yushi published "Research on Wild Grass", in which he explored and analyzed the artistic origin and spiritual essence of "Wild Grass", and made a reasonable examination of its revision, and summarized the history and current situation of "Wild Grass" research, which is quite creative.
For example, the analysis of the prose poem "Snow". Due to an accurate understanding of the historical environment in which Lu Xun wrote this prose poem, Sun Yushi corrected the deviation of linking the description of the snow scene in the south of the Yangtze River with the revolutionary situation in the south at that time, and pointed out that "this kind of implicit understanding cannot but be said to have completely departed from the objective lyrical connotation of the artistic image of "Snow", and has come to a dream that is close to subjective idealism." ”
Another example is Sun Yushi's interpretation of "Hope", he quoted the memories of Lu Xun's student Kawashima (formerly known as Zhang Tingqian), thus powerfully explaining: "Lu Xun's quotation of Pei Duofei's song of "Hope" is not to deny the real hope and lead young people to despair and depression. He replaces the denial of hope with the denial of despair, and leads people to use struggle to achieve true hope. There are many examples of this kind of reproduction of the historical environment at that time with a sober historical materialist scientific attitude and rich and solid historical documents, so as to clarify the fog and solve problems.
This scientific approach to research is so outdated that many years after the publication of "Weed Research" still have a sense of obsolescence, and many opinions have become conclusive. Many years after the publication of this book, the follow-up related research papers have not made much surpass in terms of historical materials, and are basically carried out on the basis of historical facts laid by Sun Yushi. Wen Rumin commented that "Research on Wild Grass" is very fine and systematic ** The artistic thinking characteristics of "Wild Grass", and on this basis, understand the complex spiritual world of Lu Xun embodied in "Wild Grass". This is a pioneering contribution and represents the level of Lu Xun's research in the 80s of the 20th century.
At the beginning of the 21st century, Sun Yushi published "Reality and Philosophy: Lu Xun's Weeds Reinterpretation", which can be regarded as a sister article of "Weeds Research". At that time, the academic community's attention to Lu Xun's research increased a lot, and Lu Xun's ideological significance was generally emphasized. Sun Yushi thinks that this is a bit deviated, Lu Xun was mainly a literati, poet and writer, and his thoughts (including some philosophical thoughts) were mainly expressed through literary feelings. This book does a good job of correcting some biased research directions.
The pioneering and leading work of new poetry research
In addition to Lu Xun studies, another research area in which Sun Yushi has made outstanding contributions is the study of new poetry. Sun Yushi's 1985 book A Study of Early Chinese Symbolist Poetry had an important impact on the academic community at that time with his academic courage and profound academic skills to break through the forbidden zone. His "History of Modern Chinese Poetry and Poetry" opened a precedent for the study of poetry genres, and his advocacy and practice of "reconstructing modern Chinese poetics" played an important role in promoting the academicization of poetry research.
Taking "Research on Symbolist Poetry in Early China" as an example, this work systematically discusses the Symbolist Poetry School and poets such as Li Jinfa for the first time, giving observation and confirmation of the status of literary history. Wen Rumin said in the article "I Read Five Important Books of Sun Yushi" that in the early 80s of the 20th century, the emancipation of the mind had just loosened, and the discussion of literary history was still accustomed to the terms of "mainstream", "tributary" and "countercurrent". The study of Li Jinfa, a native of Meixian County, Guangdong, who has lived in France for a long time and is known as the "poet monster", is very interesting in the study of Li Jinfa, whose poetry is obscure and obscure, and is not successful from the perspective of language art. This should have something to do with his attempt to introduce French symbolism to China, so as to change the blandness of the new poetry. Wen Rumin said that Sun Yushi started a lot of interesting research in the book, such as noting the infiltration of Hakka dialect into Li Jinfa's poetry. At present, many literary histories discuss Li Jinfa and the symbolic poetry school in the 20th century, and most of them refer to the "Research on Symbolist Poetry in Early China".
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Institute of Chinese New Poetry of Peking University organized preparations, and Professor Xie Mian of the Department of Chinese of Peking University served as the chief editor-in-chief to compile a large-scale anthology of Chinese new poetry, "General Department of Chinese New Poetry" (ten volumes). Sun Yushi was in charge of Volume 2 (1927-1937). In compiling this kind of anthology, Sun Yushi should be proficient in compiling this kind of anthology, and it can be organized according to his original research results. However, he did not use this easy method of work, but started from scratch: the original version of each poetry collection was checked, and the original literary magazines and newspapers and literary supplements that published these poems were widely searched and flipped through. To this end, he looked through nearly 430 poetry collections and nearly 200 literary journals or newspaper supplements published or later published during this period, and checked the revisions and differences between the original text and the authors who later entered the anthologies and anthologies. The most ** selected 137 poets and 349 poems, some of which are poems by young poets who have not been noticed by the poetry world, or famous poets who have not been noticed by people.
After his retirement, Sun Yushi still did not stop studying modern literature. On his 70th birthday, he wrote a poem about his own life, which includes verses: "The most fearful thing in life is noise", "I only wish that my life is as clear as water, and my vast heart will send smoke". As Qian Liqun commented in "Talking about Mr. Sun Yushi's Academic and Life Realm": "In the face of so many **, it is really rare to always keep yourself and be innocent." Seriousness and innocence means not being reluctant, unifying study and life, and doing everything at all times, everywhere, and meticulously, which has set a basic benchmark for future generations. ”
Reporter: Xu Min Editor: Xu Zheng Comics: Sun Tingting Proofreader: Dong Ping