Rao Zongyi

Rao Zongyi

Rao Zongyi (August 9, 1917 - February 6, 2018), male, was born in Chaoan, Guangdong Province. His ancestral home is Chaozhou, Guangdong Province (it is also reported that his ancestral home is tongpa village, Meixian County, Guangdong Province), with the characters of Gu'an, Bolian and Bozi. He is known as Xuantang. He is a famous scholar and master of calligraphy and painting at home and abroad. He has made important contributions in many fields such as traditional studies of classics and history, archaeology, religion, philosophy, art, literature and Near East Arts, and enjoys a high reputation in Contemporary International Sinology. In Chinese academic circles, Qian Zhongshu and Ji Xianlin have been juxtaposed as "South Rao North Qian" and "South Rao North Ji". He has been a professor of the Chinese Department of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, a professor of the art department, a consultant to the Institute of Chinese culture, and an honorary professor of the University of Hong Kong, Peking University and Nanjing University.

He came to Hong Kong in 1949 and taught in New Asia College in 1952. He taught at the University of Hong Kong from 1952 to 1968. From 1968 to 1973, he was employed by the University of Singapore as the first chair professor and head of the Chinese department. During that time, he was a visiting professor at Yale University and a research professor at the Institute of history and language, Academia Sinica, Taiwan. He served as Chair Professor and head of the Department of Chinese language and literature of the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 1973 and retired in 1978. Later, he gave lectures in France, Japan, mainland China, Taiwan and Macao. In January 2009, he was employed as a librarian of the Central Research Institute of literature and history. In December 2011, he was elected as the seventh president of Xiling Seal Engravers society and was re elected in 2013.

He has won many awards, honorary doctorates and honorary professorships, including the special award of Sinology for scholars of the French Academy, foreign academician of the French Academy, honorary member of the Asian Society of Paris, the first honorary doctor of Humanities of Chinese from the Sorbonne Institute of higher studies, the special contribution award for Dunhuang Cultural relics protection and research awarded by the State Administration of cultural relics of China and the people's Government of Kansu Province, and the great Bauhinia Medal of the Hong Kong government And the Hong Kong Arts Development Council Lifetime Achievement Award.

In the early hours of February 6, 2018, Rao Zongyi died in Hong Kong at the age of 101.

Life of the characters

Rao Zongyi was born on August 9, 1917 (June 22 of the lunar calendar) in Chaoan County, Guangdong Province (now Xiangqiao District, Chaozhou City). His father, Rao e, was a scholar of Chaozhou University, and his works were very rich. In 1937, he published his father's works Chaozhou art and literature annals in Lingnan journal, which is well-known. In 1929, he studied calligraphy and painting in Jinling, and began to work on landscape and characters. In 1930, Rao Zongyi entered provincial Jinshan middle school with excellent grades. He always felt that he was "not enough to eat". He didn't want to waste his time studying for only one year and then dropped out of school. During this period, Wang Hongyuan, an ancient Chinese teacher, guided him to "learn ancient Chinese from Korean", which had a profound influence on Mr. Rao. At that time, the Rao family was full of friends, such as literary youth Feng Yinyue and Feng qianju, poets Ke ji'e and Dai zhensu, painters Wang Xianzhao and Yang Lei, and CI master Zhan Antai. In 1933, Yongyou Tanhua poem surprised all Laosu and competed to sing. Rao e left the world at the age of 15 because he was overworked in compiling Chaozhou art and culture annals. He was only 42 years old. Rao Zongyi inherited his father's ambition. On the one hand, he compiled his father's poems and essays into a collection of tianxiaolou, and on the other hand, he searched extensively and collected the lost works to complete Chaozhou art and culture annals, which was later published in Lingnan academic journal. In 1935, he was commissioned by Mr. Zhan Antai to teach Chinese at Hanshan Normal School. He was employed to compile by Guangdong Tongzhi Library of Sun Yat sen University. In the same year, he joined Yugong society. From 1935 to 1937, he was appointed by Sun Yat sen University as the editor of Guangdong Tongzhi library. From 1938 to 1939, recommended by Zhan Antai, Mr. Rao was employed as a researcher of Sun Yat sen University. When Guangzhou was occupied, Sun Yat sen University moved to Chengjiang, Yunnan. Mr. Rao plans to bypass Hong Kong into Yunnan. Unexpectedly, the road was rough and he stayed in Hong Kong sick. At that time, celebrities from all walks of life gathered in Hong Kong. When they learned that Mr. Rao was in Hong Kong, they poured in their hospitality. Wang Yunwu, a famous scholar, was invited to participate in the Zhongshan dictionary by his friends. Ye gongchuo, a calligrapher, also strongly invited Mr. Rao to join in the compilation of Quan Qing CI Chao. These two works give Mr. Rao the opportunity to read various rare books of many first-class book collectors. Mr. Rao's knowledge has made a qualitative leap. His research on Sinology is out of control. In recent years, he has successively written "Guangdong Yi Xue Kao", "Shangshu geographical differentiation", "Shuowen Guwen Kao", "new syndrome supplement of ancient history", "Jieyi Zhuan of Western Han Dynasty", "Jinwen Pingyi" and so on. He is valued by Gu Jiegang and is invited to write the eighth volume of "ancient Di Bian" and "historical records" for his "ancient Shi Bian" New mang history. In 1940, Mr. Rao finished his famous work "a textual research on the place names of the songs of Chu". Tong Shuye, a famous scholar, happily wrote a preface for it, saying: "the closer the textual research is, the more refined it is. Read Zongyi Rao Jun's book, and you will benefit from it. When you study history and geography, you can go deep into the profound and profound, and think about what you can, and you can often learn what you have never learned before In 1943, he went to Guangxi as a professor of Wuxi National College. Yao Shan poetry and grass. He was a professor of Guangdong University of Arts and Sciences from 1947 to 1948. Geography research of Chu Ci was published. He was re appointed professor and chairman of the Department of literature and history of South China University in Shantou, and chief editor of Chaozhou annals. He was elected member of Guangdong Provincial literature Committee. In 1948, he visited Chaozhou Town in Kaohsiung County. He moved to Hong Kong in October 1949. Meanwhile, he published "prehistoric sites and culture of Hanjiang River Valley" and "stone tools of Hainan Island". From 1952 to 1968, he was a lecturer, senior lecturer and professor in the Chinese Department of the University of Hong Kong, giving lectures on the book of songs, songs of Chu, poetry and Fu of the Six Dynasties, ancient literary theory and Lao Zhuang philosophy. He published the illustrated works of Mingqi, etc. In 1954, he taught Oracle in the Department of education, Tokyo University, Japan. In Hiroshima, he visited Miyajima with Professor masuki Ikeda and wrote poems. In 1955, he went to Japan to study the oracle bone inscription in the Institute of humanities, Kyoto University. He wrote "oracle bone inscriptions in Japan", "unearthed Chu Chu in the Warring States period in Changsha", "Chao porcelain" and "human Ci Poetry". In 1956, he asked Yoshiro Kanda about the history of Japanese ci writing, talked with yoshijiro Yoshikawa about poetry, talked with LIULANG Sibo about "literary selections", talked with the father and son of Suwon qinchuang and Suwon Jiangwei, and went to Kyoto to listen to fanbei and to play Japanese Yayue by Yingxin Doji. He attended the international society of Sinology in Paris, and met the French Sinologist Bosch and his high-ranking Dai Mi Wei. Dai accompanied him around the places of interest. In the National Library of France, Rao Zongyi read the original Dunhuang Scriptures for the first time. Thinking that China's Dunhuang Studies at that time had lagged behind foreign countries, he secretly decided to study them carefully and win a sigh for the Chinese people. He published the book of songs of Chu, the oracle bone records seen in Paris and the notes of Laozi Xiang er's annotation in Dunhuang. In 1957, Jian Zheng of Chu bamboo slips in Warring States period was published. In 1958, he visited Italy, returned to Hong Kong via Lebanon, and met with gorope in Beirut. Before leaving, Gao presented a Wanli edition of Bo Ya Xin Fa, and Rao wrote two poems in return. He published songs of Chu and music of Ci and Qu, and a new interpretation of the book unearthed in Changsha. In 1959, he published historical materials of Jiulong and Song Dynasty, and a general survey of Zhenbu characters in Yin Dynasty. 1962 - recommended by Dai Mi Wei, Rao Zongyi won the Confucian Lotus Award in Sinology for his oracle bone study work "general examination of Zhenbu characters of Yin Dynasty" published in 1959, becoming the second Chinese scholar to win this award after Hong Lian. Chief editor of Wenxindiaolong research monograph, published the Dunhuang version of Wenxindiaolong for the first time. In 1963, Bai Chunhui, first Secretary of the Indian consulate in Hong Kong, made friends with Rao. (Bai Chunhui studied at Peking University and served as a translator when Nehru visited China. He is a real China expert.) They were very friendly and exchanged knowledge with each other. Mr. Rao taught him Shuowen Jiezi, and he taught Mr. Rao Sanskrit. Bai Chunhui was an authentic Brahman. Mr. Rao made rapid progress in learning from him, and the study of Sanskrit became more and more sophisticated. In that year, Rao Zongyi was employed as a researcher and permanent member of the Institute of Oriental Studies in bandaga, India, and studied Rigveda with Bai Chunhui's father. Mr Rao studies hard and travels all over India. During this period, Mr. Rao found that Liu Xi's Shiming originated from Brahman Sutra, Han Yu's Nanshan poetry was deeply influenced by Ma Ming's praise of fosuo surname, and the study of Xi Tan had a profound influence on Chinese phonology and literature. During this period, Rao also translated the Rigveda Sutra, which made great contributions to the study of the history of cultural exchanges between China and India. I met vanderman. On the way back to Ceylon and other countries, there is a journey recorded in the collection of Buddhism. Ci Ji Kao was published. From 1965 to 1966, he studied Dunhuang at the French National Science Center. from 1968 to 1973, he was employed by the University of Singapore as professor and head of the Chinese department. During the period, he visited Xingzhou, Malacca, Penang and other places in Xingma to collect Chinese inscriptions, which were later sorted out as the year of Xingma Chinese inscriptions. From 1970 to 1971, he was a visiting professor at Yale University Research Institute. In 1969, he published the chronology of Qing CI. from 1970 to 1971, he was a visiting professor at Yale University Research Institute. The rare books of the fengpingshan Library of the University of Hong Kong and the oracle bones found in Europe, America and Asia were published. Dunhuang opera, CO authored by Professor demiwei of France, was published in French and French in Paris. Xi Zhou Ji was published. in 1972, he was an academician of EFEO. from 1972 to 1973, he was a research professor at the Institute of history and language, Academia Sinica, Taiwan. 1973-1978, Chinese University of Hong Kong

Chinese PinYin : Rao Zong Yi