On the morning of September 15, the opening ceremony of “Exhibition of Letters from Chen Duxiu, Li Dazhao and Liang Qichao to Hu Shi” was held at the Museum of RUC. Zheng Shuiquan, Vice Chair of the University Council; Hou Junzhi, editor of People's Publishing House; Sun Yu, professor of the School of Liberal Arts, RUC; Ouyang Zhesheng, professor of the Department of History, PKU; Xia Xiaohong, professor of the Department of Chinese Language and Literature, PKU; Jia Tieying, former curator of the Museum; Pan Ping, former deputy curator of the Museum; Tuo Xiaotang, former general manager of the Department of Ancient Rare Books of China Guardian Auctions; senior collectors Fang Jixiao, Zhao Ping and other experts, and more than 30 teachers and students from the School of CPC History and Party-building of RUC attended the ceremony.
Zheng Shuiquan, Hou Junzhi, Sun Yu, Jia Tieying and Pan Ping jointly opened the exhibition and the book launch. Museum curator Li Zhenshi presided over the ceremony and presented books to representatives of teachers and students from the School of CPC History and Party-building.
Zheng Shuiquan pointed out that most of the letters were written 100 years ago, reflecting the exchange of thoughts and sincere friendship among China's advanced intellectuals at that time. In particular, a group of letters from Chen Duxiu to Hu Shi and other colleagues of La Jeunesse are not only important research materials for the history of the New Culture Movement and CPC, but also very precious revolutionary cultural relics.
Sun Yu was fully involved in the identification and collection of these letters, and this time he wrote the preface for the publication of the letters. In his speech, he said that the collection, exhibition and publication of these letters are of great significance, allowing us to glimpse the spiritual outlook of the May Fourth generation, and it is also a process of traditional cultural education and historical retrospection for university teachers and students.
Song Pingsheng, an expert on ancient books of the RUC Library, also contributed to the collection of these letters and specially sent a congratulatory message: just as it was a wise and significant decision to resolutely purchase these precious letters, it is still a wise and significant move to compile and publish these letters this time.
Ouyang Zhesheng saw these letters in the United States before the auction, and was the first to write articles to conduct in-depth research on these letters. He believed that the transformation of La Jeunesse from a coterie press to a theoretical publication of the CPC was an important historical event that occurred during the May Fourth Period.
Xia Xiaohong analyzed the academic value of these letters with examples, including Liang Qichao's academic communication with Hu Shi, Liang Qichao's teaching of the first course on traditional culture in Tsinghua University, the supplement of Liang Qichao's poetry literature, etc.
Tuo Xiaotang, as the party who collected and auctioned the letters at that time, told the legendary story of his collection of these letters from the United States. He believed that the letters of Chen Duxiu, Li Dazhao and others are an important document in the history of the CPC, and the collection of RUC is the best destination for this batch of letters.
Zhao Ping won the letters at the price of 5.544 million yuan. He said that such important letters of early leaders of the CPC should be collected in RUC, and he hoped that the teachers and students could carefully study these precious documents, trace the footsteps of predecessors, and inherit their spiritual heritage.
Fang Jixiao shared the story of collecting Chen Duxiu's manuscripts, saying that there are rich research values behind these manuscripts. In the next step, he will cooperate deeply with the Museum of RUC to exhibit his collection of more than 100 letters related to the North China Union University.
Exhibition Venue: Exhibition Hall B, 3rd Floor of the Museum
Exhibition Time: 14:00-16:30, September 15th to 25th
