Xu Binbin, since 1916, followed Huang Yuansheng as the special correspondent of Shanghai "Shen Shen" and "The Times" in Beijing. After the founding of "Beijing News", he was hired as a special writer. He is famous for his familiarity with historical anecdotes. The newsletters he writes pay attention to the introduction of the historical background of relevant figures. His writing style is beautiful and interesting, which is very fascinating. He is also very knowledgeable about traditional Chinese opera and was one of the famous newspaper and magazine drama review columnists in the early years of the Republic of China.
Xu Binbin, one of a group of influential journalists in the early years of the Republic of China, was born in Yixing, Jiangsu Province. He served as a special correspondent for Shanghai's "Shen Shen" and "The Times" in Beijing. His communication writing was fluent and interesting, and he was once the editor-in-chief. Supplements of "Beijing" and "Ta Kung Pao". He specializes in literature and is good at classics and history. His essays are very popular among readers.
By the end of the Qing Dynasty, news and telegraph charges began to be halved. After the founding of the Republic of China, the Ministry of Transportation of the Beiyang Government specially issued the "News and Telegraph Regulations", which stipulated: "For domestic news telegrams, the fee for telegrams in Chinese is three cents per word, and the fee for English plain language is six cents per word." (According to Ge Gong Zhen: "History of Chinese Newspapers") The reduction of news telegraph costs has enabled newspapers to make more use of dedicated cables.
The continuous installation of wired telegraphs, the reduction of telegraph costs and the extension of railway lines made it possible for major newspapers at that time to establish communication networks in major cities across the country. This objectively also had a great impact on the development of Chinese newspapers in the Republic of China. In the early years, the transition from the "political commentary era" to the "news era" and the establishment of the "central position" of news in newspapers played a huge role in promoting the transition. Starting from October 1912, the title "Beijing Special Commissioner" began to appear in the "Declaration". In order not to fall behind in the competition, the Times, the News and other major newspapers in Shanghai have also hired correspondents in Beijing. Huang Yuansheng, Shao Piaoping, Xu Binbin and other first-generation journalists in the history of Chinese journalism came into being under this background. They either sent telegrams or wrote "special communications" for newspapers as far away as Shanghai. Telecommunications occupy more and more pages in these newspapers, and when major political events occur, they will even be published as full pages. Because of the large number of telecommunications, newspapers began to classify telecommunications into types such as dedicated telecommunications, external telecommunications, general electricity, and public telecommunications.
So, the increase in telecommunications has greatly improved the level of news reporting in newspapers.
During the Reform Movement of 1898 and the Revolution of 1911, a number of famous newspaper political commentators emerged in my country’s press. Now a number of famous journalists have emerged. They are Huang Yuansheng, Xu Binbin (Ling Xiao), Liu Shao Shao, Shao Piaoping, Lin Baishui, Hu Zhengzhi, Zhang Jiluan and others. Among them, Huang Yuansheng, Xu Binbin and Liu Shaoshao were known as the "Three Heroes" of the press in the early years of the Republic of China. Most of these journalists are students studying in Japan. They have received a bourgeois education, have certain knowledge of modern journalism and experience in running newspapers, have keen ideas, and have the ability to skillfully control words. They have made great contributions to the transformation of Chinese newspapers into the news era. important contribution.
"Three famous journalists in the early Republic of China": Huang Yuansheng, Liu Shaoshao, and Xu Binbin.
Xu Lingxiao (1888～1961)
The pen name is Binbin, Lingxiao Han Pavilion Master. A native of Yixing, Jiangsu.
Born from a feudal scholar-bureaucrat family, his uncle Xu Zhijing was an active supporter of Kang (Youwei) and Liang (Qichao) reform, and he was deeply influenced by it. In the 5th year of the Republic of China (1916), he succeeded Huang Yuansheng as the special correspondent of Shanghai "Shenbao" and "The Times" in Beijing, and wrote the "Beijing Newsletter". Since he was familiar with the life experiences of some important political figures at that time, he often revealed some in the news reports. His interesting insider information and fluent writing style were very popular among readers, and he became one of the most famous journalists in the early Republic of China. After Shao Piaoping's "Beijing News" was founded, he was invited to serve as a special editor, edit the supplement and write drama reviews. Starting from July of the 16th year of the Republic of China (1927), he and his younger brother Yishi co-wrote "Essays of Lingxiao Yishi", which was serialized in "Guowen Weekly" for 10 years, and included many journalists in the press. Anecdotes. Around the 1930s, he served as the chief editor of Tianjin's "Ta Kung Pao", "Drama Weekly" and "Little Park". Died in Beijing in 1961.
When Yuan became emperor, Zhang Jiluan, Zeng Tongyi, Kang Xinru and others founded the "Minxin Daily" and served as the editor-in-chief, writing articles criticizing it every day.
After Yuan Shili, he served as the Beijing special correspondent of "The News". He was famous for his "Yiwei" communication, "Shenbao"'s "Piaoping" communication, and "Times" reporter Xu Lingxiao's "Binbin" communication.
Xu Lingxiao and his "Returning to the Ancient City"
Xu Lingxiao, formerly known as Xu Renjin, has pen names such as Xiao, Han, Lingxiao, Lingxiao Han Pavilion Master, Binbin, Zhuchen, Yichen, etc. , the name Xu Lingxiao originated from one of his most commonly used pen names. He was originally from Yixing, Jiangsu Province. Since his grandfather's generation, he was admitted to Wanping in response to the Shuntianfu Township Examination and became a Beijing native. He came from a noble family, and many of his father and brothers were famous in the political circles of the late Qing Dynasty. His uncle Xu Zhijing was promoted to the right minister of the Ministry of Rites, his cousin Xu Renzhu was promoted to Hunan to study politics, and his other cousin Xu Renjing was promoted to editor of the Hanlin Academy. They all tended to the reform and reform, and they were all famous reform officials. Convicted in the 1898 Coup. One was sentenced to hang in prison, and the two were dismissed and never used again. Influenced by his family background, Xu Lingxiao received a good traditional Confucian education in his youth. He was good at literature and adept at classics and history. Later, he was admitted to the Capital University, the predecessor of Peking University, and studied civil engineering, but he was mainly engaged in activities in the humanities and social sciences throughout his life.
Xu Lingxiao’s achievements are multifaceted. He is first and foremost a famous journalist. Since 1910, he has been engaged in journalism for more than thirty years. He has written newsletters and comments for famous newspapers such as Shanghai Times and Shenbao, Beijing's China News, Beijing News and Shibao, and Tianjin's Ta Kung Pao. He also served as the supplement editor of Beijing News, Morning News and Tianjin Ta Kung Pao. When he was employed as a special correspondent for the Shanghai Times in Beijing, he used the pen name Binbin and wrote a large number of Beijing communications for the newspaper. He was famous for his meticulous observation, detailed analysis, quick thinking, and beautiful writing. At one time, together with Huang Yuansheng and Liu Shaoshao, he was known as the three most famous journalists in the early Republic of China. After Liu Shaoshao left the newspaper world, he, together with Huang Yuansheng and Shao Piaoping, was hailed as the "Three Heroes of the Newspaper Industry" by the press at that time. Secondly, he is also a famous historical storyteller. He has personally experienced a series of major political events since the Reform Movement of 1898, and has met many dignitaries from both the government and the public in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, as well as the elderly and the young. He is familiar with China's modern history and pays great attention to the accumulation of relevant materials. He is very familiar with the history of the Qing Dynasty. chest. He has created columns such as "Lingxiao Hange Essays" and "Lingxiao Hange Talks" in newspapers such as Beijing News and Shanghai Times, and collaborated with his brother Xu Yishi on Shanghai's National News Weekly Columns such as "Essays of Ling Xiao" and "Collection of Zeng Hu Tan" published in publications such as "Lingxiao Yishi" and "Zeng Hu Tan Hui" are written about this type of historical anecdotes. These articles, totaling more than one million words, were later compiled into books and became indispensable and important reference materials for researchers at home and abroad who study Qing history and modern history. Thirdly, he is also a famous poet and drama critic. As a poet, he was good at old-style poetry. He was famous for his poems in his youth. He often published his harmonious works with Yuan Hanyun, Shen Nanya, Xu Banmeng and others in newspapers and periodicals. He was once praised as the "Capital Master" by people at the time. "Four Talents". As a drama critic, he has a very sophisticated research on the history, genre, scripts, roles and singing of Peking Opera. He published drama reviews under the column name "Lingxiao Hange Pingju" in newspapers in Shanghai and Beijing, The drama reviews he wrote when he was the editor-in-chief of "National Opera Monthly" are both very popular and have a large number of readers. He is deeply respected by the entertainment industry. Famous Peking Opera actors in their youth, such as Yu Shuyan, Xi Xiaobo, Mei Lanfang, Cheng Yanqiu, etc., all received his guidance and encouragement.
In addition to the achievements mentioned above, Xu Lingxiao is also an influential novelist. His representative work is "Returning to the Ancient City" written by him. This novel was serialized in the Shanghai Times every day from September 1, 1928, and was not completely published until February 1931. It is a masterpiece of more than 800,000 words. The content begins with a series of disputes caused by the British envoy Macartney's visit to the Jehol Palace in 1793, the 58th year of Qianlong's reign, and ends with the failure of Yuan Shikai's imperial system in 1916, a time span of more than a hundred years.
The whole book is based on the history of this period, and uses fictional and real characters and stories as its weft. Within such a framework, combined with relevant plots, it provides an overview of the society, history, politics, economy, culture, education, and other aspects of the ancient city of Beijing. Various aspects such as architecture, drama, religion, ethics, language, and folk customs are described in detail in literary language. In the meantime, there are also many interesting anecdotes and historical anecdotes related to the ancient city of Beijing. The rich experience of the journalist, the profound knowledge of the historical storyteller, the drama critic's deep understanding of Beijing and Kunming art and its development, and the novelist's brilliant writing of narratives are all reflected in this novel. fully demonstrated. In a sense, this novel is nothing more than an encyclopedia that provides a comprehensive understanding of Beijing in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China. It is a magnificent masterpiece that can be compared with famous works such as Wu Jianren's "The Strange Current Situation Witnessed in Twenty Years" and Zeng Pu's "Nie Haihua". It should occupy a place in the history of modern Chinese novels.
In China, since the birth of modern newspapers, newspapers and literature have always maintained a very close relationship. Long-form serialized novels using the pages of newspapers and periodicals have a history of more than a hundred years. The first newspaper to use the form of long-form serialization was Shanghai's Shenbao. Starting from January 4, 1873, this newspaper had serialized the British novel "Listening to Xi Chat" translated by Lay Shao in its supplement "Ying Huan Suo Ji". Later, the Shanghai "Hui Bao" founded in 1879 and the "Zilin Hu Bao" founded in 1882 also published serialized novels. These can be regarded as preliminary attempts in the form of "long-form serialization" in newspapers. Since then, this method has gradually been widely used by newspapers and periodicals, including the works of many famous novelists, such as "Home", "Spring" and "Autumn" by Ba Jin, "Corrosion" by Mao Dun, "Four Generations Under One Roof" by Lao She, Zhang Henshui His "Chunming Foreign History", "Golden Fen Family", "The Cause of Crying and Laughing", etc. were first serialized in newspapers and periodicals and were well received, and were finally compiled and published by the publishing department. Xu Lingxiao's "Returning to the Ancient City" also belongs to this kind of work. It has attracted widespread attention from readers as soon as it was serialized. At that time, many readers wrote to the Times to inquire about the publication of the book. Unfortunately, due to various reasons, it was not possible to arrange for printing in time. Since then, it has been repeatedly disrupted by wars and has been shelved. This is very regrettable.
Now, after various efforts, this novel has finally been edited and published by Beijing Daily Tongxin Publishing House. This is a very happy thing. The author of the novel, Xu Lingxiao, passed away in 1961. The publication of this literary work full of knowledge and interest will not only provide readers with high-grade spiritual food, but will also be a tribute to Xu Lingxiao, an old journalist who is famous for his extensive knowledge of ancient and modern times in the history of Chinese journalism. A great memorial.
... Fortunately, there was a famous dramatist at that time, Ling Xiaohan Pavilion Master (formerly known as Xu Lingxiao). He was well versed in Chinese and foreign studies and had a good writing style. He was deeply committed to discovering the essence of Peking Opera. He had written in "Ta Kung Pao", " The Beijing News founded a drama weekly and spared no effort to safeguard Peking opera. I celebrated the news and corresponded with him to submit articles... The institute publishes a monthly issue of "Drama Monthly", which publishes articles and works by contemporary famous artists such as Xu Lingxiao, Chen Moxiang, Du Yingtao and others...
... Hu Qiaomu also mentioned some people who could write articles in the old Beijing supplements, such as Xu Lingxiao and Xu Yishi...
Mei Lanfang talks about Kun Opera: "I first sang Kun Opera in Beijing, and the audience I don’t dislike it at all. Every time I get good results, the results are often beyond my expectations. Public opinion also uses very good criticism to encourage me. This has attracted the attention of most people in the society, including two universities. , and also added a course on the study of Northern and Southern Opera. Experts were hired to teach it. Local newspapers such as "Youxin Daily" edited by Gu Junyi, and "Beijing News" run by Shao Piaoping, Xu Lingxiao, and Wang Xiaoyin often published news and comments about Kunqu Opera. "...
Xu Lingxiao's "Hundred Stories of the Old Capital" has this record about sour plum soup:
In the summer of ice, iced plum soup is the most popular, and there are dried and fresh fruit shops in the streets and alleys. At the door, you can see a wooden eaves banner with the words "Ice Plum Soup". Some of the black characters on a yellow background are very delicate and flutter in the wind, just like the curtains of a restaurant, attracting passers-by to look at the plum blossoms to quench their thirst.
In the past, when I was an elder in the Beijing Dynasty, I was a distinguished guest, and when I had free time, I would often go to Liulichang to browse the bookstores, browse antiques, and examine editions, and spend long days. It's hot and the mouth is dry, so I often take Xinyuanzhai Plum Decoction to quench my thirst.
Xu Lingxiao's posthumous work "Returning to the Ancient City" is published
Xu Lingxiao, who along with Huang Yuansheng and Shao Piaoping is known as the three early heroes of my country's newspaper industry, is a Beijing-style documentary novel written in the 1920s and 1930s. "Returning to the Ancient City" was recently launched by Tongxin Publishing House of Beijing Daily Group. Mr. Wu Xiaoru, a professor at Peking University and a famous scholar, wrote a preface to the book. Professor Fang Hanqi, a professor at Renmin University School of Journalism and a famous expert on journalism history, wrote that "this novel is nothing more than an encyclopedia that comprehensively understands Beijing in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China."
Mr. Xu Lingxiao has been engaged in journalism for more than 30 years. When he was employed as a special correspondent for the Shanghai Times in Beijing, he wrote a large number of Beijing communications and essays for the newspaper and was well-known at the time. "Returning to the Ancient City" written by him was serialized and published in the Shanghai Times from September 1928 to February 1931. Paper was expensive in Luoyang at that time and received rave reviews. This collection is published, with about 600,000 words, divided into two volumes. The first volume reflects the little-known stories of the overt and covert struggles of political figures before and after Yuan Shikai became emperor; the second volume records the development and changes of Peking Opera and the "popularity" of several famous actors in history such as Tan Xinpei and Mei Lanfang.
......
The way these new intellectuals serve their country has also changed. They are not the literati of the previous generation who relied on imperial examinations to serve as officials and "contribute to the world". Instead, they engage in various types of intellectual activities and have an impact on society and the country. For example, Xu Lingxiao once studied civil engineering at the Capital University. He originally planned to engage in engineering design and went to the Yangtze River to inspect. Later, when times were difficult and he witnessed corruption, he angrily contributed articles to newspapers, which attracted social attention, and then entered the press and became a citizen. At the beginning, he was one of the three most famous journalists along with Huang Yuansheng and Shao Piaoping. Later, Xu Lingxiao and his younger brother Xu Yishi both made a living by writing and expressed their concerns for the country and society.
Xu Lingxiao's "Reflections on the Ancient City" is his representative work. At this time, his social status was different from that of his uncle Xu Zhijing and his cousins. The ideas reflected in this book were based on their Another step forward. In the early years of the Republic of China, Xu Lingxiao wrote a column "Beijing News" for Shanghai newspapers. Diplomat Gu Weijun was on a mission to North America. He loved reading Xu Lingxiao's "Beijing News" and praised his articles as "organized and thoughtful". It can be seen that although Xu Lingxiao was born in an old-style scholar-bureaucrat family, his ideas are quite up to date and are not outdated at all.
At a quick glance, "Returning to the Ancient City" looks very much like the notes and anecdotes written by old-style literati, recording some interesting events bit by bit as a source of conversation. In fact, it is not the case. From a formal point of view, this is a long novel that mainly records anecdotes. It has characters and stories. Although the characters are not so distinct and the storyline lacks dramatic conflicts, there are characters and stories. These two items draw a clear line from mere notes and anecdotes, and become a "novel" with modern significance. Judging from the ideological content, the book records nothing more than interesting anecdotes about the officialdom, academia, and opera gardens of the ancient city of Beijing in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China. They were also things of interest to the scholar-bureaucrats, and the ideological tendencies reflected in it are closely related to the "May Fourth Movement" "Periods calling out the pioneers of change don't make much of a difference.
Beijing is an ancient city, the capital of the Five Dynasties. Now we all miss the original appearance of the ancient city. Especially when we think of Mr. Liang Sicheng’s evaluation of Beijing as a “great cultural relic”, it makes us miss old Beijing even more. This is probably because I think of the cultural information contained in these ancient relics, and regret that they were demolished. If you go back a hundred years and you live in the capital of the last emperor, you won't necessarily have so much affection for it. Because as the "most good district" where the emperor is located, it is first of all a political fortress of feudal autocracy and the nerve center that governs the country. The "Old Beijing" that lies "at the feet of the Emperor" boasts of being "born by the side of the Emperor". "Speaking of people from the south of the Yangtze River, they are called barbarians, people from Shandong are called Lao Dong'er, people from Shanxi are called Lao Xi'er, and people from other places are either 'uncouth' or 'cowardly' in the eyes of Beijingers. If a person is enough He can be called "Old Beijing", his face is painted with a layer of gold, he is really no less than Wen Tianxiang in "Nine Watchers".
The second part focuses on the performance records of many famous actors of Pihuang and Bangzi operas who were active on the Beijing opera stage in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China. Naturally, the author also writes about the author's opinions on the artist's moral character, artistic level and various aspects. The performance characteristics of the repertoire, etc. In short, the contents in the first part have reference value for those who study modern history and folk customs of the late Qing Dynasty, while the contents in the second part have high documentary and aesthetic value for those who study opera. They are extremely precious historical materials of opera. Among them, the author talks about the inheritance of Peking Opera genre and has a penetrating opinion. He believes that Tan Xinpei, Wang Guifen and Sun Juxian are all descendants of Cheng Changgeng, but they also have their own characteristics. If these three people all learned from Cheng Changgeng, then it would be impossible for these three performing artists to create a school on their own. In addition, he also had similar comments on Yang Xiaolou, Mei Lanfang, etc.
The author only highlighted Yan Xiu (also known as Fansun), the founder of Nankai School in Tianjin, for the celebrities at that time. He believed that he had noble moral character and profound knowledge, and his educational undertakings would benefit future generations. At the end of the previous chapter No effort was spared in commending him. As for opera actors, the Bangzi actor Jia Biyun (who later also played Pi Huang) was highly praised. He not only commented on his high artistic level, but also praised his character. He was an example of both virtue and art at that time. This shows that Mr. Ling Xiao is at the forefront among the older generation of scholars, both in terms of ideological level and values.
I read this book twice. I secretly think that it is a very readable "documentary" novel that is worth spending some time to read and ponder. Now that Tongxin Publishing House has published this excellent book that has been buried for a long time, it is indeed a meritorious deed.
Xu Lingxiao’s posthumous work was published at the end of 70 years
Xu Lingxiao, a famous journalist in the early Republic of China, wrote the Beijing-style documentary "Return to the Ancient City" recently published by Tongxin Publishing House.
Xu Lingxiao's original name was Xu Renjin. Since 1910, he has been engaged in journalism for more than 30 years. He has written a large number of newsletters and reviews. He has served as the supplement editor of "Beijing News", "Morning News" and "Ta Kung Pao". He was a Beijing correspondent of The Times, and together with Huang Yuansheng and Shao Piaoping, he was called the "Three Heroes of the Press" by the press at that time.
In 1928, Xu Lingxiao's "Return to the Ancient City" began to be serialized in the Shanghai Times. Once the novel was published, it received praise from all quarters. "Reflections on the Ancient City" begins with a series of disputes caused by the British envoys' visit to the Rehe Palace in 1793 to end with Yuan Shikai's failure to proclaim himself emperor, spanning more than a hundred years of history. The whole book is divided into two volumes. The first volume mainly describes the rise and fall of the officialdom, reflecting the little-known stories of the overt and covert struggles of the political figures before and after Yuan Shikai became emperor. The second volume records the development, changes and development of Peking Opera. The "popular" histories of famous actors Tan Xinpei and Mei Lanfang reflect the folk customs and living conditions of the capital from one side.
Due to various reasons, the novel was not published in time after the serialization was completed. It was later shelved due to multiple wars. The author Xu Lingxiao also passed away in 1961. Until this year, "Return to the Ancient City" was finally published by Tongxin Publishing House after being buried in dust for nearly 70 years. Fang Hanqi, a well-known news history expert, once said that "Return to the Ancient City" is an encyclopedia that comprehensively understands life in Beijing in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China. It is a brilliant work that can be compared with famous works such as "The Strange Current Situation Witnessed in Twenty Years" and "Nie Haihua".