Although Zhang Weihua was born in a poor peasant family, his parents were bent on making him a knowledgeable scholar. After graduating from missionary school, he was admitted to cheeloo university. In order to complete their studies, in addition to saving as much money as possible, they also help foreigners learn Chinese, copy manuscripts and translate manuscripts in their spare time. 193 1 year, Zhang Weihua went to yenching university institute for further study. Famous people such as Gu Jiegang, Chen Yuan and Hongye taught here, which prompted him to embark on the road of studying history. After graduation, he returned to cheeloo university to teach, and served as a lecturer, professor, dean of the Faculty of Arts and head of the Department of History. Cheeloo university 1952 was dissolved, and he came to teach in the History Department of Shandong University in Qingdao until his death.
According to Professor Chao's memory, the most outstanding impression of his experience with Mr. Wang is what he often said: the first is character, and the second is learning.
Teacher Zhang is strict with his students, with particular emphasis on the importance of personality. He often said, "People with bad conduct can't learn well." And explained: for example, no matter what a person usually does, he always wants to learn by opportunism, and he will never work hard. It is absolutely impossible to do valuable learning. Such people can only do some superficial work. Learning is a hard work, so you should be able to endure loneliness and poverty. He often takes his teachers, such as Gu Jiegang, Chen Yuan and Ye Hong, as examples to introduce their past learning experience, and their achievements are honestly achieved by their own efforts. This teaching shows teacher Zhang's good intentions.
On the first winter vacation when the professor was in college, Mr. Zhang suggested that he read literature and history. After the second semester started, he recited the History of History to Mr. Zhang. When talking about "what is the shame of plain actors and the importance of words", Mr. Zhang Weihua said: "To learn history, we must first learn this history and cultivate our own integrity and the spirit of seeking truth from facts, so as not to be spurned."
All the teachers who have worked with Mr. Zhang know that Mr. Zhang is an upright person, who dares to tell the truth, never has sex, and has been wronged for it. But when he was rehabilitated, he said in a letter to his student Professor Chen Xuewen (now working in Zhejiang Academy of Social Sciences): "There is no need to mention the past, and there is not much time left. I still have a lot of things to do, so I must catch up! " There is no feeling of complaining at all. Although he is old at this time, he seems to be rejuvenated again. The decade after the Cultural Revolution was the most rewarding period for Mr. Zhang. 1987 On the eve of his death, Qilu Bookstore published a collection of essays for him, mainly collecting his papers ten years after the Cultural Revolution. Mr. Zhang named it "Late Learning Zhai Wen Zhai", which showed his never-too-old state of mind and was touching. To learn, one should be knowledgeable and the other should be realistic.
Mr. Zhang has two characteristics in his study: one is seeking understanding, and the other is seeking truth. The so-called communication, that is, a historian should not be limited to a certain stage of knowledge, but should fundamentally understand and grasp the development law of the whole history of China, so as to discuss specific issues from a strategic height and make appropriate arguments. At the same time, we should not confine ourselves to the history of China, but also understand the history of the world and regard the history of China as a part of the world history, so as to have a so-called world vision. He often said: without profound historical knowledge, it is impossible to reach a profound realm. For your major, you should not only be proficient, but also be familiar with all the knowledge related to your major. He often quoted a sentence from Yan Zhitui's "Yan Family Instructions: Mianxue Chapter" in the Northern Qi Dynasty: "You can't make a hasty decision before you finish the book" to encourage students. Mr Zhang Weihua not only said so, but also did so. He is not only good at Qin and Han history and Ming and Qing history, but also has in-depth research on Wei, Jin, Sui, Tang, Song and Yuan history. Most of these research results are included in the Collection of Han History and the Collection of Late Studies. In teaching, he not only teaches students the history of China, but also teaches the history of the world. Because of this, he is particularly eager to study the traffic history of China and the West. This is also an important reason why he gained a high reputation in the field of history.
Regarding seeking truth from facts, Mr. Zhang once gave a special lecture on this topic. He particularly emphasized this issue because he hated the Gang of Four for alluding to history. He wrote many textual research articles and even monographs, all in order to clarify some major historical issues. However, his book "A Brief History of Sino-Western Relations in Ming and Qing Dynasties" is a theoretical and realistic evaluation of the historical merits and demerits of Europeans coming from the East and learning from the West, which was a forbidden area under the ultra-left trend of thought at that time. It takes a lot of courage for him to write like this. Professor An (History Department of Shandong Normal University) recalled: Once, when Mr. Zhang was giving a lecture, he suddenly asked him a question: Where did the word "seeking truth from facts" first appear? He said that Liu Dechuan, the king of the thirteen kings of the Han Dynasty, was probably presented, so Teacher Zhang took advantage of the topic and told some truth. He said: It is very important to study history realistically. Without truth, we lose the value of studying history. Therefore, seeking truth from facts is not only the life of history, but also the moral character that historians must possess. These words have become the goal of Professor An Zhangzuo to study hard and be a man all his life.
Mr. Zhang is very enlightened in his studies. He taught students not to stick to what he taught, including his works, but also to read more books and articles written by famous contemporary scholars. Not only should we understand and master their main contents, but more importantly, we should understand and master their respective learning styles, thoughts and methods. It is the best way to study and study history, and also the best way to practice writing.
Influenced by Ganjia School, Mr. Zhang pursued positivism for a long time. However, after liberation, I was able to change the traditional thought and method of studying, and accept, study and apply Marxism gladly through hard work. As an older generation of scholars from the old society, it is not easy. This is a sense of historical responsibility, responsible for history, responsible for students, and responsible for yourself. Some of Mr. Zhang's works in the 1950' s are obviously different from those before, such as On Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty, On Overseas Trade in Ming Dynasty, On Several Signs of Feudal Landlord Economy in Song Dynasty and Some Related Issues, etc., all of which are the results of trying to study history with Marxist viewpoints and methods.
Teacher Zhang has always attached great importance to teaching. In the early 1980s, when he told graduate students and young and middle-aged teachers about the history of traffic between China and the West, he was already panting. He just talked for a while and then sprayed antiasthmatic medicine into his mouth. Even so, he wrote the syllabus in advance, kept up his spirits and persisted in completing it. He said, "Don't underestimate teaching. When you speak on the stage, many students are watching you, and every move will leave an impression on them. Every class should be said seriously, this is the part of being a teacher. " Professor Zhang Zhihan clearly remembers: "Zhang Lao's lectures are always so leisurely, eloquent and fascinating. Teacher Wang's speech is full of feelings, such as kindness as clear water, which permeates the content of the speech, thus creating a kind of gravity. Listening to the speaker is like bathing in the spring breeze. " "You live to contribute."
Because of his old age and illness, Mr Zhang Weihua is often hospitalized. At first, I lived in the health ward of the former affiliated hospital of Shandong Medical University, with better conditions and higher expenses. Mr Zhang always hates spending too much money. He often tells his family and the students who sleep with him that it is really painful to spend all the money of the country. So he kept urging his family to change hospitals for him. When the leaders of the school and history department came to see him and let him rest in peace, Mr. Zhang said that he was so old and useless that it was not worth spending so much money for the country. At that time, Mr. Ge Maochun, the head of the history department, said to him, "You are a contribution if you live." This has almost become a famous saying, and almost everyone in the history department knows it.
That's true. At that time, the book Selected Historical Materials of Confucius Archives in Qufu was being edited by Mr. Zhang Weihua. An editor was not sure about the meaning of a file, so he asked other teachers, but he couldn't decide. Then he went to the hospital and asked Mr. Zhang. After reading it, Teacher Zhang solved the problem in a few words, and other teachers were convinced. Later, Mr Zhang was hospitalized again. Because of his repeated insistence, he changed to live in a nearby general hospital. ...
Teacher Zhang influences students with his words and deeds and noble morality. After his death, his students wrote an elegy: "A million-word masterpiece, from Qin and Han dynasties to Ming and Qing dynasties, learned from Chinese and Western cultures, and a generation of literati admired the master;" Sixty years of rain, former Shao Confucius and Mencius, later Marxism-Leninism, full of peaches and plums, five generations of children mourn their teachers. " It fully expressed the deep nostalgia and admiration of the younger generations who were influenced by him.