No.40 Jinjiang Street: Yan and his son and

Great changes have taken place in Chengdu in the past century. An American living in western Sichuan lamented: Chengdu, with a long history, is developing with each passing day, but there are no old buildings and no old style! In fact, in some narrow streets and lanes in Chengdu, there are still few old buildings. Although they are rare, they vaguely reveal the story of old Chengdu and retain the history of the city, which is difficult for outsiders to know. Not far behind the shopping mall built in the late Qing Dynasty, the book stacks in the dormitory of Sichuan Library at Heping Street 16, Jinjiang District, Guhuayang County are an example.

Benyuan Bookstore was founded by Yan Ao, a bibliophile in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, and was completed by his stepson Yan Gusheng, who managed it for his whole life. Its fame is inseparable from Yan's father and son and their books. Yan ao (A.D. 1855 ~ 19 18) was originally named Zu Xin, whose name was Deyu, and later Yan Feng, whose name was Benyuan. My ancestral home is Weinan, Shaanxi. His predecessor was rich in salt industry, and he lived in Shu. Yan ao was admitted to Chengdu Zunjing Academy and studied under the king. "If you don't get the township test, you will give up", which is lighter than fame and fortune. "Travel all over the country to find strange books and old books" (Linshan dialect). Yan Ao's lifelong career is to collect books, at the same time engrave classics and select classics, read books, and become a great bibliophile, scholar and poet.

As a poet, Yan Ao has been handed down from generation to generation, and collected 59 poems written by him, namely Guanji and Taihua Collection. Attached volumes include Hezhou Zhang Senkai, Old Man's Narration, Fushun Song, Preface to Yan Jun's Epitaph, Biography of Jing Yan Yan Jun and Biography of Mr. Yan in Guiyang, which shows its far-reaching influence. Yan Ao was already dead when he wrote "Poetry in the Garden of Responsibility". It was compiled for Yan Gusheng, the stepson. At the end of each volume, there is a "man proofreading".

Yan ao had no children and no successors in his family business and career, so he adopted a person from his hometown and named him Gu Sheng. Yan invited him to find his stepson and said, "I only need to protect 50 thousand books, and I will be satisfied for a lifetime." "He regards the collection of books as an important thing behind him, which cannot be expressed in words.

? Yan Gusheng (A.D. 1899 ~ 1976) was originally named Shi Hai, also known as Gu Sun. This is a collection of bibliophiles, edition catalogers and connoisseurs of epigraphy and calligraphy. Its name means "The Book of Songs". Moths have children, and ants win and lose. Teach Haier like a valley. "In the poem, Jianying (a thin-waisted bee) is used to raise the son of a moth (a caterpillar), and it is suggested that Chongqing people educate their descendants and inherit the virtues of their ancestors. This implied a strict and painstaking invitation, and his ambition was realized. His stepson Yan Gusheng inherited his mantle and carried forward his career.

? When Yan Gusheng first arrived in Chengdu, he was past school age. Someone asked him to name his son's study "Shi Guoxue Zhai" and encouraged him to bury himself in his studies and never rest for a moment. Gu Sheng was only 20 years old when Yan Ao died. However, he kept his ancestral business, had a rich collection of books to read, and was smart and eager to learn. He learned from his father and Zhang Senkai at an early age, and he was endowed with knowledge. His friends are all elderly celebrities, and he has become an independent person. Decades later, the collection of books he inherited multiplied; After years of infiltration and study, he can understand the catalogue of ancient books, the version of ancient laws and regulations, local customs, celebrity stories, the authenticity of calligraphy and painting, and answer questions. In the 26th year of the Republic of China (1935), I met Zhang Daqian in Beiping, and Mr. Zhang Daqian was also impressed by his knowledge.

Yan Gusheng inherited his father's footsteps, collecting books, reading and engraving books. The number of collections reached a grand occasion. In the early days of the founding of New China, there were more than 300,000 copies.

The responsibility garden bookstore is a place where books are strictly collected. During the Yongzheng period of the Qing Dynasty (A.D. 1723 ~ 1735), there was Jing Xun Tower, which was the residence of Yue Zhongqi, a famous general of the Qing Dynasty. At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, Yan Ao bought the Jing Xun Building and built the primitive stacks from the third year of the Republic of China (19 14) to the thirteenth year (1924).

Yanzhai, located in Luogongci Street (now Heping Street), is a quadrangle with three entrances and three exits. The mansion is quaint and spacious, surrounded by flowers, trees and bamboo in the garden. At the beginning of the founding of New China, Yan's books were donated by the state, and this house became the Chinese Department of Sichuan Library. Mr. Tian Yichao, a late researcher in the Provincial Library, once wrote: "Yan's former residence is rich in old flowers and trees, with a few acres of exotic flowers and different grasses, and beautiful flowers and trees." Its former owner was Benyuan, which means Benqiu Yuyuan in Zhouyi. " "

Mr. Tao Liangsheng, who once taught Yan's children, further recorded the library and its surrounding environment: "The library is built in the garden, with nanmu structure, Gao Dakuan scattered outside, like stone, surrounded by ginkgo trees and quiet trees, which are warm in winter and cool in summer, fresh and elegant."

The responsibility garden stack room is a small building similar to a stone library. The whole building is concise and full of charm. It was built in the innermost courtyard of Sanjin Courtyard. The door shed of the small courtyard is engraved with two seal characters of "Le Yi". The small building is a two-story blue brick building, leaning against the mountain roof and with thick eaves. At the top of the third floor, there is a stone carving with the word "stacks" engraved on it. There are small square windows around the stacks, which are symmetrical, small and exquisite, with a balcony in the middle; The wall is one and a half feet thick, all windows are equipped with waterproof boards, there are waist eaves under the eaves, and there are transoms above the small windows, so moisture-proof, fire prevention and sun protection are fully considered. There are some reliefs on the base of the building, carved with white clouds, green lions and elephants.

Times have changed, and the former Sanjin Courtyard is gone. Fortunately, primitive stacks are kept behind concrete buildings, but they are imprisoned in a small world. Under two ancient ginkgo trees, the branches are majestic and go straight into the clouds. As far as the function and collection scale of stacks are concerned, Benyuan stacks located in western Sichuan, China can be compared with the distant Tianyi Pavilion in Ningbo and Jiayetang in Hangzhou. However, compared with the present situation, Benyuan stacks seem to be unlucky: Tianyi Pavilion, as an independent cultural relics institution, has a self-evident status; Jiayetang is now a branch of Jianjiang Provincial Library, with gardens outside and books inside, and its style remains the same; Du Benyuan's stacks are in an awkward position. Fortunately, in 200 1 year, the Chengdu municipal government declared the library of the responsibility park as the first batch of cultural relics buildings in Chengdu, thus avoiding the bad luck of being demolished and destroyed.

Yan Yanfeng once wrote a couplet for Benyuan, which was written by the great calligrapher Yu Youren. After reading this pair of couplets, I understand the spiritual integrity of Yan and his son, that is, the pride of the first day: no self-esteem, no official is also expensive. Different books fill the room. They are abundant in Mo Jing.

? "It is difficult to study, especially to collect books. It is difficult and difficult to hide for a long time." This is the motto of the founder of Jiangnan Tianyige Library. Yan's collection of books was not earlier than Tianyi Pavilion, which was built in the Ming Dynasty, and the thieves' library was built in the early years of the Republic of China. Strict invitation to collect books began in the Qing dynasty, much earlier than the construction period, but it was still hundreds of years later than Tianyi Pavilion. However, the most abundant collection in Tianyi Pavilion is more than 70,000 volumes in the early Qing Dynasty. In the early days of the stacks in Responsibility Garden, Zhang Senkai compiled the Catalogue of Stacks in Responsibility Garden (after the volume was recorded), and collected the Records of Yan Responsibility Garden Stacks in Fushun Song Dynasty, Records of Ben Garden Stacks by Jing Ping and Records of Ziyuan Stacks by Hua Yanglin. From the end of the Republic of China to the time when Yan collected the most books, it exceeded 300,000 volumes.

? Yan's book collection is more comparable to Hangzhou Jiayetang, both of which were built in the early Republic of China. Although Jiayetang was built a few years later, its collection reached 665,438+00,000 volumes at the most, nearly double that of Yan's collection. However, when New China was founded, its ancient books were far less preserved than now, with only 1 10000 copies, which lagged behind Yan's collection.

There are four sub-categories of Benyuan stacks: classics and history, among which rare books, finely carved rare books and rare books are famous at home and abroad. Among them, Huainanzi is an isolated Song edition, Chunhuage Double Hook Manuscript, Hu Linyi, Yan Shusen, Zeng Guofan's handwritten letters, Mountains and Rivers, Liu Yongfu's Staff Shi Yue's Diary, etc., as well as a large number of cultural, medical and economic books. Yan and his son both know Chinese medicine, but they "aim at treating diseases, not internal diseases", hoping to provide more literature basis for doctors through the collected medical books. Therefore, the original collection of TCM classics is very rich. Liao Jiping, a great scholar, is good at medical books, calling Benyuan "rich in books, especially the medical department". The Song edition of Sheng Ji Zong Lu, the Ming edition of Yi Tong, and the Japanese series of Danbo Xiutang are all rare books. Yan Gusheng edited these books into five kinds, with 34 volumes and millions of words. Among them, Treatise on Febrile Diseases in the Golden Chamber and Classic Welcome to the Source are all rare books. Wu Guixian, the former president of the College of Traditional Chinese Medicine and a famous doctor, preached and taught, that is, only this series of books was selected as teaching AIDS. The reason is simple: "Take this as a reliable way to avoid misinformation." Time flies, and the years have passed, which shows the preciousness of this series.

Yan and his son not only take collecting books as their lifelong career, but also are famous for their meticulous carving. Paper, calligraphy and engraving are all top-grade and well-known at home and abroad. In memory of his father, Yan Gusheng published "Ben Yuan" with the inscription "Weinan Yan's Xiaoyi Family School was published in Chengdu". The five volumes 1 volume are bound with yellow paper thread, with large print, exquisite carving and pleasing to the eye, which is a model of engraving in the Republic of China.

There are a large number of phonological classics in Ci Yuan. After several years of cold and hot weather, Gong Hexiang compiled 32 phonological series, 123 volumes, which was praised by experts as the masterpiece of China phonology since the Tang and Song Dynasties, and was carved by Yan Gusheng. This is Yan's masterpiece of compiling ancient books. Yan Gusheng once went to Hangzhou with his family to seek advice from Zhang Taiyan, a great scholar. Mr. Taiyan admired him and took the lead personally. This series of books was sent to the World Expo in Leipzig, Germany, and was well received.

Yan Gusheng spared no expense to hire famous craftsmen, carve leather, collect fine works and give books to domestic libraries, scholars and overseas. Many large libraries in Britain, the United States, France, the Soviet Union and other countries have Yan's fine publications in Weinan. During the Anti-Japanese War, the Soviet government received books, and Stalin personally signed a certificate of thanks. The British Museum, Oxford University Library and Lenin Library all exhibited their printed editions. The Library of Congress of the United States has a "Weinan Yan Jing Diao Zhen Ben Guan".

During the Republic of China, there were many people who coveted strict books and rare books. Yan Gusheng is not afraid of violence and is unmoved by profit. After the disaster, he saved these books and founded them in New China, and donated them all to the country. Strict collection of books has become an important part of Sichuan library collection.

Famous Sichuan local and Sichuan scholars, such as Lin Shanrui, Pang Shizhen, Meng, Zhang Senkai, Song, Xiang Chu, Zhang, Yu Youren, Shen, Gu Jiegang, Chen, Zhang Daqian, Ye Qianyu, Xie Zhiliu, Ma Jiming, Zhu Shaobin and Tao Liangsheng. Many world-famous literati and poets, such as Zhang Daqian, went to Benyuan to talk about poetry, paper and painting during their stay in War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, and lived in Yanzhai for nearly two years. During the Anti-Japanese War, Chen Yinque went to Chengdu and was introduced by a friend. He went to Yan's home, consulted Yan's book catalogue and looked through the rare books.

In the early years of the Republic of China, Lin Shanzuo invited himself as the director of Sichuan Library, and he was a pioneer in the service of Sichuan public libraries. Yuan Zhe stacks were established later than Sichuan Library, but primitive stacks played no less important role in serving the society and promoting academic progress than Sichuan Library. Zhang Senkai compiled historical monographs such as Catalogue of General History, Collation of Twenty-four Histories, and Catalogue of Geographical Evolution of Sichuan in Past Dynasties. Song Yu revised provincial and county records; Liao Ping's textual research on typhoid ancient books and Yang Gong Gu Liang's research are all based on "The Collection of Our Garden" ... After the collection of our garden, it belongs to Sichuan Library and becomes a part of its collection. The function of permanent preservation and service to society is further highlighted, which should coincide with the original intention of the owner of the park.

Benyuan Bookstore, now hidden in a corner of Pian Street in Jinjiang District (Editor's Note: located in the depths of Heping Street), stands there alone. But it's not just an old gray building that looks like it. It embodies the hard work of two generations of bibliophiles, and preserves rich and precious Chinese culture and Sichuan rural cultural classics, which have been passed down by many sages.

? (Part II: The Guild Hall mentioned by Yan)