Xu Binbin, a native of Yixing, Jiangsu, was one of a group of influential journalists in the early years of the Republic of China. He is a special correspondent for Shanghai Shen Bao and The Times in Beijing. His way of communication is smooth and interesting. Later, he edited the supplements of Beijing and Ta Kung Pao, specializing in literature and mastering classics and history. His essays were well received by readers.
By the end of the Qing dynasty, news telegrams began to charge half. After the founding of the Republic of China, the Ministry of Communications of Beiyang government specially promulgated the Regulations on News and Telegrams, which stipulated: "For domestic and foreign news and telegrams, the cashier of Chinese telegrams is three yuan per word, and the cashier of English telegrams is six yuan per word." (According to Ge: China News) The reduction in the cost of news telegrams has made newspapers use more special telegrams.
The continuous erection of telegrams, the reduction of telegraph fees and the extension of railway lines made it possible for major newspapers to establish communication networks in major cities all over the country at that time, which objectively promoted the transition of China newspaper industry from "political theory era" to "news era" and established the "central position" of newspaper news in the early years of the Republic of China. 19 12 since June of 10, the name "Beijing Commissioner" appeared in Shenbao. In order to keep up with the competition, major newspapers in Shanghai, such as The Times and The News, have also hired special commissioners in Beijing. Huang Yuansheng, Shao Piaoping and Xu Binbin, the first generation of famous journalists in the history of China journalism, came into being under this background. They either send special telegrams or write "special newsletters" for newspapers in Shanghai. Telecommunications occupy more and more pages in these newspapers, and even publish full-page telecommunications in case of major political events. Due to the large number of telecommunications, newspapers began to divide telecommunications into special telegrams, foreign telegrams, electrified telegrams and public telegrams.
Therefore, the increase of telecommunications has greatly improved the news reporting level of newspapers.
During the Reform Movement of 1898 and the Revolution of 1911, a number of well-known newspaper commentators emerged in China newspapers, and now there are a number of well-known journalists, including Xu Binbin (), Liu Shaoshao, Shao Piaoping, Lin Baishui, Hu, and others, among whom Xu Binbin and Liu Shaoshao were called "three outstanding figures" in the early years of the Republic of China. Most of these famous journalists are students studying in China, who have received bourgeois education, have certain knowledge of modern news and experience in running newspapers, have keen thoughts and have the ability to master words skillfully. They have made important contributions to the transformation of Japanese newspapers into the news age.
"Three Journalists": Huang Yuansheng, Liu Shaoshao and Xu Binbin.
Lingxiao Xu (1888 ~ 196 1)
Pen name Binbin, boss of Lingxiao Hange. Yixing, Jiangsu.
Born in a feudal scholar-bureaucrat family, his uncle Xu Zhijing was an active supporter of Kang Youwei and Qi Chao's political reform and was deeply influenced by it. In the 5th year of the Republic of China (19 16), after Huang Yuansheng, he became a special correspondent of Shanghai Shenbao and Times in Beijing, and wrote Beijing Newsletter. Being familiar with the life experiences of some important political figures at that time, newsletters often revealed some interesting inside information, which made them well received by readers and became one of the most famous journalists in the early Republic of China. After Shao Piaoping's Beijing Daily was published, he was invited as a special editor and editor-in-chief of the supplement, and wrote a drama review. From July of the Republic of China 16 (1927), the article "On a Master of Lingxiao" co-authored by him and his younger brother Yi Shi was serialized in Chinese Weekly for 10 years, and there were many stories in newspapers and magazines. Around 1930s, he was the editor-in-chief of Ta Kung Pao, Drama Weekly and Small Park in Tianjin. 196 1 died in Beijing.
When Yuan proclaimed himself emperor, Zeng, Kang Xinru and others founded Minxin Daily, served as editor-in-chief and wrote articles every day. Ji is dead. He used to be a special correspondent of the Beijing News, and became popular at the same time with the newsletter of Yiwei of Shenbao, Piaoping and Binbin of Time reporter Lingxiao Xu.
Lingxiao Xu and His Return of the Ancient City
Formerly known as Xu Renjin, his pen names are Xiao, Han, Yu, Han, Bin Bin, Zhu Chen, etc. The name Lingxiao Xu comes from one of his most commonly used pen names. He was originally from Yixing, Jiangsu. Starting from his grandfather's generation, he entered Wanping in response to the rural examination in Shuntianfu and became a Beijinger. He was born in a famous family, and many of his fathers and brothers were celebrities in the late Qing Dynasty. His uncle Xu Zhijing, the right assistant minister of the Ministry of Education, his cousin Xu Renzhu went to Hunan to study politics, and another cousin Xu, an official editor of the Hanlin Academy, all tended to reform. They were all famous reformist officials and were convicted in the 1898 coup. One was sentenced to detention, two were dismissed and never used again. Influenced by his family background, Lingxiao Xu received a good traditional Confucian education when he was young and was good at literature and history. Later, he was admitted to Peking University's predecessor, Beijing Normal University. He studied civil engineering, but he mainly engaged in humanities and social sciences all his life.
Lingxiao Xu's achievements are manifold. He is a famous journalist above all. From 19 10, I have been engaged in journalism for more than 30 years. He has written newsletters and comments for famous newspapers such as Shanghai Times, Shen Bao, Beijing China New Newspaper, Beijing Daily, Shih Pao and Tianjin Ta Kung Pao. He also served as the supplement editor of Beijing Daily, Morning Post and Tianjin Ta Kung Pao. During his application as a special correspondent of Shanghai Times in Beijing, he wrote a large number of Beijing newsletters for the newspaper under the pseudonym of Binbin, in order to observe carefully, analyze carefully, think quickly and write beautifully, and became famous in World War I at that time. At one time, Huang Yuansheng and Liu Shaoshao were also called famous journalists in junior high school. After leaving the press, Liu Shaoshao was praised as "three outstanding journalists" by the press at that time, together with Huang Yuansheng and Shao Piaoping. Secondly, he is also a famous historical anecdote. He personally experienced a series of major political events since the Reform Movement of 1898, and met many politicians in the ruling and opposition parties in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China. He is not only familiar with the modern history of China, but also pays great attention to the accumulation of relevant materials, and is also familiar with history of qing dynasty. He wrote articles in Jinghua Daily and Shanghai Times, and collaborated with his younger brother Xu to write articles in Shanghai Chinese Weekly and other publications, which is such a historical anecdote. These articles, totaling more than one million words, were later compiled into books and became indispensable reference books for researchers of Qing history and modern history at home and abroad. Thirdly, he is also a famous poet and drama critic. As a poet, he is good at old-style poetry. He became famous for his poems in his youth, and often published works in newspapers and periodicals with Yuan, Shen Nanya, Xu Banmeng and others. He was once praised as "four gifted scholars in Beijing" by people at that time. As a critic of traditional Chinese opera, he has a very exquisite study on the history, genre, script, role and singing of Beijing opera. His drama reviews published in Shanghai, Beijing and other newspapers with the theme of "The Commentary on the Opera of Ling Xiaohan" and those he wrote when he was the editor-in-chief of National Drama Monthly are well-known and have a large number of readers, which are highly valued by the entertainment industry. Such as, Xi Xiaobo, Mei Lanfang, Cheng and other famous Peking Opera artists have received his guidance and awards in their youth.
In addition to these achievements mentioned above, Lingxiao Xu is also an influential novelist. His masterpiece is the Return of the Ancient City. This novel was serialized in Shanghai Times every day from 1928 September to 1 and was not published until 193 1 February. It is a huge structure with more than 800,000 words. From 1793, that is, a series of entanglements caused by the British envoy Madzar's visit to Jehol Palace in Qianlong 58 years, to the failure of Yuan Shikai's monarchy in 19 16 years, the time span reached 100 years. Based on the history of this period, the book describes in detail the society, history, politics, economy, culture, education, architecture, drama, religion, ethics, language, folk customs and other aspects of the ancient city of Beijing in literary language. During this period, there are many interesting anecdotes and historical anecdotes related to the ancient city of Beijing. The rich experience of journalists, the profound knowledge of historical anecdotes, the profound understanding of Beijing-Kunming art and its development by drama critics, and the novel's ingenious writing of narrative objects are fully demonstrated in this novel. In a sense, this novel is an encyclopedia of Beijing in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China. It is a magnificent masterpiece comparable to Wu's "Seeing the Present Situation of Demons and Ghosts in Twenty Years" and "Flowers of Evil". It should occupy a place in the history of China's modern novels.
In China, since the birth of modern newspapers, newspapers and literature have always maintained a very close relationship. It has been more than 100 years since novels were serialized in newspaper pages. The earliest newspaper in the form of long serial was Shanghai's Shen Bao. 1873 to 65438+1October 4th, this newspaper serialized the English novel Listening to Nighttalk translated by Li Shaoju in its supplement "Welcome to Joy". Later, Shanghai Report founded by 1879 and Zilin Shanghai Newspaper founded by 1882 also published serial novels. These can be regarded as a preliminary attempt in the form of "long serial" of newspapers. Since then, this method has been widely adopted by newspapers and periodicals. The works of many famous novelists, such as Ba Jin's Home, Spring and Autumn Annals, Mao Dun's Corrosion, Lao She's Four Generations under One roof, Zhang Henshui's Spring Festival in unofficial history, The Golden Powder Family, In distress situation, etc. , first serialized in newspapers and periodicals, and finally, welcomed. Lingxiao Xu's Return of the Ancient City also belongs to this kind of works. At the beginning of serialization, it has been widely concerned by readers. At that time, many readers wrote to The Times asking about the publication of this book. Unfortunately, due to various reasons, it was not arranged for printing in time, and later it was shelved because of repeated wars and defeats. This is very regrettable.
Now, after many efforts, this novel is finally edited and published by Beijing Daily Tongxin Publishing House, which is gratifying. Lingxiao Xu, the author of the novel, died in 196 1. The publication of this knowledgeable and interesting literary work will not only provide readers with high-grade spiritual food, but also be a good memorial to Lingxiao Xu, an old journalist who is famous for his extensive knowledge and profound knowledge in the history of China journalism.
..... Fortunately, there was a famous playwright at that time, Ling Xiao Han Zhuge (formerly known as Zhuge), who was proficient in Chinese and foreign literature and deeply devoted to excavating the essence of Peking Opera. He founded Drama Weekly in Ta Kung Pao and Bao Jing, and spared no effort to maintain Peking Opera. I praise my bosom friend and write with him ... The Academy publishes Drama monthly, and publishes articles and works of contemporary famous artists such as Lingxiao Xu, Chen Moxiang and Du Yingtao. ...
..... Hu Qiaomu also mentioned some people who can write articles in Old Beijing Supplement, such as, Xu, etc. ...
Mei Lanfang talks about Kunqu Opera: ... "I first sang Kunqu Opera in Beijing, and the audience didn't hate it. The result of each call is often beyond my expectation. Public opinion also encourages me with good criticism. This has aroused the concern of most people in society, and two universities have added courses to study North and South operas. Hire experts to teach. Local newspapers, such as Heart Daily edited by Gu Junyi and Beijing Daily run by Shao Piaoping and Wang, often publish news and comments about Kunqu Opera. 」……
Lingxiao Xu's "Hundred Flowers in the Old Capital" has such a record about sour plum soup:
The most popular ice in summer is iced sour plum soup. Wooden eaves and banners with the words "Bing Mei Tang" can be seen in the streets and at the entrance of dried and fresh fruit shops. Some are black letters on a yellow background, which are very artistic and unfurled in the wind, just like the curtain of a restaurant, which makes the hot people in the past eager to quench their thirst. The old Beijing dynasty was ancient and elegant, and I had leisure. I often go to Liulichang to visit the bookstore, taste the Lu Gu Cave, test the edition and kill the long days. It's hot and thirsty. You should quench your thirst with Xinyuanzhai Plum Soup.
Lingxiao Xu's suicide note The Return of the Ancient City was published.
Together with Huang Yuansheng and Shao Piaoping, Lingxiao Xu, also known as the three outstanding writers of China's early newspapers, wrote the novel The Return of the Ancient City in the 1920s and 1930s, which was recently published grandly by Tongxin Publishing House of Jingbao Group. Wu Xiaoru, a famous scholar and professor of Peking University, prefaces the book. Professor Fang Hanqi, a professor at the School of Journalism of the National People's Congress and a famous expert in news history, wrote that "this novel is an encyclopedia of Beijing School in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China."
Mr Lingxiao Xu has been engaged in journalism for more than 30 years. During his tenure as a special correspondent of Shanghai Times in Beijing, he wrote a large number of Beijing newsletters and essays for the newspaper, which made him famous at one fell swoop. In September1928-February 193 1, his "Return of the Ancient City" was published in Shanghai Times. Luoyang paper was once expensive and received rave reviews. This anthology is published, about 600,000 words, divided into two volumes. The first volume reflects various little-known stories of intrigue between political figures before and after Yuan Shikai proclaimed himself emperor. The second volume describes the development and changes of Peking Opera and the "popularity" history of several famous actors in history, such as Tan Xinpei and Mei Lanfang.
……
The way these new intellectuals serve the country has also changed. They are not the previous generation of scholar-officials who relied on the imperial examination to "help the world", but engaged in various types of knowledge activities, which have an impact on society and the country. For example, Lingxiao Xu studied civil engineering at Shi Jing University, originally intended to engage in engineering design, and visited the Yangtze River. Later, Hao Mu got into trouble, witnessed corruption, and angrily contributed to the newspaper, causing social concern. He then entered the press and became one of the top three journalists in the early years of the Republic of China, which was as famous as Huang Yuansheng and Shao Piaoping. Later, he and his brother Xu both made a living by writing to express their concern for the country and society.
Lingxiao Xu's Return of the Ancient City is his masterpiece. At this time, his social status is different from that of his uncle Xu Zhijing and his cousin. The idea reflected in this book is a step forward on their basis. In the early years of the Republic of China, Lingxiao Xu wrote a column "Beijing Express" for Shanghai Daily, and diplomat Gu Weijun went to North America. He likes reading The Beijing News written by Lingxiao Xu and praises his articles as "organized and thoughtful". It can be seen that although Lingxiao Xu was born in an old-style scholar-bureaucrat family, his thoughts can keep pace with the times and not fall behind at all.
At first glance, Return of the Ancient City looks like notes and anecdotes written by old-fashioned literati, recording some interesting things bit by bit. In fact, from the formal point of view, this novel mainly tells anecdotes, including characters and stories. Although the characters are not so vivid and the plot lacks dramatic conflict, with these two things, the boundaries are drawn with simple notes and anecdotes, and it has become a "novel" with modern significance. Judging from the ideological content, the book records nothing more than anecdotes about the officialdom, academic circles and pear gardens in the ancient city of Beijing in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, and is also of interest to literati. The ideological tendency embodied in it is not much different from that of the pioneers who clamored for change during the May 4th Movement.
Beijing is an ancient city, an ancient capital of five dynasties. Now we all miss the original appearance of the ancient city, especially the thought of Mr. Liang Sicheng's evaluation of Beijing as a "great cultural relic", which makes us miss Beijing even more. This is mostly because I thought of the cultural information contained in these ancient remains, so it's a pity that they were demolished and destroyed. If you went back a hundred years ago and lived in the capital of the last emperor, you might not pour so much affection into it. Because as the "first good area" where the emperor is located, it is first of all the political fortress of feudal autocracy and the nerve center of ruling the whole country. Climbing at the foot of the son of heaven, "Old Beijing" boasts that it was born of the emperor. "When it comes to Jiangnan people, they are called Man Zi, Shandong people are called their old club, Shanxi people are called Laoxier, and people in other places are either" rustic "or" timid "in the eyes of Beijingers. If a person can be called' Old Beijing' with gold on his face, it is really no less than Wen Tianxiang in Nine Tables. " Lingxiao Xu's attitude towards the ancient capital of Beijing can be seen from this remark that pokes fun at "Old Beijing". In Xu's eyes, the inner and outer cities, the imperial city and the Forbidden City in Beijing are roughly nothing more than "there are small circles in the big circle and the imperial city in the small circle". This prison-like "circle" is not only the core of controlling the people, but also the "lock and seal" of the emperor. The feeling of a new intellectual like Xu about the ancient capital is "black and foggy, and the road to the grave is gloomy and miserable." This is not only related to Beijing's climate of "no wind, three feet of soil, rain and mud all over the streets", but also related to the darkness of Beijing under the rule of autocratic imperial power. The book begins with two cases handled by the most comfortable and powerful emperor Qianlong in the history of 5,000 years, dissecting the cruelty and fatuity of the autocratic system and its representative figures. These two anecdotes are Wang Xizhi's case of Zi Guan and the case of Hajj by the British envoy Ma Jiani. These two seemingly unrelated things really show the truth of Qianlong's prosperous times.
……
Lingxiao Xu was an important anecdote prose writer in the early Republic of China, and his thoughts came from The Return of the Ancient City. They use neither Europeanized vernacular nor classical Chinese, but a language close to Peking Opera (mainly Beijing dialect and white dialect). This language is limited by the region, but its readers are not small, which is not much different from the audience of Beijing Opera. These writers include, Xu, Lao Xuan and Qi Rushan. Later, after coming to Taiwan, there were Tang and Xia. The history of modern literature in Chinese mainland seldom mentions them, which is somewhat unfair.
Lingxiao Xu and His Return of the Ancient City
Wu Xiaoru
(Preface to Return of the Ancient City)
Mr. Lingxiao Xu (1886— 196 1), the author of Return from the Old City, is one of the older generation scholars whom I have respected and admired all my life. As early as junior high school, I loved reading my husband's articles. In the mid-1950s, I had the honor of visiting my husband's apartment face to face, and at the same time, I also met my husband's younger brother, Mr. Yi Shi. At that time, Mr. Yi Shi had recovered from cerebral thrombosis, and his speech was very difficult, so he listened to Mr. Ling Xiao's teaching. The topic of discussion is mainly about Beijing Opera. Mr. Gai is not only an old-school composer, but also can appear as BLACKPINK, so what he said is naturally to the point. But after many years, its content can't be preserved today.
Ling Xiao, whose real name is Ren Jin, whose name is Yunfu, is from Yixing, Jiangsu. When I was a child, I studied in Jinan University, and I had a deep understanding of the past, which won the appreciation of Teacher Song. And Long entered the Civil Engineering Department of Jingshi University Hall (predecessor of Peking University). Later, when the country was in danger and the people's livelihood was haggard, he thought of serving the country with articles and eventually taking writing as his career. In the 1930s and 1940s, I often read Mr. Ling Xiao's column in the newspaper, with hundreds of words every day, talking about the past and discussing the present, appreciating the art of drama criticism, being concise, profound and delicate. Unfortunately, it was not made up, and now it is Guangling San. The only thing left is the novel Return of the Ancient City serialized by Mr. Wang in Shanghai Times 1928, but he was not alone at that time. By the end of last century, Mr. Zexing, the son of Mr. Wang, was responsible for editing the manuscripts of newspapers and periodicals, slightly deleting 800,000 words from the original book, all of which were more than 600,000 words, adding the title back, and still dividing it into two parts. This book will be published by Beijing Tongxin Publishing House soon. I asked the author to read it through and write a preface as an introduction. After memorizing, I want to say briefly-
Although this book seems to be an autobiographical "documentary" novel, it does not focus on the plot. The protagonist in the book has a name of Lu Jia, that is, the author claims to be the old remnant in Lao Can's travels, that is, the author of his book, Liu E himself. Cover the word "Yu", that is, take half a word "Xu" instead of the author's surname (this method is often used for the names of characters in books, such as Kang Youwei and Yuan); As for "Lujia", he took the first few words of the translated names of Luke and Gabriel (now translated as Chaplin) as his own name, thus mocking himself. His book was compiled when the author entered the Capital University Hall, and then extended to the academic and political circles, including the scenery of the school, the dynamics of teachers and students, the ugliness of officialdom and the political situation. The author is interested in writing. Until the Revolution of 1911, the Qing emperor abdicated. In the middle, there are all kinds of world conditions and customs of old Beijing (such as restaurants, tea shops, brothels, theaters, shops, hospitals, etc.). ), with the evolution of current affairs in the late Qing Dynasty as the main line. The second part focuses on the performance records of many famous actors who were active on the stage of Peking Opera in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China. In the meantime, the author naturally wrote about the artist's moral character, artistic level and performance characteristics of each play. In a word, the first part is of reference value to those who study modern history and folk customs in the late Qing Dynasty, and the second part is of high literary and aesthetic value to those who study opera, which is extremely precious historical materials of opera. Among them, the author talks about the inheritance of Beijing opera schools and has incisive opinions. He thinks that Tan Xinpei, Wang Guifen and Sun Juxian are all descendants of Cheng Changgeng, but they have their own characteristics. If all three of them studied under Chang Geng, it would be impossible for the three performing artists to open their own schools. In addition, he made similar comments on Yang Xiaolou and Mei Lanfang.
For the celebrities at that time, the author only focuses on Yan Xiu, the founder of Tianjin Nankai School. He thinks that he is virtuous and knowledgeable, and his education will benefit future generations. At the end of the first part, he spared no effort to praise him. As for the Peking Opera actor, Jia Biyun (who later played Pi Huang) was praised not only for his high artistic level, but also for his personality, which was a model of virtue and art at that time. It can be seen that Mr. Ling Xiao is at the forefront of the older generation of scholars in both ideological level and values.
I have read this book twice before and after. I think it is a very readable "documentary" novel, which is worth reading and pondering for a while. Now Tongxin Publishing House has published this excellent reading "Fu Zi" which has been buried for a long time. This is indeed a matter of infinite merit.
Lingxiao Xu's legacy was published 70 years later.
Lingxiao Xu, a famous journalist in the early years of the Republic of China, recently published a Beijing-style documentary novel The Return of the Ancient City by Tongxin Publishing House.
Lingxiao Xu was originally named Xu Renjin. Since 19 10, I have been engaged in journalism for more than 30 years and have written a lot of newsletters and comments. He has been the editor-in-chief of the supplement of Beijing Daily, Morning Post and Ta Kung Pao, and the Beijing correspondent of The Times. Together with Huang Yuansheng and Shao Piaoping, he was called "three outstanding journalists" by the press at that time.
1928, Lingxiao Xu's Return of the Ancient City began to be serialized in Shanghai Times. Once the novel was published, it was well received by all parties. From 1793, a series of entanglements caused by the British envoy's visit to Emperor Qianlong in Jehol, to the end of Yuan Shikai's failure to become emperor, the book spans more than one hundred years. This book is divided into two volumes. The first volume mainly describes the ups and downs of the official family, reflecting various stories that people rarely know in politics before and after Yuan Shikai proclaimed himself emperor. The second volume describes the development and changes of Peking Opera and the "popularity" history of famous actors Tan Xinpei and Mei Lanfang, which reflects the folk customs and living conditions of the capital from one side.
For various reasons, the novel was not published in time after the completion of serialization, and then it was shelved due to many wars. The author Lingxiao Xu also died on 196 1. Until this year, Return of the Ancient City was finally published by Tongxin Publishing House after nearly 70 years of dust. Fang Hanqi, a famous expert in news history, once said that The Return of the Ancient City is an encyclopedia that comprehensively understands the life in Beijing in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, and it is a magnificent masterpiece that can be compared with such famous works as Wonders Seen in Twenty Years and Flowers of Evil.