周有光与浙江的缘分
2017-05-13马黎张瑾华
马黎?张瑾华
2017年1月14日,112岁的周有光先生辞世。这位1906年1月13日生于江苏常州青果巷的老人,刚刚在前一天过了112岁生日。他曾经笑言:“老话叫做长命百岁。100岁是人的生命极限,我一不小心身处例外了。”
周有光是著名语言学家、文字学家、经济学家。他早年专攻经济,近50岁时转行,参与设计汉语拼音方案,被誉为“汉语拼音之父”。85岁以后开始研究文化学问题。
1月10日,浙江大学副校长罗卫东和浙江大学出版社总编辑袁亚春一行人,专程去北京看望他,这是几年来的惯例。袁亚春在微信朋友圈中,记录了与老先生见面的情形——
周有光先生的身体状态明显不如去年(所以没有拍照),但还是清清爽爽的,房间里的陈设基本没变,他已故妻子张允和先生的画像还是摆放在沙发正对面的書架上,这也许是一对世纪老人最会心的对视空间了!
罗卫东说:“这是连续第四年在生日前夕去拜望周老,跟他汇报浙江大学周有光语言文化研究中心一年来的工作,给付浙江大学出版社出版张允和作品集的稿酬等,承蒙周家赠送周老112周年寿碗。没想到周老就走了。”
1月10日那天,是罗卫东最后一次当面向周有光汇报工作。
2015年5月,浙江大学周有光语言文字学研究中心正式成立,该研究中心是国内首家周有光语言文字研究单位。
每次去拜访,浙大人与周老都会互赠礼物。“周老是重情重礼的,每次送给我们的都是寿碗,我们带给老人家的,自然是吃的、穿的。这次去,罗校长还送了鸽子蛋,据说鸽子蛋营养好,所以就准备了鸽子蛋。这个都事先跟照顾周老的阿姨沟通过,可惜先生已经吃不了。”
《逝年如水——周有光百年口述》、《周有光苏培成语文书简》,以及周老太太张允和的《曲终人不散》、《昆曲日记》、《女人不是花》等著作,都是由浙大出版社出版的。周有光及其亲属还把他的档案资料捐赠给了浙江大学档案馆。
最后一本书,浙江大学出版
此前,钱江晚报主办春风图书势力榜,在2016年4月,将周有光评为年度致敬人物,他的《逝年如水——周有光百年口述》在2015年出版。因为年事已高,那次,他的外甥女毛晓园特来杭州替他领了这个大奖。
这本书的编辑叶芳从2009年开始策划、出版周有光的文集,并与先生熟识。“他希望作品能系统集中地出版,一直跟我说,文集出版,对他一生的总结就有了。”叶芳说。
书稿的完成,是在2014年年底,所以,在书的“尾声”部分,我们见到了109岁的“汉语拼音之父”为书出版特地增补的“心里话”。他说:“感谢上帝,让我在这个年纪还有一个清晰的头脑和思考能力。虽然我对个人生与死早已淡薄,但我所记忆的历史还在前行。”
其实,书里的内容,却是周有光在1996年至1997年对朋友宋铁铮口述的人生故事,那时,他也已经91岁了。
“当年的口述,都录在30多盘磁带里,但是讲到最后,突然没了录音,缺了一个尾巴,就请他用后记补一下。另外,从1996年年底完成口述,到2015年出版,已经过去20年了,过了这么久,读者会有疑问,他现在怎么样了呢?毕竟老先生还健在,所以,这个尾声是对‘现在做的一个弥补。”叶芳跟周老聊完之后,把他的话记录下来,整理成了这篇“尾声”。
周有光看完这本“自己的历史”,有什么评价?
叶芳说,先生觉得书给别人看,让人能知道他经历的“大历史”,能对这些史实引起重视,他就觉得,这本书起到作用了。
他还特别提到,一本书或一种观点有错误存在,就需要有批评指正,“他希望读者通过阅读,对历史中表现的事件提出不同的意见,来讨论,来纠错,他想通过这个机会,和读者交流。”叶芳说。
周有光从很早开始,不再把个人琐碎的事放在书中。他经常说:不要谈我个人,我们只谈大事情。“他对纯粹满足个人情趣的事不谈,他在书里也说自己的历史,比如抗战,后来去美国的生活,但是,这些个人生活,背后折射的是对大历史的关切。”
所以,周老找叶芳来家里谈事,“理由”一定是一件大事。
2015年年初,周有光唯一的儿子周晓平,在周老生日后没多久去世了。瞒了十多天,老先生自己察觉了只是说:你们跟我讲讲,他临死前的情况。听完后,周老说:我想一个人静静。
“他是一个随意地像水一样的人。”
叶芳说,每个人来家里拜访他,都可以和他拍照,就算是完全不认识的人,他从来不给人难堪。其实,周老耳朵不好,这些年来看他的人很多,有时候各种七嘴八舌的插话,他其实根本听不清别人在说什么,“但他不会表现出不耐烦,一直很认真地听,很尊重人。别人问他什么事,他不会说没兴趣,常说‘很好,很好,其实,他知道人致命的缺点,但不会说破。所以在这样一位大家面前,人们都会觉得没有压力。”
不说自己,也从不议论别人,但这并不代表周有光“糊涂”了,叶芳说,他在大事情的处理上一点不含糊,对未来国家的发展有自己的理想和目标。
那年春节前,周有光对叶芳说了一句话:我是认真考虑了人生的。
“他尽自己的力量做了他的工作,没什么特别遗憾的事,也不会有什么评价。他认为,后人会对前辈人做出公正的评价。”叶芳说。
在杭州教学生写新闻
20世纪30年代初,周有光在杭州民众教育学院任教时,当过教新闻学的老师。当时,学校要开办一门新闻学课程。“什么是新闻,怎么做新闻记者,新闻学、新闻在现代社会里占据什么地位。”这些,都是他要讲授的内容。
从《逝年如水——周有光百年口述》中可以读到,周有光的授课方式很活泼,他不仅教给学生一些原理,叫他们看一点中国的、外国的材料,还经常要他们写新闻。学生们对这门课也非常有兴趣。
当时,学校里有一张小报,这小报就是周有光这门新闻学课的一个实验园地。
“教学生怎么写新闻,一件事情应该怎么报道,内容怎么选择,文章要怎么写。比如说吧,一个新闻总要有一个题目,这个题目要给读者信息,这个题目要说清楚内容是什么,不能像写小说那样,看了题目不知道内容是什么东西。还有呢,新闻报道要求第一段只能有一句或者两句三句,不能长,要把内容概括一下。诸如此类。”
在杭州恋上一生挚爱
周有光把杭州看得很重,还因为妻子张允和。
1932年春,杭州六和塔下。张允和穿着映山红旗袍,斜躺在草地上,姿势有些僵硬。“恋爱中周有光第一次为我拍照片,我被绿树、绿草拥抱着。”眼前的周有光,玳瑁眼镜,西服领带,风度翩翩。昆曲里,“私定终身后花园,落难公子中状元”的情节,一直在她的小脑袋中回旋。多年后,她在文章里写道,喜欢昆曲,“和我长大了选择丈夫要一个知识分子有关。”
1931年,张允和在杭州之江大學借读——钱塘江畔,六和塔边,红色的钟楼依然安静地在那里。此时,周有光在杭州民众教育学院教书。两个人恋爱了。“我跟她的关系,可以分为3个阶段。苏州阶段,好多人一块出去玩;上海阶段,我们俩往来多了一点;最奇怪的是在杭州又碰到了,杭州风景好,是恋爱最好的地方,这是恋爱阶段了。”周有光这样写他俩的杭州。
一个冬日,星期天,他们约在灵隐寺,她穿了一件比较考究的皮领大衣,上山的途中,一直低声交流,但始终不敢牵手。
“我们在杭州很有趣味,礼拜天去玩,不能手牵手,走路还要离开一段。一个和尚跟在我们后面,我们走得快他也走得快,我们走得慢他也走得慢,故意听我们讲话。后来,我们在一块大石头上坐下来,他坐在我们旁边,问我,这个外国人来中国几年了?我说来了3年了。他说怪不得她中国话说得这么好!我的老伴儿鼻子比普通人稍微高一点,他以为她是外国人!”周有光经常和人讲这个杭州故事。
2013年老人生日前,笔者采访过周有光的儿子周晓平。“他歪着身子,坐着书桌前,像一个英文字母C。”周晓平那时说,老人如今走路不太灵光,都得扶着,不过偶尔能下楼走几步。其余时间,一天到晚坐着看书、看报、看杂志。“我每天会从网上打印一些热门的消息给他看,他脑子很活络,对民族发展的新闻,最有兴趣,还要敲敲打字机。”
周晓平说,妈妈是感性的,喜欢小说、刻图章;爸爸是理性的,追求科学知识的研究,但两人彼此尊重,“各自搞各自的,所以生活过得丰满。”
那吵架呢?记者问。
“他们哪里吵得起来,妈妈娇娇闹闹,爸爸又不响,吵不起来的。”
张允和执着于世俗生活,从不装出心如止水的样子,喜欢娱乐消遣。她当着友人的面,还调侃老郎君:“我不能对他吹枕头风,隔壁邻居听到了,他还听不到!”
“两个人都爱三样东西:咖啡、红茶、牛奶,每天都要来一点。”北京昆曲研习社社长、首都师范大学教授欧阳启名,也是《昆曲日记》的编写者,与张允和交往多年。她告诉笔者,自己曾在周家住过四年,每天晚饭都在周家吃,虽然有小保姆烧菜,但厨艺全是张允和带出来的。“她泡的醉鸡,特别入味儿。”
2002年8月14日,张允和去世。周有光在纸上写下“93”这个数字,画个圈,连同张允和的自述文集《曲终人不散》,送给来访的记者,署“周有光代张允和赠”。
一个代字,胜过千言万语。
Zhou Youguang and Zhejiang
By Ma Li, Zhang Jinhua
Zhou Youguang (1906-2017), the ‘father of Pinyin, passed away on January 14, 2017, the day after his 112th birthday. The Chinese economist, banker, linguist, sinologist, and supercentenarian was best known for his contribution to the romanization of Mandarin Chinese, which was officially adopted by the government of the Peoples Republic of China in 1958.
Interestingly, Zhou Youguang switched his professional focus from economy to ‘Pinyin when he reached 50 and branched out into the cultural realm at the age of 85. Zhejiang University unveiled a new World Linguistics and Philology Research Center named after the supercentenarian in May, 2015. Many of his works and several representative works of his wife Zhang Yunhe were published by Zhejiang University Press. The Zhou family donated a lot to the universitys archives.
The ZJU Press also published Zhou Youguang: An Oral History, the mans last book, in 2015. Written at Zhous dictation to his friend Song Tiezheng, the book is a summary of the life story of Zhou Youguang. A chat between Zhou and Ye Fang, the managing editor of the book, added a fitting finale to the original dictation, recorded in more than 30 cassettes.
According to Ye Fang, Zhou Youguang had no interest in talking about trifles in his personal life. He focused only on the ‘big things, for example, the “resistance war against Japanese aggression” times and his American years that encapsulated the political and historic vicissitudes of the world. “He called us in only for something really ‘big,” recalled Ye Fang.
According to Ye, Zhou Youguang was “a man as free as water”. “Tell me what he did and what he said before leaving,” he requested when he sensed his only son had left him shortly after his 110th birthday. He remained cool throughout and asked to be left alone for a while.
He was always ready to make people happy, Ye Fang recalled. He was always patient, and a good listener, despite his hearing problems in his later years. He had penetrating eyes for human weaknesses, but never felt the need to bring stress to others. He was smart enough to know the importance of not talking about himself too much and not talking behind someones back. “I think hard about life and have sorted it out,” he told Ye.
“He tried his best to fulfill his duties, and therefore had no regrets,” Ye summarized.
In the earlier years of the 1930s, Zhou Youguang taught journalism in a school in Hangzhou. The man won the hearts of his students with his down-to-earth style and his unique teaching methods.
Zhous special feelings for Hangzhou also came from his wife. The two met in Hangzhou in 1931, when Zhou was teaching and Zhang was a student at Zhijiang University.
In the eye of Zhou Youguang, Hangzhou is “an ideal place to fall in love”. “We met in Suzhou and got to know each other in Shanghai, but it was Hangzhou that brought us together,” Zhou recalled. “One day we were dating at the Lingyin Temple, and she was mistaken by a curious monk as a foreigner because of her Roman nose,” Zhou Youguang never got tired of sharing his story of romance.
“He spent most of the day reading books, periodicals and newspapers, and Id print out some up-to-the-moment news stories to spice up his daily reading. In his last years, he could not even sit properly, but his wit never waned with age. My mother was comparably more emotional, enjoying reading novels and seal-engraving. My father was more sciential. They were the other half that makes each other complete, and they respected each other throughout their life. They had a rich, happy life together.” His son Zhou Xiaoping recalled in an interview in 2013.
“Pillow talk never worked for us. I have to raise my voice so loudly that the neighbors would feel tempted to overhear,” Zhang Yunhe self-mockingly entertained her visiting friends.
According to Ouyang Qiming, a long-time friend of Zhang and the managing editor of Zhangs Kun Opera Diaries, one of the couples favorite pastimes was to enjoy the daily ‘ritual of coffee, black tea, and milk. During the four years she spent with Zhou and Zhang in their home in Beijing, Ouyang Qiming had dinner with the couple almost every day, and was more than impressed by Zhangs cooking skill.
Zhang Yunhe passed away on August 14, 2002. At the end of an interview, Zhou Youguang wrote “93” on a piece of paper and put a circle around it. He gave the paper together with Zhangs book with the signature “Presented by Zhou for Zhang” to the guest.