Zhu Xizu

Name in Chinese
朱希祖
Name in Wade-Giles
Chu Hsi-tsu
Related People

Biography in English

Chu Hsi-tsu (1879-5 July 1944), historian, taught at such universities as Peking (1913-26; 1928-30), Chung-shan (1931-33), and National Central (1934-44). After 1939 he served as executive secretary of the' Kuo-shih kuan [bureau of national history].

Little is known about Chu Hsi-tsu's childhood. His native place was Haiyen, Chekiang. After receiving his early education in the Chinese classics, in 1905 Chu won a Chekiang provincial scholarship for study in Japan. In Tokyo, he enrolled at Waseda University and took courses in history and geography. He also studied phonetics with his fellow-provincial Chang Ping-lin (q.v.), who then was editing the Min-pao [people's journal] and lecturing on Chinese studies. The two men formed a lasting friendship.

After the revolution of 1911, Chu Hsi-tsu was appointed magistrate of his native district of Haiyen in Chekiang province, but he soon left that office to serve in the provincial department of education. In 1913 he went to Peking to attend a conference on the standardization of spoken Chinese. There he proposed the use of a phonetic alphabet as a preliminary step toward linguistic unification, an idea which earlier had been proposed by Chang Ping-lin. After that conference, Chu Hsi-tsu was invited to teach at National Peking University, where he soon became chairman of the department of Chinese. After Chang Ping-lin was placed under house arrest by Yuan Shih-k'ai, Chu Hsi-tsu was one of the few former students to continue to pay regular visits to Chang. Chu Hsi-tsu joined the Ch'ing-shih kuan [bureau of Ch'ing history], headed by Chao Erh-sun (q.v.), but soon resigned from that post to protest Chao's affiliation with Yuan Shih-k'ai. In 1926 Chu left his teaching position at Peking University when Chang Tso-lin (q.v.) proclaimed himself commander in chief at Peking and began to interfere with academic freedom. Since Tsinghua and Fu-jen universities were less involved with politics, he taught at those two institutions instead. He did, however, handle the purchase for Peking University of the archives in the Ch'ing palace. Chu was known for his advocacy of the theory that Chinese students of history should be equipped with a richer knowledge of modern social science theories. He also collaborated with Hu Shih (q.v.) in popularizing the pai-hua [vernacular] movement. Chu Hsi-tsu rejoined the faculty of Peking University in 1928, after the demise of Chang Tso-lin, and became a research fellow of the Academia Sinica in 1930.

In 1931 he left north China and moved to Canton to teach at Chung-shan University, where he gathered materials for a study of Ming history after 1644. In 1934 he went to Nanking to join the faculty of National Central University. At the same time he served as a member of the council for the preservation of China's ancient cultural objects and visited ancient sites in Nanking, Anyang, and Tangt'u to supervise archaeological excavations. That work led to the publication of Liu-ctiao ling-mu tiao-ch'a pao-kao [a report on the investigations of tombs of the six dynasties]. In the 1930's, while teaching at Nanking, he made monthly journeys to Soochow to attend lectures given by Chang Ping-lin.

After the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese war in 1937 Chu Hsi-tsu moved with National Central University to Chungking. His activities, however, were not limited to classroom lectures. In 1938 he submitted a long memorandum to the ministry of education of the National Government advocating curriculum standardization in institutions of higher education. The following year he assisted Chang Chi (q.v.) in drafting plans for the establishment of a tsung tang-an k'u [bureau of general archives] and a kuo-shih kuan [bureau of national history]. After the government authorities accepted this proposal, Chang Chi was named chairman of the Kuo-shih kuan, and Chu Hsi-tsu became its executive secretary. Chu died in the summer of 1944 at Chungking.

Chu Hsi-tsu's writings on Chinese history frequently are marked by a strong nationalistic feeling. In this category are his wartime works intended to expose the evils of puppet regimes: Wei-Ch'u-lu chi-pu [a study of the records of the puppet regime Ch'u], Wei-Ch'i-lu chiao-pu [a study of the records of the puppet regime Ch'i], and Wei-Ch'i kuo-chih cKang pien. Before the war he wrote the Chan-kuo shih nien-piao [a chronology of the period of the warring states], the Chi-chung-shu k'ao [an investigation of the Chichung-shu], and the Yang Yao shih-chi k'ao-cheng [an investigation of Yang Yao's life]. In the field of bibliography he produced the Wan-Ming shih-chi k'ao [an investigation of the history of the late Ming dynasty], the Li-Ving ts'ang-shu Ci-chi [on the Li-t'ing collection of books], and the Hsin Liang-shu i-wen-chih [on the section on arts and literature in the Hsin Liang-shu]. In 1944 he published the Chung-kuo shihhsueh t'ung-lun [a general discussion of Chinese historiography], a revised edition of lecture notes he had used at Peking University in 1919.

Chu Hsi-tsu had four sons. The eldest, Chu Hsieh ( 1907—; T. Po-shang), received his doctorate in economics from the University of Berlin in 1932. On his return to China he served in a number of government posts, but later became chairman of the department of economics at National Central University. Chu Hsi-tsu's daughter, Chu T'an (1910-; T. Chung-hsien), a historian specializing in the late Ming period, married Lo Hsiang-lin (1905-; T. Yuan-i), another professor of history.

Biography in Chinese

朱希祖
字:逖先
朱希祖(1879—1944.7.5),历史学家,先后在北京大学(1913—1926年、1928—1930年)、中山大学(1931—1933年)、中央大学(1934—1944年)教书。1939年后,任国史馆行政秘书。
朱希祖的幼年生活不详。他是浙江海盐人,早年读了一些中国典籍后,1905年获得浙江省公费去日本留学。他在东京早稻田大学攻读史地,并从同乡章炳麟学音韵学,章炳麟是《民报》主编,他们两人结成了莫逆之交。
1911年辛亥革命后,朱希祖为海盐县长,但就任不久即辞去到浙江省教育厅任事。1913年他去北京参加国语口语规范化会议,他在会议上提议使用拼音的方法作为达到语言统一的第一步骤,这是章炳麟早就提出过的设想。这次会议后,朱希祖受聘在北大教书,不久就当了中文系主任。自章炳麟被袁世凯就地软禁后,章炳麟的学生中个别几个人仍经常探望章,朱希祖就是其中的一位。朱希祖曾在赵尔巽领衔的清史馆工作,因赵尔巽亲袁世凯,他愤而辞职。
1926年张作霖进占北京自称总司令,干预学术界活动,因此,朱希祖离去他在北京大学的教职。当时清华和辅仁受政局牵连较少,他便去清华和辅仁两校教书。但朱希祖仍为北大从故宫购得不少档案资料。他主张中国的史学工作者必须具有近代社会科学理论的丰富知识。他和胡适合作,推广白话文运动。1928年张作霖被逐走后,他又回到北大,1930年成为中央研究院研究员。
1931年他离开北方,去广州中山大学教书,在那里他为了研究1644年后的明史收集资料。1934年他到南京国立中央大学任教。同时,他兼任中国古物保管委员会委员,遍访南京、安阳等地的古代遗址,进行考古发掘工作。发表了一篇《六朝陵墓调查报告》。在三十年代,他在南京教书时,每月都到苏州去听章炳麟讲学。
1937年中日战争爆发后,朱希祖随国立中央大学迁往重庆。他的活动不仅限于课堂教学。1938年他向国民政府教育部呈递了一份长篇的意见书,是关于统一高等学校课程标准的问题的。1939年他协助张继为成立总档案库和国史馆拟订方案。政府当局接受了这一建议后,张继任命为国史馆长,朱希祖为行政秘书。1944年夏,朱希祖在重庆去世。
朱希祖所写的中国历史著作中,常常充满着民族爱国的感情,他在抗战期间意在揭露傀儡政权的著作,就是属于这一类型。例如:《伪楚录辑补》、《伪齐录校补》、《伪齐国志长编》。他在抗战前的著作,有:《战国史年表》、《汲冢书考》。有关书志的著作中有:《杨么史辑考证》、《晚明史辑考》、《郦亭藏书题记》、《新梁书艺文志》。1944年出版了他的《中国史学通论》,这是他1919年在北大的讲稿的修订本。
朱希祖有四个儿子。长子朱珕(1907年生),1932年在柏林大学获得经济博士学位,他回国后曾担任政府的多种职务,后任国立中央大学经济系主任。朱希祖的女儿朱琰(1910年生),是一位晚明史学家,和史学教授罗香林(1905年生)结婚。

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