Speaking of his childhood, he still remembers it vividly. At that time, he farmed at home and went out to sea with fishermen. He experienced the scorching sun and saw the dangerous scene of choppy waves. These experiences had a great influence on his later life path. It was also in the village that Yan Chongnian began to go to school and was exposed to the traditional culture of China for the first time, especially the complete school.
1955 After graduating from Beijing No.6 Middle School, Yan Chongnian was admitted to the History Department of Beijing Normal University and studied under the famous Hui historian Professor Bai Shouyi. "Teachers advocate that history should not only be studied in the study, but also returned to the masses, and patriotic education should be given to young people with historical knowledge. He advocates both academic research on history and popularization of historical knowledge. "
Yan Chongnian was obsessed with the study of history, and he suffered for it. He used to work in a school. Some people say that he took the road of "white specialization" and "right deviation", so during the period from 1963 to 1965, he was sent to Juyongguan Beijing Nankou Farm for ideological reform. In adversity, Yan Chongnian still doesn't forget to peek at history books. Once he was called to talk. The leader asked, "Why did you go to the farm?" He said, "Change your mind." "Why do you want to read thread-bound books (history books) to transform your mind?" He said, "I study Qing history." The leader was more enlightened, so he stopped criticizing him. Just tell him to pay attention to the influence of the masses and arrange for him to work at night so that he can have more time to study. Recalling the past, Yan Chongnian said humorously, "If only it could be transformed into a red college, but before the publication of dozens of works such as The Biography of Nurhachi, Talking about the Twelve Emperors of the Qing Dynasty, and The Biography of Yuan Chonghuan, it was not well transformed."
The more books you read, the calmer Yan Chongnian becomes. During the Cultural Revolution, he neither joined the royalists nor the rebels, calling himself a "bard". /kloc-During the "Cultural Revolution" in 0/0, he was very lucky. He didn't get beaten or copied home. He just took the time to read. He said: "If you add the three years of decentralization, you have studied 10 for more than a year. Therefore, in the 10 year of the Cultural Revolution, in a sense, I was a' beneficiary'. " In return, Yan Chongnian has gradually become a public figure since the launch of Lecture Room in March 2004. Some people say that he was a late bloomer and became famous at the age of 70. However, Yan Chongnian believes that success is an endless process.
"In fact, before I went to CCTV's Lecture Room, my peers all knew me. All my colleagues in the world who are engaged in the study of Qing history and Manchu know me. But for me, this is the first time to reach a wide audience, different classes and different groups. " Yan Chongnian pointed out that an expert and scholar should be recognized by his peers first, and then by the masses. "It is difficult for a person to get two kinds of recognition. If you are a pure scholar, it is enough to have peer recognition. It is of course better to be able to go among the masses and be recognized by the masses. "
Yan Chongnian, who has been helped by scholarships many times on his way to school, regards repaying the people as one of the responsibilities of scholars. "A scholar has all kinds of responsibilities. The first kind of responsibility is academic responsibility. Mainly to communicate with peers and promote academic exchanges. But scholars should also have other responsibilities, that is, to return what they have learned from the people to the people. I have been studying and studying the history of the Qing Dynasty for 50 years, and I want to return what I have learned to the society and people as much as possible. I think this is also the responsibility of a scholar. Just talking about fashion In 2004, Yan Chongnian first appeared on CCTV- 10 Channel "Lecture Room" and gave 37 lectures on "Mysteries of the Twelve Emperors of Qing Dynasty". Since then, Yan Chongnian has become the turning point of "Lecture Room" out of the trough, creating a fashion of telling historical truth. At that time, Yan Chongnian published the Biography of Nurhachi, so he was considered to be the best candidate to talk about Nurhachi, the first emperor of the Qing Dynasty, in the Mystery of the Twelve Emperors of the Qing Dynasty. Nie Congcong, the producer of the column, went to Yan Chongnian's home with a letter of appointment. Yan Chongnian hesitated and only promised to give it a try. Results The effect of the trial lecture was very good. After the recording, Nie Congcong and the director invited Yan Chongnian to dinner and asked him to finish all the mysteries of the twelve emperors of the Qing Dynasty. Yan Chongnian dare not promise, only promised to tell another episode of Huang Taiji. After talking about Huang Taiji, the ratings of The Mystery of the Twelve Emperors of Qing Dynasty began to rise steadily, and the comprehensive ranking of Lecture Room kept the second place in the science and education channel. Yan Chongnian also gradually gained confidence, so he talked about Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong, and so on until he talked about Xuan Tong. After the mystery of the Twelve Emperors of Qing Dynasty was finished, Yan Chongnian began to talk about the general theory of the mystery of the Twelve Emperors of Qing Dynasty and the answer to the mystery of the Twelve Emperors of Qing Dynasty, which set the highest audience rating of the science and education channel at that time at 0.57.
On the basis of handouts, Yan Chongnian published a book "Talking about the Twelve Emperors of Qing Dynasty", which sold hundreds of thousands of copies and received rave reviews. Yan Chongnian once said: This book has a wide readership, ranging from academicians to 8-year-old pupils. Specifically, this book tries from four aspects, namely, "speaking directly", "talking in detail", "talking in general terms" and "new ideas". "Tell the truth"-unlike "joking" in history, this book emphasizes "telling the truth". "Telling the truth" means telling the history to the audience fairly and truly according to its true colors. Since 1980s, China's films and literary works have a special liking for the ancient history of China, especially the Qing history and emperors, and gradually become a "joke". This not only aroused people's concern about the history of Qing Dynasty, but also aroused people's doubts about its authenticity. People generally expect to "tell the truth" about the history of Qing Dynasty, and the best-selling of this book is the result of "a long drought meets rain". In fact, people need to "tell the truth" and "joke", and neither historians nor filmmakers can be asked to "tell the truth". For the audience, when watching "Joke", we should know that it is a "play" and that it is lively and cannot be taken seriously; When reading Tell the Truth, you should know that this is "history" and what you know is "the truth", so you can't just joke about it. When the cultural quality of ordinary people is improved, they can tell. "elaborate"-history is flesh and blood, rich and colorful. Previous history books were rough, and textbooks and historical works usually summarized historical development, expounded major historical events and commented on important historical figures. For example, the death of Emperor Guangxu is a word "collapse". However, these small events are often the focus, hot spots and doubts of the audience and readers. Yan Chongnian listed five explanations about the death of Emperor Guangxu in detail, and analyzed, synthesized and explained them from the previous archives, documents, word of mouth and works. Not only the viewpoints are clear, the historical materials are rich, but also the explanations are detailed, the analysis is in-depth, and opinions are expressed. In this way, history becomes flesh and blood, and it is very interesting to read. "General Theory"-Yan Chongnian believes that the rise and fall of a dynasty can only be seen vertically. The internal relationship between the whole history of qing dynasty and the emperors of the Qing Dynasty, as well as the mirror image of its rise and fall, the quality of chaos control, all need to be systematically expounded. For example, the twelve emperors of the Qing Dynasty had their own historical contributions and political disadvantages. So, what are the lessons from the rise, rise, decline and demise of the Qing Dynasty? Nuerhachi, the emperor of the Qing Dynasty, not only planted the seeds of "the prosperous time of Kang Gan", but also planted the gene of "the world decayed by light". Obviously, the Eight Banners system is a fulcrum of its "seed" and "gene". The Eight Banners System is a basic social system in Qing Dynasty. When the Eight Banners flourish, they prosper, but when they fail, they perish. "New Theory"-Yan Chongnian made a "new theory" on many events in the Qing Dynasty. For example, in the Opium War, in the past, middle school textbooks emphasized that "you will be beaten if you fall behind", while Yan Chongnian said that "you may be beaten if you fall behind" and thought that the responsibility for the failure of the Opium War was mainly borne by Daoguang Emperor. When Britain invaded, the rear was on the other side of the Atlantic. If the "diligent king" is called, Daoguang may defeat the enemy. There are many examples in history in which the weak beat the strong and the few beat the majority. The ancestors of Daoguang, in the Battle of Salhu and the Battle of Jin Song, the Eight Banners army defeated the strong with weakness, and defeated the strong with less. Forum legend: In September 2006, Yan Chongnian once again entered the Lecture Room, gave 46 series of lectures and published a book of the same name with the title "Sixty Years of Ming Dynasty's Death and Qing Dynasty".
In March 2008, Yan Chongnian gave a series of lectures on "Kangxi the Great" in Lecture Room, with a total of 23 lectures, and published a book of the same name. As early as the early 1960s, when Yan Chongnian studied the history of Qing Dynasty, he started with the study of Kangxi. 1964 wrote a paper on Emperor Kangxi, but it took many years to publish it. Later, his research focus shifted to before the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, but he never relaxed his concern about the history of the Kangxi Dynasty. "For more than 40 years, I have never given up studying and paying attention to the history of the Kangxi dynasty. Everything is always everywhere and always haunts me. " So, he finished a series of lectures on Kangxi the Great in the lecture room. When he made a systematic review of the history of the Kangxi Dynasty, he thought it had also realized his long-cherished wish for many years. In the book Emperor Kangxi, Yan Chongnian expounded Kangxi's growth experience, great achievements, daily life and no regrets from five angles: international, common people, television, justice and humanity. His broad vision, ups and downs of the plot and accurate analysis present readers with a plump image of a thousand-year-old emperor with distinctive personality, great wisdom and courage and flying literary talent. Yan Chongnian said that he hopes this book will become an inspirational reading, and he believes that the inspirational target can be said to be all kinds of readers. For young readers, Kangxi's self-improvement is commendable. He lost his parents and suffered from smallpox when he was a child, but he overcame difficulties and realized his ambition step by step. For middle-aged readers, we should learn from the book how Kangxi worked tirelessly for his country. As a specific group of readers, civil servants will learn from it, that is, how Kangxi ruled the country. Speaking of Kangxi's personal cultivation and self-study, Yan Chongnian spoke highly of a sentence: "What is the difference between saints, saints, mortals and laymen? Just two words-ambition and learning. " In the 20 12 year of the Forbidden City craze, Yan Chongnian boarded the Lecture Room for the fourth time and gave a series of lectures on the Grand Forbidden City, with a total of 64 lectures. At the same time, three books, Grand Forbidden City 1, Grand Forbidden City 2 and Grand Forbidden City 3, were published, which set off an upsurge of paying attention to, studying and studying the Forbidden City throughout the country. Yan Chongnian was the vice president of the Forbidden City Society in China, and his historical research topics were mostly related to the Forbidden City. After many field visits to the Forbidden City in Beijing, Shenyang and Taibei, Yan Chongnian put forward the concept of "Grand Forbidden City" for the first time, which immediately triggered creative inspiration-starting with the Forbidden City in the context of greater Chinese culture, seeking a breakthrough in interpreting history. Inspired by this, Yan Chongnian decided to open the extension of the Forbidden City for the first time, including the Summer Palace, Yuanmingyuan, Summer Resort, Shenyang Palace Museum, Nanjing Palace Museum and Taipei Palace Museum. Based on this, it deeply analyzed the feudal royal family system, mechanism framework, social humanities, cultural origin, architecture, cultural relics and folk customs that lasted for thousands of years, and made a grand project of "Encyclopedia of the Forbidden City".
Yan Chongnian said that his past forum programs were gradually deduced and promoted in chronological order along the life track of historical figures; This lecture on "The Great Forbidden City" takes architectural space as the main clue. Every time you give a lecture, you must first set the concept of a space, and then the time, people, events, buildings and cultural relics in this space will take root.
In Yan Chongnian's view, if we want to explain the "Grand Forbidden City" clearly, we must "look at the world first, then at China". Therefore, Yan Chongnian made extensive contacts with foreign historians and sinologists, and exchanged views with the "heads" of the Palace Museum on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, as well as many experts in the fields of architecture, history and cultural relics, so as to obtain a multi-perspective and diversified interpretation of the "Great Palace Museum" based on the comparative cultural foundation between the East and the West. Yan Chongnian said that it took him a whole year just to collect information and contact experts.