百岁学人缪天瑞

Miao Tianrui,the Hundredth-Year-Old Scholar

望九之年的学者不多，望九之年还在写作的学者更不多，而百岁高寿仍然笔耕不辍的学者简直就如凤毛麟角。文化界有巴金、季羡林，音乐界有廖辅叔、钱仁康，而像缪天瑞这样已达百岁高寿还在跨入21世纪后的几年间写出十余万字的学者，恐怕真是独步海内、绝有无双了吧!

Mr.Miao Tianrui,research fellow of the Music Research Insti- tute of the Chinese Academy of Arts,well-known music theorist and music educator,was born on April 15,1908 in Xincheng Township,Rui'an,Wenzhou.He was delegate to the 3rd,4th,5th and 6th National People's Congress,and served respectively as Vice-President of the Central Conservatory of Music,Editor-in- Chief of the People's Music magazine,President of the Tianjin Conservatory of Music,Vice-Chairman of the Tianjin Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference,Deputy Di- rector of the Cultural Bureau of Tianjing Municipal Government, and Deputy Director of the Cultural Bureau of Hebei Provincial Government.He was one of the first masters' and doctorate tu- tors approved by the State Council since the beginning of the country's reforms and opening up to the outside world in late 1970s.In 1999,he was granted by the Ministry of Culture the Special Award for Excellent Achievements in Culture,Art and Sci- ence. Miao Tianrui's representative work in the academic field is his book A Study of Temperament,which has been revised and en- larged for four times,from the 85 pages in the initial edition of 1950,to 122 pages in the revised edition of 1965,and to 263 pages in enlarged edition of 1983,and even to 326 pages in the extended edition of 1996.It had been half a century since the completion of the book in 1947 when the last edition was finished. When he wrote a preface to the book for the last time,he was already at age of 85.It is a rare case in the academic history of the country that a professional composition has experienced such extensive revision and enlargement.The author's insistence in keeping away from being conservative and his spirit of enterprise are so impressive.It is as result of his book A Study of Tempera- ment that a new discipline in the Chinese musical circle was es- tablished,one that is most closely linked with the natural sciences in the modern world, and a national society of temperament was founded,an organization that has been acclaimed for its down- to-earth style of study influenced by the personality of its first president Miao Tianrui. The greatest contribution he has made to the Chinese music is that he presided over the compilation and publication of such dictionaries as the Dictionary of Chinese Music,the Volume of Music and Dance in the Encyclopedia of China,and the Compre- hensive Dictionary of Music.These great dictionaries became the first authoritative reference books in the Chinese musical circle. In his space of writing,on the one hand,he has been at- tempting to solve the major academic problems of the 20th cen- tury,which is the objective that he has been pursuing for many years;and in the space of teaching,on the other hand,it is his other objective to popularize music.The two approaches share the same theme,and two ways have the same orientation. If Li Shutong is regarded as the first generation musician in the modern and contemporary China,and his pupil Feng Zikai is seen as the second generation,then Miao Tianrui,as Feng Zikai's pupil,should be the third generation in the modern and contem- porary history of Chinese music.Like his teachers and his con- temporaries,he also devoted himself to school education,transla- tion and compilation. When asked about the secret of his long life and everlasting creativity,his answer is simple:treat each day with peace.Today when he celebrates his 100th birthday in a peaceful way,it is as if he is greeting his everyday peacefully.His daily life is always regular,and his mind is working diligently.He gets up at the daybreak,and goes to bed when he feels like it,and even if it is New Year Day of the Chinese Lunar Year,he would also sit by his desk writing as usual.