Ren Jiyu, a life for the cause and a heart for the motherland

“Ren’s most important academic contribution was to study the philosophical history of China with a Marxist materialistic interpretation of history and a dialectic method of analysis, as well as to begin to observe religious issues from Marxist perspectives,” Du summarized. When it was generally acknowledged in international academic circles that “there was no religion of China origin,” it was Ren who argued that Confucianism was the religion of China and its founder was Confucius. This theory was a fundamental contribution to the traditions and culture of China. The study of such a subject is closed related to the important issue of elevating the nation’s cultural standards and has brought about a far-reaching impact on contemporary China and Japan, among other countries.

Du Jiwen recalled that Ren once said, “Socialism should not only shake off poverty, but also foolery” and “What is a combination of Marxism and the practice of China? It is a combination of Marxism with the patriotism of China.” In his life’s work, Ren had deeply integrated patriotism and concerns about China’s future with his academic research, something not every contemporary scholar is able to achieve.

Love for the motherland and the cause but not for money

Bai Huawen, a former student of Ren’s and professor of the Department of Library Sciences at Peking University, said that, among his many professors, Ren had many unique characteristics that others do not have, “Ren had led and organized many national level research projects of Sinology, such as Tripitaka (the Chinese Part) and the Collection of Great Classics.” One day, Ren called Bai Huawen and told him to compile folk classics for the Collection of Great Classics. “I was over 70 and suffering from diabetes and high blood pressure. So I replied I couldn’t do it. I talked with him for a long while and in the end he insisted. How dare I not accept his request?” Bai felt in the following days that Ren would never have liked to be a chief editor without having done the actual work. “He also picked up editors for other volumes, made decisions on the compiling principles and guiding directions, and went through all important documents personally.”

Du Jiwen also shared the same feelings about the dedication of Ren Jiyu, recalling that in order to persuade him to participate in compiling the Tripitaka (the Sequel), in a cold winter day, the 91 year old Ren Jiyu visited Du climbing numerous steps to talk with him at his home on the fifth floor. Moreover, of the five or six person editorial board, Ren’s salary was only around half that of Du. “He was an organizer in the editing of great books, but he never sought money. Sometimes people of younger generations thought he was a bit‘stupid’. He was devoted to his cause and to his motherland, but not to money.” Even after he was hospitalized this year, when he felt a little better, he went directly to the homes of the relevant State leaders to discuss the compiling of the book.