Memorial Biography
紀念傳記
紀秋郎 Charles Chiu-lang Chi (1933.07.28 -2020.04.25)
紀秋郎 Charles Chiu-lang Chi (1933.07.28 -2020.04.25)
父親紀秋郎居士,台灣嘉義人, 1933年7月28日生於日治時期台灣梧棲, 幼時受日式教育, 13歲時母親去世 即努力不懈, 精進向上。先後於嘉義初高工、台南工學院及成功大學攻讀建築學八年,著名的建築師貝聿銘來台做歷史性的訪問時, 當時年輕的父親即為學生代表之一。
父親生性喜愛文學, 在當時的學制下, 決心重考轉至台灣師範大學數學系一年, 之後再轉念英文系。畢業服務一年後考上當時全台唯一的師大英語研究所, 在多位學者門下鑽研英美文學, 並師承中國郵報 China Post主編陳欽仁教授學習英文寫作。之後參與梁實秋教授編輯《遠東英漢大辭典》的工作; 後來陸續主編了《歐亞簡明英英─英漢雙解辭典》和《新知識英漢辭典》, 這些辭典一直是許多學生學習英語的重要工具書, 影響深遠。
父親於1966年獲得全額奬學金到美國夏威夷大學東西文化中心進修,因曾是白色恐怖的政治迫害受難者, 經多人保證克服萬難終於成行, 期間於1968年春天到紐約哥倫比亞大學進修半年, 並於當年夏天獲得第二個文學碩士學位。
父親一生春風化雨, 1968年返國後即投身教育界, 於淡江大學服務多年, 先後擔任總務長、英文系主任兼西洋語文研究所所長、美國研究所所長、文學院院長及淡江評論主編等職。父親孜孜不倦, 1971年帶職於台灣大學外國語文研究所攻讀比較文學, 1978年獲博士學位, 以劉勰的《文心雕龍》研究為論文主題及終生的研究方向。父親認為《文心雕龍》是中國文論史上最精闢完整之佳構,是二十世紀之顯學,可"置於世界文論金字塔之頂端"。
在淡江大學服務期間, 父親與淡江英文系友侯登見先生、汪國華先生及林連祥老師等人設立英萃獎學金, 嘉惠無數成績優異及清寒學子。1981年父親曾受美國在台協會推薦為國際學者, 到美國多所大學訪問月餘, 在華府與後為美國在台協會代表丁大衞先生餐會, 討論諸多議題; 1984年父親代表淡江大學到美國明尼蘇達州Mankato州立大學交換教學一年, 為教育文化交流貢獻心力。
1993年7月自淡江大學退休後,受中正大學林清江校長邀請出任英文系主任, 並協助該校成立比較文學研究所碩士班。1998年受聘為東吳大學英文系客座教授, 亦為該校成立比較文學碩士班研究所, 造就許多優異學子, 為國內比較文學萌芽及發展重要的推手。 父親心性温馨, 熱愛文學, 有著温文的學者風範。我們自幼對父親的教學熱忱印象深刻, 卻從來不曾聽他提起獲得過的諸多榮譽與獎項。這些包括中山學術文化基金特約講座講員、中美區域研究獎金博士後研究機會, 乃至被收錄於1997年中華民國現代名人錄之殊榮, 讓我們更加認識父親, 以他為榮, 也以他謙和的處世態度為典範。
父親有廣泛的興趣和愛好,才華橫溢。除了中文和英語,他還說一口道地的日語,甚至自己學習法語。他學過小提琴,鋼琴,小號,喜歡在課堂上演唱英詩。他熱愛古典音樂,並鼓勵我們探索感興趣的事物。我們至今仍在聽他留下的數百張古典音樂黑膠唱片。從父親花了許多時間建立的唱片目錄可以看出他對音樂的熱愛, 這份熱愛啟發了我們從小對音樂的興趣, 也成為我們精進求學的原動力。
父親喜歡網球、乒乓球、游泳、園藝、木工、電腦, 攝影和旅行。他以熱情、機智、專業和幽默的態度結識了許多朋友, 記憶中常在放學回家後看到外國客人或學生在餐桌上與父親高談闊論的景象, 成為我們童年時一幅幅温馨難忘的畫面。
大時代的背景使父親對人文、人權及人類的處境特別感興趣。他的身教與言教時時提醒著我們如何過充實而有意義的生活。身為一個學者, 父親看似道貌岸然,並不多言, 但是他的話常常充滿智慧, 令人反思再三。不論處境如何, 父親常豁達地說, "一切順其自然”; 他欣賞自然界的美,思考和珍視這種美,並將他的人生智慧傳承給仍在不斷學習的我們。
感恩諸位親友懇切的追思及虔誠的祝福, 相信父親會感到這不是人生的終點, 而是生命圓滿且無限的延伸。我們將千言萬語化為無限的感恩與祝福, 希望父親跟隨著佛陀在一個更光明美好清淨的世界身心解脫輕安自在, 我們將永遠懷念父親親切的微笑及温暖的擁抱,也將永遠愛他懷念他。
感恩大家, 阿彌陀佛。
Our father, Charles Chiu-lang Chi (紀秋郎), was born in Wuqi, Taiwan (台灣梧棲), on July 28, 1933. He received early Japanese education during the Japanese occupation period in Chiayi, in Southern Taiwan. Losing his mother at the tender age of 13, he continued studying hard and eventually became a raising student in the field of architecture --- for a total of eight years, he followed the paths of Chiayi Junior High School, Tainan Institute of Technology, and finally at National Cheng Kung University. He was one of the student representatives to receive the famous architect I.M. Pei (貝聿銘) when he came to Taiwan for a historic visit.
However, our father loved literature. To fulfill his dream to study the beauty of literature, under the academic system at that time, he had to retake the college entrance exam and was first admitted to the Department of Mathematics at National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU), and he then eventually transferred to the English Department after one year. After graduation, he was admitted for graduate studies at NTNU, which had the only English Graduate Program in Taiwan at the time. He studied English and American literature under the guidance of many scholars. For example, he received guidance on English composition by Prof. Chen Chin-Jen (陳欽仁), Editor-in-chief of China Post. As Prof. Liang Shih-ch'iu (梁實秋)’s student and mentee, our father also participated in the lexicographic work of Prof. Liang and editing the well-known "Far East English-Chinese Dictionary" and completed a Master’s thesis in 1965 on D.H. Lawrence’s work under his direction. Much later, our father continued this lexicography work by compiling two other dictionaries: the "Eurasia’s Concise English Dictionary" and "New Approach English-Chinese Dictionary", both of which were widely sold and had been important tools for many English learners.
In 1966, our father received a full scholarship to study at the East-West Center at the University of Hawaii as part of a US Congressional program. A victim and a recent political prisoner of the White Terror political persecution in Taiwan at the time, through the generosity of many warrantors he was finally permitted to accept the scholarship and eventually made the trip, and leaving my mother behind as a guarantee that he would return. During spring 1968, he went to Columbia University in New York for additional studies, eventually receiving his second Master of Arts degree that summer under this program.
After returning in 1968, our father devoted himself to education, and served for many years in Tamkang University, first serving as Director of General Administration, then later as Head of the English Department, Director of Western Language Graduate Institute, Director of American Institute, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, as well as the Editor-in-chief of Tamkang Review. In 1971, he started his own graduate studies again in Comparative Literature at the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures at National Taiwan University. Finally, in 1978, he obtained his Ph.D. with the thesis subject on Liu Xie's (劉勰) The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons ("Wen Xin Diao Long", 文心雕龍), which became his lifelong research direction. Our father believed that "Wen Xin Diao Long" belongs at the top of the literary theory pyramid, and has the most brilliant and complete structure in Chinese literary theory.
During his service at Tamkang University, our father and friends of Tamkang English Department, Mr. Hou Dengjian (侯登見), Mr. Wang Guohua (汪國華) and Prof. Lin Lianxiang (林連祥) established Yingcai (英萃) Scholarship, which benefited many special-needs students with a merit-based scholarship. In 1981, appointed as an International Scholar by the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), the de facto American Embassy, he visited various universities in the United States, and during this trip, he and Mr. David Dean (丁大衞), later the Chairman of AIT, discussed many issues in Washington D.C. In 1984, he represented Tamkang University as an exchange professor at Mankato State University in Minnesota for a whole year, contributing to both educational and cultural exchange. Also by bringing the whole family to the US, he opened a new chapter for us children as immigrants.
After returning to Taiwan and then later retiring from Tamkang University in July 1993, he was invited by the President of National Chung Cheng University, Lin Ching-Chiang (林清江), to serve as the head of the English Department. Lured by proximity to his hometown, Chiayi, he served for 5 years and established the Institute for Comparative Literature there. After retiring a second time, in 1998, he was appointed as a visiting professor in the Department of English at Soochow University near Taipei, and he again established an Institute for Comparative Literature there. These efforts created many outstanding students and served as the germination and development of Comparative Literature research programs in Taiwan. Our father’s warm heart for literature and scholarly style is well-known, and while we were impressed by our father's enthusiasm for teaching, he never mentioned his honors and awards. These include receiving the honors of Special Lecturer at the Sun Yat Sen Academic and Cultural Foundation (中山學術文化基金), China-US Regional Postdoctoral Research Award (中美區域研究獎金), and being included in the 1997 Who's Who in the Republic of China. The discovery of these awards recently in his papers commemorates our father as our real-life role model.
Our father had a wide range of interests and hobbies. In addition to Taiwanese, Chinese, and English, others often forget that he also spoke fluent Japanese as his mother tongue, and even learned French in his spare time. He also studied violin, piano, and trumpet, and often sung English poetry while teaching in class. He encouraged us to tinker with anything we were interested in, sharing an interest in computers with us.. Importantly, his love for classical music had a big influence in the family, and is reflected in the enormous amount of time he spent in building a huge record catalog of hundreds of classical vinyl records, and we’re still listening to this treasure trove. This love inspired our interest in the beauty of music since childhood and became the driving force behind two of our careers.
In addition, our father liked tennis, ping pong, swimming, gardening, carpentry, computer, photography, and traveling. He made many friends with his enthusiasm, resourcefulness, professionalism, and humor. After returning home from school, we often discovered that he had invited foreign guests for dinner, which formed a warm and unforgettable imprint in our childhood memories.
Amidst the backdrop of World War II, his personal experience of Taiwan’s February 28 Incident and White Terror, as well as the struggle for rights in Taiwan and the US, our father has always been interested in both the humanities and human rights, as well as the overall progress of humankind. This humanism means that his practice and words often reminded us of the meaning of a fulfilling virtuous life. Our father’s gentle ways and manners exude a kind of scholarly honesty. As a man of few words, he always chose his words wisely, which were often full of wisdom, making people reflect over them over and over. Regardless of the situation, our father would often only say, "Everything goes with nature, so just let it go". In his work and his approach to life, he deeply appreciated the beauty of nature, and encouraged everyone to reflect and cherish this beauty. We’ve inherited his passion for nature, but we can only claim to have been in the presence of his intellect and wisdom, and are still learning from his lessons to this day.
Friends and relatives, we’re grateful for your sincere thoughts and blessings. It is our firm belief that this is not the end of a life, but a complete and unlimited extension of life. We will transform a thousand blessings into infinite gratefulness, as our father follows Buddha toward a bright, beautiful, and pure nirvana, free of mind and body. Of course, at the same time, we will always miss his kind smile and warm embrace, and will always love him and miss him.
With sincere and deep gratefulness, Amitabha.
敬愛的先進賢達及諸位至親好友,
承蒙您的祝福,我們摯愛的家人紀秋郎菩薩之追思奠禮已於5/18功行圓滿。
感恩您之隆情厚誼,以諸香花,含薰幽蘭,清朗芳潔,殊勝道場,我們至誠懇切表達萬分謝忱與無限感激!
由於在治喪及疫情期間,不便登門致謝,謹以此致上我們由衷的謝意,日後尚望各位照顧提攜,並敬祝各位法喜充滿,和喜自在!
感恩您!
紀秋郎居士全體家屬
恭敬合十