Professor Pei mostly used her pen name, Pei Puxian, for publications, where there were over 16 books that she had written, translated, and published by herself, over 14 books jointly published with her husband, Professor Mi Wenkai, in the realms of Chinese ancient literatures, Indian literatures and poetry, and their most famous Shi Jing xin shang yu yan jiu (Book of Songs: The Study and Appreciation), which are catalogued in our U.S. Library of Congress.
Professor Pei had taught over 40 years at the Chinese Literature Department of the best university in Taiwan, National Taiwan University (NTU), received an award from the Minister of Education, and was honored as an Emeritus Professor at her full retirement age of 70 in 1991.
Throughout these decades of developing younger generations in Ancient Chinese Literature, her love to all her students brought her a nickname of “Mother Pei”, and nowadays, the universities are educating the third generation of students studying her published books as their textbooks, where graduated students and scholars touched by her are all over the world.
Professor Pei’s caring for her students and giving continuously without thinking of anything in return, passed on to her daughter and son-in-law, where they have been actively devoted to their communities in the City of Irvine, donated a plaque on the Generation Wall to Hoag Hospital in Irvine at its inception, for providing more nurses to care for the students in Irvine Unified School District IUSD; donated to South Coast Chinese Cultural Center at its ground-breaking stage in constructing the beautiful Chinese architectural building on 9 Truman, Irvine; and in 2017 at her passing, her daughter and sonin-law promptly established a perpetual scholarship, in the name of “Professors Mi Wenkai and Pei Puyen Memorial Perpetual Scholarship”, at the Chinese Literature Department of NTU, to further extend and expand the development of PhD students to focus their researches in Ancient Chinese Literature; just to name a few. Professor Pei had moved to Irvine, California upon her retirement age of 70 in 1991, and had been actively teaching, voluntarily, to the Irvine community’s literature enthusiasts, in the various Ancient Chinese Literatures such as Records of the Historian, Intrigues of the Warring States, and her most popular and renowned Book of Songs, among the other studies; and thus, built a strong book club community in Irvine learning our precious Ancient Chinese Literatures. She had also spoken at the Irvine Evergreen Association periodically on easier laymen’s terms of the Book of Songs to advocate our beautiful
Ancient Chinese Literature of over 3000 years old.
Professor Pei had studied with the world renowned Master Pu Xinyu in Chinese paintings when she was still single. After retirement, she picked up Chinese paintings again, and also acrylic oil paintings as her hobby. She on and off held art exhibits back in Taiwan when still teaching at National Taiwan University, and after retirement when living in Irvine. As the wife of Professor Mi, a diplomat for the Republic of China, and a scholar renowned for his distinguished translations of numerous books by Rabindranath Tagore, Professor Pei travelled abroad when her husband was posted to foreign countries; also travelled around the world after her husband passed in 1983, and after her retirement.
“Miscellaneous Recollections of Pei Puyen”, is a bilingual edition of her 2004 original Chinese edition. This is her most recent publication that was just released in
February 2021, published as an e-book by San Min Book.
It has added English translation to reach more readers; added her own beautiful and firm handwritten brief bio when she was feeling frail already at the age of 95; added her daughter’s bilingual Forewords; added a couple of updated photos since its 2004 original edition; and added both Chinese and English descriptions for all the photos.
This ebook is the autobiography of Professor Pei’s detailed life story, and can be found on Amazon Kindle, Google Books, Books.com, and Books.com/tw. (Courtesy of Dalia Chin)
Taken on 02/28/2016 for Professor Pei’s 95th birthday celebration at Sam Woo Seafood Restaurant in Irvine, with friends and family.
2016 年與親友在爾灣慶祝 95 歲大壽
裴溥言教授主要以筆名裴普賢來出版著作。她自己寫作、翻譯和出版的書超過 16 本，與其夫婿糜文開教授共同出版 14 本書以上，包含中國古典文學、印度文學和詩歌等等，他們最有名的《詩經欣賞與研究》全套四冊，都在美國國會圖書館內有編目存檔。
裴教授在台灣大學的中國文學系任教 40 多年，獲得了教育部長「教澤深長」的獎碑，並在 1991 年她年滿 70 歲退休時，被孫震校長授予「榮譽教授」的頭銜。在這幾十年教育學生、推廣發展中國古代文學的期間，她對全體學生的熱愛使她獲得了「裴媽媽」的暱稱。如今，大學正在教育著她第三代的學生，以她的書籍《詩經評註讀本》作為教科書。她曾培育過的研究生和學者遍及天下。
裴教授照顧學生、對待眾人，一概只顧付出而不求回報。這慈善美德傳給了她女兒和女婿，他們一直致力捐獻爾灣市的社區，在爾灣醫院 Hoag Hospital in Irvine 成立之初，他們捐了「歷代牆」上的一塊匾，現今掛在醫院餐廳座席處，旨在為爾灣聯合學區提供有更多的醫院護士來看顧醫療爾灣學區的學生；當初並捐贈協助創建南海岸中華文化中心，是位於 Truman 9 號那棟有特殊中國傳統設計的大樓；在裴教授 2017年仙世時，她女兒和女婿立即在台灣大學中國文學系以父母的名義設立了獎學金「糜文開與裴溥言教授永續紀念獎學金」，以延續和擴展培植提拔專研中國古典文學的博士生；僅舉此幾個例子。
1991 年，裴教授退休，讓女兒迎接來美奉養，在南加州爾灣市定居，就一直積極主動地義務教授爾灣社區對中國文學有興趣愛好的嚮往者。她義務教授歷經十數年，曾教授過 《史記》、《戰國策》、《詩經》。
因此，她在爾灣市創立了探討中國古代文學的讀書群，並且定期在爾灣松柏會上以較為輕鬆的方式，引導眾人欣賞詩經，以倡導擁有三千多年歷史的美麗中國古代文學。
裴教授曾跟隨世界著名的溥心畬大師學習中國國畫、書法。退休後，她又重溫學習中國國畫和油畫作為自己休閒的嗜好。在台灣大學中國文學系任教時，她斷斷續續地在台灣舉辦過藝術畫展，退休後住在爾灣，她也曾舉辦過藝術畫展。裴教授是中華民國外交官糜文開教授的妻子。糜教授也是著名的學者，以拉賓德拉納特·泰戈爾（Rabindranath Tagore）的多本著作的出色譯本而著稱。裴教授起先因著丈夫出差全家被調到國外，而有機會到處旅行遊玩。糜教授於 1983年過世後、以及她從臺大中文系退休後，她也經常旅行，到過之處幾乎算是周遊了世界。
《溥言雜憶》在 2021 年 2 月剛出版了中英雙語合版電子書，書內詳細描述裴教授的一生點滴，並加入近期的事項、照片、裴教授手稿事略等等。可以在亞馬遜 Amazon Kindle、谷歌 Google Books、Books.com、以及 Books.com/tw 購買。（Dalia Chin 提供）