Ji Xiaolan is the most famous scholar in the Qing Dynasty. He was favored by Emperor Qianlong for his quick thinking and humorous temperament. His specialty is not being an official, but learning. But what is puzzling is why Ji Xiaolan, as the most outstanding literati of that era, left behind only a "Notes of Yuewei Thatched Cottage" and the "Collections of Ji Wenda" edited for him by later generations, but not others. What about his works?
Ji Xiaolan was a scholar in the nineteenth year of Qianlong (1754), and later served as editor and editor of the Imperial Academy. He was engaged in writing work until the 27th year, at the Wuying Palace, the National History Museum, and the Fanglue Museum Editor Ren. During this period of time, Ji Xiaolan wrote a lot of poems and essays, but no serious collection of essays has ever been published.
In the thirty-two years of Qianlong, the first two Huai salt transport envoys Lu Jianzeng lost money and food. Ji Xiaolan secretly informed Yili because of her relationship with her family. It was six years since Qianlong. It was not until the 38th year of Qianlong that Emperor Qianlong issued an edict to compile the "Siku Quanshu". With the recommendation of Liu Tongxun, Ji Xiaolan was released back to Beijing and served as the chief editor.
The compilation of "Siku Quanshu" is a huge cultural project. Books collected from all over the country must be reviewed and edited by editors, and then an abstract is written based on the content and commented. At that time, hundreds of thousands of rare and ancient books were submitted by various provinces, plus the existing books, the total is about 1 million.
Such a rich book requires many people to edit and copy. Sikuguan invited more than 360 scholars and celebrities. There are 16 presidents, including princes, academicians, Shangshu, etc., famous ones such as Liu Yong, Peng Yuanrui, Jin Jian, etc.; 15 general review officers; 3 general editors. Although many courtiers participated in the compilation of Siku Quanshu, it was Ji Xiaolan who was mainly responsible from beginning to end.
It is not difficult to imagine that Ji Xiaolan's effort to compile "Si Ku Quan Shu", although it cannot be said to be a waste of sleep and food, is certain that he has no other time to write his own book. Because each of the books included in the "Siku Quanshu" has to be evaluated by Ji Xiaolan, even the drafting of each summary has to be carefully refined and polished. After completing the review and review of the abstract, Ji Xiaolan will also plan and compile the abstracts in accordance with the four parts of classics, history, subtitles, and collections.It was compiled into a general catalog and became the "Summary of the Siku Quanshu", with a total of more than two hundred volumes.
Revisioning a book is by no means an easy task. Ji Xiaolan and all the officials of the Four Treasuries, regardless of cold and heat, made every effort to carefully review. Because this book is too voluminous, 200 volumes of "Summary of Siku Quanshu General Catalogue" were compiled for easy reference. Qianlong thought that these 200 volumes were still inconvenient to read, and ordered Ji Xiaolan and Lu Xixiong to edit 20 volumes of "Concise Bibliography".
The entire "Si Ku Quan Shu" is three and a half times the size of "Yongle Dadian", about 600 million words. The whole book contains 3460 kinds of books, including 75854 volumes. The whole book was first composed of four parts, and then three parts were successively copied, as well as a copy of the Hanlin Academy, a total of eight copies were copied, and they were respectively hidden in Wenyuan Pavilion, Rehe Wenjin Pavilion, Fengtian Suge, Yuanmingyuan Wenyuan Pavilion, Yangzhou Wenhui Pavilion, Zhenjiang Wencong Pavilion, Hangzhou Wenlan Pavilion, and the Hanlin Academy keep copies.
In the forty-seventh year of Qianlong, "Si Ku Quan Shu" was finally completed. It took ten years for Ji Xiaolan and others to complete this masterpiece. They were very excited, and finally wrote an entry table dedicated to Emperor Qianlong. Ji Xiaolan worked hard to write, without adding a little bit of writing, and finished in one go. The literary talents written in this entry are soaring, and people in the library are eager to see it, and all are impressed. Qianlong was also very satisfied after reading this article, and he gave him a special award.
If Ji Xiaolan did not have the energy and time to write a book for most of her life, this is understandable. So should there be time for the twenty-odd years from the 47th year of Qianlong to the tenth year of Jiaqing? Of course, time is not an issue, but Ji Xiaolan himself has an opinion on this.
Before compiling the "Si Ku Quan Shu", Ji Xiaolan was quite conceited about her literary talent. However, after the completion of "Siku Quanshu", his personality changed drastically. He had not written any treatise in his life, only "Yuewei Thatched Cottage Notes", and some of his usual preface and tablet articles were also discarded. No manuscripts are left. He himself said: "Since the "Si Ku Quan Shu" has been compiled, looking at the ancient and modern writings, he knows he can't write a better article, and those who think they have something are really too self-conscious."
Ji Xiaolan's humble, honest and serious attitude is the attitude of true learning. If you can’t write it, don’t write it hard. Too much cultural rubbish is also a crime. In fact, on Ji Xiaolan’s literary talent,To say that he can't write it out is probably not in line with the facts, but he reads ten thousand books and thinks he is inferior to the ancients and is ashamed of writing.
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