Liu Xiangchun
"A Series Examination of the Academic History of the Qing Dynasty", written by Chen Hongsen, published by Student Bookstore in December 2019, NT$900.00
More than ten years ago, because of writing a doctoral thesis, I overestimated my ability and tried to compare with the Wang family in Gaoyou Although the father and son put a lot of effort into writing letters, they were getting better and better. They stopped and wrote again and again, but they finally did not dare to be confident. I accidentally used the convenient search tools at the time to check online, and unexpectedly found a large article by a man named Chen Hongsen on the other side of the Taiwan Strait: "A Research and Interpretation of the Book of Ruan Yuan and Wang Yinzhi Jiutong". After reading it quickly, I couldn't help but be fascinated by it for a long time, and lamented the uniqueness of the world. In this time, there is someone who is so good at studying! Since then, I have collected them one by one by name, and every time I see a leisurely and heart-felt place, there is a lot of fun and joy. It's just that the articles written by Mr. Chen are scattered in various publications on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, making it inconvenient to collect them, which is often regrettable. Fortunately, after his retirement, Mr. Chen finally began to collect fifteen of his great essays and merged them into a volume called "A Series of Examinations of the Academic History of the Qing Dynasty", which can be said to be the greatest blessing for those who govern the academic circles of the Qing Dynasty. I have read through the newly published book and found that the articles included in it cover three aspects: one is to correct the errors in the existing historical biographies and tools; the other is to examine the academics and lives of well-known scholars; the other is to discover and commend those who have been The scholarship and life of the Scholar of Obscuration. The three are intertwined, and their focus falls on scholars. It can be seen that the center of the author's book lies in people and is people-oriented.
In the past ten years or so, the academic achievements of the Qing Dynasty have been spectacular. However, as the author made an analogy in the article "The Hidden Scholar - An Essay on Zhu Wenzao's Life and His Learning", most of them are just tourists in a hurry. After a brief look, they can write a travel guide. Do they really have any understanding? Where? There is no way to know. As a woodcutter in the mountain of academic history of the Qing Dynasty, the author has been living here for decades. Since his roots are deep, he has gained a lot, which is inherently appropriate. Although most of the articles collected in this book have been read before, after re-reading them this time, I still find them rich and intoxicating. What it examines can be a conclusive conclusion; what it highlights can be a supplement to academic history. It is indeed a masterpiece that will be passed down to future generations. The author's academic method undoubtedly follows the lineage of the Qianjia School, which focuses on empirical research. To this day, he has not changed his old ways, and he can be said to live up to the Tathagata and is the only traditional scholar seen on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. In my humble opinion, in terms of methods, the articles collected in this book by the author can be roughly divided into the following categories: 1. Exploring historical sources; 2. Different versions; 3. Finding out the facts; 4. Reviewing the system.
1. Those who explore the source of history should not only identify the errors, but also identify the reasons for the errors. The text that led to the errors should be kept intact, and readers will know it at a glance. For example, the article "Wang Mingsheng" in "The Scholars' Biography of Qing History Manuscript" examines the matter of Wang Mingsheng's demotion. He first quotes Wang's "Epitaph" written by Qian Daxin, Wang's brother-in-law, and Jiang Fan's "Hanology Master Cheng Ji" to indicate that this is the source of the history. . It also cited the Biography of Luo Dian in Volume 8 of Guangxu's "Xiangtan County Chronicles" compiled by Wang Kaiyun, pointing out that it was inconsistent with the historical biography. Re-quoting Volume 603 of "Records of Emperor Gaozong" and the official documents of the Cabinet Treasury archives held by the Institute of History and Phrases of the Academia Sinica to reconstruct the whole story of Wang Mingsheng's move to the left. It not only distinguishes the errors in Shi Zhuan, Qian Zhuan and Jiang Zhuan, but also corrects the rumors in "Luo Dian Zhuan". There are only a few thousand words, correct and false, and a summary of historical errors. Another example is the article "Shen Tong" in "The Scholars' Biographies of Qing Dynasty". All historical biographies state that Tong once entered Sanliguan and co-edited "Yi Tong Zhi". The author first clarified the historical source and believed that it originated from Tong Zhuan written by Shen Deqian in the 19th year of Qianlong's reign. When it comes to the second volume of Jiang Fan's "Han Xue Shi Cheng Ji" and the fourth volume of Qian Lin's "Document Collection Record", there are more details and more details, and it is said that Tong was written in "Three Rites", and the discussion has reached the ninth level. official. The author searched extensively for documents and used Tong's "Epitaph" written by Shen Tingfang and Tong's letter to Fang Bao as evidence to prove that Shen Tong actually never went to Sanliguan to edit books. Furthermore, based on what Shen Tong said in Volume 8 of "Guotang Collection", "Inscribed on the Asheng Zhaibi", it was concluded that Shen Tong was actually considered to be a ninth-rank official because of his brief participation in the collation of "Yi Tong Zhi".
2. Different editions. For example, in the article "Jiutong Explanation of the Book of Ruan Yuan and Wang Yin", the author pointed out: "The book "Jing Yi Shu Wen" has three editions, and the first edition was published in the second year of Jiaqing, regardless of the edition. Volume, each article in the book is independent, not connected, and has no page number. It can be added as needed.The second edition was published in Jiangxi in the 22nd year of Jiaqing, with one volume each of "Book of Changes" and "Shangshu", two volumes of "Mao Shi", one volume each of "Zhou Guan", "Yili" and "Dadaili", "Book of Rites" and "Zuo Shi" "Biography" has two volumes each, "Guoyu", "Gongyang Biography", "Gu Liang Biography" and "Tong Shuo" have one volume each, totaling fifteen volumes, with a preface by Ruan Yuan. The three-engraved edition was published in the Shouting Bookstore in the capital in the winter of the seventh year of Daoguang. The entire book was engraved in the tenth year of Daoguang. The current thirty-two volumes are from this edition. "It is precisely because of the analysis of different versions of "Jing Yi Shu Wen" that the author can accurately grasp the relevant information of Wang's life based on this, and point out the errors in the dates of the predecessors and the present. What needs to be pointed out in particular is that the author The publication status of "Jing Yi Shu Wen" examined is not only crucial to the dating of the Jiutong Letters, but also the lives of other Wang family members and friends related to it. Another example is Wu Yi's contribution. After careful combing, the author believes that the epigraphy monograph of Yanshi in his hometown can be divided into five versions. Through the inheritance of content between versions, as well as Wu Yi's reply to Wang and his father's "Xingzhuang" written by Wu's son, he finally got it. It is concluded that the "Supplementary Record" now signed by Wang Fuzhi should in fact be written by Wu Yi.
3. Those who rely on the truth, such as the article "Qian Dongyuan Biography" in "The History of the Qing Dynasty", according to the "History of the Qing Dynasty". "Biographies", Zhi Weicheng's "Biographies of Masters of Puxue in the Qing Dynasty", Gui Wencan's "Book of Confucian Classics", Guangxu's "Jiading County Chronicles·Yi Wenzhi", Dongyuan, Yi, and Dong Kunzhong each wrote the "Mencius" summary However, due to the turmoil, the three books have no longer survived. However, based on the only remaining writing purposes and regulations, combined with Qian Tong's early death, the six volumes of "Dialect Yi Zheng" were edited by his second brother. The supplement is evidenced by the thirteen volumes of "Fangyan Jianshu", and it is believed that "(Qian Yi and Qian Tong) wrote the "Mencius Yishu", which is also the same. "In addition, "Qian Dongyuan was a close friend of his true love. They edited "Zheng Zhi" and edited "Chongwen General Catalog" together. Dongyuan and Dong almost wrote a book each, so they are incompetent. ...Yu Gu suspected that Dongyuan's "Jie Yi", Qian Dong's "Yi Zheng" and Qian Yi's "Yi Shu" were both written by the same book. The book was either co-authored by Qian's Kunzhong or Ben Qian Dong. He died early and did not complete his career. Dongyuan and Qian Yi successively completed it." Although there is no final conclusion, the analysis has led to the inside. Although what he said is not right, it is not far away. Another example is the article "Another Side of Duan Yucai's Shuowen Annotation into a Book", Duan once said to himself , before annotating "Shuowen", there was a long compilation of 540 volumes, but the author thinks that this statement is quite suspicious. The author believes: "From a logical point of view, the Beijing version was copied as early as 55 years ago. The clear version was not deleted and compiled into the final version. Then it was rewritten into another long version of 540 volumes. It is difficult to say logically. "It is also said: "... It is speculated that after the draft of "Shang Shu Zhuan Yi" was completed in May of the 56th year, the complete text was finalized and published in the next year; at the same time, it was planned to 'delete the old draft of "Shuowen"' and follow the "Zhuan Yi" "After that, the order is engraved. At the same time, Duan was distracted and compiled another 540-volume long edition of "Shuowen", which is logically impossible. "After considering the above factors, the author came to the conclusion: "Therefore, before Duan's annotation of "Shuowen", he had compiled a long series of 540 volumes. This statement should be Duan's fiction. "Duan Yucai devoted his whole life to explaining "Shuowen", but due to various obstacles, he had to pretend to be cunning. He once wrote a 540-volume long edition to prove himself. The author was undoubtedly suspicious of others and combed through the documents. Examining the facts and applying them to reason, it is believed that this is not the case, and the secret that has been untouched for two hundred years is quite evident in his scholarly style.
4. The review system has always been an important basis for document research, and the author is immersed in academics. Over the past few decades, I have become familiar with the system and am very familiar with it. There are also many people in the book who use this method to verify historical events. For example, regarding Ma Zonglian's academic status and officialdom issues, according to old documents, Ma Zonglian has already been promoted. After receiving the imperial edict from the government, he took the Chinese examination in the fourth year of Jiaqing, and he did not become a Jinshi until six years later. What is the reason for this? Even in the "Tongcheng Fufeng Ma Family Genealogy", it is not stated clearly. Now according to the "Ma Zonglian Xing Nian Kao", it is known that Ma Zonglian was not sold to the fourth spring official in the 60th year of Qianlong, so he should be selected in the second class. , for teaching purposes.In the winter of the first year of Jiaqing, Zhu Gui was transferred to the governor of Anhui. Because he cherished the talents of Zonglian, he only gave him a few acting teaching posts, but never actually taught them. "Ma Family Genealogy" and "Old Biography of Tongcheng Qi" state that he once supplemented the Dongliu teachings, which is not true. After Ma Zonglian's imperial examination, no historical biography mentioned why he did not take the palace examination in time. In the article, Mr. Chen sorted out three situations in which tribute officials failed to pass the palace examination, namely, Ding You, reporting to the palace due to illness, and palace examination. He also quoted two poems from Li Gengyun's "Daoxiangyinguan Poetry Manuscript" as circumstantial evidence that "Ma was punished for re-examination and rewriting in violation of the rules." Information on Ma's life is extremely scarce, but the author, with his wisdom in hand, searched far and wide, and was able to verify the important aspects of Ma's life more than two hundred years after his death. I have to admire his accuracy in research.
Scholars often live and die by their works. "Qian Daxin's "Yang Xin Yu Lu" Textual Research" records that in the winter of the eighth year of Jiaqing, "Yang Xin Lu" was brought to Hangzhou by Ruan Yuan to start carving. Zhu Ting was worried about it, and his physical strength was gradually declining, and he was afraid that he would die soon. In this world..." Sure enough, in October of the ninth year of Jiaqing, Zhu Ting passed away. "Another Side of the Book Annotated by Duan Yucai" says: "Due to the large volume and Duan's constant additions and changes, the thirty volumes of the book were not completed until May of the 20th year of Jiaqing. On September 8 of the same year, Duan died of illness at the age of eighty-one, only three or four months after the completion of "Shuowen Annotation", so Duan Yu's annotation of "Shuowen" can be said to have been completed throughout his life. Duan Yucai sighed to his disciple Chen Huan: "I am like a spring silkworm. The cocoon is ready and I am just waiting to die." Shortly after, Duan passed away. On the twenty-fourth day of the first month of the twelfth year of Daoguang (1832), at Yinshi, a generation of Confucian king Niansun died in the capital. In his letter to Chen Huan, Wang Yinzhi said: "The complete and remaining editions of the "Reading Magazine" were completed at the end of the winter of the previous year. I was fortunate enough to see the completion in person." What a similarity between these two things! However, it is not easy for scholars in traditional society to get into the profession. If you don’t take the imperial examination, there are few other options. For this reason, well-educated people who have fallen into disgrace often succumb to their ambitions, and their works are often lost if they cannot be published. In order to make a living, he often catches knives for others, so his name is Yuru. In this book, the author uses a lot of space to write articles such as "Research on Qian Piao's Deeds", "Identification on Chen Yu's Deeds", "Strengths of Wuyu Wuxugu", "The Overshadowed Scholar", etc., and commends the scholars at the bottom. Different from the flesh and bones of the living and dead, it can be said that the merits are immeasurable.
Mr. Chen's book has a large volume of thoughts and insights, and is rich in evidence. Letters, inscriptions and postscripts, diaries, and essays are all at your fingertips. This is the model of scholarship! However, because the author cherishes feathers, his writing and wording are akin to mysophobia. This time the old article is reprinted, and there are many rewrites. Although it is the icing on the cake, in my humble opinion, I don’t think it is necessary. New materials published later can certainly supplement the evidence and make the article more complete, but if readers have not seen the original article, it will cause some unnecessary misunderstandings in academic history. Looking at the articles included in the book, I think some adjustments can be made. For example, both "Biography of Qing Dynasty, Wang Xian and Zhu Wenzao's Biography and Errors" and "The Hidden Scholar—Summary of Zhu Wenzao's Personality and Learning" are included. Both of them have similar parts about Zhu Wenzao. The author has already written the "Chronology of Zhu Wenzao", so it would be more appropriate to just write the article "The Covered Scholar" and append the chronology. There is also an article "Jiang Yuan's Biography" in the "Biography of Qing History", which quotes the text of "Biography of Qing History", as follows: "(Duan Yucai) said: 'Other than Jiang Sheng and Yuan Zhi, no third person knows this list.' "The original compiler mistakenly added quotation marks here. Mr. Chen copied the original text without correction. But in fact, this is a summary of Duan Yucai's words by the biographer, not Duan's original words. Because it is extremely rude to call people by their first names, and it is especially disrespectful to call their ancestors by their first names. A man as liberal and elegant as Duan Yucai must not do this.
In short, all the articles collected in the book are based on documents, including discovering documents, interpreting documents, analyzing documents, using documents, coupled with the historical knowledge of the author as a historian, all in one go, which is philology. A rare masterpiece in research. Mr. Fu Sinian, the first director of the Institute of History and Language, where the author previously worked, once said a famous saying: “When you go up to the poor blue sky and fall into the underworld, you have to use your hands and feet to find something."Although the emphasis is on material archaeological data, it is also appropriate to transfer it to paper documents, especially Ming and Qing documents. This book uses a lot of materials that are not seen outside, which is the specific concept of documentary archaeology. Performance. In fact, it is this spirit of fully exploring the documents, accurately interpreting the documents, and making rational use of the documents that the author has been consistent in his research. However, since Shiyu moved to Taiwan, he has been bathed in the European style and beauty, and he can still do it today. There is only one author who maintains this legacy! In recent years, the mainland has called for the revitalization of Chinese civilization, and more and more people are interested in governing traditional culture. The publication of this book by the author can be said to be at the right time for those who are interested in traditional academics. That is to say, this book can be used as a sample for study.
Editor: Peng Shanshan
Proofreader: Zhang Yan
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