text/Bo Yang
hour news note: April 29 is the 14th anniversary of the death of writer Bo Yang . His words were as sharp as a knife, and "The Ugly Chinese" made him a symbol of the era, allowing Chinese people to fully ferment their reflection on traditional culture.
On April 29, 2008, Bo Yang died of respiratory failure in Taiwan's Xindian Gengxin Hospital at the age of 89. According to his last wish, his family scattered part of his ashes in the sea near Green Island. Two years later, escorted by his wife and children, some of Bo Yang's ashes were buried in Fushouyuan Cemetery in Xinzheng, his hometown, Henan.
Bo Yang's works are still being published today. In 2021, Oriental Publishing House published Bo Yang's "Bo Yang Edition of Tongjian Chronicles" (all ten volumes). The hardcover version is priced as high as 1,499 yuan, but the publisher stated that all 5,000 copies of this set of books have been sold out and are being urgently reprinted; " Bo Yang Vernacular Edition of Zizhi Tongjian " will also be unveiled at the end of June. The following is the preface (excerpt) of "Bo Yang's Edition of Tongjian Chronicles", reprinted by Hourly News with authorization:
" Zi Zhi Tongjian " is one of the two most valuable history books in China. By browsing this book, one can gain a systematic and full understanding of ancient and medieval society from the fifth century BC to the tenth century AD, covering more than 1,300 years. Reading "Tongjian" is like reading the newspapers published every day at that time, including the ups and downs in astronomy, the joys and sorrows in the world, the bloodshed on the battlefield, and the political intrigues and struggles; some people are happy, some are crying, some are bubbling with joy, and some people's experiences are tragic.
In this newspaper, you can see the righteous and stern speeches of careerists, and you can also hear the weird and shameless whispers of politicians. Day by day, these newspapers were bound into a volume, which became the bound volume "Zi Zhi Tong Jian" we see today. Only by reading "Zizhi Tongjian" with the same mood as reading a newspaper can you discover its function.
Thanks to Mr. Sima Guang for his contribution. He created this bound volume of newspapers, which is called the "Chronicle" format. He also collected a large amount of political news, military news, economic news, as well as some astronomical or other social news that the editor at that time considered the most important.
However, just like any good thing, there must be shortcomings. It is impossible for newspapers to publish one piece of news. Assuming that the news is continuous, newspapers cannot only report on this piece of news every day. Large-scale wars or political disputes often last for several years, ten years, or even decades. Therefore, if a reader wants to get a complete report of a certain event from "Tongjian", he will be exhausted.
And this shortcoming appeared immediately after the publication of "Tongjian". Just because "Tongjian" is too heavy in weight and has too many chapters, there was nothing we could do for a while. It was not until the 12th century, a hundred years later, that Mr. Yuan Shu appeared to solve this problem. He picked out all the relevant events in "Tongjian", that is, he cut out all the reports about a certain topic in the newspaper, reassembled and pasted them in order. This work sounded easy, but it took him at least two years to finally complete it, and named it "Tongjian Chronicles." In modern language, it is "the historical story of Zizhi Tongjian".
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Some people once thought that "Ben Mo" can replace "Tongjian", but it turns out that it cannot, just like a newspaper scrapbook cannot replace a bound volume of a newspaper. "Tongjian" is like a vast sea, with tens of millions of fishes and species; "Tongjian" is like a series of ponds. Although there are tens of thousands of fish in each pond, they are all of the same nature and type.
Although this book uses the name used by Mr. Yuan Shu - "Chronicles", and also uses Mr. Yang Wanli 's preface, it is not a translation of Mr. Yuan Shu's original work. Yuan Shu's version of "Chronicles" comes from Sima Guang's version of "Zizhi Tongjian"; and this book comes from "Bo Yang's version of Zizhi Tongjian". The chapters in the Bo Yang version are divided according to the Bo Yang version. The reason why I use "Chronicles" instead of "Tongjian Stories" is because I think it has been used for a thousand years, and it is indeed a good title.
This article is an original work of Qianjiang Evening News. Without permission, any use of the copyright of the work, such as reprinting, copying, excerpting, adapting and disseminating on the Internet, is prohibited. Otherwise, this newspaper will pursue the legal liability of the infringer through judicial channels.
