The issue of "Confucius deleting poems" has been regarded by scholars as the first of the four major "public cases" in the history of the Book of Poetry. Historically, there has been a lot of controversy, and so far there is no conclusive conclusion. Each historical period has a certain dominant point of view, and the same period is inevitably interspersed with the controversy of different points of view. Confucius's failure to delete the poem may be more credible than that. Of course, before discussing it, let's first sort out the past and present lives of the "Confucius deleting poems" problem...
The "deleted" He "poem"
"Confucius deleted poems" is generally believed to have begun with Sima Qian, the "History of Confucius Shijia" Yun: "The ancients, more than three thousand poems, and to Confucius, to remove their weight, take can be applied to the etiquette, shangcai houji, the middle of yin Zhou sheng, to the lack of you Li Three hundred and five Confucius are strings and songs, in order to meet the sound of "Shao", "Wu", "Ya", "Ode". Li Le can be obtained from this point on, in preparation for the king's way, into the six arts. It can be seen from this that the poems deleted are all poems of the Book of Poetry, so it is particularly necessary to trace the source of the Book of Poetry.
The so-called "Book of Poetry" is the first collection of poetry in mainland China, collecting 305 works from about 11th century BC to the 6th century BC and nearly 500 years, and its rich content is considered to be the encyclopedia of ancient society. The "Poems" is clearly dated to the creation of the poems, and scholars have roughly determined that the earliest creation was in the early Western Zhou Dynasty, and the latest was created in the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, a total of 305 pieces. These poems are divided into three categories according to the music: "Wind", "Ya", and "Ode". Confucius said, "I defend myself against Lu, and then I am happy, and ya and ode have their place." In his later years, Confucius abandoned politics and returned to Lulu, founded township studies, sorted out the Six Classics, and taught and educated people. He said to himself: "To speak but not to do, to believe is to be ancient." ”
The Book of Verses
After the Qin Dynasty burned books to pit Confucianism, it was preserved by scholars and was enshrined as a classic in the Han Dynasty. At that time, there were four families that taught the Book of Poetry: the Qi people taught by Yuangusheng were called "Qi poems", the Lu people Shen Peigong taught them were called "Lu poems", the Yan people taught by Han Bao were called "Han poems", and the Lu people Mao Heng taught them were called "Mao poems", referred to as Qi, Lu, Han, and Mao. The three schools of Qi, Lu, and Han were very popular in the Western Han Dynasty, and they had a doctorate in the middle of the dynasty, and became an official scholar, which belonged to the modern literary classics; "Mao Shi" belonged to the ancient literature and classics, and was a folk school. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Confucian master Zheng Xuan wrote "Mao Shi Notes" for "Mao Shi", and the number of people studying "Mao Shi" gradually increased, and the Han Dynasty classics and ancient texts disputed, and "Mao Shi" achieved an important academic status. Since then, the other three have been lost, and only the "Mao poems" have been passed down to this day, that is, the "Book of Poetry" that we see today. However, such a great work, due to its age and lack of reliable material, is still controversial in many respects and it is impossible to judge. Among them, whether Confucius deleted the "poem" is an open case.
Confucius's controversy over the deletion of poems
Strictly speaking, Sima Qian did not explicitly put forward the theory of "deleting poems" in the "History of confucius's family". It is only a description of confucius's more than 3,000 poems handed down in ancient times, after "removing its weight", only 305 pieces that meet the standards of etiquette remain, and make them conform to the sound of "Shao", "Wu", "Ya", and "Ode".
In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Ban Gu said in the "Narrative biography of the Book of Han": "Fu Xi painted gua, and wrote after the book deed." Yu Xia Shang Zhou, Kong Lu qiye. The book deletes poems and embellishes the ceremony. "Confucius took the Zhou poems purely, the upper CaiYin, the lower Lu, the three hundred and five, and the Qin and the whole, with their satire, not only in the bamboo..." Wang Chong, who was at the same time as him, also said: "The Book of Poetry was also thousands of pieces in the old days, and Confucius deleted and repeated them, and three hundred are in existence." This is the first time that the deletion of poetry has been explicitly proposed.
Zheng Xuan
When Zheng Xuan wrote "Mao's Poems", he agreed with Confucius's view of deleting poems, such as Zheng Xuan's "Treatise on the Six Arts": "Confucius recorded the songs of Zhou Wan, and the relics of the sages and saints of the country, since king Wen created the foundation, as for Lu Xuan's four hundred years, all three hundred and five pieces were taken and combined into "National Wind", "Ya", and "Ode". Until the early Tang Dynasty, Lu Deming's "Preface to the Classic Interpretations" still believes: "Confucius was the first to delete the record." Take the Zhou poems, the shang and the shang song, where three hundred and eleven. He also agrees with Confucius's view that the poems were deleted. On the whole, before Tang Kong Yingda, most scholars believed in Confucius's deletion of the Book of Poetry, affirmed Confucius's deletion of the Book of Poetry, and believed that Confucius did this to establish a religion for future generations, record current events, compile history, and provide reference merit for practical politics.
In the early Tang Dynasty, Kong Yingda began to clearly question Confucius's theory of deleting poetry. In the Preface to the Poetry of Justice, he said: "The History of Confucius's Family Yun: 'More than three thousand poems of the ancients, remove their weight, and take three hundred and five that can be applied to the righteous. It is the three hundred poems, confucius set it. For example, the words of the "Records of History", before Confucius, there were many poems, and the poems cited in the "Book Biography" of the case were seen in many, and there were fewer dead, then the records of Confucius could not be ten to nine, and Ma Qianyan said more than 3,000 ancient poems, which were not credible. This is a logical reasoning from the number of poems, believing that the number of poems outside the Book of Poetry is extremely limited, thus indicating that Confucius did not delete poems on a large scale. Kong Yingda also further strengthened this theory. "Preface to the Poetry Spectrum" Kong's Righteous Yun: "After these canonical poems were collected by King Xiwu, they were at the beginning of the reign of the king, and they were self-determined in the history of the country, and they belonged to the masters, thinking that they were always happy, and non-Confucius had to take them." That is to say, the "correct poems" of the Book of Poetry are not deleted by Confucius, but should be attributed to the history of the country and the Taishi before Confucius.
Since Kong Yingda clearly put forward the view that Confucius did not delete poems, it has had a great influence in the field of poetic classics, which has led to an academic public case that lasted for more than a thousand years, and the debate has been endless since the Song and Qing dynasties. Zheng Qiao of the Southern Song Dynasty said: "For more than a thousand years, there were only three hundred and five poems, and there were more than ten kings and one, all of which were written by the Shang Zhou people, and the master was also given to Lu Taishi, who compiled and recorded it, not intentionally deleting it. Delete the "poem" and advocate it. Zhu Xi believed that "Confucius rearranged it, and did not necessarily delete or not delete", "Confucius did not delete, often just published", "that once saw the saints delete that with a pen, save this, and have to go on the passing", so it is basically believed that Confucius did not delete the Book of Poetry. Wang Bai of the Southern Song Dynasty also fiercely opposed Confucius's deletion of poems, saying that he believed that "the words of Zuo Shi Zai Jizha are all in harmony with the current "Poetry", and the "National Style" is stopped, and there is a slight order. The poems that the Master did not delete, as Ji Zha claimed, were deleted without waiting for the Master." Since then, there have been many people who support Kong Yingda's views, in addition to the above four people, there are also Lu Zuqian of the Song Dynasty, Huang Chunyao of the Ming Dynasty, Jiang Yong, Zhu Yizun, Wang Shizhen, Zhao Yi, Cui Shu, Wei Yuan, Fang Yurun, etc., as well as Liang Qichao, Hu Shi, Gu Jiegang, and Qian Xuan in modern times.
Kong Yingda
Of course, there are also many people who oppose Kong Yingda's views, such as Ouyang Xiu in the Northern Song Dynasty, who openly agreed with Confucius's view of deleting poems, and further revised and improved Sima Qian's statement. He said in the "General Introduction to the Poetry of The Original Meaning of Poetry": "Sima Qian said that there are more than 3,000 ancient poems to be examined by Yu, and it is also said that sima qian is also said to be true. How do you know? The poems contained in this book can be counted. Extrapolating from the figure, there are more than ten kings who take one of them, and there are more than twenty kings who take one of them, and from what is said, it is equivalent to three thousand not only delete the whole article, or delete its chapter, or delete its chapter, or delete its sentence, or delete its words. Lu Ge of the Ming Dynasty believes: "In the heyday of the Western Zhou Dynasty, those who were sealed around the sea, 1,800 kingdoms, made each Chen a poem, also a thousand and eight hundred pieces." Written in the scriptures, only Shao, Zhu, Wei, Zheng, Qi, Wei, Tang, Qin, Chen, Juniper, and Cao Eleven Kingdoms are all poems of the Spring and Autumn Period, and nothing else is recorded. Mencius's theory of the 'death of poetry', is it indignant about this? ”
Gu Yanwu in the early Qing Dynasty also believed: "Confucius deleted the "Poems", so the wind of the nations also exists, there are good and bad, and both exist, the Taishi of Jugu, Chen Shi chooses his words with the style of the people, than his voice, to annoy and abuse, the so-called deletion of this master. Zhao Tanyun: "Can the purpose of deleting the poem be described?" Say: 'Go to its repetition.' Here Zhao Tan mentions "removing its weight", indicating that he believes that Confucius deleted the repetitive poems, which shows that Confucius had the possibility of deleting the poems. In addition to Ouyang Xiu and others, others who favored Confucius's deletion of poetry were Shao Yong, Cheng Hao, Zhou Ziol, Wang Yinglin, Ma Duanlin of the Yuan Dynasty, and Fan Jia of the Qing Dynasty. Since then, many modern scholars have also supported "Confucius deleted the "poems". Some of them completely agreed with Sima Qian's point of view, believing that Confucius had deleted more than 3,000 ancient poems into the present book of Poetry in accordance with Confucian etiquette norms; some believed that Confucius had deleted the Poems, but he was doing the work of "removing the weight" of different versions.
In summary, the deletion and the undeleted, the war of words and words, has been debated for more than two thousand years, and it is still debated endlessly.
Confucius's Uncut Poems
In contrast, Confucius's uncut poems may be more credible. Why?
1. As for the record of "Jizha Guanle", this is an unavoidable question when discussing "Confucius deleted the poems"
Jizha Guanle is the most cited and powerful evidence for commentators to refute the difficulties "Confucius deleted the "poems". Jizha Guanle was originally from the "Left Transmission" Xianggong Twenty-nine Years. "Wu Gongzi Zha came to hire, saw uncle Sun Muzi, and said it." Mu Zi said: 'Zi Qi must not die?' Be good and not choose others. I heard that "a gentleman chooses someone." My son is Lu Zongqing, and he is allowed to make a big deal out of it, so why should he be careless? Woe will come to the Son! 'Please watch Zhou Le. According to the "History of Confucius's Family", Kong Qiu was born in the twenty-second year of Lu Xianggong (551 BC), and until the twenty-ninth year of Xianggong (544 BC) "Jizha Guanle", Kong Qiu was only nine years old. It is probably unimaginable that an eight- or nine-year-old child can delete more than three thousand ancient poems into three hundred.
Jiza
2. Confucius said to himself that "three hundred poems" can prove that the Book of Poetry was already formed at that time
In the Analects, it is recorded that Confucius twice said "three hundred poems". Once was the "For The Government" Yun: "Zi Yue: Three hundred poems, in a word, thinking innocently." Another time is the "Zi Lu Chapter" Yun: "Zi Yue: Recite three hundred poems, teach them to govern, do not reach; so that in the four directions, can not be specific to the right; although there are many, but also think?" Qing Zhu Yizun said: "Poets, the dynasty of the palm, the marquis of the award, the satire of the primary school and the university, the teaching of winter and summer, there is no difference." Therefore, the League will ask Yan Xiang, the great masters of the nations to give poetry and see the aspirations, not to exhaust their native customs, so that Confucius will take the view of one person and delete it, and the ministers of the dynasties and the nations will believe in it and follow it? ...... As for the three thousand poems, it is not limited to the Thirteen Kingdoms. And Ji Zaguan is happy with Lu, singing and poetry, and there is no one outside the Thirteen Kingdoms. And 'Zi So Ya Yan', one is 'Three Hundred Poems', and the other is 'Reciting "Three Hundred Poems"', which may not be defined as deleted words. As many as three thousand, the musician is blind, and Ann can recite it all over the place? Those who doubted the dynasty and the marquis of the day were only more than three hundred articles. From here, it can be seen that Confucius said that "three hundred poems" was enough to prove that the "Book of Poetry" had been formed at that time, so Confucius did not delete the "Poems".
3. There are many verses in the Book of Poetry that differ from Confucius's standard of "etiquette"
As Confucius said in the Analects: "The evil purple snatches Zhu Ye, and the evil Zhengsheng chaos Yale also", at the same time Confucius also said: "When the summer is done, take the Yin ZhiRu, serve the crown of the Zhou, and the music is Shao Dance." Let go of Zheng Sheng, far away from the people. Zheng Sheng was obscene, and the people were destroyed. It can be seen that Zheng Sheng is obscene and unequal in Confucius's heart, so why is there many different standards in the "Book of Poetry" than Confucius's "letting go of Zheng Sheng" and "Zheng Sheng's obscenity"?
Kong Qiu
Similarly, in the "Book of Poetry," there are "Shao Feng Jing Nu" which writes about the intimate meeting between lovers; there is "Zheng Feng Qin huan" that writes about lovers' happy meeting; there is "Zhao Nan Ye Has Dead Birds" that writes about the union of two lovers; there is "Wang Feng Caige" that writes about couples full of longing and affection; there is "Zheng Feng Zi Gang" that writes about affectionate women missing men; there is "Zheng Feng Cunning Boy" that writes about quarrels and quarrels between lovers; there is "Qin Feng Qianye" that expresses that it is difficult for people to get close to them; there is "Zhao Nan Jiang You Feng" that writes about painful and lost love; there is "Zheng Feng will Zhongzi" that is interfered with by parents. There is also "Wang Feng Big Car", which resists the interference of parents. Psalms like these are contrary to the Confucian standard of "etiquette" and contradict "the order of parents and the words of the matchmaker." So why didn't Confucius, who single-mindedly practiced his ideas according to Confucianism, delete these psalms?
4. The problem of the number of poems
Zhu Yizun of the Qing Dynasty believed that during the Spring and Autumn Period, the irony of the order of the Order, the poetry of the scholar became popular, and most of the records used in the classics were derived from the present Book of Poetry, and Confucius could not have had such ability and influence to delete the Poems. At the same time, Kong Yingda's so-called "recorded by Confucius cannot be nine out of ten." Ma Qian's words about more than 3,000 ancient poems are not credible. The theoretical essence is to deny Confucius's deletion of poems based on the number of extant pre-Qin classics and poems. For related information, see Zhao Yi's "Three Thousand Wrongs of Ancient Poems" in the "Yu Cong Kao" article, "Chinese" cites 31 poems and only 1 yi poem. The "Left Biography" cites 217 poems and 13 Yi poems. Therefore, Zhao Yi concluded: "If there are more than three thousand ancient poems, then the cited yi poems should be ten times more than the deleted poems, and are there ten times more ancient poems than the deleted poems, and the cited yi poems are not as good as the deleted poems in 20 to 30 percent?" From this point of view, it is not enough to know the saying of the three thousand ancient poems. At the same time, Zhu Yizun also put forward several possible views on Yishi in the Jingyi Kao, Wei Yuan in the Shiguwei, and Zhao Tan in the Baoyong Zhai Notes. According to Zhao and Wei, "Poetry" was naturally lost and in small numbers by predecessors in the process of compiling pre-Qin classics, and was not deleted by Confucius; there were also fundamental denials that there were no Yi poems after Confucius, so Confucius did not delete "Poems", that is, "The Master has the merit of righteous happiness and does not delete poems." ”
In short, Confucius's uncut "poems" are derived from the words "more than three thousand poems of the ancients", "remove their weight", and "take what can be applied to etiquette", and the reasons for his denial can be summarized as follows: First, according to the "Zuo Chuan" record, in the twenty-ninth year of Xianggong (544 BC), the poems sung in the incident of "Wu Gongzi Zha lai, please look at Zhou Le" are roughly the same order as the "poems" that are now in common use, and according to existing data, Confucius was eight years old and it was impossible to delete "poems". Second, there are two references in the Analects to "three hundred poems." It can be seen that the three hundred articles have long been fixed, not after Confucius deleted it. Third, it is said in the "Records of History" that Confucius deleted the "poems" only "to take and apply them to the liturgical righteousness", and now there are still "obscene poems" preserved in the "Book of Poetry", which shows that Confucius has not deleted them. Fourth, most of the poems quoted in the Zuo Zhuan, the Chinese, and the works of the Sons are the same as those of the present, and the number of Yi poems is very small. However, whether it is deleted or not deleted, it cannot erase the major contributions of scholars of all generations in the "Book of Poetry". The so-called truth becomes clearer and clearer, and it is precisely because of the merits of the Confucians who have made it possible to make difficulties in the case of reason and evidence that scholars of all generations have conducted in-depth discussions and examinations on this issue, thus promoting the development of the entire study of the Book of Poetry to a large extent.