Abstract:Chen Yinke praised the historiography of the Song Dynasty and strongly admired the prosperous culture and free academic environment of the Song Dynasty, but he did not write a treatise on the history and culture of the Song Dynasty in his lifetime, which is a question worth exploring. Chen Yinke's advocacy of "the spirit of independence and the idea of freedom" comes from the influence of modern Western thought, and at the same time, he advocates not forgetting "the status of one's own nation" in culture, and there is a tension between the two. Therefore, he sought a case in Chinese history of absorbing foreign cultures while maintaining his own national status. However, many of his understandings are unstudied views and opinions, and most of them contain an inner yearning to subjectively beautify the academic and political environment and cultural achievements of the Song Dynasty, which are just Chen Yinke's personal ideals and emotional sustenance. In this regard, we should give "sympathy for understanding".
Originally published in Tianjin Social Sciences, No. 2, 2017
Chen Yinke once highly respected and spoke highly of the scholarship of the Song Dynasty, especially the historiography of the Song Dynasty. However, Chen Yinke's academic research is mainly on the history of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, and the Sui and Tang dynasties. Chen Yinke praised the historiography of the Song Dynasty and highly respected the "Song Studies", and what kind of ideological orientation and emotional mechanism there are in it is really a question worth elaborating.
1. Chen Yinke's admiration for the historiography and culture of the Song Dynasty
Chen Yinke asserted that "the historiography of the Song Dynasty is rare in ancient times", "Chinese historiography is not prosperous in the Song Dynasty... In the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, the knowledge of those who governed history was even less than that of the Song Dynasty." He used the superb achievements of Song Dynasty historiography as a powerful justification, and promoted the culture of the Song Dynasty to an unparalleled status, which became the academic basis for his macro conception in the history of ideology and culture. Among the ancient and modern historiography works, he was most convinced by Sima Guang's "Zizhi Tongjian", and praised his long compilation and examination method of compiling the "Zizhi Tongjian". Chen Yinke pointed out: "Most of the old histories of the Fuwu Kingdom belong to the category of political history, and the book "Zizhi Tongjian" is particularly an unprecedented masterpiece." He modestly believed that he had written the "Essays on the Political History of the Tang Dynasty" as "a draft of the present draft, which can be said to be beyond the limits of one's ability! However, the meaning is that it is only intended that those who are beginners reading the "Tongjian" can refer to it and may be inspired."
In 1925, Chen Yinke wrote "Chen Yuanyuan's Examination of the Huahua of the Western Regions", commenting: "Mr. Gai's insight, a scholar of our country, has not been seen since Qian Xiaozheng... As for the abundant material of the book, the organization is clear, the analysis and synthesis are both extremely laborious, and the scale of Song Xian's writings can be known to the reader... Today, the scholars of our country compete with the ancient history and observe their opinions, and there are sometimes people who are similar to the scholars of the Qing Dynasty. Sir is the invention of the book, and it will be able to show the yardstick and its tendency." Later, he said in the "Preface to the Analects of Yang Shuda":
Mr.'s method of governing the scriptures is similar to the law of Song Xian's history of the underworld, and the law of Tianzhu is similar but different. The words of the husband and the saint must be made for action, and if the facts are not taken to prove it, it will become the target of nothingness. The words of the Holy Word are simple and mysterious, and if they do not adopt the same words of the same meaning to refer to it, it is an unsolvable mystery. If the contradictions and doubts of the words are not examined and explained, the words and deeds of the saints will not be clear. Mr. Jin collected the facts and language in the ancient books related to the Analects, and occasionally made his own opinions, examined right and wrong, and explained doubts. This method of Sima Junshi and Li Renfu compiling and examining differences is unprecedented for those who have come to interpret the Analects, and it can indeed open up a new way for those who govern the scriptures and establish a new model.
Chen Yinke's praise of literary and historical treatises is often regarded as "the scale of the writings of the Song Dynasty", and the commentary on Yang Shuda's writings can be traced back to the academic style and academic methods of the Song Dynasty.
For Ouyang Xiu, who was earlier than Sima Guang, Chen Yinke also paid great attention to it. He pointed out: "Ouyang Yongshu learned Han Chang Liwen from a young man, wrote the "History of the Five Dynasties" in the evening, and wrote the biography of "Yi'er Feng Dao", denouncing snobbery and respecting integrity. Here, Chen Yinke's praise for Ouyang Xiu's "History of the New Five Dynasties" mainly focuses on the book's affirmation of the ideology of "respecting integrity", and believes that it can sweep away the style of the world during the Five Dynasties period, so that the scholars of the Song Dynasty can re-establish the upright ethics and moral discipline. In 1935, Chen Yinke set up a special course called "Ouyang Xiu" at Tsinghua University, and according to the record of the practitioner Bian Shenghui, the gist of the course was: "This course teaches Song studies on Ouyang Xiu. The so-called Song Studies is not Song Studies, which is the opposite of Sinology, but Song Studies in a broad sense, including historical literature, historiography, science, classics, thought, and so on. ...... Therefore, opening this course is actually the first step in the study of Song history." This is Chen Yinke's teaching plan, which shows that he plans to start the study of the entire Song history from Ouyang Xiu's research, and wants to prepare for the writing of a new "History of the Song Dynasty".
According to the record of "Wu Mi's Diary", Chen Yinke once praised Zhu Xi, believing that "the learning, literature and art of the Song and Yuan dynasties are all prosperous, and Zhu Zi collects its masterpieces." Zhu Zizhi in China, Thomas Aquinas in the Middle Ages, his contribution is indispensable". This is a very high evaluation, and it is one of the main points of Chen Yinke's view of the cultural history of the Song Dynasty.
It can be seen from the examples of Chen Yinke's comments on Ouyang Xiu and Zhu Xi that he admired the ideology and culture of the entire Song Dynasty, and although he took historiography as his theoretical cardinal, the scope of his praise was not limited to historiography, but he always believed that the Song Dynasty was the most developed period of Chinese cultural development. In Chen Yinke's view, the literati and scholars of the Song Dynasty enjoyed a free thinking environment: "The Six Dynasties and the Tianshui generation were the most free in thought, so their articles were also excellent, and their beautiful writings were invincible for thousands of years." ...... Therefore there is no beautiful literature without free thought, and this is an example that can be summed up in the rest." In his later years, he still emphasized: "The culture of Tianshui is a treasure left by our nation." This has a strong resonance with Chen Yinke's lifelong concept of "independent spirit, free thought". At a time when Western cultural ideas were pouring into China, Chen Yinke asserted: "In recent years, our country's scholarship, such as archaeology, history, literature, art, and intellectual history, has undergone significant changes due to the turbulence of the world and the influence of external influences. The realm of the future is not to be judged now. In a word, it can be said that the revival of Song Dynasty scholarship or the establishment of new Song Dynasty studies has been. The culture of the Chinese nation has evolved over thousands of years and was created in the Zhao and Song dynasties. After declining, it will eventually recover". The Song Dynasty is regarded as the peak of Chinese culture, and the cultural outlet of modern China is regarded as "the revival of Song Dynasty scholarship or the establishment of new Song Studies". It can be seen that Chen Yinke's admiration for the culture of the Song Dynasty has reached an unparalleled level. Therefore, how to understand Chen Yinke's concept is related to the cognition of modern Chinese academic history, and it should be discussed in depth.
2. Comparison between Chen Yinke's style of governing history and "Song Xian's historiography".
One of the important arguments about Chen Yinke's historiographical achievements and research methods is that Chen Yinke inherited and carried forward the purpose and method of "Song Xian historiography" that he praised, and Xu Guansan's "Ninety Years of New Historiography" and Wang Yongxing's "An Abridged Draft of Mr. Chen Yinke's Historiography" have detailed discussions on this. So, what are the main characteristics and achievements of Chen Yinke in terms of cultural concepts, historical research, and methods of study, and what are the specific concepts that can be similar to the "historiography of Song Xian"?
First, Chen Yinke advocated the purpose of "seeking truth and providing lessons for example" in governing history. The second part of his "Essays on the Political History of the Tang Dynasty" points out that the reason why he cites the historical materials on the rise and fall of the surrounding ethnic regimes in the Tang Dynasty to discuss the reasons and conditions for the prosperity of martial arts in the Tang Dynasty is for historical research "to provide a warning in order to be close to the truth, and to see that he also has propaganda texts that are different from exaggerated claims". At the same time, Chen Yinke believes that the purpose of "confession" cannot be abolished, but it must be built on the basis of truth, otherwise it will be equivalent to "propaganda of exaggeration".
Historical works that can systematically provide historical lessons have always been the first to recommend general histories and dynastic histories. According to Yu Dawei's recollections, Chen Yinke's long-cherished wish to write "The General History of China" and "The Lessons of Chinese History" is in line with Sima Guang's intention of writing the "General History of Zizhi", and it can also be said that he set the goal of governing history because of the emphasis on "General History of Zizhi". But throughout his life, Chen Yinke did not start writing, and even the minimum preparations were not implemented. As for the history of the dynasties, Fu Sinian once hoped that Chen Yinke would write a history of the Song Dynasty, and promised to use the public resources of the Institute of History and Philology for his use, saying: "This matter is as interesting as my brother, and it is gratifying... This can be a big effect in 10 years, and a small effect in 5 years." Chen Yinke once set up a special course on "Ouyang Xiu", which was "really the first step in studying the history of the Song Dynasty", and he really had the willingness to study and write the history of the Song Dynasty. However, Chen Yinke did not have a single paper on the history and culture of the Song Dynasty in his lifetime, let alone a complete history of the Song Dynasty. Therefore, to believe that "Chen Yinke's historiographical achievements mainly originated from the historiography of Song Xian represented by Sima Guang and Ouyang Xiu" is to admit that fiction is true, and many are attached. Ouyang Xiu's and Sima Guang's historiographical achievements are embodied in the writing of dynastic histories and general histories, Ouyang Xiu affirmed the "righteousness of the Spring and Autumn Period" and ethics and discipline with the histories of dynasties. As for Chen Yinke's consciousness of abiding by discipline and taking history as a mirror, it has formed a mainstream concept since the emergence of ancient Chinese historiography, and the official historiographical concepts of Ban Gu's "Book of Han" and Xun Yue's "Han Ji" to the Tang Dynasty and Liu Zhiji's historiographical theory have repeatedly promoted morality, loyalty, righteousness, and historical values. As for the Qing Dynasty, Xu Mo's "The Biography of Xiao Shy", Xia Xie's "Ming Tongjian", Zhang Mu's "Mongolian Nomadism", He Qiutao's "Shuo Fang Beixian", etc., are not inferior to the purpose of commending loyalty and applying history. If Chen Yinke's historiographical style is only linked to the "historiography of Song Xian", it will be difficult to escape the ridicule of the association, and it is also quite narrow-minded.
Second, Chen Yinke's exploration of historical issues focuses first on social and cultural issues, including religious issues, followed by ethnic origins, family backgrounds, and regional characteristics, which are the main entry points for his analysis of history. His emphasis on the Song Dynasty was to focus on the prosperity of Song Dynasty culture. Although Chen Yinke attaches great importance to the study of political history, he analyzes and understands political phenomena based on cultural development, religious influence, ethnic relations, family backgrounds, and regional characteristics. The Essay on the Political History of the Tang Dynasty begins with an examination of the Tang Dynasty's Hu ancestry, then argues the ethnic and family backgrounds of many Tang figures, and analyzes the political forces entrenched in different regions, arguing that the Tang Dynasty regime implemented the "Guanzhong-based policy" like the Yuwen clan of the Northern Dynasty to construct the basis of its rule. This is Ouyang Xiu, Sima Guang and other "Song Xian" absolutely do not have a historical concept, Sima Guang's "Zizhi Tongjian" records history, mainly based on political history as a clue, extremely ignoring cultural development, and everyone knows history. Chen Yinke's analysis of the political history of the Tang Dynasty based on culture, religion, ethnicity and family lineage has two sources: first, the agitation of modern social consciousness and academic controversy, that is, the two values of maintaining the Chinese cultural standard and total Westernization, Second, the influence of the Western trend of thought that attaches importance to the role of culture, whether it is the German view of cultural form and history or the American new humanist thought, has enabled Chinese scholars to get enlightenment on attaching importance to the role of society and culture although they do not accept its ideological system. In this regard, Chen Yinke's methods of governing history are more different than the same as those of the Song Dynasty historians.
Third, Chen Yinke's fame in the field of historiography has been greatly enhanced, in addition to his personality charm, mainly because of his superb historical research and historical interpretation. In historical research, Chen Yinke often uses multilingual phonetic knowledge and multi-language documents, involving knowledge and classics of Buddhism and other religions, expanding the scope of historical materials. For example, the interpretation of Hua Tuo, a famous doctor in the Three Kingdoms period, pointed out that the word "Hua Tuo" actually comes from the Tianzhu language agada, which means "medicine", and the Chinese translation takes off the initial vowel "a (a)", that is, Hua Tuo. Hua Tuo's original name was Hua Yang, and because of his excellent medical skills, people compared it to the god of medicine in Hindu mythology. As for the outstanding achievements of using poetry to prove history, it is reflected in the book "Yuan Bai Poetry Manuscript", which is especially praised by the academic circles, and in his later years, he wrote "Liu Ru is Farewell Biography", which not only carries forward the history of poetry and then the mutual evidence of poetry and history, but also integrates the literature and history of the group, coupled with the analysis of the world conditions and the psychology of the characters at that time, making it a masterpiece of vivid history and smart writing. As a scholar commented, "Liu Ru is Farewell Biography" "controls poetry and history, on the one hand, without any sign or disbelief, with rigorous and exquisite scientific evidence to reproduce the magnificent picture of three hundred years ago, for the historian to follow, while galloping imagination, singing and weeping, with indomitable free will, exalted above the fetters." This poem and history are mutually excessive, and they are both exerted to the extreme, thus creating a miracle that will not be born in the world in one day."
Chen Yinke summed up Wang Guowei's method of governing history, saying: "Its academic content and methods of governance can be summarized in three ways. One is to take the physical objects on the ground and interpret the testaments on the paper to each other... Second, it is said that the old books of foreign races and the old books of our country are supplemented and corrected by each other... 3. Take foreign ideas and inherent materials to refer to each other. Of course, this is a summary of Wang Guowei's method of governing history, but in fact, it is also Chen Yinke's master's own way. In addition to general literature, history and philosophy, there are also a large number of Buddhist and Taoist religious classics, foreign language and language documents, medical calendar books, stone epitaphs and modern archaeological discoveries, etc., all of which have introduced historical evidence. This is listed in Wang Yongxing's "Brief Draft of Mr. Chen Yinke's Historical Studies" and other works. The question is whether Chen Yinke's style of governing history with multiple sources of historical materials and multi-faceted research methods can be attributed to the inheritance and development of Sima Guang's "long compilation and examination of different methods"?
Sima Guang presided over the compilation of the "Zizhi Tongjian" and adopted a set of orderly methods for revising history. The first is to arrange the "series", that is, to indicate the items in chronological order of the year, month and day, and indicate the relevant records and reference materials, which plays the dual role of compiling the outline and indexing the historical materials. The second is to edit the "long compilation", that is, according to the chronological order of the "series", the historical records and historical materials are preliminarily sorted, eclectic, and edited into texts. Sima Guang once pointed out: "Since the 'Old Tang Book' and below, there have been no annotations, so how can it be made a long compilation! Please supplement the new and old 'Tang Book's chronicles and chronicles, as well as all biographical novels and even anthologies that are slightly involved in current affairs, must be published according to the chronological and monthly notes. It can be seen that the "long compilation" draws on a wide range of materials, including biographies, novels, and anthologies of "those who do a little bit of current affairs". Moreover, it is necessary to write notes on the similarities and differences between the records, that is, to preliminarily identify the similarities and differences, and put forward opinions on trade-offs. After Sima Guang personally deleted and audited, and sorted out the corresponding historical materials and the reasons for the trade-offs, it became a book called "Zizhi Tongjian and Examination of Differences", which is the method of "testing differences". The long compilation and the examination of differences are both ancillary tasks of compiling narrative formal historical books, and the long compilation must have the actual text of the collection of historical materials, which should not be regarded as an abstract method, and should not be described as a kind of "long compilation".
After Sima Guang, historians mostly adopted the method of examining different historical materials, such as Li Tao of the Southern Song Dynasty's "Continuation of Capital and Governance of Tongjian", and Bi Yuan's "Continuation of Capital and Governance of Tongjian" in the Qing Dynasty. As a method of governing history, the examination of differences has a great reputation, so there are also independent works named "examination of differences", such as Zhu Xi of the Southern Song Dynasty's "Examination of Differences in Hangul", Mei Ling's "Examination of Differences in Shangshu" in the Ming Dynasty, and Qian Daxin's "Examination of Differences in the Twenty-two History" of the Qing Dynasty, all of which are academic monographs. Strictly speaking, there is a difference between "examination of differences" and research and verification, which certainly includes rigorous research of historical materials, but there are also choices and trade-offs in the absence of evidence. For example, the "Zizhi Tongjian" records that in December of the third year of the Tang Dynasty's Emperor Qianfu (867), the army of Annan returned to Guizhou, "observing Li Zan one by one", and the "Zizhi Tongjian" said: "The "New Age" is in December of the fourth year, and now it is from the "Actual Record". It is explained that the "New Tang Dynasty Book and Xi Zongji" is one year later than the "Tang Shilu", and Sima Guang has no other evidence, and only adopts the record of the "Tang Shilu" according to his own will. It is recorded that Huang Chao was proclaimed emperor in November of the first year of Guangming Dynasty of Tang Dynasty (880), with his wife Cao as the queen. Now from the "New Biography". Here is not taken from the record of "Tang Shilu", but from "New Tang Dynasty Book: The Biography of Huangchao", there is no evidence at all. The two tests are different, and the selection criteria are not accurate. This is ubiquitous in "Zizhi Tongjian Examination of Differences", because Sima Guang clearly stated that the examination of differences can be "or without verification, then it is based on the reasoning of the clouds, and now it is determined from a certain book". As an auxiliary means of writing history, it is unavoidable to deal with differences in this way, because the historical events that need to be recorded in the writing of history cannot be accurately examined one by one, and the similarities and differences cannot be listed. However, the principle of historical research should be that there is no evidence to follow, and what is said must be based on evidence, and it is better to give up the discussion than to arbitrarily adjudicate. The monographs with the title of "Examination of Differences" all contain entries that reveal the differences between the text and the record, but cannot be accurately examined, even Qian Daxin's "Twenty-two Historical Examinations" is no exception.
Hu Shouwei believes that Chen Yinke "critically inherited the method of Qianjia historiography." When he studied in Germany, he was influenced by the school of historical and linguistic research." Sang Bing pointed out, "Chen Yinke's Western studies can be described as outstanding, needless to say, compared with Chinese scholars, even if he claims to be a scholar of Western studies, it is difficult to stand out." Chen Yinke advocated that the study should be based on the scope of the world, and in fact more international methods such as comparative language, comparative literature, comparative religion, and comparative history should be used." Although these expositions are not detailed, they are generally correct. The Song people did not have a similar historical examination. Therefore, Wang Yongxing only listed "Song Xian historiography" and Chen's family studies as Chen Yinke's academic origins, which is extremely one-sided. Chen Yinke advocated: "The business of husband research, such as accumulating salary, the latecomer prevails. It is an indisputable fact that the Qianjia school of research in the Qing Dynasty was far more sophisticated than the scholars of the Song Dynasty; the method and concept of evidence examination in modern times are more new, and the combination of the two is the main basis of Chen Yinke's method of historical research. Although Chen Yinke praised Sima Guang for "compiling the method of examining differences", he never claimed to imitate and adopt the method of examining differences, and none of his manuscripts was named "Examining Differences", which is far-fetched and can be put to rest.
3. Chen Yinke's emotional sustenance for "Song Studies".
For example, those who study Tang Dynasty poetry love Tang poetry, and those who devote a lot of energy to research because they first have appreciation, and those who do all kinds of care for their research objects because they have first appreciated it, such as Hu Shih, who first commended Dai Zhen's anti-rational thoughts, and then devoted more time and energy to studying the "Commentary on the Water Classic", trying his best to justify Dai Zhen's suspected case of plagiarizing Zhao Yiqing's "Commentary on the Water Classic". If Chen Yinke has praised "Song Studies" as the highest point of Chinese cultural development for several years, but has never devoted himself to the study of Song Dynasty historiography and Song Dynasty culture, it is extremely rare, and it can no longer be analyzed from academic commentary, and there must be another subtle mechanism to be revealed.
Chen Yinke's grandfather, Chen Baozhen, served as the governor of Hunan during the Guangxu Dynasty and was quite effective in the reform movement, and with the assistance of his son Chen Sanli (Chen Yinke's father), he methodically implemented the new policy, and the famous School of Current Affairs was founded. After the Wuxu coup, the reform movement failed, and Chen Baozhen was given death by Cixi's secret decree. Although he is committed to studying and no longer imitates his parents and grandparents in politics, the way out and destination of Chinese society and Chinese culture are still issues that haunt him all the time. After the Xinhai Revolution, the influence of Western ideology and culture became stronger day by day, and the New Culture Movement and the May Fourth Movement had a great impact on traditional cultural concepts. Chen Yinke had a profound and unique reflection on the future of Chinese culture, and in 1934 he proposed:
It is doubtful that from now on, even if China can faithfully import the ideas of North America or Eastern Europe, the end result will be equivalent to Xuanzang's only knowledge, which can neither occupy the highest position in the history of Chinese thought, but also end up in the end. Those who are truly able to form their own system ideologically and create something must absorb imported doctrines on the one hand, and on the other hand never forget the status of their original nation. These two opposing and mutually compatible attitudes are the true spirit of Taoism, the old way of Neo-Confucianism, and the history of 2,000 years of contact between our nation and other peoples.
Its core idea is that "on the one hand, we must absorb imported foreign doctrines, and on the other hand, we must not forget the status of the original nation." Both are equal and indispensable. In order to maintain the traditional Chinese culture and achieve the goal of "taking the middle school as the body", scholars who generally hold the concept of cultural conservatism have the following ideas: (1) beautify the traditional Chinese culture as a whole, (2) emphasize that China has its own special national conditions and special culture, (3) put forward the superiority of traditional Chinese culture beyond the West, and the superiority should naturally be guarded and carried forward; (4) find fault with the disadvantages of Western culture and depreciate it. Although these ideas are based on the comparison of Chinese and Western cultures, they obviously have the presupposition of favoring Chinese culture. Chen Yinke, on the other hand, has to guard traditional Chinese culture without comparing the advantages and disadvantages of Chinese and Western cultures, which stems from the inherent conflict between his Western values and the traditional Chinese cultural standard.
As early as 1929, in the inscription written for Wang Guowei, Chen Yinke clearly declared: "Only this spirit of independence, free thought, has been worshiped for thousands of years, and it has been the same for a long time, with three lights and eternal light", and believed that "thinking without freedom is better than death!" Until 1953, Chen Yinke still insisted: "The spirit of independence and free will must be fought for, and must be fought for by life and death... Everything is a small thing, but this is a big thing". Chen Yinke's vigorous promotion of "independent spirit, free thought" is the liberal ideology he accepted in the process of studying in the West, this concept undoubtedly comes from the cultural influence of studying in Europe and the United States, and has been cast into Chen Yinke's unswerving ideal throughout his life. In traditional Chinese culture, there is an inherent tension between the principle of ethics, loyalty, filial piety, courtesy, and righteousness, and the strict stipulation of hierarchical order, where can the individual's "independence" and "freedom" be tolerated? In fact, there is an inherent tension between the "spirit of independence and the idea of freedom" advocated by the Chinese traditional culture. Chen Yinke adheres to the principle of national self-esteem in academic culture, and tries to avoid saying that his concept of academic freedom originates from the West, but Chen Yinke, who is familiar with Chinese and Western cultures, cannot blindly praise the old Chinese culture, so he tries to seek a period in Chinese history to maintain traditional culture in line with his heart and desire academic independence and freedom of thought. This is the reason why he admired the prosperity of Song studies and praised the academic environment of the Song Dynasty, the so-called "Tianshui generation thought the most free, so the articles are also excellent", "the culture of Tianshui Dynasty is actually a treasure left by our nation", is not a conclusion reached by strict academic research, but is actually a kind of emotional sustenance.
It is no accident that the Song Dynasty was chosen to praise it. The Song Dynasty was a period of rapid development of Chinese academic culture, and with the rise of science, the theoretical thinking and speculative spirit of the Song people greatly promoted the vitality of academic thought. At the same time, the preferential treatment of scholars by the rulers of the Song Dynasty also created a relatively relaxed political environment for the development of academic culture. It is recorded in the posthumous instructions of Song Taizu: "Taizu leed the stone, locked it in the palace, made the heir ascend the throne, and knelt down to read." There are three precepts: first, to protect the descendants of the Chai family, second, not to kill scholars, and third, not to add farmland endowments. Woohoo! If these three are not called Shengde, they can't be called Shengde. "Throughout the Song Dynasty, it was indeed rare to see literati and scholars subjected to the brutal blows and personal persecution of the regime, and it was extremely rare for those to be accused of being convicted of their writings and thoughts. In the relaxed political and social environment, the overall cultural development of the Song Dynasty was quite prosperous, and the development of historiography was particularly eye-catching. Therefore, in the era in which Chen Yinke lived, there were also scholars who valued the culture of the Song Dynasty and the politics of the Song Dynasty, such as Fu Sinian, who once believed that "in many places, the Song Dynasty was the highest point of Chinese culture", but Fu Sinian also particularly admired the academic culture of the Ming and Qing dynasties and the early Qing Dynasty, believing that "the learning of the Qing Dynasty was very scientific, and all the methods used were scientific", which shows that Fu Sinian's remarks were just random academic comments. Chen Yinke, on the other hand, pinned his "spirit of independence and free thought", and was unwilling to praise the extremely authoritarian and unfree Qing Dynasty scholarship: "There is a Qing generation of classics that is known to be extremely prosperous, but historiography is far from catching the Song people", do not think that Chen Yinke is recognizing the extreme prosperity of the Qing Dynasty's classics, and the word "claimed" actually contains a dismissive attitude. In the same article, Chen Yinke criticized the Qing Dynasty scriptures as a basis for examination, which could only explain the text and could not discuss the problem, "its exaggeration is also strange and absurd." Meng Wentong once said: "In the past, Chen Junyin was strict in his language, saying that the Han scriptures and the Song people's historiography were unattainable, and he was good at what he said. "Fan Sinian and Meng Wentong are not as thoughtful and long-term as Chen Yinke, because he admires Song Studies, which contains a vision for a way out of modern society and culture, and advocates that China must absorb foreign culture, and glow with new vitality through integration, and foreign culture must also adapt to China's development needs in order to play a good role. This ideal state is still pinned on the scholarship of the Song Dynasty. In a conversation with Wu Mi, he said:
Song Ruru, Cheng Ruozhu, are all deeply familiar with Buddhism. I like the cleverness and detail of its righteousness, which is enough to save China's shortcomings, but I am also worried that it will be used to change Xia. It is to seek the best of both worlds, to avoid its name and live in reality, to take its pearl and return its treasure. Collecting the essence of Buddhism, annotating the four books and five classics, called expounding ancient learning, in fact, absorbing paganism, claiming to respect Confucius and Buddha, in fact, the righteousness of the Buddha has been impregnated and contaminated, and the sect of Confucianism has become one. This Confucian patriotism and painstaking efforts to help the world are highly respectable and forgiving. Therefore, Buddhism has a great contribution to China... With the help of Buddhism, China's learning immediately increased its vitality and opened up new faces.
In connection with Chen Yinke's judgment on the future of Chinese scholarship: "I dare not assert what will happen in the future, but we can only say in one word that the revival of Song Dynasty scholarship or the establishment of new Song studies has already begun", and the establishment of this kind of "new Song studies" can be said to be "avoiding its name and living in fact" of foreign culture, that is, it must "absorb pagan religions". Scholars have always exaggerated the aspect of "not forgetting the status of the original nation" and ignored his concept of "absorbing imported foreign theories" in Chen Yinke's cultural outlook. In fact, if Chen Yinke is an invisible "Westernized" faction, it is not unavoidable, because according to the path of the old Chinese tradition, it is impossible to achieve the realm of "independent spirit and free thought".
However, most scholars cannot agree with the positioning of the foundation of "Song Studies" as "the name of expounding ancient learning, but in fact absorbing pagan religions and claiming to respect Confucius and Buddha, but in fact the righteousness of the Buddha has been impregnated and contaminated and merged with the teachings of Confucianism". Fu Sinian's book "The Dialectic of the Ancient Teachings of Life" exhaustively sorted out the development genealogy from the "Analects" and "Mencius" to the Song Dynasty, leaving no room for Buddhism to be valued, and later published the article "Li Xizhi's Status in the Development of Confucian Theory of Sexuality", which refuted Chen Yinke's statement without naming names. Scholars such as Feng Youlan and Meng Wentong also stated their views that were different from those of Chen Yinke, generally believing that the sexual and rational speculation of Song and Ming Dynasty science was the internal development path of Confucianism, and there was a clear trajectory that could be investigated, and the influence of Buddhism did not occupy an important position. In order to maintain the cognitive system of his academic history, Chen Yinke published the article "On Han Yu", proposing that although Han Yu strongly defended Buddhism, he actually accepted the essence of Buddhism, "Tianzhu is the body, Huaxia is the use, and retreat from it to lay the foundation of Neo-Confucianism in the later Song Dynasty". Although the idea is exquisite, it is rarely confirmed, and it is difficult to convince that the historical image of Han Yu risking his life to establish Buddhism is a pioneer in embracing Buddhism.
There is no doubt that Chen Yinke's emphasis on Song Studies as a system of understanding to construct his ideals and scholarship also encountered academic difficulties. Sang Bing pointed out that Chen Yinke "wrote a lot of treatises from the Wei and Jin dynasties to the Ming and Qing dynasties, and examined the origins of Mongolia, but he never wrote a text on the theme of Song history, Song studies, and even the academic culture of the Song Dynasty." ...... Among them, the mystery is worth studying". Now this "mystery in it" can be answered. The culture of the Song Dynasty, including its historiographical achievements, was not extremely prosperous and refined. As far as historiography is concerned, the Qing Dynasty is not inferior to the Song Dynasty, and there are many transcendences. Gu Yanwu's "The Book of Diseases of the Heavenly Counties" and Huang Zongxi's "The Case of Confucianism in the Ming Dynasty" have made many achievements in the study of economic history and academic history, and the Song people have no comparable works; Gu Zuyu's "Minutes of Reading History and Public Opinion" and Yan Ruoxuan's "Ancient Texts of Shangshu and Ancient Texts" have a scholarly level far superior to those written by the Song people; Cui Shu's "Examination of Letters" is enough to convince all scholars of the Song Dynasty to be convinced; Zhang Xuecheng's exposition of historical theories is even more unmatched in the Song Dynasty. If we add to this the examination of official historiography, the shortcomings of Song historiography are particularly significant. George Zhong pointed out: "The official compilation and revision of the history of the Song Dynasty has developed and expanded greatly, but it has shown a tendency to be too complicated, and the monarch's measures to suppress historiography have been unprecedentedly strengthened, and the relationship between historiography and state power has been distorted. In fact, the academic culture of the Song Dynasty was by no means in a social environment of independent thought and spiritual freedom, and the emperor's control over historiography was far stricter than that of the Tang Dynasty, and even Fan Zuyu's book "Tang Jian" was banned. Although the Qing Dynasty had a more severe cultural autocracy, the "continuation of the three links" and the "three links of the Qing Dynasty" were as good as the "three links" in terms of rich materials and accurate historical facts. Compared with Sima Guang's "Zizhi Tongjian" and Zhu Xi's "Outline of Zizhi Tongjian", Emperor Qianlong's "Imperial Approval of Tongjian" is a historical book under the same ideological system, and its text is concise, the discussion is in place, and the outline ethics and orthodox historical ideological system are more thorough and thorough. The results of Qianjia's historical research seem to be fragmented when viewed in a scattered manner, and the overall observation is a large-scale clean-up of the historical heritage of the past from a microscopic perspective, which is in line with the large-scale clean-up and summary of the historical heritage in the official "Siku Quanshu General Catalogue and History Department." The Song Dynasty could not have matched the breadth of vision, the number of achievements, the depth of the discussions, and the completeness of the contents! Just as Zheng Tianting, an expert on the history of the Ming and Qing dynasties, asserted: "The historiography of the Qing Dynasty was an achievement, and it developed like other academic studies." Not only that, but it also highlights the contributions of previous generations. Chen Yinke's admiration of Song Studies to the extreme is only the sustenance of emotions and ideals, and the lack of in-depth academic discussion is not a conclusive conclusion.
Chen Yinke did not want to study Song studies and the academic history of the Song Dynasty, and once set up a course to explain "Ouyang Xiu", that is, "it is really the first step in the study of Song history". However, a comprehensive study of Ouyang Xiu's life and thoughts will definitely reveal that his suspicious ancient thoughts may almost subvert the traditional Chinese ancient history system, which is a thorny problem for Chen Yinke, and there are finally no relevant speeches and manuscripts. As far as the entire history and academic history of the Song Dynasty are concerned, if we continue to study it deeply, the ideals and emotions of the era of independence, freedom, and the prosperity of Chinese culture that Chen Yinke placed on him are bound to collapse and be lost. In this regard, Chen Yinke should be very introspective, and it should be a deliberate choice to avoid the in-depth study of the history of the Song Dynasty and the history of academic culture.
In short, even a master of history like Chen Yinke has a historical picture drawn according to his ideals and emotions in his writings, and in many expositions on Song history and Song studies, there is an inner yearning for subjectively beautifying the academic environment and cultural achievements of the Song Dynasty. Considering his motives, he wanted to find an era in which he could absorb foreign cultures to achieve the prosperity of his own culture, and at the same time have the social environment to realize the concept of "independent spirit and free thought". Many of his understandings are non-academic views that have not been studied in depth, which are typical emotional sustenance. In this regard, we can give "sympathy for understanding", but it cannot be regarded as an academic conclusion.