A large-scale and thoughtful research treatise on the history of Du poetics

Professor Zhang Zhonggang continued to complete the "Proofreading of the Complete Works of Du Fu" presided over by Mr. Xiao Difei, and organized a team to compile the "General History of Du Poetry", the editors of this team Zuo Hanlin, Sun Wei, Zhao Ruicai, Qi Wei, etc., are all famous scholars in the study of Du poetry in China, reflecting the overall strength of Du poetry research. They worked together to complete the six-volume research results, which are now published by the Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, and become another milestone in Du Fu's research in the new century.

General History of Du Poetry

Du Fu's poetics has a long history, and it can be said that it arose in parallel with Du Fu's creation, and has continued to this day. Before Du Fu's death, Wei Zhen, Guo Shou, and Ren Hua spoke highly of his poems, Wei called "the famous poems are unique", Guo said that "new poems have been circulated in the sea for a long time", and Ren called "the fierce tiger and the angry Jiao Jiao", "Cao Liu looked up to the great enemy, and Shen Xie Xun called the child". Soon after Du Fu's death, there were six volumes of "Du Gongbu Collection" edited by Fan Huang, "Walking in Jiangzuo". During the Middle and Tang dynasties, the theory of Li Du's merits and disadvantages arose from Yuan Zhen, which influenced the evaluation of Li Du's poetry by Bai Juyi, Han Yu and other first-class people, thus becoming a poetry public case that has been litigated for thousands of years, and it is also constantly promoting the development of Du poetics. The first person who formed the system of Du Fu's poetry research was Jin Daiyuan's good question, and his book "Du Poetics" was the pioneering work of Du Fu's poetic research. Although his book is missing, and "Du Shixue Citation" still exists, you can get a glimpse of its outline. Even from the beginning of the construction of Yuan Haowen's "Du Poetics", the systematic study of Du Poetics has a history of 800 years. So far, there has not been a complete special work on the history of Du Fu's poetry, so the "General History of Du Poetry" edited by Professor Zhang Zhonggang can be regarded as an important achievement of expanding the territory of Du Fu's research.

The General History of Du Shixue is divided into six volumes, namely the Five Dynasties of the Tang Dynasty, the Song Dynasty, the Liaojin, Yuanming, the Qing Dynasty, the Modern and Contemporary Editions, and the Extraterritorial Editions. The "Five Dynasties of the Tang Dynasty" makes a detailed and meticulous examination of the early circulation of Du Fu's poems, makes a high-level argument on Du Chongdu's poetic style in the Middle Tang Dynasty, expounds on Du Fu's influence in the late Tang Dynasty, and analyzes the records of Du Fu in the notes and novels of the Tang Dynasty. The Song Dynasty Compilation divides Du poetics into five periods: the early Northern Song Dynasty is the initial period of learning Du, the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty is the period of extensive influence of Du Shi, the late Northern Song Dynasty is the inheritance period of Du Shi's art, the early Southern Song Dynasty is the climax period of learning Du, and the late Southern Song Dynasty is the period of preserving the history of poetry. The Liaojin, Yuan, and Ming Editions focuses on the construction of Liaojin-Du poetics and the special study of Du poetics in the Ming Dynasty, including the complete annotations of Du poems, the annotated editions of Du poems, and the annotated editions of Du Lu, as well as the literature of Du poems in the Ming Dynasty and the study of Du by the Ming Dynasty. On the basis of summarizing the status of Du poetics in the Qing Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty focuses on the gradual prosperity of Du poetics from Shunzhi to Yongzheng, the new pattern of Du poetics from Qianlong to Jiaqing under the influence of Qianjia's style of study, and the gradual decline of Du poetics from Daoguang to Xuantong. In the first half of the 20th century, Du Fu was influenced by political and cultural trends in the context of the collision of old and new cultures, Eastern and Western cultures, and the new changes produced by Du Fu. These changes are manifested in the fact that from 1949 to 1976, when the initial establishment of the new Du Poetry was affected by political movements, it was neglected and almost blank after 1966, and from 1977 to 2014, the study of Du Poetry flourished and flourished in an all-round way. The "Extraterritorial Edition" is divided into countries and discussed, and two sections are designed: the history of Du poetry in Asia and the history of Du poetry in Europe and the United States. The former is divided into three aspects: the Korean Peninsula, Japan and Southeast Asia, and the latter is divided into the English-speaking world, the French-speaking world, the Russian-speaking world and the German-speaking world according to the different languages, thus reflecting the world pattern of Du poetry research.

The academic contribution of The General History of Du Poetics lies in the overview of the influence of Du Fu's poems on later generations, the exploration of Du Fu's research by later generations, and the research on the compilation and publication of Du Fu's poems, which can be summarized in three words: "through", "deep" and "fine". "Tong" is through, to be able to integrate and penetrate, and this book is the greatest achievement that connects ancient and modern China and foreign countries. Needless to say, the connection between ancient and modern China and foreign countries focuses on the establishment of the "Extraterritorial Edition" in the General History, which includes the study of Du Fu on the Korean Peninsula, Japan, Southeast Asian countries, as well as the English-speaking world, the French-speaking world, the Russian-speaking world, and the German-speaking world. "Deep" means profound, able to explain thoroughly. For example, in the discussion of Fan Huang and the "Du Gongbu Collection", first of all, it is necessary to comprehensively possess the first-hand documents, distinguish the differences in the names of the editors, and check the life and deeds of the editors, and then conclude that the collection is the earliest of Du Fu's poetry selections, and then deduce the situation that the sixty volumes of Du Ji were published before Du Fu's lifetime and later dispersed, and finally determine the collation value of the "Du Gongbu Essays", and compile 61 Fan Ben collation texts to support his theory. "Fine" is exquisite, able to elucidate subtlety. For example, the discussion of Pi Lu and "Wu Ti" has sorted out the development history of "Wu Ti" under the influence of Du Fu in a detailed and concise manner. First of all, to confirm the relationship between Pi Lu and Du Fu, "the most surprising thing is the 'Wu Ti' that followed in the footsteps of Du Fu", and secondly, to sort out the grand occasion of the "Wu Ti" after the Song Dynasty, and then to argue that "Wu Ti" does not originate from Wu Di, but refers to "Wu Junti", which is different from "Qi Liang Ti", and Du Fu's "Wu Ti" poems are a change of "Wu Junti", and become a special seven-character rhythm.

What is even more commendable is that Professor Zhang Zhonggang has closely combined the research of Du Shi with the cultivation of talents. He said in the "Postscript to the Tang Dynasty": "I train doctoral students, and one of the major topics is 'Du Fu and Chinese Traditional Culture Research'. This topic is divided into several sub-topics according to historical stages, and "General History of Du Poetics" is one of them. In the "Preface to the Research on the Relationship between Tang Poetry and Folklore", he said: "I supervised graduate students to write their dissertations, and I had a general idea, which was to focus on 'Du Fu and traditional culture' to select topics, specifically, to divide the influence of traditional Chinese culture on Du Fu and Du Fu's influence on future generations into several historical stages or research topics and assign them to them. Mr. Zhang Zhonggang supervised the doctoral dissertations on Du Shi, including "Du Fu and Pre-Qin Culture", "Du Fu and the Culture of the Two Han Dynasty", "Research on the Relationship between Du Fu and the Poetry of the Six Dynasties", "History of Du Poetry in Jin Yuanming", "History of Du Poetry in the Qing Dynasty", etc., and at the same time supervised doctoral students and co-edited "Du Fu's Dictionary", "Du Ji Narrative" and other works. From this, we can see that "The General History of Du Shixue" is not only a self-contained work, but also a part of the general system of talent training of Professor Zhang Zhonggang. This is also an important inspiration given to us by the "General History of Du Poetry".