It has been prevalent for thousands of years! Ancient people or modern people, who loves to read more?

Reading is a universal demand in modern society. In fact, the ancient Chinese reading fashion has a long history. "Everything is inferior, only reading is high" has become the value orientation of Chinese society since the Song Dynasty. Why did the reading habit prevail in ancient society for thousands of years, and what enlightenment does it bring to us today? Let's take a look.

Ancient society with an endless smell of books

During the Xia, Shang and Western Zhou dynasties, education was monopolized by the government, the canons and cultural relics were the exclusive property of the royal family, and the scope of reading was basically limited to the officials in charge of the classic culture and the children of the nobility who enjoyed the right to education, constituting the initial limited number of scholars in the three dynasties of antiquity. This situation is clearly not commensurate with the needs of social development. Therefore, in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the downward trend of education and culture was unstoppable, and Confucius's advocacy of "education without class" was precisely to adapt to this historical trend and the needs of the wider population for reading. A typical example is the "Zhongmu contemptible" Ningyue, the people of the grass and the wilderness "from learning", diligent study for fifteen years, "for the princes' teacher", become Zhou Weigong's teacher. It was with the development of private learning, the further expansion of the reading group, and the beginning of reading to become a common social fashion, on the basis of which the rise of the scholar class achieved the "hundred schools of thought" symbolizing the prosperity of the pre-Qin culture. Of course, in such a period of social transition, the pre-Qin princes, as the main body of reading, showed a variety of cultural value orientations. Confucianism advocates the firm moral belief of reading and enlightening the Tao, emphasizing the noble moral sentiment of "scholars are committed to the Tao", which also shaped their firm will to read. Confucius read "Zhou Yi" diligently, and the pimps of the weaving were broken many times, and became the reading deeds of "Wei Compilation Three Uniques". Although the ideas of Mo, Fa, and Zongheng are different, they all tend to be oriented towards the value orientation of practical results. A typical representative is Su Qin, whose family is poor, and he was ridiculed by his brother and sister-in-law and wife, so he studied diligently day and night, and when he was sleepy, he led the cone and stabbed the stock, and finally took the seal of the six countries and returned to his hometown with honor.

After the establishment of the Qin Dynasty, it pursued an extreme policy of cultural absolutism, did not hesitate to burn books to pit Confucianism, and used the "Law of Books" to crack down on ideological dissident forces. At that time, the people could only circulate some literate texts, laws and decrees and daily medicine, divination, tree planting and other limited kinds of books, it was difficult for people to contact other reading materials, this kind of cultural foolish policy is also one of the reasons for the death of the Qin "two", almost interrupted the prosperity of the pre-Qin culture, but could not interrupt the wind of reading, people risked their heads, and did everything possible to pass on the classics, retaining the cultural fire, so that there was a revival of the culture of the Han Dynasty.

In the early 70 years of the Western Han Dynasty, the doctrine of Huang Lao was pursued, and a certain degree of cultural tolerance was implemented in the swing, and the pre-Qin writings such as Confucianism, Mo, Taoism, Law, Yin and Yang, and Vertical and Horizontal were re-practiced in the world, and the reading fashion was active again. During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, he "deposed the hundred schools of thought and respected Confucianism", and promoted reading, commenting on scriptures, and establishing theories to become the mainstream of social atmosphere. In the Western Han Dynasty, there were many examples of diligent study. Sima Qian's completion of the monumental "Historical Records" is a model of Guangluo Expo. Sun Jing, who was the protagonist of "Hanging Beam Thorn Stock" alongside Su Qin, was "studious, morning and evening", and eventually became a great Confucian in the Western Han Dynasty. Dong Zhongshu "didn't peep into the garden for three years", "studied professionally", and achieved a generation of Confucianism. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu and his descendants implemented the policy of "Yanwu Xiuwen", and the degree of education and culture was no less relaxed than that of the Western Han Dynasty, and the reading atmosphere of scholars and people was maintained for a long time. Liu Xiu's classmate Zhu Cen has five generations of family, in the new and reckless troubled times, to Guangwu Zhongxing, still for learning, Zhu Mu is even more focused on reading, or lost his clothes, or fell into the pit, without knowing it, his contemplation and studiousness, known as "both civil and military, Hai Nei Qishi". Military generals also attach importance to reading, and a generation of famous generals Ban Chao often "dabbles in books" and "books for official servants". The outstanding and abundant scientific and technological achievements of the Han Dynasty are obviously closely related to the atmosphere of reading and learning during this period, and Cai Lun, Hua Tuo, Zhang Zhongjing, etc. can achieve well-known achievements in ancient and modern times, and diligent study and hard study are the foundation.

During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Chinese society was in turmoil and political chaos, but both the Gaomen and the Hanmen scholars attached great importance to reading and learning, which was also the deep reason why the culture was continued and even prospered in the turbulent times of the Wei and Jin dynasties. During this period, the gate lord clan attached great importance to the tradition of reading and learning, and there were generations of scholarly families such as the Cao clan of the Three Kingdoms, the Xie clan of Chen Jun, the Wang clan of Langya, the Tao clan of Southern Liang, the Xiao clan of Southern Liang, and the Tuoba clan of Northern Wei. The Hanmen scholars regarded reading and studying as their lifelong career, and Lu Meng, who was "impressed by Shibei for three days", was already a military general with great power, and still asked for self-encouragement by Sun Quan, the lord of Wu, and insisted on reading to increase his intelligence, which shows the importance of reading to the people of the time. The allusions of Sun Kang Yingxue and Che Yinsang Ying of the Eastern Jin Dynasty have been passed down endlessly, reflecting the praise of the diligent and diligent spiritual qualities of the scholars at that time and in later generations. Che Yin "is well-known in the world for his cold and erudition", Sun Kang built Yingxue Hall, and future generations can not forget their original intentions, so there are still models such as Sun Simiao among future generations. It is worth mentioning that since the Han Dynasty, the pattern of education simplification, which was influenced by regulations such as the Three Outlines and the Five Constants, was broken in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, and some representative images of female readers appeared. Cai Wenji, a famous talented woman, has read more than 4,000 volumes of her father Cai Yong's collection of books, and can recite more than 400 articles.

During the Sui and Tang dynasties, the establishment of the imperial examination system greatly stimulated the social atmosphere of advocating reading, even when the political situation was turbulent, the atmosphere of reading to learn did not dissipate, just as Du Xunhe's poem "Title Brother and Nephew Shutang": "What is the poor road, the chaotic time is still the same as the quiet time." Although the family mountain is in the dry land, the younger brother and nephew often practice ritual and music style. On the bamboo shadow of the window, the sound of wild springs enters the inkstone pond. Young people work hard all their lives, don't be lazy with time. Especially after the Middle and Tang Dynasty, with the decline of Guozixue, the wind of poetry and books spread among the people, and the reading mountain temple became a trend. At that time, the literature recorded that there were more than 200 scholars who practiced the mountain forest monastery, and the poet Du Fu settled in the thatched cottage in Chengdu and weaved a generation of "poetry history"; Bai Juyi and Liu Ke and a group of other colleagues who cultivated and studied in Lushan, "the gap between the farm, the accumulation of books under the window, the day and the ancients grinding, the years are long, and the book habit has become a book", and there is a desire to read and grow old here. Diligent study and study, so that they become a generation of Wenzong and famous ministers.

In the Song Dynasty, Confucianism was even more revered, and the number of scholars was greatly increased, the status of the department was enhanced, and the trend of reading was particularly prosperous. Both the emperors of the Northern Song Dynasty and the Southern Song Dynasty took pride in reading, which played a good exemplary role. Song Taizu often encouraged Wenchen military generals to read to know the way to govern the country, Taizong read the three volumes of "Taiping Yulan", and said, "I like to read, open the book is beneficial." In the Song Dynasty, the society gave full affirmation and praise to reading and learning, and the examples of diligent reading are endless. Sima Guang lived in Luoyang Duyuan for more than 10 years, read the old history, and wrote the deeds of "Zizhi Tongjian" that have been handed down to this day; Lu You built a "book nest" and wrote poems such as "two eyes want to read the world's books" and "the green lantern tastes like childhood", repeatedly stating his reading thoughts, which are talked about by others. The prevalence of reading in the Song Dynasty is also reflected in the fact that after the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty, there were many public and private schools, the academy lectures were prevalent, and the style of collecting books was also flourishing. It is not only a highland of talents, but also a remote place where "the lonely village is still bright, and only people read at night", and the Jiangxi area also came out of Yan Shu, Zeng Gong, Wang Anshi, Ouyang Xiu and other generations of famous Confucians in the Song Dynasty, and has since become a reading place. Under the rich reading atmosphere of the whole society, the Song Dynasty repeatedly appeared in the records of prodigies and talented women, and the lyricist Yan Shu was called by a prodigy, and he was given a jinshi at the age of 14. The Song people are also good at summarizing their academic experience and reading methods, and the most popular is Zhu Xi's "three-to-reading method" of "mouth, eyes, and heart".

Liao, Western Xia, Jin, and Yuan, dynasties established by ethnic minorities, were influenced by Han culture, and reading was quite popular. Therefore, the Western Xia had its own writing and classics, and the academic culture of the Jin Dynasty became more prosperous, and there were those who could not reach the Liao and Western Xia, and inherited the Song Dynasty reading fashion, and its model had the reputation of the Jin Dynasty "prodigy" Yuan Haowen, who was accompanied by books all his life, and took books as pleasure, "what is the room of the Zhang, and several volumes of the piano", which represents the admiration of people in that era for collecting thousands of books and reading tirelessly. The Yuan Dynasty was a diversified period in the development of reading culture in Chinese history, on the one hand, with the political stability, a large number of people of various ethnic groups "gave up their bows and horses to do poetry and books" and integrated into the reading army of Han culture, on the other hand, the rulers were slow to sinicize, which inevitably had an impact on the social reading atmosphere.

The Ming Dynasty was a period of restoration, development and prosperity of the fashion of reading and learning, and it was also a historical period in which the cultural autocratic policy suppressed ideology and culture and harmed the group of scholars after Cheng Zhu Lixue became the official philosophy. Of course, with the popularization of education and the improvement of the imperial examination system in the Ming Dynasty, the atmosphere and enthusiasm for reading and learning in the whole society were promoted. In the Jiangnan region with this cultural tradition, there is a phenomenon of "all children who are born after reading books", and the concept of "the poor do not lose their books, and the rich do not lose their pigs" has become the norm of social life. In the Ming Dynasty, the civil servants and military generals were all studious, and the scholar Song Lian could not release the scroll all his life; Qi Jiguang, a famous anti-Japanese general, was poor when he was young, but he was still good at reading and was well versed in the righteousness of scripture and history. In such an atmosphere, people are not only diligent in reading, but also the literati and bachelors have also expounded their own reading concepts and reading methods in many ways, such as Xue Xuan's "Reading Records", Chen Jiru's "Sixteen Views on Reading", Hu Chengcheng's "Reading Sayings", Lu Shiyi's "Speculative Records", etc., which have been handed down to this day, highlighting the development and enrichment of reading theory in Chinese history.

In the early Qing Dynasty, following the cultural autocratic policy of the Ming Dynasty, it intensified, and the prison of writing, the ban on the destruction of books, and the eight-stock collection of scholars made it more and more difficult for Chinese society to study and study, but the traditional spirit of reading and learning could not be stifled by a generation of rulers. The continuation of Chinese culture is due to the reading spirit of generations of scholars at that time, who are eager to learn and erudite, and the spirit of learning to protect the seeds of reading and the "autumn roots of reading". Even in the late Qing Dynasty, when the western forces invaded the east, the western learning spread eastward, and the survival of Chinese culture was intermittent, the tradition of reading and learning was Chinese and the rich soil was preserved, so that the roots of culture and the fire of cultural rejuvenation could be preserved.

Why was reading so popular in ancient society?

In ancient China, whether it was a temple or a high court, or a countryside and a wilderness, whether it was a famous family or a family in the market, it was full of a strong reading atmosphere. Pondering the reasons for the popularity of reading in ancient times, there are many deep-seated factors:

Reading is an important way for the spiritual survival of the Chinese nation and the cultural consciousness of ancient civilizations. The formation of the Chinese nation is a long-term historical process, during which the psychological state, values, and thinking interests formed constitute the core and soul of national culture and national consciousness, and form a long cultural tradition and the reputation of an ancient civilization. In the long course of history, generation after generation of Chinese people have gradually formed a common self-consciousness of a nation, that is, a nation and individuals living in it are conscious of their own existence, status, interests, values and cultural traditions, or praise the national spirit, national characteristics and national pride, or emphasize the sanctity of national feelings and the homogeneity of national culture. In the process of the formation of the Chinese national culture, many historical periods will be impacted and challenged by foreign cultures, and exploring the source of the national spirit from its own history, literature and art, and reading and inheriting cultural classics have always been an important path for the cultural consciousness of ancient civilizations and the uniqueness and superiority of the Chinese culture.

The state plays an important and crucial role in shaping the atmosphere of reading. Throughout China's history, the rulers were relatively politically enlightened and implemented relatively relaxed ideological and cultural policies, which inevitably promoted the trend of studying and studying more and more. For scholars, the world is peaceful and learning, and it is one aspect to explore the source of culture, and reading has the possibility of rewarding eunuchs and fame and fortune, and there is the opportunity to give full play to the ability of "governing the country and leveling the world", which is also a major root cause of the widespread and lasting reading atmosphere in ancient China. Among them, the imperial examination system is undoubtedly one of the key influencing factors, and the establishment and improvement of the imperial examination system has promoted the more and more common reading culture in ancient Chinese society. In Chinese history, reading in the Song Dynasty was very popular, which was superimposed by the state's advocacy, the imperial examination and persuasion, and the magnificence of the tradition of poetry and calligraphy in Chinese society.

The exemplary role of outstanding figures is also an important reason for the flourishing of reading in ancient times. When the outstanding figures in Chinese history led the people to create brilliance, the spirit they showed in these activities and the national cultural traditions they expressed were also recognized by the society, and through the promotion and dissemination of such spiritual and cultural traditions by outstanding thinkers of various nationalities, they were expressed as the recognition and recognition of the whole society, and finally became the common spiritual and cultural wealth of the whole nation. Just as the advocacy of outstanding figures in various historical periods, reading is not only the expectation of entering the picture and shining the lintel, but also people's reverence and yearning for the positive, civilized and progressive social activities represented by reading, which has been widely recognized by Chinese society, making "every family is familiar with books and books", the sound of reading can be heard everywhere, and books have become indispensable important items and spiritual sustenance in cultural life. The spirit of reading is endless, which is the foundation for the survival and continuation of the Chinese nation, the prosperity of the country, the prosperity and happiness of the people, and the harmonious development of society.

(Source: People's Tribune, the author is Qiu Tao, professor and doctoral supervisor of the School of History, Beijing Normal University, and Tian Xinlei, a master's student at the School of History, Beijing Normal University, also contributed to this article, and the original article was published in People's Tribune magazine)