It is better to believe in the book than to have no book at all
Spring steps
I have always believed in the books of the Commercial Press, especially the dictionaries. However, a recent lookup of the character "麈 (zhǔ)" in the Dictionary of Ancient Chinese (2005 edition) published by the library has put a question mark on the library for the first time.
The entry for "麈" is explained as follows: "1. The name of the animal, the tail of which can be used as dust...... 2. Finger tail dusting. Mi Fu "Man Tingfang and Zhou Shuren try to give tea to the Manna Temple" words: "Yayan Feizhen, talk about waving." Seeing Mi Fu, suddenly remembered to study Mi Fu calligraphy is good at calligrapher Mr. Zhang Qiliang, he has authored "Crack Mi Fu calligraphy code" and "<方圆庵记>Pro Xi Illustrated", its research results have been approved by Professor Cao Baolin, the authority of Mi Fu calligraphy. I asked him to check the whole picture of Mi Fu's first word, but I didn't expect Mr. Zhang to say that the word quoted in the "Ancient Chinese Dictionary" may be wrong, and the "Zhou Shuren" mentioned in the word should be "Zhou Renshu". My first reaction was, could the Commercial Press be wrong?
Mr. Zhang said that not only is "Zhou Shuren" and "Zhou Renshu" uncertain, but the author of this poem is also controversial. One problem was not solved, and another came. Listen to Mr. Zhang's case, and patiently explain it to me. According to the famous scholar Mr. Tang Guizhang, this poem is from Qin Guan. "There are a large number of Song Ci works that appear in the collections of two or more writers. In addition, the Southern Song Dynasty a general judgment called Cao Zhige, especially like Mi Fu's calligraphy, he carved the tablet and then extended ten volumes (nine volumes and ten volumes are Mi Fu's calligraphy), which mentioned this word, with "Zhou Renshu". But Zhang Boying, a great collector of the Qing Dynasty, said that the stele was a forgery. Mr. Zhang believes that even if it is a forgery, it must be done by people in the Southern Song Dynasty, Mi Fu wrote the first word of Qin Guan, and later it was false. Maybe it's Cao Zhige, the world copied Mi Fu wrote the words of Qin Guan into Mi Fu's name.
"Zhou Shuren" or "Zhou Renshu"? Mr. Zhang said that the error in the "Dictionary of Ancient Chinese" may have originated from the "Baojin Yingguang Collection" edited by Yue Ke, and he also provided me with a lot of information. I won't list them all here. The person mentioned in the words of "Man Tingfang" is called Zhou Sui, and the word Ren is familiar, not Shu Ren. Zhou Sui sang and reconciled with Su Shi, and according to the annotations of Su Shi's poetry collection published by Zhonghua Book Company, Zhou Renshu was also familiar. Article 15 of the fourth volume of "Song Barnyard Banknotes" also records a story of "Zhou Renshu spitting to earn Mi Fu inkstone". Runzhou Taishou Zhou Sui (the word Ren Shu) is Mi Fu's friend, Mi Fu showed him the newly collected inkstone, Zhou Renshu first behaved cautiously, and is hand washing, and appreciation, and then, while Mi Fu is not prepared, spit in the inkstone, Mi Fu suddenly changed color: "Gong He first Gong and then the inkstone, dirty, unusable, for the public gift." Mi Yan spitted into Zhou Yan. I feel that Zhou Renshu is a very interesting person. I think, Zhou Renshu's birthday may be learned from Mi Fu. Mi Fu similar stories are a lot.
It is very interesting to communicate with Mr. Zhang Qiliang like playing table tennis. He also made a research on the "Yayan Feizhen, Qing Tan Waving" quoted in the "Dictionary of Ancient Chinese". Some versions of "麈" are used as "dust" (traditional Chinese for 'dust)", while others are used as "seats".
Mencius said, "It is better to believe in books than to have no books." The "book" here originally refers to the Book of Shang, and later refers to the book in general. The original intention was to fully believe in the "Book of Shang", it is better not to have "Book of Shang". Later, it was used to exhort and warn people not to blindly believe or stick to books.
Bold questioning is a very important cognitive attitude. Questioning is a kind of ability, the ability to ask questions, the ability to find gaps, the ability to find loopholes. Only by boldly questioning can we get close to the essence of things and uncover the truth of the facts. We must not be superstitious and obsessed with books, nor can we be superstitious about authority, even if it is like the "Dictionary of Ancient Chinese" of the Commercial Press, which sometimes puts a question mark on it, without ambiguity. Blind superstition and attachment to books are actually reinforcing mistakes. In this uncertain world of knowledge, every doubt we make may be an approximation of the truth of knowledge.
The Commercial Press is a trustworthy bookstore, and the books it publishes are also trustworthy books. One bad apple won’t spoil the whole bunch. The love is deep, and the responsibility is keen. To question it is not to be disrespectful to it, but to trust it. I would also like to thank the Commercial Press, which has provided me with countless high-quality food for thought. It's funny to say that in the past, I used to pronounce "麈talk" as "dust talk". It wasn't until I saw Professor Xu Chuanfa's monograph "Shuyuan Lu Tan" by Professor Xu Chuanfa of Qufu Normal University by chance, and after looking at it twice, I found that I was lonely and unheard. The people of the Wei and Jin dynasties like to whisk the dust at the tail of the deer, so they call the Qing talk "the deer talk". Regrettably, not only me, but also some publications have printed "麈計" as "塵衵資", which is regrettable. Publications, especially dictionaries, should not be taken lightly. It is hoped that the "Dictionary of Ancient Chinese" will revise the example sentences of "麈" when revising.
If you don't believe in the book, you won't be able to, and if you believe in the book, you won't be able to. Zhang Qiliang adheres to Mencius's questioning spirit to do learning, which is worth learning from me. Critical thinking is a competency that we as learners and researchers should continue to develop. We should be sober: learning is not just about accumulating knowledge, it is about constantly questioning and updating this knowledge, colliding with new things. It's about seeking truth. It is a rare character.
Source: Popular Daily
Editors: Yu Min, Wang Xixu, Li Xiaoyan, Shan Wei