"Collected Books" and "Continued Collection" are the main works of Li Zhen in the Ming Dynasty. Li Zhen wrote a large number of historiographical works in his life, among which he attached the most importance to the "Collection of Books", which he called "the book of the Legalist family of the Dharma". Li Zhen knew that this book was not suitable for the world, and said, "My aunt's book is hidden by my aunt, so that there are people who know me under the thousands of generations", so he named it "Collected Books".
The collection consists of 68 volumes, based on the official histories of the past dynasties, and records about 800 historical figures from the Warring States period to the end of the Yuan Dynasty in a chronicle style. Li Zhen classified these historical figures according to his own point of view, wrote general comments on some categories, and wrote monographs or short comments on some people, events, and remarks, and his comments were sharp, pungent, and full of critical spirit. The Continuation of the Collection of Books is a sequel to the Collection of Books, published by Wang Weiyan 7 years after Li Zhen's death, with a total of 27 volumes, mainly based on the biographies and anthologies of the Ming Dynasty, containing about 400 characters of the Ming Dynasty before the Ming Dynasty. In "Collected Books" and "Continued Collection", Li Zhen created the style and arrangement of historical books, and made evaluations of the historical figures recorded that were different from traditional views, which concentrated on Li Zhen's historiographical concept.
Revealing the Facts and Learning for Posterity: The Creation of Historical Styles. Li Zhen's primary contribution to the concept of historiography lies in the fact that for the first time, he clearly put forward and demonstrated that "the six classics are all history" and "the scriptures and history are the surface and the inside" from the perspective of the "charm" of the classics, and advocated that the study of history should be combined with historical theory, and pay attention to revealing the laws of rise and fall and chaos, so as to better play its social function of "revealing the facts and learning from future generations", and serve the practical purpose of "aiming to save the time".
Following the idea of combining historical theories, highlighting facts, and learning from future generations, Li Zhen made an important creation in the style of historical books, that is, he combined the "Benji" and the "family" into one to create the "century" style. This creation has broken the traditional "Benji" style of "scholars and kings to show the unification of the country", which is conducive to people summing up lessons and lessons from history and gaining enlightenment on "the matter of peace and the way to employ people". On the one hand, those heroes who failed but influenced the course of history have been written into the "century". Such as Chen Sheng and Xiang Yu, Li Zhen wrote biographies "Pifu Initiative" and "Hero Grass Creation" for them. On the other hand, "Collected Books" and "Continued Collections" focus on the deeds of emperors who had a significant impact on history, and not all emperors can have a place in the "century". For example, the Western Han Dynasty mainly describes the deeds of five emperors, including Gaozu of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Zhao of the Han Dynasty, and Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty.
The biography part of the "Collection of Books" is also very different from the traditional style of historical books in terms of classification, and its biography is divided into eight categories: ministers, famous ministers, Confucian ministers, military ministers, thief ministers, close ministers, close ministers, and foreign ministers. Judging from the explanation of the "Collection of Books: The Aftermath of the Century Biography", the order of the various arrangements of the biography is the process of forming history from rule to chaos. Li Zhen believes that Confucianism is the key to the end of chaos, and he says: "Confucianism really can't govern the world and the country." "Before the use of Confucian ministers, there were ministers and famous ministers who ruled the world, and whether the king was the lord of the Holy Ming or not, the ministers could assist the world and bring peace to peace, so that the people could be comforted. Although the famous ministers may not know the knowledge, there are scholars, and with their talents, they can keep the merit of governing the world. Li Zhen's so-called Confucian ministers, whose merits are all in literature, so they are not beneficial to the world, and they are in the world with wisdom, so the merits of the world's ministers are gradually declining to troubled times. When the world is in turmoil, the military ministers will come out, the thieves and ministers covet the world, and the relatives and close ministers will flatter the monarchs and ministers to take their benefits. As for the chaos in the world, the ministers did nothing, hidden in the rivers and lakes, and ended up with foreign ministers. Judging from the historiographical style of the "Collection of Books", Li Zhen's fundamental purpose is to summarize the regularity of China's dynasties from prosperity to decline from historical facts, and to explore the road to national prosperity and strength.
The Tao is not a lie, but pays attention to practical results: a record based on deeds. In the "Collection of Books" and "Continuation of the Collection", Li Zhen's criteria for judging right and wrong are based on actual results, rather than the ancient teachings of the Holy Gate on which Taoist scholars are based. At the beginning of the book, he explicitly opposed the use of Confucius's remarks as the criterion for judging right and wrong; he highly praised Qin Shi Huang's achievements in unifying China, calling him "the first emperor of the ages"; he praised the Legalists' ideas of innovation and progress, and gave high praise to famous Legalist figures and politicians with reform ideas. Li Zhen said: "The husband should act and then speak, but those who are not familiar with the Tao cannot; if they are feasible and then speak, they cannot be deeper than scholars...... The so-called is better than the Tao and deeper than the scholars, so it can purify oneself and enrich others, and use both forgiveness and forgiveness...... Practical learning also. It can be seen that Li Zhen's concept of "practical learning" includes the two attributes of "should be done" and "feasible", which embodies the standard of "not talking about the truth and paying attention to practical results".
The records of characters and deeds in the "Collection of Books" and "Continuation of the Collection" are mainly based on deeds, and the length of their works can be seen from the length of their works. For example, in the century, the descriptions of the kings of the past dynasties, such as Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, are quite long, and all the examples are martial arts, while those who have nothing to do such as Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty are very short, or even only a brush, and there is no way to record them. It can be seen that the positioning of historical figures in the "Collection of Books" and "Continuation of the Collection" depends on the level of merit.
Li Zhen popularized and applied the "childlike theory" to the field of historical research, and put forward the concept of "praise must have an ancient eye". He always compared scholars with real talents and scholars with orthodox Confucianism, and the criticism of Confucian ministers in the "Collection of Books" is omnipresent. "Collected Books: The Aftermath of the Century Biography" cloud: "Woohoo! Those who are entrusted by the people and the country are cautious to seek swords without carving boats, and under the pretext of Confucianism, they seek governance and turn against chaos. And the true talents of the world, the great sages and saints, are all empty rooms for life. Then Confucianism cannot govern the country, and it is believed. Li Zhen said that the "Collection of Books" "chiseled and chiseled all the things that are peaceful and the way to employ people", this passage is his theoretical summary of the "Collection of Books".
The people are noble and gentle, and the quality is saved: a breakthrough in the cycle of chaos. The cycle of "a long time must be divided, and a long time must be united" has been repeated in Chinese history. Li Zhen shows the expression of this cycle of chaos in "Collected Books": "One rule and one chaos are like a cycle. Since the Warring States period, I don't know how many chaos there are. He believes that since the Warring States period, the Chinese dynasties have been in a continuous cycle of chaos, and the main reason for the chaos is the growth and decline of "culture" and "quality". The "General Theory of the Century" said: "The lady is born in the world, but there are only two kinds of quality." The life of the two originated from the control of chaos. Its quality is also the beginning of the end of chaos and the beginning of the rule, and it is the one who has to be the center of it, and it is not correct. Its accumulation gradually leads to the text, and the omen of the extreme and chaos is also the center of it. All loyal. ”
Li Zhen believes that the continuous cycle of historical chaos lies in the fact that monarchs and ministers cannot keep their simple hearts. Therefore, Li Zhen proposed to "save the text with quality", hoping to break free from the inevitability of the cycle of chaos. The merits of the monarch and the minister emphasized by Li Zhen lie in the fact that they can make the people of the world be able to be comforted. Li Zhen believes that the people are the foundation of the country, and the actions of the monarch and ministers must start from the people, so there should be no extravagant behavior for their own selfish desires. From the observation of the cycle of chaos in the past dynasties, those who can keep their simple hearts can take the country as their own responsibility, and wherever they are attentive, they can live and work in peace and contentment for the people, and the people's will will be obedient, and the policies will be natural and chaos will not occur.
Judging the situation and adapting it in a timely manner: the relativity theory of the current situation that recognizes the master's contributions. Seeking change is one of the main themes of Li Zhen's "Collected Books", and he put forward two propositions in "Collecting Books: A General Catalogue of Biographies of the Century": one is that "as the years are, day and night change, and they are not the same"; and the other is that "yesterday is not the same as today, and today is not the day after tomorrow". Time shifts, things change, and at different stages, the standards of right and wrong should also change. Therefore, Li Zhen favored those scholars who judged the situation and were flexible in a timely manner.
Li Zhen learned from the observation of the historical cycle of chaos control that the king of sages cannot be encountered often, so in the change of one quality and one article, the chaos will be replaced. In order to adapt to this change, Li Zhen believed that the minister should be expedient at any time, so as to be suitable for the place and make contributions to the world and the country. "The Biography of Qin Shi Huangdi" cloud: "Prime Minister Li Si said: The five emperors do not return to each other, and the three generations do not attack each other, each with its own rule." Li Zhen commented on it: "The three words 'each to rule' are very valuable. Li Zhen expressed the importance of homeopathy with the rule of three generations of holy masters, and he believed that the situation was relative, so it could not be subject to the law, and those who lived in the court could not be satisfied with their lives. "The Treatise on Virtue and Confucianism" cloud: "Although there is the sage of Confucius, there is no responsibility for the secretary, and the matter of the matter must not be settled in Lu for a day." This natural principle must be the same, and it cannot be said in the air. Li Zhen used Confucius to show that the king who is a minister and the situation he is in should be able to display his talents and make contributions to it. If it is only safe in the court and cannot be used, then it should be resolutely rejected, and it should be submitted to the Lord for use. Even saints have grown up by judging the situation and adapting in a timely manner.
When there is no way in the state, the hidden is the end: the sustenance of self-ideals. "Collected Books" is Li Zhen's angry work in his later years, during this period, Li Zhen's historiographical concept has reached maturity, and his life experience has accumulated a lot, so whether it is social observation or historical observation, there are profound thoughts. However, due to the political atmosphere of the Ming Dynasty and Li Zhen's style, his ambition had nowhere to be extended, and he used the stage of history to show his ideals through the stage of history. From his comments on the characters in "The Biography of Foreign Ministers", it can be seen that Li Zhen believes that if people are talented, they should establish a career for the government to support the people of the world. But if the situation is forced not to meet the master, then hide in the rivers and lakes and wait for the master to come out.
According to the theory of historical cycles, one quality and one article will eventually lead to one rule and one chaos, and the "General Theory of the Century" clouds: "If the world is chaotic, the sages will be hidden, so the foreign ministers will end up." "If the world is chaotic, there is no way, and if the sage is not used, he will be hidden. The departure of the aspiring virtuous ministers and the Confucian ministers who seek fame in vain are already the trend of the country's decline, so Li Zhen is the end of the chaos with foreign ministers. Li Zhen divided the foreign ministers into time hidden, body hidden, heart hidden, and officials hidden. Li Zhen believes that talented people are all to be used by virtuous kings, so there is a reason why foreign ministers have to hide outside. Those who hide from time to time, see that the king is useless, and the sages with real talent and real learning, because the time is not right, they hide in the rivers and lakes to protect their whole body. Li Zhen believes that once what he has learned and done is trapped in fame and fortune, he mistakenly thinks that being famous means being virtuous, and he is losing his nature if he focuses on fame and does not know that he has specific deeds. Li Zhen's "Collection of Books" ends with the seclusion of officials, which is the best expression of the unity of virtue and virtue, and is also the highest principle of his historiographical philosophy.