【"Ode to China in the Context of China · e Page Millennium" Chinese Ancient Books Rare Books Network Theme Dissemination Series III】
Author: Qi Yongxiang, Professor, Department of Chinese, Peking University and Center for the Study of Ancient Chinese Literature of Peking University
According to the statistics of the national census of ancient books, there are about 200,000 kinds of ancient books written before 1912 in China. In such a large number of ancient books, which books are considered rare books and which books are not rare books are a category that does not change and is also an incalculable data. Generally speaking, if an ancient book has a certain cultural relics value, academic value or artistic value, one of the three is a rare book. However, with the downward movement of the times, the difference in the understanding of the value of books and the changes in people's preferences, the judgment of rare books also varies from time to time, place, book to book, and from person to person. If we use a simple and outdated phrase: of the many editions of a book, the one with relatively full content and fewer textual errors is a rare book; more commonly speaking, a good book with fewer errors.
Ancient books are the most important carrier for recording China's traditional civilization and culture, the heritage and treasure that condense the memory of traditional culture, and the basis for the existence and inheritance of Chinese culture. With the rapid development of information technology, we should fully cherish and make use of existing ancient books, excavate and expound the cultural elements contained in ancient books and rare books themselves, and learn, appreciate, inherit and carry forward excellent traditional culture.
First of all, we must tell the story of ancient books and rare books, and show the cultural charm and national spirit of passing on the torch. We take the "Golden Stone Record" compiled by Zhao Mingcheng and Li Qingzhao in the Song Dynasty as an example, Zhao and Li are deeply in love, and their families have no surplus wealth, but they are clothed and shrunken, and they are fond of collecting ancient books and cultural relics. Unfortunately, Song Jin fought and fled to the south, and his hiding place was completely destroyed. After experiencing the turbulent displacement of his husband's death, Li Qingzhao compiled it into thirty volumes of the Golden Stone Record. It can be seen from this that Li Qingzhao was not only a first-class poet of the Southern Song Dynasty, but also an outstanding epigrapher. The circulation of the "Golden Stone Record" is also just as tortuous and arduous as the process of writing the book. The earliest inscription of this book is the Longshu County Zhai Ben published before and after the Southern Song Dynasty Emperor Xiaozong Chunxi, which was re-engraved by Junyi Zhao Buxuan at the time of Emperor Ningzong's kaixi. However, neither of these books is visible to the world. In the Yuan and Ming dynasties, all the manuscripts were circulated, along the false and false, and the truth was lost. The earliest engravings of the Qing Dynasty were published by Xie Shiji during the Shunzhi Period, and later the famous scholar Lu Wenbi of the Qianlong Dynasty participated in the various editions of the school, carefully proofread and surveyed, and fu Zi printed it, and the "Golden Stone Record" had a readable version. However, the bibliophile Feng Wenchang of the early Qing Dynasty unexpectedly collected the ten volumes of the incomplete Song Shu ben "Golden Stone Record", which was really like the Heavenly Huang, extremely rare, and Feng immediately carved a "Golden Stone Record Ten Volumes of People's Home" stamp to show praise. Later, this fragment was transferred to jiang li, Zhao Wei, Ruan Yuan, Han Taihua, and Pan Zuyin, and all of them were engraved with small seals of "Ten Volumes of Golden Stone Records". This fragment is now owned by the Shanghai Library, freed from the bad luck of losing people and having a gossamer fate, and has a home to live in. It can be seen that a book is circulated in the world, and although the editor has made great contributions, any link in the process of copying, engraving and circulating is indispensable. The history of a book is a history of life, because books are alive, even nine deaths to this day. The story of a rare book is also overflowing with the national spirit of the ancestors' cultural inheritance and endless life.
Secondly, we must attach importance to and explore the academic value and artistic value of rare books, carry forward the excellent traditional culture, and add riches of the times. Whether an ancient book can be engraved, circulated and brought to its value is sometimes caused by accidental factors. During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, the mainstream scholarship was the study of evidence, but at that time, the scholar Cui Shu was not flattering, studied the historical books in depth, had a skeptical spirit and tenacity of "breaking the casserole and asking the end", and spent his life painstakingly writing the thirty-two volumes of the monograph "Kao Xin Lu" of the nature of the examination and identification of notes. Chen Luhe, a native of Shiping, Yunnan, after reading some of Cui's manuscripts, insisted on worshipping Cui as his teacher and becoming Cui's only disciple. On his deathbed, Cui Shu was ordered to hand over all the manuscripts to Chen Luhe. When Chen arrived, he received the suicide note and changed his name to "Testament Sutra Zhai". Chen spent his life's energy and all his assets on the books published by his teacher, and the engraving was unremitting, but unfortunately the edition was completed for a while, and before it could be published, he died in Dongyang County, Zhejiang Province. Twenty boxes of suicide note plates are entrusted to Jinhua Fuxue, and the mind is unfinished, and the master and apprentice return to Daoshan. During the Republic of China period, Hu Shi attached great importance to it after discovering the "Record of Examination Letters" in Japan, and after returning to China, Gu Jiegang and others sorted it out and published it. Gu Jiegang was deeply influenced by Cui's family and founded the "Ancient History Discernment School", which became the mainstay of the twentieth century school of historiography. Behind Cui Shu's master and apprentice, the "Record of Examination Letters" exerted great academic energy and far-reaching influence. Ancient books such as "Kao Xin Lu" that continue the cultural pulse and add color to the times are not in the minority, but they are our precious wealth, which should be fully explored and given great respect and attention.
Third, it is necessary to give full play to the role of the Internet and ancient book databases, further digitize and network ancient books, so that more people can learn, disseminate and love ancient books, love excellent traditional culture, and let ancient books "fire". Today's world has entered an era of highly developed information, and people are no longer limited to the ancient books reading room of the library to borrow ancient books. The complete and clear scanned images of ancient books in the ancient book database allow us to have the conditions to see the oracle bone gold text, the Han Shu Han Jian, the Tang Dynasty manuscript and the Song and Yuan inscriptions, which were unimaginable in the past. Of course, major libraries and researchers should not only publish ancient book data on the Internet, but should play a greater role in introduction, publicity and promotion. In addition to holding various advanced expert lectures, it is also necessary to do more popularization lectures; not only in colleges and universities and libraries, but also in factories and rural areas, and even to primary and secondary schools, to explain to children the knowledge of ancient books in engraving, fonts, paper, layout, ink, binding, plutonium printing, inscriptions, etc. Thus, let them appreciate and taste the beauty of ancient books and the elegance and thickness of traditional culture, sow seeds in their hearts, and then gradually like and love ancient books, love excellent traditional culture, and become the successors and promoters of inheriting excellent traditional culture.
Fourth, it is necessary to vigorously excavate ancient books, speed up the pace of sorting out ancient books, activate ancient books sleeping in the pavilion, and let ancient books "come alive." At present, only a few of the existing ancient books have been photocopied and sorted out, and the vast majority of ancient books are still deeply hidden and difficult to come out, covered in dust. Our eyes are always fixed on the few famous masters and their masterpieces, repeatedly photocopied, proofread, annotated and translated and published, and those works that have not yet been known are not important or rare books, but no one reads, studies and organizes them. Therefore, if we want to further revitalize the resources of ancient books and expand their influence, we must focus on the development, collation and utilization of ancient books that are not well received. After all, books are not cultural relics, reading and utilization are always their first attributes, and cultural relics attributes are secondary or even tertiary. If you don't use it, you lose the natural attributes of books. In particular, some ancient books and orphan books will eventually die, and the collation and publication, incarnation of tens of millions, is the best protection of ancient books. Therefore, it is hoped that the major libraries will hold a more enlightened and open attitude and make greater achievements in the open reading, photocopying and collation of ancient books. This is a goal that requires the cooperation of academia and the library community.
Finally, today, when Western studies are flourishing and Westernization is becoming a common practice, it is also necessary to appropriately, moderately and cautiously introduce, translate and disseminate the excellent traditional Chinese culture to the world. In traditional culture, there are both excellent ingredients and bad content, and it is necessary to choose a subset of classic, authoritative, diachronic and synchronic history to increase the dissemination and promotion. What these books tell should be the eternal truth, the warm story that points directly to the heart, the truth that the whole world likes to hear and cite upwards, and the views and contents that can be accepted by people at home and abroad in ancient and modern times. Only in this way can it be recognized and loved by the whole world. In this regard, although we have done some work, we still have a long way to go and need the constant efforts of all parties to achieve good results. (Qi Yongxiang)
【Series 1】Li Mingjie: The Protection and Dissemination of Chinese Rare Books in Contemporary China
【Series II】Wu Guowu: Activate the new life of ancient books and rare books, and highlight the new atmosphere of Chinese civilization