I have been engaged in the translation and collation of ancient books for many years, and I have always had an idea, that is, to sort out and translate the Zizhi Tongjian again. However, the 294 volumes of the Zizhi Tongjian, more than three million words, and a large amount of weight, it is not an easy task to do this work, and several vernacular translations have been published, and then rearranged, it seems that there is not much need, so this plan has been shelved for a long time.
A few years ago, I had the privilege of reading the Two Books of the Kangxi Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, "Outline of the Imperial Approval of Zizhi Tongjian" and the Qianlong Emperor's "Compilation of imperial approval of the Tongjian of the Dynasties." As the most outstanding imperial statesmen of the Qing Dynasty, the two british lords of the Qing Dynasty left a very insightful discussion and commentary on many historical figures and events in the "Zizhi Tongjian", which will be quite enlightening for ordinary readers to read the "Zizhi Tongjian". Therefore, I had an idea to enter the imperial approvals of Kangxi and Qianlong into the original text of the "Zizhi Tongjian" and rearrange a Kangqian imperial batch of the "Zizhi Tongjian", which is something that no one has ever done before, and it must have certain value for the dissemination of the "Zizhi Tongjian".
In the process, I also obtained five volumes of the "Tongjian Commentary" by Shen Hanyu, a beginner in the late Ming and Qing dynasties, Shen Hanyu was the son of Shen Jiayin of the Ming Taibu Temple, the brother of the literary scholar Shen Hanguang, he liked to read history, and he had his own unique insight into the rise and fall of the dynasties, the control of chaos, and the gains and losses. Therefore, it also placed its comments after the relevant original texts and collected them into this "Kangqian Yu Criticism Point Book" "Wenbai Comparison zizhi Tongjian".
History is a summary of the experiences and lessons of predecessors. Reading history can remind us to make fewer mistakes made by our predecessors and learn from the experience of our predecessors. Hegel once said: "The only lesson that people learn from history is that they cannot learn anything from history." "When we read the history of China, almost every dynasty at the end of the period seems to be repeating the mistakes of the previous dynasty. But that doesn't mean we can't get wisdom and inspiration from history. Because, for any country or dynasty, prosperity and decline are inevitable laws, and no one can escape. Although the historical direction of determining the fate of a country and a nation has always been the leader and decision-maker of politics.
However, we will also find that sometimes small people can rewrite history and influence the future. From a certain point of view, the big history of each country and nation can be said to be the sum of the personal small histories of the people of this country. An ordinary person may not be able to change the general trend of history, but he can rewrite his own small history through his own efforts. If more small individuals can rewrite their own small history, perhaps this force will affect the great history of the whole country and nation. As for how to rewrite our own little history, each of us can gain wisdom from the experience of the ancients. I think this is probably the root cause of the ancient Chinese people's emphasis on history.
The Zizhi Tongjian has always been regarded as a political textbook for officials, and Sima Guang's original intention in compiling it was to provide a mirror for the rulers. However, this does not mean that the book is not of great value to the average reader. On the contrary, reading the "Zizhi Tongjian" will have valuable enlightenment and reference for each of us in how to cultivate ourselves, be virtuous, behave as a person, and deal with things, and for the leaders of a group and the makers of national policies, the role of this reference is particularly obvious, and the social effect will be greater.
The Chinese nation is a nation that attaches great importance to history, and most readers have the habit of reading history. Reading the history of China, "Zizhi Tongjian" is a book that cannot be avoided. I think that the significance of our reading of the Zizhi Tongjian today is not only to understand the past and look to the future, but also to let us grasp every present through the warning of history. Only if we can grasp every present moment can we write our own small history, and then respond to the big history of our own era and assume our due responsibilities.
It took several years for the book to be completed and finally ready for publication. This year coincides with the 1,000th anniversary of Sima Wengong's birth, and I hope that the advent of this book will bring new thoughts and harvests to the vast number of readers when reading the "Zizhi Tongjian", as the best memorial to Sima Wengong.
(This article is the author's preface to the book "Kang Qianyu Criticism Point Book", "Wenbai Comparison zizhi Tongjian", which will be published by Unity Publishing House in June 2019.) Click to read the original article to book. ）
