Author: Qu Lindong
Historians studying history and writing historical works must be based on historical materials. However, how to distinguish and use historical materials is very different, which is a methodological problem in historiography. Throughout the ages, historians have put forward many insights and methods on how to view and dispose of historical materials because of their personal experience, or because of social customs, or because of the development of disciplines, or because of the improvement of understanding, and have accumulated rich experience. Although times have passed, and today has entered the information age, people's reading habits and retrieval methods have undergone great changes, but some of the insights, methods and experiences of predecessors in dealing with historical materials still have important reference value and reference significance.
First, the emphasis is on knowledgeable and good choice.
When summarizing and commenting on the historical writings of his predecessors, Liu Zhiji of the Tang Dynasty prominently talked about the differences caused by the different attitudes and methods of historians toward historical materials. He stressed that accomplished historians "should not seek different opinions, collect the words of the masses, and then become a family and pass them on to the immortals", such as "Zuo Zhuan", "Shi Ji", "Han Shu", etc., "This is not contemporary elegant, there is no innocence, so it can win the trust of a moment, and be good at a thousand years" "CaiZhi"). At the same time, Liu Zhiji expounded several principles for historians to use historical materials: First, they should not be included in history as "witty novels" and "gods, ghosts, and monsters"; second, they should investigate the "authenticity" of documents and analyze the "gains and losses" of historical materials, such as "the record of the county and the country, the book of the genealogy, and the desire to be discreet in their state and praise their clans"; third, "false words are difficult to believe, and rumors are lost", and should be cautiously adopted; fourth, due to the long age, "ancient and modern roads are obstructed, the audio-visual is separated", or the front and back are confused, or whether there is an upside down, they should be discerned and understood. Finally, Liu Zhiji concluded: "Therefore, the author's evil reasoning is unreasonable, and the street talk is harmful", "Different words are suspicious, and scholars should be good at thinking" "Collection"). It can be seen from this that Liu Zhiji's "soliciting different opinions and collecting group words" is based on "good thinking". Judging from the above quotations, any blind practice of "soliciting" and "collecting" historical materials is not advisable.
It is worth noting that Liu Zhiji's attitude and practice of historians toward historical materials is dialectical. He believes that "scholars who have knowledge of old things, who know more about their things, if they do not look at other records, do not consult different books, specialize in the chapters and sentences of Zhou and Kong, and directly abide by the history of Migration and Solidity", it is impossible to create something. At the same time, he also said: "The Master has clouds: 'Hear more, choose the good and follow it', 'Know the second time'. If it is so, then the book is not holy, the words are not written, the scholars are knowledgeable, and the cover is only chosen" "Miscellaneous"). In today's terms, history should have a wide range of documents, and the key lies in the fact that historians are good at identifying and selecting those reliable and important parts.
Liu Zhiji is a historian critic, and these truths he preached are a summary of the histories written by predecessors, and can be used as a reference for later generations, which has universal significance. For example, when Sima Qian wrote the "Records of History", he wrote:
Scholars are mostly called the Five Emperors, Shangyi. However, the "Book of Shang" contains Yao alone; and the Yellow Emperor of the Hundred Houses of Words, whose writing is indecent, is difficult to say to Mr. Gentleman. Confucius passed on the Five Emperors and the Imperial Family Names, or not on the Confucians. Yu tasted the west to The Void Tong, the north through Zhuolu, the east gradually over the sea, the south floating river Huaiyi, to the elders are often called the Yellow Emperor, Yao, Shun, the wind religion is particularly special, in short, not close to the ancient literati. Yu Guan "Spring and Autumn", "Chinese", his invention "Five Emperors", "Imperial Family Name" Zhang Yi, Gu Difu deep examination, all of which are not false. The Book is missing, and its anecdotes are seen in him from time to time. It is not easy to learn and think deeply, and it is difficult to know its meaning, and it is difficult to see and hear the truth. Yu Ju discussed the second time, and chose his words to be ya, so he wrote the first book of the Benji ("Five Emperors Benji").
Judging from Sima Qian's distinction between historical materials about the Yellow Emperor, he not only discarded those historical materials that were "inelegant in his writing" and "chose those who chose his words to be elegant" into history, but also pointed out why he gave them up and why they were adopted. It can be seen from this that Sima Qian was both a "knowledgeable" person and a person who could "choose the good", thus setting an example for future historians.
With the development of history and the enrichment of social life, the accumulation of historical materials is more and more numerous, and it is becoming more and more complex, and historians are also facing new tests of "knowledge" and "choosing good". Liu Zhiqi pointed out that the "Record of the Counties and the Book of the Genealogy" has the drawback of "praising its clan in the state", so it should be treated with caution. Li Ao, another historian of the Tang Dynasty, also put forward different opinions on entering history with "behavior". He pointed out in the "Hundred Officials' Deeds": "Those who perform deeds in this work are not his protégés, that is, their former officials, who are not vain and benevolent, righteous, and wise, and who speak in vain to be loyal and virtuous," so that "good and evil are confused and unclear.", and if they enter history, they are "absurd and unbeliefectable." He believes that Shi Shi's records must be the end of the book, advocating that "but if the facts are told and the words are directly stated, then the good and evil deeds are all based on the facts." This points out the limitations of the line as a historical material, and also puts forward the requirement of seeking truth from facts in writing the line.
History has developed to this day, whether it is written materials or physical materials, it has surpassed any other period in history. The scope of historians' "knowledge" has been expanded unprecedentedly, the test of "choosing the good" has become more severe, and the principle of choosing the good by Liu Zhixiao should still be practical.
Second, it is necessary to distinguish between categories.
In the face of rich historical materials, historians have put forward the principles and methods of classification and analysis. The Ming Dynasty historian Wang Shizhen compared the three types of historical documents of national history, wild history, and family history, compared their lengths and losses from a macroscopic perspective, and came up with the following understanding.
The people of the history of the country are unscrupulous and good at concealing the truth, and their narrative texts and documents cannot be abolished. Wild historians are contrived and good at distorting, and their signs of right and wrong, cutting taboos, and cannot be abolished. The family history is arrogant and good, and its praise and official performance cannot be abolished[4] (vol. 20).
This passage generally points out the defects in the history of the country, the history of the wild, and the history of the family, and the place where they are finally "insurmountable". Among them, it contains dialectical understanding of the methodology of historical criticism, reflecting Wang Shizhen's insights. The three situations he summed up, namely "man is arrogant and good at concealing the truth", "man is hypothetical and good at distorting the truth", and "man is shy and good and overflowing with truth" and its related concepts are of particular theoretical significance.
The so-called "garden history people are arbitrarily good at concealing the truth", this situation is certainly not limited to the historiography of the Ming Dynasty. The criticism of the history of the country before the Tang Dynasty in Stone Ancient and Modern Zhengshi involves some phenomena of "arbitrariness" and "concealment of truth". Wang Shizhen's criticism of the historiography of the Ming Dynasty is very fierce, he believes: "The dereliction of duty in national history is not worse than that of our dynasty. "The supreme ruling group of the Ming Dynasty not only did not organize the writing of the national history of the Ji Chuan style, but even the living notes were also ignored. Wang Shizhen's criticism is not excessive. However, when he pointed out that "the people of the history of the country are arbitrarily good at concealing the truth", he still affirmed that the history of the country, that is, the history of the past dynasties, is "inviolable" in terms of "narrative canon and narrative literature". On this point, he and Liu Zhiji's arguments are similar.
The "wild history" in the so-called "wild history" is relative to "national history". In Chinese historiography, there has always been a relative "wild history" and a "correct history". The Tang tortoise is covered with a poem cloud "Self-love in the history of the wilderness". This shows that there has been a "wild history" before. Tortoise Meng's contemporary Sha Zhongmu wrote the "History of Yamato", "from Yamato to the Dragon Age". After the Two Song Dynasties, "Wild History" became popular and flourished in the Ming Dynasty.
Wild history has several more significant characteristics: first, the author is not a historian; second, the genre is informal; third, the record is generally limited to smell and seeing, and there are many ways to say that there are many alleys; and the fourth is that the record is less taboo. The fourth volume of Song Ren Hongmai's "RongZhai Essays" has a "wild history is not credible" article, and the author records that song Zhenzong's dynasty affairs are chronologically incorrect according to Wei Tai's "Records of Dongxuan", and Shen Kuo's "Mengxi Pen Talk" records that song Zhenzong's dynastic affairs are not in date, and a jade belt is "more than jade" and does not match the facts, believing that "wild history is not credible", which is a methodological deviation from correct to biased.
The emergence of wild history miscellaneous theories has its historical roots and social roots. Although the specific circumstances of the dynasties have been different, the basic reasons are the same. Wang Shizhen's comments on the history of the Ming Dynasty were carried out under the circumstance of criticizing "the dereliction of duty in the history of the country is not worse than that of our dynasty." He said, "Shi Lost asks for the wilderness. However, the third disadvantage of the wild history is that one is afraid of it and more slander. ...... The second is light and ugly. ...... Three days are strange and multi-birth. He gave examples of each of the drawbacks, which were very convincing. He summarized "coercion", "listening", and "strange" into a "hypothetical" word, that is, out of imagination rather than all facts, so it is easy to "distort". But he still affirmed Ye Shi's "signs of right and wrong, cutting taboos", so "can not be abolished".
In terms of views on miscellaneous and wild histories, from Liu Zhiji to Wang Shizhen, there is a basic idea running through, that is, the dialectical understanding reflected in the treatment of historical materials.
The so-called "family history is full of people and good and overflowing with truth", Wang Shizhen believes that "family inscription" is just "dry bones and golden words", which is bound to flow into "overflowing truth". But he still affirmed the role of family history in "praising the sect and expressing official performance", which is also "insurmountable".
Liu Zhiji said: "Gao Men HuaXin, Yi Shi Zaide, Cai Zi Chengjia, Si Xian's parents." From Ji Qi's martyrdom, Later, Ruo Yangxiong's "Family Spy", Yin Jing's "Lineage", "Sun Clan Genealogy", and "Lu Zong's Calendar". This is also called the family history. Liu Zhiji believes that there are two major limitations in the family history: one is that in terms of content, "there are only three ethnic groups, and one word stops"; second, in terms of time, if "the salary structure is dead, then Sven is also lost." Family history has such limitations, coupled with the author's "Ji Qi martyrs", often boasts about himself, so although it is in the era of door valves, it is not exempt from people's criticism. For example, Liu Zhiji once wrote the two books "Liu Family History" and "Genealogical Examination", and what he discussed and examined was "all according to the evidence, and the mistakes of the previous generation, although they were ridiculed by the customs, scholars obeyed his knowledge." This is still true of serious family history works, let alone shallow works. Wang Shizhen's analysis of "family history" is extremely pertinent.
Third, the science of the golden stone and the double evidence.
Both Ouyang Xiu of the Northern Song Dynasty and Zhao Mingcheng of the Two Song Dynasties recognized the historical value of the Jinshi script. The former authored the Collected Ancient Records, while the latter wrote the Golden Stone Records, which is a systematic work for the study of the golden stones that were earlier in ancient China. Ouyang Xiu expounded the historical value of the Jinshi script in the Preface to the Collection of Ancient Records, writing:
Since king Mu of Zhou has come, the lower Qin, Han, Sui, Tang, and five dynasties, outside to the four seas and nine states, the famous mountains and dazes, the poor cliffs and valleys, the barren forests and broken tombs, the gods and ghosts, the strange monsters, all of them, think that the "Collection of Ancient Records". It is said that the transliteration is distorted, so it is hidden because of its stone and shaft. There are curly orders, but there is no order of time and age. Cover it to take more than it has, so it is recorded with what it gets. And he said that the multitude would eventually disperse, but to make a big point of it, not to make a catalogue, because he could correct his fallacies with the history of the history, so as to pass on the learning and learn from the future, and it would benefit from the many [8] (vol. 42).
As a historian, Ouyang Xiu was well aware of the importance of carving stones and Yi inscriptions, "which can be corrected with history", which on the one hand was due to his feelings in the process of studying and writing history, on the other hand, because he was good at this and had the opportunity to contact various golden stone scripts.
Although Zhao Mingcheng was not a historian during the Song Dynasty, the Golden Stone Record shows that he was a brilliant philologist. Zhao Mingcheng's "Golden Stone Record" is voluminous, but in the period of social unrest, Zhao Mingcheng failed to personally pay for it and died. This book was cut and sorted out by his wife Li Qingzhao, and it was written into thirty volumes, printed in the world, and has been circulated to this day. Li Qingzhao wrote at the beginning of the long preface to this book: "Who is the thirty-volume of the Right Golden Stone Record? Books written by Zhao Houde's father are also. Taken from the upper three generations, down to the five seasons, the bell, the ding, the urn, the mane, the pan, the za, the zun, the dun of the knowledge, the monument to the great jie, the deeds of the prominent obscure, all seen in the two thousand volumes of the gold and stone carvings, are all right and false, to take praise and depreciation, the upper enough to conform to the way of the saints, the lower enough to determine the loss of the Shi shi, can be described as many"[9] (p560). Judging from this passage, Li Qingzhao knew Zhao Mingcheng's interest in governing and learning very well. In a sense, the book "Golden Stone Record" is an important historical book left by Zhao Mingcheng and Li Qingzhao to future generations.
During the Qianjia period of the Qing Dynasty, Ruan Yuan also made many achievements in the collection, collation and research of Jinshi scripts, claiming to have done ten things, such as compiling the "Shanzuo Jinshi Zhi" and "Two Zhejiang Jinshi Zhi", and writing the "Jigu Zhai Zhong Ding Zhi Zhi" and so on. He believes that the Jinshi script "can be used by many people who can be used for scripture, history, seal, and evidence" [10] (vol. 3). Nguyen Yuan viewed the Jinshi script from a historical point of view. Gong Zizhen commented: "The public name Jijin can prove the scriptures, and the music stone can be the history. This further clarifies the historical value of the Jinshi script.
The study of gold and stone in ancient China is very different from the archaeology of modern China, and the historical value of archaeological results far exceeds the study of gold and stone. Regarding the historical value of the research results of modern archaeology and the significance of its methodology, Wang Guowei summarized it as "double evidence", which was further elaborated by Chen Yinke, and its essence is as follows:
Mr. Bo's learning is knowledgeable, exquisite, almost endless, and traces can be found. However, the detailed "Testament", its academic content and methods of governance, can be summarized in three eyes. The physical object taken from the ground and the remains on the paper are interpreted to each other. ...... The second is to take the old books of foreign nationalities and the old books of our country to correct each other. ...... The three take foreign ideas and cross-reference them with the inherent materials. ...... The scholarly nature of these three types of writings is inherently similar and similar, and the methods used are not exactly the same, so that they can all be enough to divert the prevailing atmosphere and show the rules of the times. The study of Japanese history in our country is extensive in scope and in many ways, and I am afraid that it is impossible to go beyond the three categories. This gentleman's book is the most important product of our country's modern academic circles.
Among them, the first article says that "the physical objects taken from the underground and the remains on paper are mutually interpreted", which can best reflect the physical historical materials provided by the achievements of modern archaeology, and corroborate them with the historical materials of the documents passed down from generation to generation, which has greatly promoted the progress of Chinese historical research, and Wang Guowei is one of the pioneers in this regard. As for the second article, the so-called "Ancient Book of Alien Nationalities" refers to the "Ancient Book" of China's ethnic minorities, which is "supplemented" with Chinese literature, which not only expands the scope of historical materials, but also enriches the content of historical research. The third article talks about the "mutual reference" between historical materials and "foreign ideas", and there is also a reference to historiography in terms of methodology. In this regard, the role and significance of the materialist view of history as a "foreign concept" are even more prominent.
Fourth, pay attention to the large, universal, and major historical materials.
From Confucius and Sima Qian to Wang Guowei, Chinese historians have put forward various understandings of historical materials, one of which is that one principle runs through ancient and modern times, that is, attaching importance to the authenticity of historical materials. This is because only when historical materials are authentic can it be possible to write a credible history. On this issue, Chinese Marxist historians are in common with historians of the past. Of course, Marxist historians have clearly put forward some new views on the issue of historical materials. Speaking of the question of historical material, Jabzan put forward the following principles:
It is best to use first-hand materials.
The materials used must be checked with the original book, and if there are important similarities and differences depending on the version, they must also be noted.
It is necessary to critically accept the results of the material examination of predecessors.
The ingredients should be chosen, and do not cook chicken feathers and chicken in a pot for the sake of making up more. Don't dump your child with dirty water when you remove unimportant materials.
Don't draw conclusions based on isolated evidence and arbitrarily judge history. Don't pile up a bunch of material to obscure the context of historical development.
The principles mentioned here are very important principles such as respecting the achievements of predecessors in material research, being good at choosing different trade-offs, and avoiding relying on orphan evidence. In particular, do not attach importance to the article of solitary evidence, which is an important principle of the methodology of the materialist view of history. When talking about this issue, Fan Wenlan emphatically pointed out:
Although there are many commonly used materials, in the end it is not too much, if you want to use these materials to write articles, you must generally read it first, know which things are large, universal, major, and which things are small, individual, and secondary. In collecting information, we should work a large number of universal facts, and do not use the technique of seeking chapters and excerpts and playing with the game of examples. Everyone knows that the Ming and Qing dynasties can use a lot of materials to "prove" that it is a slave society, and it can also be "proved" that it is a capitalist society, so Lenin tells us: "There is no more popular and useless method of extracting individual facts and playing with the game of examples." ”
This principle shows the basic attitude of Marxist historians toward historical materials, that is, to look at problems comprehensively, to look at problems in essence, to capture historical materials that reflect the mainstream and essence of history from chaotic and chaotic historical phenomena, and then to reveal the true face of history.
Fifth, attach importance to the duality of historical data. Before the advent of today's audio-visual materials, we can say that historical materials are speechless, but in the writing of historians, it can tell people about history; historical materials are stale, but they will be alive and active when historians rationally compile them together. This relationship between historians and historical materials is a kind of vitality in historical research. However, the vital manifestation of historical data has another meaning, thus constituting the duality of historical data. Bai Shouyi was the first to put forward the view of the duality of historical data, saying:
Historical data, first, is the record of the past, the record of the past history, and at the same time, it is also used to explain the present data. Without understanding historical data, we cannot explain the present, and we cannot explain many of the current problems. That is to say, we cannot cut off history. The past is studied to explain the present, and the present is to observe the future. ...... I think that means a lot. If this is correct, then we will not regard historical data as something dead, but something alive, something with vitality. A large part of the historical data is alive and still alive. If understood in this way, the meaning of historical data is very different from that understood in the past. Second, historical data is not only the study of historical data, but also the research data of many disciplines. It is both historical and current for some academic research. ...... In fact, these two properties can often be unified, but from a research point of view, the two properties are not the same. We can call it the duality of historical data.
It can be considered that the view of the duality of historical data is an extremely important new understanding of historical materials, that is, people study history and explain history without historical materials, and people will also get inspiration from historical materials to open up new research fields and explore new problems. These insights are extremely enlightening: first, there is a problem of systematic historical documents and the regularity of observation; second, historical documents are not necessarily "dead" things, and some historical documents still have vitality. In short, regularity and vitality are two important issues.