In the history of modern Chinese historiography, Mr. Chen Yuan and Mr. Chen Yinke are called Er chen, both of whom are historians, and Chen Yuan has many pioneering achievements in Chinese historical research. His method of studying historiography has been summarized by contemporary scholars as "the combination of examining history, discussing history, and narrating history, thus developing the traditional study of evidence." (Wu Huaiqi, "Similar Cases and General History: Methods and Thinking of Philology")
Regarding Chen Yuan's life experience, the "Chen Yuan Chronology" and "Chen Yuan's Commentary" written by Mr. Liu Naihe are the most coherent and informative. From the records in the "Annals", it can be seen that Chen Yuan had a way of writing that broke the convention when he was young. For example, in the twenty-seventh year of Guangxu, when Chen Yuan was 21 years old, he went to Guangzhou to take the government examination, and because of his advanced thinking, the chief examiner was dissatisfied, but he finally passed the Xiucai examination. That year, he went to Kaifeng to take the Shuntianfu township examination, and this experience made people read quite dramatically: "In this examination, there was a Guangdong fellow villager Zhen who asked for the examination, because his composition was faster, he agreed." During the exam, I will make two articles by myself and give one to Zhen. As a result of the public list, he did not win, but his fellow villager Zhen Mou won the 62nd place in the Shuntianfu. The father was very unhappy about the matter. But there is nothing they can do. The reason why I did not win it was that my own article was strange in thought, not in line with the taste of the time, the more careful I was in Vietnam, the more I wrote on behalf of others, I did not work hard, I made ordinary articles, but I won. ”
Chen Yuan's old collection of "Sui Book Classics Zhi Zhi Zhi" fifty-two volumes Qing Miao Tsuen Sun Lotus Xiang Xiang Banknote, volume head
This passage is the recollection of Mr. Chen Yuan recorded in the "Annals of Chen Yuan", because he thought quickly and quickly, when taking the township examination, in addition to answering his own papers, he also answered two papers for the township, and answered two papers for one exam, and the result was that the one who took the exam for the exam was selected, and Chen Yuan himself failed. Although he received a large honorarium for this, it still made his family very frustrated. The following year, he went to Kaifeng again to take the township examination, but still did not pass the examination, so that his meritorious name stopped at the stage of xiucai.
It seems that a decent way of thinking is one of the secrets of the exam, and the more Chen Yuan plays beyond normal, the more he cannot achieve good exam results. But because of this, he became interested in historiography at the age of 23. On June 11, 29, Guangxu, he wrote a passage reading Zhao Yi's "Twenty-Two Chronicles of History": "Zhao Oubei Records twenty-two histories, each history first examines the historical law, and then discusses historical events. Its self-prologue cloud: "This compilation is mostly on the canonical history, biography, table, and zhizhong to participate in the mutual survey and proofreading, and it has its own view at the fox and is plucked out." 'The so-called history of the law also. Youyun: "The changes in the ancient and modern winds, the repeated changes in political affairs, and the cause of the rise and fall of chaos are also attached to what they see. 'The so-called historical events also. Now the original genus of history and law is subordinated to the front, and the genus of history is subordinated to the back, and each is divided into volumes for review. Diary of June 11. For this passage, Liu Naihe explained: "In the following decades, Chen Yuan has been studying the Twenty-Second Chronicle of history, making a large number of annotations on it, and from it he has realized the method of governance, and once wrote Lianyun: 'A hundred years of historiography pushed Oubei, and ten thousand volumes of poetry loved Jiannan. ’”
Chen Yuan's old collection of "Sui Book Of Scriptures And Records Examination" fifty-two volumes Qing Miao Tsuen Sun Lotus Xiang Xiang Banknote, Table of Contents
The above passage is the earliest record of his interest in historiography contained in the Tan Tan Chronology, and perhaps it was this incident that made him begin to have a skeptical mentality about history, and thus systematically and comprehensively studied some historical works. Perhaps because of his religious background, the first historical work he wrote was the Study of Yuan Dynasty Christianity's "Yuan Ye Li Ke Wen Jiao Kao", and the reason why he wrote this article was somewhat accidental.
At the age of 37, Chen Yuan prepared to write a "History of Christianity in China", for which he worked hard to collect historical materials related to Christianity since the end of the Ming Dynasty. Then, he read Yinghuozhi's "Ten Thousand Pine Wild People's Words and Good Words", from which he read that Yinghuozhi had a large collection of Christian literature, so Chen Yuan tried to borrow it from the other party, and they became friends. Regarding the end of this matter, Chen Yuan wrote in the sayings of the Wansong Wild Man:
Yu Zhizhi Wan Song Savage, because of the "Record of Words and Goodness" also. Ding Weichun, ju Jingshi, vowed to write "The History of Chinese Christianity", so he searched for the Relics of Christianity in the Ming Dynasty, and even more planned to imitate the examples of Zhu Yizun's "Jingyi Examination" and Xie Qikun's "Primary School Examination" as the "Qianlong Christian Record" in order to fill the gap in the "General Catalogue of the Four Libraries". Having obtained the "Record of Good Words", knowing that the wildlings have hidden such books, ecstasy, and the wildlings, they have read them as much as they can, and the wildlings have been stingy. Yu Ji was very touched by the wild man, and the wild man also liked that someone could read his collection, and hoped that he would engrave all the books every day to compile the school's ren xiang, and this Yu betrothed to the beginning of the wild man.
Quiet Xinghua Hutong
From this passage, it can be seen that Chen Yuan's research idea is to follow the way of Qianjia scholars, first systematically sort out the relevant literature, and then extract the information he wants from it. After he got to know Ying, Ying generously gave him all the relevant works for him to use, which made Chen Yuan very excited. After reading through these historical materials, he completed the first draft of the "Yuan Ye Li Ke Wen Jiao Kao". Regarding the origin of this topic, Chen Yuan wrote in the preface: "This Furen Society topic is also. The Furen Society, the place where Mr. Hideyuki and his disciples lectured on their papers. Mr. Yu tasted a gurudwara, and Mr. Furen showed the Furen Society class, and there was an inscription "Yuan Ye Li Ke Wen Kao". Yu tapped his end, occasionally touching. Returning to the Book of Chen, hooking the tenth day, obtaining a number of supporting articles, benefiting from the sons of the Furen Society, compared to the words of the matter, are all in one volume, in order to repay Mr. ”
It turned out that this topic was not thought up by Chen Yuan, but one of the topics produced by the Furen Society. For this matter, Ying Huozhi also described it in the "Yuan Ye Li Ke Wen Teaching Examination": "The servant and the second and third sons, Li Fu Ren Society, were in the Jingyi Garden of Xiangshan in the west of Beijing, holding the crippled and lacking, and begging for a living in the paper pile of the old day. In the past few years, the titles proposed for the examination are called 'Taigu Chinese and Western Homology Examination', 'Tang Jingjiao Monument Examination', 'Yuan Ye Li Ke Wen Kao', and 'Qing Siku General Eye Commentary on the Writings of the Ancestors in the Teachings', all of which are east scales and west claws, and have a slight outline. Ding Weichun, Mr. Chen Yuan'an, in search of the writings of three hundred years ago, went to consult briefly. The servant rejoiced in his own victory, for he poured out the basket and offered it to him. With his keen vision and strong wrist, Mr. Nai Cheng's gentle article in Yu Ye Li, the original text, will be hundreds of years of obscure terms, clearly exposed, making people no less suspicious. Looking back at the servants, the real rabbit garden booklet is complete. Because of the urgent need for business, Mr. Ma Xiangbo, for the sake of the people, to make the world public. Whoops, Mr. Ander's questions drawn up by his contempt, one by one, are anointed, and they are truncated and true, deaf and vibrating, and they are not the selfish fortunes of the contemptible people. ”
The front yard door of Chen Yuan's former residence
Furen Society is a research association founded by Ying Zhizhi and a few like-minded friends, which lists some related research topics, and Chen Yuan saw this list after meeting him. He became interested in it and wrote the first historical treatise of his life. For the value of this article, Ma Xiangbo said in the preface to the article: "Xiang Yu only knows that there is a Yuan Cross Temple, an old church of Christ, and I don't know that there is also the righteousness of the old religious people of the gospel. ”
The first draft of Chen Yuan's "Yuanye Li Kewen Teaching Examination" was completed in 1917, and at that time few people knew what was going on in Ye Li Kewen, so Chen Yuan's publication of this article caused a great response in the society, and the article became Chen Yuan's famous work. He went through three more revisions to make this a complete historical treatise. Niu Runzhen and Wang Lei said in the article "Local History and Chen Yuan's Historical Research": "This paper is the most exquisite one written by Chen Yuan, which outlines the title, original meaning, etymology and related historical issues of the Yuan Dynasty that has been obscure for 700 or 800 years. ”
Introductory cards
Chen Yuan explains in the text: "I am convinced that Yali Kewen is a Mongolian transliteration of Arabi (Arabic) language, which is actually the Arohaya of Jingjiao. According to contemporary interpretations, Li Kewen was actually a Yuan Dynasty Christian Nestorian sect, which once flourished in the Mongol army and spread everywhere with the occupation of the Mongol army. However, the Yuan Dynasty was shorter, and after the fall of the Yuan Dynasty, this religion also disappeared. Because there are few historical materials of the Yuan Dynasty, few people in later generations mention it, and Chen Yuan was able to write this article after some combing from China's historical historical materials, so that the historical facts that were obliterated by history were presented in front of people in a three-dimensional way. Regarding the way of its research, the author said in the preface of the volume: "The purpose of this book is to use Chinese historical materials exclusively to prove the situation of Christianity in the Yuan Dynasty. First, the "History of the Yuan" was identified as Christianity, and then the historical materials on the History of Yeli kewen were collected and classified and explained, in order to help those who studied the history of Christianity in the Yuan Dynasty. ”
Christianity is a source from the West, but Chen Yuan explicitly claims that he specializes in Chinese historical materials to study, which is the peculiarity of his research method. His historical sources are based on the documents contained in the local chronicles and some ancient stele rubbings, and the most important one is the "Daxingguo Temple" stele written by Liang Xiang, which has fallen into the river, but the Yuan Zhishun "Zhenjiang Zhi" contains an inscription, which contains the following sentence: "The crosser, take the image of the human body, unveil it in the house, paint it in the temple, crown on the head, wear it on the chest, and go up and down in all directions, and the inscription has the following sentence: "The crosser, take the image of the human body, unveil it in the house, paint it in the temple, crown on the head, wear it on the chest, and go up and down in all directions. Xue Mi Sixian, place name also; also Li Kewen, teaching name also. ”
From this, it can be confirmed that Li Kewen is a sect of Christianity, so Chen Yuan said in his monograph: "Looking at the Daxingguo Temple Record and the YuanDian Chapter, both have the words of The Confucian Sect, then it is also possible to conclude that li Kewen is a religion, not a tribe. If there are names such as Mary and Yelikwain Cross Temple, then Likwain is also Christian, not other than other, and there is no doubt about righteousness. ”
Door piers
It seems simple to say that it is easy to find important historical facts from historical materials that have not been noticed by previous generations, but in an era when there is no retrieval system, it is a huge project to find relevant historical materials from the vast sea of documents. Liu Naihe said in the article "Chen Yuan's Important Contribution to the Study of Yuan History": "In addition to making full use of the materials of the Yuan History, there are more than 60 kinds of books such as local chronicles, Jinshilu, calligraphy and painting notations, etc. As for the book that Chen Yuan specifically investigated, Lu Zequan calculated in the "Chen Yuan and < Yuanye Li Kewen Teaching Examination >": "Consulting the materials used in this book, in addition to the "Yuan History", the official books are "YuanDian Zhang", "Yuan", "General System", "Jingshi Dadian", Yuan "Secretary Supervision Zhi", "Continuation Tong Kao", "Continuation Tong Zhi"; private history and geography, and Jinshi works include "Yuan Shi Clan History", "Yuan Shi Class Compilation", "Yuan History New Compilation", "Yuan History Translation Evidence Supplement", "Yuan History Same List", "Imperial Jing Scenery Strategy", "Shandong Archaeological Record", "Shandong Archaeological Record". Taishan Stone Carvings", "West Lake Tour Chronicle", "Dongcheng Chronicle Yu"; local chronicles include Shunzhi "Zhenjiang Zhi", Kangxi "Zhenjiang Zhi", Wanli "Hangzhou Zhi", Kangxi "Fengyang Fu Zhi", Daoguang "Guangdong Tongzhi"; the total collection, anthology and notes include "Yuanwen Class", "Mountain Residence New Language", "Quit Cultivation Record", "Qingyang Collection", "Peiwen Zhai Calligraphy and Painting Notation" and so on. ”
It can be seen that in order to write a weighty paper, how much effort is needed, and Lu Zequan also described in the article "Yuanye Li Kewen Teaching Examination" the many characteristics of Chen Yuan's method of governance, the first of which is to have a sense of problems in the selection of topics, and the article quoted Chen Yuan's focus on the selection of topics: "The difficulty of the paper is best because people know it, and tell it unknown. If everyone knows it, there is no need to say it again; if everyone does not know, it is too remote and too specialized, and people look at it tastelessly. The loss of the former is evident, and the loss of the latter is hidden, and it must be hidden or hidden to become a masterpiece. And where the paper must have new insights, or new interpretations, in order to be useful to others. (Chen Zhichao's Collected Letters from Chen Yuan)
Handwriting on the door panel
For the study of religious history, Chen Yuan also has a monograph entitled "Yuanxi region people Huahua Kao", Liu Naihe said in the "Chen Yuan's Annals": "The "Yuanxi Regions People Huahua Kao" is a work carefully written by Chen Yuan, and it is also the most satisfactory work in his early years. And Bai Shouyi also talked about the value and content of the book in the article "To Inherit this Inheritance": "In mr. Yuan'an's early works, he paid more attention to the book "Yuanxi Regions People Huahua Kao". This book is about the Sinicization of Western ethnic minorities and foreign nationals in China. It is a work of great renown at home and abroad, rich in materials, and well-organized; it is a must-read book for scholars who govern the history of ethnic relations in China. ”
This book is indeed the work of Mr. Chen Yuan's early years, and the "Annals of Chen Yuan" quotes the evaluation of Kuwabara Shizuzo, the founder of Japanese Oriental historiography: "Chen Yuanshi is a particularly valuable scholar among the scholars of the history of China today." Although there are many historians like the elders of the Ke Shao Clan and many historians, if the feet of the Chen Yuan Clan can attract the attention of our people, it is unknown. ”
Number of meters
This passage compares Chen Yuan with the older generation of historian Ke Shaochen, who wrote the "New Yuan History", which attracted the attention of Japanese scholars. And what are the characteristics of Chen Yuan compared to it? Kuwabara Cited Two Points: "First, it is the object of study of the relations between China and foreign countries. Never indochina scholars have been unable to grasp the essentials of the study of foreign problems, so the relationship between the writings of indochina scholars is not enough for us to refer to. However, the results of Chen Yuan's research on this aspect have benefited many people. His creation began with "Yuan Dynasty Ye Li Ke Wen Kao", and the second was as published in the "Quarterly Journal of Chinese Studies" "Huo Zoroastrian Teachings Into China Examination" and "Manichaeism into China Examination", which were rich in information and accurate in examination, which were seen by the academic circles at that time. Second, the research method is also scientific. Many scholars in China do not understand the scientific method, the judeo Qing Dynasty scholars' examination and study, seeking truth from facts, its surface is flaunted by the banner of the core, but its content is not academic, the judgment of the materials is not sufficient, the theory is not thorough, and the value of comparative research is not known. In today's view, it is known that there are many defects in the research methods of the scholars of Zhina, and the young scholars of Zhina with new ideas also admit this defect. However, Chen Yuan's research method is beyond the shortcomings of The Indochina scholars and is also a scientific one. ”
This commentary by Kuwahara Mentions Chen Yuan's four works, which are studies related to the history of religion. Among them, "Manichaeism into China Examination", which talks about the religion created by the Persian Manichae, which began in the first half of the 3rd century AD, and this religion is a mixture of fire, Christ, and Buddhism. It was introduced to China in the first year of the Tang Dynasty," and then "followed the Uighurs into the Tang Dynasty and spread its teachings to the north and south of the great river." In the early years of Emperor Wuzong's huichang, the Tang dynasty army defeated the Uighurs, so manichaeism was abolished in the third year of Huichang, and this religion was transferred to the underground. During the Northern Song Dynasty, Manichaeism declined again, and then became dependent on Taoism, which spread until the Ming and Qing dynasties. Chen Yuan was able to sort out the history of this sect, which shows the depth of his research on this aspect.
Courtyard layout
In addition, Chen Yuan's research results on the history of religion include the "Kaifeng Yizhi Leye Teaching Examination", which is an early transliteration of Israel, the name of which originated in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, and the Yizhi Leye Sect is actually Judaism. During the Jin Dynasty, Judaism spread to Kaifeng, where it was built in the third year of Dading, which was originally also called a mosque, and these names gradually changed to Han surnames during the Yuan Dynasty. The Yizhi Leye Sect flourished in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, but after Daoxian it completely declined. Through the combing of Jewish monuments and the study of geographical historical materials, Chen Yuan examined the rise and fall of the religion.
It was these systematic studies that made Chen Yuan attract the attention of Chinese and foreign historians, and Kuwabara Believe that Chen Yuan's research methods in this series of religious works are the most affirmed, because he made up for the shortness of the Chinese Qianjia examination, which is tall enough.
Why did Chen Yuan have such a sophisticated way of governing? Judging from his personal experience, Chen Yuan did not have a teacher in this regard. Ran Pang Guanghua and Wu Jun said in the article "From Chen Yuan's Letters to Chen Yuan's Academic Life": "In 1908, Chen Yuan and Su Mozhai visited Shu Dongying and saw the manuscript of the "Medical Examination" written by Duo Ji Yuanyin at the home of Dr. Fuji Chuanyou. Chen Yuan believes that Duoji Yuanyin is Qian Daxin in the Japanese medical field, and his methods of governance are like Qianjia Elders, with meticulous evidence and meticulous organization. The medical method inspired Chen Yuan's later path of history. The article is evidenced by what Chen Yuan said in his letter: "Now that I am not practicing medicine, I have greatly benefited from medicine, not only my body is less sick, but in the past twenty years of learning, I have used medical methods." Some people say that I understand the scientific method, but in fact, I know the scientific method, but I only use these medical methods to refer to the Qianjia Zhu Confucian examination method. ”