Chapter 9 seven rounds of the rough

Speaking and reading classical Chinese, there are so many classics and books in classical Chinese, with a variety of contents, how to choose and how to absorb them.This question can be expressed in more concise words, what is wanted and what is not wanted.This doesn't seem too difficult to fix.Of course it is good or useful.But which ones are useful?There must be a standard for distinguishing useful and useless, and the standard can be different according to needs and people.For example, if we are studying cultural history, then even the books on prophecy and geomancy are also very useful; if we are studying classical Chinese in general, of course there is no need to go around in such superstitious books.Here we still narrow the scope and focus on classical Chinese, and choosing reading materials is also a troublesome problem.This includes two aspects: one is what to choose from the vast number of works, and the other is to select works and what to choose in different versions.

The issue of book selection in the old days belonged to the scope of bibliography, and the content was very complicated, which could not be explained clearly in a few words.For example, in the early years of Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty, Zhang Zhidong wrote a "Bibliography and Answers" (some people say that it was written by Miao Quan's grandson), in order to guide beginners and solve what to read (in the past, it naturally refers to ancient Chinese books) and which version to choose. Questions (in 1929, Fan Xi once made "Bibliography Questions and Answers Supplement", which is more detailed and accurate than the original book). "Bibliography and Answers" contains more than 2,000 books, and it is still of reference value, but it is not suitable for our current study of classical Chinese.Because: 1. What was regarded as important at that time may be of little use now; 2. What was regarded as the best at that time may not be the best now; 4. For the current beginner's theory, the content is too much and too complicated.Now there is a need for a new "Bibliography Questions and Answers" with more detailed explanations and a reference for ordinary Chinese learners.Not yet, we have to accumulate some knowledge in this area ourselves.

How to accumulate it?First of all, you must have some historical knowledge, especially the knowledge of literary history, that is, you must know which famous writers and famous works in the past dynasties.This is basic.In addition, we must also pay attention to the current publishing and reading situation, that is, to roughly understand what most people who study classical Chinese are currently reading and which books are easy to find.Reading literary history and referring to other people's reading experience, although it is close to following the trend, can often get the essentials, and solve the problem of reading selection without much effort.

After the reading material is selected, you must also have some knowledge of the selected version.Knowledge in this area can be generalized. For example, generally speaking: 1. An ancient book that has been collated by later generations is better than ancient books, such as "Huainanzi", and Liu Wendian's "Huinan Honglie Jijie" is higher than the Han Dynasty. Second, the combination of modern punctuation and annotation is more than the combination of old sentence sentence annotations, such as "Mencius", Yang Bojun's "Mencius Translation Notes" is more common than Song Dynasty Zhu Xi's "Mencius Collection Notes"; 3, especially for beginners, the comparison of selected annotations is compared to the whole book For example, Wang Boxiang's "Selected Records of the Historian" is used more than the old version of "Historical Records"; 4. The annotations are more detailed than the annotations are used together, just like the anthology of "Zuo Zhuan". (There are exceptions, such as Wang Xianqian's "Zhuangzi Jijie" published later, the annotations are concise and concise, not as detailed as Guo Qingfan's "Zhuangzi Jishi", but it is more convenient to use); 5. People who are more knowledgeable in this field select more annotations than ordinary candidates The combined use of annotations, such as Qian Zhongshu's "Selected Poems of the Song Dynasty" is more common than other anthologies of Song Poems.In addition to the general knowledge, you must also have some version knowledge about a certain book and a certain article.For example, "Historical Records", if we want to read it all, we must know that the new punctuation version of Zhonghua Book Company is more suitable than the old version without punctuation. You must know that there are several selected annotations such as Wang Boxiang, Zheng Quanzhong, and Zhang Youluan that are common now. Wang Boxiang’s annotations are more detailed and suitable for in-depth study; even just reading one article, such as "The Biography of Lian Po Lin Xiangru", is also the best. Know which anthologies have selected this one, so that you can refer to it when in doubt.

The above is the question of how to choose reading materials.Speaking classical Chinese for beginners or reading classical Chinese for beginners, the question of what to absorb from the reading is more important than the selected question.Classical Chinese classics were written by the ancients, and the ancients lived in the old age, so their thoughts and feelings are naturally old, or to put it a step back, they cannot escape the influence of the old age.Therefore, his works cannot be different from the current requirements, that is to say, they must contain both the essence and the dross.Some works, especially in terms of ideas, have very little essence and a lot of dross.Let's just say very little, dross always has toxins, which will have a negative effect of poisoning people.If you refuse to read, or even dare to read, because of the dross, the result will be no books to read.This is of course not the solution.A feasible way is to be able to distinguish between good and bad, to take the essence and discard the dross.

Speaking and reading classical Chinese, most of the reading materials selected in the initial stage are masterpieces of famous writers.A masterpiece, of course, contains a lot of essence, but it cannot be guaranteed to be seamless and free of dross.This dross can be divided into three categories due to its different nature: one is ideological and emotional, the other is scientific, and the third is written expression.The following examples illustrate these three situations. 1. In terms of thoughts and feelings (for simplicity, only a single article is given as an example) (1) General Li Guang was born in Chengji, Longxi. ...Guang Taste and Wang Qi Wang Shuo Yanyu said: "Since the Han Dynasty attacked the Huns, Guang has not been absent from it... Is it wrong for me to be Hou Xie? And I have a life?"...Shuo said: "There is no disaster greater than killing. , This is the reason why the generals are not worthy of the title." ("Historical Records Biography of General Li") (2) It has been natural since ancient times that literati look down on each other. ...... Covering the article, the great cause of the country, the immortal event.Years and life are sometimes exhausted, and glory and happiness stop at one's body. The two must come to a constant period, which is not as endless as articles.Therefore, the ancient authors put their lives in calligraphy and ink, and found ideas in the texts. They did not fake the words of good history, did not rely on the momentum of galloping, and became famous and autobiographical. (Cao Pi's "Allusions · Essays")

(3) Bai heard that the world's talkers gathered together and said: "You don't need to be enshrined as a marquis, but I hope to know Han Jingzhou once."...The princes make bridle gods, act in the world with virtue, follow the good fortune with pens, and study heaven and man. ……Today, the emperor is the commanding officer of the article, and the balance of the characters. (Li Bai's "Book of Jingzhou with Han") (4) Ancient scholars must have teachers. ... A man of witch doctor and musician, a gentleman despises him, but his wisdom is beyond his reach now, so it's so strange! (Han Yu's "Teacher's Talk")

(5) In the ninth year of Yonghe, at the age of Kuichou, at the beginning of late spring, I will meet at the Orchid Pavilion in Shanyin, Kuaiji, to do auspicious things. ...... The situation is short and easy to adapt, and the end will come to an end.The ancients said, "Death and life are also great." Isn't it painful! (Wang Xizhi's "Lanting Collection Preface") (6) Xiang Jixuan, the old South Pavilion. ... Before I finished speaking, I wept, and the woman also wept. ...Looking at the ruins, as if it was yesterday, one cannot help the trombone. ... There is a loquat tree in the courtyard, which was planted by my wife when she died, and now it is as graceful as a canopy.

(Gui Youguang's "Xiang Jixuan Zhi") (7) Come back!The countryside will be overgrown, and Hu will not return? ... It's almost over!How long does it take to live in the physical universe, and don't you want to go and stay?Why do you want to do it?Wealth and honor are not my wish, and the imperial hometown is unpredictable.Huai Liangchen goes alone, or works hard by planting sticks.Deng Donggao wrote poems with Shu Xiao, Lin Qingliu.Talking about multiplication will end, and Lefu's destiny will be ridiculed again? (Tao Yuanming's "Return to Return") (8) There are many bamboos in Huanggang, and the big ones are like rafters. ... In the spare time of public retirement, I wear a crane cloak, wear a Huayang scarf, hold a volume of "Book of Changes" in my hand, burn incense and sit silently, and entertain the worries of the world. (Wang Yucheng's "Huanggang Bamboo House")

Example (1), "Biography of General Li" was written by Ma Qian of the Taishi Company, and it is also a famous biography in "Historical Records". Regardless of the material, layout, and writing about people and events, it is of course very brilliant, so we don't need to praise it again resignation.But looking at the part quoted above, Li Guang asked the hopeful Wang Shuo for advice because he was not granted the title of Marquis, but he could not find the reason in terms of appearance and fate, and finally attributed it to "retribution". It is natural to describe this as a historical fact. There is nothing wrong with it, the problem is to understand the tone of the writing, and the author also tends to believe it. (It can be compared with "The Family of Chen She". In that article, the fortune-teller taught Chen Sheng and Wu Guang to pretend to be gods and ghosts. The author clearly stated that it was false.) Belief in the so-called retribution is of course a ridiculous superstition now, so it is a great essence The little dross in the book, we should obviously discard it when we talk about reading.Example (2), "Dian Lun·Dissertation" is a famous article, with outstanding insights and rhetoric; only a few sentences quoted here emphasize personal fame and passing on fame, even though it was an indispensable thought at the time , it always seems inappropriate now, so it should be discarded when speaking and reading.Example (3), "Book of Jingzhou with Han" is also a famous article, because it is famous, so the allusion "knowing Jing" was born from it.In the Tang Dynasty, many people took the path of seeking celebrity promotion in order to get ahead, and of course Li Bai could do the same.However, some of the words quoted here are too exaggerated to put on Han Chaozong, because his status is just a "long history" under the governor of Jingzhou, how can he be "a god" and "moving the world"?Calling the other party up to the sky for help, which is more harsh, is called "spoofing", which is not commensurate with the nickname of "exile immortal", so it should also be counted as dross.For example (4), everyone agrees that "Shi Shuo" is a well-thought-out article, so it is selected almost everywhere. It seemed that there was nothing to say at the time that "a man of witch doctor and musician is a man of all kinds of craftsman, a gentleman despises", because the social situation is like this.It’s just that looking at it now, it can’t be regarded as a fly in the ointment, so you should recognize it when you lecture and read. This is the prejudice of the scholar-bureaucrats in the old days, and it is not enough to teach.For example (5), "Lanting Collection Preface" is also a title, and the length is not long, but the records, scenery, and romance are all poetic, so it has always been loved by people.It’s just that in terms of thoughts and feelings, I think it’s too important to highlight the leisure of scholar-bureaucrats.The few sentences quoted above take a step back and turn into depression. From the perspective of empathy in good works, we should not absorb them.Example (6), Gui Youguang's articles are good at expressing deep feelings with trivial matters, and "Xiang Jixuan Zhi" is a representative work in this regard.The content is very trivial, but the descriptions of people and scenes are all described in detail, and can show people's state of mind in the twists and turns of the plot, so the power of infecting people is very strong.The disadvantage (looking at it now) is that the mood is too low, as if it is always saying, it's over, everything is over!Naturally, we should admit that everyone has the right to be sentimental; but as selected reading, especially for young people, it is too low-spirited and fragile, if it still has the power of influence, it is not suitable.Example (7), in the history of literature, "Gui Qu Lai Ci" is more famous, and Ouyang Xiu even said that it was the only one in the Jin Dynasty that could be counted as an article.Regardless of the content, it is indeed commendable to abandon an official in troubled times and go home to farm.From the perspective of rhetoric, it is also good. The description of emotion and scenery is very realistic, and it has a strong musicality.It’s just that the few sentences quoted above are too heavy for Taoism to let things be as they are and let everything be indifferent, so it’s not suitable to be absorbed as current reading materials.For example (8), "The Story of the Bamboo House in Huanggang" is written very concisely, with particular attention to material, arrangement, scenery, and romance. It is indeed worth reading.It's just that the few sentences quoted above are completely about the image of scholar-bureaucrats who are self-confident and lofty, and now it seems that they should be cast aside.

2. Scientific aspect (1) Qin Xiaogong, according to the solidity of the Wei letter, owned the land of Yongzhou... until the first emperor, the survivors of the sixth generation, vigorously pursued the strategy and impoverished the inner world, swallowed the princes for two weeks, and ruled the Liuhe as the supreme, and insisted on knocking Simplicity and flogging the world, might vibrate the world. (Jia Yi's "On Passing the Qin Dynasty") (2) I obtained this in Dinghai, and ordered Xie Zi to leave the banknotes of the Zhou Dynasty and return them... Ming Changling did not offend those who stored Fang Xiaoru's books, this is a great virtue of the emperor. (Jiang Chenying's Preface to Strange Zero Grass) (3) On April 3rd in the twelfth year of Jiaqing, Chen Yanzhongmou and Chen Zhuoduguang of Shangqiu recruited You Song's Xipi.It has been more than a hundred years since the disappearance of Muzhong Shangshu, and it has also experienced the troubles of the Yellow River. None of the so-called Qianliang and Song'an places of interest survive. (Guan Tong "You Xipi Ji") (4) Changping Prefecture, the pillow of the capital, is attached to the North Road Hall. ... In the east of the state, there is Zhenshan Yan, called Tianshou Mountain, where the Twelve Tombs of the Ming Dynasty are located. (Gong Zizhen's "Speaking of Changping Prefecture") (5) When the Taiwei first served as governor of Jingzhou, the King of Fenyang lived in Pupu as the deputy marshal...First, the Taiwei was the camp field official in Jingzhou, and the Jing general Jiao Lingchen took the people's land and occupied dozens of hectares for himself. (The following narrates the story of the severe drought that forced the peasants to pay the grain and wounded the peasants with a big stick.) Taiwei cried and said, "I trapped you." Day and night, feed the farmers and then eat; take horses and sell them, and the cuckoo will make up for it, so that no one knows. (Someone told Jiao Lingchen about this situation in the following narration) Although Chen resisted violently, he was so ashamed when he heard the words, he couldn't eat because of sweat, and said: "I will never see Duan Gong." He hated himself to death overnight. (Liu Zongyuan's "The Anecdote of Duan Taiwei") (6) At the beginning of life, each person is selfish, and each person has his own interests.There is public interest in the world, but there is no way to promote it, and there is public harm, but no way to get rid of it.There are people who come out, not taking one's own benefit as benefit, but making the world benefit from it; not taking one's own harm as harm, but making the world release its harm. (Huang Zongxi's "Yuan Jun") (7) In November of Gengxu, Yu returned from Guangling and was in the same boat with Chen Zican. ... After sleeping together, in the middle of the night, the guest said, "I'm going!"Seeing that the windows are all closed, Zican is shocked and asks if he believes it. ...Suddenly I heard the guest shouting, "I'm going." The dust billowed and galloped eastward. (Wei Xi's "Biography of the Great Iron Vertebra") (8) Mr. Zhu Yi Taoist, Mr. Yangqu Fu Shan also... tasted his book and said: "The weak crown learned the regular script of the Jin and Tang people, and they are all invincible. They are as good as the ink marks of Songxue and Xiangshan. They love their roundness and beauty. If you think about it, it will be confusing the truth." But he was ashamed of it, and said: "It is like learning from an upright gentleman, who always feels that his goblet is difficult to get close to; he who surrenders and travels with bandits, but does not realize that he is close to him..." (Full Zu Wang's "Mr. Yangqu Fu's Stories" Example (1), "Guo Qin Lun" is a famous argumentative essay, with a majestic momentum and the potential of the Yangtze River rushing down thousands of miles, so even Ma Qian of Taishi Company was happy to quote it.But the "swallow two weeks" quoted above is wrong.These two "Zhou" are small countries sealed in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty; the Western Zhou Dynasty was destroyed by the Qin State in the fifty-first year (256 BC) of King Qin Zhaoxiang; Did not ascend the throne (only came to the throne in 246 years ago).This is just to talk big and make it sound good, but ignores the historical facts. For example (2), Jiang Chenying wrote an article, praising loyalty and hoping that "Qi Lingcao" will be handed down to the world. The intention is very good.However, there is a problem in the quoted ancient story that "Ming Changling did not sin against Fang Xiaoru's book". Therefore, it must be practiced in the world." It is conjectured that the records in "History of Ming Dynasty" are not unfounded, if so, Jiang Chenying's generous statement is unreliable.Example (3), Song Luo died in the fifty-two year of Kangxi (1713), and it was only ninety-four years until the twelfth year of Jiaqing (1807) when Guan Tong traveled to Xibei. The article said "over a hundred years" is wrong.Example (4), now many people have visited the Ming Tombs, and they know whether to drive north through Changping County (named Changping Prefecture in the Qing Dynasty).Gong Zizhen's article said it was in the "east of the state", which is taken for granted when sitting at a desk.Example (5), according to the "Anecdote of Duan Taiwei", Jiao Lingchen was a brutal warlord, a big villain, who beat the peasants who were unable to pay the grain to death, and he was not moved. It is too unreasonable for a person to pay food and then find out his conscience, so that he dies of shame and hatred overnight.For example (6), "Yuan Jun" is an extremely high-quality article from the ideological point of view. It is sensible, meaningful, and courageous. In the past two thousand years, few articles can match it.But the two situations mentioned at the beginning, one is that each person is selfish and self-interested, and the other is that a person suddenly appears, who is not selfish or self-interested, both seem a bit bizarre.No matter in terms of fact or reason, such two completely different extremes are impossible.Example (7), "The Legend of the Big Iron Cylinder" is written like a novel of gods and monsters, so many people like to read it.The problem is that it is not a ghost novel, because there is a real person Chen Zican to prove it.However, like the performances quoted above, if the windows and doors are not opened, "no words will be seen", "going eastward" so that "dust billows", all of which are contrary to reason.Therefore, it is natural to "listen to it in ignorance", and it is inappropriate to believe it to be true.Example (8), Fu Qing’s main comment on calligraphy cited “Song Xue, Xiangshan”, and then said some disrespectful words, which is very unreasonable: first, Bai Juyi is not a calligrapher, and there are few handwritings handed down from generation to generation; second, even a calligrapher, and Zhao Meng * Simultaneously, the order should also be reversed, saying "Xiangshan, Songxue"; third, it must not be a bandit compared to Bai Juyi.After checking Fu Qingzhu's anthology, I realized that "Xiangshan" should be "Xiangguang" (Dong Qichang). It turned out that Quan Zuwang made a mistake. 3. Text expression Written expression, used to be called "rhetorical chapters" in the past, the question of choice is more difficult to explain clearly, because the same article is only considered in terms of writing skills, and the benevolent often sees benevolence, and the wise see wisdom.Generalized principles are easy to say, such as natural is better than artificial, concise is better than procrastination, fluent is better than difficult, simple is better than frivolous, vivid is better than dull, elegant is better than vulgar, beautiful is better than ugly, etc., everyone will agree.The problem is that these principles are very abstract, and it is difficult to use the sky to balance objects. Half a catty is half a catty, and three taels are three taels.Abstract principles are difficult to apply for more than one reason: 1. Everyone has different visions and different likes and dislikes. A says fluency is good, and B can even say that it is better to be difficult because it has a hidden beauty; 2. The same writing method, A looks at Not very natural, B may think it is very natural; 3. Some works are middle-class in rhetoric, so the good ones can be called simple, the bad ones can be called clumsy, the good ones can be called flexible, and the bad ones can be called bad. For frivolity, because simplicity and clumsiness, flexibility and frivolity are close neighbors.In short, the benevolent sees benevolence, and the wise sees wisdom. It is difficult to avoid subjectivity and one-sidedness.But we must also admit that in terms of rhetoric, works, or some works, there is a distinction between superior and inferior, and we should also carefully distinguish superior and inferior as much as possible to avoid prejudice, and then choose the best and discard the rough.The following is an example to talk about the situation in this regard, because it is my own opinion, so it can only be used for reference. Let's start with the book.Most of the ancient books that have been handed down to modern times are masterpieces, so there is no need to give examples if the rhetoric is good.Compared with books, some, even very few, are obviously inferior.For example, Wang Chong's "Lunheng" advocated the scientific spirit loudly during the period when the superstition of yin and yang and five elements prevailed in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and mercilessly exposed and refuted various popular fallacies.But when it comes to written expression, it is trivial and procrastinated (this point was pointed out in Hu Yinglin's "Shaoshi Shanfang Bi Cong" in the Ming Dynasty), neither fluent nor vivid.If we have just read "Mencius", this impression will be more obvious.Another example is that there is a novel and very valuable book in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Jia Sixie's "Qi Min Yao Shu", which is too dull and unpretentious compared with Yang Xuanzhi's "Luoyang Jialan Ji", which was also written in the Northern Dynasties. Let's talk about people.For the same writers, some have high proficiency in writing and some have low proficiency, so there is no need to give examples.Even if the same person writes works of different genres, there will be distinctions between superior and inferior.For example, Du Fu is a great poet. In fact, he also wrote essays, but (still in terms of writing skills) he was far inferior to poetry.Gui Youguang, a great writer of the Ming Dynasty, was just the opposite. Poetry was not as good as writing. Narrowing down to one article, there are sometimes differences in written expression.For example, Han Yu, who "went up the decline of the eight generations", his articles were regarded as the pinnacle by later generations of ancient writers. The article "Yuan Rui" is especially popular, but the intentional overlap and symmetry to create momentum is not seen today. It's too artificial and smells too strong, it's really not good.Another example is "Zhongshan Wolf Biography" by Ma Zhongxi in the Ming Dynasty. It can be said that the air of shaking his head cannot match the content. No matter how narrow it is, there will be big mellowness and small flaws within an article.For example: (1) Ting Jian bowed his head, and a few ministers said: "It is difficult for heaven to produce talents, and those who are talented must study and ponder, so that they can be late-blooming tools; those who are not able to do so must not blame heaven."The world really needs talents, but those who have talents may not be used. A gentleman has never abandoned his knowledge because he does not use it in the world; (Huang Tingjian's "Answer to Li Jizhong's Book") (2) Who are the 30 volumes of "Jinshilu" on the right?Also written by Zhao Houde's father. ……Alas!From the two years when Lu Ji wrote Fu to the two years when Yu Yuan knew what was wrong, in the thirty-four years, how many worries have been gained and lost? (Li Qingzhao's "Golden Stone Record Post-Preface") Example (1), the following is the writing method of the classics and meanings, which are slightly liberated in the stereotyped essays of later generations. At least from our perspective today, they are pedantic and not as smooth and natural as the scattered lines .Example (2), "The Preface to Jinshilu" is a famous article with substantial content, deep feelings, and eloquence, with a simple and sincere narrative; it is just that after the "woohoo" quoted above, when explaining the time I have experienced, I suddenly used it in a riddle-like manner. The two allusions seem awkward and clumsy, so they have to be counted as a small grain of sand in the pile of gold and jade, right?