Chapter 4 Section 3 The Emergence of Private Book Collections

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the rapid development of productive forces led to changes in production relations, which in turn led to political reforms and innovations.These changes contributed to the advancement of scholarship and culture, and to the emergence of private lectures and writings.The earliest pioneer of private lectures and private writings in the history of our country was the great educator Confucius (551-479 BC).The emergence of private lectures and writings broke the monopoly of official schools on knowledge and the stereotype that only historians could record things. In the Warring States Period, Confucianism, Mohism, Taoism, Ming, Law, Yin and Yang and other schools of thought contended.Various schools of thought gather together to give lectures and express their views and thoughts.Confucianism advocates the rule of law, Taoism advocates governance by doing nothing, Mohism advocates both love and non-aggression, Legalism advocates strict legal system, famous scholars advocate paying attention to names and facts, Yinyang School advocates observing the sky and observing the four seasons, and Strategists advocate combining vertical and horizontal.There are two ways for these different schools of thought to inherit the culture of their predecessors: one is to teach and pass on word of mouth from teacher to student; the other is to read ancient classics.The philosophers of the pre-Qin period developed their own insights based on their personal understanding, and at the same time needed to enrich themselves with the thoughts and theories of their predecessors and philosophers of the same generation, so they needed to possess books.It was under such conditions that private book collections first appeared among scholars of various schools in the pre-Qin period.The idiom "xuefuwuche" comes from the record in "Zhuangzi · Tianxiapian" that "Hui Shi (370-300 BC) was multi-fang, and his books were five cars".Another example is Mozi (480 BC - 397 BC), who highly respected ancient sages and often quoted "Poetry" and "Spring and Autumn" in various countries in his speech.Mozi brought a large number of books with him when he traveled around the world.According to historical records, Mozi "had three carts of books". Obviously, his rich collection of books made it possible for him to master the theories and propositions of various schools. "Historical Records Biography of Su Qin" also tells a story: Su Qin studied art in Qi State and traveled abroad for many years, trying to persuade the monarchs of various countries to realize his political ideas, but came back in despair and was ridiculed by his family.He was very sad, took out his dozens of boxes of books, studied hard for a year, and summed up his theory of Hezong.In the end, he became the prime minister of the six countries and realized his political ambitions.The above historical facts show that in order to demonstrate their own views, criticize the thoughts of others, and strive for their own social status, the pre-Qin scholars basically paid attention to their own collection of books.