Chapter 14 Section 5 Appearance of Various Bibliographies

The period of Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties was a very important stage in the development of bibliography in our country.During this period, there were not only comprehensive bibliographies, but also professional bibliographies. As mentioned above, Xun Xu's "Chinese Classics New Book" is a comprehensive general bibliography reflecting the collection of books in the Western Jin Dynasty. His description method is to only record the title, number of volumes, authors, and give a brief explanation.In the brief description, he did not narrate and comment on the contents of the book like Liu Xiang and his son did, but recorded the existence and death of the book. This kind of catalog is very important for future generations to examine and identify counterfeit.It is very useful especially for an ancient civilization like ours with a long history and rich classics.

During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, private catalogs also appeared.The most famous private catalogs are "Seven Records" by Liu Song Wang Jian in the Southern Dynasty and "Seven Records" by Ruan Xiaoxu in the Liang Dynasty. "Qizhi" changed Liu Xin's "Qilue" six-point method to seven-point method, that is, to gather the maps in each category to form the seventh type of map.It pioneered private cataloging in our country.Ruan Xiaoxu was the "clerk" of the Liang Dynasty. He compiled the "Seven Records" on the basis of the previous catalogs. "Qilu" is divided into inner and outer chapters: the inner chapter includes classics, biography, Zibing, anthology, and techniques; the outer chapter includes immortality and Buddhism.A total of 6,188 titles and 44,521 volumes were collected.This catalog is now lost, and we can only learn a thing or two from "Guang Hongming Ji Qilu Preface" and other records.Ruan Xiaoxu was very poor when he compiled the catalog and lived in a temple.He is good at collecting "hidden writings" so that the world's suicide notes and previously unseen books can be seen in his "Seven Records".His arduous fighting spirit is very touching.As a result, a man named Liu Yao learned that Ruan Xiaoxu was sorting out the catalogue, so he took the initiative to give him the materials he had collected.

The professional bibliographies compiled at this time are mainly Buddhist scriptures and general catalogs of Daoist collections.During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, a large number of translations of Buddhist scriptures came out.Under such circumstances, in the second year of Ningkang, Emperor Xiaowu of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (374 A.D.), the eminent monk Dao'an compiled China's first classified collection of Buddhist scriptures covering ancient and modern times - "Comprehensive Sutra Catalogue", referred to as "Anlu".The catalog of Buddhist scriptures before Dao'an only listed the names of the scriptures, not the category and date of the titles.This catalog is classified according to the Buddhist scriptures circulated at that time, and the age and translator are marked for easy identification and arrangement. "Biography of Eminent Monks Shi Dao'an Biography" says that "Annai's collection of titles shows the people of the time, interprets (identifies) products (assessment) new and old, and writes them as scriptures. The scriptures are based on evidence, and they are based on their merits." But this "An Lu" has long been lost, and the original title is unknown. "Comprehensive Classics Catalog" is just a name given by later generations.Seng You of the Liang Dynasty had seen Dao'an's catalogue, and the second part of his "Chu San Zang Ji Ji", "Sutras and Treatises Benlu", was supplemented and expanded on the basis of absorbing Dao'an's catalogue.Therefore, the "Chu San Zang Ji Ji Ji" written by Seng You has become the oldest Buddhist scriptures that have been preserved.This period also produced the first biographies of Buddhist figures in my country - "Biography of Eminent Monks" written by Liang Chaohuijiao, which included biographies of more than 450 famous monks from the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Liang Dynasty.

During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Taoism also developed greatly, and there were many Taoist books. In the 14th year of Yuanjia, Emperor Wen of the Song Dynasty in the Southern Dynasties (AD 437), Taoist priest Lu Xiujing compiled the first general catalog of Taoism - "Lingbao Jingmu", including There are a total of 2228 volumes of scriptures, prescriptions, mantras, talismans, and pictures.