Chapter 4 Section 4 The fourth characteristic of local chronicles: continuity

Places are constantly changing.Administrative divisions are often changed, new things are constantly appearing, people are changing from generation to generation, and household registration, land acres, and taxes are different every year... Therefore, it is impossible to compile local chronicles once and for all; as time goes by, the original information becomes obsolete and outdated The local chronicles need to be rebuilt.In order to accurately and timely grasp the local situation, the central government of the past dynasties often issued administrative orders requiring all parts of the country to compile new annals.When the world is peaceful, it is usually rebuilt every few decades.After famines or wars caused major social changes, the need to rebuild chronicles became even more urgent.Local chronicles have been edited many times in most places in our country.Most of them are like Changshu, Jiangsu. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the annals were revised more than 20 times, and they were rebuilt every less than 30 years on average.

For the local chronicles compiled in different periods in the same region, it is customary to mark the compilation time before the official name of the local chronicles to show the difference.For example, there are 10 volumes of "(Jiading) Yanlu" in Song Dynasty; 10 volumes of "(Hongzhi) Shengxian Chronicles" and 13 volumes of "(Wanli) Shengxian Chronicles" in Ming Dynasty; 12 volumes of "(Qianlong) Shengxian Chronicles", 14 volumes of "(Daoguang) Shengxian Chronicles", 26 volumes of "(Tongzhi) Shengxian Chronicles", and "( The Republic of China) Sheng County Chronicles, Volume 32.This continuous compilation of local chronicles has been handed down from generation to generation without end, and has formed a valuable tradition in our country.If counting from the Sui and Tang Dynasties, all regions had to regularly compile map classics (early local chronicles) to the central government, this tradition has been maintained for more than a thousand years.

The method of compiling a new chronicle can be to verify and supplement the old chronicles, or to compile a sequel, that is, to only include new materials after the last local chronicle was compiled.No matter which method is used, it is always based on reflecting the situation from the last revision of the will to the present.Therefore, local chronicles not only have regional characteristics, but also must bear the deep imprint of the era in which it was born.The categories of local chronicles are always added or adjusted with the progress of history.For example, the earliest people only knew history from classical literature.Scholars in the Song Dynasty opened up a new field in the field of history - epigraphy, expanding the scope of historical research from classical documents to ancient epigraphy.Since the Song Dynasty, local chronicles generally have categories such as "gold and stone" and "tablets".Anyang, Henan is the former capital of the Yin Dynasty, and has long been a famous hometown of cultural relics. Oracle bone inscriptions were discovered here in the late Qing Dynasty. This new archaeological discovery shocked the world. "(Republic of China) Continued Anyang County Chronicles" added "Oracle Bone Inscriptions" just after "Continued Jinshilu". More than 100 oracle bone inscriptions were printed to reflect this latest scientific research achievement.Border problems were serious in the Ming Dynasty, and the content of "military defense" in the Ming Zhi was very prominent.After the Opium War, in the face of imperialist aggression, a large number of categories related to foreign negotiations, concessions, aggression, and anti-aggression wars appeared in the annals.

It is precisely because each chronicle mainly records the most recent period of time, which is convenient for investigation and verification, and can be recorded more accurately and in detail, and can preserve many materials that may be fleeting.Combining the local chronicles compiled again and again in the same area is a complete collection of ancient and modern materials, which can continuously examine the history and current situation of an area.Combining the local chronicles of various dynasties, one can continuously examine the history and current situation of the entire country. The richness and completeness of the materials are unmatched by any other works.

These characteristics of local chronicles make it an excellent textbook on national conditions, provincial conditions, city conditions, and county conditions.After the Tang and Song dynasties, new magistrates had to consult the local annals first.Zhu Xi, a philosopher in the Southern Song Dynasty, once served as the Zhijun of the Nankang Army (the government is located in Xingzi County, Jiangxi Province. "Army" is a kind of administrative division in the Song Dynasty, and it is at the same level as the state and the government). Welcome, but he first asked Zhishu if he had brought it.The book "Official Governance Xuanjing" compiled by the Qing people mentioned that the officials of the Qing Dynasty had to follow 32 "primary rules" when they took office, the third of which was "reading records" in order to understand the local mountains and rivers, geography, the importance of rent, etc. , as a reference for determining the governance policy.Although there are various deficiencies in the local chronicles compiled in the past, because of its detailed information, it still has an important reference function for today's revolution and construction. In 1929, the Red Army opened Xingguo County, Jiangxi Province. Comrade Mao Zedong lived in the county library. Someone went to ask him for instructions and saw that he was reading Xingguo County Chronicles with great interest.When I arrived in Ruijin, I asked Comrade Qu Qiubai to help me read the county annals of Ruijin. After 1949, every time he visited a place, he always issued a batch of books to borrow from the local library, among which the chronicles were indispensable.Local chronicles became an important source of knowledge for him to understand the customs of various places.

For thousands of years, the land of China has experienced vicissitudes.So many all-powerful heroes have perished, and so many powerful dynasties have disappeared, but the compilation and research of Chinese local chronicles has not only not declined, but has become more and more prosperous. This is inseparable from its four characteristics mentioned above.