Chapter 8 The third chapter starts from two thousand years ago

China has a long history tradition.In ancient times, "history" was originally an official position. In addition to recording the words and deeds of the king and major events of the country, it was also responsible for drafting documents, issuing government orders, and organizing and keeping books and archives. "Historical Records Biography of Lin Xiangru" records such a story: In 729 BC, King Qin Zhao and King Zhao Huiwen met in Mianchi (now Mianchi, Henan).At that time, Qin Guo was strong and Zhao Guo was weak.During the banquet, King Qin asked King Zhao to play a harp (a plucked string instrument. King Zhao Huiwen is good at playing a harp), and then asked the official historian of Qin State to record: "On a certain day, month and day, King Qin and King Zhao had a drink, and King Zhao drummed Se." Zhao Guo's senior official Lin Xiangru couldn't bear this kind of humiliation, so he immediately asked the king of Qin to perform the fou (a kind of percussion instrument made of tile), and threatened: "Now I am only five steps away from the king. If you refuse to hit the fou, I'm afraid you will bleed." The King of Qin had no choice but to knock on the fou very unhappy.Lin Xiangru immediately asked Zhao Guo's historian to write it down: "On a certain date, the King of Qin beat the fou for the King of Zhao." This incident shows that in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods, it was very common to set up historians to record major events at any time. system.In ancient China, where the enfeoffment system was implemented, a hereditary vassal state was an independent administrative region, and the materials recorded and preserved by historians from various countries were the earliest local documents in our country.

The Zhou royal family that ruled the world at that time, the historians and other official positions it established, out of the needs of their duties, each held a batch of documents about the vassal states. The word "local chronicles" first appeared in "Zhou Li", a book that specifically records the official system of the Zhou Dynasty.According to "Zhou Li", there was an "outside history" in the Zhou Dynasty, and his task was to "control the aspirations of the four directions" and draft the orders issued by the Zhou royal family to the four directions (vassal states).There is also "Little History", which is in charge of the "Aspirations of the State", in order to identify the lineage of the emperor and the princes, so as to implement various rituals and laws.There is another kind of official position called "Chan Xun", which is "in charge of local chronicles" (Figure 3);According to textual research, although the book "Zhou Li" was pretended to be written by Duke Jidan of Zhou, it was actually written during the Warring States period.What it records is not all the systems that were actually implemented by the Zhou Dynasty. Instead, it uses the official system of the Zhou Dynasty and refers to the political systems of the Warring States countries to organize them in an orderly manner to reflect a Confucian political ideal.Nevertheless, we can still say that the term "local chronicles" already existed in our country during the Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States Period more than 2,000 years ago at the latest.

In fact, in some other pre-Qin ancient books, there are more than one references to "Zhi", "Qian Zhi", and "Gu Zhi", or quotes from them.For example, in "Zuo Zhuan Three Years of Duke Zhao", Uncle Sun Bao of the State of Lu persuaded Ji Sunsu (both doctors of the State of Lu) to treat Duke Mu of the State of Xiaolu well, so as not to harbor dissent.He cited "Zhi" as an argument, saying: "'Zhi' said: 'If you can respect, there will be no disaster.' He also said: 'Respecting those who welcome us is a blessing from heaven.'" "Mandarin · Chu Yushang" records the state of Chu The doctor Shen Shushi opened a bibliography for King Zhuang of Chu for the purpose of educating the prince, which also includes "old aspirations".Uncle Shen also explained to King Zhuang of Chu: "Teaching the prince with the 'old aspirations' can make him understand the rise and fall of the previous generation, so as to avoid fear." It can be seen that "annals" was the name of a document that everyone was familiar with at that time. .

These "annals", "previous annals", "old annals", as well as the "local annals", "sifangzhi" and "bangguzhizhi" in "Zhouli" are no longer known because there are no actual records handed down. Know exactly.According to the narration of "Zhou Li", it can be generally concluded that they are the records of the basic situation and past events of various places, and their content undoubtedly belongs to the description scope of the local chronicles of later generations. What a unified style may be that there are not only compiled history books, but also investigative reports, as well as unedited original records and archives.The "local chronicles" at that time were just a general term for local documents recorded in writing, and were not equal to the current local chronicles.

In addition to history, short history, and reciting training, some of the official positions recorded in "Zhou Li" are related to documents from various countries.In addition to the necessary written records, they also need to have relevant maps.Da Situ, who assists Zhou Tianzi to secure the country, is in charge of the "map of the land and the number of people" of each princely state, so as to formulate various policies and laws according to the actual situation; Financial resources, the types and quantities of grains and livestock, in order to manage the tribute of the four directions; Barriers, once there is a change in the country, you can immediately block the main roads, prohibit pedestrians from passing through, and send people to defend; there is also "earth training", which specifically explains the map to the emperor, so that the emperor can understand the situation of mountains and rivers in various places, where is suitable for planting rice, what The place is suitable for growing hemp, and so on.From these records, it can be seen that the local literature in our country was already very rich at that time, and the central dynasty at that time knew how to make full use of local literature to help govern the world.

It is from the records of "Zhou Li" that the first news of the germination of Chinese local chronicles is revealed.