Chapter 12 The second section introduces the old and brings forth the new in the blending

A variety of histories and geography are mixed with each other to show their strengths and compete for beauty. At the same time, they must also influence and infiltrate each other.A new form of writing is quietly bred and grown in this mutual influence and penetration. Most of the rich and colorful miscellaneous narratives of the Qin, Han, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties have never been seen by us.But from their surviving texts, or from the descriptions of them in other ancient books, we can still see the traces of their mutual infiltration.County books often contain geography, customs, and legends; topography also often contains personal data.Geography, local history, and annals of people gradually showed a trend of mutual integration.The title of "Records of People and Places in Xuzhou" written by Liu Fang of the Later Wei Dynasty indicates that both people and places are recorded.The "Old Biography of Xiangyang Qi" written by Xi Chiuchi in the Eastern Jin Dynasty was originally called "Xiangyang Ji". According to the introduction of "Junzhai Shushuzhi" by Chao Gongwu in Song Dynasty, it is "the first two volumes are about the people of Xiangyang, and the records of his mountains and rivers are recorded in the first two volumes." Yi, and later carried its Mushou (local administrator)".The most famous representatives of this fusion phenomenon are "Yuejueshu" and "Huayang Guozhi".They not only contain the contents of ancient country histories, ancient geography books and character annals, but also begin to adopt the method of cross-category arrangement.Although the classification of categories is relatively rough, not too systematic and not too scientific, it has initially shown some main features of the local chronicles of later generations.There may be another reason why they are famous, that is, these two books have been relatively completely preserved to this day.

"Yue Jue Shu", also known as "Yue Jue Ji", originally had 25 volumes, and 15 volumes are now in existence.There have been different opinions about its author and when it was written.At the end of its book, there is a "cryptic language" in which the author's name is hidden, and no one could decipher it at first.Until the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the scholar Yang Shen determined that it was written by Yuan Kang, a native of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and edited by Wu Ping after textual research, which won the approval of many people.Other scholars believe that this book was not completed by one person at one time, but the result of continuous enrichment by many people from the pre-Qin to the Eastern Han.

"Yue Jue Shu" is basically a local history.It mainly records the history of Wu State and Yue State (parts of Jiangsu and Zhejiang today) in the Spring and Autumn Period, and also includes historical events from the Qin Dynasty to the 28th year of Jianwu in the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 52).However, it also described the mountains, rivers and cities of Wu and Yue in two chapters, "Records of Wu Di" and "Records of Yue Di Biography".Although the classification is too messy, each chapter has its own beginning and end, and is not continuous.In the Ming Dynasty, some people called it the "Geography Ancestor" ("(Wanli) Shaoxing Mansion Chronicle Preface").Hong Liangji in the Qing Dynasty once said: "One party's ambition begins with Yuejue" ("(Qianlong) Chengcheng County Chronicles Preface").Some local chroniclers in modern times believe that it is the "earliest existing local chronicle" in my country.

"Huayang Guozhi", written by Chang Chu in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, records the situation of the three states of Liang, Yi, and Ning (now Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, and parts of Gansu, Shaanxi, and Hubei) in the Jin Dynasty.Chang Zhu is a native of Sichuan, and he was an official in Chenghan (a separatist regime in Sichuan, which existed from 303 to 347 AD).He is also a well-learned historian. In addition to "Huayang Guozhi", he also wrote the history of Cheng Han "Book of Han", but it was not handed down.Therefore, his "Huayang Guozhi" materials are both detailed and credible, and the classification is clear and reasonable, which is highly praised by historians.

"Huayang Guozhi" was originally called "Huayang Guoji", a total of 12 volumes.Its first four volumes are based on regions, respectively describing the political history, mountains and rivers, roads, products, population, and folk customs of the four regions of Ba, Shu, Hanzhong, and Nanzhong and their counties and counties; As an outline, it narrates the change of previous regimes and major events in chronological order, and it also contains many proverbs and ballads to reflect the social reality at that time.Characters in the last three volumes.Compared with "Yue Jue Shu", it obviously embodies the tendency of combining geography, chronicle and character history more clearly, and also possesses various characteristics of local chronicles.Therefore, as the most complete and earliest local chronicles in our country, it has also been recognized by scholars.Later, local chronicles were compiled in Sichuan and Yunnan, often using it as a model.

However, although works such as "Yuejueshu" and "Huayang Guozhi" represent the direction of the integration of history, geography, and biography, and occupy an important position in the history of local chronicles, they were rare at that time and were far from becoming common. Phenomenon.It will take hundreds of years for various local histories and geographies to infiltrate and complement each other, and finally merge into a finalized local chronicle.