Chapter 5 Section 5: From "Tongjing Zhiyong" to "Thirteen Classics Commentary"

The dominant idea of ​​modern writers in preaching the scriptures is to "understand the scriptures and apply them". The point of view of "appropriation" is beyond reproach, but modern writers have simplified, vulgarized, and mystified it, that is, learn what to use, and get immediate results, so they came out to break the prison with "Spring and Autumn" and "Yu "Gong" governs the river, and "Hong Fan" predicts the miracle of the coup d'état. "Hong Fan" is an article of "Shangshu".It is the story of Xia Housheng, a scholar of Jinwen "Shangshu" to predict the coup d'etat.It turned out that after the death of Emperor Zhao of the Han Dynasty, General Huo Guang welcomed Liu He, the king of Changyi, as emperor.Liu He was licentious, and was deposed by Huo Guang less than a month after he ascended the throne. From the people, Liu Xun, the great-great-grandson of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, was installed as Emperor Xuan.In the Han Dynasty, this was a major political event.According to the "Hanshu·Xiahousheng Biography", when Huo Guang planned to abolish Lili, the weather was cloudy and rainless for a long time.Xia Housheng dissuaded Liu He from going out, saying that someone wanted to get rid of him.Huo Guang heard the news and thought that the matter had leaked out, so he sent someone to ask Xia Housheng what was going on. Then there will be those who cut down on the subordinates." It is deduced from the saying.Because Xia Housheng also agreed to abolish the establishment in the end, Huo Guang treated him with courtesy and asked him to use the "Book of History" to tutor the young emperor and the queen mother.The "applicability" of modern writers can be seen from this.

The basic theory of modern writers "understanding the classics and applying them" is the theory of "interaction between heaven and man".Think: God has knowledge.Heaven can not only sense major events in the world, but also make various reactions (called "heaven changes") to show the world.Dong Zhongshu, a master of modern literature in the Western Han Dynasty and a scholar of "Gongyang Chunqiu", is a representative of this school of thought. "Hanshu·Dong Zhongshu Biography" records his answer to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's question about politics, to the effect that: There are many ancient examples in "Spring and Autumn" that reflect God's revelation to the world, which is very awesome.If the country is lawless, God will first condemn it with disasters; if it is not enlightened, it will warn with weirdness; if it does not correct itself, it will kill itself.Therefore, all kinds of changes in the sky are the care of the Lord for the Lord, and he does not want to let him perish.As long as it is not incurable, God will always help.The problem is that you have to work hard.If you work hard to learn, you will know the day; if you work hard to practice the way, you will become more virtuous.The saying "slow nights and slacks" is to make people work hard.This is the gist of Dong Zhongshu's famous "Three Strategies of Heaven and Man".

The theory of "Heaven and Man Response" may be to use "Tianwei" to deter the emperor, because he is the "son of heaven" and no one can control him.So sometimes it can indeed force the emperor to issue an imperial edict to "crime himself".But this effect is limited after all, and the extreme development of this theory has merged with the superstition of immortals of alchemists since the Warring States Period. In order to understand the scriptures and apply them, we must figure out the so-called "subtle words and great meaning" in the scriptures. "Weiyan" means "simple and subtle words"; "Dayi" means "big principles".Therefore, it is inevitable that there will be many persuasive and attached talks, making the explanation of the scriptures cumbersome and nonsensical, and it even developed to tens of thousands of words in a single sentence in the Eastern Han Dynasty.According to the Tang Dynasty scholar Yan Shigu's "Han Shu" quoting the Han Dynasty Huan Tan's "Xin Lun", there was a Confucian teacher named Qin Yanjun who talked about the two-character title of "Yao Dian" in "Shang Shu". Thirty thousand words, it can be seen that it is cumbersome.In addition to the two biographies of "Gongyang" and "Guliang", there are also "Hanshiwaizhuan", "Chunqiu Fanlu" and "Baihutong" for reference.

One is chasing profit and wealth, the other is superstition and obscenity, and the other is tedious nonsense. Jinwen Confucianism in the Han Dynasty has these three fatal weaknesses. In the end, it went from prosperity to decline, and it is the right thing to go to its opposite. After the Eastern Han Dynasty, scholars gradually tended to the ancient Chinese classics.Famous Confucian scholars such as Jia Kui, Zheng Zhong, Ma Rong, and Jia Kui's student Xu Shen are all masters of the ancient Wen school, but the modern Wen school has no famous scholars except He Xiu. Scholars of the School of Classical Classics strive to restore the orthodoxy of Confucianism in their minds, and for this purpose they must correctly understand the classics, in order to use the "three generations" of laws and regulations to serve current affairs.Therefore, it can be said that the Classical Classics School studies the scriptures as historical documents, paying attention to the interpretation of the meaning of words, the textual research of names and objects, and the search for ordinances.We can see from Xu Shen's "Shuowen Jiezi", which has been handed down to this day, that it was indeed a real research effort to correctly grasp the meaning of the words. "Shuowen Jiezi" was completed in 22 years from the second year of Hedi Yongyuan (AD 100) to the first year of Andi Jianguang (AD 121).Xu Shen said in his self-narration: "To understand the meaning of the ancients, one must understand the ancients' writing, and cannot make exhaustive explanations. The writing is the foundation of the scriptures and the bridge between the past and the present. Only by fundamentally understanding the meaning of the characters can we Really understand the scriptures.” This is roughly the basic point of view of the Han Dynasty Guwenjing School in governing the scriptures.

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Ma Rong's student Zheng Xuan (styled Kangcheng) interpreted the scriptures and adopted both modern and ancient schools of thought.He is knowledgeable, has commented all over the classics, and has done a lot of useful work on the exegesis of names and objects, but there are also some weird theories of the Jinwen School. In the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the theories of Laozi and Zhuangzi prevailed, and the interpretation of the Confucian classics was influenced by Taoism.Especially the annotations of Wang Bi and He Yan combined many Taoist viewpoints.At that time, Wang Su, a scholar of Confucian classics who came later than Zheng Xuan, a noble relative of Cao Wei, also used both modern and ancient Chinese theories in his study of the Confucian classics, but he deliberately opposed Zheng Xuan.Thus formed the dispute between Zheng and King in Wei and Jin Confucian classics.However, Wang Su's influence was not too great.

In the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Confucian classics were divided into two schools, the Northern and the Southern.The southern school practiced the Confucian classics of the Wei and Jin Dynasties represented by Wang Bi and Du Yu, and the northern school practiced the Eastern Han Confucian classics represented by Zheng Xuan, called "Southern Learning" and "Northern Learning". After the unification of the Sui Dynasty, the North and South schools merged.In the Tang Dynasty, out of the need for governance, great importance was attached to the collation of scriptures.According to the "Old Tang Book Confucianism Biography", Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty ordered Kong Yingda, a famous scholar at that time and Guozijian Jijiu (the chief officer of Taixue), etc. A group of Confucian officials compiled a "Five Classics of Justice" as the standard for Mingjing examinations.This book was originally named "Five Classics of Justice", and after it was compiled, Emperor Taizong changed its name to "Five Classics of Justice".According to the "Old Book of Tang Gaozong Ji", there were some mistakes in the "Five Classics of Justice". After Kong Yingda's death, it was discussed and revised several times, and it was not officially issued until the fourth year of Yonghui Emperor Gaozong (AD 653).Since then, "Five Classics of Justice" has become the legal commentary on scriptures that scholars all over the world must follow.They are: "Book of Changes Zhengyi", "Shangshu Zhengyi", "Mao Poetry Zhengyi", "Book of Rites Zhengyi", "Chunqiu Zuozhuan Zhengyi".

In addition, during the reign of Emperor Gaozong Yonghui, the Confucian official Jia Gongyan wrote "Zhouli Zhuanshu" and "Yilili Zhuanshu", and later Yang Shixun wrote "Spring and Autumn Guliang Zhuan Zhuanshu".In addition, there is Xu Yan's "Spring and Autumn Gongyang Biography Commentary". "Five Classics of Justice" plus these four books are collectively called "Nine Classics of Justice", which is a great summary of Confucian classics in the Tang Dynasty. People in the Song Dynasty did not pay attention to exegesis and textual research in the study of scriptures, but to the discussion of meaning and theory.Zhu Xi widely annotated classics, among which "Four Books Zhang Ju Ji Zhu", "Zhou Yi Ben Yi", "Shi Ji Zhuan", and Zhu Xi's disciple Cai Chen's "Book Ji Zhuan" had a great influence on future generations.However, the imperial examinations in the early Song Dynasty still used the "Nine Classics of Justice" in the Tang Dynasty.In the second year of Xianping (999 A.D.) of Emperor Zhenzong of Song Dynasty, Xing Bing [bing Bing], a scholar of Confucianism, etc. was ordered to offer sacrifices to wine, etc. to write "Comments on Analects of Confucius", "Comments on Filial Piety", and "Comments on Erya".In addition, there is a "Mencius Commentary" written by Sun Shi (shi Shi).So far, all the 13 classics have legal scriptures and commentaries, and each of them has a printed version in the Song Dynasty.In the Ming Dynasty, Shihui engraved two series of books, "Ancient Notes on the Thirteen Classics" and "Annotations to the Thirteen Classics".In the Qing Dynasty, the scholar Ruan Yuan collated the engraved editions of the Song Dynasty, and wrote notes on the collation, making a final summary.This is the popular edition of "Commentary to the Thirteen Classics" that we see today.The now-common 1980 Zhonghua Book Company photocopied the original World Book Company's miniature version is based on the engraved version of Ruan Yuan in the Qing Dynasty.

"Note" means "annotation", which originated in the Warring States Period.Existing scriptural annotations, except for Tang Xuanzong's "Xiaojing" annotations, are generally written by people before the Tang Dynasty.The names of these annotations are different, or they are called "Chuan", or "Jian", or "Jie", or "Note".Later collectively referred to as "Note". "Shu" means "to dredge".Jingshu originated in the Southern Dynasties.The current scriptures are generally the annotations and further explanations of the scriptures by people after the Tang Dynasty.The name is also different.Or it is called "Justice", or "Yishu", or "Yi Zan".Later collectively referred to as "sparse".

The original text of the classics and the annotations are originally separate books.After the Song Dynasty, for the convenience of readers, the annotations were sorted under the scriptures to be explained, which became the current situation. "Thirteen Classics Commentaries" is a collection of representative commentaries from Han to Song.They are: "Zhouyi Justice" (10 volumes) [Wei] Wang Bi, Han Kangbo Notes [Tang] Kong Yingda and other justice "Shangshu Zhengyi" (20 volumes) [Han] Kong Anguo Biography [Tang] Kong Yingda and other justice "Mao Shi Zheng Zheng" (70 volumes) [Han] Mao Gongzhuan, Zheng Xuanjian [Tang] Kong Yingda and other justice

"Zhou Li Zhu Shu" (42 volumes) [Han] Zheng Xuan Zhu [Tang] Jia Gongyan Shu "Yi Li Zhu Shu" (50 volumes) [Han] Zheng Xuan Zhu [Tang] Jia Gongyan Shu "Book of Rites and Justice" (63 volumes) [Han] Zheng Xuan Note [Tang] Kong Yingda and other justice "Chunqiu Zuozhuan Zhengyi" (60 volumes) [Jin] Du Yuzhu [Tang] Kong Yingda and other justice "Spring and Autumn Gongyang Zhuan Zhushu" (28 volumes) [Han] He Xiu's commentary [Tang] Xu Yanshu "Spring and Autumn Guliang Zhuan Zhushu" (20 volumes) [Jin] Fan Ning's commentary [Tang] Yang Shixun

"The Analects of Confucius" (20 volumes) [Wei] He Yan et al. Notes [Song] Xing Bingshu Notes on the Classic of Filial Piety (9 volumes) [Tang] Xuanzong Royal Notes [Song] Xing Bingshu "Erya Notes" (10 volumes) [Jin] Guo Pu Notes [Song] Xing Bingshu "Mencius Commentary" (14 volumes) [Han] Zhao Qizhu [Song] Sun Shishu The "Thirteen Classics" has 416 volumes and is the basic material for our study of Confucian classics.It is a pity that some of the scriptures in the "Shangshu" and the so-called biography of Kong Anguo were forged by people after the Eastern Jin Dynasty, which is a taint of white jade.This mistake was due to the negligence of Tang people when they wrote "Five Classics of Justice".They were too superstitious about the ancient scriptures of Kongbi, so they chose such a fake version instead of the annotations by Ma Rong and Zheng Xuan.This public case was not clarified until the Qing Dynasty. The Yuan and Ming dynasties stipulated that the imperial examination should be based on the Song Renjing.During the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty, the "Four Books and Five Classics Encyclopedia" was promulgated, and the annotations of the Han and Tang Dynasties were abolished, and the Song people's theory was exclusively used to cope with the imperial examination.Gu Yanwu criticized it: "Since the practice of stereotypes, ancient learning has been abandoned, and the "Complete Collection" has been published, but the classics have died." People in the Song Dynasty often interpreted the scriptures based on their own opinions, forcing the scriptures to suit me, with a lot of subjectivity.Therefore, the study of Confucian classics also has to rely on the commentaries of the Han and Tang Dynasties. The Qing people inherited the tradition of the Han people and developed it, which is called "Pu Xue".Master Pu Xue in the Qing Dynasty made many inventions in textual research on the meanings and names of scriptures.Corrected many mistakes of Tang, Song and even Han Confucianism.Some new annotated editions, such as Sun Yirang's "Zhou Li Zheng Zheng" and Jiao Xun's "Mencius Zheng Zheng", have surpassed their predecessors.Today's study of scriptures cannot fail to pay attention to the achievements of the Qing people. The above is a rough outline of the Confucian classics from the pre-Qin period to the Qing Dynasty.The following chapters are divided into seven chapters: "Book of Changes", "Mao Shi", "Shangshu", "Three Rites", "Three Biography", "Four Books" and "Stone Classics", introducing the basic knowledge of the "Five Classics" and "Four Books" respectively.