Chapter 19 The great achievements and far-reaching influence of the third section "Tongjian"

His contributions and achievements are manifold.First of all, it draws on a wide range of materials and collects Hongfu.Sima Guang said in "Jin Zi Zhi Tong Jian Biao" that "read through the old history, pick up novels from the sidelines, and the accumulation of bamboo slips and slips is as vast as a sea of ​​mist".They tried their best to find all the books and materials that could be collected at that time.According to the research of relevant scholars, "Tongjian" uses more than 300 miscellaneous history books in addition to the official history.Among the large number of books and historical books they referenced, many of them have been lost or disappeared today.It is precisely because of the citation of "Tongjian" that some precious historical materials in it are preserved.For example, Liu Fang, a Tang native, wrote 40 volumes of "Tang Li", describing the history from the first year of Yining in Sui Dynasty (617 AD) to the 14th year of Zongdali in Tang Dynasty (779 AD).Sima Guang used it as a basis to test the authenticity of historical materials. Therefore, more than 100 items in "Tongjian Kaoyi" quoted "Tang Li".It can be said that this historical book, which has been lost since the original book, is actually still preserved in China.Xue Juzheng's "Old History of the Five Dynasties" also has a similar situation.In addition to focusing on official histories and factual records compiled by officials, Sima Guang dared to break through the narrow horizon of traditional historiography, and collected various materials preserved in the folk with the spirit of objective verification, showing excellent knowledge and extraordinary This is an important reason why "Tongjian" can draw a wide range of materials and collect Hongfu, and it is also the basis for "Tongjian" to be more detailed and reliable than other books. "Tongjian" also inherits the fine tradition of "Historical Records" that summarizes the past and details the present.Its historical value is also greater than the former.Because the farther back, the richer the surviving historical materials, and the more difficult it is to examine, select, and write the final draft.According to the research of Zhang Binglin, a modern scholar, the Western Han part of "Tong Jian" is entirely collected from "Historical Records" and "Hanshu", and seventy-eight out of ten of the Eastern Han part is taken from "Hou Hanshu", and sixty-seven out of ten of the materials from Wei Jin to Sui Dynasty are collected from official history. However, less than half of the data collected from official history in the Tang Dynasty.It is precisely because the historical materials of the Tang Dynasty part of "Tongjian" are of high value, so it can compete with "New Book of Tang" and "Old Book of Tang". Those who study the history of the Tang Dynasty must read "Tongjian".

Self-authored "Testing Differences", explaining the trade-offs, this is a creation of the author.The references and materials used are very rich. Sometimes, to describe one event, it is necessary to refer to four or five or even more different records.So, how to examine the similarities and differences between authenticity and falsehood, and how to decide whether to choose?Previous historians only made their own choices without explaining the basis and reasons, which made it impossible for future generations to investigate.Sima Guang, who has a rigorous style, is different. In order to explain the different records of the same event in various sources, as well as the reasons and basis for distinguishing right from wrong and deciding to choose or reject, he compiled these research results into a "Tongjian Kaoyi".Sima Guang's self-written "Kaoyi" was the first thing to open up the trend, which had a profound impact on later historians and formed a fine tradition of traditional Chinese historiography in ancient my country.

Respecting history and not slandering facts is an important feature of the book, and it is also superior to some official histories.Before Sima Guang, many people advocated orthodox theory, artificially distinguishing the orthodox and unorthodox regimes that existed at the same time in the era of separatism.Based on historical facts, Sima Guang refuted the falsity and inaccuracy of Zhengrun theory. He said: "What I said today, stop trying to describe the rise and fall of the country, and show the prosperity and well-being of the people, so that the viewer can choose their own good and evil as admonishment. , it is not like "Spring and Autumn" which establishes the method of praise and derogation, and reverses the troubled times. I dare not know it at the time of the leap, but it is based on the facts of his achievements." ("Tong Jian" Volume 69 "Chen Guang Said") This attitude of writing history according to the facts makes it more objective and comprehensive to reflect the historical truth.In order to enable the supreme ruler to "learn from the rise and fall of past lives, and consider the gains and losses of the present", the book "Tong Jian" focuses more on political history."Tong Jian" has written a lot about the rise and fall of a country, the good and bad of politics, the virtuous and foolishness of the monarch, and the loyalty and treachery of officials."Tongjian" writes in detail about the great achievements of many accomplished emperors.Starting from the long-term interests of maintaining feudal rule, "Tong Jian" also exposed the criminal facts of some feudal emperors who were shameless, cruel and tyrannical, and harmed the country and the people. Some places were written quite vividly and vividly.This is not easy to read in the official history of "taboo for the venerable, taboo for the relatives, and taboo for the sage". "Tongjian" often has relatively objective and detailed records of the outbreaks of peasant uprisings, their processes, and the leaders of the uprisings.Taking the Huangchao Uprising at the end of the Tang Dynasty as an example, the records in "Tongjian" are much more detailed and reliable than those in the old and new "Book of Tang", and it objectively reproduces the vivid picture of this magnificent peasant war.Although Sima Guang described the peasant uprising from the standpoint of "chasing thieves", he faithfully wrote about the overwhelming momentum of the uprising army and the panic and bewilderment of the Tang Dynasty. Out of sight...".When Huang Chao entered Chang'an, "armored horses flowed like a stream, and the road was blocked by heavy baggage, and there was an endless stream of thousands of miles. The people gathered along the road to watch."Such vivid and realistic records are really rare for a feudal historian. "Tongjian" also has relatively detailed records of ethnic relations and ethnic conflicts in history, and can pay attention to exposing the fatuous corruption of certain rulers, such as the crimes committed by Shi Jingtang, the great ancestor of the later Jin Dynasty, who lost power and humiliated the country and became an emperor."Tongjian" also has many accounts of the struggle of the working people against alien invasion.All of the above show that the historical value is very precious.

Casting a hundred schools of thought, concise words and clear facts, is one of the distinctive features of the company.Although it draws a wide range of materials, collects rich resources, and is compiled collectively, Sima Guang is conscientious and meticulous in the style and calligraphy of the whole book, as well as the textual research of historical materials, the editing of articles, and even the tempering of language. All in all, it is a great achievement. Therefore, when the book is finally completed, various historical materials from different eras, different sources, and different writing styles are melted into one furnace, and it has the merit of melting hundreds of schools. Back and forth is like a hand.The success of historiography has left extremely valuable experience for historiography.

Before the publication of "Tong Jian", there were as many as 17 official histories in the biography style, and all of them were long and huge, with a lot of text.The text is concise and the narrative is detailed.Qian Daxin, a famous scholar in the Qing Dynasty, once said: "Things are added to the front, and the literature is saved from the old, only "Tongjian" can be regarded as it." This is a very appropriate evaluation. Although the records in "Tongjian" mainly focus on politics and military affairs, social, economic, cultural and other systems are also summarized. "Tongjian" is very famous for writing about wars. It not only writes a lot, but also writes well.Famous battles in history, such as the Battle of Chibi and the Battle of Feishui, have all been written successfully.Take the Battle of Chibi as an example, the three kingdoms of Wei, Shu, and Wu, including Cao Cao, Liu Bei, Sun Quan, Zhuge Liang, Zhou Yu, Huang Gai and other civil servants and generals, had dozens of characters appearing successively.The relevant deeds of these people are scattered in many chronicles and biographies of "Han Shu" and "Three Kingdoms", scattered and fragmented, and it is difficult to sort out the clues. "Tongjian" gathers relevant materials, cuts, polishes, and tempers them. It not only tells the cause, process, and ending of the war in an orderly manner, but also portrays the characters of many historical figures vividly and vividly on paper.It is not only a historical masterpiece, but also a literary masterpiece.All kinds of wars, no matter how big or small, can be written in the "Tong Jian" with vivid and colorful stories. "Tongjian" provides rich and vivid valuable materials for the study of ancient Chinese military history.

The shortcomings of "Tongjian" are also obvious.Some of the comments in the book are biased, reflecting Sima Guang's conservative political views.For example, in the first commentary of Volume 1 of "Tongjian", it stated clearly at the beginning: "The duty of the Son of Heaven is no greater than propriety, no propriety is more important than division, and no division is greater than fame", criticizing the practice of Zhou Tianzi's tolerance of the division of the three families, Its viewpoint of maintaining the feudal principles and teachings is very clear.In some praises, Sima Guang also used the past to satirize the present to vent his dissatisfaction with Wang Anshi's reform.For example, regarding the demise of Zhibo, he published a famous theory of talent and virtue, arguing that those who are talented but not virtuous will surely fail, in order to imply that those who advocated political reform in the Song Dynasty were all talented but not virtuous.We must analyze and critically treat such comments and praises stemming from political prejudices. "Tongjian" also has shortcomings in the chronological method.Although Sima Guang denied the theory of positive leap and claimed that he only used the year name to record events, but in the era of division and separation, it is always unscientific to use the year name of one dynasty and one country to describe the deeds of several dynasties and several countries, and it is difficult to avoid the actual existence. The master-slave respect and inferiority issue.In addition, if there are several year names in a year, the "Tongjian" will always use the last year number to record the year.Such a chronological method can neither faithfully reflect the exact time of the beginning and end of the reign, but also creates a contradiction in using the reign title of the later dynasty to describe the deeds of the previous dynasty.People who read history, if they are not careful, they will put historical facts in a false light. The content of the whole book of "Tongjian" is detailed in politics and military affairs, and slightly in economics and culture.There are also some omissions and mistakes in recording historical facts.Some scholars of later generations have made criticisms, revisions and additions.

After it came out, many people commented on it.Among them, "Zizhi Tongjian Yinzhu" written by Hu Sanxing, a historian from the late Song Dynasty to the early Yuan Dynasty, is the most thorough and detailed. It attaches "Tongjian Kaoyi" to the relevant texts, which also provides great convenience for readers. The best engraved version of "Tongjian" was the version with Hu Sansheng's "Yin Zhu" inscribed by Hu Ke's family during the Jiaqing period of the Qing Dynasty.The book published by Zhonghua Book Company is based on it, organized by relevant experts to punctuate it, and it is currently the most easy-to-read book.

The success of the book has revived the chronicle history books and developed vigorously.Many history books of later generations not only continued to use the style of "Tongjian", but also directly named them "Xu Tongjian". The 168-year history of the Northern Song and Nine Dynasties.Secondly, there are Li Xinchuan's "Records of Years Since Jianyan" and Xu Mengshen's "Three Dynasties and Beimenghui".These three books were all written in the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty, and they are a treasure house of information about the history of the Northern Song Dynasty."Song and Yuan Zizhi Tongjian" by Xue Yingqi (qi Qi) of the Ming Dynasty, Wang Zongmu's "Continued Zizhi Tongjian", and Qing Dynasty Xu Qianxue's "Zizhi Tongjian Houbian" are all chronological works about the history of Song and Yuan .It's just that the achievements of the three books are not high, and Xu Qianxue's "Later Edition" is slightly better.The "Continued Zi Zhi Tong Jian" written by Bi Yuan of the Qing Dynasty was compiled and supplemented on the basis of predecessors, and has achieved considerable achievements.It directly records the old texts of historical books, narrates the main historical facts of the Song and Yuan Dynasties in an orderly manner in the form of chronology, and also writes "Kao Yi" to identify historical materials.The "Guoyan" written by Tan Qian in the late Ming and early Qing is the chronicle of the Ming Dynasty. Unfortunately, it was listed as a banned book in the Qing Dynasty, so many of them were lost.The "Ming Ji" written by Chen He in the Qing Dynasty is too brief and inconvenient for beginners.Xia Xie [xiexie]'s "Ming Tong Jian" is relatively moderate in detail, but its viewpoint is relatively old.In this way, starting with Sima Guang's, a whole set of chronicles that connects ancient and modern times gradually formed, and in addition to the official history of biography and twenty-four histories, an independent new system was formed to keep pace with each other.This cannot but be attributed to the outstanding achievements and far-reaching influence of the Communist Party of China.