Chapter 14 Section 5 The largest series of books in my country - "Siku Quanshu"

"Siku Quanshu" is a series of books with the most volumes in ancient China. Compared with the largest book "Yongle Dadian", the number of volumes is three and a half times that of the latter.At that time, seven parts of this book were copied and stored in seven Zangshu Pavilions.How many books does it contain?Because the seven "Complete Books" were copied at different times, supplemented and lost, etc., the total number of them is not the same. Taking the Wenjinge edition as an example, there are a total of 3,503 books, 79,337 volumes, and 36,304 volumes. Why is this book named "Siku Quanshu"?This is related to the classification method of books in ancient my country.In the 1st century BC, Liu Xin of the Western Han Dynasty wrote "Qilue", which divided ancient books into six categories.By the 3rd century AD, Xunxu [xuxu] of the Western Jin Dynasty established a four-part classification system, with Part A for Classics, Part B for Zi, Part C for History, and Part D for Collections.In the 4th century A.D., Li Chong of the Eastern Jin Dynasty reversed Xunxu's B and C volumes, which generally determined the order of the four volumes of classics, history, zi, and collections in later generations.The "Sui Shu·Jing Ji Zhi" that completely established the four-part classification method has become popular since then and has been used for more than 1,000 years.In the early Tang Dynasty, there were royal libraries such as Jixian Academy, which stored books in four libraries according to classics, history, zi, and collections. They were called "Siku Shu", which is the origin of the name "Siku".The "Siku Quanshu" in the Qing Dynasty was classified into four parts, and the name of the Tang Dynasty Siku was used. Because the collected books were relatively complete, including all kinds of knowledge and various academic schools, it was named "Siku Quanshu".

Why was the "Siku Quanshu" revised at that time?During the reign of Emperor Gaozong Hongli (Qianlong) of the Qing Dynasty (1736-1795 AD), the Qing Dynasty had ruled for more than 100 years. During the period, the country was relatively stable, the economy was prosperous, and the feudal culture reached a considerable level.In terms of cultural policy, the rulers of the Qing Dynasty, on the one hand, followed the methods of the Ming Dynasty to recruit scholars and win over intellectuals;Under this kind of high-pressure policy, many scholars avoided reality and concentrated their energy on sorting out ancient books. To adapt to this academic atmosphere, some people proposed to collect books and store them in appropriate places such as schools and famous ancient temples for scholars to use. .On the premise that it is conducive to strengthening the rule, Emperor Qianlong issued an order to solicit the suicide notes from all over the world, preparing to compile a large series of unprecedented scale.His purpose is to take the opportunity of compiling the "Complete Book" to collect books nationwide, and make a comprehensive review, comment and summary of the books of the past dynasties; To use this to publicize that the Qing Dynasty was a prosperous age of cultural rule, showing that the Qing Dynasty not only unified China by force, but also a peaceful and prosperous age that surpassed the culture of the Han and Tang Dynasties.Therefore, on the fourth day of the first lunar month in the thirty-seventh year of Qianlong (AD 1772), an edict was issued to all provinces to collect the works of the past dynasties and the Qing Dynasty.Later, Nansange Shu was continued, and four other bureaus were set up in Yunshen Temple outside Donghuamen, Fengshen Temple, curtain storehouse inside Di'anmen, and official houses, and they were written separately according to classics, history, Zi and Ji.

There are four sources of books for the compilation of "Siku Quanshu": one is the government collection, that is, the inner government book; the other is the books written by the emperor of the Qing Dynasty and compiled by the emperor; the third is the collection of provinces, private contribution and circulation Books; the fourth is the lost books compiled from "Yongle Dadian". In the past 10 years, about 33,000 kinds of books have been collected from all over the world, among which Zhejiang Province has the most.There are 29 well-known bibliophiles who donated books privately, Bao Tingbo, the owner of Zhibuzhai, and Fan Maozhu, the owner of Ningbo Tianyi Pavilion, who have contributed more than 500 kinds of books.

Before and after the opening of the Sikuguan, a total of 360 officials were appointed at the level of chief executive and vice president, and the president Yu Minzhong and vice president Jin Jian contributed the most.He also successively sent three princes to serve as presidents to strengthen supervision.Under the chief and vice presidents, there are editor-in-chiefs, of which Ji Yun contributes the most, followed by Lu Xixiong.Others include the general review officer, the chief school officer, the supervisor and so on.The Sikuguan is simply a feudal bureaucracy, but there are also many famous scholars concentrated in it.In addition to the chief school official, the copy office is mainly composed of copyists.When copying the books of the North Four Pavilions, there were 2,826 people who transcribed them. When continuing to write the South Three Pavilions, another 1,000 people were added to the book, and the number of copyists alone reached 3,826.Including officials from the Sikuguan, there are a total of 4186 people.

The first "Siku Quanshu" was completed in December of the forty-sixth year of Qianlong (AD 1781), and it had been 10 years since Qianlong ordered the collection of books.Then it took nearly three years to complete the second, third, and fourth "Complete Books" in November of the forty-ninth year of Qianlong.These four "Complete Books" are hidden in Wenyuan Pavilion behind the Chinese Hall of Beijing Palace, Wenyuan Pavilion in Beijing Yuanmingyuan, Wensu Pavilion in Fengtian (now Shenyang, Liaoning) Forbidden City, and Wensu Pavilion in Rehe (now Chengde, Hebei) Summer Resort. Jinge.This is the so-called "Northern Four Pavilions", also known as "Inner Court Four Pavilions".Outsiders are not allowed to enter these four places, and they are completely the royal family's private library.

During about five years from July 47th to April 17th 52nd, the Sikuguan copied three other "Complete Books".These three parts were sent to Wenzong Pavilion in Jinshan Temple in Zhenjiang, Wenhui Pavilion in Daguantang in Yangzhou, and Wenlan Pavilion in the palace of Shengyin Temple in West Lake, Hangzhou for storage.This is the so-called "South Three Pavilions", also known as "Jiangsu and Zhejiang Three Pavilions".These three places are open to the outside world, allowing scholars to enter and read. The "Complete Book" in the North Fourth Pavilion is made of high-quality flowering paper, while the one in the South Three Pavilion is made of Baitaishilian paper, and the book is smaller, and the width is seven or eight fen narrower.The pages of the book are all straight red grid, named "Zhu Silan".Eight lines per half page, 21 characters per line.Where there are notes, there are two lines of small characters in each vertical grid, and some books also have exquisite illustrations.The binding of the book is silk surface; the color of the silk surface distinguishes the category of the book.The Sutra Department of Beisigeshu is green, the History Department is red, the Zi Department is blue, and the Ji Department is gray.In the book of Nansange, Wenzong Pavilion and Wenhui Pavilion are green for Jingbu, red for Shibu, jade for Zibu, lotus root for Jibu; Wenlan Pavilion is different, green for Jingbu, red for Shibu, red for Zibu Moon white, Jibu black gray.The first and last pages of each volume of these seven books are stamped with the seal of Emperor Qianlong, but each cabinet has a different style.The method of storage is to put every few volumes into a box made of catalpa [qiuqiu], called a letter, with the title of the book engraved on the surface of the letter, and the books in the letter are clamped up and down with pieces of fragrant nanmu wood, and then used Ribbon tied.The characters on the letter, the silk ribbon and the silk surface of the book are all the same color.Preserving books in this way is not only beautiful, but also moisture-proof and insect-proof.For the convenience of picking up books, each book has a certain position on the shelf, and a picture is drawn, which is called "Siku Quanshu Shelving Diagram".A set of "Siku Quanshu" is like a set of exquisite and precious handicrafts.

In order to store this great work, seven special library pavilions were specially built, which were basically built in the style of Tianyi Pavilion in Ningbo.It looks like two floors from the outside, but actually three floors inside.The ground floor area is about 600 square meters.Bookcases are displayed on each floor.There is a pool in front of the pavilion, a rockery in the back, and a stele pavilion on the left.All these reflect the wisdom and skills of the ancient working people. The scope of knowledge included in the "Siku Quanshu" was indeed quite extensive at that time.This book contains a total of more than 3,500 works, which are divided into several categories under Jing, Shi, Zi, and Ji, such as 10 categories of Jingbu, 15 categories of History, 14 categories of Zibu, and 5 categories of Jibu, a total of 44 categories. kind.Among them, 15 categories are divided into several sub-categories, called "genus", and there are 64 genera.Judging from the authors of the included books, it includes the works of all generations since our country has written records, but it does not accept the works of people who were still alive at that time (except the works of the emperor and official books).The collected books, in general, highlight the status of Confucian literature, which is conducive to strengthening the rule of monarchy and absolutism, and hate works with obvious progressive ideas.In addition, its major disadvantage is that it does not pay much attention to the production of technical works. Except for agriculture, medicine, astronomy, and algorithms, it collects very few scientific and technological books.It doesn't pay much attention to foreign history and geography, and it even bans and destroys a large number of novels and operas.

"Siku Quanshu" has gone through vicissitudes, and now there are only four volumes.The Wenyuan Pavilion book is now in Taiwan; the Wensu Pavilion book is now in the Gansu Library; the Wenlan Pavilion book is now in the Zhejiang Provincial Library; the Wenjinge book is in the Beijing Library.The names of Wenjin Street and Wenjin Hall come from this.The books of Wenzong, Wenhui and Wenyuan were all unfortunately destroyed by the war.In particular, when the British and French allied forces invaded Beijing in 1860, Wenyuan Pavilion was burned along with the beautiful Old Summer Palace.The ruins of the Old Summer Palace are an ironclad proof of the crimes of the invaders.

The revision of the "Siku Quanshu" in the Qing Dynasty was a good thing to sort out and summarize the culture of the previous dynasties. However, because the rulers of the Qing Dynasty promoted cultural despotism and implemented the policy of "containing prohibition in levy", in the "Siku Quanshu", the The content of some books has been falsified and deleted, and at the same time, books are banned and destroyed, and a literary prison is strictly enforced.How many books were destroyed at that time?According to the incomplete catalog of banned books, there are more than 2,400 completely destroyed books and more than 400 kinds of destroyed books, which add up to nearly 3,000 kinds.More than 100,000 books were burned, and 60,000 to 70,000 catties of boards were burned or destroyed.According to incomplete statistics, among the 75 cases of literary prisons that occurred during the 60 years of the Qianlong Dynasty in the Qing Dynasty, as many as 48 cases occurred within 10 years after the opening of the Siku.The serious consequences of destroying many precious ancient documents in this way can be imagined, and it will inevitably seriously hinder the process of ideological and cultural development.Mr. Lu Xun once pointedly pointed out: "The Qing people compiled the "Siku Quanshu", but the ancient books died." But even so, we should also see that compiling the "Siku Quanshu" has the side of sorting out and preserving my country's ancient cultural heritage.In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, books in our country were seriously lost after wars.When the "Siku Quanshu" was compiled, the Qing Dynasty, with the power of the central government, spent 10 years vigorously collecting books across the country. Many famous scholars at that time sorted them out, made a relatively comprehensive summary of the past dynasties, and preserved a large number of books. The precious documents are indispensable and important historical materials for the study of ancient Chinese politics, economy, science and technology, philosophy, literature and art.

The "Siku Quanshu" compiled by our country in the middle of the 18th century was unprecedented not only in China but also in the world at that time in terms of its breadth of content and magnificence of length.In ancient China, the Great Wall was built, the Grand Canal was dug, and an unprecedented large-scale series of books——"Siku Quanshu" was compiled. These are all things that the Chinese nation should be proud of. If the "Siku Quanshu" is spread out page by page, its length will be 1/3 longer than the diameter of the earth.Its connotation proves that ancient Chinese culture is extremely splendid and brilliant. It is a precious legacy left by our ancestors for future generations, and it is also a contribution made by our country to the treasure house of world culture.

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