Chapter 15 Section 6 Enduring Books

The series of books not only accounts for 1/3 of ancient Chinese classics in quantity, but generally all kinds of important works in ancient my country are included in the series. Therefore, some people say: "If you want to read more ancient books, you must buy the series."The collection of books in the series is far better than that of single volumes, ranging from classics, history, zi, and collections, to social customs, scientific and technological inventions, world geography, small and trivial anecdotes, and strange things about tea and wine. .In particular, many "little tricks" that were regarded by the literati in the old days as unrefined, never had a single opportunity to be engraved, but were handed down in the form of a series of books.Therefore, the series is an important source of information for the study of ancient Chinese politics, economy, military affairs, society, culture, and science.It played an important role in the convenience of scholars and the preservation of ancient culture and the spread of classics.First of all, it brings together a single type of books, ranging from a few types to thousands of types. This collection not only contributes to the preservation and dissemination of ancient Chinese classics, but also provides convenience for readers to read.In particular, a series of specialized books that collect a certain department, a certain discipline, a certain place, or a certain family name, etc., are especially convenient for scholars.Some books have never had separate editions, and some books have single editions, but they have been rarely circulated, and they have been included in series books, and they have become easily accessible books.Secondly, the series has the function of compiling lost data.After long-term man-made or natural destruction, some ancient Chinese classics have been lost; many scholars of later generations searched for lost texts from leishu or other works, collected supplementary records, and re-edited them and published them in series.As mentioned earlier, "Xiechuan Collection" was first published in the 26th episode of "Zhibuzhai Series", and later included in "Sibu Beiyao" and "Series Collection", so that we can see "Xiechuan Collection" today overview ofThere are also various series of books mentioned above that specialize in the collection and compilation of lost books, all of which provide us with new sources of books.Furthermore, an ancient book has been handed down to the present, and it has been copied and engraved many times in the middle, resulting in different versions.Generally speaking, the earlier the book is, the less it is circulated, and the rarer it is; bibliophiles get rare fine books and rare books, which are often kept secret.Therefore, in the past, when some famous scholars occasionally saw a Song edition book from a friend, they would write a postscript at the end of the book, write "a certain year, month and day, a certain respect", or print "a certain person passed the eye", etc. , as the greatest pleasure in life.Even today, it is difficult to see the Song and Yuan versions, but it can be seen in the series.For example, Huang Pilie's "Shiliju Series" contains books engraved according to the old editions of the Song and Yuan Dynasties. Especially with the development of modern printing technology and the emergence of photocopied books, the old engravings of the Song and Yuan Dynasties that scholars cannot see can be seen in the series. .For example, "Twenty-Four Histories of Bai Naben", "Si Bu Series", "Gu Yi Series", "Xu Gu Yi Series" and so on have collected a large number of photocopies of old engravings of the Song and Yuan Dynasties.In addition, some books have omissions and deletions in the process of copying and engraving for many times, and re-collation is added when re-engraving a series of books. Such a series of books is far better than a single engraving.In particular, the series of books compiled by bibliophiles, collators, and edition experts in the Qing Dynasty not only collated by themselves, but also invited famous scholars at that time to participate in the collation.

All in all, the separate editions of ancient books in our country are seriously lost.The great role of the series is to preserve and circulate a large number of rare ancient books and documents.It also makes the rare books in ancient books widely circulated.The series of books greatly facilitates the scholars, often enabling them to get twice the result with half the effort.Because there is a series of books at hand, it is enough to save a lot of work of searching through the books.In history, the series of books has played a major positive role in the development of ancient science and culture, and has made indelible achievements.Today, the series of books can still play a certain role in promoting cultural science research.Because of this, this form of compilation and printing has been enduring for a long time. Together with class books and political books, it has always embellished the ancient culture of our country and made our country's splendid cultural heritage more magnificent and colorful.

From the vast cultural classics in our country, understanding books, political books and series of books will help us understand the motherland's yesterday and the day before yesterday, and it will be of great benefit to promote the prosperity and development of our country's cultural and scientific undertakings.