It's my turn.

I really want to name my favorite books and introduce them to you......

Sima Guang once suffered from the vast number of historical books of the past dynasties, and it was difficult for scholars to read them all, because he wanted to summarize the essentials and write a biography of history. At the beginning of the "Tongzhi" 8 volumes, from the Warring States period to Qin II, the table entered the dynasty, which attracted the attention of Song Yingzong. In the third year of Zhiping (1066), the edict was placed in the Chongwen Academy and continued to compile. Song Shenzong ascended the throne and gave the title of the book "Zizhi Tongjian", and rewarded it with a preface. The seventh year of Yuanfeng (1084) was completed.

"Tongjian" was completed by Sima Guang, and the co-cultivators were Liu Shu, Liu Chu, and Fan Zuyu. Liu Shu is well-read and strong, from the "Historical Records" to the following histories, and private notes and miscellaneous stories, read everything, and the discussion and compilation of the "Tongjian" is the most vigorous. Liu Chu and Fan Zuyu have studied the history of the Tang Dynasty. They have worked together and made important contributions. Finally, Sima Guang revised and polished the final draft. Among them, right and wrong are taken away, and one is out of the light.

The Tongjian is extremely rich in historical materials, and in addition to the 17 histories, hundreds of miscellaneous historical books are cited. The narrative in the book is often written in several materials. In case of discrepancies in the years and deeds, they are all examined, and the reasons for the choice are indicated, which is considered to be "Examination of Differences". "Tongjian" has a very high historical value, especially the "Sui Period", "Tang Period" and "Five Dynasties Chronicle" historical data value is the highest.

Because Sima Guang carefully finalized and unified rhetoric, the Tongjian has beautiful words, vivid narratives, and high literary value, and has always been listed as the masterpiece of ancient Chinese historians along with the "Historical Records". In addition to the narrative, 97 historical commentaries of predecessors were also selected, and 118 historical commentaries were written in the form of "Chen Guang Said", which reflected the author's political and historical views in a relatively concentrated manner. Adopting a critical attitude toward historical religious superstitions such as diagrams, divination, and Buddhism is an important progress in historiography.

After the completion of the book "Tongjian", in the eighth year of Yuanfeng, Fan Zuyu, Sima Kang, Huang Tingjian, Zhang Shunmin, etc. were ordered to re-proof, and the first year of Yuanyou (1086) was completed, and it was sent to Hangzhou for engraving, and it was printed in the seventh year of Yuanyou. Imoto Yuben is no longer visible. In the second year of Gaozong Shaoxing in the Southern Song Dynasty (1132), there was a re-engraved copy of Yuyao, which was also incomplete. Zhonghua Book Company republished the Yuan edition based on the Yuan edition engraved by Hu Kejia in the Qing Dynasty, punctuated and proofread, and republished it, which is a better version of Tongjian. The history recorded in the book was written in 403 B.C., that is, in the 23rd year of King Weilie of Zhou, until 959, when the fifth dynasty of the Later Zhou Shizong Xiande conquered Huainan in the sixth year. It is a huge work compiled by Sima Guang for the king's pro-government and the way of wisdom as the starting point, the so-called "deletion of lengthy, citing important information, focusing on the rise and fall of the country, the common people, the good can be the law, the evil can be the precept, for the chronicle of the book, so that the succession is good, fine and coarse." ”。

In the history spanning 16 dynasties in China, a total of 1362 years, the details are slightly far away, the five dynasties of the Sui and Tang dynasties are 371 years, accounting for 40% of the whole book, and the historical value is the highest. It is obvious that he has repeatedly focused on the wise political periods in it, such as the rule of Wenjing, the rule of Zhenguan, and so on.

The death of the emperor and queen is called "collapse", and the death of the prince is called "薨". The Son of Heaven is called "returning to the palace" in the near future, "returning to Beijing" in the distance, and the princes of the countries are called "returning a certain county" in the distance.

"Zizhi Tongjian" has a strong orthodox position, in the era of division, such as the Three Kingdoms, Wei Youji, Shu, Wu Wu "Ji"; In the era of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the Southern Dynasties had a "Ji|", and the Northern Dynasties did not have a "Ji"; The five dynasties have a "discipline", while the ten countries have no "discipline". Another example is the "Tongjian" containing the fifth year of Emperor Taihe of Wei Ming: "(Zhuge ) Liang Shuai all the armies entered the Kou, surrounded Qishan, and transported them with wooden oxen. In this regard, Zhu Xi once expressed his dissatisfaction and said: "The Three Kingdoms should take Shu Han as the right, and Wen Gong is the cloud, and in a certain year and month, 'Zhuge Liang entered the Kou', which is the crown and shoes upside down, how can he show training?" That's why I wanted to write a book. Pushing this intent, there are a lot of corrections. If it is written, it will not be able to read many words. But I'm afraid that if I don't have enough energy, I may not be able to make ears. If it cannot be done, it must be burned. ”

Sima Guang wrote the "Zizhi Tongjian" in order to consolidate the feudal regime at that time, which determined that the content of this book was mainly political history. Therefore, in the compilation of the "Zizhi Tongjian", while inheriting the predecessors, there was some development. He divided the monarchs of history into five categories according to their talents: entrepreneurship, shoucheng, lingyi, zhongxing, and chaos.

In addition to politics, the "General Guide to Governance" has records in culture, science and technology, economy, and military affairs. In terms of culture, in terms of academic thought, there are records of the representatives and academic ideas of the five schools of Confucianism, Fa Ming, Yin and Yang, and Vertical and Horizontal in the pre-Qin period, Huang Lao Thought in the early Han Dynasty, Confucianism in Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and the prevalence of metaphysics in the Wei and Jin dynasties. There are also descriptions of the origin and development of Buddhism and Taoism, as well as the struggle between Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism. There are more systematic statements on the development of scriptures since the Western Han Dynasty, the calibration of classics, the carving of stone classics, and the engraving and circulation of the Nine Classics. Famous scholars of literati and their works are also recorded.

In terms of science and technology, the most recorded are the calendars of the past dynasties. Other works such as astronomy, geography, civil engineering (such as the Great Wall of the Qin Dynasty, Chang'an City and Luoyang City of the Sui and Tang Dynasties), and water conservancy projects (the Grand Canal of the Sui Dynasty) are also reflected.

The "Zizhi Tongjian" also pays attention to the record of the economy, because the land endowment and taxation are the primary problems of the feudal economy. Therefore, it has records of the Shang Dynasty reform, the rule of Wenjing, and the Juntian system of Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty.

For the military record, the "Zizhi Tongjian" is also prominent, and the description of the war is also very vivid. All major battles have detailed records of the causes of the war, the analysis of the war situation, the course of the war and its impact. For example, the Battle of Chibi and the Battle of Weishui are all outstanding examples.

Artistic features

"Zizhi Tongjian" takes time as the "outline", events as the "goal", the outline is the goal, and the time is the story.

The content of the general knowledge of information governance

Notably, the book uses a set of "quirky" timekeeping terms as a timeframe system for the entire book, such as "The Year of Tig". "阏逄" is equivalent to the Chinese "a", and "setig" is equivalent to the Chinese "Yin". Why not use the stems of the Chinese language, but use a multi-syllabic language system? Sima Guang did not confess.

This set of polysyllabic stem and branch terms is also used in the "Almanac" of the "Historical Records", and Sima Qian did not explain its source. This provided an excuse for later generations to think wildly, such as Zhu Kezhen, who suggested that Sanskrit scholars decipher this set of terms in Sanskrit. Some people even claim that the ancestors of the Chinese came from the two river valleys of West Asia or ancient Egypt.

In fact, ancient Chinese documents clearly record that this is the language of the emperor, that is, the official language of the Three Emperors. Wan Minying, a famous scholar in the Ming Dynasty, wrote "Three Lives Tonghui" cloud: "The emperor's surname is thirteen people, following the Pangu clan to rule, it is called 'Tianling', indifferent and vulgar, the name of the original system of cadres and branches, to determine the place of the year. Its ten cadres say: Yu Feng (also known as "阏逄" - editor's note), Zhanmeng, Rouzhao, Qiangyuan, Zhuyong, Tu Wei, Shangzhang, Chongguang, Xuanhuang, Zhaoyang; The twelve branches say: Sleepy Dun, Chifenruo, Setig, Shan Yu, Zhixu, Dahuangluo, Dunqia, Xieqia, Shutan, Zuo O, Eun Mao, and Dayuan Xian.

Cai Yong's "Dictatorship" said: 'Dry, dry. Its name has ten, also known as ten mothers, that is, today's A, B, C, D, pente, hexagen, xin, and non decay are also; Branches, branches also. Its name is two out of ten, also known as the twelve sons, that is, the present son Chouyin Maochen has not applied for the unitary is also. 'The one who is called the Emperor's clan shall take the righteousness of the Son; Those who say the land of the emperor will take their place to open up the righteousness of ugliness; The person who is called the emperor's family takes his life from the righteousness of Yin. Therefore, the name of the Ganzhi was established at the time of the Emperor, and the Emperor of the Earth set three days, and the Tao was divided into day and night, with 30 days as the month, and the Ganzhi began to have their own matching. The emperor of the people, the lord is not a false king, the minister is not vain and noble, the political and religious monarchs and ministers have since the beginning, the diet of men and women has begun, and the qi of heaven and earth has been divided into children and mothers, so the cadres and branches have their belonging. Therefore, the polysyllabic stem branch terminology used by Sima Qian and Sima Guang is the earliest official time term in China, which belongs to the nature of "Huanggang", so it is adopted as a historical chronological term to indicate historical orthodoxy. Mistakes in the work

Although the "Zizhi Tongjian" is praised as "rigorous style, clear context, grand network, large and thoughtful, rich historical materials, detailed research, detailed narrative, complex and simple", but the "Zizhi Tongjian" itself also has many errors, such as the historian Yan Gengwang pointed out that the "Zizhi Tongjian" is wrong in the order of the 28 generals of Yuntai; The two "Book of Tang" mistook "special service" for "Teller", and the "Zizhi Tongjian" did not correct this, and the mistake was wrong, "Zizhi Tongjian" volume 164: "Tumen called himself Yili Khan, called his wife Ke Hetun, and his children called Teller." ”

"Tongjian Examination of Differences": "The books may be used as special services, and now from Liu Yun's "Old Tang Book" and Song Qi's "New Tang Book". Gao An Chen Ruqi believes in "Four Treatises on the Book of the Chief of Chen's Ganlu Garden" that the "Zizhi Tongjian" will only see the official history of Yang Guifei and An Lushan in the history of Zhuye and lose the objectivity. Another example is the Tang Dynasty eunuch Yu Hongzhi, the "New Tang Book" Qiu Shiliang Biography as "Yu Hongzhi", the "Old Tang Book" is occasionally mistaken for "Yu Zhihong", the "Zizhi Tongjian" volume 245 is the ninth year of the ninth year of the November Ren Shu as Yu Zhihong, and the "Zizhi Tongjian" volume 246 is the first month of the fifth year of the opening of the first month of Ji Mao and the Yu Hongzhi, which is confused with each other.

The Book of Jin contains Lü Guang's first era name "Tai'an", while the "Zizhi Tongjian" records it as "Da'an". Another example is that there are many inappropriate ways to record the year of "Zizhi Tongjian", such as the time of Qi people cutting Yan (313 BC), Sima Guangshe's "Historical Records" of the chronicle, not according to the "Chronicle" detailed examination, only increase the ten years of King Qi Wei, and reduce the ten years of King Qi, in order to be the same as the "Mencius" record of the deeds of King Qi Xuan's war against Yan, Zhu Xi of the Song Dynasty is considered to be the tenth year of King Qi Xuan, according to today's research, it is actually the seventh year of King Xuan of Qi, and there are many errors in the other Le Yi War.

Another example is that the Zizhi Tongjian recorded many mistakes in the itinerary of Emperor Yang of Sui's western tour, and the time from Zhangye to Yanzhi Mountain after June 23 was advanced to the day when King Gaochang arrived in Zhangye on June 17. "Tongjian" volume 15 (Han Ji VII) in the second year after Emperor Wen: "In August, Wuxu, Prime Minister Zhang Cangfu was exempted. However, according to the "Twenty Shi Shuo Leap Table", in August of the second year after Emperor Wen, there was no Wuxu in the month. Wu Yugui's "Annals of the Doubtful Records of the General Examination" summarizes the errors that occurred in the "Tongjian" period, and a total of 888 cases are obtained, which can make up for the shortcomings in this aspect.

Many of the contents are hearsay, such as "Wang Mang poisoned Emperor Ping of the Han Dynasty", which is a rumor fabricated by the rebels in the last years of Xinmang, and it is very irresponsible to write it as a letter history by Sima Guang and others.

Zhu Xi of the Song Dynasty had a direct criticism in the "Zhu Zi Language" in "The First Dynasty of the Past Dynasties": "Duke Wen didn't like power schemes, and deleted it when he revised the book, but what was the matter at that time? I had to exist with him. If a few lines are deleted from each place, and there is no meaning in just reading it, how can it be saved, but do not make a judgment to judge it. He also said, "Whoever does not agree with his own will will be removed, and he does not know that the will of others is not so." "Tongjian" and so on. Yan Yan of the Ming Dynasty was familiar with the "Zizhi Tongjian" and wrote the "Zizhi Tongjian Supplement", listing the seven diseases of the Tongjian (omission, complex, disorder, miscellaneous, error, persistence, and falsehood).

Cen Zhongmian, a close friend, thinks that the evaluation of Niu Shengyu in Tongjian is biased, and Sima Guang does not hesitate to distort the facts and play with words. Cen Zhongmian also wrote "Tongjian Sui and Tang Chronicles Questioning", claiming to correct the fallacies of "Tongjian", a total of more than 670 articles.

"Zizhi Tongjian" also has a lot of shortcomings, such as "Zizhi Tongjian" focuses on politics and military ink, for the economic aspects of the record is not much, such as the "rent and Yong modulation" only "the initial rent, Yong, the law, each Ding rent two stones, silk two horses, cotton three taels, since the outside, shall not be horizontally adjusted. More than 20 words, "The End of the Tongjian Records" only includes two historical materials related to the economy, and even less on culture, art, and religion.

Xiang Yu's song of the lower part of the song, Liu Bang's song of the great wind, etc., are not taken in the "Tongjian", but those who are "sarcastic in poetry" are adopted, such as the song of Zhao in volume 14, and the song composed by the people in volume 134 for Yuan Cang. Characters like Du Fu are even only mentioned once. Liu Zongyuan was a political figure, and although his literary status was smaller than that of Du Fu, Sima Guang included his two masterpieces, "The Biography of Ziren" and "The Biography of Guo Luluo", which were planted by trees.

"Tongjian" wrote a lot about Bai Juyi, because he was a bachelor of Hanlin, and he wrote many times and commented on the government from time to time. In the late Tang Dynasty, the town was divided, and the imperial court appeased, Sima Guang appreciated Du Mu's articles very much, and once excerpted the five articles of "Note on Sun Tzu's Preface", "Sinful Words", "Original Sixteen Guards", "War Theory", and "Shou Theory" into the volume 244 of "Zizhi Tongjian". Another example is Han Yu, a literati who actively defended Confucianism and Taoism during the decline of the eight generations of Wenqi, but did not mention his academic and cultural contributions, and only included his "Greeting Buddha Bone Table" and "Preface to Sending Wen Changshi". Zizhi Tongjian is a famous historical work in ancient China, which has always been valued and read by people.

When Sima Guang was compiling and revising the "Zizhi Tongjian", he not only properly kneaded the chronicle into the chronicle, so that the details of the chronicle and the conciseness of the chronicle were combined. Sima Guang broke through this old practice and collected the chronology, imperial chronicles, calendars, celestial phenomena, table of contents, important points, and indexes in three parts, creating a new style of multi-functional catalogue of chronicles, making the Zizhi Tongjian more perfect, and advancing the compilation of Chinese history to a new level.

Sima Guang's thoughts, modes and methods of literature collation not only produced fruitful results and enriched the theory of classical Chinese philology, but also had a profound impact on the development of philology.

Since the completion of the book, the emperors and generals of the past dynasties, the literati and the dignitaries from all walks of life have been vying to read it. There are countless emperors, virtuous ministers, Confucians, modern politicians, thinkers, and scholars who commented on the "Zizhi Tongjian". As a textbook for the kings of the past dynasties, the praise of the "Zizhi Tongjian" is almost not comparable to the "Zizhi Tongjian" except for the "Historical Records".

Sima Guang's "Zizhi Tongjian" and Sima Qian's "Historical Records" are listed as immortal masterpieces of Chinese historiography, the so-called "two Simas of historiography". [4]

Evaluation of the work

Southern Song Dynasty historian Wang Yinglin: "Since there has been a book deed, there has never been such as the "Tongjian". ”

At the end of the Song Dynasty and the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, Hu Sanxing: "If you are a ruler and don't know the "Tongjian", you want to govern but don't know the source of autonomy, if you are a minister and don't know the art of preventing chaos, if you are a minister and don't know the "Tongjian", you will have nothing to do with the king, you can't govern the people, and if you are the son of a man and don't know the "Tongjian", you will be humiliated by seeking a life, and you will not be able to do anything behind." "The Tongjian does not specifically record the traces of chaos, but also details the rituals, almanacs, astronomy, and geography. Readers are like rats drinking from the river, each at best. ”

Gu Yanwu of the Qing Dynasty "The Difficulty of Writing a Book" :( "Zizhi Tongjian" and "Literature General Examination") "all took a lifetime of energy to complete, so it became an indispensable book for future generations".

Wang Mingsheng, a scholar of the Qing Dynasty: "This is a book that must be indispensable in this world, and a book that scholars must not read." "To read the Seventeenth History, you can't help but read the Tongjian. The materials of the "Tongjian" are mostly outside the official history, and they can also be judged by considering the similarities and differences of the history. As the people of the past said, things have increased in the past, and the province is in the old, but the "Tongjian" can be deserved. ”

Zeng Guofan of the Qing Dynasty: "Stealing the book of the sages that shocked the world, Mo is good at Sima Wenzhenggong's "Zizhi Tongjian", which is eclectic and open-minded. ”

When modern scholar Liang Qichao commented on the "Tongjian", he said: "Sima Wengong's "Tongjian" is also a great text in heaven and earth. The grandeur of its structure and the abundance of its materials make it inevitable for future generations to write a general history based on it, and there is no one who can heal it so far. Gong Wen is also a great man! ”

He claimed to have annotated the "Zizhi Tongjian" seventeen times, and commented: "Seventeen times. Every reading is very rewarding. A rare good book...... There are two big books in China, one is called "Historical Records" and the other is "Zizhi Tongjian", both of which were written by talented people in a politically undesirable situation...... and the "Tongjian" writes about war, which is really written with vigor and spirit, and is full of dialectics. ”[2]

Version of the work

Song Ben

1. Yuyao official inscription: the Southern Song Dynasty Gaozong Shaoxing three years (1133) by the Liangzhejiang East Road Tea and Salt Division Minister Treasury Shaoxing Prefecture Yuyao County re-engraved this Xiaozong Dynasty or later printed, the Southern Song Dynasty Jian, Hubei, Shu versions, are directly or indirectly from this version.

2. Qing Zhangyu's "Hu Ketongjian Textual School Song Chronicles" is identified as an engraved copy before Guangzong of the Southern Song Dynasty, and the "Zangyuan Group Book Jingyanlu" is identified as the early Southern Song Dynasty version, that is, it is called Jingyuben.

Ming edition

Information Governance

1. During the Zhengde Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, the original version of the Xingwen Department was included in Nanyong, and it was repaired many times in previous dynasties.

2. The first year of Ming Hongzhi to the thirty-eighth year of Jiajing engraved and versioned.

3. Yuan engraved Ming repair version: tomorrow engraved version, reviewed by Chen Renxi, with engraved Liu Shu's "Outer Discipline", Hu Sanxing's "Discernment", Xue Yingmin's "Song and Yuan Tongjian" and "Jiazi Huiyao", Chen Renxi's preface; Chen Renxi's review book, tomorrow's sixth year of the white mouth, with Xue Yingmin's "Song and Yuan Tongjian", with ink and eyebrows and Zhu pen circles.

Clear-cut version

1. Hu Ke's family book: In the twenty-first year of Jiaqing of Qingrenzong (1816), Hu Ke's family imitated the Xingwen signature; In the twenty-first year of Jiaqing of Qing Renzong, the original engraved copy of Hu Kejia, and the repair of Jiangsu Book Company in the eighth year of Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty.

2. Qing Tongzhi ten years Hubei Chongshu book.

3. Lithograph of the Shanghai Xuying Museum in the 14th year of Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty. This edition is accompanied by Bi Yuan's "Renewal of Capital and Governance Tongjian".

Republic of China Journal

Information Governance

1. The first year of the Republic of China: Hanfen Building lead. Twelve volumes of the Tongjian Commentary are attached.

2. Hundred books: The title of the book is "Hundred Books of Song Ben Zizhi Tongjian", a photocopy of the library attached to the Commercial Press in the eighth year of the Republic of China.

3. Shanghai Sinology Collation Society.

4. Photocopy of the Song engraving, the first edition of the "Four Serials", photocopied by the Commercial Press in the 18th year of the Republic of China. "Four Libraries Preparation", the 25th year of the Republic of China.

Note: The annotated version of Hu Sansheng's "Zizhi Tongjianyin Annotation" is the most praised and is now the most popular version.

Translations

(Taiwan) Huang Jinhong et al., translated "Wenbai Comparison Quan Translation Zizhi Tongjian" (published by New World Press, 2008, without the footnotes of the ancients)

Shen Zhihua and Zhang Hongru, eds., Zizhi Tongjian Wenbai Comparison (published by Zhonghua Book Company, 2009)

About the Author

Sima Guang

Sima Guang (1019-1086) was a politician, historian, and writer during the Northern Song Dynasty. A native of Shushui Township, Xia County, Shaanzhou Prefecture of the Northern Song Dynasty (now Xia County, Shanxi), he was born in Guangshan County, Henan Province. Sima Guang has been fond of learning since childhood, and he especially likes "The Biography of the Zuo Family in the Spring and Autumn Period".

Sima Guang has written extensively. In addition to the "Zizhi Tongjian", there are also 80 volumes of "Tongjian Calendar", 20 volumes of "Ji Gulu", and 6 volumes of "List of Hundred Officials and Ministers of this Dynasty". In addition, he has studied and written in literature, classics, philosophy and even medicine, and his main representative works include "Hanlin Poetry and Grass", "Notes on Ancient Literature", "Yi Shuo", "Notes on Taixuanjing", "Notes on Yangzi", "Shuyi", "Travels in the Mountains", "Continuation of Poetry", "Medical Questions", "Records of Lianshui", "Class Chapters", "Sima Wenzheng Public Collection" and so on. Historically, Sima Guang was revered as one of the Three Sages of Confucianism (the other two being Confucius and Mencius).

"Zizhi Tongjian" also records the translation of the scriptures by Kumarosh, but does not record the translation of the scriptures by Xuanzang, and records in detail the three large-scale bans and destruction of Buddhas by Emperor Taiwu of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty and Wuzong of the Tang Dynasty; Remember Chen Qun's nine-product Zhongzheng system, but do not remember the Sui Dynasty to enter the Shike to take scholars, and those who have nothing to do with politics are not admitted. Gu Yanwu said: "This book is governed by capitalism, why not record and literati? ”