(About the author: Executive Vice President of China Pre-Qin Historical Society, Editor-in-Chief of Research Trends of Pre-Qin History)
This article was published in Educational Research and Practice in 2002, (1); Research trends of pre-Qin history (social journal)
This year (200 1), I was fortunate to read two books on the study of ancient history in China. One is A Study on the Ancient History of China by Mr. Liu of Hunan Province (Yanbian University Press, published in June 2000, 10), and the other is A New Examination of Haidai Yanhuang Yuxiagen by Mr. Jing of Shandong Province (China Federation of Literary and Art Circles Press, published in June 2006, 1), both of which have their own characteristics. The former thinks that the ancient "Huang San" and "Five Emperors" all originated in the south, and Chinese civilization spread in all directions with Dongting Lake in Hunan as the center. The latter believes that both ancient clans and Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties originated in the East, especially in Haidai area of Shandong Province today. The similarity between the two books lies in breaking through the traditional research mode, collecting all kinds of materials, and drawing their own conclusions after studying the relevant ancient documents (including legends of the pre-Qin and Han dynasties and later), archaeological materials, ancient characters and related ancient geography in detail, each of which is unique. Mr Liu asked me to write a book review on the study of ancient history in China. After reading this book, I have some associations, just a feeling after reading it.
Anyone who has studied the history of the pre-Qin dynasty knows that the history of the pre-Qin era is the most complicated and problematic, and it is also the most important and earliest period. According to the traditional division method, the Xia Dynasty was called the "ancient legend era" before its establishment, the Neolithic Age in archaeology, and the primitive society in the history of social development, with a cycle of about five or six thousand years. What we know today for thousands of years is handed down from generation to generation by our ancestors and recorded by future generations. Many myths are mixed in the teaching from generation to generation, so it was once called "the age of myths and legends" in history. In this kind of earliest myths and legends, a large number of ancient historical materials are preserved, which is a colorful and precious heritage in the history and culture of the Chinese nation and the main data basis for studying ancient history.
Ancient historical figures and events are recorded in the documents of pre-Qin, Han, Wei and Jin dynasties and later dynasties. However, the earliest systematic record of this period of history was in Historical Records written by Sima Qian in the Western Han Dynasty, and the opening of Biography of Five Emperors only started from the Yellow Emperor. Twenty-four histories, headed by Historical Records, were more or less described in the pre-Qin, Han and later documents. Due to the long history, there are differences in the teaching theory of past dynasties, and there is no distinction between man and god in some ancient documents, so that scholars from all walks of life have expressed their views on the study of ancient history for more than 2,000 years. With the development of the times, this kind of research is an inevitable trend, that is, more scholars participate in the discussion in different times, which is conducive to the in-depth development of ancient history research.
It can be said that the "Ganjia School" in Qing Dynasty made immortal contributions to the dialectical analysis of ancient documents and the collation of historical materials. 19 19 After the May 4th Movement, there appeared a trend of suspicion of ancient history in the field of ancient history. The school of distinguishing ancient history, represented by Mr. Gu Jiegang, caused an upsurge of studying ancient history in the process of distinguishing false historical materials in China. Looking back now, on some specific issues, the thought of doubting the ancient went too far, from doubt to nothing. However, scholars who distinguish ancient history have come to their own conclusions and done a meaningful job by discriminating and textual research on the authenticity of ancient historical materials. In particular, they combined ancient documents with ancient Chinese characters (bronze inscriptions, Oracle Bone Inscriptions in Yin Ruins) that could be seen at that time, laying a foundation for the scientific use of historical documents, ancient Chinese characters and other archaeological materials and combining ethnology (or sociology) research methods. It is also the scholars of the ancient history school who have done a lot of analysis and textual research on historical materials, so the study of ancient history, especially the study of ancient history, was listed as "tedious textual research" and "boring old papers" in the subsequent period and was listed as a restricted area. Therefore, it is impossible to make a systematic, extensive and in-depth study on many ancient history issues for a long time. Coupled with the instructions of "the will of the chief executive", the policy of "class struggle as the key link" and the implementation of "respecting the present and neglecting the ancient" in a certain period, the study of ancient history almost stopped. As for the ancient history in several general histories, it is still a traditional view. Some attempts to combine with archaeological data are limited to the materials and policies at that time, and there is no big breakthrough and new ideas.
China has a tradition of compiling history, which has lasted for thousands of years. There are "official history" and "unofficial history", and unofficial history also includes "essays". That is, the official works are official history and the folk works are unofficial history. For a long time, unofficial history has been neglected by the royal family, and many local chronicles and records can't be included in official history books. Even in the study of pre-Qin history, pre-Qin philosophers thought it was a book of "empty talk" and "telling fables", and Shan Hai Jing was an absurd and bizarre book. In fact, in this kind of unofficial history's miscellaneous narration, a lot of information about ancient history is preserved. The history and culture of the Chinese nation have lasted for thousands of years because of the tradition of oral lectures and written records of these historical materials, especially the cohesive Chinese characters, which have a history of thousands of years. Today, the relatively systematic and complete ideograph we know is still Oracle Bone Inscriptions in the second half of Shang Dynasty. Besides Oracle Bone Inscriptions, there are inscriptions on bronze in Shang and Zhou Dynasties and "Six-country Characters" in Pre-Qin Period. These Chinese characters carved on various objects are called ancient Chinese characters. Today, we still don't know these ancient Chinese characters with historical data. Even if we know them, we are not completely sure of their meaning. There are also some unknown records in the ancient books of pre-Qin dynasty, so they are called "historical mysteries".
The history of the pre-Qin period spanned a long time and space, and there were not only many complicated problems, but also many differences recorded by later generations. Therefore, we should comprehensively discuss it from multiple angles and levels with a scientific attitude and method. Only by comprehensively analyzing specific problems one by one, sorting out some clues that are roughly the same as the basic historical facts, and then connecting with other things that are roughly the same in time and space, can we see a relatively complete view of history. In the late 1970s, local history was restored. In 1990s, great achievements were made in the compilation of local chronicles. Many places in China have published historical records, some of which are multi-volumes. The problems in some local historical records are not found in the classics and official history, which have supplemented and enriched the content of China history. It is obviously not enough to limit the study of ancient history to the use of classical and official historical materials. It may be more beneficial to combine the relevant ancient Chinese characters, other archaeological materials, ethnology, paleogeography and other disciplines with the relevant materials in various "unofficial history Miscellanies" than to follow the traditional "orthodoxy".
Since the reform and opening up at the end of the last century, it has created a relaxed research environment for intellectuals, and the academic community is unprecedentedly active, and science and culture are prosperous. The study of China's ancient history, especially ancient history, has taken on a new look. After years of efforts and research on various materials, scholars in some places believe that the ancestors of Chinese civilization or the Chinese nation originated locally. This attempt to break through the traditional study of official history, no matter how many people agree with its conclusion, is by no means a "heresy" that some people claim to be "authoritative". In some periods in the past, it was this "authority" that made the study of ancient history in a state of stagnation. In the field of China's ancient history, at any time, more people are better than fewer people. Besides, from the current situation, it seems that fewer and fewer people are interested in it. For the research results of some scholars, we should agree that they carried forward the spirit of "Xia Ji School" in the new era of scientific advocacy, instead of saying that their methods are scientific and their main direction is correct. As for their research conclusions, how many people in the field of ancient history agree with them? It belongs to the category of "a hundred schools of thought contend". Only when more scholars make an all-round discussion from different angles and different understandings can it be conducive to the further development of historical and cultural research.
It is with the above knowledge that I came to see Mr. Wang's book A Study of China's Ancient History. After commenting on the ancient "Huang San" and "Five Emperors", he thinks that Chinese civilization originated in the south. "Before the summer, it was mainly a north-south migration, and civilization radiated around Dongting Lake in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River." Whether the origin of Chinese civilization is like this or not, for the time being, but some of his statements, such as "Three Emperors and Five Emperors" originally meant three positive elements and five elements, and later they were called Ren Huang. The three emperors and five emperors in the world are not fixed and are changing at any time. " "Fuxi is a philosophical concept. Fuxi, Mi, Bao, Tai Hao, Dong Huang Taiyi, etc. Refer to Taiji in the Book of Changes, and the founder of this philosophy is Fu. Fu is actually Shennong's family ... Shaodian is Shennong's maiden, and the Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan Yan Di Chiyou was born. " (Mr. Liu thinks that Emperor Yan refers to Chiyou) Another example is: "The' River and Luo' in the Zen position does not refer to the Yellow River and Luoshui today, but to the two tributaries of the Xiangjiang River in the north and south of Changsha, the ancient capital-Guliuhe and Lushui. Hunan Nanyue is the center of ancient politics and astronomical technology. Today, there are Huangtuling in Youxian County, Yumendong in Liuyang and Shouchan Mountain as its relics. " Some people may think that this "hometown historical view" and "standard historical view" are also found among scholars in other provinces and cities. Yes, there have been some similar discussions in recent years, but it is better for someone to study it than not to study it at all. From the historical development process, it will always provide some useful enlightenment to today's scholars and future generations.