Different versions of books contain more or less documents, and the degree of collation and reading is different, so there are whole books and residual books, refined books and ordinary books. At the same time, the book version appeared sooner or later, and the degree of rarity was different, which correspondingly led to the differences between ancient books and modern books, orphan books and duplicates, and made the connotation of rare books more expanded. Many scholars in later generations have constantly summed up the concept of rare books, and finally formed the universal theory of "three natures" and "nine articles" of rare books. The lower age limit of rare books is now generally determined in the sixty years of Qingganlong (1795).
Three natures
1: historical relics.
The so-called historical relics have two meanings:
First, the ancient books were printed and copied earlier, which has the value of historical relics.
Second, ancient books can be used as documentary physical witness of historical figures and events, which has certain commemorative significance.
2. Academic information.
The so-called academic materials refer to manuscripts, manuscripts, manuscripts and printed copies that have been carefully proofread, excavated and annotated by previous generations of scholars. It should also include those ancient books that have unique academic opinions, or have school characteristics, or have systematic opinions, or reflect a certain period, a certain field, a certain person and an event in a concentrated and perfect way.
3. Artistic expression.
The so-called artistic representativeness mainly refers to people who can reflect the invention, development and maturity level of various printing technologies in ancient China; Or binding can reflect the evolution of various binding forms of ancient books in China; Or ancient books with unique paper and excellent printing can reflect the progress of paper-making technology and printing technology in ancient China.
Jiutiao
1: Books carved and copied before Yuan Dynasty. [Including residual leaves and loose leaves]
2. Books carved and copied in the Ming Dynasty. (including residual copies and loose leaves with special value) But the printed copies are vague and the circulation is too large to be accepted.
3. There were few woodcuts and manuscripts before Qianlong in Qing Dynasty.
4. Books published by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the peasant revolutionary regimes of past dynasties.
5. Before the Revolution of 1911, there were manuscripts with original ideas, school characteristics or systematic ideas in academic research, and there were also versions/manuscripts that were rarely circulated.
6. Before the Revolution of 1911, manuscripts reflecting the information of a certain period, a certain field or an event, as well as rarely circulated prints and manuscripts.
7. Before the Revolution of 1911, celebrities and scholars recognized, inscribed or recorded printed copies and manuscripts that were recognized by predecessors and had reference value. 8. In printing, it can reflect the development of ancient printing and represent the technical level of a certain period, such as various movable type paintings, overprint or block printing with fine proofreading prints and illustrations.
9. Generally, it is not acceptable to collect Ming dynasty prints, Qing dynasty ancient prints, famous seal cutting prints and distinctive autographs.
The following is Mr. Wang Pengkai of Taiwan Province's exposition on "reading should seek rare books" for your reference.
Find good books when reading.
When it comes to reading a good copy, there are always several examples mentioned in edition science. Now let's give two examples to illustrate the importance of reading good copy. First, when Yao You was a professor in Hangzhou in the Song Dynasty, he actually made a question based on a large number of mistakes made by Ma Shaben, which led to mistakes in the examination questions. Fortunately, Yao admitted his mistake and became a beautiful talk:
During the three-shed method, an instructor wrote down Yi's meaning: "If you work for gold, what about Kun?" ? "The students came to the front of the curtain with a copy of Yi and asked Yun," I have questions about the topic. Excuse me. "The coach said," Jing Yi is an invitation? The student said, "I dare not take the public exam." This is a private test and it may be harmless. " The instructor will explain. The students came out of the prison and asked, "Sir, I'm afraid I read Mashan's book. If you supervise Ben, Kun is the kettle. The professor was afraid of the emperor, but he thanked him and said, "Someone should be punished. "That is, lost the penalty, change the subject. But it was also obvious afterwards. [ 1]
The other is Dai Yuanli, a famous doctor in the early Ming Dynasty. He was very surprised to see his colleagues urging patients to put a piece of tin in the soup. I didn't know until I asked that my colleague made a mistake according to the version of the medical book and carved the word "zi" into "tin" Fortunately, this did not lead to a fatal case:
Dai Jinhua Yuan Li, a famous doctor in the early days of the People's Republic of China, was called to Nanjing to see a doctor who wanted to make money. Yuan paid more attention to affirmation than the performer. According to the prescription, there is no difference, so it is strange to return it. Even a man asked for medicine and chased him and said, "tin is a piece when you fry it." "Go away. Ethan was very different from the beginning. I didn't think there was any way to add tin to the soup, so I beat it. A: "It's Gu." I asked for his book, which is the word "Huan". Ethan is urgent and right. Oh! People who heal themselves without distinguishing between "Xi" and "Xi" should be careful! [2]
It is precisely because in the process of spreading ancient books, there will be various problems such as mistakes and omissions due to copying and engraving, which will further affect the achievements of academic research. Therefore, the former sages paid great attention to the version of books in their study, and repeatedly stressed that, for example, Zhang Zhidong always advocated that "reading requires rare books" [3], and he first explained the "rare books":
Rare edition is not the new name of paper whiteboard, that is to say, it is the basis for predecessors to carefully check and publish with several ancient books. Here is a simple way for beginners to buy books, but the order of reading is careful proofreading and engraving, and it is better to write and engrave carefully. Good books have three meanings: First, there are enough books. Two excellent books (one fine school and one fine note). Three old books (one copy at a time). [4]
And mentioned that proofreading books according to rare books is beneficial to reading:
It is advisable to proofread before reading, and the proofreader will compare the rare book with the popular one. It is just that the difference is false, and the similarities and differences are often realized. And once checked, the difficulties are easy to remember. But you should read books after school, and if you don't read books, you will become a laughing stock. [5]
In addition, he also pointed out the importance of rare books in the Bibliography Question and Answer, which guided students to learn in the late Qing Dynasty:
It is futile to read without knowing the main points. Knowing that a book is suitable for reading, but not for careful proofreading and annotation will get twice the result with half the effort. [6]
In addition, Mr. Qu Wanli also wrote an article to teach students why they should pay attention to typology when reading ancient books, and pointed out three functions of typology: "We should pay attention to writing on the blackboard if we want to distinguish the authenticity of books", "We should pay attention to writing on the blackboard if we want to know whether books are flawed" and "We should pay attention to writing on the blackboard if we want to avoid being deceived by typos" [7].
The former sages not only highly affirmed the academic value or data value of excellent books such as "no shortage and no deletion", "careful proofreading and careful annotation" and "old engraving and old copying", but many people even devoted considerable energy and painstaking efforts to proofread ancient books in order to achieve themselves and benefit the scholars. This kind of works especially focus on the Qing Dynasty, so the Qing Dynasty is called "the heyday of school learning" [8]. After sorting out a large number of ancient books, these scholars have benefited countless students in later generations, saving people much effort in exploration and much injustice. Although the style of study has changed today, few scholars are willing to engage in the proofreading of ancient books, which is not conducive to popularization. Fortunately, some bookstores are still doing this work, so that we can still use the rare books that have been proofread. However, because I am used to reading these excellent books, I gradually ignore that not every ancient book has been proofread by predecessors, and even think that there is no version problem in ancient books published by bookstores. In the past, when I studied Yuewei Caotang Notes, I mainly wanted to get a book that was easy to spread among the people [9]. Although Lu Jintang's representative work pointed out that there was a lack of content in the folk book [10], I could only borrow it because of the limitation of library use, but I could not copy it. It was not until the Notes of Yuewei Caotang published by bookstores in Chinese mainland flowed into Taiwan Province Province that the problem of folk circulation was solved.