According to Liu Xiang's Shuo Wen jing yuan Shen, A Qing people compiled a lost book Ren Ziming. The full text is as follows:
I (according to the supplement of Sun), the ancients were also cautious. What a good warning! What a good warning! Few words, many words and many defeats; Nothing, it's troublesome. Happiness must be forbidden and there is nothing to regret. Don't say anything about harm, the disaster will be long; If you don't say anything harmful, the disaster will be great; Don't call it why you are disabled, and the disaster will be natural; Don't say you don't smell it. The demons are waiting for someone. Yingying ("Family Language" as a flame) is immortal and helpless; If you don't stop, you will become a river; Endless, it will become a net; If you don't cut green, find an axe. If you are sincere, you can't be cautious, and the root of the disaster is also ("Family Language" is sincere and cautious, and the root of music is also); Yue ("Family Language" as a mouth) is a wound, and the door to disaster is also. A strong beam never dies, and a good man meets an enemy. If you blame your master, people will hurt you. A gentleman knows that the world can't be covered, so he wants to admire it, not to argue with it. Everyone tends to each other, I am alone; Everyone is confused. I'm alone. I know what I know, and I don't talk about skills with others. Although I respect wealth, people should not hurt me. He who has a long river and a hundred valleys is humble. Heaven has no relatives, but often with good people. What a good warning! What a good warning!
There are two issues to be discussed in this lost article: the earliest recorded place and the approximate time of creation.
According to Yan Kejun's compilation basis and the general view of academic circles, Ren Ziming first appeared in Shuo Wen jing yuan Shen (Note: scholars at home and abroad often explain that he first appeared in Shuo Wen jing yuan Shen, such as Wu Neiyixiong's Lao Zi Yuan, Huang Fanggang's Examination of Politics in the Age of Lao Zi, and Zheng Lianggen's Ren Ziming. ), but I think this article was first recorded in Xunzi. "Taiping Yu Lan" Volume 390 quoted Sun Dui's inscription saying: "In front of the right step of the Zhou ancestral temple, there was Ren Yan, who kept his mouth shut, saying:" I am cautious of people in ancient times. "Don't say anything, don't worry! If you say more, you will lose a lot. " Zhu Xiaoyun: "The Emperor's Guide said that the' Golden Chamber of the Great Duke' was published, and there were also Family Talk and Shuo Yuan." According to a small note, Yan Kejun's Ren Ziming was actually compiled according to Shuo Wen Jie Zi and Shuo Wen Jie Zi. Later generations either failed to attach importance to this record of Taiping Yulan, or attributed the first record right to Shuoyuan because Xunzi didn't have the full text of Ren Yaoming here. In fact, it is a misunderstanding to think that Xunzi does not contain the full text of Ren Qiming. The original texts of Ming and Shuo Shen in Xunzi and the later Notes on Confucius' Family in the Zhou Dynasty (note: Records of Han Dynasty and Arts) recorded 27 volumes of Notes on Confucius' Family, which were listed in The Analects of Confucius. However, this version of The Family Story of Confucius became popular only after Wang Su, a A Jin native, made an annotation. The number of volumes is different from that of Han Zhi, and its contents are mostly found in Shuo Yuan and other Han Dynasty classics, so it has long been regarded as a forgery by Wang Su. With the excavation of bamboo tubes in Han tombs in Dingxian County, Hebei Province and Fuyang, Anhui Province, this traditional view has changed. Some people think that the prototype of this edition of Confucius' Family Talk existed before the early Han Dynasty. In any case, it is certain that Confucius' Family Tales and Shuoyuan are later than Xunzi. ), should be in good condition. The reason why Xunzi only has the first few words of Ren Weiming is because the editor of Taiping Yulan abridged the quotations as needed. The author's judgment can be confirmed by the 590-volume "Taiping Magnolia", which quotes the full text of Ren Weiming in the Notes on Confucius' Family and adds a small note: "Xun Qingzi and Shuo Yuan recorded again." If Ren Jin's inscription in Xunqingzi is only the first few words instead of the full text, then the full text of Ren Jin's inscription in the Notes on Confucius' Family can't be called a "reprint" of Xunzi. Therefore, Ren Jin's inscription was first recorded in Xunzi in the pre-Qin period. It should be noted that there is no Ming in this edition of Xunzi, but the lost text of Xunzi is quoted in Taiping Yulan.
Scholars of past dynasties have different views on the creation time of Ren Qiming. Yan Kejun attributed the copyright of this article to the Yellow Emperor. According to the remarks in the inscription of the Jin people, "this inscription is nameless, which is based on the Taigong conspiracy and Taigong Jingui, one of the six inscriptions of the Yellow Emperor." Yan's "conspiracy of the squire" specifically refers to the following passage: "the king of Wu asked,' can you smell the teachings of the five emperors?' The venerable master said,' When the Yellow Emperor arrived, he told him,' My people are afraid that they will not go to the DPRK at night. Therefore, he is a gold man, and Sanyin said, "The ancient words are also cautious." ..... said,' When I first came to Yin, all the residents went up and dared not rest.' "yue:" those who are virtuous are humble "[1] thus, Yan's so-called" one of the six inscriptions of the yellow emperor "is not credible. Although the dialogue with history recorded in "The Secret Agreement of Tai Gong" has literary basis, the story of the Yellow Emperor casting a gold man introduced by his teacher has the nature of ancient legend, which is intended to warn us to govern the country with caution and morality with the help of the legendary ancient holy king. Shi only said that the Yellow Emperor had cast a golden man and "sealed his mouth three times", without mentioning the inscription on his back. Although the so-called "ancient words are cautious about people" is the same as the first sentence in Jin Dynasty, it is what Shi said about retelling the Yellow Emperor, not the content of the inscription; Not to mention that the Yellow Emperor is an ancient legend. Even if there were real people, words had not yet been produced at that time. How can there be such a mature and long inscription as "Ren Qiming"? It can be seen that the inscriptions that Confucius later saw on the backs of Jin people in the ancestral hall of the Zhou Dynasty should serve as an example for future generations, while the newly carved inscriptions are collected in the Zhou History Database. Scholars in past dynasties have different views on the formation time of Ren Vioming. They believe that Ren Qiming was not written by the Yellow Emperor since ancient times, or even a work in the pre-Qin period, but a fake by Liu Xiang, a Han Chinese. This conclusion is drawn from people's confirmation of the nature of Shuo Yuan. For example, Liu Zhiji called Shuoyuan "spreading false facts and constructing false statements" [2], while Su called it "not full of alcohol, but also hobby of strange bloggers" [3], called it "no longer counting the mistakes of facts" [4], called it "gaining something" [5], and called it. All the above viewpoints are reasonable, but as proved above, Ren Jin's inscription was not first seen in Shuoyuan, but first seen in Xunzi. Therefore, no matter what the nature of Shuo Yuan is, the problem of Liu Xiang forging Ren Jin's inscription does not exist.
So, in which period of pre-Qin was Ren Qiming written? The author thinks that it was in the Spring and Autumn Period, before Confucius at the latest. There are three reasons: first, the academic circles think that Ming Heming (quoted from Wang Wujianlang, Volume VI of Da Dai Li), Mi Ming (ditto), Ming (quoted from Warring States Policy and Wei Ce Yi) and Huang Di Yu (. For example, five groups of sentences are preserved in Ren Yaoming. One is "you must abstain from happiness and regret what you have done"; The second is "don't say anything about harm, and its disaster will be long"; The third is "if you don't call it any harm, its disaster will be great"; The fourth is "don't call it any disability, its disaster comes from nature"; The fifth is "don't be ignorant, the devil waits for no one." However, Ximing only saved the first group, while Yingming saved the middle three groups. For another example, Ming also saved four sets of sentences. One is "the flame never goes out, but it is hot and helpless"; The second is that "a trickle will become a river"; The third is "endless, you must form a network"; The fourth is "if you don't cut green, find an axe." However, Huangdi Neijing lacks the third group, while Zhou Shu only keeps the fourth group, adding one sentence to the first group and the third group. According to the general law that ancient books are simplified and deleted, simplified and complicated, Ren Yaoming is naturally earlier than the other four works. The author even thinks that Ren Ziming and Sikuquanshu are not only homologous, but also probably Ren Ziming itself is the source of Sikuquanshu, while Sikuquanshu was extracted and pieced together respectively. If this is the case, as page 16 of "Four Articles Before the Mid-Warring States Period" makes the following judgment on the age of the four articles, saying: "Of course, we will not believe that Yu is a work of the Yellow Emperor era, and it is hard to believe that Ying is a document of the early Western Zhou Dynasty. However, we don't believe they are. " Zhou "is quoted, and this is Su Qin, which is probably in line with the facts. The author thinks that it is more realistic for Zheng to regard SikuQuanshu as a work before the mid-Warring States period, and we should do it accordingly today. ), its source "Ren Yaoming" should be earlier than the Warring States period. Secondly, Lao Zi inherited the inscription of Ren Jin. Zheng's Ming and Laozi have incisive textual research on this point. The forty-second and seventy-ninth chapters of Laozi are the same as those of Ren Qiming, that is, "those who are strong will not die" and "Heaven has no relatives and often works with good people". The fifth chapter and the sixty-sixth chapter are respectively related to Ren Qiming. There is nothing to worry about, and there are many troubles. The meaning of that sentence is similar to that of "those who have a long river and hundreds of valleys are humble"; Chapters 7 and 66 are consistent with the sentence meaning of "A gentleman knows the world is beyond cover, so the next one is admirable" in Ren Qiming. Its twenty-sixth chapter is also consistent with the sentence meaning of "it is indisputable to hold a woman" in Ren Qiming. These similarities show that Laozi inherited the inscription, not the other way around, because Zheng found strong evidence. Yun: "In the forty-second chapter of Laozi, he claimed that he was taught by a' person', and he regarded this' person' as a' godfather' to teach others; It can be seen that Laozi is based on this, not self-made. However, who is this' person'? Except Ren Yaoming, there is no such sentence in other ancient books in pre-Qin period as "the strong beam will not die"; However, this' person' should be very clear. As far as this article is concerned, it is easy for Laozi to quote Ren Yaoming. It is hard to imagine if it was compiled by Ren Yuming and Laozi. " [8](P 18) Zheng's theory is quite right. Although there are many controversies about the time when Laozi and Laozi wrote the book, it cannot be easily denied that Laozi and Confucius were contemporary, and their book was written earlier than The Analects. Therefore, the inscription of Ren Jin, who influenced his book, was placed before Confucius. On this basis, Xunzi, Shuoyuan and Confucius Family Stories claim that Ren Jin's inscription was cast on Ren Zi's back "in front of the right platform" during the week of observing Confucius in the ancestral temple, which is credible. Thirdly, Ren Jin's inscription conforms to the formal characteristics of the inscription style in the Spring and Autumn Period. Before the Spring and Autumn Period, the inscriptions on bronze in the Western Zhou Dynasty were stylized in format, layout and writing, but declined after the mid-Warring States Period. Only the inscriptions on bronze in the Spring and Autumn Period were more free and flexible. As Ma Chengyuan said: "In the Spring and Autumn Period, Zhou Shi moved eastward and the five tyrants rose. The centralization of the Zhou Dynasty gradually dispersed to the hands of various countries, each with its own convenience, and each with its own convenience in copper smelting and casting. Therefore, the bronze inscriptions in this period also showed strong randomness, monotonous format and free description [9](P359-360). Ren Weiming is eclectic, flexible and rich in literary talent, which coincides with the characteristics of inscriptions in the Spring and Autumn Period. Therefore, it is unlikely to be an inscription in the Warring States Period or the Western Zhou Dynasty (saying that "Wen Xin Diao Long Ming Zhen" "Zhou Gong Shen Jin Ren", regarding Jin Ren as the work of Zhou Gong in the early Western Zhou Dynasty, is not credible), it should be an inscription in the Spring and Autumn Period, at the latest before Confucius.