New discoveries and new materials are of great significance for promoting the in-depth study of ancient documents. The discovery of Oracle Bone Inscriptions in Yin Ruins greatly promoted the study of ancient philology and the history of Yin and Shang Dynasties. The discovery of Dunhuang suicide note has formed a new prominent school in the world-Dunhuang studies; The discovery of books and archives in Cabinet Library since Yuan and Ming Dynasties and a large number of unearthed bamboo and silk documents have also greatly promoted the research in related fields.
History of Art and Literature in Hanshu contains eighty-two articles, including nine volumes, about the Art of War. The Law of Sun Qibing consists of 89 articles and four volumes. These two books belong to Sun Wu and Sun Bin. Later, due to the loss of Sun Bin's The Art of War, people had doubts about Han Zhi's recording. Some people think that Sun Tzu is one person instead of two, and some people think that Sun Tzu's Art of War is one book instead of two books. 1972, the incomplete bamboo slips of Sun Bin's Art of War unearthed from the Han Tomb in Yinque Mountain, Linyi, Shandong Province, made this controversial issue intersect. People also have different views on the authenticity of Wen Zi, Wei Liaozi, Luo Guanzi, Yanzi Chunqiu and Tamia Liu. 1973 The Han Tomb in Dingxian County, Hebei Province and the Han Tomb in Mawangdui, Changsha in the same year unearthed Yanzi Chunqiu, Wen Zi and Taigong. Great discoveries give birth to new knowledge, while small discoveries can deepen people's understanding of specific problems or provide new materials and new research topics. The importance of new materials is naturally beyond doubt. Wang Guowei put forward the famous "double evidence law", which advocated that newly discovered archaeological materials and handed down documents should be mutually verified, achieving a major breakthrough in textual research methods, which is also closely related to the discovery of new materials.
It is no exaggeration to say that the discovery of a large number of unearthed documents will rewrite the academic history of China to a great extent.
First, unearthed documents and handed down documents can complement each other.
The longer the document is circulated, the more likely it is to be distorted. As far as the ancient documents we see today are concerned, there are too many mistakes, inverted sentences, missing chapters, different records and even random alterations. Unearthed documents have been buried for a long time, so they can keep their original appearance. Some documents have gone through thousands of years (such as Oracle Bone Inscriptions and Jinwen). ), and few have experienced it for hundreds of years, so its value is self-evident.
The advantages of handed down literature are mainly reflected in the following aspects.
Handed down literature has experienced long-term natural selection. To study, you always want to have a good book subjectively. Therefore, the spread of handed down literature must have its reasons and advantages.
More importantly, handed down literature is often sorted and selected. The ancients began to sort out the literature long ago. "Under the Mandarin and Lu Language" says: "In the name of my father, school and business, I eulogized twelve articles of Zhou Taishi, headed by" Na "." "History of Rites and Music in Han Dynasty" said: "Wang Guan has no job, elegance and fu are at odds, and Confucius decided it, so he said,' I will guard against Lu, and then I will be happy, and elegance and fu are in their proper places.' According to Historical Records Confucius Family, Confucius has the right to organize six arts. At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, Liu Xiang and Liu Xin presided over the first large-scale document arrangement in the history of China. This document is not only extensive, but also very detailed and in-depth.
The Preface to the Records of Arts and Literature says: "In the past, Zhong Ni was silent when he was away, and his seventy sons were upright and obedient when he lost his life. Therefore, The Spring and Autumn Annals is divided into five parts, The Poems into four parts, and The Book of Changes has been handed down by several families. During the Warring States period, there was a dispute between authenticity and falsehood, and the words of various philosophers were confused ... Han Xing changed the defeat of the Qin Dynasty, collected a large number of articles, and opened up the road of presenting books. In the era of filial piety, books lacked simplicity, and bad manners and fun collapsed ... So the strategy of building books, setting officials to write books, and legends of various factions were full of secrets. By the time he became emperor, the books were quite scattered, which made the worshiper Chen Nong ask for a suicide note on earth. Wei Liu Zhao Guanglu, a doctor, passed on the poems of various schools of thought, served as a captain of infantry, wrote the art of war, and ordered Yin to learn mathematics and serve Li's school skills. Every book has been written, read, summarized, recorded and played. When he was about to die, he mourned the emperor and ordered his son to serve in the car. A captain Xin died of his father's business. Therefore, Xin always put his seven views in a set of books, so there are biographical sketches, Liu Yi sketches, poems sketches, military books sketches and sketches. Delete the essentials of its preparation articles today. " At last, The Records of Arts and Literature concluded: "Six books, 38 kinds, 596 volumes and 33,269 volumes." Ban Gu's note: "Fifty articles for three families, saving ten soldiers."
This shows that the collation of ancient books in the Western Han Dynasty is a systematic project supported by the state and presided over by famous scholars and experts, which has made most of the documents before the Western Han Dynasty carefully collated.
When Liu Xiang and Liu Xin proofread books, the conditions are quite superior. First, not far from ancient times, we can see a large number of ancient books, many of which are ancient texts, and even a certain number of unearthed documents. Second, the materials used for collating are also quite rich. For example:
"The Warring States Policy" records: "The number of Chinese books, or national policies or affairs, or short and long, or stories, or long books, or book revisions." Among them, "there are eight countries" Guanzi records: "There are 389 school-based Guanzi, 27 books by Dr. Bu Gui, 4 1 book by Minister Shen Fu, 01book by captain, and 96 books by suggestion. Among the 564 Chinese and foreign books, 484 are proofread and copied, and 86 are fixed. " Yanzilu: "There are eleven Chinese books Yanzi in our school. I want to check 5 Kangtai history books, 1 book, 13 books and 30 Chinese and foreign books, with 838 chapters in total. There are eight articles and 215 chapters except 22 articles and 638 chapters. " Deng Zi: "There are four kinds of books by China and Deng Xiaoping, one kind of ministerial narrative book and five kinds of books by China and foreign countries. It is an article to correct duplication. " Sun Qing's book records: "There are 322 books written by Sun Qing in our school. 290 complex articles are divided by phase correction method, and 32 articles are fixed. " At that time, every book in every school referred to different versions, and there were more than ten books.
Liu Xiang and his son sorted out ancient books, which can be roughly divided into the following aspects.
(1) Collating seal.
Liu Xiang said in the book "The Warring States Policy": "This word is often mistakenly divided into half words, with Zhao as Xiao and Qi as Li. There are many such words." "Records of Yan Zi" said: "Yao is the fragrance in China's book and also a preparation. First, it is a cow, and the chapter is long. There are many such things. " Liezi Shu Lu said: "Or if the word is wrong, you should make progress, be virtuous, and so on." Also known as: "There are many books in China, but few foreign books. Chapters are scattered in various articles. " Hanshu said: "In the last years of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, King Lu * * * destroyed Confucius' Mansion and wanted to expand the palace. He got dozens of books such as The Book of Rites, The Analects of Confucius and The Book of Filial Piety, all of which were ancient words ... Liu Xiang edited Ouyang, Dayu and Xiahou in ancient China, and simplified 25 words in Wine, which reduced 22 words. He also said, "Liu Xiang revised the classic of the Book of Changes in ancient China, the classic of Mencius' harmony, or removed the' condemnation' and' repentance for death', but the classic of Fei is the same as that of ancient China people." He also said, "(The Analects of Confucius) are all the same, but the ancient prose on the Confucius Wall is different. "My parents are born, and it's no big deal to continue." "It's all my own business." Many scholars say that they are uneasy, and ancient Chinese characters are different. "
(2) it is editing and editing.
"The Book of Warring States Policy" said: "The book of Warring States Policy and the Chinese book in the school are mostly one volume, which is chaotic and harmonious. Eight countries, not many articles. I am a country, and I will walk separately with time, not to complement each other. " Yanzi Shu Lu said: "There are no thirty-six chapters in foreign books, and there are no seventy-one chapters in China's books. This is decided by both Chinese and foreign sides." Han Shu Yi Wen Zhi said: "Kong Anguo, after Confucius, also learned his books, in order to test (Shangshu) 29 articles, 16 more." He added: "Liu Xiang collated books and got 23 pieces of Yue Ji, which is different from others." He also said, "Rites started from Lu and Confucius, and there are almost seventeen, 39 more."
(3) It is to distinguish between falsehood and suspicion.
Yan Zi Shu Lu said: "There is a repetition and the wording is quite different. Dare not lose, re-list as one; There are also some people who are quite inconsistent with the classics. It seems that they are not the words of Yan Zi, and they are suspicious of learning after school. They dare not miss it and think it is one. " Liezi Shu Lu said: "The two articles by Mu Wang and Tang Wen are full of twists and turns, which are not the words of a gentleman. As for the article "Force Life", the article "Andy" is only expensive and easy to escape, and its second meaning is not obedient, unlike a letter from home. " The History of Han Art Literature contains: "There are 237 squires." Ban Gu Note: It's Zhou's teacher and father. He has an idea. In other words, the number of people who think Taigong is a master has increased recently. (The notes on the class should also be based on Liu Xiang's Bielu, Liu Xin's Seven Laws and Nine Articles.) Note: "A disciple of Laozi, who is in cahoots with Confucius, is called Zhou Pingwang, who seems to be a supporter." "Article 22 of Li Mu." Note: "Everything done during the Six Kingdoms period was entrusted to the pasture. Li Mu, the Yellow Emperor. " "Twenty-six Pan Yu by Confucius." Note: "The history of the Yellow Emperor, or Xia Kong Jia, seems to be nothing." "Thirty-seven articles of Dayu." Note: "It is said that what I did is like the language of later generations." "Twenty pieces of Shennong." Note: "During the Six Kingdoms period, philosophers were lazy in farming when they were ill, and cultivated farming to entrust Shennong." "Twenty-seven articles on Yi Yin." Note: "He has a shallow language and seems to be dependent." "Nineteen articles of Xunzi Shuo." Note: "Added by later generations." "Six articles by Shi Kuang." Note: "See Spring and Autumn Annals. His words are very shallow, and this is the same as this. It seems to be because of it. " "Eleven" Wu "." Note: "Wen Yao is not an old saying." "Three articles of Tianyi." Note: "Heaven refers to soup, and when it is not cloudy, it depends on it." "Forty stories of the Yellow Emperor." Note: "Fertility depends on it."
As you can imagine, these carefully arranged ancient books will not be worthless. On the other hand, the unearthed documents themselves are complicated and not necessarily perfect. Therefore, the handed down documents and unearthed documents should complement each other in essence, and the advantages and disadvantages cannot be absolutely distinguished.
Second, the unearthed documents need to be analyzed in detail.
Unearthed documents are a whole concept. Specific to a certain kind of unearthed data, it is necessary to carry out case analysis and not generalize. Among the unearthed documents, there are some first-hand materials, such as inscriptions on Oracle Bone Inscriptions and inscriptions on bronze inscriptions, whose credibility is beyond doubt. But some of them have been copied. This kind of material should be analyzed in detail. Here is an example to illustrate.
1973, a large number of silk books were unearthed from the No.3 Han Tomb in Mawangdui, Changsha. One of them was later named "Letters from the Warring States", with 27 chapters in silk, of which 11 chapters were found in Historical Records of the Warring States Policy. The most striking feature of silk book is that the information about Su Qin is concentrated, which is quite different from the records in Historical Records and Warring States Policy. Some scholars questioned the credibility of Historical Records and national policies according to the relevant materials of silk books.
Mr. Tang Lan said: "(Sima Qian) didn't see the first-hand historical data about Su Qin, so he pushed Su Qin's deeds from the beginning of the third century BC to the end of the first four centuries;" Change the order of Yi Cheung and Su Qin to Su Qin and Yi Cheung; The five countries attacked Qin and became a six-nation alliance, which was pushed back for forty-five years (228 BC-333 BC). The timing is very bad, and there are both mistakes and fabrications in his deeds. His Biography of Su Qin is equal to the legendary novel of later generations. " [2]
Mr. Yang Kuan said: "This edition of" The Warring States Policy "contains both original materials of Su Qin and things forged and fabricated by later generations. It can be said that it is both true and false. And "Biography of Historical Records and Su Qin" is almost a long story made up by later generations. Because Sima Qian mistakenly believed that these stories were true and that Su Qin was a figure who was at the same time opposed to Yi Cheung, he abandoned the original materials about Su Qin, or changed the word "Su Qin" in these materials to "Su Dai" or "Su Li". Therefore, there were many important historical events related to Su Qin's activities in the middle of the Warring States Period, and the truth was vague. " [3]
Mr. Ma Yong said: "There are many mistakes in Su Qin's records in Historical Records, and the sources of its materials are mostly forged, which can be trusted by all. A particularly serious mistake was that Su Qin died at the time of the death of the Prince of Yan (320-3 BC14 BC), earlier than the establishment of the King of Zhao (3 BC11). There are more records about Su Qin in this edition of Warring States Policy than in historical books, but they are also mixed, and Su Qin and Su Dai are often confused. " [4]
Many scholars agree with this question. In addition to the complexity of the problem itself, it may also be an important reason for trusting diaosi books too much.
In fact, both Sima Qian and Liu Xiang have seen similar materials in silk. "Biography of Su Qin" praised: "There are differences in Su Qin in the world, and those with different current events are all attached to Su Qin." It can be seen that Sima Qian read a lot of "Su Qin materials" of later generations under the guise of the Association. There are also some chapters in the Warring States Policy signed by Su Qin that are late. Such as: Qi Ce II Qin attacked Zhao Changping, Qi Ce III died and will enter Qin, Qi Ce IV Su Qin returned from Yan to Qi, Su Qin called, I Su Qin called Li Dui, Zhao took over the world, and Han Ce III Han attacked Song and Yan Ce.
Su Qin came first, Zhang Yi and Lian Heng came last, Su Qin unified the six countries, and then Zhang Yi scattered Lian Heng. This is the most basic fact in the Warring States Period. History books and national policies have a very clear record of this. Biography of Su Qin records that Su Qin died (320 BC-3 BC14 years), Biography of Zhang Yi and Chronology of Six Kingdoms record that Zhang Yi died in Wang (specific time is 309 BC). Liu Xiang said in the book "The Warring States Policy": "At this time, the Qin State is the strongest and the princes are weak. When Su Qin got married, the six countries were one, and Qin Wei was later Qin. Qin people dare not spy on the soldiers in Guanzhong ... After Su Qin's death, Zhang Yi, Lian Heng and the princes listened to it and returned to Qin in the west. "
Sima Qian's Chronicle of Six Kingdoms is mainly Ji Qin, which involves the deeds of Su Qin and Zhang Yi, and there are as many as eight clear chronicles. Tai Shigong "? Historical Records "A Brief Introduction to the Golden Chamber of the Stone Chamber" has historical records of governors as a reference. In the early Han Dynasty, there were many works on contingency during the Warring States period, and Sima Qian also read them. Liu Xiang personally collated hundred schools of thought's book. The History of Literature and Art of Han Dynasty contains "17 articles of twelve schools", including "31 articles of perilla". Note: "The famous Qin Dynasty has a biography." "Ten Pieces of Zhang Zi", note: "Famous instruments have been passed down." Based on such a wealth of information, it is not difficult to examine the sequence of Su Qin and Zhang Yi: it is hard to imagine that the works of these strategists will forget their ancestors, and even the most basic facts about the activities of Su and Zhang Yi are not clear.
During the Warring States period, horizontal lobbying was very popular. When people are engaged in vertical and horizontal affairs, they often pick up the old things, sort them out and polish them, or express their opinions and consider their gains and losses as lobbying materials. This kind of data is prone to differences after being copied. In addition, silk books are isolated and have no signature, which increases the possibility of corruption or false support. Although Su Qin, Su Dai and Su Li have different activities, their activities are strikingly similar in scope and purpose. Su Qin came first in Yan, then in Qi, and Su Dai and Li Su ran first in Qi, then in Yan. The main activity is in Yanqi. Su Qin's activities have two purposes: one is to advocate the six countries to unite against Qin, and the other is to deal with the relationship between Yan and Qi, which obviously tends to seek for Yan. On these two points, Su Dai and Su Li are exactly the same as Su Qin. This makes the deeds of the three brothers particularly confusing.