The workload is heavy, so it is no joke for many people in unofficial history to revise a history book. It requires rigorous research and extensive collection of historical materials to determine the content. The longest of the twenty-four histories is Ming History, which took 94 years to complete. From this point of view, it is not too surprising if it took 100 years for the history books of the Qing Dynasty to be revised.
We call the officially recognized history books official history, while others are called unofficial history. There are so many unofficial history in Qing Dynasty that it is difficult to collect them all, and it is even more difficult to study them carefully. As the Qing government was an official of the Qing Dynasty, many materials were written in Manchu at that time. The official language of China is Chinese, and official history must be written in Chinese. It takes a lot of effort to translate Manchu into Chinese clearly and smoothly, which naturally takes a lot of time.
On the one hand, there are records of the Qing Dynasty, that is, records of the Qing Dynasty, which are relatively reliable and recorded by historians. Its content involves the emperor's words and deeds, merits and demerits, as well as the rituals and punishments presented by various departments such as passbook and officials, which is very comprehensive.
On the other hand, there are historical materials compiled by local authorities, and whether they are lost or not, it is difficult to sort out the existing materials. Our official history is a general biography, and we can't write the history of a place alone. It's a headache to sort out so much information. In addition, literati can write something, and a collection of poems in the Qing Dynasty alone can fill a big room.
The literary inquisition in Qing dynasty was serious, and many materials praised the Qing dynasty deliberately, which increased the difficulty of compiling historical books. Moreover, when the government of the Republic of China later compiled history books, there were many old people born in the Qing Dynasty. Naturally, they will deliberately praise the Qing Dynasty and oppose the uprising, so they can't present the real Qing Dynasty to the people. It is said that seeing is believing, but we can't witness these things with our own eyes through time and space, and we can only rely on archaeologists, historians and some folk rumors to judge whether it is true or not, which also increases the workload.
Twenty-four histories, which require high compilation members and unity, are all written in classical Chinese. Using vernacular now seems to reduce the difficulty, but it actually tests the compiler's level. Let's recall the classical Chinese translation problems we have done. Is the original one-line word translated into two or three lines? There are often translations of the original text in the answers to classical Chinese questions, which are originally half a page, and the translation may not be enough for a whole page. This requires the editor's language to be very refined, and to use as few words as possible while expressing the meaning clearly.
This is hard to say. In ancient times, a word "ran" could have more than a dozen meanings, even if it was a monarch, because he couldn't understand what a minister meant by "ran" and ended up with hatred.
At that time, Yuan Shikai was going to compile the history of the Qing Dynasty three days after taking office, but the level of personnel and the level of compiling books were uneven and very messy. Moreover, writers at that time wrote their own works at home. According to the regulations, to set up a national history museum, there must be a general manager under unified command. Working from home is obviously unreasonable. This has caused contradictions and repetitions in content, unlike the official history, which is consistent in writing. At first glance, this history book was written by different people. This historical book, which can only be used as reference materials in the end, is called the Draft of the Qing Dynasty, that is, it cannot be regarded as official history without a draft.
Later, I wanted to find someone to write it, but I gave it up because the country was unstable.
The compilation plan has been started, and we will see the history of the Qing Dynasty in the future. Although it is difficult to compile, it is not hopeless for us to encounter this history book. Because our history must be recorded in official history, so that people can correctly evaluate the dynasties and avoid infighting among themselves.
Mr. Dai Yi wanted to compile a clear history in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, and was approved in the 1950s. However, the matter ended in vain, and Dai Yi has been waiting. He said that he must compile this history of Qing Dynasty. Finally, in 2002, the country officially began to compile the history of the Qing Dynasty, which was originally planned to be completed in ten years, but it was delayed again and again. After all, this history book is not so easy to compile, so we can only wait for it to be published.
The state allocated more than 30 million yuan as the start-up capital for this plan, and attached great importance to this plan as a national cultural project. In 2004, after preparations by all parties, the compilation of Qing history officially began. In 2005, its style and catalogue drafting scheme were promulgated. 10 years later, instead of publishing a History of the Qing Dynasty as originally planned, I just finished the first draft of another History of the Qing Dynasty and began to review it. For the rigor of official history, the second review was started two years later, followed by three reviews, and finally it was basically finalized on 20 18.
Don't think these processes are too cumbersome and unnecessary. The first height can unify the content and prevent mistakes and contradictions. During the second review, many contents were deleted, changed and added. The third review is to prepare for publication.
Although the draft was delayed for a long time, the staff were not lazy at all. The History of the Qing Dynasty is about 35 million words, let alone write it, let alone review it back and forth. It's a big project to read so many words. An advanced mathematics is only about 400,000 words. By comparison, we can see how big the workload is.
This complete Draft of the History of Qing Dynasty is written in the vernacular, with a large number of pictures, which not only describes the life of the princes, but also answers some historical mysteries, which can be described as detailed.
Mr. Dai Yi believes that the published history of the Qing Dynasty will have the following characteristics. First, it is politically reliable. This book is obtained through rigorous investigation and will not slander an innocent person out of thin air; Second, the facts are correct, and it will not be as embellished as some books that are randomly set up to attract readers' attention; Third, the content is rich and involves all parties, and these 35 million words will never be mixed with water; Fourth, it is very innovative. Although there is still a feeling of classical Chinese, this book is written in vernacular Chinese. Unlike the previous 24 history books, The History of Qing Dynasty is suitable for readers and can be read without a high level of education.
At present, the project has cost more than 900 million RMB, more than 2,000 scholars have participated in it, and 92 volumes have been compiled. At the same time, I also wrote some related history books for reference.
We have been waiting for the history of the Qing Dynasty for too long, which really cost our people a lot of effort. I believe it will be loved by many people after it comes out.