The so-called collection, as its name implies, is a special collection of literature that collects the works of family members in past dynasties. In ancient China, the patriarchal clan system was the link, and the family became a basic and core unit. Family literature also played an important role in the development of classical literature, connecting individual literati with societies and schools. There are only 37 kinds of collections recorded in the General Catalogue of Sikuquanshu, but according to the latest statistics of the Collection of Qing Dynasty, there were 16 kinds of collections in the Tang and Five Dynasties and before, 46 kinds in the Song and Yuan Dynasties, 193 kinds in the Ming Dynasty, and as many as 1,244 kinds in the Qing Dynasty (see Xu Yanping's Introduction to Collection of Qing Dynasty), which shows the prosperity of family literature in the Qing Dynasty.
The works included in the collection may cover dozens of generations of families, or only two or three generations. The editors of the collection are mostly the descendants of the family or those who are closely related to them. They pick and record the works of the family in the past dynasties, providing a stage for the members of the family, whether men, women or children, as long as they are members of the family who conform to the etiquette. The poems and songs of the family are sung and blended at home. If a family has rich literary works and has the ability to compile and publish them, it mostly has a literary tradition of "passing down poems and books", and many well-known literary families in the Qing Dynasty, such as Ye's family in Jiangsu and Shen Shi, and Panyu Shang's family, who are famous for their families, have their own collections. Today, these collections, like private gardens and libraries, have become important cultural symbols of literary families and have far-reaching literary and cultural significance. The importance of collection can be seen from this, and its generation, form, characteristics and value deserve people's attention.
1
Although the Qing Dynasty Collection contains an artistic work, its compilation is not always based on a template like assembly line production, but has various forms.
Families with enduring family names will collect their ancestors' crafts and calligraphy scrolls to show their glory, and they can also "use letters to future generations" to demonstrate and educate, which is equivalent to teaching exam-taking skills, such as Gaomi Shan's "Gaomi Shan's Career", Panyu Shang's "Shang Yanying's Shang Yanliu Tonghuai Brothers Will Try Ink Scrolls" and Qiantang Wu's "Wu's Zhu Juan Hui Cun". Some family collections are not limited to the selection of poems, but the literature and academic achievements of a family are compiled into series, which are rich in content and can better reflect family accumulation, such as Jiangdu Wang's Series of Jiangdu Wang and Linhai Hongshi's Series of Chuanjingtang. Others concentrate on a specific style at home, and this concentrated creation and collection highlights the family's concept of poetry creation, such as Yang Hu Dong Shi's "Pian Hua Guan Pian Ti Wen" and so on; As for those talented women in the family, they compiled special collections of women, which also formed a temporary atmosphere in the Qing Dynasty, such as Taizhou Zhongshi's Collection of Taizhou Zhongshi's Boudoir, Yang Hu Zhang's Collection of Yang Hu Zhang's Four Women, and so on. These different collection forms make the possibility of family literature inheritance diverse.
Different from compilation forms, naming collections is not always a routine. According to the literature cited above, the name of a collection generally includes surname, native place, study name, compilation characteristics and many other elements. Among them, the surname is a key to the naming of the collection. Naming the collection in the form of "surname+collection" or "surname+style" can also directly reflect the connotation of the collection, such as Collection of Two Kings, Hao's suicide note and Zhuang's Poems. In addition, the native place can reflect the generational origin of a family and distinguish it from other families with the same surname, so it is often prefixed to the surname, such as The Collection of Chen Family in Jinling and The Collection of Wu Family in Piling. The name of the study and the name of the garden put several generations of people in a specific space within the family, giving it special significance. People from different time and space meet here, which is more elegant and family-friendly. As for the use of keywords such as "Legacy", "Calyx" and "Shixin" in naming, it directly reflects the pride and hope for the spread of family literature ... The naming of a collection is the same as the naming of a person. First, it must have a beautiful meaning, and second, it must show its uniqueness. The features of the collection and the characteristics of family literature are reflected in these names.
although the documents and materials of the collection are collected from the members of the family in the past dynasties, it is natural that one or several people should decide the style if they are to be compiled into an collection. Therefore, although the collection is the crystallization of a family's literary creation, it is also influenced by personal will. Organizers will have their own considerations when selecting materials, making rules and naming. With different purposes, the collection presented by them will not be a thousand people. It can be said that it is under the dual influence of the whole family and the individual organizer that the collection in Qing Dynasty showed such diversity.
II
Apart from its rich forms, the collections in Qing Dynasty have distinctive regional features, which are of great research value to both family literature and regional literature, mainly in three aspects.
one is the imbalance in the geographical distribution of collections in the Qing dynasty. According to statistics, 1,244 species collected in A Collection of Qing Dynasty are collected in 19 provinces, including Zhili, Shandong and Jiangsu, among which Jiangsu has the largest collection, with 46 species, accounting for about 33%. Zhejiang is next, with 316 species, accounting for about 25%. Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces only account for 1% of the provinces, but the number of collections in their regions has exceeded half of the whole country, which shows the uneven distribution.
In the same area, it is easy for families to follow suit or compete, which may also reflect that the compilation of family collections is closely related to the uneven development of literature in the Qing Dynasty. It can be clearly seen that the number of family collections is snowballing in the south of the Yangtze River, where the style of writing is prevalent.
the second is the concept of rural state in the preface and postscript of the collection in Qing dynasty. How can we reflect the family characteristics, the formation and evolution of family studies in family collections? On the one hand, it is necessary to compile, classify and select items, on the other hand, it is necessary to rely on the preface and postscript before and after the collection. In addition to the family members' explanation of the intention of sorting out the collection, the compilation characteristics of the collection and the description of the family's living conditions in the preface and postscript, the organizers of the collection will often actively invite the leaders of one township and the celebrities from all directions to make a postscript for their own collection, and the inscribers will sometimes extend the literary achievements of one clan to the literary tradition of one township in the preface and postscript.
For example, there is a postscript by Gu Mingfeng of Wuxi in Bi's The Legacy of Bi in Tongxiang:
A county in Jiaxing is located in the old Ming District in the west of Zhejiang. Since the beginning of the People's Republic of China, such great men as Lu Qingxian, Zhang Yangyuan and Zhu Zhuan have all been born here. Famous officials learn a lot, shining in the southeast, relying on mountains and rivers, beautiful scenery and outstanding people?
In Gu's narrative, Bi's family is famous in the world because of the ethos of villages and counties. In Jiaxing, vertically, there are sages and great men, far ahead of them; Horizontally, famous officials learn, sing and feast. This is not a case, and there are similarities such as Tongcheng Ma Shi, "Is it the only beauty of home?" It is sufficient to levy the prosperity of a city's literature "(Zhu Weibi's preface, see Tongcheng Ma Shi Chao); The Zhou family in Piling, "The mountains and rivers in Piling are clear and beautiful, facing each other across the ancient and rich neck, with deep clouds in the alley, Gu Luyao in the compendium, and a few beautiful things in the household, and the city is full of lead." Yilin Zhu Xi, outstanding successor; Fenyuan Qinglan, Yan is a family school "(for the preface to Tian Buchan, see" The Collection of Zhou Family in Piling "); Hui Ji Tao, "The more solid I am, the more elegant I am" (preface to Yao Dayuan, see Family Happiness) and so on. Tracing back to the regional literary tradition and then extending it to the spread of literature within the family can be said to be a common narrative strategy in the preface and postscript of the collection. Through this narrative, the "small tradition" of family literature and the "great tradition" of regional literature development show an intersection trend.
the third is the influence of local customs or regional schools on the collection texts. Gathering is not a "circle of friends visible to only one family". Families have frequent interactions with local customs and schools, among which Tongcheng and Wuyang < P > (Wujin and Yanghu) are the representatives. In the Qing Dynasty, there were 18 kinds of collections and periodicals in Tongcheng County and 25 kinds in Wuyang County. From the home collections of Tongcheng and Wuyang, it can be seen that the families of the same regional school < P > (such as Tongcheng School, Yanghu School of Literature, Changzhou School of Ci, etc.) imitate each other, sing in harmony, inscribe and postscript, and form a social relationship network that transcends the pedigree of in-laws, blending geography, blood and learning, thus affecting the creation and inheritance of family literature.
As a result, there is an important connection between local poetry collections and collections. Collections may affect the compilation of local collections, and participate in the construction of regional literature with them. Tong Jiu Ji, which was published and engraved in Xianfeng years, can best reflect this point. The collection of Tong Jiu is a collection of poems from a township in Tongcheng. According to the surname, poems by authors with 84 surnames in Tongcheng are recorded within one place and across families, which are in harmony with 18 collections in this place, such as Collection of Poems of Fang Family in Tongcheng, Copy of Poems of Ma Shi in Tongcheng and Copy of Poems of Yao Family in Tongcheng. They complement each other from different perspectives.
the regional characteristics of the collection are not only reflected in the interaction with local collections. In some regional schools, the comments and excerpts will be kept in home collections. For example, in Zhang Huiyan's Ming Kewen, which is collected in Wujin Zhang's Collection, there are many comments and punctuations in Zhu Bi. The works of the same faction may also be included in the home collection. For example, another collection of the Zhang family, Wanlin Bookstore Series, contains the book Selected Poems, which includes works by Ji Jing, Li Zhaoluo, Ding Lvheng, Huang Jingren and others. The act of incorporating the works of these external members of the family into the collection, whether intentionally or unintentionally, has expanded the actual scope of the collection. The communication behavior in these literary schools also affects the learning and imitation within the family.
"The construction of regional literature tradition is mainly manifested in the compilation of local literature collections and the narration of local poetry in Qing Dynasty" (see Jiang Yin's Poetics and the Construction of Regional Literature Tradition in Qing Dynasty). From the value of literature research in Qing Dynasty, it seems that we can see another possibility of writing regional literature tradition: the blending and evolution of family studies and regional schools and even regional literature development.
3
According to the data alone, Jiji achieved "great development and prosperity" in the Qing Dynasty, but it was also inevitable, especially the war, which caused serious losses to it. "The change of Gengshen, the Guangdong bandits went east, and there was almost no clean soil in the north and south of the river" (Zhou Jingxu, see "Thin Red Singing Grass"). In this case, the most likely thing is that all the life writings are lost. Therefore, in addition to the value of literary research, the collection also has important historical value, which can not only reflect the "war and peace" in a period of time, but also reveal how family members can promote the inheritance of literature under this background.
The family life picture depicted in the family collection often makes people feel very warm and harmonious. Those pictures, such as "Blue Lantern Accompanied by Children", recall childhood education, simple words, but deep feelings, which reflect the importance attached by the scholarly family to educating their children: "The first gentleman has fifteen ambitions to learn, and the day class is insufficient, followed by night, and Yi Deng is ying ying, but his aunt is holding a needle to accompany him" (for the preface of Zhong Zhenkui, see "Taizhou Zhongshi's Boudoir Collection"); Or, for example, "singing in the boudoir", the literary life and boudoir fun of the boudoir and her husband in the Qing Dynasty are vividly on the paper: "Singing in the boudoir, overlapping teachers and friends, does not reduce Liang Meng" (for Yao Zhuo's preface, see "Qing Xiang Ge Shi Chao");
Or "children and nephews read at night", "brothers sing songs" and "scrolls entertain themselves", which can not only satisfy people's curiosity, but also show the literary exchange activities inside and outside the family in detail.
these memories related to family groups and family life are like yellowed old photos, which usually lie quietly in the corner of the family gathering and are not cared about. However, when people occasionally think of it, their fingertips slide over the words, and their thoughts will enter the world of family literature together, and they will feel a warmth in their hearts, which is the yearning for a warm family and the touch of family literature in the same strain. Collection can vividly show the world the literary interaction and inheritance within the scholarly family from generation to generation. If these stories are told by historical materials such as official history, I am afraid they will be less interesting.
However, at the turning point of history, many families are facing the impending crisis, and the Zhang family in Yanghu is one of them. There are five collections of the Zhang family in Yanghu. Except for the foreign affairs mentioned above, The Collection of Four Women of the Zhang Family in Yanghu and Poetry Class in Dihuaguan both contain the creations of talented women in Zhangmen, but they retain the social and family scenes in two different periods. When the former was compiled, the situation was still stable, and the Zhang family did not encounter many obstacles; When the latter was compiled, Zhang Huiyan and Zhang Qi passed away one after another. Family members not only had to consider livelihood issues, but also migrated several times, staying in Guantao, Shandong and Wuchang, Hubei. Even in the midst of difficulties, the Zhang family still inherited the original tradition of literary creation: "So in one court, it not only damaged the labor of rice salt wells and mortar, but also failed to have the good quality of calligraphy and embroidery. Therefore, every day, I took reading as my business, and I was in harmony with righteousness. Tao Ze's temperament, talking about the past and the present, and seeking food, all of which had a fixed schedule." (Zhang Yao, Sun Xu, see "Poetry Class in Dihua Pavilion") In a few words, the Zhang family's elegant things such as reading and singing on weekdays jumped on paper. Unfortunately, at that time, the Taiping Army had attacked Hunan, and Wuchang was captured by the Taiping Army soon. Reading and writing in the Dihua Pavilion became a rare calm before the storm. It can be said that "Yang Hu Zhang's Four Girls Collection" and "Di Hua Guan Poetry Class" witnessed the gradual decline of the Qing empire.
Xu Yanping made chronological statistics on the 1,6 kinds of collections in the Qing Dynasty. As far as engraving is concerned, there were 33 kinds in Shun Kang Yong (92), 95 kinds in Ganjia (85), 16 kinds in Daoguang to Tongzhi Three Dynasties (54) and Guangxu Dynasty (54). The Taiping Rebellion at the same time of Xiantong caused great damage to the cultural undertakings at that time. People can observe the ups and downs of the scholarly family from the words preserved in the family collection, such as Poetry Class of Dihua Pavilion, and also understand the damage of the family collection and the situation of family members who were displaced and settled down in troubled times through the preface and postscript of the collection in this period.
however, as far as the available collections are concerned, the number from Daoguang to Guangxu is abundant, especially in Guangxu dynasty. This does not mean that the war promoted the prosperity of the collections, but it reflects from the side that people have a deep sense of anxiety about the fracture of family literature after the war, "mourning for the ashes of the suicide note, fearing the fall of their predecessors" (preface to Yu Yue, see Qiu's Collection) and "fearing the future" No one expected it, but the "preparing for a rainy day" brought about by the war actually promoted the emergence of the collection.
Therefore, the value of historical materials collected in the Qing Dynasty is not only at the document level, but also the literary exchange within the family, singing and making friends with the outside world, the living conditions of women, the education of young children and the peace and turmoil of society, and so on, which have penetrated into the field of social and cultural research and provided us with a broader cultural perspective for understanding and studying the social life in the Qing Dynasty.
Compared with the previous generation, the number of collections in Qing Dynasty increased rapidly, which was due to many reasons, such as the ethos of the times, striving to flaunt family achievements and so on. It may also be related to the prevalence of genealogy compilation at that time. Genealogy and collection can be regarded as "hall" and "room" in the field of family literature research: they can also reflect the inheritance of a family literature.