Illustrate the important value of some historical materials with examples.

Notes novels in Tang Dynasty. It was written by the late Tang and Five Dynasties kings (870 ~ 940).

The author's life

Wang (870 ~ 940) is a son-in-law. Nanchang (now Jiangxi) people. In 900 AD, Tang Zhaozong was admitted to imperial academy, and was inspected by Ren Rong officials. However, he was unable to return to the north after being disturbed, so he became an official in the Southern Han Dynasty. Thirteen years (940), assistant minister of Ren Zhongshu, Ningyuan (Yu Jiaxi's "Analysis on the Summary of Siku").

Wang, a native of Nanchang in the Five Dynasties, was born easily. Little is known about his life. According to the Spring and Autumn Period of the Ten Kingdoms and the History of the Five Dynasties, he was born in the year of Geng Yin of Tang Xiantong (870), and the year of his death is unknown. According to the summary of Sikuquanshu, after the first year of Xiande in Zhou Shizong (954). In his early years, he lived in seclusion with Cao Song. Tang Guanghua was a scholar for three years (900). Later, he went south to Hunan and Ren Rong Pass (now south of Nanning, Guangxi) for inspection. At this time, the peasant uprising was surging, and he took refuge in Guangzhou, making a guest appearance in the festival history of Liu Yin. In 9 17 AD, Liu Yin died, and his brother Liu Li attempted to claim the title of emperor and establish the Southern Han Dynasty. He was worried that Wang wouldn't listen, so he sent him to Jingnan. When he came back from his mission, Liu Li had ascended the throne and became the emperor of the Southern Han Dynasty. In order to appease the king, Liu Li sent ministers to meet him and told him that he had proclaimed himself emperor and established the country. Wang did not object, but he was very dissatisfied with this deliberate sending him away, so he sarcastically said, "There should be a system for the founding of the country. When I entered the south gate, Shimizu Shigang (the plaque of our time in the Tang Dynasty) was still there. Why doesn't it laugh around? " Liu Li said with a wry smile, "I was prepared, but I didn't think about it, so I just laughed it off." Since then, Wang Yizhi worked in Nanhan, served as assistant minister in Zhongshu and was in charge of the same chapter. He is good at writing, and once wrote an article "The Seven Wonders of Nangong", which was called "a moment of peerless beauty". He is "gentle and vigorous in his old age", and Tang Yiyan is his work in his later years.

Content introduction

This book has 15 volumes, and each volume is divided into several titles. Under each heading, there is either a comprehensive discussion or some relevant facts are recorded. Generally speaking, the first three volumes are a summary of anecdotes about the imperial examination system, and the rest 12 volumes are classified descriptions of the words and deeds of imperial examination scholars. The narrative is meticulous and vivid, but it is rarely magical and weird; Moreover, the order is relatively systematic, and most of them are not prepared by election records.

Li Ciming pointed out: "This book is the only one in the Tang Dynasty, so it is essential to test the subject name." ("Reading the Secretary in Yue Maotang"). The book also describes many anecdotes of poets and literati in the Tang dynasty, which can give a glimpse of the literati at that time. It also preserves many lost chapters and sentences in the anthology of Tang dynasty, which can be used as an important basis for the anthology of Tang poetry. "Summary of the General Contents of Sikuquanshu" said: "It is a detailed book of the tribute system in the Tang Dynasty, which is beyond the records of many historical books. All its chores are enough to achieve the fashion of the famous domain and to test the wisdom of scholars. Both the law and the precepts can be used as eternal lessons. "

This book * * * has 15 volumes and 103 doors, which are classified according to the content.

Firstly, it records the imperial examination system in the Tang Dynasty, especially the Jinshi branch. "Tang Yan" contains: "Jinshi started in the great cause of the Sui Dynasty and flourished at the time of Zhenguan and Yonghui; Although the gentry are very important people, they are not scholars, but they are not beautiful in the end ... Their focus is called' white clothes or officials', also called' first-class white shirts', and their difficulty is called' people who stand at the age of 30, people who stand at the age of 50' ... Some of them are old and dead in the field of literature, and they have nothing to hate. Therefore, there is a poem that says,' Emperor Taizong really has a long-term strategy and earned a hero's white head!' ""Before Yonghui, Jun and Xiu were also tied with Jinshi; After Xianheng, anyone who has a point in literature will compete with Jinshi. "The imperial examination opened up a road for small and medium-sized landlords to be officials. This is also reflected in Tang Yan. The book lists examples of "loneliness" and climbing to the top. Wang Bo's description of "fasting with monks" as "idleness of monks" is a widely spread example. In the Tang Dynasty, imperial examinations, especially Jinshi examinations, were used to stimulate and snare a group of middle and lower-class intellectuals, reconcile class contradictions and consolidate feudal rule. Emperor Taizong was quite proud of this. Tang Yanyan recorded: "On the first day of the release of Zhenguan, I went to a private door and saw the scholars coming out of the list. I was happy to say that the courtiers said,' Heroes from all over the world have entered my net'." It is also recorded in the book that the examination papers of the imperial examinations in the Tang Dynasty have no names, and besides the examination papers, the admission of Jinshi depends on the candidates' usual works and reputation. Therefore, candidates must present their usual masterpieces to "first come, first served" people, especially those who pass the list (who have the right to participate in the decision of the admission list) and strive for their "boasting". This was called "scroll" at that time. "Scroll" to "public or public gate, scroll filling lane, the rate is candle fee." Some examiners have to specify the number of "lines", and some don't even look at the works sent. It is true that there are intimate friends who are willing to lag behind, and there are people who spare no effort to promote new forces. Tang Yan also vividly introduced the cases of Han Yu, Huang Fu's rewarding Niu Sengru and Wu Wuling's recommending Du Mu. )U G； g(u . c . |！ A8 Q: Me?

Although the imperial examination is better than the recommendation and the "nine-grade official law" before Sui and Tang Dynasties, it also has various disadvantages. Because it is closely related to the fate of literati, the competition is particularly fierce. According to "Tang Yanyan", asking for help, communicating with each other, and negotiating rankings out of court are all kinds of things. It is not uncommon to recognize and reward, pay rewards and fall behind. Pei Si took a letter from eunuch Chou Shiliang in front of him, forcing the examiner Gao Kai to hand it over to the "top scholar"; Because Guo Xun has a "friendship" with Prime Minister Yu Cong, and the Jinshi exam has not yet been announced, when Guan Bai went to Jionji to burn incense, he distributed a "thousand-color sticker" signed "Newly Scholar Guo Xun". All of the above, as Wang said: "Today's successful people do not rely on their relatives, but on their potential; Bribery without accepting bribes "; People who are "capable" can only "humble themselves" because they have no media and no party. Many facts revealed in Don Yi Yan are of great significance for us to understand the drawbacks of the imperial examination in the Tang Dynasty and the darkness of feudal society. In addition, Tang Yan also recorded the system, etiquette and activities of the Jinshi examination, the relationship between the imperial examination and the rise and fall of the two prisons, and the interesting things in the "Tian Zhai". Because of this, later works often cite materials when talking about the imperial examination system in the Tang Dynasty.

Secondly, Tang Yan Yan recorded the living habits of literati at that time, and gathered some anecdotes of poets and writers. According to the author's rough statistics, there are nearly 400 names in the book, and there are also 100 people with poems or deeds, such as Du Fu, Han Yu and Bai Juyi. From this, we can get a glimpse of the life style and communication of some poets and scribes in the Tang Dynasty, as well as the evaluation of them and their poems at that time. There were many poets in the Tang Dynasty, but not many official histories. Some materials in Tang Yan Ji can make up for the lack of official history in some ways. Jia Dao was an important poet in the mid-Tang Dynasty, but there are few materials available for textual research. Most legends about him are scattered in private works. His stories in Tang Yan, such as Liu Qichu in Jing Zhao, and Insulting Wu Zong, are very valuable. Dai Shulun's record that "he was in Zhenyuan, but he was a Taoist priest" provided a new clue for studying Dai Shulun's life. As for the anecdotes contained in the book, such as Bai Juyi praising Gu Kuang with poems, Liu Gongquan offering poems to save the palace wives, Meng Haoran meeting Ming Di's "no official but light weight" and Xue Lingzhi's "mourning with poems" being expelled from the palace by Ming Di, etc., they are all very precious literary historical materials. Pei Du, who couldn't hide his money, Guo, who was willing to marry a one-eyed woman, donated money to help people in distress, and Li Xiang, who worshipped a small official as a teacher, were not tempted by the title of "No.1 scholar", and there was no medium-sized story of "losing a close friend lightly", all of which were well-known stories throughout the dynasties and are still praised by people today.

Thirdly, the words of the Tang Dynasty preserved the broken sentences of many poets in the Tang Dynasty. For example, Volume 6 of Gong Jian contains Fan Hengshu recommended by Cui Hao, which was later included in All Tang Wen edited by Qing Dynasty. According to Mr. Cen's textual research, only one article, Cui Hao, has been circulated so far. Without Yan, this article would surely be lost. Ji Zhongfu is one of the "ten gifted scholars in Dali", but there is only one poem left, but the literature is gone. Volume XIII of Tang Yan Yan and Slander the Unknown Son contain several sentences of his judgments, which are precious. There are similar examples. Wang paid attention to the lost poems compiled by this collection and other poets and celebrities, and did not abolish the word, which provided convenience for future generations to study. This contribution should not be denied.

Wang Dui's title is "Yan", which contains self-modesty. "Hey" means to pick and choose. In fact, he not only recorded and sorted out rich and colorful materials (several of which were quoted from the Supplement to National History), but also processed, sorted and classified them. Moreover, according to Confucian classics and traditional morality, combined with the contents of various disciplines, and according to the social situation at that time, he wrote more than 20 essays and praises, and summarized and commented on some problems. He bluntly pointed out that Emperor Taizong set up the Jinshi branch in order to "aspire to be the best in the cage" and "choose people to be officials". He is very dissatisfied with the superficial atmosphere of "knowing it is expensive and ashamed to go to school", and thinks that "the wind teaches corruption, and there is nothing worse"; He advocated that "people are impermanent and be good teachers" and praised Li Xiang's spirit of "learning from the North", calling it "before one person"! When discussing the relationship between talent and knowledge, he said: "only talented people are simple, and knowledgeable people are hardworking;" Good quality is given to the basic workers, and the tools are also poor; Cai Wei is willing to be ignorant and do nothing; Therefore, to be a "gentleman", one must be "beautiful and knowledgeable". The "knowledge" mentioned here contains the content of "virtue". Most poets in the Tang Dynasty were addicted to alcohol, so that Du Fu often got drunk and boarded Yanwu's bed. The king said, "The loss of Shen Xiang is forbidden by saints. Although Wang Zuo's talents have been redeemed, what is the name? " He also criticized the trend of "cherishing fame" of the scribes, saying: "Cherishing fame and hiding goodness is a taboo for the benevolent, and Yao Shun is still ill! Some viewpoints put forward by Wang in Lun Heng and Zan still have certain reference significance today.

Tang Yan has a certain textual research nature, and the materials contained in it are reliable. Because Wang was a five-generation man, close to the Tang Dynasty, he also "enjoyed listening to the beauty of science and technology and visited the schools of the previous dynasties". "I didn't remember what I heard about Jinghua, but when I retired, I made it up with simple strategies." Materials were provided to him by Li Wei, wang pu, Lu Yanrang, Yang Zantu and Cui Jiruo. At that time, they were all dignitaries or celebrities. For example, the prime minister, Wu Shi, assistant minister of Hanlin and the author's father-in-law, wang pu was his "follower", and Lu, Yang and Cui were promoted to the first place in the same year. Therefore, most of what is contained in the book is what he saw or heard with his own eyes. Don Yi Yan was highly praised by later writers. In the early Song Dynasty, Taiping Guang Ji was compiled, almost nine times out of ten. Yujiang county County contributed a lot to the compilation of the chronicles of Tang poetry in Song Dynasty, and he also borrowed more money. Tang Yiyan was included in Sikuquanshu in Qing Dynasty, and it was pointed out in the abstract: "It is this book that describes the tributary system in Tang Dynasty in great detail, which is beyond the records of many historical books;" All its chores are enough to achieve the fashion of the famous domain and to test the wisdom of scholars. It can be an eternal lesson, unlike his family's miscellaneous notes, but it is also remembered. " Although Li Ciming, a writer in Qing Dynasty, thought that Wang was "low-minded" and "too trivial", he could not help but affirm the value of Tang Yanyan and pointed out that it was "indispensable for examiners". Today, in our opinion, Don Yi Yan is of great reference value for understanding and studying the society, education, imperial examinations, literature and figures in the Tang Dynasty. Of course, this book also has some shortcomings. If something is absurd, it is to promote superstition and karma. The structural arrangement is a little confusing. It was originally divided into two departments, but some "doors" and "things" do not match, or the same thing is divided into two departments, and it is repeated before and after. However, this does not affect its reference value. 5 }: z7

version

In addition to the abridged version of the Ming Dynasty, Tang Yan Guang was circulated in manuscripts, and it was not until the Qing Dynasty that it was printed into a complete version. Popular books include "Learning Gold as the Original" and "Elegant Language Hall Series". Most of the contents of Renhai are abridged and incomplete. 1957 based on the printed version of Yayutang, the Classical Literature Publishing House printed some words with reference to the original version of Yuan Qiu in Jin Xue, but there are still some typos. Reprinted by Shanghai Editorial Department of Zhonghua Book Company 1960, reprinted by Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House 1978.

(1) "Renhai" is popular, but not enough.

(2) Qing Gan Long Lu Jian once engraved the book Yayutang Series.

(3) A copy of "Learning from Tianjin as the Original".

(4) Classical Literature Publishing House (1957), based on Elegant Language Hall Series, supplemented by Jin Xue and Yuan Qiu, and attached the collating notes of this book in Jiang Guangxu's Supplementary Notes. 1960 Zhonghua Book Company and 1978 Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House were reprinted successively.

(5) The ninth edition of Journal of the Institute of Historical Linguistics contains Cen's postscript on the Tang Dynasty, which first corrected the mistakes in the chronicle itself.

Older.

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The value of historical materials

Historical materials vary widely, and there are many kinds, and their values are different when they are used. In particular, historical materials with words vary greatly in value. According to the distance between the author and the time and place of the historical events he described, we can divide them into several categories:

First, the narrative of the parties and people at the time of the incident has the highest value and is the so-called first-hand material. Oracle bone inscriptions, for example, are the first-hand materials to study the history of the Yin Dynasty, because they are the records of the divination of the Yin King, the records of the people and the parties at that time, which are less different from the facts and therefore have the highest value. At present, we mainly study the history of Shang Dynasty on the basis of Oracle Bone Inscriptions, not the historical records of Yin Benji. Because the latter is not the record of the person or the party at that time, the value of historical materials is much worse.

Apart from Zhou Shu and the Book of Songs, the first-hand material for studying the history of the Western Zhou Dynasty is bronze inscriptions. Bronze inscriptions existed in the Yin Dynasty, but generally the number of words is very small, only two or three crosses at most. In the Zhou Dynasty, especially after the middle of the week, there were 300 to 400 words in inscriptions, so some people said that an inscription was worth a history book. These inscriptions have been recorded since the Song Dynasty, and more and more. A large number of bronzes were unearthed in the late Qing Dynasty, some of which lived overseas. Most of the inscriptions are recorded in the book. After liberation, archaeologists excavated more bronzes by scientific methods, especially in Shaanxi and Henan ancient cultural centers, and made new discoveries. The inscriptions on these unearthed bronzes are extremely precious historical materials. Here are a few examples:

1976, a bronze ware "Li Chan" was unearthed in Lintong. The inscription says that King Wu attacked Zhou, not the year, but the date "Jiazi". Jiazi, the king of Wu is destroyed. It used to be said in history books, but is it reliable or not? It's hard to be sure. Now it has been confirmed by the inscription.

1965, a book He Zun was unearthed in Baoji, which recorded that Wu Wang moved to Luoyang in. This matter is not clearly recorded in the history books. Now with the inscription of He Zun, this matter is clear. King Wu died and told the Duke of Zhou to build Luoyi. Duke Zhou inherited Wu Yu's legacy to build Luoyi and moved the capital to Luoyang in Wang Wu. As for when to move back to Haojing? It is not clear at present, but the excavation of He Zun supplements the historical facts of moving to Romania.

1975, a cup and two cauldrons made by big noble named "Qiu Wei" were found in Fufeng County, and the inscription on it recorded his land transactions with other nobles. These are not found in ancient books, but we only know them from inscriptions.

1977, Zhongshan Wang Hu Ding was found in Lingshou County, Hebei Province, with a long inscription on it. Zhongshan was a small country during the Warring States Period. It was called Xianyu in the Spring and Autumn Period and belonged to Bai Di, a country in the north at that time. The history of Sun Yat-sen's kingdom is recorded in the long article of Hu Ding in King of Zhongshan (some people mispronounced it), in which it is said that when Yan was cut, Sun Yat-sen also took the opportunity to cut Yan and seized some land and property. See Mencius Warring States Policy for the story of Qi cutting Yan, but the story of Wang Zhongshan taking the opportunity to cut Yan is not recorded. The inscription also records the name of the "Xiangbang" (that is, the national phase) of Zhongshan King, and Sima is called in the Warring States Policy. He is the distant ancestor of Sima Qian. Sima Qian once said in the preface to Historical Records: Sima Jia defends the country, and someone is in Zhongshan, which means him. In the past, there were few records about Zhongshan, and the bronzes unearthed in Zhongshan made up for this deficiency. These bronzes are all mixed with gold and silver, which is very exquisite, indicating that Zhongshan at that time had fully accepted China culture. In terms of writing and grammar, it is basically the same as the bronze inscription of the Western Zhou Dynasty, with the Warring States style. However, some words are written in a special way, such as the word "heart" next to the word "Yan". It shows that before Qin Shihuang unified the written language, the differences among countries were not small. Some people used to think that all languages were basically the same before the Qin Dynasty. Judging from these inscriptions, this statement is wrong.

In ancient history, there is little first-hand information except underground excavation; In modern history, the situation is completely different. For example, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has compiled and published a lot of first-hand materials, which are still being explored. Although most of them were written by intellectuals of the landlord class, their expositions were of course from the standpoint of the reactionary class, but they always reflected the activities of the Taiping Army from different sides and to varying degrees. Another example is the Revolution of 1911, because it is relatively recent, so there are many first-hand materials preserved. Some old people who participated in the Revolution of 1911 are still alive, and their memoirs are all personal experiences, which are of course precious first-hand information.

The above examples illustrate the importance of first-hand materials. But it should also be noted that people's records at that time were not all reliable. For example, some personal notes of peasant uprisings in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties were written by people at that time, but many of them were obtained from rumors or copied from court books, which may not be reliable. So don't generalize, but analyze it book by book.

Second, what later generations wrote. The vast majority of ancient books belong to second-hand and third-hand materials, with a few exceptions. For example, Historical Records was written from the Yellow Emperor to the era of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty (The Biography of Emperor Wu, which we see now, was compiled by later generations with the Book of the Closed Meridian, and was originally called the Biography of Today, but it was lost because many places in the original book violated taboos). Historical records can be used as first-hand materials to record historical events since the early Han Dynasty. As for things before the Qin dynasty, it was much worse, because many of them were rumors, and it was hard to say whether they were reliable or not. As we all know, there was a "* * * peace period" between Li Wang and wangyi in the Western Zhou Dynasty, which lasted for 14 years. * * * and the first year, that is, 84 BC1,are the exact dates of China. What do you mean "* * * and"? Sima Qian explained that Duke Zhou and Zhao Gong were both people who managed state affairs. What is the basis of his saying this? We don't know. Ancient pre-Qin books, such as Zuo Zhuan and Lv Chunqiu, didn't say so. They only said that * * * Hebo (* * is the country name, * * is the bo name) replaced Zhou Wang in managing political affairs. This has formed two kinds of statements. On the whole, Sima Qian's speech is reasonable. Because Duke Zhou and Duke Zhao are ministers of Zhou, it is more reasonable for them to be regents. But reasoning is not evidence. What's going on? I don't know. Because such records are all hearsay, it is difficult to determine without more original materials.

Another example is the bamboo annals, which are the historical books of Wei in the Warring States period, so it is extremely reliable to record the historical events in the Warring States period. Although the original book has been lost, it has been widely quoted in later books, such as Notes on Water Classics and Historical Records. Why did Sima Zhen, a litterateur in the Tang Dynasty, quote the bamboo annals when he wrote Historical Records? Because there are many inconsistencies between it and historical records. Now let's compare these two books. It is more correct to record the Warring States Period in Chronicle of Bamboo Books, because it is a history book of Wei and a record of people at that time. There are many mistakes in Historical Records Chronology of Six Kingdoms. Now we can know these mistakes and correct them, which is based on bamboo chronology. However, it is not necessarily reliable to record events before the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, such as those in Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties. Therefore, the same book, different parts, as historical materials, have different values. Generally speaking, the past is more reliable, and the previous generation is not necessarily reliable. The older things are, the less reliable they are.

During the Warring States period, a hundred schools of thought contended, and various scholars described their ideal politics from different angles, citing legends and stories as the basis of their ideals. This situation is almost common among the pre-Qin philosophers, but it is more or less common. The Historical Records of the Five Emperors pointed out: "hundred schools of thought said the Yellow Emperor, but his words were indecent." It can be seen that the images and thoughts of the same person in ancient times, imposed and attached to him by later generations, are different, often exaggerated or distorted, and it is difficult to win the trust of others.

As I said before, most of the things written by future generations can only be read as second-hand or third-hand materials, but there are a few exceptions. What is the exception? Some things, although recorded by later generations, are not too far apart; Second, there is no earlier record; Third, there is nothing suspicious about its content. We might as well regard this kind of thing as first-hand material. For example, The Analects of Confucius was recorded by Confucius' disciples, so besides Confucius' words, there were also disciples' words. Although these words were not written by Confucius or his disciples who personally taught them, we can't be more reliable than it. Therefore, when we talk about Confucius' behavior and thought, we have to regard it as first-hand material. Whether other materials about Confucius are credible should be measured by The Analects, and those that conform to The Analects are probably credible. Inconsistency is not credible. For example, The Book of Rites, compiled by Han Confucianism, tells a lot of Confucius' words, some of which are credible, and most of them are not Confucius' words.

There is a situation in this kind of historical materials that deserves our attention. Many ancient books, especially pre-Qin philosophers, pay attention to discussing problems from the perspective of ideological history. Their tracing back to ancient history often reflects the historical view of thinkers. What should we think of the ancient historical system in which they expressed this idea? For example, does Han Fei's view of history reflect the view of evolution or degradation? From the ancient ignorance and its development, he combed the procedures of human development, such as the Chao family and the Sui family, but he also said: "In ancient times, we fought for morality, in the middle ages, we fought for wisdom, and now we fight for strength." How will this be explained? Another example is the expression of "great harmony" and "well-off" in the Book of Rites. Some people think it is Confucius' ideal country or historical view, but such an important thought should not be found in the Analects of Confucius, which is inconsistent with Confucius' thought. It is also used by some scholars as historical materials to illustrate ancient history. I think whether these practices are correct or not is debatable. The view of history of ancient thinkers and the correctness of the ancient historical system they used to explain these views are two different things. We can learn from their historical ideas that have a positive effect on the history we know, but we can't be limited to their conclusions based on speculation thousands of years ago, especially in the use of materials. From a scientific point of view, we should use well-founded and credible materials to demonstrate the development history of human society, instead of using historical legends or even ancient historical systems fabricated by some people to establish our own views.

Third, the ancient history told by later generations. This kind of thing has little historical value. In the last years of the Three Kingdoms, there was Qiao Zhou's Textual Research on Ancient History, and in the Western Jin Dynasty, there was Huangfu Mi's Century of Emperors. These two books are lost, but they were quoted by people in the Tang Dynasty when commenting on Historical Records. Sima Qian wrote Historical Records, starting with Biography of Five Emperors, which means that before the Five Emperors, it was all a myth and incredible. However, Sima Zhen wrote a biography of Huang San, which is really ignorant. In the Song Dynasty, there were more similar things, such as Shao Yong's Book of Imperial Classics, Su Zhe's Ancient History, Hu Hong's Uncle, Robbie's History of Tao, and many others were useless. In the early Qing Dynasty, Ma Su wrote The History of Deduction, which collected almost all the myths and legends, and whether it is credible or not, more wins less. These books are all about the ancient history of the pre-Qin period, which is far from the author's time. What are their contents based on? Mainly based on things passed down from generation to generation, nothing is really reliable. Therefore, the historical materials of such books are of little value.

There is a similar situation: since the Han Dynasty, many people used to copy books, a little from the east and a little from the west, and pieced them together into books. For example, The History of Han Shi Zhuan explains The Book of Songs. How to explain it? Tell a story first and then quote a poem. This is called telling poetry with facts. This method has been widely used in Xunzi, and Han Ying also used this method, and many places directly copied Xunzi. Some of the Book of Rites written by the Han people also copied Xunzi in large chunks. Liu Xiang's Shuo Yuan and Xin Xu all tell stories, and these stories are copied, and many of them are copied from Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals. Therefore, although Liu Xiang is a famous scholar, what he wrote may not be of much value.

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Wang Chong wrote Lun Heng, which is very famous. He attaches great importance to the "reality" of notes and opposes the "emptiness" of notes. Is everything in Lun Heng reliable? Not exactly. There is an article about Rui in Lun Heng, which says that Confucius called his disciples to give lectures and there was a situation of "three surpluses and three shortages". The Gang of Four seized on this passage when criticizing Confucius, saying that Shao Zhengmao was also giving lectures in Shandong at that time, and all Confucius students were attracted by Shao Zhengmao. This was repeated three times, so it was called "three profits and three losses", and only Yan Hui didn't go. The Gang of Four used this to belittle Confucius, which is actually groundless. Some people say that this passage is a copy of Confucius' family language and is not credible. The family precepts of the Han dynasty have been lost, and even if there were, there would be no such words to belittle Confucius. Because Family Language is highly praised by Confucius. As for this edition of Family Talk, it was forged by Wang Su, a Wei and Jin man. How could Wang Chong copy Wang Chong's book? Besides, this "family expression" does not include this matter. Judging from the facts, it is said that there are 72 Confucius' disciples, and there are so many records in the history books. After the death of Confucius, Zigong stayed at the tomb for three years, which is recorded in the history books. Conversely, if Shao Zhengmao talks about learning, what is he talking about? What are the important propositions? Who is his disciple? There is no record. So this incident, just like two children trying to deny that Confucius is a saint by deciding whether the morning is closer to the afternoon, is a story fabricated by the opposition of Confucianism in order to deny Confucius' theory, which cannot be regarded as a history of faith. The book Lun Heng is famous for its anti-counterfeiting and materialism, but it tells such an absurd story, so we should not be superstitious about the ancients. The experience drawn from this is that works based on ideological and political opinions should be distinguished from historical monographs and other records. Their attitudes to discussing history are quite different. The former treats history with a metaphysical subjective attitude. In order to achieve their goals, they often distort the historical truth to convince others and establish their own theories. The latter respects historical facts and aims at historical truth. So when there is a contradiction between the two books in describing the same historical event, it is clear at a glance where we will go. Moreover, in the works of later generations, tracing ancient history from the perspective of ideological history may have many merits, but from the perspective of historical data value, it is not the same thing.

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