History of Pre-Qin Dynasty

Author: Jian Bozan
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1999-05-01
Features: This book covers history from the beginning of creation to the Yin and Zhou dynasties, discussing the ancient Chinese history before the Qin Dynasty. The ancient historical records before the Qin Dynasty have long disappeared with the passage of time. During the Spring and Autumn period, Confucius felt that there was insufficient literature to study the institutions of the Xia and Yin dynasties. In the early Western Han Dynasty, Sima Qian wrote the Records of the Grand Historian and stated, "Before the Yin Dynasty, the lords of the states could not be compiled; since the Zhou Dynasty, it has become possible to record them." Therefore, Sima Qian referred to the "Three Dynasties," the "Five Emperors," and the period before Shennong as "far back," "I do not know," and "unrecordable." For thousands of years, the ancient history before the Qin Dynasty was merely some ambiguous shadows floating in myths and legends. scholars' commentaries on this period of history were also speculative and vague, chasing shadows and wind, correcting mistakes based on errors, and passing on falsehoods, gradually leading to absurdity and a bizarre spectacle. The transition of ancient history before the Qin Dynasty to a scientific stage was only achieved in the last two decades. This was partly due to the development of new sciences such as geology, paleontology, anthropology, archaeology, and folkloristics, and partly due to the inevitable culmination of the development of Chinese historiography itself. The so-called development of Chinese historiography itself refers to the progression from blindly believing in ancient traditions to doubting them, and from passively doubting them to actively excavating them. The former is what is known as textual criticism, while the latter is what is known as epigraphy and archaeology. Chinese textual criticism began to take shape since the Han and Tang dynasties and became more influential during the Northern and Southern Song dynasties. By the Qianlong and Jiaqing reigns of the Qing Dynasty, this field of study flourished greatly. Numerous scholars emerged, such as Zheng Xuan and He Xiulun of the Han Dynasty, Liu Zhiji and Liu Zongyuan of the Tang Dynasty, Ouyang Xiu and Zheng Qiao of the Song Dynasty, Song Lian and Hu Yinglin of the Ming Dynasty, Gu Tinglin, Yao Jiheng, Yan Ruoci, Wan Sitong, Cui Shu, and Kang Youwei of the Qing Dynasty. They all felt that "the classics were sloppy, and the history was chaotic," so they not only criticized the unrefined sayings of the Hundred Schools but also examined the canonical texts. They explored the hidden meanings, exposed the errors, distinguished the good from the bad, and determined the authenticity. "Half of the classics are removed by distinguishing truth from falsehood, and most of the books of past dynasties are removed by distinguishing the good from the bad." (Zhang Zhidong, Notes from a Wagon) Since then, the ancient historical records in Chinese literature have been somewhat corrected. Chinese epigraphy developed almost in parallel with textual criticism. Since the Han and Tang dynasties, ancient Chinese artifacts have occasionally been discovered. The preface to the Shuowen Jiezi states: "States and regions often found ding and yi in mountains and rivers, and their inscriptions were the ancient scripts of previous generations." However, at that time, due to the rarity of ancient artifacts, occasional discoveries were often regarded as auspicious symbols. If someone could decipher the inscriptions, they would be amazed. The study of ancient artifacts as a field of knowledge began in the Northern Song Dynasty. At that time, many ancient tombs were discovered in the highlands, and ancient artifacts were unearthed more and more, no longer being regarded as auspicious symbols but rather as objects of appreciation. Although it was not necessary for scholars to have ancient artifacts in their homes, as Ruan Yuan said, "scholars had artifacts in their homes, and people could recognize their inscriptions," according to the Zou Shi, there were more than thirty books recording gold inscriptions during the Song Dynasty, and those after the Southern Song Dynasty were not included. Thus, the development of epigraphy in the Song Dynasty can be said to have reached its peak. Scholars such as Ouyang Xiu, Lü Daling, Zhao Mingcheng, Huang Bosi, Dong Chao, Wang Qiu, Xue Shanggong, Zhang Lun, and Li Chengzhi either collected ancient artifacts and sought original inscriptions or copied their forms, examined their names and objects, or explained their inscriptions and verified the classics, all of which were great efforts and yielded many achievements. In terms of textual interpretation, although there were some forced and flawed interpretations, the Song people indeed made significant contributions to epigraphy. Epigraphy began to flourish in the Song Dynasty, but its schools were not yet extensive; its brilliant development came later, after the Qianlong and Jiaqing reigns of the Qing Dynasty. During the Qing Dynasty, the number of unearthed artifacts was dozens of times more than in the Song Dynasty, and scholars such as Wang Chang, Qian Daxin, Bi Yuan, Weng Fanggang, Lu Xinran, Sun Xingyan, Ruan Yuan, Li Zonghan, Qu Zhongrong, Wu Rongguang, Wu Shifen, Chen Jiegqi, Wu Dachi, and Duan Fang continued to emerge, with their writings numbering over four hundred. Thus, epigraphy became a grand spectacle. By the late Qing Dynasty, more artifacts were unearthed, such as the oracle bones from Huanyin, pottery from Qi and Yan, bamboo slips from Dunhuang, and seals from Ba and Shu, all discovered in the last few decades. As a result, the scope of epigraphy expanded increasingly. Recently, Wang Guowei began scientific research on epigraphy. Following Wang Guowei, Guo Moruo made further contributions. Thus, artifacts that were once regarded as auspicious symbols were transformed into scientific treasures, and inscriptions that were once overlooked became valuable materials for ancient history. Since the development of epigraphy, Chinese ancient history has been able to trace back to the Zhou Dynasty. The further development of Chinese ancient history has been due to the continuous discoveries of archaeology in recent years. Due to the continuous discoveries of archaeology, ancient artifacts buried underground have been unearthed everywhere. The excavation of these ancient artifacts has provided new and true materials for the study of Chinese ancient history. These new and true materials not only test the authenticity of historical records in literature but also supplement the missing parts of these records. First, the discovery of Yin Ruins led to the excavation of a large number of ancient artifacts and oracle bone inscriptions of the Yin Dynasty. The discovery of oracle bone inscriptions actually preceded the excavation of Yin Ruins, and scholars such as Sun Yirang, Luo Zhenyu, and Wang Guowei had already begun to collect, print, and interpret them. However, the scientific study of oracle bone inscriptions began only after the excavation of Yin Ruins. Because after the excavation of Yin Ruins, the study of oracle bone inscriptions could be mutually verified with unearthed artifacts, leading to more discoveries. Since then, the study of oracle bone inscriptions and Yin bronze artifacts became fashionable. Some analyzed the stratigraphy of Yin Ruins, some printed artifacts from Yin Ruins, some studied the inscriptions of Yin Ruins, and some interpreted the institutions of the Yin Dynasty, allowing Chinese ancient history to trace back to the Yin Dynasty. Second, the discovery of the Neolithic culture in Gansu and Henan led to the excavation of a large number of painted pottery and polished stone tools. As a result, Chinese ancient history was able to trace back to the "Xia Dynasty" in legend and even to the "Yao, Shun, and Yu" and "Shennong and Huangdi" periods. Finally, the discovery of the Paleolithic culture in China led to the continuous excavation of many primitive flint tools, bone and horn artifacts, and their contemporaneous fossilized ancient organisms. At the same time, the first primitive human fossils in China, the skull of "Peking Man," were also discovered. Since the excavation of this Paleolithic culture, a glimmer of light has been shed on the dark side of China's primitive historical era, allowing Chinese ancient history to trace back to the "Fuxi," "Sui Ren," and "You Chao" periods in legend, and even to the starting point of Chinese history. We live today and can witness ancient historical materials that had not seen. The Xia and Yin rituals that Confucius could not verify, we can now verify; the ancient era that Sima Qian said was "unrecordable," we can now record. However, even today, there are still many historians in China who do not accept the achievements of their own culture in the past thousand years; they ignore scientific discoveries and remain mired in myths and legends. As a result, many recent historical works either avoid discussing prehistoric society or still treat mythological collections as true ancient history. I am not denying myths and legends; on the contrary, I believe that myths and legends are not the inventions of mischief-makers but are all based on certain historical foundations. In other words, they are all records of prominent fragments of history. However, over time, due to differences in pronunciation and writing, they inevitably become distorted and false. As Han Feizi said, "Confucius and Mozi both spoke of Yao and Shun but had different preferences." As Sima Qian said, "The elders in Kongtong, Zhuolu, and Huaihai spoke of Huangdi and Yao but had different customs and teachings." In summary, the longer myths and legends are passed down, the more the historical elements they contain are distorted, exaggerated, and blurred. Therefore, even Confucius, who believed in and loved ancient traditions, said, "A gentleman, when he does not know, leaves it blank." Mencius also said, "To believe in books blindly is better than having no books." Thus, the ancient Chinese sages and scholars were also skeptical of myths and legends. However, even so, myths still retain some original content. Therefore, if mythological figures are regarded as characteristics of a certain historical era, they remain as one of the materials for ancient history. But if mythological figures are regarded as ancient emperors and kings, it is tantamount to seeing ghosts in broad daylight. Since Guo Moruo's Research on Ancient Chinese Society was published, Chinese ancient history has been traced back to the Yin and Zhou dynasties for the first time using scientific methods. Later, Lü Zhenyu's Chinese Society in the Yin and Zhou Period proposed many new insights into the history of the Yin and Zhou dynasties. Regardless of Guo and Lü's views, they both had their own original ideas and formed their own schools of thought. As for studying ancient history before the Yin Dynasty based on archaeological evidence, Lü Zhenyu's Chinese Society in the Prehistoric Period was indeed the first work. Although this book is not detailed, it is concise and well-organized, outlining the general outline of prehistoric Chinese society. Recently, Wu Ze's History of Primitive Society in China has also made contributions to the prehistoric history of China. However, both Lü and Wu's books failed to mention the prehistoric artifacts discovered in the southeastern coastal areas of China, which is a significant omission. Additionally, Deng Chumin, in the first chapter of his Tutorial on Chinese Social History, also discussed ancient history before the Yin Dynasty based on unearthed artifacts, but he focused more on general aspects of human evolution. Therefore, we must admit that the prehistoric history of China is still in a very rudimentary stage. I believe that ancient history before the Yin Dynasty belongs to the extremely remote ancient era, but it is still a historical period in Chinese history, and this period of history is also the original foundation for the later development of Chinese history. Therefore, in this book, I boldly trace Chinese history back to its starting point. To give readers a concrete concept, this book includes pictures of ancient artifacts from each era. To give readers a spatial concept, this book includes maps of the historical activities of each era. To give readers a temporal concept, this book includes chronological tables of historical developments for each era. The illustrations, maps, and chronological tables in this book account for one-third of the writing time. Therefore, although I am not brave enough to say that this book has completely washed away the mythological rust from the ancient history of the Yin and Zhou dynasties and their predecessors, at least it has revealed the true face of this period of ancient history. In a word, from the history of gods to the history of humans. Jian Bozan · June 23, 1943, Xiema Field, Baxian.