Method of Collating Ancient Chinese Historical Records

Author: Zhang Shunhui
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-11-01
Features: Zhang Shunhui (1911–1992) was a renowned modern historian and scholar of historical texts. He authored over twenty works, including Chinese Textual Studies, Comprehensive Treatise on Textual Criticism, Commentary on the Bibliography of the Han Dynasty, A Concise Commentary on the Shuowen Jiezi, Collected Works on Zheng Studies, Explorations in the Daoist Thought of the Zhou and Qin Dynasties, Commentary on Three Books of Historiography, Memoirs of Qing Confucian Scholars, Separate Records of Qing Literary Collections, Annotations on Qing Scholars' Notes, and Preserving the Old Learning. Methods of Reading Ancient Historical Texts was first published in 1962 by the Shanghai Editorial Department of Zhonghua Book Company. After minor revisions in 1980, a new edition was published by Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House. In discussing the content of history reading that is the same or similar to several comprehensive studies, the book cites examples of the various criticisms by Qing scholars on the practices of combined annotations and compiled excerpts. As shown in the table of contents, the book is divided into four chapters: 1) On the Basic Conditions for Reading Ancient Historical Texts, 2) On Textual Criticism, 3) On Reading, and 4) On Authenticity and Compilation of Fragments. All the problems encountered when reading ancient texts and the aspects that should be noted are addressed in the book. Among contemporary scholars, Zhang Shunhui is renowned for his diligence in reading and his broad knowledge. In his early years, he followed the academic path of Qing scholars, starting with the study of philology before expanding into Confucian classics, and later delving into the classics, histories, and literary collections of various dynasties. He devoted ten years to reading the entire Twenty-Four Histories, demonstrating profound erudition and comprehensive understanding. Scholars of such caliber are rare today, yet it is precisely such scholars who are best suited to write on the methods of reading historical texts. To put it more bluntly, it is only scholars of this caliber who truly have the qualifications to teach and set an example, and only their works on the methods of reading historical texts can be trusted.