Yang Shuda Yu Jiaxi

Author: Liu Mengxi, Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1996-10-01
Features: Yu Jiaxi was an outstanding bibliographer who made indelible contributions to the study of Chinese bibliography. This volume includes his renowned works such as Bibliography Unveiled, General Rules of Ancient Books, and Investigation into the Missing Chapters of Sima Qian's Works, as well as essays like Preface to the Critique of the Siku Catalogue. Yang Shudao was a famous linguist with remarkable achievements in elementary studies, bibliography, epigraphy, and paleography. This volume selects several of his masterpieces from his numerous writings, including Explanations of Ancient Book Punctuation, Collected Essays on Bibliography and Epigraphy from Jiwei Residence, Full Text Explanations from Jiwei Residence, and Jiwei Residence's Interpretations of Ancient Bronzes. Readers can gain insight into his academic accomplishments through these works.
Bibliography Unveiled: Lecture notes used by Yu Jiaxi when teaching bibliography at universities in Beijing from 1930 to 1948. The book argues that the fundamental purpose of bibliography is "to distinguish academic schools and examine the origins," and under this philosophy, it thoroughly explores the development of bibliography, the strengths and weaknesses of various systems, and the evolution of cataloging categories in historical bibliographies. It was praised by Yang Shudao as "perceptive and meticulous." This book complements General Rules of Ancient Books and is best read together.
General Rules of Ancient Books: Lecture notes by Yu Jiaxi when teaching at universities in Beijing in the 1930s, also known as Method of Ancient Texts. When reading ancient books, predecessors often focused on the interpretation of sentences and words, but Yu Jiaxi paid attention to the structural conventions of ancient texts. He believed, "Each era has its own style, and each dynasty has its own rules. By cross-examining and comparing, one can uncover the context; by arranging and investigating, one can grasp the meaning." "One must understand the conventions of ancient book composition before reading them," so the book provides detailed explanations of the general rules of ancient books before the Han and Wei dynasties. Many of its insights into ancient books have been confirmed by the discovery of bamboo and silk manuscripts. Professor Zhou Zumo remarked that although the book contains few chapters, "it delves into the subtle and hidden, sufficient to resolve doubts and clarify confusion. Readers can apply its principles to infer more."
Investigation into the Missing Chapters of Sima Qian's Works: Since Ban Gu mentioned that the Records of the Grand Historian had "ten chapters recorded but no text," scholars have held differing opinions on the missing chapters, leading to heated debates. Recognizing this, Yu Jiaxi meticulously compiled and examined each of the missing chapters, as well as explored the supplementary works beyond them.
Investigation into Cold Food Medicine and A Record of Verifying the Stories of the Yang Family: The research is meticulous and rigorous, with conclusions that are convincing and considered superior.
Yu Jiaxi (1884–1955), styled Jiyu, later known as Jian'an or Jianweng, was a bibliographer and expert in Chinese linguistics and paleography from Changde, Hunan. A scholar of the late Qing dynasty, he served as an assistant in the Personnel Selection Department of the Ministry of Personnel and taught at Changde Normal School after the abolition of the imperial examinations. From 1927, he taught bibliography at Fu Ren University, Peking University, China University, Min Guo University, and Beijing Normal Women's Normal School. In 1931, he became a professor at Fu Ren University and head of the Chinese Department. In 1942, he concurrently served as the president of the College of Arts at Fu Ren University and was elected as a member of the Academia Sinica. In October 1949, he joined the Language Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences as a specialist. His works include Bibliography Unveiled, General Rules of Ancient Books, Critique of the Siku Catalogue, Annotations and Explanations of The New Tales of the World, and Miscellaneous Works on Learning by Yu Jiaxi. (Adapted from "Wenjin Liu Shang") (Jiang Huang compiled)