Academy and Forest of Books

Author: Huang Yongnian
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2006-01-01
Features: This book is a collection of sporadic academic articles and some discussions over the years, primarily focusing on ancient books and textual criticism. It also includes the "Commentary on Lu Simian's Observations on Classical Prose" by the author, compiled from his 60-year records, which is extremely helpful for young people in understanding classical Chinese and learning classical prose. In 2001, I published a similar collection titled Random Notes from the Academy, but this time, with more content on ancient books and textual criticism, I chose the title Academy and Book Forest. Additionally, it includes my record and compilation of my teacher Lu Chengzhi's lecture notes—Commentary on Lu Simian's Lectures, spanning over 40,000 characters, which occupies a significant portion of the book but is truly invaluable for young people in mastering classical Chinese and classical prose.
IV. Let's start with the chronicles. The Old Book of Tang covers 20 emperors from Emperor Gaozu to Emperor Zhaozong and Empress Dowager Wu, totaling 21 chronicles in 20 volumes. As mentioned earlier, there was a compiled dynastic history in the form of chronicles from Emperor Gaozu to Emperor Xuanzong, and a chronological record (shilu) from Emperor Gaozu to Emperor Wuzong, with the exception of the shilu for Emperor Wuzong, which only survives as a single volume (according to the Five Dynasties and Five Dynasties·Previous Dynasties record, when Jia Wei submitted the Supplementary Records of the Tang Dynasty to the court, it was said that according to the Library of Qizhai in volume six of the Chronicles Category, this single surviving volume records the first and second months of the first year of the Huaihuang era). At the time of compiling the Old Book of Tang, these records were still intact. Therefore, the chronicles of Emperor Gaozu to Emperor Xuanzong could directly inherit the original text of the dynastic history, while those from Emperor Daizong to Emperor Wenzong had shilu as a basis for abridement and revision. Moreover, the dynastic history chronicles were also compiled based on the shilu, so it can be said that the chronicles of the Old Book of Tang from Emperor Gaozu to Emperor Wenzong were either directly or indirectly derived from the shilu.
Of course, the shilu could not truly record everything as it happened. For instance, the internal conflicts and struggles within the ruling group were generally not documented, and sometimes facts were distorted to conceal the truth. However, it was still compiled based on contemporary records such as the Daily Records, Records of Current Affairs, and imperial decrees, edicts, and moral pronouncements issued at the time. At least, the surface phenomena of events were notly written, nor were they fabricated out of thin air or reversed in fact, nor were names changed arbitrarily. Moreover, the dates were generally accurate; since these were contemporary records, it was rare for posthumous alterations to be made to the dates. Additionally, these Tang dynastic histories and shilu, with the exception of the shilu for Emperor Shunzong, which survived due to the fame of its compiler Han Yu, were all lost later. Therefore, this part of the chronicles in the Old Book of Tang became an extremely precious primary source material.
The shilu for Emperor Wuzong only survives as a single volume, and there were no shilu or dynastic history after Emperor Xuanzong. Therefore, when the Old Book of Tang was first compiled in February of the sixth year of the Tianfu era, Jia Wei, one of the participants, submitted the Supplementary Records of the Tang Dynasty he had compiled, totaling 65 volumes (as recorded in the Old Book of Five Dynasties·Jintaizu Chronicle). The Five Dynasties and Five Dynasties·Previous Dynasties records this event as the Supplementary Records of the Tang Dynasty, stating that it "sought out lost writings and collected accounts from the elderly" to supplement the omissions in the shilu after Emperor Wuzong. When compiling the chronicles of the Old Book of Tang after Emperor Wuzong, in addition to referring to Jia Wei's Supplementary Records of the Tang Dynasty and other private writings, the compilers could only gather the surviving calendars and imperial decrees, edicts, and moral pronouncements, along with official documents and archives left by various departments as evidence. Naturally, it was impossible to achieve the completeness and comprehensiveness of the chronicles before Emperor Wuzong.
Zhao Yi, in his Notes on the Twenty-Two Histories, pointed out in volume 16 under the entry "The first half of the Old Book of Tang completely uses the shilu and the old dynastic history" that: "(Emperor Xuanzong's chronicle) records the case of Wu Xiang in over a thousand words; (Emperor Yizong's chronicle) in the eighth year of the Xiantong era, it meticulously enters the details of the Yanzikuku accounting, as if it were a private ledger; when appointing officials, they must first list the old title before the new one, such as appointing someone as a certain official, even down to the level of a prefect, which is recorded in the chronicles; thus, it often spans multiple pages, even the official notices and appointments do not have such verbosity. However, there are also aspects that cannot be lightly dismissed. The chronicles only briefly mention the reasons for events, while the details are found in the biographies. For example, in this book, the turmoil of Pang Xun, the rebellion of Huang Chao, the looting of Li Maozhen and Wang Xingyu, and the usurpation of Zhu Wen are all detailed in the chronicles, and one can understand them at a glance without reading the biographies."
This is a fair assessment. Moreover, from the perspective of preserving historical materials, recording the accounting details of the Yanzikuku is also quite useful for understanding the financial situation of the time.