"Shoal of Books: Famous Books of Yangzhou"

Author: Zeng Xuewen / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-03-01
Features: In the early Western Han Dynasty, the Yangzhou region, under the governance of King Liu Bi of Wu, became prosperous and powerful, once described as "streets densely packed and songs and music filling the air." After Liu Bi and others failed in the "Rebellion of the Seven States," Emperor Jing of Han abolished the Wu Kingdom and established a smaller Jiangdu Kingdom, appointing his son Liu Fei as its king. Upon Emperor Wu's accession to the throne, to prevent Liu Fei from following Liu Bi's footsteps, he appointed Dong Zhongshu as the Chancellor of Jiangdu, to assist, guide, and also monitor the king. Dong Zhongshu was a great scholar deeply versed in Gongyang Studies and had once advised Emperor Wu to "abandon the Hundred Schools of Thought and uphold Confucianism alone," which had a profound impact on later generations. During his tenure in Jiangdu, he used Confucian principles to correct Liu Fei, who was a proud and arrogant king, making him restrained and cautious, thus fulfilling his mission. Historical records state that he "governed the state by the changes of disasters and anomalies in the Spring and Autumn Annals, deducing the interplay of yin and yang, thus seeking rain by closing the yang and releasing the yin, and the reverse for stopping rain. In governing a state, he never failed to achieve his desires" (Records of the Han Dynasty·Biography of Dong Zhongshu). This shows that his governance strategy was implemented in Jiangdu and was successful. The great scholar Dong Zhongshu left the capital and came to Yangzhou, which was somewhat remote at the time, much like the demotion of another great scholar, Jia Yi, to Changsha in the early Han Dynasty. Of course, this may also have contained the implication of exile. But for Yangzhou, it was a great fortune. Dong Zhongshu was the earliest scholar to spread Han Dynasty Confucianism to the Jianghuai region and Yangzhou. His status in the academic history of Yangzhou is extremely, and he had a significant influence on the formation of the city's academic atmosphere. To commemorate him, the people of Yangzhou built the Dongzi Temple in the northern Liu Lane, which has been renovated many times over the centuries and has never been abandoned. The plaque above the gate reads "The County's Origin from King Jing of Chu" and "Achievements Passed Down by Dong the Chancellor." This place was also the Salt Transport Commissioner's Office in the Qing Dynasty, and its ruins are known as the "Great Scholar's Lane." Next to it was an old well called the "Dong Well." Today, in front of the Yangzhou Museum and the Yangzhou Chinese Woodblock Printing Museum, there stand ten statues of famous figures from different dynasties, including one of Dong Zhongshu. Over nearly a thousand years from the Western Han to the Tang and Song Dynasties, the literary history of Yangzhou produced many brilliant works, such as the prose writer Mei Chong, who served as a secretary to King Liu Bi of Wu in the early Han Dynasty and wrote the famous essay "Admonishing King Wu," leaving behind the renowned "Watching the Tidal Bore at the Curved River of Guangling," which made the "Tidal Bore of Guangling" famous. The "Wu City Fu" by Bao Zhao, a litterateur of the Southern Dynasties, described the prosperity and decline of Guangling, and is a representative work of the parallel prose of the Six Dynasties, from which Yangzhou's other name "Wu City" derives. The "Spring River Flower Moon Night" by the Tang Dynasty Yangzhou poet Zhang Ruoxu is a classic poem praising Yangzhou's scenery, renowned as "a single poem surpassing all of Tang poetry." Other famous works of Tang poetry are also innumerable and captivating. During this period, two famous works in the history of Chinese scholarship had an extraordinary connection with Yangzhou, worth mentioning. One is the "Selection of Refined Literature" compiled by Prince Zhaoming of the Liang Dynasty, and the other is the "Comprehensive Treatise" written by Du You of the Tang Dynasty. Yangzhou has a deep connection with the "Selection of Refined Literature." Whether Prince Zhaoming ever visited Yangzhou or whether the "Selection of Refined Literature" was compiled in Yangzhou is uncertain due to the passage of time, but it is undeniable that the people of Yangzhou have always been deeply attached to it. Cao Xian, a scholar from Jiangdu in the Sui Dynasty, was famous for teaching the "Selection of Refined Literature," marking the beginning of Yangzhou's study of the "Selection of Refined Literature." His disciple Li Shan devoted his life to the "Selection of Refined Literature," and his work "Annotations on the Selection of Refined Literature" was renowned for its meticulousness and breadth, becoming as famous as the "Selection of Refined Literature" itself. In the Qing Dynasty, the Yangzhou scholar Ruan Yuan dedicated himself to promoting and developing the study of the "Selection of Refined Literature," and the modern scholar Li Xiang was even named after the "Selection of Refined Literature." The study of the "Selection of Refined Literature" thus became a unique academic tradition in the Jianghuai region, lasting for over a thousand years in Yangzhou, a miracle in the academic history of Yangzhou. Remnants of the "Selection of Refined Literature" in Yangzhou include the "Selection of Refined Literature Tower," "Selection of Refined Literature Lane," and "Selection of Refined Literature Lane," with the "Selection of Refined Literature Tower" housing a statue of Prince Zhaoming. Ruan Yuan also built the "Sui Dynasty Selection of Refined Literature Tower," which served as his repository and study, enshrining scholars such as Cao Xian and Li Shan. P3-4