Zhang Shunhui Collection: Notes on Qing Dynasty People's Notes

Author: Zhang Shunhui
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-01-01
Features: Zhang Shunhui (1911–1992) was a renowned modern historian and scholar of historical documents. He authored over twenty works, including Chinese Bibliography, Comprehensive Treatise on , Commentary on the Bibliography of the Han Dynasty, A Concise Commentary on the Shuowen Jiezi, Collected Works on Zheng Studies, Explorations in the Philosophy of Zhou and Qin, Commentary on Three Books of Historiography, Biography of Qing Confucian Scholars, Separate Records of Qing Literary Collections, Annotations on Qing Scholars' Notes, and Preserving Ancient 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 combined annotations and combined excerpts. As shown in the table of contents, the book is divided into four chapters: 1) Basic Conditions for Reading Ancient Historical Texts, 2) Reading Books, 3) Reading, and 4) Identifying Forgeries and Compiling Fragments. All the problems encountered when reading ancient texts and the aspects that should be noted are addressed in the book. Among contemporary scholars, Mr. Zhang's diligence in reading and breadth of knowledge are widely recognized. In his early years, he followed the academic path of Qing scholars, starting with the study of philology and then expanding into Confucian classics, followed by extensive reading of the Four Books, Five Classics, and historical works. He devoted ten years to reading all the Twenty-Four Histories, demonstrating profound knowledge and comprehensive understanding. Scholars of such caliber are rare today, but 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 such scholars 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.