Yujiaxi, Yang Shudu volume

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, Investigation into the Missing Chapters of the Records of the Grand Historian, and 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 from his numerous works such as Explanations of Sentence Division in Ancient Books, Collected Essays on Bibliography and Epigraphy from Jiwei Studio, Full Text Explanations from Jiwei Studio, and Jiwei Studio’s Interpretations of Bronze Inscriptions, allowing readers to glimpse his academic accomplishments.
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 significance of bibliography lies in "discerning the schools of thought and tracing the origins," and under this philosophy, it thoroughly explores the development of bibliography, the strengths and weaknesses of various systems, and the evolution of categorization in historical bibliographies. It was praised by Yang Shudao as a "profound and meticulous" work. This book corresponds well with General Rules of Ancient Books and is best read together.
General Rules of Ancient Books: Lecture notes by Yu Jiaxi when teaching in Beijing universities during the 1930s, also known as Method of Collating and Reading Ancient Books. When reading ancient books, predecessors often focused on the interpretation of sentences and words, but Yu Jiaxi paid attention to the stylistic conventions of ancient texts, believing that "each era has its own style, and each dynasty has its own rules. By cross-examining and comparing, one can discern 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. Mr. Zhou Zumo remarked that though the book has few chapters, "it delves into the subtle and hidden, sufficient to resolve doubts and clarify confusion. Readers can generalize from its examples and gain much more."
Investigation into the Missing Chapters of the Records of the Grand Historian: Since Ban Gu mentioned that the Records of the Grand Historian had "ten chapters recorded but not written," scholars have held differing views on the missing chapters, leading to heated debates. Recognizing this, Yu Jiaxi diligently compiled and examined each of the missing chapters, as well as explored the (continuations) beyond them.
Investigation into the Cold Food Festival Medicine and Verification of the Yang Family General Stories: 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 from Changde, Hunan. He was a bibliographer and expert in linguistics and paleography. A laureate of the late Qing imperial examinations, he served as a chief clerk in the Civil Service Selection Department 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 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 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)