Classical Interpretation Collated

Author: (Tang) Lu Deming compiled, Huang Zhuo collated, Huang Yanzu recompiled
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2006-07-01
Features: Classical Texts Interpretation (Jingdian Shiwen), thirty volumes, compiled by Lu Deming of the Tang Dynasty. Since the transformation of seal script into clerical script, the variations in regional pronunciations, and the emergence of variant and cursive characters, as well as the errors introduced through the transmission and copying of ancient texts, have made reading classical books difficult in terms of recognizing characters and pronouncing them. There was a need for a reference book that could help identify character pronunciations, distinguish character forms, and clarify their meanings. Lu Deming’s Classical Texts Interpretation met this need. After its completion, the book had a profound influence. However, over the centuries of transmission, printing, and publication, numerous discrepancies emerged. Huang Zhuo, moved by this issue, conducted a detailed collation. Huang Zhuo, styled Yaoxian and also known as Dizhi, was the cousin and disciple of the renowned scholar Huang Kan, from Qichun, Hubei. Using the Tongzhi Tang Jingjie edition as the base, Huang Zhuo compiled Classical Texts Interpretation: Collated Edition (Jingdian Shiwen Huixiao), incorporating the annotations and collations of such as Huo Huang, Wang Yun, Hui Dong, Zang Yongtang, Dai Zhen, Lu Wenchang, Gu Guangqi, Sun Xingxian, Huang Pili, and Ruan Yuan, as well as the annotations of modern scholars like Huang Kan and Wu Chengshi, along with his own fifty years of research findings. The original manuscript of Classical Texts Interpretation: Collated Edition was recorded in the form of annotations on the Tongzhi Xinwei Reprint of the Baojing Tang Edition of Classical Texts Interpretation, and was transcribed and compiled into a book by Huang Zhuo’s disciple He Yong. Our publishing house published a photolithographic edition of this work in 1980; in 1983, we also published a photolithographic edition of Classical Texts Interpretation (Tongzhi Tang Edition) with Huang Zhuo’s punctuation. Due to the limitations of the time and Huang Zhuo’s severe illness, many annotations were omitted in the original manuscript. Moreover, the Collated Edition was published separately, making it difficult to compare with the Interpretation. Now, Huang Zhuo’s cousin Huang Yanzu, with the support of the Wuhan University Humanities Science Fund, has recompiled and collated the original manuscript, arranging the Classical Texts Interpretation (Tongzhi Tang Edition) and the Collated Edition in two columns for easy comparison. For this publication, we have also included three articles written by Huang Zhuo—On Classical Texts Interpretation, Corrections to Classical Texts Interpretation (incomplete draft), and Brief Rules of Classical Texts Interpretation (incomplete draft)—for reference.