Complete Notes on the Song Dynasty: Volume 1 (Part 6)

Author: Zhu Yian
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2003-10-01
Features: Upon reviewing this book, the editor finds that it exhibits the following characteristics: First, the book scientifically defines the term "notes" and strives to collect as many notes written by Song Dynasty scholars as possible, truly reflecting the "comprehensiveness" of the Complete Notes of the Song Dynasty, avoiding omissions and disorganization. The compiler insists that "notes" are "spontaneous records rather than deliberately composed works." It is limited to collecting "collected notes of Song Dynasty writings" and excludes "scattered individual notes that have not formed a complete collection," as well as "specialized collections with focused themes and rigid structures," such as "specialized works on poetry discussions, sayings, genealogies, such as The Tea Classic, Painting Spectra, Records of Renowned Officials, and Official Precepts," and certainly excludes novels and biographies that narrate stories in detail. Comparing this book with the Grand Collection of Notebooks and Novels published by Taiwan's Emerging Book Company in 1984, the latter, although it includes many Song Dynasty notes, has two shortcomings: first, it mixes Song Dynasty notes with fiction, genealogy, popular narratives, and poetry discussions; second, some of the versions are not refined. Of course, the author evaluates this book only from the perspective of Song Dynasty notes and does not deny its overall documentary value. Comparing it with the Comprehensive Collection of Notebooks and Novels of the Song Dynasty published by Hebei Education Press in 1995, the latter's shortcomings are: first, it only includes 188 Song Dynasty notes, and some important notes are inexplicably excluded, such as Hong Mai's Rongzhai, Zhou Mi's Guixin, Zhou's Qingbo, Wang Guoguo's Xuelin, Yue Ke's Muchen History, Luo Daqing's Helin, Wang Bi's Mianshui YanTan, Ouyang Xiu's GuiTian, He's Chunzhu, Peng's Moke (already including ten volumes of Continued Moke), Zhao Lintian's Houling, Ye Mengde's Shilin, Lu You's Laoxuean, Gong Mingzhi's Zhongwu, etc. Without these notes, it is difficult to reflect the full picture of Song Dynasty notes, which is a great regret. At the same time, the catalog of Song Dynasty notes and novels compiled in the latter contains numerous errors, such as the author of YanjiyiMoulu being mistakenly written as "Wang Muyong" instead of "Wang Yong," the author of Ding Jin Gong Tanlu being mistakenly written as "Ding Wei" instead of "Ding Wei," the author of Song Jingwen Gong Ji being mistakenly written as "Song Qi" instead of "Song Qi," the character "zhou" in Pingzhou Ketao being mistakenly written as "zhou," the character "ji" in Jiyu BiLun being mistakenly written as "yi," the character "zhu" in ZhuLian Xulun being mistakenly written as "shu," the author of Shupu being mistakenly written as "Dai Zhi" instead of "Dai Zhi," the author of Yangkao Manbi being mistakenly written as "Zhao Jin" instead of "Zhao Jinlu," and the author of Fuxuan Yelu being mistakenly written as "Chen" instead of "Chen," etc.
Second, most of the Song Dynasty notes in this book are newly collated and punctuated for the first time, reflecting the "new" characteristic. In the 49 notes in this volume, 13 have already been collated and punctuated by Zhonghua Book Company and Shanghai, while 36 have been newly collated and punctuated, accounting for more than 73% of the total. Among these newly collated and punctuated notes, some of the more important ones include Zhang Ji's Jia Shi Tanlu, Wang Zeng's Wang Wen Zheng Gong Bilu, Song Qi's Song Jing Wen Gong Ji, Jiang Xiufu's Jiang Lin Ji Zhai, Zeng Bu's Zeng Gong Yilu, Su Shi's Qiu Chi Bilu, Su Shi's Yujiao Xianhua Lu, Chao Shuozhi's Chao Shi Ke Yu, Wang Qiner's Wang Shi Tanlu, etc. These notes, though not lengthy, contain content related to the social economy, politics, and customs of the time, leaving behind valuable historical materials for later generations, which are extremely precious.
Third, compared to previously collated and punctuated Song Dynasty notes, this book has a relatively "accurate" characteristic, meaning the collation and punctuation are more precise. The compilers and collators of this book are mostly outstanding scholars in the fields of ancient Chinese history and literature, especially in Tang and Song literature and history. Although it is not daring to call them the best in the world, they can be considered first-class. Taking the compilation as an example, especially Kong Fanli, who collated and punctuated works such as Dongpo Zhilin, Qiu Chi Bilu, Yujiao Xianhua Lu, Longchuan Luezhi, and Longchuan Biezhi, Deng Guangming and Zhang Xiqing, who collated and punctuated Sishui Jiwen, Yu Yunuo, who collated and punctuated Nanbu Xinshu, Jin Shi Huiyuan, Diao Ji Li Tan, and Ding Jin Gong Tanlu, and Huang Chunyan, who collated and punctuated works such as Sun Weimin Zhengnan Lu, etc., are all renowned experts in Song Dynasty history or Song Dynasty literature. This is sufficient to ensure that the collation, punctuation, and collation of this book are presented to readers with high quality. For example, the previously published Xiangshan Yelu by Shi Wenying (Zhonghua Book Company, 1984 edition) contains some punctuation errors, such as the original text in the first volume: "The minister of the Ministry of Works, Wang Gong, was appointed as the director of Qiao in the Bingzhao year of the Zidao era" (page 23), mistakenly taking the last reign title of Emperor Taizong of Song as Wang Gong's name. This has now been corrected to: "The minister of the Ministry of Works, Wang Gong, was appointed as the director of Qiao in the Bingzhao year of the Zidao era." Similarly, the first volume of Song Minqiu's Chunming Chu Chao Lu (Zhonghua Book Company, 1980 edition) originally read: "In the eleventh month of the Kaibao eighth year, Jiangnan was pacified, and the Bian River was left to wait for the boat of the Liguang ruler" (page 5). This has also been corrected to: "In the eleventh month of the Kaibao eighth year, Jiangnan was pacified, and the Bian River was left to wait for the boat of the Liguang ruler." These improvements are evident, thus ensuring that the quality of the book's collation has been further improved.
In conclusion, The Complete Notes of the Song Dynasty is the third large-scale anthology in the field of Song Dynasty literature and history after The Complete Poems of the Song Dynasty and The Complete Writings of the Song Dynasty. Although it has only achieved initial results so far, with only the first volume published and inevitably some shortcomings such as incorrect annotations and punctuation errors, according to the compiler's plan, the entire book is divided into about 10 volumes and will be completed within five to six years. The author believes that as the compilers gradually accumulate experience and the collators steadily improve their skills, they will eventually present a brand-new, high-quality documentary anthology to the readers.