Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 1106 1101 [The Impact of the Dunhuang Manuscript]

The emergence of the Dunhuang manuscripts can cause a big stir in both Buddhism and Taoism.

Especially the book "Laozi Huahu Jing"!
On the Confucian side, the movement will probably not be small either.

After a few days, even the cabinet minister Hu Anguo was alarmed and went to the Hanlin Academy to copy the Confucian classics that had basically been lost.

Among them, the "Li Gu Ding Shang Shu" cannot even be copied. Scholars who are not deeply versed in Chinese characters cannot even recognize those characters completely accurately.

Because it is neither ancient text (pre-Qin text) nor completely modern text (text since the Qin and Han dynasties), it is written using the strokes of modern text and following the style and structure of ancient text.

Hu Anguo glanced through a few paragraphs and asked, "Any clues?"

Xue Shanggong, director of the Hanlin Academy's Museum of Literature and History, said: "It should be the lost copy of the Plum Edition of Ancient Chinese Shangshu."

"Not bad." Hu Anguo breathed a sigh of relief.

He was afraid that Kong's version of "The Book of Documents in Ancient Texts" and Fu Sheng's version of "The Book of Documents in Modern Texts" would see the light of day again. Once these two versions appeared, the Ming Dynasty would once again be in turmoil over the ancient and modern texts of the Book of Documents.

It doesn't matter if it's the "Meiben Guwen Book of Documents". Although it is a fake book that appeared in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, it is the only surviving version of "The Book of Documents".

The "Book of Documents" that Confucian scholars in the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties studied were all apocryphal versions of the Mei version.

However, Mei's "Book of Documents in Ancient Texts" actually includes Fu Sheng's "Book of Documents in Modern Texts", and further divides the chapters on its basis. As for whether there are private opinions added, this is impossible to verify.

Xue Shanggong continued, "Based on the book unearthed in Shazhou, we can conclude that the Ancient Text Book of Shangshu by Guo Zhongshu of the Later Zhou Dynasty, the Explanation of Shangshu by Chen E of the Early Song Dynasty, and the Stone-carved Ancient Text Book of Shangshu by Chao Gongwu of the Early Song Dynasty are all forged official scripts of Shangshu."

Hu Anguo smiled sincerely and said, "As long as the content of the article remains unchanged, it's fine. As for the different font shapes, we can leave it to you experts in bronze and stone carving to study."

The Book of Documents that Ming scholars studied at that time was the official regular script version during the Tianbao period of Emperor Li Longji. The Book of Documents discovered in Mogao Grottoes was the official script version after the Eastern Jin Dynasty and before Emperor Li Longji.

The content is the same, but the writing form is different. It will not cause any academic controversy and can be completely kept in the scope of graphology research, that is, studying how Chinese characters gradually evolved.

If the version discovered this time is from the Han Dynasty, there will definitely be differences in the content, and the entire academic community will be in uproar.

In addition, the "Book of Documents" discovered in Mogao Grottoes also eliminates the possibility of someone forging or tampering with scriptures in the future.

For example, Xue Jixuan, the founder of the Yongjia School in the Southern Song Dynasty, continued to forge and tamper with the contents of the Book of Documents to support his own theories through the Song Dynasty fake version. Once the Dunhuang manuscripts were published, such a thing would no longer happen.

Hu Anguo read it carefully again, but he had not studied the characters of Li Gu Ding in depth, so he asked: "Are you sure this is the real "Li Gu Ding Shang Shu"?

Xue Shanggong said: "Compared with the Classical Explanation of the Book of Documents, the book in front of me should be the real one. At least no mistakes have been found so far."

The author of Classic Interpretation: The Sound and Meaning of the Book of Documents is Lu Deming of the Southern Chen Dynasty. The original text of this book is the Book of Documents in Li Gu Ding. Although it cannot give people a glimpse of the full picture of the original book, it can be used to verify the authenticity of the Dunhuang manuscripts.

Hu Anguo was completely relieved and asked again: "Are the books such as Zheng Xuan's Annotations to the Analects, Huang Kan's Commentaries on the Analects, and Liu Xiang's Shuo Yuan also authenticated as authentic?"

Xue Shanggong said: "They should all be true, but further research is needed."

Hu Anguo sighed: "Only when the Holy Emperor is alive can such a thing happen!"

The Song Dynasty Zheng Xuan's "Annotations to the Analects" is no longer complete, and can only be pieced together from Zheng Xuan's annotations cited by other scholars since the Wei and Jin Dynasties. Its complete version was lost during the wars in the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties.

There are also Huang Kan's "The Analects of Confucius" and Liu Xiang's "Shuo Yuan", which are in a similar situation.

Now, these lost books have unexpectedly appeared.

In Hu Anguo's view, there is a divine will in the universe, which is a manifestation of the Ming Dynasty's destiny. Otherwise, why was it lost in the early Song Dynasty and reappeared in the Ming Dynasty 20 years after its founding?
Destiny!

It must be destiny!
The Mandate of Heaven was with the Ming Dynasty, and not only did the lost Confucian classics appear again, but also the lost Buddhist and Taoist classics.

The saints and gods of the three religions all identify with the Ming Dynasty.

Hu Anguo returned to the cabinet and explained the details to other cabinet ministers. Everyone was extremely surprised and planned to go to the Hanlin Academy to take a look.

Hu Anguo said: "We should make this known to the public through the Ming Monthly Report, so that the people of the world will know that the Ming Dynasty is truly the destiny of the world!"

Everyone thought it made sense.

So Li Hanzhang took the lead in drafting a congratulatory letter, praising the emperor and the emperor emeritus for their civil and military achievements. This congratulatory letter was not only for the emperor to see, but also published in the "Da Ming Yue Bao" for the world to see.

The word "auspicious" is not mentioned throughout the article, but every sentence implies that the Dunhuang manuscripts are auspicious.

Zhu Ming read the congratulatory letter the next day, and he happily wrote, "Yes."

Because the congratulatory letter drafted by Li Hanzhang and polished by Hu Anguo was so well written. They abandoned the idea of ​​auspicious signs and the interaction between heaven and man. The first half only talked about the civil and military achievements of the two emperors, and the second half talked about the importance of the Dunhuang manuscripts.

Once this article is published, anyone will be able to understand its meaning, and the legal system of the Ming Dynasty will become more stable.

The finalized version of this issue of the Ming Monthly does not need to be adjusted. It only needs to add a supplement, which, in addition to the cabinet's congratulatory message, also includes a catalog of rare books on Dunhuang manuscripts.

Before the new issue of "Da Ming Monthly" was released, the documents of the three schools of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism that had been rediscovered had already been circulated and spread among the officials in the capital and the monks and Taoists.

All of them were handwritten. When they were spread to the people in Luoyang, the scholars were more interested in "Shuo Yuan".

So what if Zheng Xuan's "Annotations to the Analects" is highly academic? It is not tested. The Ming Dynasty has its own legal version of the annotated version of the Analects, so it can only cause a sensation in the top academic circles.

Ordinary scholars were not interested in other annotated versions of "The Analects", but instead wanted to know what the original version of "Shuo Yuan" was like.

Because "Shuo Yuan" is more interesting, it is a collection of miscellaneous historical novels.

When Lu You compared the fragments of the manuscript copied by his father with the revised version by Zeng Gong at home, he could not help but exclaimed: "Zeng Wendinggong (Zeng Gong) is indeed a great man!"

The original Shuo Yuan had 20 volumes, but only 5 volumes remained when it was handed down to the Northern Song Dynasty. Zeng Gong somehow completed it, leaving only the "Fan Zhi Pian" missing. Then the Zhao Song court sent people to Japan and Goryeo to search for it, and finally found the "Fan Zhi Pian" from Goryeo to complete the Shuo Yuan.

Coincidentally, the fragment of "Shuo Yuan" unearthed in Mogao Grottoes happened to be the one where Zeng Gong could not find "Fan Zhi Pian".

The Mogao Grottoes version is more ancient and authentic, and does not avoid mentioning the names of Li Shimin and Li Zhi. The Goryeo version not only avoided revisions, but also had some errors and omissions in the process of copying.

Lu You began to write letters to his friends and asked his servants to copy the treasures from the Dunhuang manuscripts.

He wants to send it to his friends.

Of the six second-generation officials who had gone on the adventure together, two had passed the imperial examination and were sent abroad, one went to the army for training, and one entered the Hanlin Academy of Painting. The elder brother surnamed Li was the most unlucky, as his father was involved in the Huainan corruption case. Although he was not deeply involved in the case, his descendants for three generations were not allowed to take the imperial examinations, so he went abroad again in depression.

Lu You himself was the most talented among the six, but he always failed the exam for some unknown reason.

His father is the former Minister of Rites!
There's no rush. He's only in his early twenties and has plenty of opportunities at such a young age.

We took a horse carriage to the eastern suburbs of Luoyang. There was a literary gathering today, and the theme was to discuss the Dunhuang manuscripts.

As soon as Lu You arrived, he heard some scholars arguing.

"The Laozi Huahu Sutra is actually a fake sutra. Buddhism and Taoism are very different. How could they have the same origin?"

"Why can't they have the same origin? Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism are all one family. Moreover, why is the Laozi Huahu Sutra hidden in the Buddhist caves in Shazhou? It is obvious that the eminent monks in Shazhou also agree with this."

"That's because the monks in Shazhou are not well versed in Buddhism."

"You are proficient in Buddhism? Then tell me, who is older, Sakyamuni or Laozi?"

"How can you say that? What does this have to do with Buddhism?"

"You can't say anything, so why are you so sure that Laozi Huahu Jing is fake?"

"..."

Naturally, the two of them couldn't agree on a conclusion, but the scholars who were watching the fun nearby were laughing and enjoying themselves.

The Laozi Huahu Jing has a total of ten volumes, and this time, volumes 1, 2, 8, and 10 were discovered from the Mogao Grottoes. There were also several volumes handed down from the early Song Dynasty, but now combined with the Dunhuang manuscripts, only two volumes are still lost.

While Buddhism and Taoism were still studying their newly acquired scriptures, the Confucian scholars in Luoyang actually started arguing over the "Laozi Huahu Jing".

Lu You arrived at the literary gathering and stood by and listened with great enjoyment.

When the two of them were arguing until their faces turned red and their throats were dry and they could not speak anymore, the organizer of the literary gathering came out to mediate.

He took out a handwritten poem and said, "All the people gathered here today are Confucian scholars. Why bother with the affairs of Buddhism and Taoism? Let's not talk about academic matters. Let's appreciate the Qin Woman's Song."

"Since the end of the Tang Dynasty, only two lines of this poem have been passed down. Fortunately, God has blessed us and we have found the whole poem from the Shazhou Buddhist Cave. This poem is longer than we expected. The whole poem has 238 lines and 1666 words in total, which is twice as long as "Song of Everlasting Sorrow"!"

"I will recite for you: In the third month of spring in the Guimao period of Zhonghe, the flowers outside Luoyang city are like snow. No one is on the road in the east, west, south, or north, and the green willows are quietly extinguished... Blood is flowing in every family like a spring, and cries of injustice are everywhere. The dancing girls and singing girls are all secretly abandoned, and the babies and young girls are all abandoned..."

Many children of high-ranking officials, including Lu You, had already copied this poem.

But there were also some scholars who were appreciating the entirety of "Song of the Qin Woman" for the first time and were horrified by the tragic scenes described in the poem.

Some scholars also lamented: "No wonder this poem caused controversy and the author had to ban it himself."

What caused controversy was not the hellish scene after the war.

Instead, the poem clearly states that half of the food and property owned by the common people remained after the Huang Chao Rebellion. But when the government soldiers came, they took away all the money and food from the common people!

It also describes in detail how the government exploited the people before Huang Chao came to attack.

It's politically incorrect.

All the sins should have been blamed on Huang Chao, so how come it turned out that the officials and soldiers were the ones who killed all the civilians?

Lu You first commented: "From the poem "Song of the Qin Woman", we can know that the court in the late Tang Dynasty was incompetent and the real problem was that the government did not govern with benevolence. How did the two emperors of the Ming Dynasty rise up and conquer the world? And govern the country well and reproduce the prosperity of the Han and Tang Dynasties? It's nothing but the two words benevolence and righteousness..."

The politically incorrect "Song of the Qin Woman" became politically correct in the Ming Dynasty.

(I was so engrossed in reading the novel about the young woman Bai that I started writing in the middle of the night. Sorry.)
(End of this chapter)