The literary giants of the late Ming Dynasty began by copying books

When Wang Wenlong wanted to prepare lessons, the first thing he did was to get Pan Xiu back. There were too many materials that needed to be sorted out, and without him doing the hard work by his side, it would be inconvenient to do anything.

Pan Xiu had been working at the Suzhou Xunbao newspaper office during this period. He had read "On the Nation-State" several times at home. He became more and more confused about his current role as a spy under the Dutch. He always felt that he was being harmed. own nation.

Reflecting on his work, Pan Xiu also fell into a state of not knowing how to face his long-term latent mission.

Although Pan Xiu fell into self-doubt, he would definitely not reveal the matter to Wang Wenlong or even the court.

He wanted to go back to Batavia to do business, but he knew that if he disobeyed the Dutch's orders, he would definitely run into obstacles everywhere.

But if he wants to stay in Daming, his identity is as an employee of "Suzhou Xundao", and he has always been very positive about this job. Leaving rashly will definitely arouse suspicion.

In order not to cause trouble, Pan Xiu simply settled down and worked in the "Suzhou Xun Bao". He had good literary talent and was an old member of the "Xun Bao" from Fujian. His colleagues in the newspaper all valued him. Pan Xiu came to Suzhou Later, he also wrote many reports in newspapers, and he was somewhat famous throughout Jiangnan. As a scholar, he was actually doing well, but he just felt uneasy.

In February of the 32nd year of Wanli, Wang Wenlong returned to the Imperial College with a stack of speech notes after three days of writing behind closed doors.

The aftermath of the estrangement in life still lingers. Under the "Tianwenshu" archway of the Nanjing Imperial College, facing the Qinhuai River, a scholar is passionately preaching to passers-by on Chengxian Street the principles of opposing the mine supervisors.

Chengxian Street is the most popular place in Nanjing. A brick thrown at the street corner can hit three scholars. The Nanjing garrison eunuchs did not dare to send people here to arrest people. No one could control the young scholar's speech, which naturally attracted many people. There were people watching.

Wang Wenlong took the speech notes and went to see Guozi Siye to arrange his plans for the next meeting. Of course, he didn't want to meddle in other people's business. He walked by on a sliding pole, but was recognized by a sharp-eyed supervisor.

"Assistant Teacher Wang?"

Wang Wenlong's lecture on "Literary Dating" last year caused quite a stir in the Imperial College. There were many people in the Imperial College who knew him. The Confucian scholar's shout attracted several people to look at Wang Wenlong, and then they all recognized him.

Wang Wenlong had no choice but to lower the slider, salute everyone and said with a smile: "I am Wang Jianyang."

A Confucian scholar asked: "Assistant Professor Wang is going to hold a new lecture?"

"How do you know this?" Wang Wenlong was a little confused.

The Confucian scholar answered honestly: "I am good friends with Bai Xiazhong, he said so."

And there were many scholars nearby who heard about this for the first time.

"Is Mr. Jianyang going to speak at another meeting?"

"I should go to the Imperial College to take a seat."

"When will the lecture start?"

Everyone's response was quite enthusiastic. It's not that there are really so many people who like the study of textual criticism. Many Confucian scholars with average level can't even understand "Lecture Notes on Literary Dating" and are too lazy to think about it. But as long as the scholars hanging around in Nanjing Have you never heard of the reputation of Wang Wenlong’s lecture in Nanjing last year?
During his lectures for a month last year, Wang Wenlong proposed many new methods and even created a new subject of textual criticism. And now, with the development of time, the influence of textual criticism is slowly spreading. Wang Wenlong's lecture at the Imperial Academy was the start of the entire Nanjing literary world. Something everyone talks about.

For scholars, it is also an elegant thing to go to the Imperial Academy to listen to Wang Wenlong's lectures. Guozi's monitoring classes are free of charge, and you can get in if you have some connections. There is such an elegant and lively atmosphere, so everyone is naturally very active.

The clamor of the scholars present also attracted others to watch and inquire. When they heard that Wang Wenlong was going to give a lecture at the Imperial College Preparatory Meeting, many people's interest was instantly attracted.

The young scholar who just ran to the stone pier of the archway and spoke loudly about the mine supervisor stopped talking. He knelt down and asked a friend: "Wang Jianyang is down there? He wants to speak in a meeting? When?"

Although it felt very comfortable to be surrounded by stars, it was a pity that the time was running out. At this time, a large group of people gathered on Chengxian Street to listen to the lecture. Most of the scholars who had this free time were interested in speaking.

Seeing more and more people coming, Wang Wenlong suddenly felt the pressure. Before the road was blocked, he quickly said that he had to go to the Imperial College for business, pushed through the crowd, and ran to the Imperial College.

Arriving at the Imperial Academy in a flash, Wang Wenlong first went to Jijiu and Siye to express that his manuscript was ready and he could start the lecture.

When I found the leader Wang Wenlong, I discovered that Bai Xiazhong in the Imperial College had spread the news widely that Wang Wenlong was going to hold a new meeting. Even the Imperial College, many people came to ask when Wang Wenlong would start the lecture, but they couldn't rush him.

Hearing that Wang Wenlong was finally ready, Jijiu immediately made the decision, arranged the classrooms, and posted notices.

Early the next morning, Wang Wenlong walked into the East Lecture Hall with a stack of manuscripts, and saw that the seats below were full of students. He was very famous last time when he lectured, and this time many people came here because of his reputation.

After Wang Wenlong entered the venue, everyone stood up and first saluted the statue of Confucius under the leadership of the sacrificial wine.

After the ceremony, Wang Wenlong sat down on the high platform, put the manuscript on the desk, opened it and said with a smile:

"My reputation is nothing more than that of a supervisor. Although I have been favored by many nobles and become an assistant teacher of the Imperial Academy, my lectures are inevitably biased. Don't be too restrained when listening to my lectures. If you have any questions, you can ask them in time. I see that there are If you make a mistake, you can also ask questions and point it out, but there is one rule: no noise is allowed in the hall, and you must raise your hands before asking questions."

"The content of my lecture today is relatively complicated. Some of the arguments may not be heard by you, and it may be difficult to digest them at once. If you are interested in learning, you can take a pen and paper and write them down first, and then review them when you go back..."

Before Wang Wenlong finished speaking, someone below raised his hand and asked, "Assistant Professor Wang, the student wants to ask what the topic he taught today means?"

Wang Wenlong laughed when he heard this. This student came to listen to the lecture but didn't even know what was being said. He just came to join in the fun.

Wang Wenlong explained: "The title of my lecture is called "Methodology of Exegetical Studies." The word "exegetical" comes from the first chapter "Exegesis" and the third chapter "Explanation" of "Erya". "Ya Preface" explains this word as: exegesis... Therefore, it explains the idioms of ancient and modern times, and the idioms of popular folklore... When we read ancient articles, we often find that there are one or two words in them that are difficult to explain. Exegesis is to explore the meaning of these words. What does it mean to learn?”

Exegesis has already appeared as early as the Han Dynasty, but these primary schools were still very unpopular knowledge in the Ming Dynasty. According to the original history, exegesis would not flourish again until the Qing Dynasty, and it became scientific and standardized at the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China.

After Wang Wenlong explained the content of the course, he said to everyone: "Then let's start the lecture directly."

"It is clear from the beginning that ancient learning is the study of characters. What we do in studying characters is nothing more than starting from the three aspects of 'form, sound, and meaning'. Three disciplines can be derived from it. Bishu is the study of the system of the evolution of character writing. Phonology, which studies the evolution of the sounds of words, and hermeneutics, which studies the evolution of the meaning of words. I think the science composed of these three disciplines can be named linguistics."

Wang Wenlong directly used the concept of "linguistics" from Zhang Taiyan, a great figure in traditional Chinese studies, and shamelessly stated that it was his own opinion.

(End of this chapter)