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

Zhu Xi's founding of Neo-Confucianism can be said to have revitalized Confucianism. During the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhu Xi took the place of worship in the Confucius Temple. In the original history, by the Qing Dynasty, the ten philosophers of the Confucius Temple in the Dacheng Hall of the Confucius Temple were expanded to twelve philosophers. Zhu Xi was also moved into the Dacheng Hall and became One of the twelve philosophers in the Confucian Temple, and the other eleven philosophers are all disciples of Confucius. This shows how high Zhu Zi's status is in Confucianism.

At this time, Wang Wenlong said that Zhu Xi was wrong. It was really shocking. Even the director of the Imperial College opened his mouth wide after hearing this, feeling that Wang Wenlong was going to cause trouble.

But at that moment, someone asked without raising their hands: "Mr. Jianyang said this, are you not afraid of being said to be disrespectful to the saints?"

Wang Wenlong was not afraid at all. He had known that there would be such a problem and had the magic weapon to protect himself.

Wang Wenlong shook his head and smiled when he heard this: "I don't mean to disrespect Zhu Zi. Exegesis is developed from Zhu Zi's Min studies. Without Zhu Zi, there would be no exegesis today. We are all students of Zhu Xi. But the more we Respect means that we must delve into the methods of our ancestors and continue on the journey of the immortals. If Zhu Zi did not have such courage, how could he expound the "Chu Ci"? I followed Zhu Zi's method and made new discoveries. This is also the legacy of my ancestors. .”

One of his words instantly silenced many people who had opinions about him. How could it be like this?

Many people can't help but think: Using Zhu Xi's method to discover that Zhu Xi was wrong, does that count as disrespecting Zhu Xi? It shouldn’t count, right?

Looking at the reaction of everyone in the audience, Wang Wenlong smiled and emphasized that the fact that the Qianjia School originated from Fujian School was really useful. With this protective umbrella, the Qing Dynasty, where literary inquisition was prevalent, could not catch the problems of the Qianjia School, let alone At this time Wanli Dynasty came.

At this time, some Confucian scholars would not be arrested if they directly scolded Zhu Xi. Wang Wenlong held this umbrella, and as long as things did not go too far, it didn't matter if he made bold moves.

It’s not that Wang Wenlong wanted to attack Neo-Confucianism directly, but that he couldn’t avoid trouble with Zhu Xi if he wanted to study textual criticism.

Zhu Xi was a great textual scholar in the Song Dynasty. Many scholars of the Qianjia School in the Qing Dynasty were influenced by Zhu Xi and used many of the methods passed down by Zhu Xi to study issues.

With Zhu Xi's method, whether you are studying or doing more in-depth research, the first step is of course to review Zhu Xi's past research, and in this way, errors in Zhu Xi's research will inevitably be discovered.

If Wang Wenlong doesn't talk about it now, he will have to dig into Zhu Xi's issue in two more lectures. It's better to teach it early and get used to it.

In fact, objectively speaking, Zhu Xi was indeed a great master and pioneered many aspects of knowledge. Although some of his research had fallen behind by the Ming Dynasty, he was definitely an academic pioneer in the era in which he lived.

There are errors and omissions in Zhu Xi's "Annotations to the Songs of Chu", but why it is so widely circulated is because he annotated it better than other scholars of his generation.

The real reason for Zhu Xi's mixed reputation in later generations is that later generations used Zhu Xi's research results to monopolize the right to speak of Neo-Confucianism.

Using other people's achievements did not allow their research to continue to develop. Instead, the Qianjia School, which inherited Zhu Xi's research methods, dug up the roots of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism.

To put it bluntly, the opponent of textual scholars is not Zhu Xi.

Just like Confucius lost the right to interpret Confucianism after his death, how could Zhu Xi know what these Taoists would do in his name hundreds of years after his death?
Wang Wenlong ignored the murmurs in the audience and continued: "If we look at the history of exegesis, it can be said that it began in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. It has been more than 3,000 years ago. By the Eastern Han Dynasty, it already had a set of templates and methods for doing things. There are complete exegesis and interpretation books, but in the following thousands of years, regardless of the purpose of writing or the way of compilation, students often regarded it as an appendage of Confucian classics, mixed with phonology and morphology. However, if we study it in depth, You will find that exegesis is actually an independent subject. To study it in a more profound direction, you must separate exegesis from other primary schools..."

Wang Wenlong's lecture became more and more in-depth, and many students in the audience gradually couldn't keep up.

Exegesis is indeed a very difficult subject. It is more complicated than text dating. It cannot be understood by just relying on hobbies and listening. What's more, these scholars are in the Ming Dynasty when exegesis has not yet sprouted and bear fruit. Many exegetics have not yet sprouted. They have no concept of the information at all, and they must work hard to learn it. Many students gradually began to look around and were unable to keep up with the progress, but some students listened with great interest and seemed to have discovered some treasure.

This exegetical lecture is completely different from the popular classics and primary school lectures. It does not discuss the knowledge that has been chewed up. Almost everything Wang Wenlong talks about is fresh. For those who are interested, learning is really about making money. arrive.

If they can really follow Wang Wenlong's train of thought and complete the "Methodology of Exegetical Studies" and rely on the knowledge learned in this lecture after leaving Nanjing, they can become a great master of the generation and even leave a name in history with just a little research.

"That's almost it," Wang Wenlong said as he packed up the books on the table: "What I talked about today is a bit complicated, and sometimes you don't understand it for a while. You can go back and think about it slowly. If you really feel that what I said is not good, think about it, Maybe you can come up with some ideas that can refute me, which can be considered as some understanding."

After he finished speaking, it was time to give lectures. After everyone thanked him, Wang Wenlong returned the favor, took the book and planned to leave.

But before he walked out of the East Lecture Hall, he was surrounded by several students headed by Bai Yu. One of them looked to be middle-aged and spoke with a Guanzhong accent. He said excitedly: "Mr. Jianyang, I wonder if what you said today has any imprint." Will it be sold as a handout in the future?"

"It hasn't been published yet. If there are many people attending the lecture, maybe the Imperial College will sell it in the future." Wang Wenlong smiled and nodded at Bai Yu, and then said: "If you want today's lecture notes, I have a copy. After copying I just...don't know what my friend's name is?"

"That's great!" The middle-aged scholar was quite happy and introduced himself: "I am from Shaanxi Juren. My surname is Zhao and my alias is Pingguo."

Zhao Kan? Wang Wenlong looked surprised.

Bai Yu on the side also smiled and said: "The good teacher Jianyang learned that this is the famous Dunwushan native of Zhongnan."

The reputation of Wang Wenlong's lecture is really quite big, and it actually attracted this big shot.

Zhao Kan, the most famous epigrapher during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, was born in a Shaanxi family. His hometown was close to the ancient capital of the Han and Tang Dynasties. There are many ancient palace and temple ruins and inscriptions around his hometown. Zhao Kan has developed a keen understanding of epigraphy since he was a child. Love of epigraphy.

After Zhao Kan passed the imperial examination, he no longer sought higher honors in the imperial examination, but concentrated on the study of epigraphy.

He often took his family out into the wilderness and jungles to rub inscriptions. Not only did he rub inscriptions, but "whenever he encountered a piece of stone inscription, he would sit and lie down under it, pick the moss with his hands, rub the vertebrae, decorate it, and use evidence to verify it."

Historically, Zhao Kan wrote eight volumes of "Graphite Engravings", which was the most valuable inscription research book in the entire Ming Dynasty. Historically, this book was not completed until the 46th year of Wanli reign. The main reason was that although Zhao Kan's family was extremely wealthy, the financial requirements for writing a book were still too high.

In the original history, because Zhao Kan did not have enough money, "Graphite Engraving" only described the content of the inscription, but did not print the rubbings of the inscription. After all, the wages of engravers who could engrave rubbings were too high.

However, in this time and space, due to the emergence of wax block mimeograph technology, Zhao Kan's books may be made much more exquisite.

(End of this chapter)