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

Dong Qichang suggested: "Wang Jianyang is in a village outside the city. I will take Mr. Danyuan to the village. We will pass by several oracle bone excavation sites along the way, and we can also visit them along the way."

"I've wanted to visit the Oracle Bone Pit for a long time." Jiao Hong nodded in agreement.

Dong Qichang and Jiao Hong walked side by side towards the northwest of Anyang City. Along the way, Dong Qichang introduced the current research situation of the Oracle Bone Society to Jiao Hong. They didn't go far when they came across an oracle bone pit being excavated. Jiao Hong He and Dong Qichang walked to the edge of the pit with great interest, and curiously looked at the working methods of the Oracle Bone Society.

Walking and stopping all the way to the village where the Oracle Bone Society members gathered, Jiao Hong already had a great impression of the Oracle Bone Society's well-organized archaeological excavations.

Dong Qichang grabbed a member and asked, "Where is Jianyang now?"

The young scholar replied: "We are having a discussion in the village school."

Dong Qichang smiled at Jiao Hong and said: "Jianyang is really a distinguished scholar. Not long after he came to Anyang, everyone likes to listen to his lectures. Danyuan will know when we meet him later."

Several people came outside the private school and did not disturb the classes inside. Instead, they stood outside the window and listened.

Wang Wenlong was sitting in the lecture hall of his private school, holding several pictures copying the oracle bone characters in his hands. Sitting below were a group of members of the oracle bone society. The young ones were only in their teens, and the older ones were in their forties or fifties. .

Then Wang Wenlong analyzed everyone and said: "Why do I think the oracle bone ruins outside Anyang City should be called the Yinxu ruins? First of all, from the analysis of a large number of oracle bones, it can be seen that the oracle bones here only reached Pan Geng, the Shang king, and since Pan Geng, the Shang emperors personally offered sacrifices and The oracle bones participating in the signatures continue to appear, which is very consistent with the record of Pan Geng moving the capital to Yin in the historical chronology. This place must be the ruins of Yin..."

After Wang Wenlong finished speaking, a scholar with a Jiangnan accent said: "Mr. Jianyang, after reading these many oracle bone inscriptions, I always feel that this businessman's thoughts are very weird, but I can't explain it..."

Wang Wenlong nodded in agreement: "The study of these oracles reminds me of the chapter "Pangeng" in Shangshu. In this chapter, before moving the capital, Pan Geng, the king of Shang, summoned the nobles to the palace courtyard and gave a long speech. First, he talked about the past dynasties. King Shang expressed his kindness to these nobles, and then said that if these nobles did not obey his will and move the capital, they would be ungrateful and would be punished by their ancestors. When Pan Geng threatened the nobles in this speech, he said that if the former kings were unhappy, they would be punished. God punishes them, but it does not mean that they will be warned by God for their ingratitude.”

"This passage was always difficult for scholars in the past to understand. However, with the emergence of a large number of inscriptions, we seem to be able to conclude that in the thinking of the Shang Dynasty, the Shang kings would ascend to heaven and become gods after their death, and would always protect them. This is how future generations of Shang kings communicate with God.”

"This is very different from the concept after the Zhou Dynasty that the emperor himself was the emperor and could communicate directly with heaven. This is probably the result of the restructuring of later generations."

This was the first time that Jiao Hong heard Wang Wenlong give a lecture, and as he listened, he made Wang Wenlong his confidant.

Jiao Hong was different from Li Zhi. Although he also had deviant thoughts, he opposed using mistakes to prove mistakes. He believed that all thoughts and theories were based on evidence. Wang Wenlong's lecture method of quoting from a wide range of sources made him very agreeable.

Of course, there are differences. That is, Jiao Hong's historical concepts are still inseparable from the stereotypes of the Ming Dynasty. There was no archeology in the Ming Dynasty, so when Jiao Hong studied history, he believed more in historical records but did not pay attention to archaeological relics. The Shang Dynasty in his mind It's still the way it was described in Sima Qian's "Historical Records".

Wang Wenlong obviously did not agree with these views. He came from a later generation and knew that the image of the Shang Dynasty derived from archaeological practice was very different from the Shang Dynasty depicted by Sima Qian's collection of historical materials thousands of years later.

The discussion between Wang Wenlong and the scholars was coming to an end when Jiao Hong finally pushed the door open and entered.

"Jianyang, my name is Jiao Hong, and my nickname is Danyuan. I have been famous for a long time!"

Wang Wenlong had known for a long time that Jiao Hong would come today, and he quickly raised his hands and said with a smile: "I have seen Mr. Danyuan, the junior scholar." Jiao Hong said: "I just listened to Jianyang's lectures outside the house. Many of the views are very novel. I don't know. When did Jianyang start studying the ancient history of the Qin Dynasty? "

Wang Wenlong said: "It was the time when I wrote "Shangshu Ancient Wen Shuzheng"."

Dong Qichang saw that Jiao Hong and Wang Wenlong, two scholars who were both very talented in archaeology and history, were chatting lively. He was not willing to let this opportunity go. He suggested: "It's rare for you two to meet each other, why not do it here?" If there is something wise to say in this conversation, it might become a story for the ages.”

Jiao Hong nodded and asked Wang Wenlong, "What do Jianyang think?"

"What a blessing." Wang Wenlong said with a smile.

When they heard the conversation between the three people, the scholars in the room suddenly became commotion. This was because they maintained their status as scholars, otherwise someone would have gone out to make friends.

How influential was Jiao Hong as a historian? He was the first person to write history during the entire Wanli period, and was considered by people at this time to be the person who "accumulated historical material for a generation".

Historically, Huang Zunxian's final instructions to his son Huang Zongxi before his death were: "The most important thing for scholars is to inform historical events. They can read "Xian Zheng Lu"."

In the original history, Wan Sitong, the most famous Ming historian in the Qing Dynasty, commented on all the private history books of the Ming Dynasty, from Zheng Duan's brief remarks to "Tong Shang Lun Lu", and thought that none of them could be regarded as classics, until he said "Jiao's "Xianzheng Lu" It means "this is the only thing that can be used to prepare national history."

In fact, Jiao Hong's "Guochao Xianzhenglu" not only holds a very high position in historical research on the late Ming Dynasty, but is also directly called "the crown of Ming Dynasty biographies" by future generations.

In fact, it was not until Wang Wenlong's "Shu Zheng" became popular all over the world that his academic status could be compared with Jiao Hong's. Jiao Hong's research results were based on historical books and materials.

At this time, the two of them were sitting on the lectern together, and Dong Qichang was also present, waiting to hear the conversation between the two. However, some members of the Oracle Bone Society who learned the news came to listen, and the visitors soon filled the small room. It was so full that even the corridor outside the house was full of people.

Wang Wenlong smiled and said to Jiao Hong: "Mr. Danyuan, I previously analyzed the oracle bone inscriptions by comparing historical materials. This was also learned from the research method used by Mr. when he wrote "Guochao Xianzhenglu". Mr. When writing this book, in order to collect historical materials, I not only consulted various classics, but also personally collected the epitaphs of people at that time and other materials that are usually overlooked. I find this research method very enlightening. "

Jiao Hong nodded and asked: "Jianyang has read the "Records of the National Dynasty's Offerings"?"

Wang Wenlong said: "I have benefited a lot from reading it twice."

Jiao Hong smiled and asked: "Can you see any shortcomings in my book? Please tell me."

Jiao Hong has a strange personality. He doesn't care about hearing praises from others. Instead, he likes to watch others pick on him, thinking that this is a way to correct himself.

Wang Wenlong thought for a while and replied: "Mr.'s writing is excellent, but I think there are some problems with the way you discuss history."

(End of this chapter)