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

Wang Wenlong said: "I learned from reading that Mr. Danyuan wrote historical materials in order to fairly evaluate the characters, so he would refer to the memorials of the biographers during their lifetimes, the public opinion in the court at that time, collect the epitaphs of relevant characters, and actually go to the local area to interview them. People's rural reviews think that this can be used as evidence, but I think that just reading these written materials is not enough."

"An evaluation of a historical figure can be made from all aspects. No one can guarantee that his or her evaluation is absolutely correct. Writing a historical biography of a figure should restore more of his actual actions at the time. In addition to investigating the person's In addition to the original intention and intention, we should also look at his actual facts.”

"Well...that's a big fallacy."

Jiao Hong curled his lips. He disagreed with Wang Wenlong's view of historical research and was very straightforward.

In studying history, what he most admires is the method of Ma Qian of the Taishi Company. When writing his own books, he also imitates Sima Qian's style. He likes to comment on historical figures and historical events from his own perspective, and he will try his best to maintain his comments. just.

He said: "If you don't make comments when writing a history book, but just list the events, how is it different from the chronology? Historians write for the sake of righteousness in the world, not to write down anecdotes."

Wang Wenlong: "Of course it is different. Some historical facts are hidden in the details. Many of the contents written by historians can be changed and blurred. As the times spread and people's hearts change, the evaluation of a historical figure will continue to change. In the long run, Only by looking at actual historical facts can we restore the true appearance of historical figures.”

Wang Wenlong gave an example: "For example, when it comes to historians, I am afraid that no one is more impartial than Tai Shigong. However, as long as you look at the excavation of oracle bones in Anyang, you will know that many records in "Historical Records" are wrong. It can be seen that light is inevitable in making arguments about characters." It will cause historical distortion, and even Tai Shigong is unavoidable."

Jiao Hong frowned and said, "Did Tai Shigong write it wrong?"

Wang Wenlong nodded and said: "I remembered some places incorrectly, and there are many things I didn't write down at all."

Jiao Hong said: "Jianyang, can you give me an example?"

Wang Wenlong said: "We found a piece of oracle bone, which records that in the year of Xin Si, Fuhao gathered 3,000 people, and Shang King Wuding gathered 10,000 people to attack the Qiang together. It can be seen that Fuhao, the queen of Shang King Wuding, should also be a tribal leader. And she has considerable strength. In addition to being a queen, she also has the ability to lead an army. If you only look at history books, there will be no place to check this matter. "

Fu Hao's tomb has not been dug out at this time, but Wu Ding lived a very long life and served as King of Shang for forty or fifty years. There are a large number of records of Wu Ding's life in the oracle bones of the Yin Ruins. The identity and background of the queen Fu Hao are included in these life records. It’s also becoming clearer.

Scholars discovered that this queen, who left almost no words in the history books, was not only Wu Ding's wife, but also a female clan leader, and her military strength could almost compete with Wu Ding's most powerful princes.

Fu Hao even personally led the troops on expeditions. According to some oracles, her status was almost equivalent to that of a general.

The scholars of the Oracle Bone Society became more and more surprised as they looked at each of these incidents. If purely based on status, it can be said that the prestige of Fu Hao in the Wu Ding Dynasty was probably higher than that of Fu Shuo, the virtuous prime minister who was praised by the world.

"This historical data is indeed interesting." Jiao Hong was also very surprised when he heard Wang Wenlong talk about the history of women's marriage. It was difficult for people in the Ming Dynasty to imagine that these multiple identities of being a queen, a female general, and a great prince were combined in one woman. But then Jiao Hong shook his head and said: "The unrecorded parts of history are also very important in Tai Shigong's method of compiling history. If we, the compilation of history, encounter such historical materials that have not been written by our predecessors, we will also I will add it to the history book after analysis, and these contents do not conflict with Tai Shigong's method of compiling history. "

Wang Wenlong thought about it and then said: "Then there is another example. Tai Shigong records that Pan Geng moved the capital to the Yin region. The Huan River flows out from the Taihang Mountains and flows eastward into the ancient Yellow River. The two sides of the ancient Yellow River are the Yin region. We plan to call this place the Yin Ruins. It is also because of this But actually from the oracle bones, the place name "Yin" appeared in the oracle bones of merchants, but they were all written as "Yi". The merchants did not call this place "Yin", but called it "Dayi". business'."

Jiao Hong said in surprise: "Businessmen really don't call themselves Yin Shang?"

Wang Wenlong nodded: "Yin Shang may be the name of the Zhou people for the merchants in Dayi. The merchants themselves would not call them that. This is a recording error. Even if Tai Shigong used the Zhou people's records, there is still such a mistake. Mr. Dan Yuan always Isn’t it time to admit that the past methods of compiling history are inevitably biased?”

Wang Wenlong's statement is already vague. In fact, the people of the Zhou Dynasty changed the name "Dayi Shang" with the meaning of the capital to "Yin Shang" more likely to weaken the legitimacy of the Shang Dynasty. If so, this is an act of historical deletion that the Zhou Dynasty people painstakingly carried out. Of course, no information will be left for future generations.

He continued: "If the original historical data has been modified, no matter how hard people search for historical records, they will not be able to restore the truth. In this case, the only way is to use archaeological methods to dig out actual cultural relics and use a large number of historical facts to communicate with each other. Only through verification can we analyze and identify the true history.”

Jiao Hong was somewhat convinced, but then he felt that his view of history should be adhered to. What he admired was a set of historian traditions passed down from ancient times in China. In addition to recording history, this tradition was actually a means of regulating the words and deeds of emperors.

Ancient Chinese historians such as Sima Qian and Jiao Hong believed that a good historian should be one who "must write when the emperor succeeds". The best situation should be as recorded in the "Book of Rites", where the emperor should have two historians on his left and right. The emperor was surrounded by history, and the emperor's "moves were left to the history books, and his words were the history books." Everything the emperor said or slapped must be clearly recorded in history. With such a straight-line historian, the emperor would not dare to do things randomly.

However, which emperor in history really wanted to be monitored all day long?
Not only were many things not allowed to be recorded, but every emperor would praise himself, cover up evil and promote good, and would deliberately let historians make up some content to praise himself.

In the view of historians like Jiao Hong, at this time, there must be historians who "tell the truth directly and do not cover up its flaws" to confront the imperial power.

In this confrontation, the power to praise and criticize history is actually an important weapon for historians. The emperor can kill me, but I can scold the emperor in the history books. This is the historian's only self-defense weapon.

Although the historical research method advocated by Wang Wenlong can better study history, it is not conducive to the battle of historians.

In Wang Wenlong's opinion, the kind of historian's thought advocated by Jiao Hong was only suitable for small countries in the Spring and Autumn Period. At that time, the princes had little power. If the whole world, including people from other princely countries, scolded him, it would really create some pressure from public opinion.

In this era, the productivity has long been different. Not to mention the Ming Dynasty, even the small countries in Europe are no longer afraid of public opinion attacks. Emperor Wanli is not even afraid of the world's common petition. The historian wants to fight against the imperial power with his own pen. He really thinks too much. , it is better to make the view of history scientific as soon as possible to facilitate historical research. (End of chapter)