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

Yang Sichang was considered to be one of the capable officials in the late Ming Dynasty in later generations, but his other identity is rarely mentioned, that is, Yang Sichang was a highly productive writer in the late Ming Dynasty.

Yang Sichang's works focused on poetry and anthologies, and unlike the popular collections of literati at this time, Yang Sichang's anthologies focused on practicality, and even had the meaning of professional papers of later generations.

For example, his "Wuling Racing Strategy" is a monograph on the tradition of dragon boat racing. It compares the scenes and customs of dragon boat racing in Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong, Fujian and other places, and even analyzes these customs and local people and history from all aspects Relationship.

Another example is his "Collection of Local Officials", which is a collection of essays he wrote while serving in the Ministry of Household Affairs after he passed the Jinshi examination. This book writes down all his experiences and thoughts in financial management in the Ministry of Household Affairs. Before Emperor Chongzhen ascended the throne, he read "Collection of Local Officials" and used this book to understand how the country's finances were operated.

So don’t think that the literati of the Ming Dynasty only talked about human nature. Yang Sichang studied practical studies, and he already had some social science research ideas.

"Methodology of Exegetical Studies" is a monograph that explains the research of exegesis from an operational aspect. The other articles attached by Wang Wenlong later are also papers on almost all aspects of textual criticism. They are very practical and scientific. They are really too It suits Yang Sichang's taste.

After flipping through a few pages, Yang Sichang became more and more excited, and finally gritted his teeth and said, "I bought this book."

After returning to the inn with the letter in his arms, Yang Sichang had no intention of sleeping. He directly lit the oil lamp and started reading. The more he read, the more energetic he became.

When the room turned dark, Yang Sichang rubbed his eyes and raised his head, only to realize that his boy had already fallen asleep and the oil in the oil-saving lamp had dried up.

Yang Sichang rubbed his sore eyes and felt that Wang Wenlong's book was very well written.

The first reason is that Wang Wenlong's argument is indeed very good. "Methodology of Exegesis" describes the future of exegesis as a primary school from all aspects, and it is definitely a pioneering work.

The second reason is Wang Wenlong's way of writing. "Methodology of Exegesis" is full of logic and empirical spirit, and all deductions are targeted. It is unique among works of this era.

This book by Wang Wenlong is very in line with the development direction of the times at this time.

During the Wanli period, various schools of Confucianism criticized the practice of casual conversation. Some people think that this is a problem inherited from Yangming's theory of mind. Some people think that this is because too much Buddhist thought has penetrated into Confucian thinking. Some people even trace their roots to Zhu Xi and think that Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism is the culprit that led Confucianism to high-minded talk. .

Wang Wenlong's "Methodology of Exegesis" did not participate in these discussions, but directly gave a solution: since no one is convinced by the other, let's use textual research to see what the Confucian classics of the year actually said.

If you really have no interest in Confucian learning and cannot go on to college, you can still go to elementary school. In addition to the Four Books and Five Classics, there are so many ancient Chinese books that you can study.

In addition, "Methodology of Exegesis" has also inspired many other scholars who study. Wang Wenlong showed in the book that the method of exegesis can be found through logic, and Jiao Hong also showed that the method of studying history books can be used through logical science. Can that be done? Also use scientific methods to find out how to write articles, how to make paintings, and how to study phonology?

Yang Sichang is a very perceptive scholar. During the reading process, he has gradually discovered the above advantages of this book, and the more he thinks about it, the more he feels that this book has landmark significance.

Yang Zhudu, Hunan Official Bookstore.

Yang Sichang was led by a book clerk to the room of the bookstore manager.

The officer held Luo Sigong's letter in his hand and asked strangely: "More than ten days have passed since Luo Qianhu said hello, why did Yang Xiaoyou come today?"

Yang Sichang said embarrassedly: "I made temporary changes to the manuscript in the inn, so it was delayed for a few days." "Revised the manuscript?" The officer asked, "Isn't Xiaoyou Yang's manuscript already written?"

"The manuscripts I wrote before always lacked some flavor. After reading Wang Jianyang's book recently, I suddenly realized that I could add some commentary to the prose in the past, so I added it again."

After reading "Methodology of Exegesis", Yang Sichang thought about it and finally decided to revise his manuscript.

Wang Wenlong's research methods inspired him. He felt that the folklore prose he wrote was too superficial. He could add some analysis of the sources of these folklore after the folklore prose he described, so that the book would be more readable. will be stronger.

This is also Yang Sichang's first time publishing a book, and he doesn't know what the positioning of his books is.

He spent more than ten days revising it, and what was originally a collection of essays was almost turned into a sociological research monograph.

In fact, the essential reason is that Yang Sichang felt that Wang Wenlong's writing was too good. After reading Wang Wenlong's book, he felt that he couldn't use it when he read his "The Wilderness's Green Shoes Collection". Unconfident, he repeated his own good writing. Revise.

While Yang Sichang was busy revising his collection of essays, "Methodology of Exegetical Studies" was also sold in the South.

There is no need to do too much publicity, Wang Wenlong's name is a living sign.

The consumer group of this kind of book is the intellectual class, so the sales volume is destined not to be very large, but because it is signed by Wang Wenlong, most knowledgeable people will pick it up and read it.

Even rare book patrons on docks in various places would put a set of "Methodology of Exegesis" in their book boxes. Because of Wang Wenlong's name, this kind of book could actually be sold in places like docks.

Chen Yuanzao, who was catching a ship in Nanjing at the moment, found a set of "Methodology of Exegesis" at a bookstore selling books next to the pier. He was very surprised: "This set of books was sold to Jiangnan so quickly? I thought I had left Fujian. I’ve never had a chance to see this book again!”

Chen Yuanzao was from Putian and was also a well-known celebrity, calligrapher and painter in Fujian.

Chen Yuanzao passed the Juren examination more than ten years ago, but failed several times. This year, he simply used connections and got a county school education position with the title of Juren, but the place was relatively far away, in Xi'an Prefecture. Pucheng County.

Chen Yuanzao's grandfather had been a royal censor, but his family did not have much money, so he socialized with others and went about his life in Putian.

It would be better to spend all the money and become an official in Xi'an, and continue to prepare for the imperial examination while serving as a county magistrate. These days, candidates from Fujian need to go to the capital to take the exam, which costs a lot of money. For example, Chen Yuanzao did not participate in this year's exam because he could not bear the travel expenses. If he were an official in Xi'an, the cost of traveling from Xi'an to the capital for the exam would be much less.

Even if Chen Yuanzao fails to pass the exam, he still thinks it is worth it. After all, he can serve as an official for one term.

Chen Yuanzao really has a moral pursuit. He is a very simple man who hates evil and feels that only by being an official can he do things. For him, this is a way to realize the value of life.

Chen Yuanzao didn't have much money with him, but after asking about the price, he took out three taels of silver and bought the "Methodology of Exegesis" without saying a word.

At this time, the ship had not arrived yet, so Chen Yuanzao found a shaded spot next to the pier, put his luggage on the ground, sat down against the tree trunk, pulled out the first volume of "Methodology of Exegesis" and started reading by himself. (End of chapter)