I, Liu Bian, Sanxing Han Dynasty

Chapter 124 The Follow-up of Printing

"Your Highness, did this engraving and printing use the Taixue Stone Scripture?"

Liu Bian nodded: "When printing classics, it is natural to use serious methods."

In the early years, the classic books in Dongguan were damaged and the handwriting was difficult to read. Some people took advantage of their positions or paid bribes to restore the classics with private goods that were beneficial to their own doctrines.

In the fourth year of Xiping, Emperor Ling accepted the suggestions of Cai Yong and others, corrected the text of the Five Classics, erected a stone in front of Taixue, and engraved forty-six steles, including the Five Classics and the Analects of Confucius, totaling more than 200,000 words.

One hundred percent official.

At that time, Lu Zhi was also involved.

However, because he was both civil and military, he was appointed to do other things halfway.

After a while, Liu Bian handed Lu Zhi a thread-bound book that often appears in costume movies and TV dramas.

At this time, paper books imitated the usage of bamboo slips, usually in the form of scrolls. After the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the page-folding binding format came into being. Now that Liu Bian wanted to compile a book, he naturally had to do it in one step.

When Lu Zhi took a look, there were two large official scripts on the cover, which said "The Analects of Confucius", and there were two small characters on the side, which said Xiyuan.

Although the Analects of Confucius is not included in the Five Classics, it is the foundation. If he didn't feel that it was a bit inconsistent, Liu Bian would have wanted to print it in a royal bookstore.

Lu Zhi opened it and took a look. Although there were ink spots and dirty words on some characters due to his lack of technical skills, and the characters were too large, this was not the complete version of "The Analects of Confucius".

But even with so many shortcomings, Lu Zhi still liked it more and more and couldn't bear to let go of this book.

Although he has already reached a state where he does not pursue material enjoyment, he cannot achieve the goal of having no desires or desires.

Liu argued: "This Analects is the first batch of books to be written, and there are only a few copies that can be read. I specially prepared this for Master Lu as a souvenir."

"Thank you, Your Highness." Lu Zhi nodded slightly with satisfaction. He made up his mind to show off to Cai Yong and Zheng Xuan tonight, among other things.

In fact, Liu Bian originally wanted to print the "Book of Filial Piety" first. The number of words in "The Book of Filial Piety" is much less than that of The Analects of Confucius, and it can also express filial piety...

After thinking about it, I could, but it’s not necessary.

He had already passed the stage of using "The Classic of Filial Piety" to show filial piety, and then switched to "The Analects of Confucius". Up to now, all the engravings of the Analects of Confucius have not been completed!

Then he took Lu Zhi to see the printing process. Unlike official seal printing on paper, woodblock printing puts the paper on top of the woodblock and uses a soft brush to brush on the back of the paper. The speed and strength need to be controlled.

Lu Zhi said: "It doesn't seem difficult at first, but if you think about it carefully, you will find the ingenuity involved... Moreover, compiling the book into a volume is more convenient for reading than a scroll... Your Highness is so smart, it is really a great blessing for the country. !”

In Liu Bian's impression, there were only a handful of times when Lu Zhi praised him in person. Faced with this compliment, he did not express gratitude but accepted it calmly without blushing or heartbeat.

"Zuo Bo's paper is already expensive. Once this printing technology comes out, the paper in Luoyang will become even more expensive!" Lu Zhi said with emotion.

"Yes, only paper with a lower cost can make block printing valuable."

Liu Bianshun told Bi Lan: "If Bi Qing can continue to improve papermaking technology, I will not hesitate to reward him with a title."

Cai Lun, who improved papermaking technology, was able to become a marquis not because of papermaking technology, but because of the favor of Empress Dowager Deng.

After drawing a big cake, Liu Bian suggested to Lu Zhi: "You can send official documents to all the counties and counties in the world. If there is a cheap way to improve papermaking, you should reward him based on his merits." "And it's not just about papermaking." Skills, anything that benefits the country and the people are among the rewards."

Seeing Lu Zhi's approval, Liu Bian told Bi Lan: "Xiyuan can also look for more talented craftsmen, and there is no need to be stingy with money..."

Bi Lan obeyed the order and didn't mention it.

Before leaving, Lu Zhi saw an entourage dragging a cloth bag. He knew at a glance that it contained books, so he asked casually.

Liu Bian replied: "These two books are prepared for Master Zheng and Master Cai respectively."

Lu Zhi was stroking his beard for a moment, but then he thought about it. It seemed that it would not be impossible to show off to Ma Rixi and Yang Biao in the evening.

On the car ride back, Liu Bian and Lu Zhi talked about their dreams for the future.

"Nowadays, the scale of Imperial College is very large, but the schools in local counties and counties vary in quality. I thought that if we could rely on printing to unify the teaching materials and include the collection of classics, we should be able to better cultivate talents."

As early as the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, in order to promote Confucianism, there was an edict that "all counties and counties in the world should establish school officials." During the reign of Emperor Ping of the Han Dynasty, Wang Mang was in power and promoted official education. The official education located in the county was called "xue", the county was called "school", the township was called "xiang", and the village was called "xue".

After the reign of Guangwu, the official education of prefectures and states was restored after being abolished during the war. However, after more than a hundred years of actual development, coupled with the competition caused by the further rise of private schools, the development of official schools in the county now all depends on whether the county officials pay attention to it.

Even Taixue often cannot compare with those top tutors who have the right to interpret classics, let alone county schools.

At present, the only advantage of local official schools is that they are exempted from corvee and have higher taxes like Taixue. This can still attract scholars from poor families.

When Lu Zhi heard this, he immediately became interested and said: "Your Highness, although I am not as good as Zheng Kangcheng and Cai Bojie in teaching His Highness Confucian classics, I have studied the chapters and verses of "Shang Shu" and "Book of Rites" very carefully, and now " "Mao Shi", "Zuo Shi", and "Zhou Li" each have biographies, which are similar to "Spring and Autumn", so Taixue cannot use them. I feel deeply regretful every time I think about this."

Liu Bian's three formal teachers were not self-respecting people.

Lu Zhi studied under Ma Rong and belonged to the ancient literature school.

Since Dong Zhongshu, the texts passed down by Taixue doctors are all from the Jinwen school. The ancient literature school tried many times to enter Taixue, but all ended in failure.

As early as the Xiping period, Lu Zhi wrote to Emperor Ling, hoping to establish a doctorate in Taixue who could pass on the scholarship of the ancient literature school.

The person with the highest achievement in Confucian classics was undoubtedly Zheng Xuan.

Zheng Xuan studied both modern and ancient schools successively, and studied both majors, but he was more inclined to the ancient literature school.

He did not abide by the immutable restrictions of the classics, which are now regarded as the standard in Taixue. When he was commenting on the classics, he mainly used ancient texts, but also adopted modern texts, and followed the good ones.

Zheng Xuan's experience is also very inspiring. Although he had the opportunity to study scriptures when he was young, his family was poor and he had to work as a farmer to make a living. Later, he was forced to become a village official due to lack of livelihood.

It can be called the Eastern Han Dynasty version of the small town as a question maker.

In the dispute between ancient and modern literature, Liu Bian does not want to directly take a clear-cut stance for the time being. He prefers to be a freeloader first.

Of course, it is inevitable to favor some opposition schools of ancient literature. Who asked his two teachers to take a clear stand for the school of ancient literature? It was definitely not to suppress the elites of the modern literature school.

(End of this chapter)