The Compilation of the Complete Library in Four Branches of Literature (Volume 1) [1 ed.] 9789814332767, 9789814332231

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The Compilation of The Complete Library in The Four Branches of Literature Volume 1 This series provides an overview of the comprehensive research on the unprecedented compilation process of The Four Branches of Literature with a considerable amount of historical documents. The Compilation of the Complete Library in the Four Branches of Literature, Volume 1 begins with the political, socioeconomical, and academic development that fuelled the two decades of compilation. This book examines the collection, transcription, revision, storage, and review of the Four Branches. It introduces the organization of the Editorial Office, the architecture and operation of the imperial libraries. It discusses the impact of literary inquisition and persecution on the compilation process.

Huang Aiping holds a Ph.D. in History from the Qing Dynasty History Research Institute at the Renmin University of China. Currently, she is a Professor and Doctoral Supervisor at the Institute of Qing Dynasty History, School of History, the Renmin University of China. She also serves as a member of the Historical Subject Team of the 15th Planning of Philosophy and Social Science Committee of Beijing. Dr. Huang has published 10 books and over 100 articles. Her representative works include research on the Compilation of the Complete Library in the Four Branches of Literature, Academia and Culture of the Qing Dynasty (co-authored), China and the World in the 18th century: Ideas and Culture, A History of Academia and Culture of Qing Dynasty (co-authored), and Textology and Qing Dynasty Society.

The Compilation of The Complete Library in The Four Branches of Literature Volume 1

Illustrates the Compilation of Chinese Classics

260mm

187mm

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The Compilation of The Complete Library in The Four Branches of Literature Volume 1

Huang Aiping

Chinese Historical Studies

Huang Aiping

Published by Enrich Professional Publishing (S) Private Limited 16L, Enterprise Road, Singapore 627660 Website: www.enrichprofessional.com A Member of Enrich Culture Group Limited Hong Kong Head Office: 2/F, Rays Industrial Building, 71 Hung To Road, Kwun Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China China Office: Rm 1800, Building C, Central Valley, 16 Hai Dian Zhong Jie, Haidian District, Beijing United States Office: PO Box 30812, Honolulu, HI 96820, USA Trademarks: SILKROAD PRESS and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of Enrich Professional Publishing (S) Private Limited and/or its affiliates in Singapore and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. English edition © 2013 by Enrich Professional Publishing (S) Private Limited Chinese original edition © 2000 China Renmin University Press Translated by Ji Yueyue Edited by Glenn Griffith and Phoebe Wai All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without prior written permission from the Publisher. ISBN (Hardback) ISBN (ebook)

978-981-4332-23-1 978-981-4332-76-7 (pdf) 978-981-4332-77-4 (epub)

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Preface

vii

Chapter 1  The Background and the Causes of the Compilation of

The Complete Library in Four Branches of Literature 1

Chapter 2 The Establishment of the Editorial Office of The Four Branches of Literature and

the Unprecedented Collection of books

13

Chapter 3 Literary Inquisition of Forbidden Books and Literary Persecution

27

Chapter 4 The Organization of the Editorial Office and

the Compilation of The Four Branches of Literature 57

Chapter 5 The Transcription and Revision of the Duplicates of

The Four Branches of Literature

77

Chapter 6 The Storage and Perusal of The Four Branches of Literature

89

Chapter 7 The Rectification and Reexamination of The Four Branches of Literature 103

Contents

Notes

119

Glossary

133

References

143

Index

151

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This work is the doctoral thesis of Huang Aiping. Ms. Huang received her tertiary education in the Department of Chinese Language and Literature of Beijing University where she specialized in ancient classics. She is equipped with a solid knowledge of textual analysis and historical inquiry. After graduating with excellent grades at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels in 1982 and 1985, respectively, she pursued her study of the academic and ideological history of the Qing Dynasty under the guidance of notable historian, Professor Dai Yi. Professor Dai Yi, an expert on the Qing Dynasty, has been the teacher of both Huang and I. My discussions with Professor Dai and the author benefited me greatly during my study. Zhuge Liang, one of the most famous intellectuals in ancient China, emphasized the importance of developing good character in the pursuit of knowledge. He believed that people could not “demonstrate their determination and aspire [to] their goals without a modest mind. Therefore, learning requires a pure mind.” This described Ms. Huang as she has proved herself a qualified scholar through the publication of several journal articles during her years of study for her master ’s degree. These publications included “Wang Hungxu and the Compilation of the History of Ming Dynasty ,” “Wan Sitong and the Compilation of the History of Ming Dynasty ,” “An Exegesis over the draft of the History of Ming Dynasty ,” as well as her insightful master ’s thesis The Academic Research of Wang Niansun and His Son Wang Yingzhi . Ms. Huang received unanimous praise from experts during her oral defense of her master’s degree for the presentation of her profound knowledge. Ms. Huang confirmed her research topic, the subject of this book, through the help of Professor Dai Yi. The professor found that the academic circle lacked a systematic discussion on the compilation of The Complete Library of the Four Branches of Literature . Ms. Huang managed to complete the difficult task of writing a book on this subject and she even managed to surpass the achievements of past scholars. This work of Huang Aiping presents a comprehensive, concrete, and indepth overview of the two decades’ compilation of The Complete Library of the Four Branches of Literature . Volume One describes the background and the causes of the compilation in the terms of academic and political changes in the era. It also describes the organization and structure of the Editorial Office and the carefully constructed Seven Libraries. In addition, it discusses the collection,

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review, and rectification of the books, demonstrating the effort of the officials to give birth to such an unprecedented encyclopedia. Most importantly, Ms. Huang attempts to provide a two-sided argument of both the brilliant achievement of the Qing rulers, as well as the dark side of the compilation—the prolonged literary inquisition. Throughout these seven chapters, Ms. Huang clearly shows her profound skill in making her arguments and conducting textual research. In writing this book, Ms. Huang relied on a considerable amount of historical documents. These included Records of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature, Documents of the Literary Persecution of the Qing Dynasty , and, most notably, the unpublished Documents of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature recently edited by the First Historical Archive of China. Ms. Huang’s careful use and thorough review of historical sources not only enriches this work with a more convincing argument, but it also helps to clarify the obscure concepts which have long eluded scholars’ understanding of the compilation. Through the careful analysis of the materials, Ms. Huang successfully estimated the number of books suppressed, and explained the process of book storage and the completion date of the compilation. Another breakthrough of this work is the presentation of an objective argument. Unlike scholars in the past, Ms. Huang makes the case that the compilation was not the result of just the Emperor ’s willingness but, rather, that it was a reaction of early Qing scholars against the abstract intellectual atmosphere of the era. Additionally, the compilation served the purpose of the establishment of a collection of Confucian Classics which furthered socioeconomic development during the first century of the Manchu era. The author also presents a balanced evaluation on the compilation of the encyclopedia. While affirming the significance of the compilation in preserving books and promoting traditional culture, she also reveals the catastrophe of literary inquisition in removing ancient articles and persecuting a host of scholars. I sincerely wish Ms. Huang enormous success, and I am looking forward for her future work in the field of ideological history.

Wang Junyi Tranquil Garden People’s University of China April 1988

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1

Chapter

The Background and the Causes of the Compilation of The Complete Library in Four Branches of Literature

The Compilation of the Complete Library in the Four Branches of Literature

The Stability and Development of Society, Politics, and Economy in Eighteenth Century China The Manchu occupation of China began with the conquest of Beijing in 1644, followed by the suppression of the peasant uprisings and the Nanming court. Its control over the two major river basins—the Yellow River and the Yangtze— was confirmed, but to stabilize the newly-established regime the Manchu extended their power to the southern and eastern peripheries through subduing the rebel satraps of the Three Feudatories, and the remnants of the Nanming court in Taiwan. Completed during the reign of the first three emperors— Shunzhi (1643–1661), Kangxi (1661–1722), and Yongzheng (1722–1735), these military achievements laid the foundation for the climax of national strength in the reign of Emperor Qianlong (1736–1795). A stable political environment and national unity were the symbols of economic prosperity. Being the racial minority, the primary concern of the Manchu was to maintain its domination over the Hans and other racial groups, but surprisingly, the first target of the Qing emperors was their Manchu counterparts. The Council of Princes and Ministers, which was jointly presided over by the emperor and the leaders of the Eight Banners, had been the de facto rulers ever since the rise of the Manchu. Unwilling to share their power with other princes in the council, the emperors endowed greater power to several personal and less formal institutions, such as the South Study and the Grand Council. The Grand Secretariat, which had been the chief central organ of the Ming government, was established to remove the Han’s suspicion towards the new regime. To further consolidate the imperial power, ministers were forbidden from forming cliques, while princes were prohibited from participating in confidential affairs. These strict measures effectively sheltered the regime from court disturbance by chief ministers, eunuchs, the Empress Dowager and her relatives, which had long plagued the previous dynasties. The height of centralization of the imperial power reached during the reign of Emperor Qianlong, as evidenced from the abolition of the Council of Princes and Ministers. By deciding and handling almost all national affairs by himself until his retiring age, the Emperor successfully reinforced the imperial power. His determination was clearly stated in the Veritable Records of Qing Gaozhong : “All executive and personnel affairs must be placed under the imperial subjugation. Even trusted confidants could not have the right to usurp his majesty’s power.” 1 The attention shifted outside the Great Wall after the successful centralization

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The Background and the Causes of the Compilation

of power. The signing of the Treaty of Nibuzhu and the Treaty of Kiakhta during the reigns of Emperors Kangxi and Yongzheng effectively delineated the SinoRussian boundary along the River Kiakhta, emphasized the bilateral diplomatic relationship, and checked the southern expansion of Russia. Meanwhile in the northwest border, the Qing government suppressed the revolt of the Elute Junggar, a branch of the Mongolians in China, and the Muslim tribes “Hezhuo,” as well as repelled the Gurkha invasion of Tibet. A “carrot and stick policy”— namely “rectifying its religion without changing its custom, while governing its politics without amending its righteousness”—was tailored in accordance to the characteristics of the ethnic groups. Together with the government’s master plan to develop the economy of western China, the Qing domination over the ethnic minorities and a united multi-racial empire were thus assured. T h e re i g n o f E m p e ro r Q i a n l o n g w i t n e s s e d n o t o n l y t h e h e i g h t o f centralization and military strength, but also the economic prosperity, as the Emperor continued to implement the economic measures of his predecessors. The Encouragement of cultivation of abandoned land, the improvement in irrigation system, the construction of seawalls to regulate flooding, and the extensive tax exemption relieved people’s plight and increased the agricultural productivity, by making both a double in population and a 1.5 times expansion in arable land. With the increase in peasants’ income and purchasing power, the handicraft industry recovered and flourished. Numerous workshops of metallurgy, textiles, and porcelain production emerged; scale of production expanded; types of products diversified; quality of production tools improved; volume of rural-urban trade increased; and amount of currency in circulation soared. Rural markets and industrial-commercial cities scattered across the empire, building an extensive business network and strengthening the economic ties among the places. To conclude, it was the stability and prosperity of the 18th century China that created a strong financial foundation, cultivating the splendor intellectual activities of the Qing Dynasty.

Transformation of Intellectual Climate and Change of Cultural Policy between the Ming and Qing Dynasties The transitional period of the Ming and Qing Dynasty saw the beginning of an entirely new intellectual school—The School of Empirical Studies (also the School of Textual Analysis). Textual analysis had traditionally adopted by scholars in studying the classics, as they believed that interpreting the

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The Compilation of the Complete Library in the Four Branches of Literature

meaning of every words would be the prerequisite of understanding the great ideologies of the ancient sages. This method of studying revived in between the Ming and Qing Dynasties and emerged as a specific school, dominating the intellectual trend of the dynasty until the dissemination of the western learning. The transformation of intellectual climate could both be explained by both the academic and political factors. Prior to the rise of the school of textual analysis was “the age of NeoConfucianism,” which had lasted for six centuries—from the Song to Ming Dynasty. Though entitled as “Confucianism,” it had a sharp contrast the both the original Confucianism promoted by Confucius and Mencius, as well as the Confucianism in the Han Dynasty (also known as Sinology), for its promotion of absolute loyalty to the ruler and patriotism, which was not so encouraged by the great masters; for its adoption of the Daoist terminology in explaining the Confucian classics; and for its introduction of the Buddhist cogitative approach to self-cultivation. Soon after the emergence of this varied philosophy, it split into two schools. The school of the Cheng brothers and Zhu Xi caught the rulers’ fancy, for its guarantee obedience and loyalty of their subject people; while the school of Lu Jiuyuan was more popular to the scholars, for its acknowledgement of the usefulness of “mind” in shaping one’s good characteristics. The school of Lu was further popularized by the great Confucian Wang Yangming in the Ming Dynasty. As self-cultivation through exploring one’s mind was the most important task for learners, scholars thus needed not to study the Confucian classics word by word. The method of textual analysis upheld by the Sinologues was soon replaced by the abstract and metaphysical learning, and this phenomenon was well-described by a famous quotation “[scholars] packed their books away and engaged in empty talk without [a] theoretical basis.” Prevailed for more than six centuries, the Neo-Confucianism proved itself to be an effective device to create a stable society, but this school of philosophy could no longer appeal to the Han intellectuals in the early Qing, who attributed the moral degradation of the scholars and the downfall of the Ming Dynasty to their indulgence in empty talk. The Han intellectuals refused to serve the aliens, but they were also helpless and hopeless to expel the barbarians and to restore the Ming Dynasty, therefore the only thing they could do was to figure out a solution to reform the unhealthy learning atmosphere, which they latter saw the hope in the School of Textual Analysis. It should be noticed that “textual analysis” was not an ideology, but merely a method of learning for achieving a higher aim—“the learning of knowledge with [the] practical use to society.” Pragmatic learning was first suggested by Gu Yanwu, one of the most wellknown scholars during the transitional period. He launched a violent attack on

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The Background and the Causes of the Compilation

the late Ming intellectual trend, expressing his determination “to deliver people from misery and to bring peace to later generations,”2 and advocating “[scholars have to] broaden their intellectual horizon and behave with shame and humbleness”3 in his articles. Another contribution of Gu was to reconcile the differences between Neo-Confucianism and Sinology by promoting the learning in Classics, Phonetics, History, and Geography, as he believed “Analyzing texts is the antecedent of studying classics; Understanding the phonetics is the prerequisite of analyzing texts. Therefore, without classical learning, there can be no study of philosophic principles.”4 In addition to Gu, a considerable number of scholars also contributed to the transformation in intellectual climate. To name a few, Hu Wei disproved that The Diagrams of the River Chart and The Luo Writing , two of the ancient geomantic classics, were not the original texts of The Book of Changes as publicized by the Neo-Confucians. It was merely a fabrication by a Daoist Chen Tuan in the Five Dynasties Period. Commentary According to the Evidence on the Book of History in the Ancient Text of Yan Ruoqu also proved that The Ancient Text of the Book of History , regarded as a classic for Confucians, was also an unauthentic work by later generations. These elites were the pioneers of the establishment of the School of Empirical Studies. The development of the School reached its climax during the reign of Emperor Qianlong as it was the wealthiest time of the Qing Dynasty. Learning flourished especially in affluent and extravagant areas such as Beijing and the Lower Yangtze, which was symbolized by the establishment of colleges and the presence of numerous scholars. Suzhou, one of the most prosper area in the Lower Yangtze, soon became the breeding ground for the new learning groups. Represented by Hui Dong, the Suzhou Group rigorously advocated the learning of Sinology through textual analysis. To Hui, the focus of Sinology (The tradition of the Confucians in the Han Dynasties) was closer to the teaching of the Great Master Confucius than the metaphysical Neo-Confucianism. Therefore, he highlighted the importance of learning from Confucian teachers to prevent misunderstanding the ancient quotations, saying that “Ancient words and sentences could not be understood without Confucian teachers. [Consequently,] ancient mottos could not be amended, and Confucian teachers could not be deposed.” 5 Under the influence of the Suzhou group, scholars devoted themselves in studying the texts, producing exegetical works, as well as editing and compiling ancient books. Another group of the School of Empirical Studies emerged simultaneous with the Suzhou group. Represented by Da Zhen, scholars belonging to the Anhui group suggested a broader sense of learning instead of following the footsteps of the predecessors as promoted

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by the Suzhou group. To develop critical thinking one must always be skeptical towards the content of the classics, and even to conduct textual analysis when necessary. It was dangerous to blindly follow the footsteps of the predecessors like the pedantic scholars of the Suzhou groups, who firmly believed “that which is ancient must be authentic and that which is of the Han must be good.”6 The changing learning focus of the scholars in the transition period was obviously the main cause of the emergence of the School of Empirical Studies, but the cultural policy of the Manchu government also contributed to the transformation of the intellectual climate. The rulers’ suspicious and skeptical attitudes towards the Han elites, who could create ideological tides to shake people’s loyalty towards the regime, caused them to initiate large-scale literary persecution to scholars whoever demonstrated their support to the Ming Dynasty or resentment towards the new regime. The reign of Emperor Qianlong once again witnessed the height of the dynasty, which was the frequency of literary persecution. Imprisonment or death penalty to the writer was already a lenient punishment, for the large-scale persecution had the family members, relatives, friends, readers, book merchants, and even copyists involved. Several of the scholars were even labeled with groundless charges. Under the threat of the ruthless suppressions, the scholars were too scared to continue the study concerning the society as advocated by the early masters. On the contrary, they hid themselves in the study of ancient classics, analyzed the pronunciation and meaning of words, and edited the texts, hoping to escape from the reality of court and social affairs. This was the political circumstance for the emergence of the large-scale compilation activity, such as the compilation of The Complete Library in Four Branches of Literature , for studying ancient texts involved less in commenting current affairs. Large-scale and successful compilation could not be made possible with only a group of scared scholars, but also the effort of the scholars who were willing to devote themselves in such academic activity. The clever Manchu rulers had already realized the ineffectiveness of the “iron and blood” policy over the Hans, for their troops were strong enough to conquer any territory, but not the mind of the Hans, especially the Ming remnants in the Lower Yangtze. To rule by “culture” instead of to rule by force should be practiced instead. Therefore, they expressed respectfulness towards the great Confucian philosophers including Confucius, Mencius, the Cheng brothers and Zhu Xi; they raised the ranking of Zhu as comparable to the ten most excellent students of Confucius; they called for compilation of The Complete Works of Master Zhu ; they granted special honor to Neo-Confucianism officials, and they even upheld NeoConfucianism as the state orthodox ideology, though it was no longer appealed

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The Background and the Causes of the Compilation

to scholars by the time, for they found the method of empirical studies more useful to understand the thought of the sages, as well as to shelter them from literary persecution. The emergence of textual analysis, because of the self-reflection from the scholars, was compounded by the promotion of compilation activities by the Manchu rulers. Desired to locate and remove any anti-barbarian regime content from the ancient books and to keep scholars busy from participating in any rebellious movements, early emperors took the leading role in organizing study groups, editing the Thirteen Confucian Classics, the Twenty-one Histories, The Postscript of the Comprehensive Mirror , and the Three Comprehensive Encyclopedia , and also compiling The Collection of the Ancient and Current Books . Their affirmation to the usefulness of the School of Textual Analysis in “conducting researches over the ancient systems, explaining the ideas of the ancient annotations and exegeses, and reconciling the ideas of other philosophical schools”7 successfully disarmed the suspicion of the Han officials. Up to now, one could see that Sinology triumphed in the intellectual circle, becoming the “sound learning” by the time. It was partly because of its concrete nature of learning, and partly because of the absence of competing ideologies. Neo-Confucianism was unpopular to scholars not eager to join the government through the civil examination. Capitalism might have been implanted in the Chinese economy and society since the Ming Dynasty, but it was not yet flourished in Qing society. Western science and philosophy introduced by the Jesuits were only influential among the upper classes and too weak to change the fundamental structure of the traditional Chinese culture. Sinology remained the only choice for the scholars and consequently, they adopted the methodology of Sinology, devoting themselves in studying ancient quotations and turning a deaf ear to the reality. This change in intellectual atmosphere equipped scholars to participate in the latter compilation projects.

History of Collecting and Compilation of Books and the Advocate of Confucian Collection in between Late Ming and Early Qing Dynasty Being the rulers of such a historical and culturally-flourished empire, the Chinese emperors always desired to present their achievements not only in military aspect, but also the cultural side. Among the measures of the cultural policy, the most commonly adopted and effective way was to search for classics and compiling the books as encyclopedia. It was not a new invention of the Manchu rulers, but a tradition traceable back in the ancient time.

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The deeds of historians in ancient China are still unknown, but scholars generally affirmed the tradition of writing of history of the court affairs, for they found pieces of evidence in historical accounts about the titles of ancient history classics, such as The Tombs of the Three Kings, The Canon of the Five Emperors, The Book of the Eight Divine Symbols , and The Book of the Nine Continents . And ever since the Zhou Dynasty, official historians were employed for recording activities of the emperors and the court. The tradition of writing history did not cease with the barbarian invasion in the later Zhou Dynasty (widely known as the combined period of “Spring and Autumn” and “Warring-States”), which was the epoch of political chaos but also the golden age of Chinese philosophy. The decline of the royal family freed education from court monopoly, enabling commoners to participate in intellectual movements. Hundreds of scholars travelled around the nation, evangelizing the solution to the disturbance. They or their fellows recorded their thoughts in bamboo-made books, which most of them were upheld as classics by the later generations. Among the philosophies, Legalism triumphed because its pragmatic doctrines—to strengthen the army and to enrich the country—suited the warlords. With Legalism as the guiding principle, the State of Qin successfully ended the hundred-year chaos and created the first united Chinese Empire. However, it was soon overthrown by peasants resenting towards the oppressive and legalist rule of the government. Rulers of the Han Dynasty, the successor of the Qin Dynasty, learnt the historical lesson and governed the empire in a more lenient way. According to the principle of ideological control of Legalism, no private collection of classics had been allowed in the Qin Dynasty, but this law was abolished by Emperor Hui (211–188 BC). Large-scale collection of book was implemented and donation of books was encouraged. Intellectual activities were further promoted after Confucianism was granted the status as the state orthodox ideology by Emperor Wu (156–87 BC). Orders were issued by Emperor Cheng (51–7 BC) to edit and manage the royal book collection. The project, completed with the brilliant effort of Liu Xiang and his son Liu Xin, had become a model for editorial work for latter generations. It seems that in ancient China, the more chaotic of the politics, the more flourishing of the intellectual activities. Similar to the Warring-States Period, another golden age of cultural splendor was reached followed by the dissolution of the Han Empire and the frequent outbreak of wars during the 3rd to 6th centuries. Zheng Mo of Wei Dynasty compiled The Canon of Mean ; Xun Xu of Jin Dynasty introduced the four classification methods of classics in his work The New Account . The most notable figure was Li Chong of EasternJin Dynasty, for his simplification and revision of the method of categorization,

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and his confirmation of the four categories of Classics, History, Philosophy and Literature. This method of categorization was later adopted in the compiling of The Four Branches of Literature . After the end the era of disunity, Emperor Wen (541–604) of the Sui Dynasty attempted to restore a centralized cultural and intellectual activity. Niu Hong, the Library Secretary, proposed to the emperor for the collection of books by exchanging pieces of silk with the commoners with books, which would be returned after the government finished copyediting. Having witnessed the effectiveness of this policy in fuelling publics’ enthusiasm in the donation of books, the succeeding rulers of the Tang Dynasty went a further step to collect books, which were edited by expert librarians. Encyclopedias such as the two hundred volumes of Records of the Four Branches of Books, Duplicates of the Northern Hall, Directory Records of Art and Literature, Records of Early Learnin g and others were published. The emperors of the Song Dynasty also followed the footsteps of the previous monarchs in collecting books. Books were collected from the public with reward granted, the imperial library Chong Wen Institute was reconstructed, and encyclopedias such as The Catalogue of Chong Wen, The Catalogue of Rare Books, The Taiping Extensive Records, The Taiping Imperial Encyclopedia , and The Prime Tortoise of the Record Bureau were compiled. The invention and the popularization of woodblock printing further facilitated the intellectual activities. The Yuan Dynasty of the Mongols was notorious for its discrimination on Han intellectuals, but under the advocate of several enlightened rulers and ministers, the collection of books did not came to a halt. Advised by Minister Yelu Chucai, Ogodei Khan (1186–1241) established institutes in Pingyang to compile classics. After the occupation of the Chinese territory, Kublai Khan (1215–1294) appointed ministers to collect books from the Song Institutes, storing and reprinting them in the Capital. The compilation of The Histories of Song, Liao and Jin Dynasties was also finished during the reign of Emperor Shun (1320–1370). Official collections and compilations reached a new stage in the Ming Dynasty. After expelling the Mongols and recapturing their capital Beijing, Zhu Yuanzhang, who later became the Emperor Hongwu of Ming Dynasty, ordered to preserve the books in the Beijing palace. During the reign of Emperor Yongle, both the capital and the imperial collections were relocated from Nanjing to Beijing. To expand the imperial collection the Emperor ordered the collection of books from the public at any cost and the compilation of The Yongle Encyclopedia , the largest general encyclopedia throughout the Chinese history for the inclusion of 7,000 titles.

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The Manchu rulers, who desired to present themselves as civilized and literate, followed the Han tradition of compiling books. Despite the fact that the Manchu armies was still raging war with the Ming remnant in the Lower Yangtze, the compilation of The History of Ming had already started. Scholars had only collected a mere-sum of historical sources in the early period, and it was not until the reign of Emperor Kangxi did the project start. It was completed in the reign of Yongzheng and published in the reign of Qianlong. By inviting Han scholars to participate in the compilation projects, the Manchu rulers successfully disarmed the antagonism and suspicion of the intellectuals. Moreover, scholars acquired experience in large-scale compilation of books during the compilation of The Collection of the Ancient and Current Books , preparing them to the compilation of The Four Branches of Literature in the reign of Qianlong. From the above one could understand that rulers of every dynasty emphasized on the preservation of books because of the tradition of book collection and compilation, as well as the prevailing problem of missing books. Even the government had the largest resource to preserve books it was never an easy task to do so. Niu Hong, the Imperial Librarian of the Sui Dynasty, even regarded the burning of books by the Fist Emperor of Qin as one of the five catastrophes throughout the Chinese history. Outbreak of wars and the change of dynasty will possibly lead to destruction of imperial collections if the conquers refuse to preserve the books, but flooding, fire, bookworms, and mismanagement also led to the damage of books. The difficulties of book collection faced by private collectors were compounded by the problems of social unrest and the decline of a family. Qian Qianyi, a mid-Qing Sinologue, described the difficulties that “During the transportation of books, all jewelries, calligraphies and pictures were lost in the desert, destroyed in flame and dissipated in dust.”8 Concern on collecting and publishing books, particularly the Confucian classics was thus aroused, first by a late-Ming scholar Cao Xuequan, who found the preservation of Daoist and Buddhist classics made possible by the establishment of collection, as well as the absence of a collection of Confucian classics a threat to the missing of books.9 His idea was echoed by Qing scholars such as Zhou Yongnian, Luo Yougao, Liu Yin, Gui Fu, Cao Rong, Huang Yuji, Zhou Zaijun and others. Zhou believed that “[to establish a Confucian collection was] the primary concern to the cultural development, as most of the ancient books were dissipated despite the collection of books by previous scholars and courts. I suggest scholars to collect the books and establish editorial house to publish the books, so as to facilitate the circulation of classics. 10 Luo also

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The Background and the Causes of the Compilation

supported the establishment of a collection of the Confucian classic, which would serve as a “database” of classics beneficial to pragmatic studies. 11 Liu also saw the benefit of establishment of a Confucian collection in encouraging the circulation of books, especially the ancient and the rare. Under their active advocate, collecting, transcribing and printing of books were enthusiastic supported by intellectuals. 12 Gui even assisted Zhou in purchasing and transcribing books, and inviting scholars as editors.13 Another worry of the scholars was the disclosure of the books. Having noticed the issue that commoners had no access to the private imperial collection, Cao supported the exchange of books among the scholars so as to facilitate circulation of books. 14 Huang and Zhou even led the movement of reprint of the rare books in the Tang and Song Dynasties. With the contribution of these scholars, the establishment of collections soon entered its height. Several notable collections were completed, such as Collections of Knowledge of Cao Rong, The Complete Works of the Zhengyi Hall of Zhang Boxing, The Classics Annotation of the Hall of Tongzhi of Nalan Xingde, and Collectanea of the Prosperous Dynasties of Zhang Chao. Although efforts of the Qing scholars to engage in the academic activities must be recognized, it was difficult to establish a wide collection individually. Official support and participation in such a large-scale project was undoubtedly needed. Consequently, the compilation of The Four Branches of Literature started during the reign of Qianlong under the condition of political and social stability, economic prosperity and intellectual request.

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Chapter

The Establishment of the Editorial Office of The Four Branches of Literature and the Unprecedented Collection of books

The Compilation of the Complete Library in the Four Branches of Literature

Proposal for Editing The Yongle Encyclopedia and the Compilation of The Four Branches of Literature Before the compilation of The Yongle Encyclopedia in the Ming Dynasty, scholars had already devoted themselves to the collection and exegesis of ancient books. These early encyclopedia, compiled by individuals on personal interest, were usually small in scale and narrow in scoop. These individuals included a number of intellectual elites from history. Ma Zong of the Tang Dynasty had focused on the works of the pre-Qin philosophers and compiled them in his book Forest of Thoughts . Zheng Qiao of the Song Dynasty found the possibility to compile the missing books from the quotations of other books. 1 Huang Yinglin, a counterpart of Zheng, had collected poems and the work of poetry critics of the Schools of Qi, Lu, and Han in the pre-Qin period, and compiled The Research on the Book of Poetry . He also extracted excellent explanatory works by predecessors on The Book of Changes . The missing of books and the prevailing amendment or self-composition of the ancient books during the late Ming period increased the difficulties in compilation, which invited greater effort of the scholars to save the books. Sun Jue of the Ming Dynasty collected exegeses of Confucian Classics by scholars of the Han Dynasty, while Zhang Pu had a commentary on the poems of the Han and WeiJin Dynasty. Qi Cheng also saw the hope of compiling ancient books from other collections, suggesting that “Missing books completed in the early period could be seen in the works of the Han scholars; missing books composed in the Han Dynasty included in the collections of the Tang scholars. Therefore it is possible for scholars to rebuild the collections with reference to the books by the time.”2 Obviously, the early exegeses, which concentrated on particular fields of study or classics, were insufficient to meet the demand of the change in academic atmosphere in the Qing Dynasty. Both the scholars and the government thus initiated larger-scale compilation of the bibliographical collections. Hui Dong extracted the explanatory work by Han scholars from The Variorum of the Book of Changes by Tang scholar Li Ding and compiled them into the eight volumes of Studies of the Changes According to Han Tradition . Other commentaries on the Confucian Classics were also included in his book, which was later expanded into the 16 volumes of The Ancient Explanation of the Nine Classics . His student Yu Xiaoke also compiled the exegeses of the Han scholars into the 30 volumes of The Compilation of the Explanation of the Ancient Classics . Meanwhile, the Qing government compiled The Complete Collection of Tang Poetry and The Complete Collection of Jin Poetry , setting a precedent for the official collection of books.

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The Establishment of the Editorial Office

The insufficient collection on the Confucian classics caused the scholars to expand their scope of collection to ancient items, such as historical accounts, philosophical works, literature, and exegeses by predecessors. Simultaneously, the government desired to organize a larger-scale academic activity to show their benevolence and to keep the scholars busy from anti-government movements. Plans to compile encyclopedia were initiated from both parties; and The Yongle Encyclopedia , by far the largest directory book, became the target of compilation of both the intellectuals and the rulers. The compilation of The Yongle Encyclopedia started soon after the enthronement of Emperor Yongle, who had seized the throne from his nephew— the original assigned successor of Emperor Hongwu. He regarded large-scale compilation as a device to establish the image of an orthodox ruler, as evidenced from his comment that “Only in the era of unity could large-scale collections be produced. To rectify the politics [I] now demanded you to launch a nationwide collection of books. Classics, historical accounts, philosophical works, literature, astronomical and geographical treatises, divination guides, medical treatises, Daoist classics, and Buddhist sutras should be included.” 3 More than 2,000 scholars and editors were involved in the compilation, and a total of 22,877 volumes, in which introduced astronomy, geography, moral standard, politics, rituals, and anecdotes, were compiled in the encyclopedia. There was only the master copy of the encyclopedia at first, as the technology was not advance enough to publish such a voluminous collection. It was after the outbreak of fire in the palace during the reign of Jiajing that the Emperor ordered a duplication of The Yongle Encyclopedia out of the fear of the potential destruction of the collection. The master copy was stored in the Wenyuan Library in the palace; while the duplicate was stored in another imperial library Huangshi House, but eventually the master copy was destroyed during the outbreak of war in the end of Ming Dynasty. Although only the duplication was left, The Yongle Encyclopedia still attracted scholars’ sight under the prevailing of compilation. It was undeniably repetitious to transcribe the content once again, therefore the early scholars—for instance, Xu Qianxue, Zha Shenxing, Quan Zuwang, and Li Fu—concentrated on enlisting the names of missing books as seen from the encyclopedia. The encyclopedia also served as a “database” for scholars to conduct researches. Zha Shenxing had referred to the encyclopedia during his compilation of The Valuable Dictionary of Words and Rhymes ; and Quan Zuwang successfully recovered The New Explanation of the Officials of Zhou of Wang Anshi with reference to the encyclopedia. However, not until the reign of Qianlong was the effort by the early scholars noticed. After the issue of the Edict of Book Collection in the 37th year of the

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The Compilation of the Complete Library in the Four Branches of Literature

reign of Qianlong (1772), Zhu Yun, the Academic Officer of Anhui, proposed the compilation of an encyclopedia: first, the collection of ancient books and transcripts would be the most urgent task; second, existing rare books would be enlisted and reported for the purpose of complementing other collections; third, the recording and editing of books would be emphasized; and lastly, engraving and illustrative plates would be transcribed. Zhu emphasized the importance of the referral to The Yongle Encyclopedia as it was the most complete collection of ancient books by the time, and requested for the transcription of a part of the volumes. Zhu’s proposal was largely approved by the Grand Council to a large extent. The Grand Councilor eventually compromised the plan of compilation, in which highlighted the collection of diagrams and stone inscriptions, regulated the procedure of compilation, and listed the solution for the missing books.4 The suggestion by Zhu and the Grand Council had gained the attention of Emperor Qianlong. Being familiar with the doctrines of Neo-Confucianism, the Emperor was aware that by upholding the Neo-Confucian philosophy, order and stability could be effectively maintained. He was also ambitious to surpass his predecessors not only in territorial expansion, but also in cultural achievement. Although The Collection of the Ancient and Current Books , compiled by Emperor Kangxi and Yongzheng, was indisputably a great work, readers were unable to trace the source of the quotations because of the selective and one-sided content. The classification method and order of classics in The Yongle Encyclopedia was improper according to the Emperor’s criterion which stated that: “Books should be categorized under the order of Classics, History, Philosophy and Literature.”5 The limitations of the previous works thus aroused the Emperor ’s enthusiasm on the collection of missing books and the editing of the encyclopedias. After a perusal of the encyclopedia, the Emperor issued an edict, in which assigned Grand Councilors as the Presidents of the compilation, the Hanlin Academics as the Chief Editors of the encyclopedia, and other clerks as the coordinator and assistants. A hall west to the Hanlin Academy was assigned to be the editorial office, and 13 imperial regulations were formulated, in which stressed the compilation order of [classics, historical accounts, philosophical works, and literature]. Apparently, editing The Yongle Encyclopedia was far from satisfactory to the Emperor. A new collection of books, later named as The Four Branches of Literature , had to be compiled. Not only was The Yongle Encyclopedia included in the new encyclopedia, but also imperial collections in the Hall of Wuying, as well as the provincial submissions. The editorial office of The Yongle Encyclopedia became the prototype of the Editorial Office of The Four Branches of Literature .

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The Establishment of the Editorial Office

The Nationwide Collection of Books The compilation of The Four Branches of Literature could not have been possible without a wide collection of books. As scholars in the early Qing era had already spotted missing books from The Yongle Encyclopedia , so what the Hanlin Academics focused on in the early stage was to collect books from throughout the empire. During the seven years—from the 37th year to the 43rd year of the reign of Qianlong (1772–1778), with the 38th and the 39th years of the reign of Qianlong years (1773 and 1774) the height of the activity, books were donated from private collectors and submitted from provincial governments as tributes.

The initial sage of collection (1772–1773) Emperor Qianlong lacked the intention to compile The Four Branches of Literature when he issued the Edict of Book Collection in the 37th year of the reign of Qianlong, but only the desire to expand the imperial collection and to establish an image as a patron of the study of history and literature. He found the benefit of collecting books in aiding the learning from the past, saying that, “I love to study history and literature, particularly the large collections, which can assist not only my governance but also to provide insight for the later generations. Even reading treatises is also beneficial for developing a healthy mind and body. Therefore I have announced the collection of books soon after my enthronement.”6 Since previous attempts to collect books had been met with limited success, the emperor therefore defined clearer criteria in the edict:

First, priority of the collection should be given to books explaining the core values of Confucianism. Second, exegeses of classics and ancient rituals, as well as works of philosophers, should also be selected. Third, works of ancient and contemporary scholars such as Gu Donggao, Chen Zufan, Ren Qiyun, and Shen Deqian should also be collected. Fourth, folk articles, examination materials, and genealogical accounts should be neglected. Fifth, pay for books in the public bookshops, seal books with an official stamp for those collected from households, and return the original copies of the books after transcription. 7

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The Compilation of the Complete Library in the Four Branches of Literature

The Emperor, being too confident in his well-planned and concise arrangement, was frustrated with the outcome. Not until 10 months after the issue of the edict, the first piece of news from Guizhou Province reached the court. It was, however, an unfavorable reply, reporting that “[the Province] was located in the remote mountain, so that local intellectuals were too illiterate to contribute appropriate books for your majesty.” 8 No good tidings was heard from the Capital and the Lower Yangtze, where intellectual movements had flourished vigorously ever since the Ming Dynasty. The furious emperor announced the edict once again, urging for a more effective collection of books. Replies were thus received from the seventeenth provinces within three months: bureaus of collecting books were established and experts were assigned to collect books, but the number of books collected in fact did not have much increase. Southern provinces such as Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, and Guizhou had no suitable books, while those in the north such as Fengtian, Zhili, Hubei, Anhui, and Shanxi had a few.9 Even Zhejiang, the most literate area in the empire, donated only 116 books for the court. In addition to the number of books collected, the news that only contemporary books but no ancient or missing items had been collected added to the disappointment of the Emperor.10

The peak stage of the collection (1773–1774) The proposal of Zhu Yun had rescued the collection movement from a complete failure. Editing The Yongle Encyclopedia provided an alternative way for the Emperor to initiate a new wave of cultural and academic activity. After investigation the Grand Councilors reported that the encyclopedia included more than 300 rare titles. This was an encouraging piece of news to the Emperor, who then formally ordered for the compilation of The Yongle Encyclopedia in March of the 38th year of the reign of Qianlong. In order to avoid repeating the previous mistake, the Emperor promised not to punish donors even if their books contained unauthorized elements. Claiming benevolence, but also threatening, he declared, “I understand that you are out of the fear of punishment for having forbidden books stored, so that you dare not to present any of the books to me. But it is common and acceptable to have different opinion and record. For instance, the mutual condemnation between the historical accounts of the Northern and Southern dynasties was biased view in the past, which is irrelevant to the contemporary. We should not fear but be open-minded [in order] to create a harmonious academic environment. Trust the Emperor who is never going to persecute any book collectors. Bear your guilt once the provincial officers discover your collections if you hesitate to donate

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The Establishment of the Editorial Office

books.”11 For those who insisted on not donating their books out of the fear that the court would not return the books to them, the Emperor further promised to return books after the completion of transcribing books, questioning, “Why not share your collections with other bibliophiliae?”12 Areas of collecting books were extended as well, for the referral to only the catalog in the gazette was insufficient to investigate all the books. The Emperor also targeted the Lower Yangtze due to the presence of famous familial libraries, for instance, Chuanshi Building of the Xu in Kunshan, the Hall of Shugu of the Qian in Changshu, the Library of Tianla of the Xiang and the Pavilion of Baoshu of the Zhu in Jiaxing, the Hall of Xiaoshang of the Zhao in Hangzhou, and Library of Tianyi of the Fan in Ningbo. Both books by the locals and foreigners were accepted; a deadline of six months was set to prevent bureaucratic inefficiency;13 and high ranking officials in the Lower Yangtze, such as the Chief Governor of Liangjiang Gao Jin, and the Governors of Jiangsu and Zhejiang Shazai and Sanbao, were assigned to monitor the progress. With determination, the Emperor ultimately triumphed in the movement. Provincial governors and private collectors had no choice but to surrender their books.

Collecting Books at the Provincial Level During the climax of the first year, effective measures to collect books were enforced at the provincial level: To establish branches administrated by elite scholars Branches were founded in Jiangning, Suzhou, and Yangzhou of the Lower Yangtze due to the presence of a considerable amount of literati and book collectors. These branches were jointed supervised by the high ranking local governors and Hanlin Academics, who were responsible for nominating excellent scholars, editing books, and record every purchase and borrowing in detail. Branches were later opened in eight other provinces14. To investigate the availability of books in detail Provincial officials were ordered to trace the information of the book carefully. Several of them searched for books according to the catalogs in the historical accounts and enlisted their discovery for other officials’ reference; while several visited bookstores and private collectors. Officials in Anhui Province even visited the descendants of the original authors, interviewing them about the presence of the books. Officials in Jiangsu Province even searched for books

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The Compilation of the Complete Library in the Four Branches of Literature

with reference to the catalogues of the notable familial libraries, borrowing and purchasing any of the books when necessary.15 To cooperate with book merchants A group of merchants specializing in trading books had emerged, especially in the Lower Yangtze, ever since the flourishing of the collection and publication of book in Tang and Song Dynasty. Carrying the books on their shoulders and travelling through provinces and provinces, they facilitated the circulation of books in the country. Their knowledge and ability to purchase and collect books appealed to the court as stated in an edict that “[I] have learnt that a lump sum of merchants in Suzhou specialized in trading books, such as the Jin family in the Shantang. They were familiar with the presence of ancient books and the private collection; they could remember well of the purchase of their customers; and they also had cordial relationship with the private collectors. You should try to befriend and cooperate with these merchants.”16

Collecting Books from Private Collectors The collection of books from private collectors, though implemented across the nation, centered in the Lower Yangtze. The court especially targeted on the Yangtze Collectors for their possession of a lump sum of books, and even rare items. Located in the south of the Yangtze, the Province of Zhejiang was praised to have the most book markets and private collectors in the nation. Officials were thus mobilized to investigate in the private collections. They first arrived to the the Library of Tianlai of the Xiang and the Hall of Xiaoshan of the Zhao, but all of their collections were dissipated due to familial decline. Officials then visited the Hall of Baoshu of the Zhu, but only 69 titles were collected. It was the the Library of Tianyi of the Fan that contributed the most books among the Zhejiang families. Having stored more than a thousand titles of books, the family eventually presented 602 titles of books to the court. Officials also visited other familial libraries in the province and had quite a remarkable result, as most of the private collectors were willing to present their books to the court as well. The cultural development as well as the number of book collectors of the Jiangsu Province was comparable to Zhejiang. The collection of Ma Yu, a merchant from the Yangzhou Prefecture, impressed the Emperor for its inclusion of a considerable amount of books, and even ancient books in the Tang and Song Dynasties. The Emperor thus ordered Li Zhiyong, the former Hanlin Academic and the present Salt Commissioner of Lianghuai, to befriend with the

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The Establishment of the Editorial Office

merchant, to investigate his collection, and to announce the Emperor’s desire to have his books transcribed.17 After inspection, 776 out of the 1,385 titles were donated to the Emperor, with the remaining too commonplace to be donated. A reinvestigation to Ma’s collection was implemented to ensure all the presentable books were donated. 18 Other families, including the Yuan, the Jiang, and the Zhou had donated 53, 102, and 366 titles of books, respectively. Beijing, the center of administration and culture, was also the home to books, as most of the court officials in the capital were graduated from the Hanlin Academy thus fascinated by reading and collecting books. Presidents of the Editorial Office of The Four Branches of Literature Liu Tongxun and others therefore suggested investigating the collections of the capital officials, requesting to the Emperor that, “Capital officials usually had suitable rare items for your Majesty. [Your humble ministers] suggested for a borrowing of these items with reference to the list to be prepared. We would report to you once we collect 50 titles.”19 The Emperor replied with “Noted. Nice!”20, And, eventually, more than 900 titles were donated to the court (refer to table 2.1. and table 2.2.). Table 2.1.

Records of book donation from private collectors

Titles of books donated

Names of the donors (titles)

401–700 Ma Yu (776); Bao Shigong (626); Fan Maozhu (602); Wang Qishu (524) 101–400 Zhou Houtan (366); Wu Yichi (305); Huang Dengxian (299); Wang Ruzao (271); Sun Yangzeng (231); Wang Ruli (219); Li Shouqian (174); Xu Ganxue (138); Jiang Zengying (102); Ji Yun (100) 11–100 Zheng Dajie (82); Zhu Yizun (69); Yuan Mei (53); Kong Zhaohuan (40); Zhu Yun (37); Zhang Ruogui (18); Li Wenzao (18); Yu Minzhong (17); Cao Xiuxian (17); Huang Jihua (14); 1–10 Cheng Jinfang (6); Xu Tianzhu (5); Xiao Zhi (5); Yan Fu (4); Zheng Jitang (3); Xiong Zhiqi (3); Jin Qiao (2); Feng Pei (2); Zou Bingtai (1); Zhuang Chengzhu (1); Zhuang Tongmin (1); Liu Quanzhi (1); Liu Xigu (1); Zhang Dao (1); Source: Catalog of Books Compiled in the Four Branches of Literature The First Historical Archive of China ed., Documents of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature.

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The Compilation of the Complete Library in the Four Branches of Literature

Table 2.2.

Statistical record of book donation from private collector

Titles of books donated

Name of the donor (titles)

11–50 Ying Lian (46); Zhou Yongnian (33); Lu Xixiong (20); Liu Hengdi (11) 4–9 Lu Feichi (9); Li Youtang (6); Zhang Xinian (5); Shao Jinhan (5); Ge Dai (4) 3 Ren Dachun; Wang Chang; Wu Shouchang; Fang Weidian; Cao Xuemin; 2 Da Zhen; Yong Fanggang; Li Huang; Cheng Jingyi; Cai Xin; Zhou Houyuan; Liang Shangguo; Wu Dian; Zhu Kun; Zhu Delin; Wang Jie; 1 Hu Jitang; Wang Rujia; Lin Shufan; Cai Tingju; Cui Yingjie; Min Dunda; De Bao; Wei Qianheng; Du Bao; Zha Ying; Chen Changqi; Ding Tianshu; Peng Shaoguan; Meng Shenghui; Zhang Daoyuan; Ni Chengkuan; Ge Yuan; Zhang Shenhe; Liu Tiancheng; Li Zhongjian; Wang Chengpei; Lu Sui; Xu Baoshan; Shao Yuzeng; Jiang Guangkui

The number of books collected soared with the active investigation and donation, and officials submitted piles of book lists to the Editorial Office, waiting for a further imperial edict. Up to the deadline in September of the 38th year of the reign of Qianlong, all the branches or provincial offices were occupied by the collected items—from a few to thousands of volumes. Except the rare items from the Ma’s collection, which was directly delivered to the Emperor, most of the provincial collections were ordered to store in provincial bookshops or warehouses for further submission to the Editorial Office of The Four Branches of Literature . However, these local officials, being ignorant of the issues of the problem were unwilling to handle it, decided to immediately deliver all the books to the Editorial Office. Approximately 6,167 titles were counted, enlisted, packed in boxes, and transported from the Lower Yangtze to the capital.21 The Provinces of He’nan, Jiangxi, Anhui and Hunan also delivered their collections to the Editorial Office.

Rewards to Local Officials and Contributors To encourage so much donations, Emperor Qianlong rewarded the donors and officials with several measures:

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The Establishment of the Editorial Office

To reward with books Those who donated more than 500 titles of books would be were rewarded with a duplicate of The Collection of the Ancient and Current Books . Those who donated more than a 100 were rewarded with the first edition of the imperial edited dictionary The Valuable Dictionary of Words and Rhymes .22 The families of Bao, Fan, Wang of Zhejiang, and the Ma of Jiangsu received a duplicate of The Collection of the Ancient and Current Books for they had donated at least 500 titles; The families of Zhou and Jiang of Jiangsu, the families of Wu, Sun and Wang of Zhejiang, and the capital officials Huang Dengxian, Ji Yun, Li Shouqian and Wang Ruzao received a duplicate of The Valuable Dictionary of Words and Rhymes for their donation of no less than 100 titles. To have the signature or comments of the Emperor on the borrowed items For those who donated more than 100 titles of books, part of their collection would be inscribed by the Emperor, who demanded for a first priority of transcription of the selected books, so that the donors could soon receive the Emperor ’s signature. 23 It was estimated that the Emperor had commented on approximately 100 titles, these included The Annotation of the Spring and Autumn of Ji Yun, The Book of Strategy of Li Shouqian, The Calligraphic and Phonetic Chart of the Dictionary of Wu Yuchi, and The Fragmentary History of Tang of Bao Shigong. It was generally agreed that possessing books with the signature and poems of the Emperor was an unprecedented honor. To have the donors’ names on the duplicated version With the name of the donors printed on the book, readers could trace back the origin of the book while the donors could be proudly known as book collectors. All donors were able to enjoy this privilege, but only those who contributed more than 100 titles could be regarded as book collectors and have their names on the contents page. The remaining could only have their names in the endnotes.24 However, not all the donation information was correctly recorded. The Categorized Record of Governmental Posts donated by the Jiang family was placed under the category of the submission of the Governor of the Jiangsu Province.25 The initiation of a “carrot and stick” policy proved effective in overcoming bureaucratic indolence, as evidenced by the governors’ enthusiastic devotion in the collection movement even after the six-month deadline. Governor of the Anhui Province Pei Zongxi demanded his assistants to submit any of the

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The Compilation of the Complete Library in the Four Branches of Literature

suitable items regardless of the deadline;26 The Suzhou Branch and the Jiangning Branch, for instance, “had already collected more than 2,500 titles of books, but further effort to investigate missing books shall be put aside.”27 Eventually the Suzhou Branch collected 250 titles more, while the Jiangning Branch collected 300 titles more, among which included books written in previous dynasties.28 Table 2.3.

Records of book donation from the provinces29

Sources of Record Catalog of the Free Minister of the Board of Watery Provinces Conservancy or Branches

Number of Books

Catalog of the Books Compiled in the Four Branches

Historical Archives of the Compilation of the Four Branches

Actual donation

Suzhou branch

1,726

1,726

1,744

1,726

Jiangning branch

1,365

1,365

1,571

1,374

Lianghuai officer

1,575

1,575

1,708

1,708

Jiejiang

4,588

4,602

4,600

4,600

Jiangxi

859

582

— 1,042

Anhui

523

523

587 516

Shandong

372

367

366 366

Zhili

238

238

238 238

Fujian

205

201

213 213

Henan

113

108

124 113

Shaanxi

105

102

103 103

Shanxi

88

88 127 88

Hubei

84

84

84 84

Hunan

46

46

46 46

Guangdong

12

12

12 12

Yunnan

4

4

4 4

Fengtian

3

3

3 3

Total

11,906

11,626

—

11,236

Source: Wang Qishu, The Catalog of the Free Minister of the Board of Water Conservancy. Catalog of Books Compiled in the Four Branches of Literature. The First Historical Archive of China ed., Documents of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . National Palace Museum ed., Imperial Archives of the Reports of the Reign of Emperor Qianlong.

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The Establishment of the Editorial Office

Apart from the remote provinces of Guizhou, Guangxi, Gansu, and Sichuan, more than 10,000 titles of books were contributed (refer to table 2.3).

The final stage of the collection (1774–1778) The focus of the collection of books shifted from searching for rare items to forbidden books in the final stage. The provinces of Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Hunan, and Fujian collected both rare and forbidden books simultaneously, but they had limited favorable replies to the court, so that the collection did not last long. No book had been donated since August the 43rd year of the reign of Qianlong, and the movement was finally terminated. Large-scale collection of books was undoubtedly beneficial to the government, which successfully collected 13,501 titles. These included bibliographical materials and rare books, which were beneficial to the compilation of The Four Branches of Literature in improving the quality of the encyclopedia, preservation of ancient books, as well as promotion of cultural activity. This meaningful activity was praised by Zhang Xuecheng, one of the most notable scholars during the mid-Qing period, that “The comprehensive collection of books for the compilation of The Four Branches of Literature enabled the scholars to borrow or duplicate the ancient books and rituals in the libraries.” 30 However, the government also discouraged private collection of books, as the Editorial Office had never returned the books to the donors. Except Fan, families of Zheng, Ma, Bao, and Wang Qishu, suffered severe loss and could no longer be regarded as book collectors. A considerable amount of books were subjected to amendment and even destruction because of the inclusion of anti-government ideas. The large-scale collection of books was eventually ended up in the large-scale destruction of the books.

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3

Chapter

Literary Inquisition of Forbidden Books and Literary Persecution

The Compilation of the Complete Library in the Four Branches of Literature

The Persistent Literary Inquisition Enforced simultaneously with the collection of books, the literary inquisition of forbidden books with anti-government ideas lasted for two decades (from the 39th to the 58th year of the reign of Qianlong). More time was consumed, more provinces were involved, and more titles of books were investigated. The legitimacy and stability of the regime were maintained at the cost of the vigorous and splendid culture established ever since the Song Dynasty.

From searching for missing books to seizing forbidden books As early as March of the 38th year of the reign of Qianlong, after the issue of the Edict of Collecting Books, Emperor Qianlong was aware of the problem that private collectors were too frightened to surrender their collections while provincial officials were procrastinating in enforcing his decrees. In order to encourage book donation, the Emperor promised no punishment to the donors even if forbidden elements could be discovered in the books. He said, “For books including disrespectful words, just destroy them and inform the collectors. No punishment shall be imposed as the donors were innocent.”1 Emboldened by the Emperor ’s promise, officials and collectors suddenly became efficient and enthusiastic, devoting themselves wholeheartedly to the movement. This drastic change in attitude can be illustrated from the situation in the Provinces of Shangdong and Jiangsu. Initially, no favorable reply was heard from the local officials who claimed that “Despite our laborious attempt to visit the local elites and collectors, announcing your determination to collection books, only 21 titles were suitable for your Majesty.”2 Not until the governor investigated the cause of failure was the truth—local officials were not diligent enough—revealed. In the few months afterwards, the Governor of Shandong Province even reported that, “after receiving your Majesty’s edict the gentries were delight to immediately unearth their collections.”3 Eventually 172 titles were submitted. The situation in the Jiangsu Province was similar. The Governor of the province reported that, “Your humble servants collected only a mere sum of books. But with your Majesty’s promise for no punishment to the collectors, the number of donation soared. Collectors seem to have an unlimited supply of books.”4 Other provinces had also similar record as evidenced from the statistical records in the previous chapter. It was anticipated that disrespectful content could be spotted in such a huge collection of books, particularly unofficial historical accounts completed in the turn of the Ming and Qing Dynasty. During the reporting duty of the

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Literary Inquisition of Forbidden Books and Literary Persecution

Chief Governor of Fujian and Zhejiang Zhong Yin, the Emperor ordered him to cooperate with the Governor of Jiangsu Province, paying special attention to the local collections. By August of the 39th year of the reign of Qianlong, when the collection of books was passing its height, the literary inquisition of forbidden books had already started with the formal announcement of the edict of literary inquisition. The drastic restoration of an oppressive cultural policy could not explained by a sudden change in the Emperor ’s mind, but a complicated mixture of numerous factors—to check the spread of any anti-government ideas and, most importantly, to maintain a strict control over the people not by violence but by ideology. The Manchu rulers were not the inventors of such a repressive ideological control as it had been practiced by rulers throughout the history of China, but undeniably, they were the diehard supporters of literary inquisition, for they recognized their weakness in conquering the sense of Han orthodoxy and nationalism, which were frequently reflected in the works of the late Ming scholars. To remove such potential threats to the regime, the Qing government launched a series of harsh measures, including the literary inquisition of forbidden books and the initiation of literary persecution. Not only were the authors sentenced to death, but also their relatives and friends. The political stability and economic prosperity during the reign of Emperor Qianlong enabled the government to devote itself to imposing cultural and ideological control. Officials and collectors’ active participation in donating books also provided the Emperor with a golden opportunity to launch the literary inquisition of books.

The nationwide implementation of literary inquisition On August 5 of the 39th year of the reign of Qianlong, the Emperor officially announced the literary inquisition of books. As stated in the decree, “[Governors] shall enlist the donated books and deliver them to the Office. For books with offensive elements, report and submit them in seal to the Emperor for destroy after investigation. [Governors] are allowed to destroy the books outside, but [they] should report the book titles to the court. It is unbelievable that no offensive material is discovered in such a huge collection and no reply is heard.”5 The unofficial historical accounts in the late-Ming Dynasty were always sources of concern to the Emperor who believed that there must be “criticisms and unauthentic accounts of the regime.” 6 The Emperor further asserted that these offensive accounts were mainly from the southern provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian, Guangong, and Hunan, which had been anti-Qing

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The Compilation of the Complete Library in the Four Branches of Literature

bases of the Ming remnant. The Emperor, who claimed that “people’s minds and the customs would be contaminated by evil ideas,”7 urged those southern governors to take action. The edict, similar to that issued in the 37th year of the reign of Qianlong, aroused limited attention from the provincial governors. Sanbao, the Governor of Zhejiang, reported to the court that “We received your Majesty’s order and we worked very hard in searching and checking the books. However, no offensive material has ever been detected. Trust your humble servant who definitely dared not to lie to you.”8 Gao Jin, the Chief Governor of Jiangsu and Jiangxi, also reported that “Neither did your humble servant nor the committee member, Min Eyuan, and the other academic officers of the institute discover anything offensive.”9 Similar replies were heard from other provinces such as Anhui, Jiangxi, Fujian, Hunan, and Guangxi—not because of the inability of officials to search for the books, but they actually did find nothing. Only Li Shirao, the Chief Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, had reported to the court the discovery of works by Qu Dajun, which had been prohibited since the reign of Emperor Yongzheng. Having dispatched teams of officers but archived nothing remarkable, the Emperor was disappointed, but not yet depressed. Li’s discovery, though being minor and insignificant, was made use of by the Emperor. He condemned other officials that, “Li Shirao had successfully completed my task already, but you have not fulfill my satisfaction. Is it because you are less capable than Li? Or could not the collectors understand my determination?” 10 In addition, the Emperor released Qu Nianzhen and Qu Zhaosi, clansmen of Qu Dajun, to disarm public suspicion. The Emperor restated no imposition of punishment to those who immediately submitted their collections, but only to those who still refused to submit any books, and their local governors would also receive punishment. Such a device of collective punishment worked well enough to surmount bureaucratic inefficiency, extending the height of the literary inquisition for eight years (from the 40th to 47th year of the reign of Qianlong).

Types of books subject to literary inquisition Initially, only unofficial historical accounts in the transitional period were targets of literary inquisition, but with the captious provincial governors, who wished to satisfy the appetite of the Emperor, the types of forbidden books expanded to the works up to the Song Dynasty, for these books usually included the words “anti-Jin (the former Manchu regime established coincidentally with the Song Dynasty)” and “anti-Mongol” implying anti-barbarian dominance.

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The Emperor even extended the range of searching to contemporary articles after the case of The String of Words of Wang Xihou, as he claimed that, “I initiate the literary inquisition to protect the people from harmful and evil ideologies, which should be extinct in the world. It is unreasonable to have the ancient books checked while leaving the contemporary articles not destroyed.”11 Consequently, books from the Song Dynasty to current period were subjected to literary inquisition. Regarding the content of the books, not only was the history before the Manchu troops conquered the Chinese territory deleted, but also articles advocating Chinese nationalism (in other words, “Han nationalism”) and antiQing sentiment. In addition to these, articles resenting the autocratic rule, or merely commenting on political affairs, were prohibited. All these contributed to the drastic increase in the number of forbidden books involved. Types of forbidden books are explained in the following: Unofficial historical accounts These had been the primary targets ever since the enforcement of literary inquisition. The Manchu rulers, being too scared and reluctant to disclose the history of the Nanming regime, as well as their ruthless suppression over the Ming remnants, demanded a comprehensive and in-depth literary inquisition over these articles. The Emperor ordered to destroy the books mentioning the deeds of the Manchus, the tribes of the northeast and northwest frontiers, and the year titles of the three Nanming kings.12 Examples included the article “County of Jizhou and the Liaodong Peninsula” in the The Historical Accounts of the Five Peripheries by Xu Rijiu, as well as the articles of “Study on the Liaodong Peninsula” and “Study on the establishment of barbarian regime” in The Summary of Military Defense of Cheng Ziyi for the history of the Manchu included. The Sequel of the Unheard of Zhang Yi faced the same fate for its records of the deeds of the Nanming kings. Collection of reports and articles Other primary targets for literary inquisition included reports from ex-officials of the Ming Dynasty, in which the officials had suggested the revitalization of the empire through the expulsion of the invaders. Articles composed during the transitional period which cherished the Ming regime and criticized the Qing dominance were also target for inquisition (refers to table 3.1. and table 3.2.).

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Table 3.1.

Titles of books subjected to literary inquisition

Author

Title of the book

Gao Gong

Strategy of Defending the Frontiers

Zhang Juzheng

Collection of the Mountain Tai

Shen Shixing

Notes from the Senior Grand Secretary

Ye Xianggao

An Exegesis on the Barbarians The Lotus Compilation The Draft of the Highness The Remain of the Highness The Sequel of the Highness The Draft of Memorial of the Highness The Correspondence of the Highness

Gao Panlong

The Posthumous Work of Master Gao

Zou Yuanbiao

The Collection of Reports of Zou Zhongjie

Yang Lian

The Collection of Yang Zhonglie

Zuo Guangdou

The Collection of Zuo Zhongyi

Miao Changqi

Preserved Drafts of the Hall of Congye

Xiong Tingbi

Drafts of Reports on Stabilizing Northeast China Scripts and Correspondence Drafts of Poems of Xiong Zhigang

Sun Chengzong

The Collection of Sun Gaoyang

Ni Yuanlu

The Posthumous Work of Ni Wenzheng

Lu Xiangsheng

Reports of Xuanyun

Sun Quanting

Satisfaction

Yao Ximeng

The Collection of Tranquility The Collection of Evening Mist The Collection of Wenyuan The Collection of Prime Locust

Ma Shiqi

The Collection of the Danning Residence

Source: Zhang Taiyan, “Mourning on the Destruction of books,” The Book of Persecution , 58.

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Table 3.2.

Prohibited collections of intellectuals

Author

Title of the book

Yuan Jixian

The Collection of the Six Willows Hall

Qian Sule

Occasional Moan

Jin Sheng

Zhang Kengtang

Zhang Huangyan Gu Yanwu

Huang Zongxi

The Collection of Jin the Priest

First Discussion on the Sustenance of Agriculture The Account of Northern Expedition The Collection of Tinglin The Record of Tribute

Source: Zhang Taiyan, “Mourning on the Destruction of books,” The Book of Persecution , 58.

Inscriptions on stone tablets Before the invention of paper, stone tablets and metallic containers, such as cauldrons, were common writing surfaces. The officials believed these had high archaeological values, so that scholars advocated the duplication of the ancient texts from these vessels to supplement the learning of history and archaeology.13 The Emperor and the Grand Councilors rejected the idea to collect these inscriptions as they found difficulties in searching, but these suggestions were eventually adopted during the literary inquisition of forbidden books due to the possible presence of offensive elements on these tablets. Demolition of stone inscriptions of the ming scholars thus became the prologue of the cultural catastrophe. For instance, the inscriptions of Jin Bao, a holder of the Advanced Degree of the Ming Dynasty who had participated in several anti-Qing uprisings, were demolished during the reign of Emperor Qianlong. 14 Hanke, a monk who had been excommunicated to Mukden for his articles promoting anti-Qing, had his tablet in front of his tomb in the Temple of Shuangfeng torn down. Only the demolition of the tablets could not satisfy the Emperor. He went a further step to amend the context on the inscriptions for preventing future disclosure of the tablets. After receiving the report of the burial of a tablet including offensive words from Baoning, the General of the Town of Malan in Shaanxi Province, the Emperor ordered amendment of the content. 15 Edicts were later issued to other provinces in the frontier as tablets recording the achievements of ex-generals might be found. During the reign of Emperor Qianlong alone, 166 stone tablets were amended and demolished in Fengtian Province, not to mention the others.

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Drama scripts Major elements of the drama scripts confronting the rulers was their propagation of sexual affairs and violence. These scripts had been subjected to literary inquisition ever since the Yuan Dynasty when drama flourished as a part of popular culture. The literary inquisition of drama scripts in the reign of Emperor Qianlong was sparked by the discovery of offensive and heterodox content in The Legend of Xifengchun written by “A pure laughing man of Jiangning”. All the published editions were to be destroyed for fear that the audience might misunderstand the plots as authentic history.16 Local officials soon launched a raid in southern China to check the less popular scripts written and played in dialects.17 They established a temporary office for literary inquisition in the Lower Yangtze, the center of the Kun drama;18 they deducted the scripts about the history of the Ming Dynasty and the anti-Jin military campaign of the Song Dynasty in Jiangxi Province, the heart of the Yiyang, Qin and Chu dramas; they paid special attention to the newlyarrived troupes; 19 and they excommunicated any actors playing barbarians in Manchu clothes in Anhui Province, the hub of Shipai drama.20 Gazettes Catalogs of articles and poems of local intellectuals included in the gazettes were sources for the provincial officials to search for forbidden books. They successfully discovered the deeds and works of Jin Bao in the The Gazette of Shaozhou Prefecture and also the works and tablets of Hanke in The General Gazette of Mukden .21 Hai Cheng, the Governor of Jiangxi Province, requested for the amendment to the catalogs in the gazettes to remove the evidences for tracing the original copies of the forbidden items even these offensive articles of Qian Qianyi, Qu Dajun, and Jin Bao had already been destroyed for years.22 Local governors of the other provinces also took the same measure after addressing the problem. The Governor of the Province of Anhui Min Eyuan made a report to the Emperor, in which requested that, “[Your minister] found the urgency to suppress the gazettes with the offensive poems and the titles of forbidden books included.”23 The Emperor in return issued an order of literary inquisition, stating that, “All the viceroys should carefully check the gazettes and delete the offensive poems and articles. No laziness is allowed.”24 After receiving the imperial order the Viceroy took the action accordingly. Even governors in the remote provinces also followed Min to initiate literary inquisition on the gazettes. The Governor of the Shaanxi Province Shang’an reported that “[Your minister] had checked the 76 volumes of gazettes of all

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the provincial levels, and established editorial branches. Books with places for amendment would be delivered to the central bureaus for review, and their printed editions would be seized and destroyed.”25 The Governor of the Gansu Province reported that they had similar procedures of the literary inquisition of the Shaanxi Province—to collect books, to establish editorial office, and to organize a committee of editors.26 Treatises of astrology and divination In a civilization which had a tradition of interpreting all earthly matters with reference to celestial movement, the emperor, who claimed that his legitimacy originated from the mandate of heaven, must firmly hold the right to explain astronomical phenomena and the results of divination. The general public was strictly forbidden to interpret the celestial operation by themselves because commoners might easily be misled and induced to overthrow the government whenever any special astronomic phenomenon happened. As a result, treatises of astrology and divination were made targets of literary inquisition right after the discovery of the Prose of the Fortunes and the Disasters in New and Orthodox Era of Emperor Hongxi of Ming Dynasty and The Treasury of Heaven and Earth by an anonymous author. Provincial governors are required to deliver all these treatises and destroy all the printing plates.27 Imperial review and commentaries

The Sequel of the Outline for the Comprehensive Mirror reviewed by Emperor Kangxi was made the target of literary inquisition and amendment for its inclusion of improper translation of the names of people and places, as well as unauthentic descriptions of the history of “barbarian-dominated” dynasties of the Liao, the Jin, and the Yuan in the articles “Enlightenment” and “General Meaning”. The Emperor soon ordered literary inquisition of The Sequel , claiming that, “The Comprehensive Mirror traces the rise and fall of the dynasties, and so does its outline. The principle lays in this the book, so that it should not include any biased view.”28 The final stage of literary inquisition ended with this ironic nationwide suppression of the imperial reviewed book.

Ways of searching and submission In the first stage of the literary inquisition, edicts were merely issued to provincial officials for immediate submission of books. However, it was doomed to be a complete failure in surmounting bureaucratic inefficiency, for officials

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stationing remote to the capital seldom strictly followed the central order. After continuous compulsion from Emperor Qianlong, the local officers had no choice but to “cudgel thy brains” to satisfy the Emperor. To announce decrees Having received the edicts, provincial officials could not wait to copy and circulate the decrees to the public to ensure effective announcement. The Emperor’s determination was well-illustrated in a notice widely posted in the provinces of Jiangsu and Anhui:

Ever since the issue of the edict of literary inquisition in the 39th year of the reign of Qianlong, only a few of decrees had been received afterwards. We now sincerely announce the new imperial decree. Within these years, more than hundreds of kinds of forbidden books had been acquired by the Jiangning, Anhui, and Suzhou Branches, not to mention those which had been prohibited before. There were piles of contemporary articles in the collections of the gentries, in which offensive content might be included. These works are harmful to people’s mind, so that we are now acting according to the Emperor ’s edict to impose a two-year deadline of submission. You will be harshly accused if you fail to surrender your books within the deadline. The Emperor was benevolent, so being social elites you should also be considerate. Why keep these offensive materials and put yourselves at the risk of death or bankruptcy? We have published the notice in everywhere so you should be acknowledged. The Lower Yangtze had been the center of culture, where had the most books, authors and collectors among the provinces. The literate and civilized should devote their loyalty to the Emperor, for his Majesty had provided you food and shelters for hundreds of years. Everyone should not share only the Emperor’s sincerity but also his worry in every aspect, so why are you still acting against the law and keeping the forbidden books? Moreover, our nation had a historical and glorious literary achievement; even the diligent devoting themselves whole-heartedly in learning could only finish reading a tip of the book mountain. Why are you keeping and reading unhealthy books, which are helpless in developing a health body and mind, and would risk punishment for you and your

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future generations? No matter how foolish you are, do not take this risk! You shall also be instructed: immediately submit all the forbidden items—both the ancient and the contemporary. Citizens must check your own collections and submit any offensive books to the officers, while villagers shall wait for official investigation. Even the books which are no longer read must be surrendered as well. Otherwise, harsh punishment will be imposed for not surrendering the books to the officials. 29 To rely on academic officers and gentries Officials could simply inform the citizens with a notice posted on the main streets, but they had to rely on academic officers and gentries to announce the decrees to the villagers, who seldom visited the towns. They were thus dispatched to their hometowns and other areas to assist in the investigation, as villagers might have left several offensive books to their descendants who might be too illiterate to present any forbidden books. Officers were advised to purchase the books at an acceptable price and, eventually, the officers would be promoted or downgraded according to the number of books submitted. 30 Having received a favorable reply from the Governor of Zhejiang Province, the Emperor was delighted but not yet satisfied. In return, he issued another decree at the provincial level to initiate the second wave of local literary inquisition, for he believed that, “The illiterate might not be familiar with their collections, so that these villages might end up in surrendering no books to the local governors who were not trustable to the villagers. Therefore, I am going to dispatch officials to their hometowns for checking as it produces limited disturbance to the villagers, and officials must be familiar with the collections of their clansmen.31 Following the Emperor’s advice, viceroys in Jiangsu Province “investigated and seized the books of the villagers with their relatives;” 32 Governors in the Shaanxi Province searched and purchased the local collections with the assistance of the local students, who would be rewarded and even promoted as the seniors in their schools for their excellent performance; 33 Officials in the Anhui Province established a network of collection, in which the local gentries served as bridges of communication delivering the orders of literary inquisition to their relatives and friends, and reporting any discovery to the governors;34 And Viceroys in the Fujian Province acted similarly to the Anhui governors, spreading the news of collection to the villagers through the local gentries.35

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To investigate the book markets and private collections The order of literary inquisition was repetitious announced to private collectors to surrender their books, whether these collectors had submitted the books to the court or not Governors of the Fujian Provinces even established task forces composed with local governors, academic officers, and representatives of each towns and villages to restate the Emperor’s determination in collecting books. “Otherwise,” as the governors stated, “once the governors and officers discover any offensive material, harsh punishment will be imposed.” 36 In addition to private collectors, special attention was paid to the investigation of book markets, where the trade of ancient and rare books was active. Merchants in the book markets of the Guangdong Province used to trade their books without restriction, but after the launching of the literary inquisition, governors intervened in the trade, seizing every rare item to their seniors, who would then present the books to the Emperor for review.37 Not until the merchants and collectors promised no keeping of forbidden books did the checking of the book markets stopped.38 To cooperate among the provinces Due to the widespread circulation of books and the printing plates, the provincial governors cooperated among themselves in the literary inquisition of books. After discovering Collections of Customs and Canons and The Deeds of the Ming Generals by the Governor of Hubei Province Chen Huizu, he called for cooperation of other provincial governors to destroy any of the copies. 39 The Governor of Anhui Pei Zongxi, after discovering a copy of The Sequel of the Ming Annals written by a Hunan author Wang Ru’nan and published in the Hall of Yongwan in Suzhou, also requested the governors of Hunan and Jiangsu to destroy any of their copies.40 Consequently, whenever the governors discovered any new books, they issued orders of literary inquisition to the neighboring provinces as well. To search for books according to the gazettes Catalogs in the gazettes were made targets of searching as they provided pieces of evidence for governors to trace the sources of the forbidden books and their printing plates. During the investigation of The Collection of the Six Willows Hall and its printing plate of Yuan Jixian, whose hometown was the Yichun County of the Nanchang Prefecture, the viceroy Hao Shuo had not only discovered the words “the Six Willows Hall” in the preface of Yuan’s work The

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Collections of the Imperfect House compiled in the catalog of The Gazette of the Nanchang Prefecture . The officials later acknowledged the presence of The Observation on Classics and The Observation on History from the catalog of The Gazette of the Yichun County . Eventually, they were required to visit every families, to destroy both the duplicates and printing plates of Yuan’s books, and to list the information subject to amendment.41 Local governors in the Hunan Province also relied on the gazette catalogs to investigate The Collections of Current Poems jointly edited by Tao Xuan and Zhang Can. They reported the failure of discovery to the Emperor, stating that, “Eager to demonstrate the cultural achievement, the arrogant literati of the Hunan Province are used to list all of their publications in the gazette catalogs. The governors should have no excuse of their laziness for not completing this easy task. The chief viceroys should supervise the reinvestigation in the gazettes at all levels, and report any discovery to the court at once.”42 To establish an investigation task force The task force was responsible for investigating books involving severe offenses, and these resulted in a considerable number of literary persecutions, in which the authors, their family members, and friends were involved. Threatened by the removal of Hai Cheng from his position due to his failure to discover offensive content in The String of Words of Huang Xihou, officers spared no effort to investigate cases and initiate literary persecution in these few years. Under the wave of the frequent initiation of literary persecution, being righteous and critical was no longer the primary concern of scholars, but rather they were comforted with being obedient and silent. To publish the lists of forbidden books With the large-scale literary inquisition of books, governors prepared reference lists of forbidden books for facilitating cooperation with other provinces. It was first initiated by Governor of the Jiangsu Province, who sent the lists to local officials stating the regulations of delivery: [governors] should submit books collected in the Prefectures of Suzhou, Songjiang, Changzhou, Zhenjiang, and Taicang to the Suzhou Branch; books collected in the Prefectures of Jiangning, Huaian, Yangzhou, Xuzhou, Haizhou, and Tongzhou should be checked in the Jiangning Branch. 43 The lists of forbidden books were shared among the provinces. The Hunan Province first tasted the usefulness of preparing a list, as the Viceroy Zheng Dajin stated that, “Our province received limited success over literary inquisition as the innocent scholars concentrated only

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on the classics, so that they failed to distinguish the forbidden books. But [your humble minister] has already prepared a list of forbidden books for the merchants and collectors, restating the three-month deadline of submission. Assistants also received a copy of the list to purchase any of the items.” 44 Governors in the Anhui Province also “dispatched assistants to check the books according to the lists including the titles of the forbidden books reported from all the provinces.”45 The publication of lists prevailed across the nation after the provincial governors witnessed the usefulness of the lists in literary inquisition. This practice was followed by the Provinces of Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hubei, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Shaanxi.

The Process of literary inquisition Literary inquisition was enforced simultaneously at both the central and the provincial levels, with the Editorial Office responsible for checking books delivered from the provinces, while local branches were checking those newlycollected items. Literary inquisition at the central level As early as the issue of the first edict of literary inquisition in August the 39th year of the reign of Qianlong, the Emperor had already noticed the presence of forbidden books in the provincial submission. He ordered for a detail checking of these books, and an immediate suppression of the books when necessary. The Grand Academician Ying Lian reported to the Emperor that among the 10,000 titles they had highlighted and destroyed several of the offensive content.46 Six years after the first attempt of literary inquisition came the second wave of suppression, in which the Emperor ordered special attention on contemporary works. Books already returned to the owners had to be checked again. Officials reported that among the collections, 144 books shall be destroyed, while 181 books shall be amended, and after checking in the Editorial Office, all together 325 volumes and 2,123 copies required suppression. Presidents of the Editorial Office reported for an enlistment of the titles of the forbidden books for the viceroys’ reference to check their circulations.47 Literary inquisition at the provincial level Governors established local branches in main cities to check the newly-collected items, determining their levels of offensiveness and reporting any discovery to the viceroys, who would then review and submit the books to the court.48 Under

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the deliberating inquisition, books about the history of military conflicts in the frontiers and the deeds of the ethnic groups in the transitional period, as well as the Song-Jin and the Yuan-Ming relationships, were delivered to the Editorial Office, regardless of the offensiveness of the content. Having been inundated by such a huge wave of report, the Emperor decided to set a guideline to reduce his workload, requiring Presidents of the Editorial Office to destroy only the whole volume of the works of Qian Qianyi, Jin Bao and Qu Dayun, and to amend only the places of offensiveness of the works of other late Ming authors, such as Liu Zongzhou, Huang Dazhou, Xiong Yanbi, and Ni Yuanlu. To the Emperor, comments resenting barbarian domination from the Song and Ming Dynasties should be deleted, but was unnecessary to destroy the whole volumes for only one offensive sentence included.49 The officers in return proposed a set of criteria to the Emperor as stated in the following:

All your humble ministers were anger towards these insulting articles by the dog scholars of the Ming Dynasty. Your majesty had provided food and shelter for these rebels with benevolence, but instead of cherishing your majesty’s reward, they criticized your majesty. Even the heaven could not tolerate these rebels. Your humble servants would strictly follow your majesty’s edict to uproot all these offensive articles and to check any of their circulation so as to protect your people from being jeopardized. Your ministers request partial deduction to the works completed in the early Ming period with biased opinion over the Jin and Yuan regime, as well as the books completed before the rise of the Manchus as they were referring to the deeds of other Mongol tribes, not us. Your ministers also request keeping of the records of the reign of King Fortune, the Nanming ruler, as it had already been included in The Imperial Reviewed Sequel of the Outline for the Comprehensive Mirror. The history of Nanming including no offensive content shall be kept as well. Your ministers find nothing appropriate to delete the whole encyclopedia or combined autobiographies with only a few offensive chapters included. But the works of the utmost disrespect, such as Qian Qianyi, Qu Dayun, Ji Bao, Lu Liuliang and others, should definitely be destroyed.. Your ministers suggest amending books and their printing plates

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including the names of the preceding emperors. It is unnecessary to destroy the whole books. Books written by the same author or books sharing the same names might not be related; therefore they shall be carefully differentiated. You humble servants are sincerely proposing these appropriate criteria for your majesty. 50 This proposal had become a draft for the later issued “The Article of Inquisition”, restating and delineating the criteria of literary inquisition:

The words of “Liaodong” and “Manchu” in the books completed before the late Ming period might be merely geographical terms, as these terms had already included in the imperial reviewed The Exegeses on the Origin of the Manchu. Editors should check carefully whether these terms are offensive or not. Commoners and officials not living in the periphery might misunderstand the names of the Mongol tribes as offensive content. For instance, the tribal names Tartar and Oirat contained nothing offensive; therefore, editors should pay attention in checking these names. The reign title “Hongguang” of King Fortune is allowed to keep, for this term has already included in the imperial reviewed The Sequel of the Outline of the Comprehensive Mirror. The Emperor has also allowed keeping this reign title in Topically Arranged Histories of the Three Feudatories as well. Therefore this title can be kept if it does not contain any offensiveness. The works of Qian Qianyi, Jin Bao, Qu Dayun, and others were subjected to deduction, but the commentaries and poems quoted inside their books were allowed to be kept, as only offensive texts shall be deleted. The Collection of Plums Village of Wu Weiye, and his The Strategies of Appeasing the Japanese Pirates contained nothing offensive, should not be banned despite [the fact that] the author had befriended and compiled poetry with Qian Qianyi. Poems not written by Qian in The Three Poetry Schools of the Lower Yangtze and The Three Poetry Schools of the Ningnan shall also be kept. Never delete the whole volume of the encyclopedias and the combined biographies for their inclusion of only a few offensive chapters.

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Reports quoted in the forbidden books shall be kept after the amendment of their offensive content. For instance, Examination Paper of the First-Class Graduates of the Ming Dynasty, in which included commentaries and suggestion towards current affairs, shall be handled properly, as several of the papers mentioned only about the situation of the early-Ming Dynasty. Books with the commentaries of the Song and Ming Dynasties resenting towards the “barbarous” regimes, or improper terms of the foreign tribes, shall be amended. Extremely biased opinion should be deleted. 51 Not until the issue of the guideline was redundant literary inquisition reduced. Simultaneously, the enforcement of the edicts remained strict at the provincial level. Local officials, who had already been granted the right to destroy the books by themselves, had to submit all their collected items to the Ministers of the Grand Council. 52 The Emperor ’s desire to control everything suited the appetite of the officials, who always wished to avoid trouble. Only Wei Qianheng, the Governor of Guizhou Province, acted against the imperial order. Wei reported to the Emperor that he had planned to destroy books with local gentries once receiving further order from the Emperor.53 The Emperor in return condemned his govenor for his stupidity and disobedience, saying that “I have clearly announced in the edicts that all the forbidden books should be reviewed by me, and the suppression of books should be completed in the capital. Nobody has ever destroyed the books outside.”54 The furious Emperor continued to explain the importance of a centralized literary inquisition that “Literate people, such as those in the Lower Yangtze, will be induced to read, copy, and circulate offensive books once the news of literary inquisition is spread! You stupid [servant] are very lucky to have your people too illiterate and ignorant to spread the news. Can you imagine how serious it would be?”55 Having witnessed Wei’s failure, no officials dared to handle the books by themselves. They instead left all the books untouched for delivery to the Grand Council. After sorting out the unreadable books damaged during their transportation could be exempted from review, the Grand Councilors reviewed all the books in detail, enlisted the forbidden books, and destroyed their master copies. Several of the books were transferred to the Editorial Office for joint review by the Presidents and Editors, who would then present the books to the Emperor.56 No books could be destroyed without any imperial consent. The process of literary inquisition could have been shorter if the Emperor had not been that anxious and captious towards the investigation. This could be

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evidenced by several reinvestigations. In the 41st year of the reign of Qianlong (1776), after the successful investigation of 8,000 forbidden books in Jiangxi Province, the Emperor ordered the further investigation in the Lower Yangtze, claiming that, “The names of famous book collectors and book markets of your provinces are legion, therefore your number of the books collected should double the less literate Jiangxi. However, it turned out to be a disappointing result as the sluggish governors never address themselves to the investigation. The Emperor is now ordering you to be meticulous in searching books.”57 Ruthless punishment was not only imposed on the literati who refused to surrender their collections, but also officials who failed to achieve the Emperor’s target. The diligent Hai Cheng, the Governor of Jiangxi Province, was removed from his position in October the 42nd year of the reign of Qianlong for his failure to the highlight the names of the Qing rulers not superscripted in The String of Words . 58 The Emperor hoped that through punishment officials would be alerted for avoiding laziness in their work, but the initiation of another literary case proved that no matter how laborious were the officials, they could never satisfy the Emperor. In November of the 43rd year of the reign of Qianlong, the Emperor criticized the Governor of Jiangxi Province for his incompetence and inefficiency in the suppression of The Poem from the One Pillar Edifice of Xu Shukui, saying that “[Governors should understand that] with severer faults came harsher punishments. The literary inquisition was initiated several years ago, but recently I have received reports about the discovery of forbidden books. It was not because of the sudden diligence of the governors but their past laziness. This could be well-evidenced by the failure of the governors to check the circulation of The Poem from the Once Pillar Edifice , which has been published a long time ago. Governors submit a few books a month; and then present a few books in another month. Do you know how much time you have wasted in procrastinating on my task? I am now going to set a deadline of two years. No forgiveness but only punishment will be imposed if you fail to do so.”59 An atmosphere of menace was thus created among the officials, compelling them to pay desperate effort to search everywhere, from bookshelves to book markets. Governors in the Lower Yangtze requested for an extension of deadline for two years, for a considerable amount of books had not yet delivered to the offices and thus unchecked. 60 Even the governors of the remote and illiterate provinces requested for an extension of deadline for investigation. Yao Chenglie, Governor of the Guangxi Province, requested for a prolongation of deadline to investigate the presence of The Prose of the Fortunes and the Disasters in New and Orthodox Era and The Treasury of Heaven and Earth . 61 Liu Chengtian,

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Literary Inquisition of Forbidden Books and Literary Persecution

Governor of the Yunnan Province, also requested for a one-year extension of deadline for a detail checking.62 The Editorial Office spent a month more in reexamination before the termination of the eight-year apogee of literary inquisition. In the 47th year of the reign of Qianlong (1782), when the officers were preparing for returning reviewed items to the owner, the overcautious Emperor ordered for a review of these books. Presidents in the Editorial Office had no choice but to recall the original editors to have a detail proofreading. It was not until no report of new discovery did the literary inquisition entered its epilogue.63

The epilogue of the literary inquisition The process of literary inquisition, which was supposed to be parallel to that of the collection of books, did not reach a stopping point even only a few books had been discovered. Having spotted biased opinion advocating decentralization in the articles “Enlightenment” and “General Meaning” in The Sequel of the Outline for the Comprehensive Mirror (“The Sequel ”) reviewed by Emperor Kangxi, the Emperor initiated another wave of literary inquisition focusing on those imperial reviewed items. Issued in November of the 47th year of the reign of Qianlong, the decree of requested the Grand Councilors to amend the mistranslated names of people and places in the “The Sequel ” with reference to The Histories of Liao and Jin Dynasty and The History of Yuan Dynasty .64 After the approval of the revised version, the councilors on the one hand dispatched their assistants to edit the duplicates of the book stored in other imperial palaces and, on the other hand, they dispatched sample duplicates for the provinces’ reference. Governors were required to complete the task in secret so as to prevent the spreading of the news.65 To have the original version completely suppressed, the Emperor ordered a removal of the printing plates. Councilors first visited the He’nan Province, which was the hometown of Song Luo, the chief editor of the compilation of The Sequel . Having discovered nothing, they headed to Jiangsu, where Song lived. It was unknown whether the councilors encountered Song, but they were acknowledged that The Sequel had been published and its printing plates was stored in the local office during Song’s term of office as the Governor of Jiangsu Province. 66 After investigation the Emperor first ordered the delivery of all the printing plates to the capital to amend, preparing for the publication of the new edition, 67 and he then required a suppression of both the master copies and duplicates so as to check their circulations. 68 However, due to the

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differences in font size, paper quality, and calligraphy style of each duplicates, it wasted plenty of time and risked making transcription mistakes to edit all the duplicated. The local governors in return exchanged the wrong volumes to the local collectors with the revised duplicates.69 The exchange of books was proven effective in checking the circulation of The Sequel and it was thus adopted by almost all the provinces, reporting the number of books exchanged once a year. Below are statistics showing the number of volumes amended during the three stages of literary inquisition: Table 3.3.

Number of volumes amended in The Sequel in each provinces Province

Number of volumes amended

Zhejiang Jiangsu Jiangxi Anhui Zhili Shanxi Fujian Henan Sichuan Yunnan Shaanxi Hunan Hubei Shandong Guangdong Guizhou Guangxi Gansu Total

596 427 413 197 178 174 124 117 93 85 77 62 43 30 23 16 11 2 2,668

Source: A statistical record in accordance to the statistics of the Grand Council quoted from Records of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature and others.

Literary inquisition in the Lower Yangtze was initiated simultaneously with the investigation of The Sequel . Following the enlistment of the forbidden book by the Editorial Office in the 47th year of the reign of Qianlong, the Grand Councilors prepared a comprehensive list of the forbidden books, stating the name of the author and other information. The list was then delivered to the provinces for provincials’ reference to initiate a holistic literary inquisition.70 It

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Literary Inquisition of Forbidden Books and Literary Persecution

was out of the Emperor’s surprise that the delivery of the well-prepared lists brought only one piece of favorable news back to the court within five years— governors of the Anhui Province discovered about 10 titles forbidden books. The limited achievement once again infuriated the Emperor, who in return condemned his servants for their inefficiency, saying that “Provinces in the Lower Yangtze clearly wins on the numbers of literate and books, but when it comes to the discovery of books, the smaller Anhui beats the Yangtze people down. Is it because of the governors relegated the literary inquisition to the lowest priority so that you seldom address to such a problem?” 71 Viceroys in the Lower Yangtze soon reported their schedule to the court, admitting that “the coming of deadlines caused both the lazy assistants and collectors to procrastinate on the searching of books, but [your ministers] promise to address the tasks from now on.”72 They even reprinted the lists of forbidden books from both the Editorial Office and the Grand Councilor, distributing the lists to local gentries for a rechecking of books.73 Having plagued the society with trouble and terror, the prolonged literary inquisition had sowed the seeds of discontent. It was impossible for the ruler to continue the movement at the cost of a potential outbreak of social unrest. By the end of the reign of Emperor Qianlong, the number of books collected had started to decline, with the submission of books from Jiangxi Province in the 58th year of the Qianlong’s reign (1793) symbolizing the epilogue of the inquisition. .

Statistics of the forbidden books

Nobody could tell the exact number of books suppressed and destroyed during the persistent and prolonged literary inquisition. Not only did the inconsistency in the book titles among the various editions increase the difficulty in having a precise set of statistics. And a comprehensive official record did not exist, nor did information about some of the suppressed books, so that it was impossible to compare the data of the catalogs. Even scholars since the late Qing period had conducted researches over the data, there still lacked an unanimous the statistical results, for they were referring to different historical sources. Therefore what the contemporary researchers and students could have is merely a brief summary of the data from various catalogs and a review of the unauthorized circulation and the preservation of the forbidden books.

Statistics of the Editorial Office The report from the Grand Academician Yiing Lian in February of the 47th year of the reign of Qianlong from the Grand Academician Yiing Lian recorded

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The Compilation of the Complete Library in the Four Branches of Literature

144 volumes subject to total destruction, while 181 volumes subject to partial destruction.”74

Statistics of the Grand Council The report from the Grand Councilor Fu Long’an in December of the 47th year of the reign of Qianlong recorded 789 reviewed volumes subject to destruction, and the Hall of Wuying would publish the list of the book titles.”75

Statistics of the Bureau of the Imperial Reviewed Report The archives of the Bureau of the Imperial Reviewed Report in September of the 48th year of the reign of Qianlong recorded 76 titles subject to destruction.”76

Information from the Provinces Governors in the provinces of Jiangsu, Anhui, He’nan, Guangxi, Jiangxi, Shaanxi, Guangdong, and Zhejiang announced the titles of forbidden books either in single or combined local catalogs. But there were information about the publication of local catalogs in other provinces, for instance, The Official Catalog of Forbidden Books of the Jiangning Prefecture was published in the Sichuan Province, The Forbidden Books submitted from Shanxi and Shaanxi Provinces was published in the Zhejiang Province, as well as the Catalog of Hubei Province. Duplicates of The Catalog of Forbidden Books of All Provinces also circulated across the nation. These catalogs, though published in various provinces, had similar records of the forbidden books, and their duplicates served as references for the late Qing scholars to conduct researches on the books.

Statistics in the late Qing period Yao, a private book collector in the early reign of the Emperor Guangxu, was the first to collect and edit these catalogs. He compiled all the catalogs he had collected in his book Collectanea of the Zhijin Study Room , by which he made a set of statistics of the forbidden books. Yao in his Four Catalogs of the Forbidden Book stated that, there were respectively 146 titles and 181 titles under a total destruction and a partial destruction as seen from the catalog of the Editorial Office, which recorded two more titles than the report from the Grand Academician Yiing Lian; there were respective 749 titles and 40 titles subject to a total destruction and a partial destruction according to the record of the Grand Council, which had the same data with the Grand Councilor Fu

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Literary Inquisition of Forbidden Books and Literary Persecution

Long’an; there were 232 titles, in which included 21 stone inscriptions, subject to suppression as seen from the statistics of the task forces; there were 154 titles subject to inspection in the Zhejiang Province; there were 354 titles subject to investigation as suggested by other provinces; and there were 755 titles under total destruction according to the Catalog of the Forbidden Books published in the He’nan Province. All together there were 2,611 titles, 21 stone inscriptions included, subject to literary inquisition. Next to Yao, another historian in the reign of Guangxu to conduct research over the catalogs was Deng Shi, who concluded that the first section of the Official Catalog of Forbidden Books of the Jiangning Prefecture had similar data to the He’nan-published catalog, while the second section had included the number of forbidden books destroyed in the Jiangning Prefecture. From the catalog he estimated a suppression of more than 3,000 titles.77

Statistics in the Republican period Chen Naiqian, a publisher in the Republican Period, combined the statistics from Yao’s record, as well as the catalogs of the Jiangxi, Hubei, and Guangdong provinces, into The Index of the Forbidden Books , in which he estimated a total destruction of 2,453 titles, a partial destruction of 402 titles, and a suppression of 50 printing plates and 24 stone inscriptions.78 A few years after Guo Bogong in his An Exegesis of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature suggested that more than 100,000 books were under the threat of literary inquisition within the decades.

Statistics in the contemporary era After the establishment of the Communist regime in 1949, the Shanghai Commercial Press edited Yao’s Record with reference to the catalogs of Wu Huizu, Deng Shi, and the Jiangning branch; while Sun Dianqi, a private book collector and an expert in Bibliography, combined the data from the extant catalogs and archives and estimated a suppression of approximately 3,000 titles and 70,000 volumes. 79 In Taiwan, Wu Zhefu combined the statistics from the records of Sun, the Shanghai Commercial Press, the Bureau of the Imperial Reviewed Report , and others in A Study of the Forbidden Books in Qing Dynasty , which estimated a suppression of approximately 3,000 titles. In the end of the 20th century, the First Historical Archive of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) compiled the Documents of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature with reference to the historical sources in the archive and those catalogs published in the Republican Period. It is by far the

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most comprehensive primary source for studying the forbidden books, in which records that approximately 3,100 titles and 150,000 volumes were subjected to literary inquisition (refer to table 3.4.). Table 3.4.

Statistics of the investigated and suppressed books Province Branches

Jiangsu Suzhou Jiangning Jiangxi Zhejiang Anhui Hubei Henan Hunan Yunnan Fujian Zhili Sichuan Shanxi Guizhou Shandong Guangxi Shaanxi Gansu Guangdong Others

Total

Volume 34,590 28,571 27,485 14,630 14,301 10,521 5,374 5,162 2,728 1,786 1,537 1,151 835 702 679 445 310 304 289 325 151,725

Note: 1. Some of the figures are only estimated due to the ambiguity of the original report and the absence of relevant archives. The actual number should be larger. 2. The amount of suppressed books and printing plates are too large to be enlisted in the passage. Further study is required.

Another difficulty is to estimate the number of the destroyed printing plates. Ever since December the 39th year of the reign of Qianlong, when the proposal of the Governor of Hubei Province Chen Huizu over the suppression of printing plates was accepted, the provincial governors had diverted part of their attentions to the searching of these plates.80 In the lists of forbidden books for the Grand Councilors one could find the attached statistics of the collected plates, in which estimated a destruction of 68,239 plates, and recorded the delivery of plates to the glass factories as fuel sources. With reference to these

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Literary Inquisition of Forbidden Books and Literary Persecution

sources, Chen Naiqian estimated a destruction of approximately 10,000 plates, 50 titles included, in The Index of the Forbidden Book ; 81 while the statistics of Zhao Luchuo, Guo Bogong, and Wu Zhefu, which covered the data from the Grand Council, suggested a suppression of more than 100,000 plates. 82 To conclude, since the 46th year of the reign of Qianlong the destruction of 83,812 plates had been reported, among the cases 15,573 were recorded in the provincial catalogs, while the remaining cases came from the statistics of the Grand Council; and only 170 plates had their titles known. The 20-year literary inquisition had posed a great challenge to the development of Chinese culture. Approximately 3,100 titles and 151,000 volumes of books, as well as 80,000 printing plates were destroyed, not to mention those unreported items. Under the threat of persecution, all classes of society participated in the scramble for forbidden books, burning whatever they discovered and accusing whoever they suspected. It had brought a long-lasting loss to the social, cultural, and ideological development could not be quantified.

Circulation and preservation of the forbidden books Similar to the literary inquisition of the previous dynasties, the Manchu rulers failed to uproot all the offensive materials from the society despite the initiation of such an unprecedented and nationwide literary inquisition. It was partly of the harsh punishment resulting in scholars’ loss in confidence, so as their reluctance in surrendering their books; and it could also be explained by the territorial extensiveness of the nation—it was tremendously huge that hindered the ruler to check every city and every village. With the preservation of several of the books, especially the forbidden books, scholars in the later generations thus enjoyed a favorable environment for the revival of pragmatic learning, as well as the second blossom of collection of books. Having witnessed the decline in national strength during the reign of Emperor Jiaqing and Daoguang, the motto of “learning for the practical use to the society” once again flashed into the scholars’ minds. Worrying that the current situation was too weak to rescue the country from the two evils— foreign encroachment and internal rebellion, all they could do was to collect missing books to facilitate learning from the past experience. It was such a political circumstance creating this popular and new intellectual movement, in which scholars engaged in collecting, compiling, and studying from the ancient books. For instance, Yang Fengbao extensively collected the unofficial historical accounts of the Ming Dynasty;83 Zhang Jian compiled the articles of the late Ming period;84 Li Zhaoluo wrote prefaces for forbidden books,85 and Yao

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Ying accounted for the geographical names included in The Record of Limited Knowledge .86 Fuelled by the passion and responsibility towards the preservation of the treasures of Chinese culture, these collectors were passionate in collecting and publishing both the forbidden books and the catalogs, fostering the disclosure of the truth of the literary inquisition. The scramble for forbidden books, particular those completed in the late Ming period, reached its height in the eve of the 1911 Revolution under the social atmosphere of anti-Qing. With the ineffectiveness of the government to maintain a rigid control over the provinces, scholars half-openly established societies to compile and to reprint the ancient articles and books. To name a few, the Society of National Glory established by Liu Shipei reprinted ancient materials and published the Journal of National Treasuries, The Compilation of the Unofficial Historical Accounts of the Ming Dynasty and The History of Pain were also published. Investigation of books by individual scholars continued in a parallel fashion. A few of the books are The Preface and Postscript of the Historical Sources of the Ming Dynasty of Zhu Xizu and An Exegesis of the Historical Accounts of the Late Ming of Xie Guozhen. After the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, Sun Dianqi, who had mastered the knowledge of books through his long-time management of bookstores, compiled The Record of Comprehending the Forbidden Books of the Qing Dynasty , in which he listed the authors, the titles, the volumes, the publishing dates, as well as the reason for suppression in detail. It was regarded as one of the most comprehensive catalogs of the forbidden books for 1,400 titles included.

Literary Persecution during the Inquisition As early as the conquest of the Chinese territory, the Manchu rulers had initiated series of literary persecution. It was first started during the reign of Emperor Kangxi, but some scholars also suggested that the reign of Emperor Shunzhi witnessed the first case of literary persecution. The definition of “literary persecution” was ambiguous, as it only suggested that whoever expressed anti-government feeling in their pieces of writing would be accused, but it did not provide any criteria of persecution—it all depended on the appetite of the ruler. Therefore, under the governance of the merciless Emperor Yongzheng and the captious Emperor Qianlong saw a doubling, or even tripling of literary persecution compared with the previous era. The two emperors also judged by a tighter standard of accusation. Eighty of the significant cases

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Literary Inquisition of Forbidden Books and Literary Persecution

were recorded in Documents of the Literary Persecution of the Qing Dynasty, Collection of Documents, Collections of Anecdotes , and the Documents of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literarure , among half of which involved severe offense. Below are the serious cases during the reigns of Emperor Yongzheng and Emperor Qianlong. These pieces of valuable evidenced the totalitarian cultural policy of the Qing government:

Table 3.5.

Serious cases of literary persecution

Date

Case

October of the 8th year of the reign of Yongzheng (1729)–March of the 40th year of the reign of Qianlong (1775)

Case of the tomb of the terrace of rain and blossom of Qu Dajun

September–November of the 40th year of the reign of Qianlong

Case of The Poetry of Jiefu of Shi Zuohuai

March–May of the 40th year of the reign of Qianlong

Case of General Investigation of Lu Xianren

Intercalary October–December of the 40th year of the reign of Qianlong

Case of The Collection of the Hall of Five Senses of Monk Zhangui

Intercalary October–November the 40th year of the reign of Qianlong

Case of The Poetry of Thousand Mountains of Shi Hanke

December of the 41st year of the reign of Qianlong– May of the 44th year of the reign of Qianlong (1779)

Case of Selected Poems of the Qing Dynasty of Shen Deqian

October–December of the 42nd year of the reign of Qianlong (1777)

Case of The String of Words of Wang Xihou

April of the 43rd year of the reign of Qianlong

Case of "The High Ancestor" of Wang Eryang

May–July of the 43rd year of the reign of Qianlong

Case of Confession of Liu Ao

June–July of the 43rd year of the reign of Qianlong

Case of The Collection of the Aid of Filial Piety of Li Daben

Intercalary June–September of the 43rd year of the reign of Qianlong

Case of The Collection of the Six Willows Hall of Yuan Jixian

August–December 1778 of the 43rd year of the reign of Qianlong

Case of The Poem from the One Pillar Edifice of Xu Shukui

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The Compilation of the Complete Library in the Four Branches of Literature

(Con't) Date

Case

August–October of the 43rd year of the reign of Qianlong

Case of The Grass of the Mountain and Pavilion of Yin Baoshan

October of the 43rd year of the reign of Qianlong

Case of publishing a paternal biography of Wei Yuzhen

October of the 43rd year of the reign of Qianlong– April of the 44th year of the reign of Qianlong

Case of The Records of the Imperial Names of Liu Eshua

November of the 43rd year of the reign of Qianlong– January of the 44th year of the reign of Qianlong

Case of The Collection of Seals of the Mountain of Musk of Long Fengxiang

December of the 43rd year of the reign of Qianlong– January of the 44th year of the reign of Qianlong

Case of The Collections of Current Poems of Tao Xuan and Zhang Can

December of the 43rd year of the reign of Qianlong– February of the 44th year of the reign of Qianlong

Case of Ninety-nine Plans of Yan Jikeng

January of the 44th year of the reign of Qianlong

Case of The Collection of Qinfeng of Li Dai

February of the 44th year of the reign of Qianlong

Chen Xisheng's false accusation of Deng Hui

February of the 44th year of the reign of Qianlong– March of the 45th year of the reign of Qianlong (1780)

Huang Jian's publication of the Memorials of his grandfather Huang Tinggui

February–April of the 44th year of the reign of Qianlong

Case of The Chant of the Five Canons of Feng Wangsun

April–May of the 44th year of the reign of Qianlong

Zhi Tianbao's editing of the perpetual archive of the Qing Dynasty

May–July of the 44th year of the reign of Qianlong

Case of The Poetry of the Study Room of Aizhu of Cheng Shuliu

May–July of the 44th year of the reign of Qianlong

Case of The Collection of Fruitful Achievement and The Speeches of Celebration of Shen Dashou

October of the 44th year of the reign of Qianlong–May of the 45th year of the reign of Qianlong

Case of The Poetry of Jiefu of Shi Zuohuai

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Literary Inquisition of Forbidden Books and Literary Persecution

(Con't) Date

Case

December of the 44th year of the reign of Qianlong– August of the 45th year of the reign of Qianlong

Case of The Sequel of the Classic of the Three Characters of Zhu Tingzheng

April of the 45th year of the reign of Qianlong

Wei Shu's misediting of The Expulsion of Barbarian of Jiang Tong

May–September of the 45th year of the reign of Qianlong

Case of The Poetry of the Descendant of the Heaven of Da Yixiao

September of the 45th year of the reign of Qianlong

Wu Ying's hindrance of the imperial carriage

September of the 45th year of the reign of Qianlong

Case of submitting an imperial report of Liu Linzong

December of the 45th year of the reign of Qianlong– March of the 46th year of the reign of Qianlong (1781)

Case of The Collection of the Western Study Room of Wang Zhongyu

January–April of the 46th year of the reign of Qianlong

Case of The Strange Grievance of Liang Sanchuan

March of the 46th year of the reign of Qianlong– December of the 48th year of the reign of Qianlong (1783)

Yun Jiaquan's request for a posthumous title for his father

November of the 46th year of the reign of Qianlong– January of the 47th year of the reign of Qianlong

Wu Bifeng's publication of Dialogues of the Classic of Filial Piety

November of the 46th year of the reign of Qianlong– February of the 47th year of the reign of Qianlong

Case of Gazette of the Haicheng Prefecture of Ye Tingtui

December of the 46th year of the reign of Qianlong– May of the 47th year of the reign of Qianlong

Cheng Mingyan's composition of the celebrating articles

December of the 46th year of the reign of Qianlong– June of the 47th year of the reign of Qianlong

Case of The Poetry of Yiming of Zhuo Changling

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The Compilation of the Complete Library in the Four Branches of Literature

(Con't) Date

Case

March of the 47th year of the reign of Qianlong

Case of Gazette of the Canlang Villiage of Gao Zhiqing

April–May of the 47th year of the reign of Qianlong

Fang Guotai's collection of The Poetry of the Pavilion of Wave

May–June of the 47th year of the reign of Qianlong

Haifurun's carrying of the Muslim classics

January–March of the 48th year of the reign of Qianlong

Mutual Prying between Qiao Tingying and Liyi

February–April of the 48th year of the reign of Qianlong

Feng Qiyan's explanation The Book of Changes and The Book of Poetry

April of the 48th year of the reign of Qianlong

Case of Autumn Crane on the Grass of Da Ruhuang

May of the 48th year of the reign of Qianlong

Liu Sheng and others' submission of Yujiayan

December of the 48th year of the reign of Qianlong – March of the 49th year of the reign of Qianlong (1784)

Case of Grass of the Yun's of Wu Wenshi

July of the 50th year of the reign of Qianlong (1785)

Case of The Collection of the Hall of Shenyu of Liu Yuqi

July of the 53rd year of the reign of Qianlong (1788)

Case of Sincere Strategy for the Nation of He Shisheng

56

4

Chapter

The Organization of the Editorial Office and the Compilation of The Four Branches of Literature

The Compilation of the Complete Library in the Four Branches of Literature

The Well-organized Editorial Office In February the 38th year of the reign of Qianlong, the Editorial Office of The Four Branches of Literature was formally established. Within the nine years of compilation—from the compilation of The Yongle Encyclopedia to the publication of the first volume of The Four Branches of Literature —notable scholars gathered in the Editorial Office, devoting themselves to the compilation of this unprecedented collection.

The organization of the Editorial Office The President and Vice-President, concurrently held by the Princes, the Academics, and the Presidents of the Six Boards, are the heads of the Editorial Office. They were responsible for administrating the Editorial Office. The main functions of the Editorial Office were performed by three departments: the Department of Compilation, the Editorial Department, and the Superintendent of Publication.

Department of Compilation The Department of Compilation was responsible for revising and compiling the books. It also provided assistance to the Editorial Department. The five chief secretaries were the primary officers of the department—the Chief Reviewer, who was responsible for reviewing and judging the books; the Chief Compiler, who was responsible for formulating the guidelines of compilation; the Chief Editor, who was responsible for guiding the editing of the books; the Coordinators from the Hanlin Academy or the Hall of Wuying, who were responsible for collecting books from their departments; and the Chief Table 4.1(a).

General Officers of the Editorial Office

Title (number)

Name of Officers

President (16)

Yongrong Liu Guan Ying Lian He Shen

Yongxuan Shuhede Cheng Jingyi Cai Xin

Vice President (10)

Liang Guozhi Peng Yuanrui Dong Gao

Cao Xiuxian Liu Yong Qian Rucheng Jin Jian Cao Wenzhi

58

Yongxing Egui Ji Huang Qiu Yuexiu

Liu Tongxun Yu Minzhong Fu Long’an Wang Jihua Wang Jie Shen Chu

The Organization of the Editorial Office

Table 4.1(b).

Officers of the Department of Compilation

Title (number)

Name of Officers

Chief Reviewer (15)

Debao Wang Yanyu Hu Gaowang Yin Zhuangtu

Zhou Huang Xie Yong Wang Yongxi Li Shou

Zhuang Cunyu Dachun Jin Shisong Dou Guangnai

Chief Compiler (3)

Ji Yun

Lu Xixiong

Sun Shiyi

Chief Editor (1)

Lu Feichi

Hanlin Coordinator (22)

Meng Ji Bai Ling Dechang Chen Chongben Feng Yingliu Jiang Xieting

Wuying Coordinator (9)

Lu Feichi Peng Shaoguan Zha Ying Wei Qianheng Peng Yuanchong Wu Yude Zhou Xingdai

Liu Zhongzhi Guan Huai

Chief Organizer (7)

Liu Quanzhi Wang Ruzao Liang Shangguo Ren Dachun

Cheng Jinfang Zhang Xinian

Li Huang

Editor of the Yongle Encyclopedia (39)

Liu Jiaozhi Lan Yingyuan Wu Shouchang Wang Zeng Sun Chendong Zou Bingtai Shao Jinhan Mo Zhanlu Yu Ding Wang Ruyang

Chen Changtu Wang Jiazeng Wu Dian Min Encheng Ping Shu Huang Shouling Dai Zhen Fan Zhong Wu Dingwen Zhu Kun

Li Shouqian Zhuang Chengjian Huang Xuan Chen Changqi Li Yaodong Yu Ji Yang Changlin Xu Zhaochun Wu Shenglan

Editor of the provincial submission (6)

Zou Yixiao Zheng Jitang Zuo Zhou Weng Fanggang Zhu Yun

Editor of the imperial reviewed item (2)

Wang Taiyue

Cao Xibao

Editor of the astronomy and mathematics treatises (3)

Guo Changfa

Chen Jixin

Zhu Delin Liu Xijia Zhang Tao Song Xi Huang Yingyuan Cao Cheng Wutai Yunchang Sun Yongqing Shi Mengqi Dai Quheng

Liu Yueyun Zou Yuzao Liu Mei Wang Erlie Yu Dayou Zhuang Tongmin Zhou Yongnian Wang Tanxiu Wang Chunxu Chen Wanqing

Ni Chengkuan Li Wangdu Zhu Gui

Wang Zhongyu Xiao Jishao Ruibao Zhang Baochuan Liu Jinzhi

Yao Nai

Ni Yanmei

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The Compilation of the Complete Library in the Four Branches of Literature

Table 4.1(c).

General Officers of the Editorial Department

Title (number)

Name of Officers

General Editor (4)

Wang Yanxu

Assistant Editor (179)

Zhang Shuxun Zhang Bingyu Zhang Nengzhao Luo Xiuyuan Zhou Qiong Shi Peiying Zhang Jiuxin Min Dunda Ma Qitai Dai Xinheng Shen Sunlian Cheng Changqi Shen Qingzao Wang Fuqing Xiao Guangyun Luo Guojun Guo Yin Li Tingjing Zu Zhiwang Chen Wenshu Pan Shaoguan Wu Shaohuan Zhang Shenhe Wang Qingchang Wang Rizhang Wu Shaoyu Lei Chun Fang Dachuan Hu Shaoji Yang Shilun Zhen Songnian Wang Zhongdi Yang Kui Xu Bingjing Pan Yijun Liu Ying Zhang Xu Dou Ruyi Zhao Huaiyu Li Yuanchun

60

Zhu Qian Ji Xuejin Xiang Jiada Wang Xuejin Zhu Xiao Wu Xiqi Wu Shuwei Wang Tianlu Liu Rumu Dai Liankui Dai Junyuan Lu Ying He Xitai Hong Qishen Desheng Xiao Jiucheng Qian Shixi Wang Rujia Wu Weiguang Fan Ao Wang Shou Jiang Yupu Zhong Wenyun Niu Renwen Gong Jingshen Wu Jun Mao Shangtai Zhu Rong Jin Guangti Dong Lian Min Siyi Shen Kun Fei Zhenxun Hong Wu Tai Ying Zhang Zengxiao Shen Fenghui Ye Tan Zhang Xun Xu Buyun Liu Yuanpu

He Sijun Qian Qi Yang Shounan Yan Fu Qiu Tinglong Cai Tingheng He Xun Feng Minchang Gao Yusheng Fang Wei Sun Yuting Qian Shi Wang Jiazeng Li Yichou Li Dingyuan Wang Yunzhong Rao Qingjie Wang Zhongjian Xu Wen’gan Hu Bida Wang Chaowu Feng Jiwu Yu Tinglun Lu Yundong Zhang Pei Fang Weixun Sheng Dunchong Qiu Xingjian Liu Tu’nan Cheng Yan Qiu Guishan Bao Zhizhong Shen Shushan Jiang Lian Huang Bingyuan Shi Hongzhu Wen Rushi Guo Jin Wang Shizeng Song Fangyuan Chen Mu

Cang Shengmai Jin Bang Pei Qian Sun Xidan Qian Yue Zhai Huai Yan Chonggui Zhu Fu Fan Laizong Xu Rushu Xu Lang Hu Rong Lu Sui Wen Changshou Zhang Wei Gong Dawan Wang Chang Feng Pei Zeng Tingyun Chen Yong Cai Gongwu Zeng Yu Shi Chao Hu Min Li Mu Wang Bin Du Zaoji Li Siyong Li Quan Wang Xuehai Ma Youlong Wang Zhao Gu Zongtai Sun Qiu Zhang Dunpei Zhao Bingyuan Jian Tan Mao Fengyi Yan Chaobiao Wu Yicheng Zhou Hong

The Organization of the Editorial Office

(Con't) Title (number)

Name of Officers Bu Weiji Yuan Wenshao Shen Pei Li Yan Guo Zuochi

Calligraphic Editor (2) Wang Niansun

Jin Xueshi Wang Rizan Cai Zhen Zhang Zhifeng Chai Mo

Huang Changti Jin Zhaoyan Wu Yuan Zhang Guangdi Wu Shuxuan

Wang Xikui Zhang Zengbing Chang Xun Liu Jingyue

Xie Dengjun

Pictorial Editor (1)

Men Yingzhao

Editorial Superintendent (3)

Xiang Qing

Dong Chun

Chu Weining

Hanlin Coordinator (20)

An Sheng’e Bai Ying Boliang Jingde Fu Zhi

Wenying Yingxide Hengjing Qingming Cheng Lu

Fulian Rong’an Nashan Sheng Wen Xiong Zhiqi

Coordinator of Editorial Department (3)

Tian Qishen

Wu Yingxia

Shi Guohua

Wuying Coordinator (14)

Ekedun Fu Zhuli Deguang Guangchuan Lu Dasai Haining Zhuntibao Yichang’e Haifu Deming Fuqing Yongqing Huibao Bashi

Table 4.1(d).

Shuming’e Mingfu Changliang Ma Zhen Zhang Cunxian

General Officers of the Superintendent

Title (number)

Name of Officers

Superintendent (3)

Liu Chun

Shao Yan

Yiling’e

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Organizer, who was responsible for deciding the content of the book. Under the five secretaries were the four divisions—The Yongle Encyclopedia , the provincial submission, the imperial reviewed items, and the astronomic and mathematics treatise—to which other officers in the Department belonged. Table 4.2. Year of Appointment

Information of Officers excluded from the list Titles

Name of Officers

1773

Vice-President Qinggui; Zhang Ruogui; Li Youtang Editor of the Hall of Wuying Zhang Yunxian; Chen Mengyuan; Zheng Xi; Li Guangyun; Zhu Yilu

1775

Assistant General Editor

Liu Cunwei

1778

Vice President

Zhong Yin

1779

General Reviewer

Qian Zai; Ji Mengxiong

–

Editor Liu Hengdi; Jin Rong; Zhu Nuo; Xiao Zhi; Mao Yuanming; Miao Jin; Gao Zhong; Wang Yixian; Hu Yuxiang Superintendent Yongshan

Editorial Department Editorial Department was responsible for copywriting and editing the books. It was presided over by the General Editor, who was responsible for administrating the department. Under the General Editor were several assistant officers. These included the Assistant Editor, who was responsible for editing general books; the Calligraphic Editor and the Pictorial Editor, who were responsible for editing inscriptions; the Editorial Superintendent, who was responsible for supervising the progress of copywriting and editing; and the Coordinator, who was responsible for circulating books among the Editorial Department, the Hanlin Academy, and the Hall of Wuying.

Superintendent of Publication The Superintendent of Publication was responsible for supervising the Hall of Wuying of its publication, printing, bookbinding, and other tasks. It had no supervisor but commissioners to handle the jobs. Officers of the Editorial Office and their titles are to be introduced in table 4.1 with reference to the list of the 47th year of the reign of Qianlong. There are 362

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names on the tables 4.1 but the actual number of staff on the list was 360 with Lu Feichi and Wang Jiazeng concurrently working in two departments. The above list is only an approximate record of the officers, as there were officers not recording in the list, so the actual number of officers should be larger (refer to table 4.2.). The reasons of excluding from the list were several: first, dismissal. Li Youtang, once the Vice-President, did not have his name on the list because he had been dismissed during the Case of The String of Words ; second, retirement. Zhang Ruogui, also once the Vice-President, had his name removed after his retirement in the age of 70; third, sick leave. Mao Yuanming was removed from his position of editor because of sickness; fourth, death. Gao Zhong, the editor, had died in the 46th year of the reign of Qianlong before the completion of the project. Others did not have their names listed because of shifting to another posts. It should be noticed that the actual number of officers serving in the Editorial Office must be larger than the record.

Officers with outstanding performance Most of the officers of the Editorial Office were celebrated scholars. In the following the officers with outstanding performance will be introduced.

Yu Minzhong Yu Minzhong (Yu Shuzi, 1714–1779) was born in Jintan of the Jiangsu Province. Graduating with the first class honor of an advanced degree in the 3rd year of the reign of Qianlong (1738), he joined the government as Editor in the Hanlin Academy. Before his appointment as the President of the Editorial Office, he had been appointed as Supervisor of the civil examination in Shanxi Province, Supervisor of the local academic officers in Shandong and Zhejiang Province, Grand Secretary, Assistant Secretary of the Board of War, Secretary of the Board of Revenue, and Master of the Prince. His main achievements were to support the editing of The Yongle Encyclopedia and the establishment of the Editorial Office, and to formulate the guidelines of the compilation of The Four Branches of Literature . 1 He was given the posthumous name of Wenxiang (literally, scholars with military achievement).

Wang Jihua Wang Jihua (Wang Qiurui, pseudonym Baizhai, 1717–1776) was born in Qiantang of the Jiangsu Province. Graduating with the honor of an advanced

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degree in the 10th year of the reign of Qianlong (1745), he joined the government as an Editor. Before his appointment as the President of the Editorial House, he had been appointed as Assistant Academic, Assistant Secretary of the Board of Public Work, the Board of Punishments, the Board of War, the Board of Revenue, the Board of Civil Office, as well as the Secretary of the Board of Rites. His main duty was to edit the concise version of The Four Branches of Literature . He was praised by Emperor Qianlong for his diligence and care in avoiding mistakes during editing, as it was common for other officers to have the content wrongly edited. 2 He died of sickness in the 41st year of the reign of Qianlong, when he was given the posthumous name of Wenzhuang (literally, scholars with solemnness).

Jin Jian Jin Jian (died the 59th year of the reign of Qianlong, 1794), who was bestowed with the surname of Gingiya by the Emperor, belonged to Plain Yellow Banner of the Manchu. Before his appointment as the Vice-President of the Editorial House, he had worked in the Imperial Household as Copywriter and the General Minister, as well as the High Officer in the Division of the Royal Garden in the Household. He was highly praised by the Emperor for simplifying and accelerating the printing process by introducing jujubes as the material of printing blocks. 3 These blocks were later bestowed with the name of “plates of accumulating treasures.” The 2,300 volumes of Collectanea of the Plates of Accumulating Treasures of the Hall of Wuying could eventually be published on time with the acceleration of the printing process. He also compiled The Pattern of the Plates of Accumulating Treasures of the Hall of Wuying , in which he gathered his experience of the letterpress printing. He was promoted as the Secretary of the Board of Public Works and the Board of Civil Office and given the posthumous name of Qinke (literally, hardworking and respectful).

Ji Yun Ji Yun (Ji Xiaolan or Ji Chunfan, pseudonym Shiyun, 1724–1805) was born in Hejian of the Zhili Province. Graduating with the honor of an advanced degree in the 19th year of the reign of Qianlong (1754), he joined the government as Intern of the Hanlin Academy. He had been downgraded and dispatched to the remote Urumqi, but he was later nominated as the Chief Compiler of the Editorial Office for his profound knowledge in classics and literature. His main achievement in his term of service as the Chief Compiler was the compilation of the three supplementary books of the encyclopedia—The Concise Four

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Branches of Literature , the 200 volumes of The Comprehensive Catalog of the Four Branches of Literature , and The Concise Catalog of the Four Branches of Literature . He also conducted exegetical research over the annotations of the classics, the similarities and differences between the historical accounts, and the ideological conflict among various schools.4 He was promoted to Assistant Grand Secretary and the Master of the Prince for his excellent performance in supervising several edit of the encyclopedia. Before the end of his term of service in the early year of the reign of Jiaqing, he was still organizing the final editing of the encyclopedia, which contributed to a perfect encyclopedia. He received the posthumous name of Wenda (literally, scholars with righteousness and knowledge) after his death in the 10th year of the reign of Jiaqing.

Lu Xixiong Lu Xixiong (Lu Jiannan or Lu Ershan) was born in Shanghai. Graduating with the honor of the advanced degree in the 26th year of the reign of Qianlong (1761), he joined the Grand Secretariat as Junior Secretary. Before his appointment as the Chief Compiler of the Editorial Office, he worked as General Officer in the Board of Punishments. His early achievements in the Editorial Office were to analyze the authenticity of the calligraphy and pictures, to differentiate the editions, to summarize the books, and to write biographies of the authors.5 He was later dispatched to the auxiliary capital Mukden in the northeast to assist the edit of the collection of the Library of Wensu. Within five years, the quality of the books had been improved, but due to prolonged work in the northeast, he eventually died of frost.

Lu Feichi Lu Feichi (Lu Danshu, died in 1790) was born in Tongxiang of Zhejiang Province. Graduating with the honor of an advanced degree in the 31st year of the reign of Qianlong (1766), he joined the government as Intern of the Hanlin Academy. After the establishment of the Editorial Office, he was appointed as both the Chief Editor and the Coordinator of the Hall of Wuying. In the early days of his working in the Editorial Office, he assisted Yu Minzhong in the formulation of guidelines. He had been downgraded in the 45th year of the reign of Qianlong because of several missing documents during compilation, and after four years he was reappointed as the Vice-President, handling the collections of the Southern Three Libraries in the Lower Yangtze. The falseaccusation of corruption during his term of service, the compensation for the compilation of the three duplicates, the frequent travel between the capital and

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the Three Southern Libraries in the Lower Yangtze, and the most importantly, the fluctuating standard of edit and transcription, surely played decisive roles in compounding his pressure and frustration, and eventually his death three years after.

Zhou Yongnian Zhou Yongnian (Zhou Shuchang, 1730–1791) was born in Licheng of Shandong Province. His promotion of the establishment of a collection of the Confucian classics brought him not only reputation in the academic world, but also the post of Editor of The Yongle Encyclopedia . In the number of book compiled Zhou surely won the championship, as most of his colleagues in the Editorial Office used to compile the less voluminous books due to the lack of time, but Zhou, who regarded the job as a rare opportunity to propagate the study of ancient text, compiled 18,000 volumes during his term of office. Several of the compiled famous titles included the The Collection of Gongshi of Liu Chang and The Collection of Gongfei of Liu Fen of the Song Dynasty. Zhang Xuecheng, one of the most notable historians in his time, found his meticulous working attitude highly laudable, praising him that “[Zhou] devotes himself in collecting books and compiling ancient texts for decades, no matter in summer or winter, in sunny days or stormy nights.”6

Dai Zhen Dan Zhen (Dai Dongyuan, 1724–1777) was born in Xiuning of Anhui Province. Being one of the most notable scholars in the mid-Qing period, he was invited to the Editorial House as the Editor of The Yongle Encyclopedia . His achievements were legion. These included the edit of the annotations of the Confucian classics, such as The Combined Annotations of Rituals, Identification of Rituals, The Book of Rituals of Dai De , the conduction of textual analysis on the Approaching Elegance with reference to the first linguistic dictionary in China—The Dialects, as well as the compilation of treatises from The Yongle Encyclopedia , such as the The Annotation of the Classic of Waterways, Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art, The Island Mathematical Treatise, Sunzi Mathematical Treatise, Five Branches Mathematical Treatise , and Xiahou Yang Mathematical Treatise . His remarkable achievements brought him the degree of advanced scholar, but also fatigue that contributed to his death.

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Shao Jinhan Shao Jinhan (Shao Yutong or Shao Eryun, pseudonym Nanjiang, 1743–1796) was born in Yuyao of Zhejiang Province. Graduating with only the second class honor advanced degree in the 36th year of the reign of Qianlong (1771), he was nominated as the Editor of The Yongle Encyclopedia for his profound knowledge in history. He was greatly relied on by the Presidents in the Editorial Office, as he managed to answer all their questions about The Four Branches of Literature . His main duty was editing the history books, among which the Old History of the Five Dynasties , which had been missing for 100 years, was so well-edited that it was praised as the best compiled book of the encyclopedia. He was later offered another job as the Checker in the Library of Wenyuan (文淵 閣).

Weng Fanggang Weng Fanggang (Weng Zhengsan, pseudonym Tanxi, 1733–1818) was born in Daxing of the Zhili Province. Graduating with the honor of an advanced degree in the 17th year of the reign of Qianlong (1752), he was appointed as the Editor of the provincial submission because of his profound knowledge in stone inscription, calligraphy, and literature. During the years in the Editorial Office he edited more than 1,000 titles, among which he had additionally written 900 pieces of commentary for the Chief Editors. He was later promoted as the Assistant Supervisor of the Supervisorate of Imperial Instruction and eventually the Grand Secretary.

Cheng Jinfang Cheng Jinfang (Cheng Yumen, pseudonym Jiyuan, 1718–1784) was born in Jiangdu of the Jiangsu Province. Born in a merchant family, he was unexpectedly fond of studying. He was first enlightened in the studying of Confucianism, from which he developed a wide range of interests—literature, history, classics, astronomy, geography, and natural science, but he found his utmost interest lied in ancient texts and poems. His career as the copywriter of the Imperial Secretariat began with the self-nomination during the Emperor’s inspection tour to the Lower Yangtze. After he received the advanced degree in the 36th year of the reign of Qianlong, he joined as the Editorial Office as the Chief Organizer, assisting the edit of The Comprehensive Catalog of the Four Branches of Literature . His errorless works were highly impressive that he was later promoted as both the Editor of the Hanlin Academy and the Library of Wenyuan.

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Ren Dachun Ren Dachun (Ren Youzhi or Ren Zitian, 1738–1789) was born in Xinghua in the Jiangsu Province. Graduating with the honor of an advanced degree in the 34th year of the reign of Qianlong (1769), he joined the Board of Rites as Secretary. Not until he started to study the ancient rituals, systems, literature, and phonetics from Da Zhen was he nominated to the Editorial Office as the Chief Organizer. His main contribution was to provide insightful ideas over the editing of the Book of Rituals . He was later promoted as the General Officer of the Board of Rites and eventually the Supervisor of the Shaanxi Province. The names of other well-known editors were legion. Zhu Yun, an expert in classics and philology, proposed the editing of The Yongle Encyclopedia and the establishment of the Editorial Office; Yao Nai, a master in classics and ancient texts, composed hundreds of abstracts of the books within a year. Information of the other editors is introduced below. Table 4.3.

Expertise of the other editors

Expertise

Name of the Editor

Classics

Zhu Gui; Zhuang Cunyu; Jin Bang

Mathematics

Li Huang; Chen Jixin; Guo Changfa

Method of collation

Xie Yong; Zhao Huaiyu

Ancient texts

Cao Xiuxian; Wang Taiyue

Parallel Prose

Yu Ji; Zeng Yu

Calligraphy

Men Yingzhao

Miscellaneous

Peng Yuanrui (inscription and calligraphy) Chen Changqi (classics, history, geography, and astronomy) Hong Wu (classics and philology) Wang Niansun (philology and collation) Liu Yong (literature and philosophy)

The Extensive and Meticulous Compilation of The Four Branches of Literature To comment on the past with a contemporary mindset is always discouraged in the study of history, as we might easily fall into the trap of neglecting the characteristics or the limitations of the ancient time. However, even if we

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judge the works of the Editorial Office of The Four Branches of Literature with a modern standard, we could still conclude that the officers had made unprecedented achievements. Within a decade the government had almost completed all the processes of compilation—to collect ancient and contemporary books, to edit thousands titles, and to publish the huge encyclopedia.

Preparation of the compilation in the Editorial Office To ensure a stable supply of books, all classes of the society had been mobilized by the government to participate in the compilation project—with commoners donating books while officers editing the books. In the previous chapter we already had a grasp of the nationwide collection, so the focus of this section is another preparatory process—the investigation and editing of the collections. The first target of investigation was the imperial collections. These books included The Yongle Encyclopedia, The General Annotation of the Book of Changes, Collections of the Legends of the Spring and Autumn, Excellent Speeches of the Emperors and Officials, The Annotations of the Three Books of Rites, The Charts of the Officials of Previous Dynasties , and Treatises of Rivers . Stored in the Emperor’s residence and study room, the storeroom in the imperial garden, the publication office in the palace, as well as the library in the Summer Palace, these rare collections were inaccessible to commoners, but the adoption of these collections, together with the 15,000 titles from the local submission, provided a wide source of reference for the scholars in editing The Four Branches of Literature .

Editing of The Yongle Encyclopedia The first project of the Editorial Office was the compilation of missing books from The Yongle Encyclopedia . It was started in February of the 38th year of the reign of Qianlong, when the Emperor approved the regulation of the editing of The Yongle Encyclopedia . After the Grand Councilors excavated the encyclopedia from the dusty bookshelves deep inside the Hanlin Library, they discovered that only 9,000 books—nine-tenths of the original—remained. 7 In order to have a better understanding of the presence of the books, the Grand Councilors appointed the editors in the Hanlin Academy to investigate the encyclopedia. After investigation, the editors reported the discovery of a total of 20,473 volumes, 9,881 books, and 60 volumes of the catalog, while a total of 2,404 volumes and approximately 1,000 books had been missed.8 Out of the fear that officers might use “too time-consuming” as an excuse for procrastination when editing such a voluminous book, the Emperor designed

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a guideline for the editors, in which required editors to select the useful and insightful books, to compile the rare books, and to write a brief summary of the missing books. Those widely circulated items could be neglected. 9 Deadlines came along with guidelines. The Presidents of the Editorial Office distributed 9,881 volumes of the encyclopedia to editors, who would then act accordingly to the daily reading quota. Under the regulation, editors had to deliver rare books to the coordinators in Editorial Department, who would then ordered for transcription and return both the master copies and the duplicates to the editors. Upon receiving the duplicates, editors would check the books before submission to the Presidents. The Presidents were responsible for differentiating the books as “to be published”, “to be transcribed”, or “to be deleted” for imperial review.10 The most difficult task during the edit of The Yongle Encyclopedia was the compilation of the articles into a complete volume. Due to the absence of a clear standard in compilation of The Yongle Encyclopedia , articles belonging to the same volumes were scattered in different categories of the encyclopedia. The editors were thus required to compile the articles back into its original books with reference to other sources. This tough job was well-demonstrated by Shao Jinhan and Da Zhen, “the twins of literature and history.” When Shao was compiling The Old History of the Five Dynasties , he first extracted all the articles of the encyclopedia, and then began to search for quotations in other historical accounts at that time.11 Da also extracted articles of The Five Branches of Mathematical Treatise and compiled them into a complete volume.12 Their profound knowledge and impressive performance contributed to the recovery of the hundred ancient titles. Eager to be the great patron of the unprecedented cultural activity, the Emperor highly addressed to the editing of The Yongle Encyclopedia . He set rigid deadlines, controlled the publishing of the books, and wrote prefaces for the well-edited and rare books. Two of the excellent titles were the mathematical treatises edited by Da Zhen and The Old History of the Five Dynasties edited by Shao Jinhan. The Emperor rewarded these two editors with valuable stationeries, daily meals, ice in summer and coal in winter, and also imperial poems on the first page of their books. 13 To encourage excellent performance, the Emperor promoted scholars without an advanced degree as editors. These notable editors included Shao Jinhan, Zhou Yongnian, and Yuji, who were merely advance scholars-to-be, while Da Zhen and Yang Changlin who held only the lower degree of “recommended men.” They first entered the government as Interns in the Hanlin Academy to undergo basic training, and they would be promoted as the editors of the Department of Compilation. 14

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Editors with impressive performance were promoted to a higher rank as well. For instance, the Chief Editors Ji Yun and Lu Xixiong were promoted as the Grand Secretary and the Assistant Supervisor of the Supervisorate of Imperial Instruction, respectively. By rewarding the officers, the Emperor could ensure both a high quality of encyclopedia as well as a group of loyal and diligent editors. One should also notice that the voluminous but disorganized encyclopedia and the tight schedule constituted an unfavorable working condition. Part of the editors, who had a monthly reading quota of 100 to 160 books, brought the books home to edit in order to meet the deadlines. More seriously, several editors died of fatigue because of the prolonged overtime work. Their preference of quantity over quality resulted in the voluminous books unedited. These titles included The Gazette of Zhenjiang, The Gazette of Wuxing of the Era of Jiatai, The Gazette of Jiading and Weiyang, The Record of Fengtian, The Gazette of the Nine States, Jianjing Hebi, Discussion on the History of the Jin Dynasty, Note of Jia Yuesheng , and The Collection of Indulging in Nature . The compilation of several titles by scholars not until the late-Qing Period also demonstrated the passive working attitude of the editors. These included The Institutional History of the Song Dynasty, The Book of Rituals in the Restoration Period of Song Dynasty, The Gazette of He’nan of Yuan Dynasty, Errors of the Historical Accounts of the Five Dynasties , and The Compilation of Surnames of the Reign of Yuanhe . The effort to preserve the missing books of the late-Qing scholars apparently constituted a sharp contrast to that of the editors. However, having considered the over-demanding requirement of the Emperor, the unsatisfactory working attitude of the scholars should not be blamed.

Editing of the imperial collections The focus of the editing of the imperial collections was amendment and the update of information by the editors in the Hall of Wuying, as most of these complete collections required no compilation or exegetical research. These titles included the 13 classics and the 21 histories, which required only transcription in the Hall of Wuying; The Gazette of the United Great Qing , which required only an update of information about the newly-conquered Mongol tribes— the Junggar and the Hezhuo; The Sequel of the Outline for the Comprehensive Mirror , which required a correction of the mistranslated names of places and people with reference to the Explanation on the Official Language of the Liao, Jin and Yuan Dynasties.

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Editing of the provincial submission The editing of the provincial submission started in April the 38th year of the reign of Qianlong, slightly later due to the time consumed in collecting and transporting books from the provincial governments and private collectors. Due to the fully occupied rooms inside the Hanlin Academy, the Presidents proposed for the Hall of Baoshan as the new editorial room. Among the three collections, editing of the provincial submission required the most effort for its largest amount of books.

The second stage of the compilation of The Four Branches of Literature

Processes prior to the transcription and publication of the encyclopedia included differentiation of the version, identification of authenticity, conduction of textual analysis, and writing of the abstracts for the books. These were done mainly by the Department of Compilation and the Editorial Department.

Differentiation Despite the attempts to screen out fake and forbidden books from the collections at the provincial level, the Editorial Office still received piles of unwanted items. The first step before submitting the books for proofreading was differentiation. Editors had to discard books too commonplace for compilation and report discovery of forbidden books. For instance, Weng Fanggang reported to the Presidents of the Editorial Office about the discovery of offensive contents from the works of the late Ming intellectuals Mao Yuanyi and Gao Chu, requesting for a standardized criteria of checking books completed in the late Ming period.15 In response to Weng’s request the Emperor issued an edict requiring a harsher suppression of forbidden books. Another task of differentiation was to distinguish the best version of the book. Books completed thousands of years ago might have been reprinted several times, with different writing materials and printing methods. It was common for different versions of the books to have different content included. To adopt the best version for reference was the key of a perfect compilation; therefore editors had spent a considerable of time in screening out the wellcomposed and complete version for compilation.16

Identification of the authenticity There was surely neither strict citation requirement nor punishment over plagiarism for the ancient writers, thus it encouraged a total transplantation

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of the text from other books. This problem particularly prevailed during the last years of the Ming Dynasty, when scholars indulged in empty talk and fabrication of books, leaving a considerable amount of fake books. Editors had thus to conduct exegetical research over these items, selecting the real and the well-edited version of the books, and simultaneously, searching for offensive content. An excellent demonstration of successful identification was the research on The Book of Changes of Zixia . Completed during the Warring-States period, the book was generally agreed the earliest commentary of The Book of Changes . Scholars since the Tang Dynasty started to suspect its authenticity due to the circulation of two different versions. This raised discussion among the editors, and eventually they concluded that the present version of the book was neither the Tang nor the original version, but only a fake edition made up from another fake book.17 Another example was The Mind of Composition and the Decoration of the Words , the first reference of literary theory. Completed by Liu Xie of the Six Dynasties and had reprinted for numerous time, it aroused suspicion from the editors as they spotted missing articles in the chapter of “the Implication and the Principle,” as well as vocabularies from literature of the post-Six Dynasties. The editors reported discovery of the phrases such as “painstaking work similar to vomiting the heart and gall bladder” originated from a Tang book The Little Biography of Li He and “repetitious practice for ages” originated from a Song book The Poetic Comments of Ouyang Xiu ; and they found the description of the Lady Ban as a “common woman” copied from The Poetic Comments of Zhong Rong from the early-Tang period. All these pieces of evidence proved the book a fabrication by scholars in the Ming Dynasty.

Textual analysis Before the standardization of the writing system in the Qin Dynasty, various types of calligraphy had flourished in the ancient China. In addition to the difference in calligraphic styles, terms appeared in the ancient books and the wrong words confused contemporary readers. Without the conduction of textual analyses, readers might find these words incomprehensible. Therefore, notable scholars of the School of Textual Analysis, such as Da Zhen and Wang Niansun, were invited to the Editorial Office to interpret the meaning of these words. They might not have an advanced degree, for candidates of the civil examination would not be tested for analyzing ancient texts, but as long as they demonstrated professional knowledge over the ancient books, they were always welcomed. The notable Da Zhen once again demonstrated his talent in textual

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analysis. During the editing of The Annotation of the Classic of Waterways , he carefully collocated to the ancient rivers with their modern names with reference to The Yongle Encyclopedia , investigated the current situation of the rivers, and filling in 2,128 missing words. He even standardized the editorial style by differentiating the original text and the explanations by the original author, and his exegeses.18 Scholars were never alone in doing this tedious job. Weng Fanggang recalled in his diary that, “We [the editors] enjoyed the wellprepared meal every morning before starting our work. I worked in the Hall of Baoshan, and my colleagues Cheng Yumen (Cheng Jinfang), Yao Jichuan (Yao Nai), Ren Youzhi (Ren Dachun) and others always shared their discoveries. We always had fruitful gains during our visiting to the book warehouses, as the generous book sellers in the Lower Yangtze had donated plenty of books to the court. We purchased inexpensive books and borrowed rare books from the commoners. All I encountered were really helpful.”19 To highlight these excellent textual interpretations, the Emperor ordered for the publication of a separated Textual Analysis of the Four Branches of Literature instead of including these works in the endnotes of the content.20

Writing abstracts The final step of the second stage of compilation was the composition of abstracts. Unlike the abstracts of contemporary academic papers, those of the books of The Four Branches of Literature included not only a summary of the content, but also a short introduction of the author, various versions of the book, and places of amendments. The longest part in the abstract was the suggestions to the Emperor for further copywriting, publication, and suppression—to publish rare and insightful books, to transcribe books including rituals and various philosophical thoughts, to list only the titles of the commonly-seen books, and to remove any offensive places. These abstracts served as a reference for the later reexamination and classification of the books and passages into the four branches.

Limitations of the second stage of compilation Differentiation, identification, conducting textual research, and writing abstracts unquestionably required professional knowledge and patience, scholars’ efforts should thus be appreciated. However, due to the nature and the limited time for compilation, it was inevitable that there were limitations. One of the apparent problems was the limited scoop on the types of books. Editors relegated the first priority over the exegeses and commentaries of the

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Confucian classics, so as to maintain the orthodox status of Confucianism. As a result, books irrelevant to Confucianism, such as the Buddhist sutras, Daoist classics, scientific treatises, drama scripts, as well as the lyrics, received the editors’ limited attention, for their failure to propagate the doctrines of Confucianism.21 Another limitation was the seldom adoption of the best version of the books. The Collection of the Zhijia the Old of Huang Gongdu, for example, had the inferior version chosen, but the editor, who felt no guilt for his carelessness in adopting the two volumes-set instead of the complete version with 12 volumes, even commented that, “What I saw was only 134 pages in the two volumes. How come somebody would say that there should have been 12 volumes?”22 Inattentive conduction of textual research also downgraded the quality of the encyclopedia. It was done sometimes only by a quick glance at the book and the writing of a superficial comment afterwards. The attached documents about the missing content in the books were abandoned as well, so that several of the titles had incomplete content compiled. These included the The Pictorial Gazette of Prefectures and Counties of the Reign of Yuanhe and The Universal Geographical Records of the Reign of Taiping . Editors adopted the incomplete versions instead of the complete one in The Yongle Encyclopedia .

The impacts of literary inquisition on the compilation Judging with the effort in discovering, editing, and preserving books, the compilation of The Four Branches of Literature was unquestionably one of the most magnificent cultural achievements in Chinese history. It was, however, also one of the most devastating cultural hazards ever since the destruction of books by the First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty. The endeavor of the Emperor to remove any offensive content from the books resulted in no more than a discarding and destruction of thousands of books. Editors suppressed all the forbidden books irrespective of their involvement in cases, labeling with the sign “to destroy” and a brief reason of suppression on the book covers. They removed all the offensive words, sentences and paragraphs, and the phrases “anti-Jin” and “anti-Yuan”, and they revised the heterodox content. Even the books not to be compiled in The Four Branches of Literature could not escape from destruction. To evaluate the legacies of two decades of compilation was never an easy task for historians. Editors recompiled the missing books from The Yongle Encyclopedia to complete volumes, leaving a considerable amount of ancient rare books to contemporary scholars. However, the strict enforcement of the

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literary inquisition during the compilation stained the scholars’ reputation for their suppression of thousands valuable books. Editors interpreted incomprehensible ideas to scholars, but they also amended the words to suit the appetite of the rulers. In short, it was the period when the books were preserved; it was the period when the books were destroyed. It was the moment when the ideas were explained; it was the moment when the ideas were distorted. It was the time when Confucian classics were upheld; it was the time when works of other schools were discarded. It was the glorious age of cultural blossoming; yet it was the gloomy age of cultural catastrophe.

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5

Chapter

The Transcription and Revision of Duplicates of The Four Branches of Literature

The Compilation of the Complete Library in the Four Branches of Literature

Compilation, transcription, publication, and preservation were the four major processes of the compilation of The Four Branches of Literature , among which transcription consumed most time and manpower. Unlike modern publishing projects, which can be completed within several months, publication before the invention of printers and computers was time-consuming. Workers first engraved the stamps of the characters, and estimated the number of words needed for printing a page—approximately 1,000 words per page. After collecting the stamps, workers fixed all the stamps on the plates with the aid of wooden rulers. This was followed by printing, proofreading, and the final printing. It was, therefore, impossible to print all the volumes of The Four Branches of Literature . However, to display all the original books was also impossible for the inconsistency of the size, as well as the books had to be returned to the owners. On the contrary, transcription of the books made amendment easy, ensured consistency in formatting style, and, most importantly, was economical in terms of time and cost. This method of publication greatly impressed Emperor Qianlong, who was eager to have his unprecedented encyclopedia published as early as possible. Consequently, a considerable amount of copyists were gathered in the Editorial Office, duplicating The Four Branches of Literature .

Transcription and Revision in the Four Northern Halls The Four Northern Libraries—the Library of Wenyuan (文淵閣) in the Forbidden City, the Library of Wenyuan (文源閣) in the Summer Palace, the Library of Wensu in Mukden, and the Library of Wenjin in Rehe—stored the first four duplications of The Four Branches of Literature . As early as the 38th year of the reign of Qianlong, the Editorial Office had already started the transcription of the four duplications.

Transcription Transcription of the voluminous encyclopedia required a pool of labor, but only senior licentiate and holders with the degree of “recommended men” with neat handwriting were eligible applicants. In the first round of selection, coordinators and the editors of the Editorial Office nominated qualified candidates to the President of the Editorial Office, who would then recruit 400 copyists out of the candidates.1 As copyists who worked in the Editorial Office for a consecutive five years would be offered a post in the government, the method of nomination soon became the shortcut for the scholars who failed to

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get the advanced degree in the establishment. With the system of nomination came corruption. Despite the fact that copyists could only receive a mere sum of subsidy for their job, these scholars still enthusiastically bribed the Coordinators and the Editors, hoping to grasp a post in the government. Not only did the system of nomination encouraged corruption, but it also revealed the mismatch between penmanship and capital. People with a strong financial support might not be able to write neatly; while people with excellent handwriting might be too penniless to bribe the officials. 2 Several of the richer candidates even outsourced the transcription, affecting the quality and consistency of the encyclopedia. To solve these problems, the Imperial Censor Hu Qiaoyuan proposed to the Emperor the method of self-nomination. Scholars presented their pieces of writing to the Presidents of the Editorial Office, and they would be immediately admitted for their neat writing. 3 The Presidents regularly posted advertisement to recruit copyists working on a self-financed basis. Once they had decided the recruitment quota and collected all the articles, they would invite candidates to participate in an examination to write a few lines to demonstrate their penmanship.4 Candidates applying for the post of editor of calligraphy and diagrams, or scientific treatises, would be tested for both their penmanship and knowledge of the subjects. Such a method of examination worked well enough to fulfill the requirement of the Editorial Office, but due to the insufficient supply of candidates, the government eventually recruited from the failed candidates in getting the advanced degree.5 Students of the 39th year of the reign of Qianlong were the first invited group for selection, in which officials from the Board of the Civil Office recruited 600 copyists with a neat handwriting. By the 42th year of the reign of Qianlong, the Board of Civil Office recruited 1,400 more copyists from the unsuccessful candidates due to the expiration of the contract period of the first group of copyists. The changing method of recruitment from nomination to self-nomination, and finally to selection from failed candidates within the first five year of recruitment facilitated the improvement of the labor quality and ensured a steady supply of labor.

Formulation of guidelines To satisfy the Emperor ’s requirement encyclopedia, the Editorial Office had formulated a set of guidelines for the editors and copyists. Formatting Style Editors should prepare red grid lines before writing on the most expensive and excellent kaihua paper to keep a neat handwriting. The guideline required eight

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lines in half a page and 21 words per line, the caption of “Volume number, the imperial published The Four Branches of Literature , in the branches of [classics, history, philosophy, or literature]” on the first line of each volume, the book title on the both the first page of the book as well as the center of each page, and also page numbers in the center of the page.6 Copyists should complete the calligraphies, diagrams, in-text notes, and comments respectively on black, khaki, blue and yellow paper. Poems and comments of the Emperor should be found on the first page, while names of the copyists on the second page.7 Word limits The transcription of The Four Branches of Literature witnessed the first attempt of setting word limits. Editors had a daily lower word limit of 1,000 words (in another words, a yearly word limit of 330,000 with 30 days as labor holiday), which would be checked by the Presidents after five years.8 There were special arrangement for the transcription of ancient texts, diagrams and exegeses. A seal script character, a clerical script character, a one-paged diagram, two to nine pages of exegesis was equivalent to 10 words, five words, 1,000 words, and one page respectively.9 Examination Presidents of the Editorial Office measured the copyists’ performance every five years according to their word written. Copyists who had written 30 percent more than the requirement belonged to the first class, while those who had written 1.65 million words—only 90 percent of the word limit—belonged to the second class. Performance of the copyists would be measured every five years according to the number of words written. Copyists would be promoted to the provincial posts of Department vice Magistrate, Assistant Department Magistrate, District vice Magistrate, and Assistant Magistrate according to their classes.10 On the contrary, copyists produced poor handwriting or failed to meet the word limits received an additional 10,000 words requirement or a one to two year detention to finish transcription.11 With the guarantee of fruitful rewards, especially a government post after the end of the contract, most of the copyists managed to follow the schedule and complete their job on time, or even before the deadline. Presidents of the Editorial Office also welcomed “part-time working” of officials during their leisure time, and outsourcing transcription to “freelance” copyists. 12 Consequently, the actual copyists in the Editorial Office exceeded the originally recruited. It was estimated that 2,841 copyists had participated

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in the transcription of both the first-four duplicates and the concise version of The Four Branches of Literature . Among the copyists, 1,584 belonged to the first class, 143 belonged to the second class, 62 successfully purchased a governmental post before the deadline, 67 did not report duty, 760 quitted due to personal reason or dismissal, and 225 received demerits. To a large extent, it was these anonymous scholars that contributed to the compilation of The Four Branches of the Literature .13

Limitations of transcription The pursuit of quantity instead of quality due to the time limit left a considerable amount of wrong, missing, or repeated words. The drastic expansion of the copyist team also led to the shortage of master copies for copyists. Presidents thus allowed referral to self-prepared books, but all these incomplete and unauthentic books had not yet proofread.14 These problems led to a more chaotic transcription as well as a poorer quality of the encyclopedia.

Proofreading

Proofreading—the key of an excellent The Four Branches of Literature —required attentive work more than laborious rushing. It began with the Emperor ’s discovery of two wrong words in the concise version of the encyclopedia in October the 38th year of the reign of Qianlong, soon after the establishment of the Editorial Office.

Formulation of proofreading regulations To ensure the quality of the encyclopedia, the Emperor thus formulated the Regulations on Rewards and Penalties , in which clearly listed the methods of reward and punishment. Rewards and penalties over transcription error As stated in the regulation, copyists had to deliver the drafts to the reviewer for checking. Once the checkers spotted any wrong words they would do immediate correction. Copyists received a demerit for wrong transcription, unless it was the master copies to first have the wrong words. Checkers received a merit for their correct proofreading, and senior reviewers received a merit for indicating any mistakes that the checkers failed to discover. All the copyists and checkers received a demerit when the editors of the Hall of Wuying spotted any mistakes. The final checker was the Emperor, who would impose punishment when he discovered any wrong word or formatting style.

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Record of performance All the copyists and checkers had to prepare two note books—one for themselves and one for their seniors—to indicate their performance every time they submitted their works. This note book served as the reference for promotion or dismissal in the end of their contract term. Those who had more achievements than demerits might have the opportunity to present themselves before the Emperor, but those whose demerits outnumbered his achievements would be downgraded or dismissed. Attachment of the list of correction Following the attachment of lists of exegeses during the republication of the 13 classics and the 21 histories, the checkers had to attach the list of correction in the end of each volume as reference. Checkers had also to include a comment for significant changes. It also required the listing of the names of the copyists and checkers for the convenience of following up.15

The process of proofreading In the beginning of the establishment of the Editorial Office, there were 400 copyists and 32 assistant checkers. Above the 32 assistant checkers was the only reviewer, coordinating the work of the checker, and keeping the consistency of the formatting style. The shortage of checker as well as their burden resulted in the declining inefficiency and delay of the progress, as well as an encyclopedia far from perfection. To relieve the plight of the checkers, especially the overloaded leading reviewer, the Emperor promoted half of the checkers as reviewers soon after the formulation of the regulation in October the 38th year of the reign of Qianlong.16 The expansion of the team of reviewers was undeniably beneficial to the proofreading in the early period of reviewing, but the larger the team, the lower the productivity of the reviewers due to the overlapping structure. Frequent circulation of the drafts between assistant checkers and reviewers prolonged the working progress, so they were always lagged behind the schedule of transcription.17 The mutual shirking between the two parties further delayed the transcription and encouraged concealment of mistakes. 18 Consequently, the Emperor decided to remove the post of reviewer after two years, and by the end of the 42nd year of the reign of Qianlong, all the officials had been downgraded as assistant checkers, but the Emperor established the post of Chief Editor for keeping the record of books reviewed and submitting the books

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to the coordinators. After receiving books from the coordinators, the President checked two out of every ten books and labeling their name cards on the books as notification.19 Under such a rigid system of examination, the problem of incorrect transcription and incautious proofreading had been almost solved. It was, however, impossible to have things completed perfectly all the time even with the proofreading by the Presidents and Chief Reviewers. The last resort of dealing with the transcription error lied on the editors of the publication press.

Accomplishment With the efforts of numerous copyists and reviewers, transcription of all the collections of the Four Northern Libraries was finished within a decade. Regarding the date of completion, scholars had various opinions due to the adoption of various historical sources (refer to table 5.1.). Table 5.1. Completion dates of the Collections of the Four Northern Libraries Date

Library

Researcher

Wenyuan Library (文淵閣)

Wensu Library

Wenyuan Library (文源閣)

Wenjin Library

Wang Boxiang 1782 1783 1783 1783 Du Dingyou 1781 1782 1783 1784 Chen Yuan February 1782 1783 1784 1785 Ren Songru

February 1782

August 1782

August 1782

August 1782

Yang Jialuo 1781 1782 1782 1782 Wang Chongmin Zhang Yin Guo Bogong Lu Jian

January 19, 1782

—

—

January 6, 1785

March 12, 1782

January 1, 1783

Fall 1783

1787

January 19, 1782

November 1782

Fall 1783

December 1784

January 1782

January 1, 1783

December 1783

January 5, 1785

Source: Chen Yuan, “Exegeses of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature,” Collection of Theses of Chen Yuan (Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1980). Zhang Yin, “The Sequence of the Completion of the Collections in the Seven Libraries and its Differences,” Journal of the National Library of Beiping 7, no. 5 (1933). Guo Bogong, Exegeses of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature. Lu Jian, “Exegeses of the Completion of the Collections in the Seven Libraries,” Wenxian 21 (1984).

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It should be noticed that not all the above dates are correct. The completion date of the collection of the Wenyuan Library (文淵閣) should be January 19, 1782. It was clearly stated in the report of Chen Kui, in which Chen reported that, “Your humble servant is requesting for your Majesty’s employment. I have been working in the Editorial House from July 1779 to January 19, 1782, when the first duplication was finished.”20 The completion date of the collection of the Wensu Library should be January 1, 1783. It was clearly stated in the report of Commandery Prince Zhi, Rongyong, that day, reporting that, “The transcription of the second duplication is completed today.”21 In the same day the Emperor replied “Noted. Promote the General Editors Wang Yanxu and Zhu Qian, as well as Assistant Editor Wu Shuxuan and Chai Mo.”22 The exact completion date of the collection of the Wenyuan Library (文源閣) is unknown, but it was generally accepted fall of 1783 as the completion time of this third duplication, as evidenced from the record of the Emperor ’s summer vacation in the Summer Palace in Rehe, stating that, “More than a half of the third duplication was completed.”23 In The Imperial Poetr y the completion date of the third duplicated was further confirmed.24 The completion date of the collection of the Wenjin Library should be January 5, 1785. It was clearly stated in the report of the Commandery Prince Zhi, Rongyong, reporting that, “Your humble ministers had completed the transcription and review of the fourth duplication on January 5, 1785.”25

Transcription and Revision of the Collections of the Three Southern Libraries No matter how well the encyclopedia was transcribed, without introducing the encyclopedia to the public, it was nothing more than piles of scrap paper collecting dusts in the bookshelves. This situation was well-illustrated by the voluminous Yongle Encyclopedia . It was untouched, and almost unknown to people until there was official suggesting the editing of the encyclopedia. Eager to demonstrate his achievements not only in military superior but cultural development, the Emperor would be disappointed to have his unprecedented collections being buried deep inside the bookshelves. Consequently, soon after the completion of the first duplication, the Emperor designed to produce three more duplications of The Four Branches of Literature for the Three Southern Libraries in the Lower Yangtze—the Library of Wenzong in the Zhengjiang, the Library of Wenhui in Yangzhou, and the Library of Wenlan in Hangzhou. The disclosure of the encyclopedia to the public was not

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an aimless exhibition of the splendid culture of the nation, but more a reward for the generous donation of books of the Yangtze scholars—which could be an effective measure to capture the support from the Han’s scholars.

To have the three duplications published as soon as possible, the Emperor

ordered the starting of transcription in August 1782. His order immediately resulted in the “twin shortages”—the shortage of suitable rooms as offices

and storage, as well as the shortage of labor. Fortunately, good tidings arrived after a few months. Commandery Prince Zhi reported the Temple of the God

of Cloud and the Temple of the God of Wind, which were located outside the

eastern gate of the palace, appropriate places as the editorial office. 26 Upon

receiving the report, the Emperor soon ordered for a transferal of Editors Wu

Jinyu and seven others as coordinators, Provincial Assistants Fusheng and seven others as Superintendents, and Secretaries Ye Enlun and seven others as

Wuying Coordinators, and also a recruitment of 48 assistants responsible for recording delivery and distribution of paper.27 The most acute problem was the

recruitment of copyists. The Emperor decided to pay the bill for recruiting 1,000

copyists as he believed monetary reward instead of material subsidy to the workers best encouraged attentive work, and consequently, to economize the

time and the cost in proofreading.28 The Presidents of the Editorial Office soon

posted advertisements in everywhere of the capital, and examined applicants of their penmanship. Among the 1,000 recruited candidates the graduates from provincial government schools were selected as group leaders, responsible for the distribution of paper and supervision.

Formatting Style There was slightly difference between the formatting styles and the regulation of transcription between these three duplicates and the first four duplicates. The

regulation stated the adoption of the smaller and bamboo-made taishi paper,

and narrowed the margin of each page to maintain the consistency among the seven collections. Copyists had a daily word limit of 1,000 words, and they had to record the number of words written everyday as they would receive

their monthly salary on piece rate—2.5 maces per 1,000 words. An additional word limit tripling the original requirement would help to prevent copyists

cheating in their report. Moreover, copyists failed in actual transcription had to compensate for the paper and to rewrite the passages. 29 To accelerate transcription, copyists transcribed three duplicates when they received any master copies.30

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Progress of the transcription and review The employment of suitable checkers was undeniably not simpler than the recruitment of copyists. Out of the fear of the delay in schedule due to the absence of deadline for copyists, the Presidents decided to cancel the post of chief reviewer, leaving only 60 assistant checkers selected from the Hanlin Academy, the Grand Secretary, and the Imperial College. To prevent rushing in their work, these assistant checkers had a daily upper limit of 20,000 words. The imposition of word limit created the mismatch between the process of the copyists and checkers. Copyists transcribing faster and faster, while checkers proofreading slower and slower. And eventually, copyists idled in one corner, while checkers busied in another corner. Even copyists who had finished their job could not withdraw from the post earlier, as they would not receive any payment before the completion of proofreading. The only solution to the problem was to increase the number of checkers. Consequently the Presidents requested for recruitment of additional 21 checkers from the Imperial College. They had a three year checking quota of 5,000 books. Encouraged with the guarantee of a degree of “recommended men”, these checkers spared no effort to ensure their job finished on time, contributing to the enhancement of working efficiency.

Accomplishment The duplication of the three collections was completed on the same day, as evidenced by the note of April 17th on the 52nd year of the reign of Qianlong, in which assistant of the Grand Council indicated that, “Your ministers [Rongyong and others] had reported the completion of the three duplications today.”31 The dates of completion of the three duplications were less controversial than those of the first-four collections (refer to table 5.2.). Within the 14 years of transcription and proofreading, the Qing government had devoted abundant resources in recruiting more than 4,200 scholars, among which 90 percent were copyists, and publishing 250,000 volumes. In spite of the limitations during transcription and proofreading, these seven duplications could still be worth to be one of the most magnificent cultural projects in the Chinese history. It should be noticed that only four out of the seven duplications still exist today. The collections of the Wenyuan Library (文源閣) was burnt along with the raid of the Summer Palace by the Anglo-French Coalitions in 1860. The collections of the Wenhui Library and the Wenzong Library were destroyed during the outbreak of the Taiping Uprising, a peasant-based insurrection

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Table 5.2. Completion dates of the Collections of the Three Southern Libraries Date

Library Wenzong Library

Wenhui Library

Wenlan Library

Ren Songru

1788

1788

1788

Yang Jialuo

1788

1788

1788

Zhang Yin

1787

1787

1787

July 1787

July 1787

July 1787

June 2, 1787

June 2, 1787

June 2, 1787

Researcher

Guo Bogong Lu Jian

Source: Zhang Yin, “The Sequence of the Completion of the Collections in the Seven Libraries and its Differences,” Journal of the National Library of Beiping 7, no. 5 (1933). Guo Bogong, Exegeses of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature. Lu Jian, “Exegeses of the Completion of the Collections in the Seven Libraries,” Wenxian 21 (1984).

sweeping across the southern China in the 1850s. Even in the extant collections there are several books missing. However, compared with encyclopedias of the previous dynasties, which had been almost gone out of existence, the preservation of the four duplications was still a remarkable achievement. To a certain extent, it was the efforts of the anonymous copyists that facilitated the circulation and the preservation; however, the transcription of such a voluminous and unprecedented encyclopedia could not be made possible without a stable political environment and a strong economic foundation. The establishment of public libraries to store and exhibit the duplications was another point worth appreciating. Unlike the rulers of the previous dynasties, who were reluctant to have their books disclosed, the Qing rulers generously share the national treasuries to the public. This measure was beneficial to the ruler, the people, and also the nation—the Emperor could be praised as a great patron of the academic activities, the intellectuals were managed to accustom knowledge through reading the ancient and rare books, and the cultural development of the nation was at its height.

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6

Chapter

The Storage and Perusal of The Four Branches of Literature

The Compilation of the Complete Library in the Four Branches of Literature

It had been a tradition in China for rulers to establish libraries inside the palace for the sake of storing the imperial collections. Some of these libraries were the Orchid Pavilion and Eastern Library of the Later Han Dynasty, Jixian Library of the Tang Dynasty, Chongwen Library of the Song Dynasty, as well as Wenyuan Library and the Huangshi House of the Ming Dynasty. The Manchu rulers, who were anxious to establish their leadership over the Han majority, followed the trend of building libraries to present themselves as a group of literate rulers. All together there were eight imperial libraries, among which seven were specialized in the storage of the manuscripts of The Four Branches of Literature , while the eighth library was to store the master copies of the encyclopedia.

The Establishment of the Four Northern Libraries and the Storage of the Four Duplicates The establishment of the Four Northern Libraries To have the voluminous encyclopedia published but without a proper place for storage was no help in promoting cultural activities, not to mention the demonstration of the national strength. Eager to have the preparation completed as early as possible, soon after the beginning of the editing of the encyclopedia, Emperor Qianlong ordered the construction of the imperial libraries. Having recognized that the Tianyi Library in the Province of Zhejiang had overcome plentiful natural disasters since its establishment in the mid-16th century, the Emperor immediately dispatched Yan Zhu, the Textile Commissioner of the Hangzhou, to conduct research of the architecture of the library. 1 After investigation, Yan discovered that apart from the building material—the fireproof brick and the hard pinewood—it was more the geomancy of the library that had contributed to its prolonged preservation. In detail, both the name and the structure of the library followed an ancient geomantic principle— “The heavenly one generates water, and it was made possible with the earthy six.” Tianyi Library, meaning literally “heavenly one,” became the name of the library through the belief that water could prevent any outbreak of fire. Furthermore, the number of bookshelves, and the width and height of the library, were all in the multiple of six.2 Impressed by the architecture and the geomancy of Tianyi Library, the Emperor soon ordered the construction of the Four Northern Libraries with reference to the Tianyi Library.

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Wenjin Library Situated deep inside the mountain in Rehe, where the climate was dry enough for the storage of books, the Wenjin Library was established in the 39th year of the reign of Qianlong. It was the first built among the seven libraries. For the Wenjin Library, the character “jin 津” merely means ferry.

Wenyuan Library (文源閣) Established in the 39th year of the reign of Qianlong, the Wenyuan Library was constructed on the foundation of the pavilions inside the Summer Palace. The character “yuan 源” of the library means the source of a river.

Wenyuan Library (文淵閣) Located behind the Hall of Wenhua in the Forbidden City, the Wenyuan Library was established in the 41st year of the reign of Qianlong. It was surrounded by an artificial pool, a stone bridge, and a forest of stones, pines, and cypresses. In the eastern pavilion of the library there was a stone tablet inscribed with a memorial article of Emperor Qianlong. The character “yuan 淵” of the library means abyss.

Wensu Library Established in the 47th year of the reign of Qianlong, the Wensu Library in Mukden was the last to be built among the four northern libraries. The character “su 溯,” literally meaning “to trace,” was selected to remind the people that Manchus originated from Mukden. The Four Northern Libraries had the same number of rooms and corridors of the Tianyi Library, but beneath the surface lay great differences—a mezzanine was constructed in each imperial library to provide additional space for the storage of books. The decoration of the imperial libraries was more splendid and magnificent than that of the Tianyi Library. On the top of the libraries were the irimoya —a double-level roof combined with an upper gable and a lower core. The roofs were adorned with green gemstones, pillars in dark green, windows in rhombus, and glazed tiles in black. The naming method of the imperial libraries was another interesting aspect. All the names of the libraries constituted of two characters—the first character was “wen 文,” meaning “culture or literature,” and all the second characters were words with the header of “water.” Water was not only the element that could overcome fire according to the geomantic principle “The Five Elements”,

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but it was also a metaphor of culture. The Emperor’s interpretation was that “The classics are the source of the river; history is the flow of the water; philosophy and literature are the tributaries. Both the flow and the tributaries originated from the source of the river, while history, philosophy, and literature originated from the classics. Therefore classics should be the primus inter pares in the encyclopedia.”3

The storage of the four duplicates Due to the prolonged editing process, the Four Northern Libraries were completed before the publication of the four duplicates. It was odd to have such large libraries vacant; therefore, the duplicates of The Collection of the Ancient and Current Books were to be first stored in the libraries to fill the space. Not until the completion of the compilation of the first duplicate in the 46th year of the reign of Qianlong did the storage of the encyclopedia begin.

The binding of the books After copyists finished the transcription, piles of paper had to be bound together. By the time of mid-Qing, there were three common methods of book binding—the butterfly-binding, the wrapped-ridge binding, and the sidesewing binding. The butterfly-binding required less time of binding, but it was inconvenient for reading as there were blanks pages due to the single-sided printing. The side-sewing binding produced the most durable books, but the appearance of the books was not satisfactory, while with the wrapped-ridge binding, all the blank pages were hidden as papers were folded in half along the type page. Books produced were also durable. Consequently, the method of wrapped-ridge binding was adopted. The book covers were made of silk in various colors. The colors were selected symbolizing the four seasons. The Presidents selected green, red, white, and black for classics, history, philosophy, and literature, as the colors represented spring, summer, autumn, and winter, respectively. 4 The yellow covers and outline and the exegeses of the encyclopedia represented the earthy center under the principle of the “Five Elements”.5 After binding, the books were stored in wooden cases to protect them from insects and moisture. The colors of the book covers were fixed, but there was a great diversity among the material of the wooden cases. For instance, the wooden cases of the duplicate of the Wenyuan Library, the Wenjin Library, and the Wensu Library were made of zhennan, catalpa bungei , and camphor, respectively.

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The storage of the books The Chief Editor Lu Feichi supervised the storage of the first duplicate in the Wenyuan Library (文淵閣). It was completed within a few months due to the proximity between the Editorial Office and the library. The editor decided to store the philosophy books and literature on the second floor, history books on the intermediate level, while the classics, the outline, the exegeses of the encyclopedia, and The Collection of the Ancient and Current Books on the ground floor. The Wensu Library stored the second duplicate. Because of the distance between the Forbidden City and Mukden, the transportation of the books became an important issue. This key task fell to the Presidents of the Editorial Office, the Chief Governor of the Zhili Province, the General of Mukden, and the Governor of the Fengtian Provinces.6 The transportation had lasted more than half a year—from October of the 47th year of the reign of Qianlong to June of the 48th year of the reign of Qianlong. The General Gazette of Mukden recorded 960 cases of classics on 20 bookshelves, 1,584 cases of historical accounts on 33 bookshelves, 1,584 cases of philosophical work on 22 bookshelves, and 2,016 cases of literature on 28 bookshelves. All together there were 6,144 bookshelves on 103 bookshelves.7 The storage of the third duplicate in the Wenyuan Library (文源閣) completed in spring in the 49th year of the reign of Qianlong; while the storage of the forth duplicate in the Wenjin Library completed in spring the 50th year of the reign of Qianlong. The local governors of the northeast provinces were also responsible for the transportation.

The Establishment of the Three Southern Libraries and the Storage of the Three Duplicates The establishment of the Three Southern Libraries Similar to the establishment of the Four Northern Libraries, the construction of the Three Southern Libraries began soon after the editing of the three duplicates in the 42nd year of the reign of Qianlong.

Wenzong Library Located next to the Temple of Jinshan in Zhengjiang, the Wenzong Library was established in the 44th year of the reign of Qianlong. It was the first to be constructed among the Three Southern Libraries. The name “wenzong” means

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literary masters. The library stored 5,402 classics in 947 cases; 9,463 historical accounts in 1,625 cases; 9,084 philosophical works in 1,583 cases, 12,398 literature in 2,042 cases, 127 books of the general catalog in 22 cases, 8 books of the concise catalog in 2 cases, 5,020 books of The Collection of the Ancient and Current Books in 520 cases, The Complete Collection of Tang Articles and The Ming Mirror .8

Wenhui Library Located next to the Hall of Daguan in the Royal Garden in Yangzhou, the Wenhui Library was established in 45th year of the reign of Qianlong, a year after the establishment of the Wenzong Library. The character “hui 匯” of the library means “the concourse of tributaries”. A duplicate of The Collection of the Ancient and Current Books , as well as a plaque inscribed with a phrase “Dongbi liuhui (literally, ‘the splendid library’),” were bestowed by the Emperor to celebrate its opening.9 The storage cost of the books in these two libraries was kindly donated by the merchants of the Lower Yangtze.

Wenlan Library The Hall of Yulan in the Shengyin Temple in Hangzhou was planned to be reconstructed as the Wenlan Library. After investigation, however, local officers of Hangzhou reported that the environment around the Hall of Yulan was too humid for book storage. On the contrary, the library far to the east of the Hall of Yulan, in which a duplicate of The Collection of the Ancient and Current Books was stored, was an ideal location for the book storage. As a result, the eastern library was renovated as the Wenlan Library. Standing in the balcony of this most well-known library in the prefecture, the spectacular panoramic views of the West Lake—from the stunning landscape of the White Dike to the aesthetic scenery of Bridge of Xilin—were offered to the visitors. The character “lan 瀾” of the library means “waves.” The Three Southern Libraries, which were constructed based on the models of Tianyi Library and the Four Northern Libraries, were comparable to their northern counterparts on the macro-scale of the structure of the buildings. The size of the rooms, and the numbers of the corridors and stories of the Yangtze libraries were identical to the libraries in the capital and its environs. However, when it came to the micro-scale of decoration, the northern libraries won over the southern libraries. The roofs of the southern libraries were merely covered with black tiles—a kind of construction material used by the commoners, and the edge of the eaves were decorated by tubular tiles instead of gemstones.

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The Storage and Perusal of The Four Branches of Literature

Moreover, the absence of the imperial memorial articles also reflected the inferior status of the Three Southern Libraries.

The storage of the three duplicates The three duplicates could have been transported to the Lower Yangtze earlier if the Emperor had not ordered the revision of the encyclopedia. In fact, the transcription of the three duplicates had been completed as early as the 49th year of the reign of Qianlong, and the duplicates, the samples of book covers, as well as the wooden cases were ready for delivery to the provincial officers.10 After the transportation of 4,000 volumes of the encyclopedia, the Emperor intervened in the matter, demanding a rechecking of the books in the Editorial Office. The officials had nothing else to do but to wait for the completion of the revision by the editors in the Hall of Wuying. Not until June of the 55th year of Qianlong, when the proofreading was finalized, were the duplicates to be redelivered to the Lower Yangtze. Both the officers and the merchants were enthusiastic in the storage of the encyclopedia. The former, after receiving the duplicates, could not wait to bind the books, while the latter even provided financial support for the recruitment of transcribers. 11 Surprisingly, the generous donation of the merchants was unwelcomed by the Emperor, who was afraid that merchants would discover any of the offensive content. However, the initiation of such a large cultural project involved a huge sum of cost, the overcautious Emperor, therefore, demanded the Chief Editor Lu Feichi to finance the book binding and storage as compensation for his dereliction of duty in editing.12 It was not until the death of Lu in the 55th year of the reign of Qianlong that merchants of the Lower Yangtze were invited to participate in the project. Finished in the late period of the reign of Emperor Qianlong, the bookbinding, the storage, and the making of the book covers of the three duplicates followed strictly the samples of the first-four duplicates.

The perusal of the three duplicates The Emperor, being too impatient to present his cultural achievement, ordered an early preparation for the perusal of the encyclopedia. His eagerness was clearly stated in the edict of the 49th year of the reign of Qianlong, in which he said that, “I wish to demonstrate my benevolence to the literati, as well as to foster cultural development. But I am afraid that officers would be overcautious to prohibit any touching, reading, and transcription of the books; and consequently, intellectuals would have no access to my magnificent

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encyclopedia. Officials should not be so nervous and skeptical towards the scholars. Just reminding them to read the books carefully is enough. To keep the scholars away from the libraries does not suit my desire to popularize intellectual activities.” 13 After the announcement of the imperial edict, local officials started to recruit librarians from the scholars in the Lower Yangtze. With the formal publication of the three duplicates in June the 55th year of the reign of Qianlong, the Three Southern Libraries consequently became the centers for the circulation of books and the dissemination of culture.

The Master Copies in the Hanlin Academy In addition to the seven duplicates of The Four Branches of Literature , there was another edition of the encyclopedia. Stored in Hanlin Academy, this so-called “the eighth duplicate” was a master copy of the encyclopedia. The condition of the Hanlin duplicate was less renowned to the scholars due to the absence of historical sources; however, it was worth devoting the efforts of historians to unearth the eighth duplicate, as it was a combination of manuscripts as well as purchased and borrowed books.

The distribution of the borrowed books Among the 13,500 titles of collected books, several were submitted by the provincial governments, several were purchased from the local markets, several were duplicates of the manuscripts, and several were donations from the collectors. To encourage book donation, the Emperor initially promised to return books to the bibliophiles, however, not all the books could be returned eventually. It was not because of the officials who were courageous enough to turn a deaf ear to the Emperor, but because of the difficulty in duplicating all of the donated items. Among the Yangtze intellectuals there was a general mood of reluctance. However, these scholars dared not demonstrate any resentful sentiment, for their fear of punishment outweighed their anger. To avoid trouble, several of the scholars in return expressed their “willingness and sincerity” when donating books. Ma Yu, who had the most books contributed among the Yangzhou merchants, said that, “To donate books to the Emperor is surely my honor. I dared not to waste your highness’s time in duplicating my books. Your highness could feel free to collect my books without returning [them] to me.” 14 Propelled by this herd behavior, merchants in the Lower Yangtze spared no effort to relieve the officials’ workload. The famous merchants Bao Shigong, Wu Yuchi, Wang Qishu, Sun Yangzeng, and Wang

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Yuli not only declared their willingness to contribute their books, but even to transcribe the collections themselves.”15 The passion and generosity of the Yangtze scholars could not move the Emperor’s determination to have the books returned. His immovable attitude could partly be explained in a psychological aspect to a certain extent: being a national ruler, it was unacceptable for him to break his promise. However, the most important consideration was the inconsistency among the sizes of the donated books. The Emperor would be satisfied enough to have a neat and beautiful collection. The content not always his first priority, therefore, it was unnecessary to keep the books in the palace. Officials in the Editorial Office mobilized accordingly to prepare for the distribution of the books. To ensure a smooth return of the books, the Presidents of the Editorial Office had designed a set of regulations which required that “[Editors] should mark the name of the donor, the date of donation, and the name of the officer-in-charge on the cover pages, while the Hanlin Academics should keep a record of the information of the books. After receiving the books, local officers would distribute the books according to the lists from the central departments. Provincial governors shall bear the sole responsibility for any misdistribution.”16

The distribution of the provincial submission A considerable amount of books collected by the local branches remained undelivered. This might be due to the fact that the books were too insignificant for submission, while officers were too occupied to return the books back to the donors. Out of the fear that the books might be lost, or detained by local governors, the Emperor issued an edict to demand a sifting of the collected books and an immediate return of the inappropriate items after selection.17 Soon after receiving the imperial order, provincial governors responded as quickly as they could. The Governor of Zhili Province ordered his assistants to return 283 titles of selected books to the donors within three days, while officers of the Zhejiang Branch notified the donors to collect the books by themselves. 18 The Province of Shandong faced some obstacles during distribution. The Chief Governor announced that a total of 391 titles of book were ready for distribution, but not all the Magistrates were free to collect the books immediately. For instance, Xing Zhenqian, the Magistrate of the Linyi County, was on study leave; Zhang Yuding, the Magistrate of the Pingyuan County, was on a business trip; and Zhao Qilu, the Magistrate of the Taian County, was on sick leave.19 The whole process of return was completed before the 41st year of the reign of Qianlong.

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The distribution of the rare collections and the general collections Among the donated items, the rare collections were the first returned due to the inclusion of the imperial bestowed poems and comments. The Emperor rewarded Bao Shigong and Ma Yu his poem for their donations of the distinctive The Fragmentary History of Tang and The Encyclopedia of the Military Technique , and The Collection of Master Heguan .20 Ironically, several of these titles were collected for reexamination, for instance, The Forest of Ideas of Fan Mauzhu.21 Other general collections requiring no transcription also enjoyed the first priority of distribution. As early as the 40th year of the reign of Qianlong, Yan Zhu, the Salt Commissioner of Lianghuai, received 300 volumes of the general books, from which Ma Yu collected 156 volumes, and other merchants collected 145 volumes.22 After two years, the Emperor formally announced the distribution of the general collections to the Hanlin Academy after summarizing the content of the books, and the task of circulating the books from the capital to the provinces fell to the Hanlin Academics. To facilitate the distribution, the Emperor further demanded the officials to attach a statistical record of the number of books presented; 23 in return, Hai Cheng, the Governor of Jiangxi Province, reported a total of 1,037 titles of books presented, while Min Eyuan, the Governor of Anhui Province, also reported a total of 516 titles of books contributed.24 Even for the provinces which had no books to collect, such as the Provinces of Shaanxi and He’nan, the local governors still submitted lists for recording the number of books contributed.25 By the end of the 42nd year of the reign of Qianlong, except the books which were still being reviewed and edited, approximately 6,000 titles of books had already been collected. Unfortunately, due to the fluctuation in policy—sometimes to destroy the books, sometimes to recheck the books, and sometimes to collect the books for the Emperor, a considerable amount of books remained undelivered back to the provinces. In the 45th year of the reign of Qianlong, the Presidents of the Editorial Office reported that a total of 9,416 volumes were ready for return, but due to the absence of further order from the Emperor, these books had never been returned.

Missing the master copies Rare books with the Emperor’s poems and comments included were subjected to immediate return after checking, but for the general items, their return had been relegated to a lower priority. After frequent circulation for reviewing, transcription, proofreading, and return, a proportion of the general books were

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missed, and among which master copies of The Yongle Encyclopedia suffered the most. During the early days of editing, because of the loose regulation but rigid deadlines, several editors brought the books back home to edit; and consequently, some of the master copies were missing during transportation. For instance, Zhou Yongnian missed part of the master copies of The Exegeses of the Four Branches ;26 Huang Shouling had the master copies of The Inquiry of Archaeology and The Collection of Tanzhai stolen on his way home.27 Shocked by the news about losing books, the Emperor demanded the punishment of the editors, as well as a prohibition on bringing books away from the Editorial Office.28 The announcement of the decree was effective at checking any carrying away of the books from the Editorial Office, but it was not enough to prevent any books going missing during circulation. This situation could be wellillustrated from an incident in the 45th year of the reign of Qianlong, in which the Chief Editor Lu Feichi was accused of “lacking a master plan to coordinate the works [and] having piles of books missed,”29 as well as “substituting the lost master copies with other unknown books.”30 The Emperor was so furious that he ordered for the dismissal of Lu, as well as a rechecking of the master copies. It was estimated that among the 3,172 titles, there were 2,120 checked by the Hanlin Academics (official master copies), 458 unofficial but acceptable in format, 557 unofficial, and 37 missed. After investigation, the Presidents requested a rechecking of the unofficial items and a transcription of the missing items with reference to other duplicates.31 The accident was claimed to be settled. However, beneath the surface was the problem of careless reviewing and loose management between the presidents and editors. After President Rongyong and others took an inventory of the books in June of the 52nd year of the reign of Qianlong (1787), it was discovered that within the decade of transcription, 155 titles of book had been missed during the circulation of books between the Hall of Wuying and the new offices outside the Forbidden City. The authenticity of those extant items, particularly the unofficial books, was also questionable.32 It was, to a certain extent that the missing of some books led to the procrastination in editing, as well as the imperfect quality of the encyclopedia.

From transcription to storage of the master copies Having the voluminous encyclopedia collecting dust in the bookshelves was surely what Emperor Qianlong did not want to see happen. In order to demonstrate his cultural achievement, the Emperor ordered for the transcription

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to be based on the master copies, as well as the opening of the library in the Hanlin Academy to the scholar-officials. But to have a library presentable to scholars, both a set of regulations, as well as a stable supply of the books, were needed. Presidents of the Editorial Office, in return, discussed and devised a set of regulations which specified the rules of perusal—officials should be reported to their senior before visiting the libraries; readers were allowed to transcribe but not borrow the books; and if any mistakes in the content were discovered, readers had to report these to the librarians. 33 Meanwhile, purchased and donated books were to be stored in the library. All these suggestions were beneficial cultural development, however, the Emperor, who emphasized the outer beauty of the encyclopedia more than the content of the books, did not support the storage of the master copies in the library. In return, he ordered for a transcription of the master copies to keep the consistency of the sizes and binding method of the books. All the master copies were to be stored in the warehouse of the Hall of Wuying. The master plan of the Emperor was to be commenced after the publication of the first-four duplicates, but eventually it had to give way to the establishment of the Three Southern Libraries. The opening of the seven libraries had brought the cultural development of the dynasty to its height, but also produced a fiscal crisis that halted the transcription of the Hanlin master copies. Within the decade of transcription piles of stationery— approximately 241,000 pieces of writing paper, 1,800 pieces of paperback, 400 writing brushes, 200 notepads, and 380 grams of glues—had been consumed. In addition to the materials, meal subsidies and salaries, which amounted to 500,000 taels (approximately 785,000 Spanish silver dollars by the time), were also burdensome to the government. This amount was merely a drop in the ocean to the state in the blossoming period of the reign of Emperor Kangxi and Yongzheng, but it was surely not a bearable price for the last days of the reign of Emperor Qianlong, when the national treasury had already been hit by soaring bureaucratic and military expenses, as well as decreasing tax revenue. Consequently, the storage instead of transcription of the encyclopedia was proposed in October of the 51th year of Qianlong (1786). In the report, the Presidents stated the demerits of transcription, such as that it was timeconsuming, that it increased expenditure, and that the books could potentially be damaged due to frequent circulation; but beneath the sincere proposal was the truth that piles of books had been missed, which made the return of the books to the donors impossible. Therefore, the only solution was to keep all the books in the office of Hanlin Academy. Once approved by the Emperor, the storage began soon after the transcription of the collections of the Three Southern Libraries.

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Judging from the large scale of the collection of the Hanlin Academy, the returned books were only a tip of the iceberg. Among the 13,000 titles of books, 3,000 of them were subjected to return, but eventually only 390 went back to the donors.34 The remaining was stored in the library of the Hanlin Academy and the warehouse of the Hall of Wuying. Having the books seized by the officials was originally a humiliation to the bibliophile, but it turned out to be an honor to have the books stored in the palace. All in all, because of the absence of historical sources, the condition of the Hanlin duplicate had puzzled contemporary scholars for a long time. Yang Jialuo, who misunderstood the Hanlin duplicate as another manuscript of The Four Branches of Encyclopedia , concluded that copyists were transcribing the duplicate in the Hanlin Academy, and after transcription, the manuscripts were stored in the Hanlin office—similar to the storage of the seven duplicates. Yang even suggested that all the purchased and collected items were displayed in the Hall of Wuying, which was contrary to the fact that a proportion of the collection was stored as the “eight duplicate” in the library of the Hanlin Academy. 35 Moreover, both Ren Songru and Wang Chongmin believed that all the books had been returned to the donors through the local governors. 36 After conducting research on the condition of the Hanlin duplicate, all the uncertainties and confusion were swept away.

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Chapter

The Rectification and Reexamination of The Four Branches of Literature

The Compilation of the Complete Library in the Four Branches of Literature

The Rectification of The Four Branches of Literature Many psychologists believe that the pursuit of perfection is essential for encouraging one to work harder. But if it was the working attitude of the captious and fastidious Emperor Qianlong, it would surely be a catastrophe for the editors of The Four Branches of Literature . One miswritten character or one blank alone was enough for the Emperor to trigger a wave of rectification, but the editors, who had been taught “to avoid commitment to any issue,” could never understand why the Emperor demanded for rectification and reexamination even after the establishment of the libraries. One could imagine how reluctant the editors were so that they could never produce any satisfactory work for the Emperor.

The rectification of the books of Li Qing and others The rectification began with the discovery of offensive content in the book of Li Qing, a former official of the Ming Dynasty. Most of the remnant officials, who could prove their loyalty to the new regime, would be freed from persecution and even granted with posts in the government. However, Li Qing, unlike his colleagues, could not enjoy such privilege; on the contrary, he was labeled as a rebel for evangelizing offensive ideas—inside his work The Similarities and Differences of the Historical Accounts , in which he listed four similarities between the Emperor Shunzhi and the Ming Emperor Congzhen. It was a piece of shocking news to the Emperor, who found the disobedience of Li impossible to understand, for he had been well-treated under the rule of the new regime. He soon ordered a rectification of Li’s works, including those already compiled in the first-four duplicates of The Four Branches of Literature , which would begin in March of the 52nd year of Qianlong. After investigating in the collections of the two Wenyuan Libraries, the checkers reported that the offensive content in Li’s work had already been deleted during the first editing. The Emperor, who regarded Li’s work as potential threats of his governance, ordered a literary inquisition of all of Li’s works. These included the The Combined Annotation of the History of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, The Volume Sets of the History of Southern Tang Regime , and The Biographies of the Anonymous . Officials involved in the first editing and proofreading of Li’s works were subject to punishment for their carelessness. Several of these officials were the Editor Xu Lang, the Reviewers Lan Gui and Zhu Wending, the Chief Compilers Ji Yun, Sun Shiyi, and Lu Xixiong, as well as the Chief Editors Lu Feichi, Gongtai, and Wu Yude.1

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Provincial Governors in the Lower Yangtze were also notified for checking the circulation of Li’s books, for Li’s birthplace was the County of Xinhua in the Jiangsu Province.2 The literary inquisition of Li’s work had sparked off the large scale rectification of the first-four duplicates. The Emperor ordered for a partial amendment of Commentary According to the Evidence on the Book of History

Table 7.1. Reviewed titles and the content subjected to rectification Title of the book

Content subjected to rectification

The Exegeses of the History of Ming Dynasty

Quotations of Qian Qianyi

Collections of the Lyrics of the Sixteen Schools

A piece of lyric of Gong Dingzi

Collections of the Pavilion of Baoshu

An article on the tomb of Tan Zhenliang

A Little Collection of Yu’an

Poems and Articles to Qian Qianyi

Collections of the Hall of Lin Hui

Comments on the rise and fall of dynasties

 A poem composed in the writing tone of Drafts of the Remaining Articles of the emperors Study Room

Catalog of the Collection of the Hall of Thousands Hectares

Titles of the destroyed books

The Strategies of Appeasing the Japanese Pirates Offensive vocabularies against barbarian regimes Biographies of the Donglin Scholars Offensive vocabularies against barbarian regimes The Exegeses of the Narratives of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties

The name of “Qian Qianyi”

Commentaries of the Poems of Du Fu in Detail

The name of “Qian Qianyi”

Collections of the Essence A poem with the metaphor of the decline of a dynasty

A poem to Qu Dajun

 A poem with the metaphor of the decline Collections of the Hall of of a dynasty Professional Dedication A poem of travelling with Da Mingshi Source: “Lists and Memorial of the Grand Councilors on 3rd October of the 52nd year of the reign of Qianlong (1787),” ed. Wang Chongmin and Chen Yuan, Records of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature.

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in the Ancient Text of Yan Ruoqu and The Lecture Notes of Songyang of Lu Longqi,3 and a total suppression of The Biographies of the Artists, The Narrative of Fujian Province, The Biographies of the Stamp Artists, The Shadow of Book of Zhou Lianggong, as well as The Collections and Descriptions of Calligraphies and Paintings of Wu Qizhen.4 Out of the fear of receiving punishment due to his blundering, Chief Compiler Ji Yun proposed for a revision of the books that he had reviewed before, which would be executed in a self-financed basis. It was welcomed by the Emperor, who in return ordered the delivery of books from the Wenyuan Libraries (文源閣) to the office in the palace for rectification.5 Within several months the Chief Editor reviewed approximately 10 titles of books (refer to table 7.1.).

The substitution of the forbidden books There were respectively 11 titles and 12 titles subject to destroy and partial amendment after the establishment of the libraries. These books were taken out from the libraries, so that readers might found the empty bookshelves not decorative, as well as might suspect the disappearance of the books. To have the books displayed in neat while leaving no piece of evidence over amendment could be a difficult task for the fresh officials, however, it was an easy job for the shrewd Grand Councilors and the editors, who had already mastered the skill in deceiving both their colleagues and bosses during their career. It was made by replacing the discarded items and inserting pieces of interleaving papers to fill the gaps in the book cases. The substitution began soon after the literary inquisition of the works of Li Qing. Proposed jointly by the Grand Councilors and Ji Yun, the forbidden books were replaced by other collections with the same number of volume. For instance, The Combined Exegeses of the History of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, The Similarities and Differences of the Historical Accounts , as well as The Biographies of the Anonymous , were substituted by The History of the Ancient Period of Li Kai, and The Inscriptions of the Song Dynasty of Pan Yongyin. The Volume Sets of the History of Southern Tang Regime , which the editors found no suitable volumes for substitution, had its adjacent books thickened with pieces of interleaving paper to fill the gaps in the book cases.6

The preservation and the discovery of the forbidden books Bureaucratic inefficiency had long regarded as a key factor to the decline of a dynasty, for it paralyzed the government operation. However, when it came to the preservation of the forbidden books, inefficiency became a useful tool.

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The storage of the books deep inside the warehouse in the palace was effective enough to check any of their circulations; therefore the officials did nothing to destroy the books. Thanks to their laziness and inefficiency, one could still find these forbidden books—either the manuscript or the master copies—in the Palace Museum in Beijing today. These included the 190 volumes of manuscript of The Combined Exegeses of the History of the Southern and Northern Dynasties , the 25 volumes of The Volume Sets of the History of Southern Tang Regime , the 10 volumes of The Biographies of the Anonymous , the four volumes of The Narrative of Fujian Province , the three volumes of The Biographies of the Stamp Artists , the 10 volumes of The Shadow of Book , the six volumes of the The Similarities and Differences of the Historical Accounts , as well as the two volumes of The Records of the Similarities in Historical Events and Speeches . These books remained undestroyed in the Three Southern Libraries, as evidenced by the printing marks of “reviewed by Emperor Qianlong” on the cover pages. These forbidden books were the victims of the “cultural hegemony” of the Qing Dynasty, but without the efforts of the contemporary scholars to conduct researches on the books, these books were only silent witnesses in the history. Wang Chongmin, the founder of the modern Chinese library studies but still an undergraduate in the Beijing Normal Senior High School (Beijing Normal University today) by 1927, was the first to excavate the forbidden books from the Palace Museum. Wang successfully discovered nine titles of the forbidden book, duplicated their abstracts, and published in his book The Draft of the Abstracts of the Forbidden Books of The Four Branches of Literature . These abstracts were once republished simultaneously to the publication of The Catalog of The Four Branches of Literature in 1964.

The Reexamination of the Encyclopedia in the Four Northern Libraries To ensure the quality of The Four Branches of Literature several reviews were initiated. The first time was the checking of offensive content in the collected books, the second time was the proofreading of the manuscripts, and the third time was the reexamination of the collections after the establishment of the seven libraries. Through repetitious reviews editors spotted and corrected plenty of mistakes in the voluminous encyclopedia, but it was far from perfection to the Emperor.

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The first reexamination of the four northern collections The reexamination of the collections in the two Wenyuan Libraries Started in May the 52th year of the reign of Qianlong (1787), the reexamination of the encyclopedia was triggered by the discovery of offensive content in the books in the Wenjin Library. But the reexamination was first started in the two Wenyuan libraries. As the national treasury was almost exhausted in the last years of the reign of Emperor Qianlong, it was unaffordable for the government to employ additional checkers. The duty of reexamination was thus shared by both the editors of the Editorial Office, and the central officials who had passed the civil examination with excellent results. Each checker was given a daily quota of one case of books reviewed, while the chief governors of each department were required to read two cases of book per day. Princes Yongrong and Yongxuan, the respective supervisor of the Wenyuan Library (文淵閣) and Wenyuan Library (文 源閣), were also allocated two cases of books to be reviewed every day. It was estimated that within two months the reexamination of the first two duplicates would be finished with the practice of division of labor—the Imperial Board of Astronomy reviewed the astronomy books, the Board of Music reviewed musical theory, and the Imperial Medical Department reviewed medical books.7 A total of 6,414 cases of books (approximately 36,000 volumes) were reviewed in the libraries. Officials were assigned to various positions according to their talent and specialty, and workers and carpenters were recruited for preparing additional furniture and carving the printing blocks. A set of guideline was devised, in which required checkers to record their names and the places of correction on a notebook. With reference to the notebooks, an accountability system was introduced. Under this system, carpenters would be punished for dirtying the books, while checkers and the Presidents had to bear the responsibility of having content unchecked.8 Special attention was to be paid in the reviewing of Dictionary of the Translated Names in the Histories of Liao, Jin, and Yuan Dynasties , by which the Emperor attempted to unify the Chinese translated names of the three non-Han regimes.9 All these notes and dictionaries would serve as glossaries for future reexamination.

The reexamination of the collection in the Wenjin Library The reexamination of the duplicate of the Wenjin Library consumed the most time and manpower, for the transcription was completed in a rush. It was done in two phases—the first phase began with the Emperor ’s trip to the Summer

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Villa; while the second phase was merely a continuation of the first phase after the Emperor’s return. Seldom did scholars visit the Wenjin Library in Rehe—not because of its remoteness to the capital, but for its location in the Summer Villa, where nobody was allowed to visit without the imperial consent. Therefore, it was not until the Emperor reading his unprecedented encyclopedia during his vacation in the villa were the mistakes in the duplicate discovered. The Emperor ordered an immediate amendment to be done by the fellow princes, Grand Councilors, and scholars. These officials, such as Ruan Kuisheng, Esu, Hu Gaowang, Songgui, and Ji Mengxiong, in return requested for additional stationeries, skilled carpenters and one assistant for reexamination.10 The project was ceased due to the Emperor’s return to the palace, leaving two third of the encyclopedia unchecked. After the beginning of the duplication of the Yangtze collections—the Editorial Office scheduled the second phase of the review. Led by Chief Compiler Ji Yun, officials were dispatched to the library in Rehe to resume the reexamination, with a quotidian quota of two cases of books checked for each reviewer.11 Despite the fact that a considerable amount of editors were assigned for the reexamination, the process did not continue as smooth as expected because of the shortage of materials—both the samples of the duplicates and the dictionaries had been delivered to the southern libraries. Not until the transportation of other references to the Wenjin Library did the reexamination resume. During the three months of the second phase of reexamination, 98 volumes had the mistakes spotted. Three volumes of The Yongle Encyclopedia were not transcribed, while four volumes in the encyclopedia were substituted by other fake books. For the general collection, there were eight volumes not transcribed, three volumes incompletely transcribed, four master copies replaced by unauthentic editions, 46 volumes were disorderly arranged, while 30 volumes had the information on the book cases wrongly written (refer to table 7.2.).12 Followed by the correction of transcription errors was the rearrangement of the order of displaying the encyclopedia. Initially scattered disorderly in the bookshelves, the books were rearranged according to their subjects and sizes. To ensure the books decoratively displayed, pieces of interleave page were inserted or removed.13

The reexamination of the collection in the Wensu Library Started in March the 55th year of the reign of Qianlong (1790), the reexamination of the Wensu duplicate was the last to start among the review of the four

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Table 7.2. Transcription errors of the Wenjin duplicate Type of error

Title of the Book

Status of the book

Missing book

The Template of the Spring and Autumn Annals

Compiled but not on shelf

The Record of the Imperial Board of Library

Pictorial Manual of the Extraction of Salt from the Sea Books not transcribed

Composition of Zheng Boxiong

Annotations of the Book of History

Not on shelf

Discuss on the Analects in the Shigu College

Explanation of the Note of the Comprehensive Mirror

The Collection of Reverting to a Fool

The Poetry of the Seclusion

The Collection of the Pure and Beautiful Mountain of Chrysanthemum

Vocabularies

The New Note of the Book of Changes of the Duke of Zhou

On shelf but incompletely transcribed

Explanation of the Geographical Account of Emperor Yu

Diagrams not drawn

Substitution of the book with another title

The Collection of Gongshi

Substituted by The Collection of the Three Liu

Substitution of the books with the inferior edition

The Dictionary of the Orthography for the Civil Examination

The inferior edition remained on shelf

Incompletely transcribed

The Little Exegeses of the Book of Changes of the Duke of Zhou

The Universal Geography of the Taiping Era

Not transcribed

The Collection of Wu Cheng

The Collection of Lu Xiangshan Source: “The Memorial of Ji Yun on the December 9, the 56th year of the reign of Qianlong (1791),” ed. The First Historical Archive of China, Documents of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature.

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northern collections. Chief Editor Lu Xixiong, who had his term of Academic Officer of Fujian Province expired, led his team to the library in Mukden, supervising the review jointly with the General of Mukden. The reexamination in the Wensu Library was slightly more different with those of the other three northern libraries. To begin with, a system of collective responsibility was introduced. Under this system the five editors—Liu Quanzhi, Zheng Jitang, Guan Huai, Pan Zengqi, and Weng Fanggang—were reported to the Chief Editor Lu Xixiong. Furthermore, a rigid guideline of amendment, attachment, and assortment, which was similar to the guidelines of the three libraries, was strictly enforced. However, editors in the Wensu Library had a higher monthly quota of review than the checkers of the three duplicates, as the Emperor believed that, with reference to the sample duplicates of the two Wenyuan Libraries, as well as the recruitment of a translator specializing in checking the translated names of the foreign persons and places, the reexamination should be finished earlier. Each editor was therefore distributed about 1,000 cases of book for review within four months.14 Having considered the distance between the capital and Mukden, which could be an obstacle for referring to the master copies, the Chief Editor brought along with him several useful items to the library. In addition, a coordinator stationing in Beijing was appointed for delivering any master copies to the library when necessary. 15 Soon after the beginning of the reexamination, the Beijing coordinator started his work. He delivered several master copies to the Mukden to facilitate the drawing of the missing diagrams, the writing of the content pages, and the duplicating of the whole volumes.16 Under a stringent management, editors were required to submit the reviewed books to the Chief Editor, who would then prepared a list of the reviewed items to the General of Mukden. Upon receiving the list, the General dispatched coordinators to the library to check, register, and submit the books to the circulation for inspection, after which the books were delivered back to the libraries for display.17 Once the books arrived to the library, provincial officials, together with the Chief Editor rearranged the order of the books to prevent a mismatch between the information on the covers and the cases. For filling the gaps on the bookshelves after the removal of the forbidden books, the officials once again applied the skill of substitution. These extracted books, which were subjected to further amendment, would be delivered to the Editorial Office in the capital.18 The reexamination of the duplicate of the Wensu Library finished in July of the 55th year of the reign of Qianlong (1790). Within four months approximately 6,100 cases of book had been reviewed, in which found 68 volumes with

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transcription error in the content, 57 volumes with error on the book cases, and three volumes subject to reduplication.19 These figures revealed that carelessness was an unavoidable issue despite the introduction of strict guidelines and management.

Punishment to the Editors The first reexamination was completed in the 55th year of the reign of Qianlong (1790). During the review, plenty of mistakes were highlighted, which was unexpected and unacceptable to the Emperor in terms of quantity and seriousness. The Emperor in return imposed severe punishment to all the involved officers—from copyists up to the Chief Editors and the Chief Compiler. Infuriated and disappointed, the Emperor first imposed the punishment to the Chief Editors and the Chief Compiler. He attributed the unsatisfactory quality of the encyclopedia to improper management of these leaders, commenting that, “I believe that you are qualified to supervise the compilation therefore I have promoted you to such high positions. However, your performance greatly disappointed me. It is your responsibility to avoid any mistakes during transcription, but you did not pay any effort to do so. What kind of rubbish have you produced? You should have no tolerance to the careless editors.” 20 To have the chief officials dismissed was, however, impossible, for their irreplaceable talent and knowledge of literature; therefore, the three leaders were punished by reexamination of the duplicates in the seven libraries, which were to be self-financed. The expenditure of reviewing the duplicates in the two Wenyuan libraries and the Wenjin Library were shared by Ji Yun and Lu Xixiong, while Lu Feichi alone had to compensate for the reexamination in the Three Southern Libraries, for his stubborn and stiffnecked working attitude. 21 One could imagine how furious the Emperor was towards Lu Feichi, as his family had to continue financing the reexamination even after the death of Lu. The Emperor believed that, “Lu was born in a poor family, growing up as a poor scholar, and receiving little salary. He should be unaffordable to the penalty amounted to 10,000 taels. If he had not been bribed during his working in the Editorial Office, why he could have had such a large amount of asset? I understand that Lu’s son might not be capable to his father’s work, but the family still owes me a lot.”22 To solve this dilemma, the Emperor suggested a seizure of the properties of the Lu family, while leaving only 1,000 taels as a basic living for them.23 The late President of the Editorial Office Yu Minzhong, who had formulated “such a nonsense regulation”24 with Lu Feichi, was also punished by having his memorial tablet removed from the Temple of the Virtuous.

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Coordinators also received punishment. For those who were still working in the capital were dispatched to the remote Mukden or Summer Villa to assist the reexaminations, while those reporting duty in the outer provinces were given penalties amounted to half of their yearly wages or subsidies. For the self-financed copyists, who had been promoted as government officials by the time of the 55th year of the reign of Qianlong (1790), were also punished for surrendering half of the yearly subsidies; for those who were still unemployed were called back to the office to finish the remaining task.25 It was estimated that more than 2,000 officials were subjected to punishment. .

The second reexamination of the Four Northern Collections Triggered by the discovery of transcription and compilation errors in the Wenjin collection, the second reexamination of the four northern duplicates commenced on July of the 56th year of the reign of Qianlong (1791)—a year after the completion of the first reexamination. This disturbance began from the Emperor ’s occasional perusal of The Dialogues of the Regulation of Yang Xiong in the Wenjin Library, in which he found two blank lines, as well as his book review not compiled. Chief Compiler Ji Yun reported to the Emperor that due to the short duration of daylight in winter, the editors were rushing in their reviewing, so were the mistake made. Needless to say, it was an unacceptable excuse to the Emperor, who in return scolded his editors that, “Even the blind could spot the missing parts. How come both the editors and their supervisors fail to locate such an apparent mistake? Would you be ashamed for producing nothing but hot air during the repetitious reviews?” 26 The furious Emperor continued, “I can spot plenty of mistakes every time when I read the books. Nothing is perfect so I would tolerate for having a few words wrongly written; however, it is utterly unacceptable for leaving two lines not transcribed! It is all the fault of the Chief Compiler Ji Yun and other reviewers, therefore, these officials should be responsible for reviewing the collections.”27 To the Emperor, the initiation of the second reexamination was not a pursuit of perfection, but a remedy of the rubbish.

The second reexamination of the collection in the Wenyuan Library (文源 閣) The Chief Compiler Ji Yun, propelled by the Emperor’s demand, gathered his team of editors and rushed to the library in the Summer Palace to conduct the second reexamination of the duplicate. On the one hand, he threatened the editors to strictly follow the regulations; while on the other hand, he

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requested the Emperor for an immediate editing implemented in the library, instead of delivering the books back to the Editorial Office in the palace. 28 The reexamination finished after two months with an anticipated outcome. Ji reported to the Emperor that, “The number of mistakes highlighted is several times more than that of the first review, but [your editors] have already filled in the blanks, corrected the mistakes, and bound the unattached sheets.”29 The Chief Editor continued to report the problem of cheating, saying that “After checking the suspicious content [your minister] discovered that some lazy editors did not fill in the blanks, and some even composited the annotations by themselves. As a part of master copied was missing, checkers are unable to amend the annotations.”30 After receiving the report, the Emperor ordered for punishments to editors of a fine of salary, reporting duty in the northeast libraries, and further hearings by the central departments. In addition to the infliction of punishment, the Grand Councilors ordered for a standardization of the content among the four duplicates, for their transcription was not carried out coincidentally.31

The second reexamination of the collection in the Wenyuan Library (文淵 閣) After the completion of the review in the Wenyuan Library (文源閣) the Chief Compiler Ji Yun hurried back to the Forbidden City to start another reexamination project, of which the primary focus was to rewrite a part of the duplicates. To explore the correction of The Encyclopedia of the Human Mind and the Heavenly Principle would facilitate our understanding to the process of the second reexamination of the Wenyuan Library (文淵閣). Compiled under the demand of the Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty, this encyclopedia was to be distributed to the Hall of Wuying for transcription. However, the master copy was loss during delivery, and what the editors in the hall eventually received was the edition published during the early era of the reign of Emperor Kangxi. This trouble was compounded by the stupidity of the copyists, who misunderstood the Kangxi edition as “the edition reviewed by Emperor Kangxi”. The title of “imperial reviewed” was thus written on every page of the 224 volumes of the book, but none of the editor, coordinator, and checker were managed to spot the problem. Not until the rediscovery of the master copy did the problem was disclosed, and the title of “imperial reviewed” was removed—not by using an eraser but by the rewrite of the whole book.32 The second reexamination, which had lasted for two months—from October to December of the 56th of the reign of Qianlong (1791), came to an end with the reduction of salaries as punishment for the officials involved.

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The second reexamination of the collection in the Wensu Library The Grand Councilors, much worried by the presence of transcription errors in the duplicates of the two Wenyuan libraries, proposed for a reexamination of the collections of the Wensu Library. The reexamination was initially assigned to the Coordinator in Beijing, however, the Chief Compiler Lu Xixiong and his team members, having witnessed the reexaminations puzzled with transcription errors even with the supervision of his capable colleague Ji Yun, volunteered to supervise the large scale reexamination in the Wensu library.33 Lu, too old and weak to travel to the cold Mukden, was frozen to death soon after his departure from the capital. His position was soon replaced by Liu Quanzhi, the Assistant President of the Board of Rites, but his team members was too depressed to finish the remaining task, so that the reexamination ended within two months amid a sorrowful atmosphere.

The second reexamination of the collection in the Wenjin Library Because of the death of Lu Xixiong, the task of reexamination once again fell to Ji Yun. The Chief Compiler advanced to the library in Rehe along with his editors, checking the duplicates night and day and correcting any mistakes. Having blank lines in the book of Yang Xiong had already disappointed the Emperor, but to the disappointment added the discovery of more than 1,000 transcription errors in the 6,144 volumes. In addition to the strict enforcement of the regulation, a system of mutual inspection, in which the editors formed into groups in two to three to check each other ’s work, was introduced for minimizing the commitment of transcription error. The second reexamination was finished within two months under the rigid supervision of the Emperor. The problems of missing pages, missing volumes, substitution of the master copies, arbitrary amendment and fabrication of the content, and selfcomposition of the books were all solved. Only a few books were subjected to reduplication, namely The Simplification of the Annotations and Exegeses of the Book of Rituals by the Duke of Zhou, The Official Strategy of the Suppression of the Zungar, The Catalog of the Ancient Bronze Ware in the South Study , and the The Collection of Fan Chengmo .34 The Editors, whenever they located any mismatch between the information in the catalog and the duplicates, were required to report to their seniors, who would then distribute the books to the Hall of Wuying for amendment. All the cost of reduplication was shared by the first editors and checkers. Once finished, the new duplicates would be returned to the Wenjin Library for binding.35 Among the four collections, the Wenyuan (文淵) duplicate had the highest

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quality, followed by the Wenyuan (文源) and the Wenji duplicates. The Wensu duplicate was the worst for its rushing reexamination. However, to highlight all the errors in such a voluminous encyclopedia is nothing different from sweeping leaves on the street in autumn—that is, impossible to have all the leaves cleaned. Editors successfully highlighted mistakes during the two reexaminations, such as missing an article in The Discourse on the State Monopoly of Salt and Iron , miswriting the character “ya 牙” as “xie 邪” in The Combined Review of the Comprehensive Mirror , the character “cong 充” as “ke 克”, and “bi 彼” as “bo 波” in The Collection of the Vertical Light . 36 Not until this moment did the captious Emperor finally give up his his pursuit of a perfect encyclopedia.

The Reexamination of the Encyclopedia in the Three Southern Libraries Having witnessing the unsatisfactory performance of the experienced scholars in reexamining the first four duplicates, a group of ministers thus proposed for the reexamination of the duplicates in the southern libraries, for their proofreading were merely done by about twenty imperial students in a hurry. The issue was first raised by the Imperial Secretary Mo Zhanlu, who requested for a self-financed reexamination of the duplicates in the Lower Yangtze with reference to the sample duplicates of the two Wenyuan libraries. The Emperor approved the proposal and ordered for a rechecking supervised by the Chief Editors, who would then report to the Emperor once locating offensive or unreasonable articles. Moreover, correction of words, substitution of the pages, circulation of the books, as well as the supply of the stationery and refreshment should strictly follow the regulation.37 By the time of the opening of the Three Southern Libraries, more than 4,000 of books had already been distributed to the Lower Yangtze. But to transport the books back to the capital was time-consuming; therefore, to solve the dilemma President of the Editorial Office Rongyong proposed a simultaneous reexamination in both the capital and the southern libraries, saying that “The Temples of the Gods of Cloud and Wind were designated to be the offices for the transcription of the three duplicates. Would it be possible to assign the task of reexamination to the editors working in the temples? I suggest that the checkers should submit the reviewed books to the Wuying Coordinators, who would then deliver the books to the Hall of Wuying for second reexamination. Furthermore, Chief Editor Lu Feichi has to station in the southern libraries

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for supervising the reexamination of the 4,000 books.” 38 This suggestion was accepted by the Emperor, who then ordered an immediate reexamination. To avoid mutual denial between the editor and the coordinator, the two parties had to keep a record of the books reviewed and received;39 And with the presence of a tight schedule, editors were allowed to finish their job at home.40 The southern duplicates were reexamined even in a less serious manner, for the target reader was not the Emperor but the commoners in the provinces. But the local governors, who had learnt the lessons from their colleagues, dared not to turn a blind eye to such an apparent problem. Quan De, the Salt Commissioner of Lianghuai, therefore invited local scholars to review the duplicates after the opening of the libraries. A number of elites were on the list of invitation, such as Bi Yuan, Xie Yong, Wang Chang, and Wang Zhong, and among them Wang Zhong was nominated to be the only reviewer. His performance proved himself worth to be the champion if there was a competition of the number of books read: within two years Wang had previewed the all the volumes in the three libraries alone. To conclude, if one firmly adhered to the standard of the Emperor, one would find the quality of the southern duplicates unsatisfactory, for a considerable amount of mistakes and even forbidden books were not removed. However, the preservation of the forbidden books might be a blessing instead of a curse: there is no evidence showing that someone stepped on the roads of anti-regime after reading the forbidden books, but the preservation of the books was undoubtedly beneficial to the cultural development, to the study of the intellectual movement of the time, as well as to the understanding of the compilation of The Four Branches of Literature .

117

Chapter 1 1. “Edict on August 29, the 13th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Veritable Records of Qing Gaozhong , vol. 323. 2. Gu Yanwu, “Bingqi and Jimen Event Petition,” Tinglin Collection. 3. Gu Yanwu, “On Studies with Friends,” Ibid. 4. Gu Yanwu, “Letter to Li Zide,” Tinglin Collection. 5. Hui Dong, “The First Chapter, Ancient Meaning of the Nine Classics,” The Pine Cliff Collection . 6. Qian Daxin, “Biography of Master Dai,” Collection of the Hall of Qianyan , no. 39. 7. “Edict of January 4, the 37th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. Wang Chongmin and Chen Yuan, Records of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature (Beiping: National Library of Beiping, 1934). 8. Qian Qianyi, “The Deeds of Book Collection in the Qian Qing Library of the Wongs,” A Collection on the Matters of Studying. 9. Ye Dehui, “The Background of the Publication of the Complete Library of the Four Branches of Literature and Its Preface,” Remaining Discussion of the Forest of Books. 10. Zhou Yongnian, “Letter to Kong Honggu,” in On the Collection of the Confucian Classics , vol. 1 of Songling Collection , ed. Wu Changshou. 11. Zhou Yongnian, author’s note of On the Collection of the Confucian Classics. 12. Zhou Yongnian, “On an Extensive Collection of the Confucian Classics,” Ibid. 13. Zhang Xuecheng, preface of “The Catalog of the Hall of Jieshu,” Posthumous Work of Zhang. 14. Cao Rong, Discussion on the Circulation of Ancient Books.

Chapter 2 1. Zheng Qiao, “A Short Discussion on Editing,” Comprehensive History of Institutions. 2. Qi Chenghan, Discussion on the Collection in the Hall of Dansheng. 3. Veritable Records of Ming Taizhu 21. 4. “Report from Liu Tongxun on February 6, the 38th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. Wang and Chen, Records of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature. 5. “Edict on January 4, the 37th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid.

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Notes

6. Ibid. 7. Ibid. 8. “Report from the Governor of Guizhou Tuside on October 3, the 37th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. The First Historical Archive of China, Documents of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature. 9. “Report from the Governor of Shanxi Sanbao on November 9, the 37th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 10. “Edict on March 28, the 38th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. Wang and Chen, Records of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature. 11. “Report from the Governor-general of Liangjiang Gao Jin on December 2, the 37th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. The First Historical Archive of China, Documents of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature. 12. Ibid. 13. “Edict on March 28, the 38th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. Wang and Chen, Records of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature. 14. These included the Provinces of Zhili, Jiangxi, Hubei, Anhui, Fujian, Henan, Shandong, and Shanxi. 15. “Report from the Governor of Jiangsu Shazai on April 19, the 38th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. The First Historical Archive of China, Documents of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature. 16. “Edict on the Intercalary March 3, the 38th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. Wang and Chen, Records of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature. 17. Ibid. 18. “Report from the Salt Commissioner of Lianghuai Li Zhi on April 19, the 38th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. The First Historical Archive of China, Documents of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature. 19. “Report from the Grand Academician Liu Tongxun on April 3, the 38th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. Wang and Chen, Records of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature. 20. Emperor Qianlong, “Compilation on the Joint Sentences in the Complete Library of the Four Branches of Literature,” Imperial Poetry . 21. “Report from the Governor of Jiangsu Shazai on October 6, the 38th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. The First Historical Archive of China, Documents of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature. 22. “Report from the Governor-general of Liangjiang Gao Jin on October 25, the 38th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. The First Historical Archive of China, Documents of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature. 23. “Edict on May 14, the 39th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. Wang and Chen, Records of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature. 24. “Edict on July 25, the 39th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 25. Emperor Qianlong, “On the Division of Officials,” Imperial Poetry 4, no. 27.

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26. “Report from the Governor of Anhui Pei Zongxi on December 27, the 38th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. The First Historical Archive of China, Documents of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature. 27. “Report from the Governor of Jiangsu Shazai on January 28, the 39th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. National Palace Museum, Reports of the Reign of Emperor Qianlong in the Palace (Taipei: National Palace Museum, 1982). 28. Ibid. “Report from the Governor-general of Liangjiang Gao Jin on January 28, the 39th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 29. The data of Guangxi and Guizhou were absent as no books had been collected; while Sichuan and Gansu did not participate in the collection movement. 30. Zhang Xuecheng, “Discussion on The Sequel of the Comprehensive Mirror with Governor Bi and Supervisor Qian,” Posthumous Work of Zhang.

Chapter 3 1. “Edict on March 29, the 38th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. The First Historical Archive of China, Documents of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature. 2. “Report from the Governor of Shandong Xu Ji on May 9, the 38th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 3. Ibid. 4. “Report from the Governor of Jiangsu Shazai on September 9, the 39th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. National Palace Museum, Reports of the Reign of Emperor Qianlong in the Palace. 5. “Edict on August 5, the 39th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. Wang and Chen, Records of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature. 6. Ibid. 7. Ibid. 8. “Report from the Governor of Zhejiang Sanbao on September 8, the 39th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. National Palace Museum, Reports of the Reign of Emperor Qianlong in the Palace. 9. “Report from the Governor-general of Liangjiang Gao Jin on September 13 on the 39th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 10. “Report from the Governor-general of Liangguang Li Shirao on the case of the Terrace of Yuhua on November 9, the 39th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. Archives of the National Palace Museum, Documents of the Literary Persecution of the Qing Dynasty. 11. “Edict on October 23, the 42nd Year of the Reign of Qianlong on the case of the String of Words ,” ed. Archives of the National Palace Museum, Collection of Anecdotes 5.

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12. “The Article of Inquisition in the 43rd Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. Wang and Chen, Records of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature. 13. “Report from the Education Commissioner of Shaanxi Yang Sizeng on June 20, the 38th year of the reigj of Qianlong,” ed. The First Historical Archive of China, Documents of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature. 14. “Edict on the Intercalary October 19, the 40th Year of the Reign of Qianlong on the case of the Hall of Pianxing,” Documents of the Literary Persecution of the Qing Dynasty, vol. 2. 15. “Edict on July 9, the 43th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. The First Historical Archive of China, Documents of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature. “Edict on November 11, the 45th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. The First Historical Archive of China, Documents of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature. 16. “Edict on Intercalary October 18, the 40th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. The First Historical Archive of China, Documents of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 17. “Edict on November 28, the 45th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. Wang and Chen, Records of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 18. “Edict on May 29, the 46th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. The First Historical Archive of China, Documents of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 19. “Report from the Governor of Jiangxi Hao Shuo on April 6, the 46th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Journal of History Published Every Ten Days 22 (1931). 20. “Report from the Governor of Anhui Nong Qi on September 28, the 46th Year of the Reign of Qianlong, ed. National Palace Museum, Reports of the Reign of Emperor Qianlong in the Palace . 21. “Report from the General of Mukden Hongxiang on November 11, the 40th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. The First Historical Archive of China, Documents of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 22. “Report from the Governor of Jiangxi Hai Cheng on October 18, the 42nd Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 23. “Report from the Governor of Anhui Min Eyuan on October 29, the 44th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 24. “Edict on November 24, the 44th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 25. “Report from the Governor of Shaanxi Shang An on December 26, the 44th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 26. “Report from the Governor-general of Shaan’gan Leejin on March 6, the 45th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 27. “Edict on February 4, the 46th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. Wang and Chen, Records of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature .

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28. “Edict on November 7, the 47th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. The First Historical Archive of China, Documents of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 29. Deng Shi, “Ordering for a One-off Submission of Forbidden Books,” Combined Catalog of the Suppressed Books . 30. “Report from the Governor of Zhejiang Sanbao on March 10, the 42nd Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. National Palace Museum, Reports of the Reign of Emperor Qianlong in the Palace . 31. “Edict on August 19, the 42nd Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. The First Historical Archive of China, Documents of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 32. Deng Shi, “Notice from the Governors of Anhui and Jiangsu,” Combined Catalog of the Suppressed Books . 33. “Report from the Governor of Shaanxi Bi Yuan on October 25, the 42nd Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. National Palace Museum, Reports of the Reign of Emperor Qianlong in the Palace . 34. “Report from the Governor of Anhui Pei Zongxi on September 15, the 39th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 35. “Report from the Governor-general of Minzhe Sanbao on September 6, the 44th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. The First Historical Archive of China, Documents of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 36. “Report from the Governor of Fujian Fugang on the case of The Poetry of the Descendant of the Heaven on July 16, the 45th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Documents of the Literary Persecution of the Qing Dynasty 5. 37. “Report from the Governor of Guangdong Guilin on the case of Xu Shikui on December 12, the 43rd Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. National Palace Museum, Collection of Anecdotes , vol. 4. 38. “Report from the Governor of Zhejiang Li Zhiyong on June 28, the 45th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. The First Historical Archive of China, Documents of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 39. “Report from the Governor of Hubei Chen Huizu on November 30, the 39th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 40. “Report from the Governor of Anhui on November 30, the 39th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 41. “Report on the Governor of Jiangxi Hao Shuo on the case of the Six Willows Hall on August 15, the 43rd Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. National Palace Museum, Documents of the Literary Persecution of the Qing Dynasty , vol. 3. 42. “Report from the Hunan Governor on December 11, the 43rd Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. The First Historical Archive of China, Documents of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 43. Deng Shi, “Notice of the Publication of Catalogs of Forbidden Books from the Governors of Anhui and Jiangsu and the Governor-general of Liangjiang,” Combined Catalog of the Suppressed Books . 123

Notes

44. “Report from the Governor of He’nan on November 28, the 43rd Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. The First Historical Archive of China, Documents of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 45. “Report from the Governor of Anhui Min E’yuan on November 16, the 42nd Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. National Palace Museum, Reports of the Reign of Emperor Qianlong in the Palace . 46. “Report from the Grand Academician Ying Lian on February 21, the 47th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. Wang and Chen, Records of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 47. “Report from the Grand Academician Ying Lin on March 25, the 47th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 48. “Report from the Governor of Jiangxi Hai Cheng on November 12, the 42nd Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. National Palace Museum, Collection of Anecdotes , vol. 5. 49. “Edict on November 17, the 41st Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. Wang and Chen, Records of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 50. Lu Xixiong, “Note to the President of the Editorial Office on literary inquisition,” Collections of the Baokui Hall , no. 4. 51. “The Article of Literary Inquisition on the 43rd Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. Wang and Chen, Records of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 52. “Edict on December 23, the 39th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 53. “Report from the Deputy Governor of Guizhou Wei Qianheng on September 15, the 40th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. The First Historical Archive of China, Documents of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 54. “Edict on October 14, the 40th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 55. Ibid. 56. “Report from the Grand Councilor Fu Long’an on December 18, the 47th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. Wang and Chen, Records of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 57. “Edict on December 13, the 41st Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 58. “Edict on October 21, the 42nd Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. The First Historical Archive of China, Documents of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 59. “Edict on November 4, the 43rd Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. Wang and Chen, Records of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 60. “Report from the Deputy Governor Chen Huizu on December 10, the 45th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. The First Historical Archive of China, Documents of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 61. “Report from the Governor of Guangxi Yao Chenglie on August 24, the 46th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. National Palace Museum, Reports of the Reign of Emperor Qianlong in the Palace .

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62. “Report from the Deputy Governor of Yunnan Liu Chengtian on Sepember 28, the 46th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. National Palace Museum, Reports of the Reign of Emperor Qianlong in the Palace . 63. “Report from the Grand Councilor Fu Long’an on December 10, the 47th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. The First Historical Archive of China, Documents of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 64. “Report from the Grand Councilor on November 8, the 47th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 65. “Edict on March 24, the 48th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. Wang and Chen, Records of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 66. “Edict on March 22, the 48th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. The First Historical Archive of China, Documents of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 67. “Edict on July 21, the 48th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 68. “Edict on December 20, the 48th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 69. “Report from the Deputy Governor-general of Liangjiang Min Eyuan on December 24, the 49th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 70. “Report from the Grand Councilor Fu Long’an on December 10, the 47th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 71. “Edict on May 4, the 53rd Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. Wang and Chen, Records of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 72. “Report from the Governor of Zhejiang Lang Xian on May 13, the 53rd Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 73. Yao Jinyuan, “Notice from the Provincial Administration Commission of the Zhejiang Province,” Catalog of Forbidden Book . 74. “Report from the Grand Academician Ying Lian on February 21, the 47th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. Wang and Chen, Records of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 75. “Report from the Grand Councilor Fu Long’an on December 18, the 47th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 76. “Records of Forbidden Books of the Bureau of the Imperial Reviewed Report in September the 48th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 77. Deng Shi, note to the Combined Catalog of the Suppressed Books . 78. Wang Zhongqi, preface of the The Index of the Forbidden Books , by Chen Naiqian (Beiping: Fu Jin Publication, 1932). 79. Sun Dianqi, preface of The Record of Comprehending the Forbidden Books of the Qing Dynasty . 80. “Edict on December 23, the 39th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. Wang and Chen, Records of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 81. Chen Naiqian, “List of the Suppressed Printing Plates,” The Index of the Forbidden Books .

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Notes

82. Zhao Luchou, “Suppressed Books during the Reign of Qianlong,” Bulletin of the Beiping Library 7, no. 5 (1933). Guo Bogong, An Exegesis of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature. Wu Zhefu, A Study of the Forbidden Books of Qing Dynasty. 83. Yang Fengbao, “Note to the Unofficial History of the Southern Chinese Turkistan,” Collection of the Autumn Room , vol. 2. 84. Zhang Jian, Collection of the Hall of Dongqing. 85. Li Zhaoluo, Collection of the Room of Yangyi. 86. Yao Ying, “An Exegesis of the Forbidden Book of the Town Tong,” The Record of Limited Knowledge , no. 5.

Chapter 4 1. Chen Yuan, “Note after a Discussion with Yu Wenxiang on The Four Branches of Literature ,” Collection of Theses of Chen Yuan 2. 2. “Edict on March 20, the 41st Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. Wang and Chen, Records of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 3. Emperor Qianlong, “On the Treasury Plate of the Hall of Wuying,” Imperial Poetry 4, no. 22. 4. Yuan Yuan, “Collection of Ji Wenda,” Collection of the Hall of Yanjing , no. 5. 5. Wang Chang, “Tomb Epitaphs for Mr. Lu,” Collection of the Hall of Chunrong , no. 55. 6. Zhang Xuecheng, “Biography of Zhou Shuchang,” Posthumous Work of Zhang , no. 18. 7. “Edict on February 23, the 38th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. Wang and Chen, Records of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 8. “Report from the Grand Councilor on October 17, the 59th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 9. “Edict on February 21, the 38th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Catalog of the Complete Library of the Four Branches of Literature , vol. 1. 10. “Report from the Editorial Office of the Four Branches of Literature on March 11, the 38th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. Wang and Chen, Records of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 11. Emperor Qianlong, “Annotation on the poems of the Old History of the Five Dynasties ,” Imperial Poem 4, no. 33. 12. Duan Yucai, “Chronological Biography of Dai Dongyuan,” Collection of Dai Zhen. 13. “Edict on June 26, the 39th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. Wang and Chen, Records of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . “Edict on February 29, the 43rd Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. Emperor Qianlong, “The Compilation of the Joint Sentences in The Four Branches of Literature ,” Imperial Poetry 4, no. 17.

126

Notes

14. “Report from the Commandery Prince Zhi on December 23, the 39th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. Wang and Chen, Records of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 15. Weng Fanggang, “Draft of the Concise Four Branches of Literature ,” qtd. in Pan Ji’an, “A Short Discussion on Weng Fanggang’s Draft of the Concise Four Branches of Literature,” Journal of Chinese Literature and History , no. 1 (1983). 16. Preface to the Catalog of the Complete Library of the Four Branches of Literature. 17. “Extract of the Book of Changes of Zixia ,” Ibid. vol. 1. 18. “Extract of the Annotation of the Classics of Waterways ,” Ibid. vol. 69. 19. Weng Fanggang, Narration on Family . 20. “Edict on September 30, the 41st Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. Wang and Chen, Records of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 21. Preface to the Catalog of the Complete Library of the Four Branches of Literature. 22. “Extract of the Collection of Zhijia the Old ,” Ibid. vol. 158.

Chapter 5 1. “Report from the Editorial Office on March 31, the 38th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. Wang and Chen, Records of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 2. “Report from the Investigating Censor Hu Qianyuan on June 2, the 38th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. The First Historical Archive of China, Documents of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 3. Ibid. 4. “Report from the Board of Civil Office on July 5, the 38th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Collection of the Itemized Substatutes of the Reign of Qianlong. 5. “Edict on August 19, the 39th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. Wang and Chen, Records of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 6. “Report from the Editorial Office on March 11, the 38th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 7. “Report from the Grand Academician Egui on September 16, the 55th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 8. “Report from the Editorial Office on March 11, the 38th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 9. “Report from the Minister of the Board of Civil Office on February 16, the 51st Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. The First Historical Archive of China, Documents of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 10. Ibid. 11. Ibid. 12. “Report from the Commandery Prince Zhi on October 19, the 39th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid.

127

Notes

13. “Report from the Minister of the Board of Civil Office on February 16, the 51st Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 14. “Report from the Editorial Office on March 31, the 38th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. Wang and Chen, Records of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 15. “Report from the Commandery Prince Zhi on October 18, the 38th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 16. Ibid. 17. “Report from the Commandery Prince Zhi on April 15, the 40th year of the reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 18. “Report from the Grand Academician Yu Minzhong on December 9, the 40th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 19. “Edict on November 25, the 42nd Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. Wang and Chen, Records of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 20. “Report from the Candidate of the sub-Nine ranking Chen Kui on August 25, the 58th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. Wang and Chen, Records of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 21. “Report from the Commandery Prince Zhi on November 28, the 47th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. The First Historical Archive of China, Documents of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 22. “Edict on November 28, the 47th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. Wang and Chen, Records of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 23. Emperor Qianlong, “On the Library of Wenjin,” Imperial Poetry 4, no. 98. 24. Emperor Qianlong, “An Assonant Poem on the Library of Wenyuan,” Imperial Poetry 5, no. 9. 25. “Report from the Commandery Prince Zhi on January 23, the 50th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. The First Historical Archive of China, Documents of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 26. “Report from the Commandery Prince Zhi on December 20, the 47th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. Wang and Chen, Records of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 27. “Report from the Commandery Prince Zhi on August 20, the 47th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. The First Historical Archive of China, Documents of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 28. “Edict on July 8, the 47th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 29. “Report from the Commandery Prince Zhi on December 20, the 47th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. Wang and Chen, Records of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 30. “Report from the Commandery Prince Zhi on August 20, the 47th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. The First Historical Archive of China, Documents of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 31. “April 17, the 52nd Year of the Reign of Qianong,” Records of the Grand Council.

128

Notes

Chapter 6 1. “Edict on June 25, the 39th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. Wang and Chen, Records of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 2. “Report from Yan Zhu on August 10, the 39th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. National Palace Museum, Reports of the Reign of Emperor Qianlong in the Palace . 3. Emperor Qianlong, “On the Library of Wenyuan,” Imperial Composition 2, no. 13. 4. Emperor Qianlong, “Song of the Library of Wenjin,” Imperial Poetry 5, no. 17. 5. “Report from the Commandery Prince Zhi on July 19, the 47th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. The First Historical Archive of China, Documents of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 6. “Report from the Commandery Prince Yi on September 11, the 47th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 7. General Gazette of Mukden. 8. “Catalog of the Complete Library of the Four Branches of Literature in the Library of Wenzong,” ed. Shi Qiuai, The Sequel Gazette of Jinshan , vol. 2. 9. Li Dou, The Decorated Boat of Yangzhou , vol. 4. 10. “Report from the Commandery Prince Zhi on February 1, the 49th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. The First Historical Archive of China, Documents of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 11. “Report from the Governor of Zhejiang Chen Huizu on August 10, the 47th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 12. “Edict on June 13, the 52nd Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. Wang and Chen, Records of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 13. “Edict on February 21, the 49th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 14. “Report from the Salt Commissioner of Lianghuai Li Zhiyong on Intercalary March 20, the 38th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. The First Historical Archive of China, Documents of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 15. “Report from the Governor of Zhejiang Sanbao on April 10, the 38th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 16. “Report from the Grand Academician Liu Tongxun on May 18, the 38th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. Wang and Chen, Records of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 17. “Edict on June 26, the 39th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 18. “Report from the Governor-general of Zhili Zhou Yuanli on July 30, the 39th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. National Palace Museum, Reports of the Reign of Emperor Qianlong in the Palace . “Report from the Governor of Zhejiang Sanbao on August 6, the 39th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid.

129

Notes

19. “Report from the Governor of Shandong Yang Jingsu on September 16, the 41st Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. The First Historical Archive of China, Documents of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 20. Zhu Wenzao, preface to the Collectanea of Zhibuzhu Study Room. Li Dou, The Decorated Boat of Yangzhou , vol. 4. 21. “Report from the Grand Council on June 30, the 49th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. Wang and Chen, Records of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 22. “Report from the Salt Commissioner of Lianghuai Yan Zhu on June 15, the 42nd Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. National Palace Museum, Reports of the Reign of Emperor Qianlong in the Palace . 23. “Edict on June 29, the 42nd Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. Wang and Chen, Records of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 24. “Report from the Governor of Jiangxi Hai Cheng on August 2nd, the 42nd Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. National Palace Museum, Reports of the Reign of Emperor Qianlong in the Palace . “Report from the Governor of Anhui Min Eyuan on September 22, the 42nd Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 25. “Report from the Governor-general of Shaan’gan on July 8, the 42nd Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 26. Grouped Biographies of the History of Qing Dynasty , vol. 68. 27. “Report from the Commandery Pirnce Zhi on June 25, the 39th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. The First Historical Archive of China, Documents of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 28. “Edict on June 26, the 39th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. Wang and Chen, Records of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 29. “Report from the Left Director of the Board of Civil Office Wang Jie on March 9, the 45th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. The First Historical Archive of China, Documents of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 30. Ibid. 31. “Report from the Grand Academician Ying Lian on May 27, the 45th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 32. “Report from the Commandery Prince Zhi on July 30, the 52nd Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 33. “Report from the Grand Academician Shuhede on June 26, the 41st Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 34. “Report from the Minister of the Board of Civil Office Liu Yong on February 6, the 51st Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 35. Yang Jialuo, A Complete Dictionary of the Four Branches of Literature. 36. Ren Songru, Question and Answer on the Complete Library of the Four Branches of Literature. Wang Chongmin, Collectanea of the History of the Bibliography of China (Beijing: Xinhua Publication, 1984).

130

Notes

Chapter 7 1. “Edict on the March 19, the 52nd Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. Wang and Chen, Records of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature. 2. “Memorandum from the Grand Councilor on the April 5, the 52nd Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 3. “Edict on the June 12, the 52nd Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. “Report from the Grand Councilor Hoshen on October 18, the 52nd Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 4. “Report from the Grand Councilor on October 17, the 53rd Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. “Edict on August 11, the 52nd Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. “Report from the General Officer of Rehe Dong Chunon February 10, the 53rd Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. The First Historical Archive of China, Documents of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature. 5. “Letter to Ji Yun on June 12, the 52nd Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. The First Historical Archive of China, Documents of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature. 6. “Report from the Grand Councilor on October 15, the 53rd Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. Wang and Chen, Records of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature. 7. “Edict on May 19, the 52nd Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 8. “Documents of the Reexamination of the Collections of the Two Wenyuan Libraries,” Compilation of the Historical Articles 3 (1937). 9. “Edict on June 3, the 52nd Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. Wang and Chen, Records of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature. 10. “Letter to the Chief Editor of the Hall of Wuying on May 19, the 52nd Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. Wang and Chen, Records of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature. 11. “Report from the General Officer of Rehe Dong Chunon October 24, the 52nd Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. The First Historical Archive of China, Documents of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature. 12. “Report from the Grand Councilor Egui on February 15, the 53rd Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 13. “Report from Ji Yun on October 30, the 53rd Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 14. “Report from the Assistant Imperial Secretary Lu Xixiong on March 29, the 55th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 15. Ibid. 16. “Report from Lu Xixiong on May 4, the 55th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 17. “Report from the General of Mukden Songchun on March 28, the 55th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid.

131

Notes

18. “Report from the Assistant President of the Board of Public Work in Mukden Chengce on July 12, the 55th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 19. “Report from the Grand Councilor Egui on September 16, the 55th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. Wang and Chen, Records of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 20. “Edict on June 12, the 52nd Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 21. “Edict on 13, the 52nd Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 22. “Edict on October 21, the 55th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 23. “Report from the Viceroy of Zhejiang Province Fusong on November 23, the 55th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. The First Historical Archive of China, Documents of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 24. “Edict on October 15, the 52nd Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. Wang and Chen, Records of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 25. “Report from the Grand Councilor on October 18, the 52nd Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 26. “Report from the Commandery Prince Zhi on May 17, the 53rd Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. The First Historical Archive of China, Documents of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 27. Ibid. 28. “Quotation of Ji Yun in the Report of the General Officer of Rehe Fukejing’e on April 10, the 57th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 29. “Report from the Grand Council on October 10, the 56th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 30. Ibid. 31. Ibid. 32. “Report from the President of the Board of Rites Ji Yun on December 9, the 56th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 33. “Report from the Assistant President of the Censorate Lu Xixiong on December 11, the 56th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 34. “Report from the General Officer of Mukden Fukejing’e on Intercalary April 27, the 57th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 35. “Report from the Grand Councilor Egui on May 13, the 57th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 36. “Report from the Grand Councilor on May 8, the 59th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. “Edict on July 10, the 59th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. “Edict on July 14, the 60th Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 37. “Edict on July 8, the 52nd Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. Wang and Chen, Records of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature . 38. “Report from the Commandery Prince Zhi on July 27, the 52nd Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” ed. The First Historical Archive of China, Documents of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature .

132

Notes

39. “Report from the Commandery Prince Zhi on October 28, the 52nd Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid. 40. “Report from the Imperial Inspector Zhu Delin on October 20, the 52nd Year of the Reign of Qianlong,” Ibid.

133

A Clarification of the Diagrams in the Changes A Little Collection of Yu’an A pure laughing man of Jiangning A Study of the Forbidden Books of Qing Dynasty Advanced Degree An Exegesis of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature An Exegesis of the Historical Accounts of the Late Ming An Exegesis on the Barbarians Annotations of the Book of History Approaching Elegance Autumn Crane on the Grass Biographies of the Donglin Scholars Biographies of the Leaders of Han Learning Book of Rituals Catalog of Books Compiled in the Four Branches of Literature Catalog of Forbidden Books of All Provinces Catalog of the Collection of the Hall of Thousands Hectares Catalog of the Forbidden Books Chongwen Library Chuanshi Building Collectanea of the Prosperous Dynasties Collection of Documents Collection of the Hall of Qianyan Collection of the Mountain Tai Collections of Anecdotes Collections of Customs and Canons Collections of Knowledge Collections of the Essence Collections of the Hall of Lin Hui Collections of the Hall of Professional Dedication Collections of the Legends of the Spring and Autumn

《易圖明辨》 《愚庵小集》 江寧清笑生 《清代禁毀書目研究》 進士 《四庫全書纂修考》 《晚明史籍考》 《四夷考》 《尚書表注》 《爾雅》 《秋鶴近草》 《東林列傳》 《漢學師承記》 《禮記》 《四庫采進書目》 《各省諮查禁毀書籍目錄》 《千頃堂書目》 《違礙書目》 崇文院 傳是樓 《昭代叢書》 《文獻叢編》 《潛研堂集》 《太嶽集》 《掌故叢編》 《博物典匯》 《學海類編》 《精華錄》 《林蕙堂集》 《敬業堂集》 《春秋傳說匯纂》

135

Glossary

Collections of the Lyrics of the Sixteen Schools Commentaries of the Poems of Du Fu in Detail Commentary According to the Evidence on the Book of History in the Ancient Text Composition of Zheng Boxiong Confession Dialogues of the Classic of Filial Piety Directory Records of Art and Literature Discuss on the Analects in the Shigu College Discussion on the History of the Jin Dynasty Documents of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literarure Documents of the Literary Persecution of the Qing Dynasty Dongbi Liuhui Drafts of Poems of Xiong Zhigang Drafts of Reports on Stabilizing Northeast China Drafts of the Remaining Articles of the Study Room Duplicates of the Northern Hall Eastern Library Errors of the Historical Accounts of the Five Dynasties Examination Paper of the First-Class Graduates of the Ming Dynasty Excellent Speeches of the Emperors and Officials Explanation of the Geographical Account of Emperor Yu Explanation of the Note of the Comprehensive Mirror Explanation on the Official Language of the Liao, Jin and Yuan Dynasties First Discussion on the Sustenance of Agriculture Forest of Thoughts Four Catalogs of the Forbidden Book Gazette of the Canlang Villiage Gazette of the Haicheng Prefecture General Investigation Grass of the Yun's Hall of Daguan Hall of Shugu Hall of Xiaoshang

136

《十六家詞》 《杜詩詳注》 《古文尚書疏證》 《鄭敷文書說》 《供狀》 《孝經對問》 《藝文類聚》 《石鼓論語問答》 《晉史揮麈》 《纂修四庫全書檔案史料》 《清代文字獄檔》 東壁流輝 《熊芝岡詩稿》 《按遼疏稿》 《讀書齋偶存集》 《北堂書鈔》 東觀 《五代史記纂誤》 《明狀元策》 《執中成憲》 《禹貢錐指》 《通鑒釋例》 《遼金元三史國語解》 《寓農初議》 《意林》 《禁書總目四種》 《滄浪鄉志》 《海澄縣誌》 《格物廣義》 《雲氏草》 大觀堂 述古堂 小山堂

Glossary

Hall of Yulan Huangshi House Identification of Rituals Irimoya Jianjing Hebi Jixian Library Journal of National Treasuries Kaihua paper Library of Tianlai Luo Writing Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art Ninety-nine Plans Note of Jia Yuesheng Notes from the Senior Grand Secretary Occasional Moan Official Catalog of Forbidden Books of the Jiangning Prefecture Oirat Old History of the Five Dynasties Orchid Pavilion Pavilion of Baoshu Pictorial Manual of the Extraction of Salt from the Sea Preserved Drafts of the Hall of Congye Prose of the Fortunes and the Disasters in New and Orthodox Era Recommended Men Records of Early Learning Records of the Four Branches of Books Reports of Xuanyun Satisfaction Scripts and Correspondence Selected Poems of the Qing Dynasty Sincere Strategy for the Nation Strategy of Defending the Frontiers Studies of the Changes According to Han Tradition Sunzi Mathematical Treatise Taishi paper Tartar Textual Analysis of the Four Branches of Literature

玉蘭堂 皇史宬 《儀禮識誤》 偷工造 《兼金合璧》 集賢書院 《國粹叢書》 開化紙 天籟閣 《洛書》 《九章算術》 《九十九籌》 《悅生隨抄》 《綸扉簡牘》 《偶吟》 《江寧官本違礙書籍目錄》 瓦剌 《舊五代史》 蘭台 曝書亭 《熬波圖》 《從野堂存稿》 《天元玉曆祥異賦》 舉人 《初學記》 《群書四部錄》 《宣雲奏議》 《省罪錄》 《書牘》 《國朝詩別裁集》 《篤國策》 《邊略》 《易漢學》 《孫子算經》 太史連紙 韃靼 《四庫全書考證》

137

Glossary

The Account of Northern Expedition The Exegeses of the origin of the manchu The Ancient Explanation of the Nine Classics The Ancient Text of the Book of History The Annotation of the Classic of Waterways The Annotation of the Spring and Autumn The Annotations of the Three Books of Rites The Article of Inquisition The Biographies of the Anonymous The Biographies of the Artists The Biographies of the Stamp Artists The Book of Changes The Book of Changes of Zixia The Book of Poetry The Book of Rites of Dai De The Book of Rituals in the Restoration Period of Song Dynasty The Book of Strategy The Book of the Eight Divine Symbols The Book of the Nine Continents The Calligraphic and Phonetic Chart of the Dictionary The Canon of Mean The Canon of the Five Emperors The Catalog of Destroyed and Amended Books The Catalog of the Ancient Bronze Ware in the South Study The Catalog of the Four Branches of Literature The Catalog of the Free Minister of the Board of Water Conservancy The Catalogue of Chong Wen The Catalogue of Rare Books The Chant of the Five Canons The Charts of the Officials of Previous Dynasties The Classics Annotation of the Hall of Tongzhi The Collection of Evening Mist The Collection of Fan Chengmo The Collection of Fruitful Achievement The Collection of Gongfei The Collection of Gongshi

138

《北征紀略》 《滿州源流考》 《九經古義》 《古文尚書》 《水經注》 《春秋經解》 《三禮義疏》 《查辦違礙書籍條款》 《歷代不知姓名錄》 《讀畫錄》 《印人傳》 《易經》 《子夏易傳》 《詩經》 《大戴禮記》 《宋中興禮書》 《長短經》 《八索》 《九丘》 《說文解字篆韻譜》 《中經》 《五典》 《銷毀抽毀書目合刻》 《西清古鑒》 《四庫全書總目》 《水曹清暇錄》 《崇文總目》 《秘書總目》 《五經簡詠》 《歷代職官表》 《通志堂經解》 《沆瀣集》 《范忠貞集》 《碩果錄》 《公非集》 《公是集》

Glossary

The Collection of Indulging in Nature The Collection of Jin the Priest The Collection of Lu Xiangshan The Collection of Master Heguan The Collection of Plums Village The Collection of Prime Locust The Collection of Qinfeng The Collection of Reports from Zou Zongjie The Collection of Reverting to a Fool The Collection of Seals of the Mountain of Musk The Collection of Sun Gaoyang The Collection of Tanzhai The Collection of the Aid of Filial Piety The Collection of the Ancient and Current Books The Collection of the Danning Residence The Collection of the Hall of Five Senses The Collection of the Hall of Shenyu The Collection of the Pure and Beautiful Mountain of Chrysanthemum The Collection of the Six Willows Hall The Collection of the Three Liu The Collection of the Vertical Light The Collection of the Western Study Room The Collection of the Zhijia the Old The Collection of the Zhijin Study Room The Collection of Tinglin The Collection of Tranquility The Collection of Wenyuan The Collection of Wu Cheng The Collection of Yang Zhonglie The Collection of Zuo Zhongyi The Collections and Descriptions of Calligraphies and Paintings The Collections of Current Poems The Collections of the Imperfect House The Collections of the Plates of Accumulating Treasures of the Hall of Wuying The Combined Annotations of Rituals The Combined Exegeses of the History of the Southern and Northern Dynasties

《采真集》 《金大史集》 《象山集》 《鶡冠子》 《梅村集》 《公槐集》 《虯峰集》 《鄒忠介奏疏》 《歸愚集》 《麝香山印存》 《孫高陽集》 《坦齋通編》 《資孝集》 《古今圖書集成》 《澹甯居集》 《遍行堂集》 《慎餘堂集》 《菊山清雋集》 《六柳堂集》 《三劉文集》 《垂光集》 《西齋集》 《知稼翁集》 《咫進齋叢書》 《亭林集》 《清閣全集》 《文遠集》 《吳文正集》 《楊忠烈文集》 《左忠毅集》 《讀畫錄》 《國朝詩的》 《未優軒集》 《武英殿聚珍版叢書》 《儀禮集釋》 《南北史合注》

139

Glossary

The Combined Review of the Comprehensive Mirror 《通鑒輯覽》 The Compilation of Surnames of the Reign of Yuanhe 《元和姓纂》 《古經解鈎沉》 The Compilation of the Explanation of the Ancient Classics 《明季稗乘彙編》 The Compilation of the Unofficial Historical Accounts of the Ming Dynasty 《全金詩》 The Complete Collection of Jin Poetry 《全唐文》 The Complete Collection of Tang Articles 《全唐詩》 The Complete Collection of Tang Poetry 《朱子全書》 The Complete Works of Master Zhu 《正誼堂全書》 The Complete Works of the Hall of Justice 《通鑑綱目》 The Comprehensive Mirror of the Ming Annals The Concise Catalog of the Four Branches of Literature 《四庫全書簡明目錄》 《蒼霞尺牘》 The Correspondence of the Highness 《前明將略》 The Deeds of the Ming Generals 《法言》 The Dialogues of the Regulation 《干祿字書》 The Dictionary of the Orthography for the Civil Examination The Discourse on the State Monopoly of Salt and Iron 《鹽鐵論》 《蒼霞奏草》 The Draft of Memorial of the Highness The Draft of the Abstracts of the Forbidden Books of 《四庫抽毀書提要稿》 the Four Branches of Literature 《蒼霞草》 The Draft of the Highness 《性理大全》 The Encyclopedia of the Human Mind and the Heavenly Principle 《武經總要》 The Encyclopedia of the Military Technique 《四部考》 The Exegeses of the Four Branches 《國史考異》 The Exegeses of the History of Ming Dynasty 《元明事類考》 The Exegeses of the Narratives of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties 《徙戎論》 The Expulsion of Barbarian 《五曹算經》 The Five Branches of Mathematical Treatise 五行 The Five Elements 《山西陝西奏繳書目》 The Forbidden Books Submitted from Shanxi and Shaanxi Provinces 《唐闕史》 The Fragmentary History of Tang 《元河南志》 The Gazette of Henan of Yuan Dynasty 《嘉定維揚志》 The Gazette of Jiading and Weiyang 《韶州府志》 The Gazette of Shaozhou Prefecture

140

Glossary

The Gazette of the Nanchang Prefecture The Gazette of the Nine States The Gazette of the United Great Qing The Gazette of the Yinchun County The Gazette of Wuxing of the Era of Jiatai The Gazette of Zhenjiang The General Annotation of the Book of Changes The General Gazette of Mukden The Grass of the Mountain and Pavilion The heavenly one generates water, and it was made possible with the earthy six The Historical Accounts of the Five Peripheries The Histories of Liao and Jin Dynasty The Histories of Song, Liao and Jin Dynasty The History of Ming The History of Pain The History of the Ancient Period The History of Yuan Dynasty The Imperial Poetry The Index of the Forbidden Books The Inquiry of Archaeology The Inscriptions of the Song Dynasty The Institutional History of the Song Dynasty The Island Mathematical Treatise The Lecture Notes of Songyang The Legend of Xifengchun The Little Biography of Li He The Little Exegeses of the Book of Changes of the Duke of Zhou The Lotus Compilation The Mind of Composition and the Decoration of the Words The Ming Mirror The Narrative of Fujian Province The New Account The New Explanation of the Officials of Zhou The New Note of the Book of Changes of the Duke of Zhou The Observation on Classics

《南昌府志》 《九國志》 《大清一統志》 《宜春縣誌》 《嘉泰吳興志》 《鎮江志》 《易經通注》 《盛京通志》 《岫亭草》 天一生水, 地六成之 《五邊典則》 《遼金史》 《宋遼金史》 《明史》 《痛史》 《尚史》 《元史》 《乾隆御制詩》 《索引式的禁書總錄》 《考古質疑》 《宋稗類鈔》 《宋會要》 《海島算經》 《松陽講義》 《喜逢春傳奇》 《李賀小傳》 《周易稗疏》 《蘧編》 《文心雕龍》 《明鑒》 《閩小記》 《新簿》 《周官新義》 《周易新講義》 《經觀》

141

Glossary

《史觀》 The Observation on History 《江寧官本違礙書籍目錄》 The Official Catalog of Forbidden Books of the Jiangning Prefecture The Official Strategy of the Suppression of the Zungar 《平定準噶爾方略正編》 The Pattern of the Plates of Accumulating Treasures of 《武英殿聚珍版程式》 the Hall of Wuying 《史料旬刊》 The Perodical of Historical Sources 《元和郡縣圖志》 The Pictorial Gazette of Prefectures and Counties of the Reign of Yuanhe 《一柱樓詩》 The Poem from the One Pillar Edifice 〈詩品〉 The Poetic Comments 《六一詩話》 The Poetic Comments of Ouyang Xiu 《介圃詩》 The Poetry of Jiefu 《碧落後人詩集》 The Poetry of the Descendant of the Heaven 《濤浣亭詩集》 The Poetry of the Pavilion of Wave 《雲棲詩集》 The Poetry of the Seclusion 《愛竹軒詩集》 The Poetry of the Study Room of Aizhu 《千山詩集》 The Poetry of Thousand Mountains 《憶鳴詩集》 The Poetry of Yiming 《高子遺書》 The Posthumous Work of Master Gao 《倪文正遺稿》 The Posthumous Work of Ni Wenzheng 《明季史料題跋》 The Preface and Postscript of the Historical Sources of the Ming Dynasty 《冊府元龜》 The Prime Tortoise of the Record Bureau 《清代禁書知見錄》 The Record of Comprehending the Forbidden Books of the Qing Dynasty 《奉天錄》 The Record of Fengtian 《識小錄》 The Record of Limited Knowledge 《秘書監志》 The Record of the Imperial Board of Library 《行朝錄》 The Record of Tribute 《聖諱實錄》 The Records of the Imperial Names 《蒼霞餘草》 The Remain of the Highness 《詩考》 The Research on the Book of Poetry 《河圖》 The River Chart 《續三字經》 The Sequel of the Classic of the Three Characters 《蒼霞續草》 The Sequel of the Highness 《續明紀編年》 The Sequel of the Ming Annals 《通鑒綱目續編》 The Sequel of the Outline for the Comprehensive Mirror

142

Glossary

《謏聞續筆》 The Sequel of the Unheard 《書影》 The Shadow of Book 《諸史同異錄》 The Similarities and Differences of the Historical Accounts 《周禮注疏刪翼》 The Simplification of the Annotations and Exegeses of the Book of Rituals by the Duke of Zhou 《介壽辭》 The Speeches of Celebration 《奇冤錄》 The Strange Grievance 《綏寇紀略》 The Strategies of Appeasing the Japanese Pirates 《字貫》 The String of Words 《武備要略》 The Summary of Military Defense 《四庫提要》 The Summary of the Four Branches of Literature 《太平廣記》 The Taiping Extensive Records 《太平御覽》 The Taiping Imperial Encyclopedia 《春秋例要》 The Template of the Spring and Autumn Annals 《江左三家詩》 The Three Poetry Schools of the Lower Yangtze 《嶺南三家詩》 The Three Poetry Schools of the Ningnan 《三墳》 The Tombs of the Three Kings 《乾坤寶典》 The Treasury of Heaven and Earth 《太平寰宇記》 The Universal Geographical Records of the Reign of Taiping 《佩文韻府》 The Valuable Dictionary of Words and Rhymes 《周易集解》 The Variorum of the Book of Changes 《南唐書合訂》 The Volume Sets of the History of Southern Tang Regime 《永樂大典》 The Yongle Encyclopedia Topically Arranged Histories of the Three Feudatories 《三藩紀事本末》 《河源紀略》 Treatises of Rivers 《清高宗實錄》 Veritable Records of Qing Gaozhong 《詞藻》 Vocabularies 《夏侯陽算經》 Xiahou Yang Mathematical Treatise 《諭家言》 Yujiayan

143

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150

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Tao, Xiang, ed. Collection of Books in the Palace 故宮殿本書庫現存目. Beiping: National Palace Museum, 1933. ———. Twelve Titles of Books 書籍十二種. Wujin: Tao, 1936. Wang, Bi. Research on the Bibliography 目錄學研究. Shanghai: Commercial Press, 1955. Wang, Chongmin. Collected Papers on the History of Chinese Bibliography 中國 目錄學史論叢. Beijing: Zhonghua Press, 1984. Wang, Taiyue, ed. Textual Analysis of the Four Branches of Literature 四庫全書 考證. Beiping: Commercial Press, 1941. Wang, Xinfu. Note on the Study of Texts and Documents 文獻學講義. Shanghai: Shanghai Guji Press, 1986. ———. Extract on the Continue on the Compilation of the Complete Library of the Four Branches of Literature 續修四庫全書提要. Taipei: Commercial Press, 1972. Wei, Yinyu, and Wang Jinyu. On the Inquiry of the Classics 古籍版本鑒定叢談. Beijing: Yinshua Industry Press, 1984. Wei, Yinyu. The History of Publication of Classics in China 中國古籍印刷史. Beijing: Yinshua Industry Press, 1984. Wu, Feng. The Study of Chinese Classics 中國古典文獻學. Jinan: Qilu Press, 1982. Wu, Han. A Brief History of the Book Collectors of Jiangsu and Zhejiang 江浙藏 書家考略. Beijing: Zhonghua Press, 1981. Wu, Huizu, ed. Books Adopted in the Four Branches 四庫採進書目. Beijing: Commercial Press, 1960. Wu, Zhefu. A Study of the Forbidden Books of Qing Dynasty 清代禁毀書目研究. Taipei: Cultural Foundation of the Chia Hsin Cement Group, 1969. ———. An Exegesis on the Compilation of the Concise Complete Library of the Four Branches of Literature 四庫全書薈要纂修考. Taipei: National Palace Museum, 1976. Xiao, Yishan. A General History of the Qing Period 清代通史. Beijing: Zhonghua Press, 1986. Xu, Zhaoxun. Bibliography 目錄學. Hefei: Anhui Education Press, 1985. Xu, Zongze. Extract of the Translated Works of the Jesuits during the Transitional Period of the Ming and Qing Dynasties 明清間耶穌會士譯著提 要. Beijing: Zhonghua Press, 1949. Yang, Jialuo. A Comprehensive Account of the Complete Library of the Four Branches of Literature 四庫全書學典. Shanghai: World Press, 1946. ———. Dictionary of Collectanea 叢書大辭典. Nanjing: Editorial Office of the Chinese Dictionary, 1936. ———. Dictionary of the Four Branches of Literature 四庫大辭典. Nanjing: Editorial Office of the Chinese Dictionary, 1932. 151

References

Yang, Licheng, and Jin Baoying. An Exegesis of the Chinese Book Collectors 中 國藏書家考略. Taipei: Wenhai Press, 1971.

Yao, Jinyuan, ed. The Record of Comprehending the Forbidden Books of the

Qing Dynasty 清代禁書知見錄. Beijing: Commercial Press, 1957. Yao, Minda. The History of Chinese Bibliography 中國目錄學史. Shanghai: Commercial Press, 1957. Ye, Changci. Poems of Collection of Book and Events. 藏書紀事詩. Shanghai: Classical Literature Press, 1958. Ye, Dehui. Discussion on the Forest of Book 書林清話. Beijing: Zhonghua Press, 1987. Ye, Qixun. “An Exegesis on the Version of the Catalog of the Complete Library

of the Four Branches of Literature 四庫全書目錄版本考.” Quarterly of Library Science 圖書館學季刊 7-10 (1933). Yu, Jiaxi. Discussion on the Extract of the Complete Library of the Four Branches

of Literature 四庫提要辨證. Beijing: Zhonghua Press, 1980. ———. Exploration on the Bibliography 目錄學發微. Beijing: Zhonghua Press, 1963. Zhang, Chenshi. Discussion on the Yongle Encyclopedia 永樂大典史話. Beijing: Zhonghua Press, 1986. Zhang, Shunhui, comp. A Compilation on the Works of Textual and

Documentary Study 文獻學論著輯要. Xi’an: Shaanxi Renmin Press, 1985. ———. The Study of Chinese Texts and Documents 中國文獻學. Zhengzhou: Zhongzhou Press, 1982. Zhang, Taiyan. The Book of Persecution 訄書. Shanghai: Classical Literature Press, 1958. Zhao, Luchou. “Suppressed Books during the reign of Qianlong.” Bulletin of the

Beiping Library 圖書館月刊 7, no. 5 (1933). Zheng, Hesheng, and Zheng Hechun. An Outline of the Study of Chinese Texts

and Documents in China 中國文獻學概要. Shanghai: Shanghai Press, 1983. Zhou, Yutong. Collection of Works on the History of Classical Study of Zhou

Yutong 周予同經學史論著選集 . Edited by Zhu Weizheng. Shanghai: Shanghai Renmin Press, 1983.

152

13 Classics 7, 71, 82 21 Histories 7, 71, 82 Academic Officer 30, 37-8, 111 advanced degree 33, 63-8, 70, 73, 79 Aid of Filial Piety 53 Analects 110 Anglo-French Coalitions 86 An Exegesis of the Compilation of the Four Branches of Literature 49 Anhui 18, 22, 24, 30, 36, 46, 48, 50 Anhui group 5 Anhui Province 19, 37, 40, 47 Approaching Elegance 66 Assistant Academic 64 Assistant Department Magistrate 80 Assistant Editor 60, 62, 84 Assistant General Editor 62 Assistant Grand Secretary 65 Assistant Magistrate 80 Assistant President 115 Assistant Secretary 63-4 Assistant Supervisor 67, 71 Bao Shigong 21, 98 Bao Zhizhong 60 Baoning 33 Bashi 61 Bi Yuan 117 binding butterfly 92 side-sewing 92 wrapped-ridge 92 Board of Civil Office 64, 79 Music 108 Public Work 64 Punishments 64-5 Revenue 63-4 Rites 64, 68, 115

War 63-4 Water Conservancy 24 Book of Changes 5, 14, 56, 69, 73, 110 Changes of Zixia 73 History 5, 105, 110 Persecution 32-3 Poetry 14, 56 Rituals 68-9, 71, 115 Rituals of Dai De 66 Bu Weiji 61 Cai Gongwu 60 Cai Tingheng 60 Cai Tingju 22 Cai Xin 22, 58 Cai Zhen 61 Calligraphic Editor 61-2 Cang Shengmai 60 Cao Cheng 59 Cao Rong 10 Cao Wenzhi 58 Cao Xibao 59 Cao Xiuxian 21, 58, 68 Cao Xuequan 10 Catalogs Chong Wen 9 forbidden books 48-9 Four Branches 65, 67 provincial 48, 51 Chai Mo 61 Changes According to Han Tradition 14 checkers 67, 81-2, 86, 104, 108, 111, 11416 Chen Huizu 38, 50 Chen Naiqian 49, 51 Chen Yuan 83 Cheng brothers 4, 6 Cheng Jinfang 21, 59, 67, 74 Cheng Jingyi 22, 58

155

Index

Chief Compiler 58-9, 64-5, 112, 115 Chief Organizer 59, 67-8 Chief Reviewers 58-9, 86 Chongwen Library 9, 90 Chuanshi Building 19 Collection of Gongshi 66, 110 Collection of the Ancient and Current Books 7, 10, 16, 23, 92-4 Commandery Prince Zhi 84-5 Commentary According to the Evidence on the Book of History in the Ancient Text 5, 106 Comprehensive Mirror 7, 35, 41-2, 45, 71, 110, 116 Sequel 35, 41-2, 45-6, 71 Confucian Collection 7, 10-11, 66 Confucianism 4, 8, 17, 67, 75 Confucians 5, 11 copyists 78-83, 85-6, 92, 101, 112, 114 Council of Princes and Ministers 2 cultural policy 3, 6-7, 53 Da Mingshi 105 Da Zhen 5, 22, 66, 68, 70, 73 Daoist classics 15, 75 Deng Shi 49 Department of Compilation 58-9, 70, 72 Directory Records of Art and Literature 9 Duplicates of the Northern Hall 9 Eastern Library 90, 94 Edict of Book Collection 15, 17 Editorial Department 58, 60-2, 70, 72 Editorial Office 10, 13, 15-17, 21-3, 25, 401, 45-8, 57-9, 61-73, 78-82, 84-5, 93, 97100, 108-9, 111-12 Editorial Superintendent 61-2 Eight Banners 2 Elute Junggar 3 Emperor Kangxi 3, 10, 35, 45, 52, 100, 114 Emperor Qianlong 2-3, 5-6, 16-17, 22, 24, 28-9, 33-4, 36, 47, 52-3, 64, 78, 90-1, 99100, 107-8 Emperor Shunzhi 52, 104

156

Emperor Yongle 9, 15, 114 Emperor Yongzheng 2-3, 10, 30, 52-3, 100 Empirical Studies 3, 5-6 Fan Chengmo 115 Fan Maozhu 21, 98 Fengtian Provinces 33, 93 First Historical Archive of China 21, 24, 110 Fist Emperor of Qin 10, 75 Five Branches Mathematical Treatise 66, 70 Forbidden Books 27, 29, 31, 33, 35, 37, 39, 41, 43, 45, 47-9, 51-3, 55, 107 lists of 39, 47, 50 literary inquisition of 28-9, 33 titles of 34, 48 Forbidden City 91, 93, 99, 114 Fujian 24-5, 29-30, 46, 50 Gao Jin 19, 30 General Editor 60, 62 General Gazette of Mukden 34, 93 General of Mukden 93, 111 General Officers 58, 60-1, 65, 68 General Reviewer 62 Grand Academician 47-8 Grand Council 2, 16, 43, 46, 48, 51, 86 Grand Councilors 16, 18, 33, 43, 45-7, 50, 69, 105, 109, 114-15 Grand Secretariat 2, 65 Gu Yanwu 4-5, 33 Guangxi 18, 25, 30, 40, 46, 48, 50 Gui Fu 10 Guizhou 18, 25, 46, 50 Guo Bogong 49, 51, 83, 87 Guo Changfa 59, 68 Gurkha invasion of Tibet 3 Hai Cheng 34, 39, 98 Hall of Baoshan 72, 74 Hall of Wuying 16, 48, 58, 62, 64-5, 71, 81, 95, 99-101, 114-16 Coordinators 59, 61, 85, 116

Index

Hangzhou 19, 90, 94 Hanke 33-4, 53 Hanlin Academics 16-17, 19-20, 97-9 Academy 16, 21, 58, 62-5, 67, 69-70, 72, 86, 96, 98, 100-1 Coordinator 59, 61 duplicate 96, 101 Hans 2, 6, 10, 14, 85, 90 Henan 22, 24, 46, 48, 50, 71, 98 Hezhuo 3, 71 Histories of Liao and Jin Dynasty 45, 108 History of Ming Dynasty 10 exegeses 105 History of Southern Tang Regime 104, 106-7 History of Yuan Dynasty 45 Hu Wei 5 Huang Dengxian 21, 23 Huang Jihua 21 Huang Shouling 59, 99 Huang Yinglin 14 Huang Yuji 10 Huang Zongxi 33 Huangshi House 15, 90 Hubei 18, 24, 40, 46, 49-50 Hui Dong 5, 14 Imperial Board of Astronomy 108 Imperial Board of Library Pictorial Manual 110 Imperial College 86 Imperial Medical Department 108 Imperial Reviewed Report 48-9 Island Mathematical Treatise 66 Ji Mengxiong 62, 109 Ji Yun 21, 23, 59, 64, 104, 106, 109, 112-15 Jiangning Branch 24, 39, 49 Jiangsu 25, 29, 36, 45-6, 48, 50 Jiangxi 22, 24-5, 29-30, 40, 46, 48-50 Jin Bang 60, 68 Jin Bao 33-4, 41-2 Jin Jian 58, 64

Jixian Library 90 Kublai Khan 9 Legend of Xifengchun 34 Li Fu 15 Li Kai 106 Li Qing 104, 106 Li Shirao 30 Li Shouqian 21, 23, 59 Li Youtang 22, 62-3 Library of Tianlai 19-20 literary inquisition 29-32, 34-5, 37-40, 427, 49-52, 75-6, 104-6 edict of 29, 36 literary persecution 6-7, 27, 29, 31, 33, 35, 37, 39, 41, 43, 45, 47, 49, 51-3, 55 Liu Tongxun 21, 58 Liu Yin 10 Lower Yangtze 5-6, 10, 18-20, 22, 34, 36, 42-4, 46-7, 65-7, 74, 84, 94-6, 105, 116 Lu Ershan 65 Lu Feichi 22, 59, 63, 65, 93, 95, 99, 104, 112, 116 Lu Jian 83, 87 Lu Jiuyuan 4, 110 Lu Xixiong 22, 59, 65, 104, 111-2, 115 Luo Writing 5 Luo Yougao 10 Ma Yu 20-1, 96, 98 Manchu 2, 6-7, 10, 29-31, 34, 41-2, 51-2, 64, 90-1 Mongols 9, 41-2 Mukden 33, 65, 78, 91, 93, 111, 113, 115 Nalan Xinde 11 Nanming 2, 31, 41 National Palace Museum 24 Neo-Confucianism 4-7, 16 Ni Chengkuan 22, 59 Ni Yuanlu 32, 41 Ningbo 19

157

Index

One-Pillar Edifice 44, 53 Palace Museum 107 Pavilion of Baoshu 19-20, 105 Pei Zongxi 23, 38 Peng Shaoguan 22, 59 Peng Yuanchong 59 Peng Yuanrui 58, 68 Pictorial Editor 61-2 Plates of Accumulating Treasures 64 Presidents 16, 21, 40-1, 43, 45, 58, 62-4, 67, 70, 72, 78-81, 83, 85-6, 92-3, 97-100 Prime Tortoise of the Record Bureau 9 provincial submission 16, 40, 59, 62, 67, 72, 97 Qian Qianyi 10, 34, 41-2, 105 Qin Dynasty 8, 73, 75 Qu Dajun 30, 34, 41-2, 53, 105 Quan Zuwang 15 Rehe 84, 91, 109, 115 Ren Dachun 22, 59, 68, 74 Ren Songru 83, 87, 101 Salt Commissioner of Lianghuai 20, 98, 117 School of Empirical Studies 3, 5-6 Textual Analysis 3-4, 7, 73 Senior Grand Secretary 32 Shaanxi 24, 40, 46, 48, 50, 98 Shandong 24, 28, 46, 50, 97 Shanghai Commercial Press 49 Shanxi 18, 24, 46, 50 Shao Jinhan 22, 67, 70 Sichuan 25, 46, 50 Sinologue 4, 9 Sinology 4-5, 7 Six Willows Hall 33, 38, 53 Society of National Glory 52 South Study 2, 115 String of Words 31, 39, 44, 53, 63 Summer Palace 69, 78, 84, 86, 91, 113

158

Summer Villa 109, 113 Sun Dianqi 49, 52 Sun Shiyi 59, 104 Superintendent of Publication 58, 61-2, 85 Supervisorate of Imperial Instruction 67, 71 Suzhou 5, 19-20, 39, 50 Branch 24, 36, 39 Group 5-6 Taiping Extensive Records 9 Taiping Imperial Encyclopedia 9 Taiping Uprising 86 The Four Branches of Literature 9-11, 167, 25, 58, 63, 67, 69, 74-5, 78, 80-1, 84, 90, 96, 104, 117 abstracts 68, 72, 74, 107 catalog 65, 67, 107 concise 64, 81 concise catalog 65 Textual Analysis of 74 Three Feudatories 2, 42 Tianyi Library 19-20, 90-1, 94 Tibet 3 Treaty of Kiakhta 3 Nibuzhu 3 Valuable Dictionary of Words and Rhymes 15, 23 Wang Chang 22, 60, 117 Wang Chongmin 83, 105, 107 Wang Jiazeng 59-60 Wang Jihua 58, 63 Wang Niansun 61, 68 Wang Qishu 24-5, 96 Wang Rujia 22, 60 Wang Ruzao 21, 59 Wang Taiyue 59, 68 Wang Xihou 31, 39 Wang Yangming 4 Warring-States Period 8, 73 Wei Qianheng 22, 43

Index

Weng Fanggang 22, 67, 72, 74, 111 Wenhui Library 84, 86-7, 94 Wenjin collection 113 duplicate 110, 116 Library 78, 83-4, 91-3, 108-9, 112-13, 115 Wenlan Library 84, 94 Wensu duplicate 109, 116 Library 65, 78, 83-4, 91-3, 109, 111, 115 Wenyuan Collection 84, 86, 104, 113-4, duplicate 92-3, 111-2, 115-6, Library 15, 67, 78, 83-4, 86, 90-3, 104, 106, 108, 111-16 Wenzong 93 Library 84, 86-7, 93-4 Wu Dian 22, 59 Wu Yude 59, 104 Wu Zhefu 49, 51

Zhang Xinian 22, 59 Zhang Xuecheng 25, 66 Zhang Yin 83, 87 Zhejiang 20, 25, 29, 40, 46, 48, 50, 90 Branch 97 Zhili 18, 24, 46, 50 Zhou Yongnian 10, 22, 59, 66, 70, 99 Zhou Zaijun 10 Zhu Delin 22, 59 Zhu Gui 59, 68 Zhu Xi 4, 6 Zhu Yun 16, 18, 21, 59, 68 Zungar 71, 115

Xie Yong 59, 68, 117 Xu Qianxue 15 Yan Ruoqu 5, 106 Yan Zhu 90, 98 Yangzhou 19-20, 39, 96 Yao Nai 59, 68, 74 Ying Lian 22, 40, 47, 58 Yongle Encyclopedia 9, 14-18, 58-9, 62-3, 66-70, 74-5, 99, 109 Yongrong 58, 84, 86, 99 Yu Ji 59, 68 Yu Minzhong 21, 58, 63, 65 Yu Xiaoke 14 Yunnan 18, 24, 46, 50 Zeng Yu 60, 68 Zha Shenxing 15 Zhang Boxing 11 Zhang Ruogui 21, 62-3 Zhang Taiyan 32-3

159

187mm

The Compilation of The Complete Library in The Four Branches of Literature Volume 1 This series provides an overview of the comprehensive research on the unprecedented compilation process of The Four Branches of Literature with a considerable amount of historical documents. The Compilation of the Complete Library in the Four Branches of Literature, Volume 1 begins with the political, socioeconomical, and academic development that fuelled the two decades of compilation. This book examines the collection, transcription, revision, storage, and review of the Four Branches. It introduces the organization of the Editorial Office, the architecture and operation of the imperial libraries. It discusses the impact of literary inquisition and persecution on the compilation process.

Huang Aiping holds a Ph.D. in History from the Qing Dynasty History Research Institute at the Renmin University of China. Currently, she is a Professor and Doctoral Supervisor at the Institute of Qing Dynasty History, School of History, the Renmin University of China. She also serves as a member of the Historical Subject Team of the 15th Planning of Philosophy and Social Science Committee of Beijing. Dr. Huang has published 10 books and over 100 articles. Her representative works include research on the Compilation of the Complete Library in the Four Branches of Literature, Academia and Culture of the Qing Dynasty (co-authored), China and the World in the 18th century: Ideas and Culture, A History of Academia and Culture of Qing Dynasty (co-authored), and Textology and Qing Dynasty Society.

The Compilation of The Complete Library in The Four Branches of Literature Volume 1

Illustrates the Compilation of Chinese Classics

260mm

187mm

14.5mm

The Compilation of The Complete Library in The Four Branches of Literature Volume 1

Huang Aiping

Chinese Historical Studies

Huang Aiping