The underrated "Historical Records" of Shu and its authors
Read "A Corner of the World: Chang Xuan, the Originator of Fang Zhi".
Lin catches up with autumn. Under the background of "telling Chinese stories well", a series of books have been launched in various places to promote "local culture", such as Zhejiang's "Hangzhou Excellent Traditional Culture Series", Sichuan's "Sichuan Historical Celebrity Series" and so on, all of which have had a great impact. Especially the latter, there are not only serious "research series", but also lively literary "biography series" and reasonable fictional "** series" to meet the needs of readers at different levels. Recently released "A Corner of the World: Chang Xuan, the Originator of Fang Zhi" (first edition of Sichuan Literature and Art Publishing House in August 2023), is one of the nineteen books of the "Sichuan Historical Celebrity Series", written by Yang Hu, a writer from Chang Xuan's hometown and Chongzhou City, Chengdu.
The "Sichuan Historical Celebrity Cultural Inheritance and Innovation Project" was launched in 2017, and the first batch of ten historical celebrities was launched, and the second batch of ten historical and cultural celebrities was selected in 2020. Among these twenty people, there are the famous poet Du Fu, the empress Wu Zetian, the writer Su Dongpo, etc., relatively speaking, although Chang Xuan is known as the "originator of Fang Zhi", he is the most underestimated figure by the public. The reason for this is probably related to his masterpiece "Huayang National Chronicles". "Huayang National Chronicles" is the earliest and most complete local chronicle in China, the ancient catalogue books either include it in the category of "pseudo-history", or classified into "other history" or "miscellaneous history", pseudo, other, miscellaneous is not a good word, plus it is written in the history and geography of the three provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan, these regions belong to the "Southwest Yi" in the eyes of the Central Plains people at that time, all of them are foreign places, resulting in it being marginalized, and its author is naturally subject to long-term neglect.
Sima Qian's "Historical Records" mentioned that Li Bing "crossed the Erjiang River in Chengdu", and then wrote: "This canal can be used for boats, and the surplus is used for irrigation, and the people can enjoy it." As for what has passed, it is often used to irrigate the fields with its water, which is worth trillions, but there are not enough to count. This passage is changed to Chang Xuan's "Huayang National Chronicles", and it becomes like this: "Crossing the Pijiang River and inspecting the river, don't cross the county with other tributaries, and take the boat; Minshan has many catalpa, cypress, big bamboo, decadence with the flow of water, sitting on timber wood, saving money; He also irrigated three counties and opened rice fields. As a result, Shu Woye is thousands of miles, and the number is 'land and sea'. Drought leads to water infiltration, and rain kills the water gate. Therefore, it is remembered that water and drought come from people, do not know famine, there is no famine year, and the world is called 'heaven'. The words are overflowing with a kind of geographical advantage and rural pride, and the writing is more beautiful and rich than that of Taishi Gong.
Ouyang Xiu said: "There is no article in Jin, only Tao Yuanming's "Return to the Future" article. This is unfair. Not to mention Wang Xizhi's "Lanting Collection Preface", some passages of "Huayang Guozhi", which was completed at the same time as "Lanting Collection Preface", are exquisite and beautiful. As described in "A Corner of the World: Chang Xuan, the Originator of Fang Zhi": "In the brilliant sentences, Chang Xuan regarded the Central Plains as a wild place of history" from the emperor and Dayu, "He praised Shu as the 'country of abundance' and admired the many talented people in Shu since ancient times" and "his heart is full of pride and confidence in Bashu culture".
Based on the above-mentioned reasons, Chang Xuan's birth and death years are unknown, and there are very few records of his life and deeds in history. It is only known that he entered the Eastern Jin Dynasty from the Cheng Han regime, but he was never reused, or even squeezed out by the scholars of the Central Plains and Jiangzuo, and then he wrote "Huayang National Chronicles" angrily, praising the Bashu culture and dismissing the full of complaints by the way. And Yang Hu's "A Corner of the World: Chang Xuan, the Originator of Fang Zhi", made the vague Chang Xuan in the past appear in the treacherous atmosphere of the Eight Kings Rebellion in the last years of the Western Jin Dynasty with the image of a teenager with "a body of kudzu clothes and two sword eyebrows", which immediately captured the curiosity of readers: what kind of twists and turns and blows will this fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy who "flashes a little melancholy" in his eyes go through, so that he can finally grow into a generation of "Shu History" (the clerk in charge of the work) and write "Huayang Guozhi", which can be called "Shudi's "Historical Records" What about the magnificence of the magnum opus?
In the turbulent history, Chang Xuan, as a young scholar and scholar, has found his own way to settle down after traveling through thousands of mountains and rivers and going through countless hardships. "A Corner of the World: Chang Xuan, the Originator of Fang Zhi" artistically reconstructs his life process, which makes us sigh after thousands of years.
About the Author
Lin Qianqiu, born in 1978, is a native of Dujiangyan, Sichuan. He is a member of the Sichuan Writers Association, a member of the Prose Committee of the Chengdu Writers Association, a contracted writer of the Chengdu Academy of Literature, and the deputy secretary-general of the Dujiangyan Writers Association. He has published monographs such as "Those Animals in the Book of Poetry", "Seven Days of Chinese Studies", "Peerless Beauty-Women's Sketch Appreciation", "Chengdu in Ancient Books", "Treasures of Historical Sites", "Su Rensi of the Qing Gao Relic Temple", "Sanxingdui: The Birthplace of Mythology", and the anthology "The Lonely Journey of the End of the World-Lin Qianqiu's Anthology", etc., punctuation and review of "Qiongwang Yelu", "Translation of the Book of Poetry" and other ancient and modern books. His works have been selected for "University Language", "Reading Action Guide for Middle School Students" and "Chinese Image Chronicles", which have been collected in the Berlin State Library in Germany, and have won the Excellent Book Award of the National City Publishing House and the Sichuan Newspaper Supplement Award. He has been writing articles for "Chengdu Evening News" and "Tonight News" for a long time. Participated in the design and approval of cultural and museum projects such as "Li Bing Memorial Hall".
*: Huaxi *** 15th edition on December 8, 2023.
Author: Lin Qianqiu.
Pictured: Fang Zhi Sichuan.