The Power Of The Text

This paper discussed the relevant historical facts about the diffusion and acceptance of Shiji and Hanshu in the Joseon Dynasty and the power of historical texts in the aspect of“fact,writing and meaning”by means ofthe theory of overall study of Chinese culture,communication textual studiesand historical materials such as the Records and Collected Works ofJoseon Dynasty.Shiji and Hanshu began to spread to the Korean Peninsula sinceWei and Jin Dynasties.Official gifts formed the main mode of diffusion and non-governmental exchanges alsoexisted as a supplement.The diffusion of these two books in Korea were restricted due to the concept of“History Should not be Held by the Princes”(????????).Nevertheless,Shiji and Hanshu were still supported and published by governments of the Goryeo and Joseon Dynasties,serving as the historical texts for reading and referring.The engraving printed Shiji and Hanshubased on Song edition appeared in GoryeoDynasty,while Gengzi,Jiayin and Xianzong Records were the representatives of movable-type printed ones in the Joseon Dynasty.The Peng Yinweng's edition of Shiji and 9th Year of Dade(1305)edition of Hanshu were copyed by the Gengzi(???)and Jiayin(???)respectively,and Xianzong Records(?????)took ShijiPinglin(????)and HanshuPinglin(????)in Ming Dynasty as the basis.The comments on the column of Shi Han Pinglin were deleted by the rulers and ministers of Joseon Dynasty as a result of“Just Literary Works”judgment.Therefore,Shiji and Hanshu gradually became a“localized”historical text in the process of being accepted in the Korean Peninsula.Among all the editions of Shiji and Hanshu recorded in the bibliographies of Joseon Dynasty,the Joseon editions were in majorityand the Chinese editions were in small numbers.The various manifestations of accepting Shiji and Hanshu in the Joseon Dynasty had a close relationship with the Chen,gzhu Neo-Confucianism and the atmosphereof ancient prose at that time.Shiji and Hanshu were read and explained on the Palace-Lecture(??)together with Confucian and Chengzhu Neo-Confucianism Classics,Tongjian and Gangmu not only for taking history as a mirror,but also forclarifying the value judgment of Confucianismand theinterpretation between Confucianism Classics and Historic Texts.The History ofThree Kingdomsin the Goryeo Dynasty and History of Goryeoin theJoseon Dynasty were affected by the biographical-style official history(?????)such as Shiji in the aspects of writing their own official history,declaring the orthodoxand reflecting consciousness about nation and nationality.Since the articles ofShiji and Hanshu were considered as“Good Narration”(????)by the Joseon scholars,they anthologized for regular reading and children's literature education,aiming tounderstand the articles and the value judgments of Confucianism behind it at the same time.Even though Shiji and Hanshu were regarded as“Beautiful Articles”(????),they were also texts of historical facts.Their contents were often quoted in the imperial examinations and political life for learning the governing experience of the Han Dynasty in the Joseon Dynasty.The massive emergences of anthologies of Shiji and Hanshu in the bibliographies was associated withthe lack of books and the common phenomenon of transcription in the Joseon Dynasty.It was also affected by the atmosphere of ancient prose since the middle&later Goryeo Dynastyand the“Qin-Han School”(???)writers and their works in Ming Dynasty directly.The anthologies of Shiji and Hanshu provided models of ancient prose writing for the Joseon scholars and became essential books in their daily life.The Joseon scholars put forward the view of“Literary Should Base on the Value Judgment of Confucianism”throughtheir comments on the style and level of different anthologies.The massive emergences of anthologies of Shiji and Hanshu in the bibliographies was related to the lack of books,the common phenomenon of transcription,and directly influenced by the atmosphere of classical literary,the praises of governance in the Han Dynasty and the historical story of Shiji and Hanshu.The Chinese classical anthologies such as Guwenzhenbao(????)and Wenzhangzhengzong(????)and the“Qin-Han School”writers and their works in Ming Dynasty became the sources of ideas and texts for these anthologies.These books provided models of ancient prose writing for the Joseon scholars and became essential books in their daily life.The Joseon scholars put forward the view of“Literary Should Base on the Value Judgment of Confucianism”through their comments on the style and level of different anthologies.Therefore,these books were not the existence form of Shiji and Hanshu,and only as one of the important performance for the acceptance of Shiji and Hanshu in Joseon Dynasty.The Joseon scholars commented on literary and historical essays while accepting the articles of the Shiji and Hanshu,but they seldom paid attention to the historical and textual researches.On one hand,the narrationof Shiji and Hanshu wasapproved by the scholars of Joseon Dynasty who considered that Hanshuwas inferior toShiji.On the other hand,some styles and principles were criticized by them for not meeting the requirements of the value judgment of Confucianism.The Joseon scholars' historical essays about Shiji and Hanshu presented the characteristics of “Neo-Confucianization” under the influence of Chengzhu Neo-Confucianism and the historical essays of Song Scholars.As a way of expressing the Confucian historical view and philosophical thinking,the works of Joseon scholars placed emphasis on highlighting the “universality” of the Confucianism through discussing the “particularity” of historical facts and did not have much to do with the study of history.In spite of some errors of the texts were revised by the Joseon scholars,their dispersed achievements mainly relied onsimply inferences rather than textual research.In the view of the comments on the column of Ping Lin were deletedas well as the original text were copied in the anthology of Shiji and Hanshu,the Joseon scholars paid more attention to the “original text”.They read the original text in order to understand the punctuation of the sentences,the pronunciation,meaning and annotation of the words.As for the cases of Hwang Yun-sok's the Interpretation to Temperament and Calendar of Hanshu and Jung Yak Yong's Comment on the Bibliographical Treatise of Hanshu,these books were just for the studies of “Calendar of Three Systerms” and Zhouyirespectively.Although somehow referred to the text revision,theydid not belong to historical study.To our reseatch,these achievements had certain reference values for us to read Shiji and Hanshu and study the history of Pre-Qin and Qin&Han dynasties.Our evaluation for the diffusion and acceptance of these two books in the Joseon Dynasty still need to have more specific analysis.We should also have a accurate understanding that Shiji and Hanshu had not been given enough attention from the perspective ofhistory during that period.The diffusion and acceptance of Shiji and Hanshu were closely related to the changes of history,culture,ideology and literature in the Joseon Dynasty.These two books influenced the Orthodox Literature and History of Confucianism together with other classics by showing their universalities and individualities as historical texts.Sometimes they were treated more as historical texts with values of narration and articles than Chinese biographical-style history,which was its basic attribute.This had shown a unique power.Maybe that's why modern scholars had not paid enough attention to Shiji and Hanshu in the Joseon Dynasty.In addition,Japan has the most editions and researches of Shiji and Hanshu from the scope of cultural circle of Chinese,which also suggest different reflections of the same text in different social conditions.This may provide new materials and perspective for the study of the modernization of east Asian countries.