A Study On Scholars’ Notes In The Qing Dynasty

When it comes to the achievement of notes in China,the Qing Dynasty is universally acknowledged as a great period in its history,which witnesses the emergence of the large number of notes creation,the multiple strata of writers,the plentitude of dissemination means,and the abundance of audience.The writing and dissemination of notes in the Qing Dynasty are prosperous as far as such dissemination elements as writers,media and audience are concerned.From the perspective of above characteristics,this dissertation explores the notes in the Qing Dynasty by means of global scanning and case study.The introduction of the dissertation analyzes and defines the concept of notes,and then combs the major achievement and viewpoints of the academic research on notes,especially those in the Qing Dynasty,which is stunningly fruitful.Due to the fact that the evolution of the concept of notes and relevant academic contentions have been fully sorted out in a number of master’s and doctoral theses,this part gives a very brief summary about them.The predecessors,such as Liu Yeqiu,Xie Guozhen and many more,are so productive that they lay the foundation for the Qing Dynasty notes study,which has been discussed in many treatises in recent years,and therefore in this section,only the closely related part is comprehensively reviewed.This dissertation falls into two volumes,namely,the overall scanning of the literati notes in the Qing Dynasty,and the case study of representative writers in different periods.Column one consists of the first three chapters.The first chapter analyzes the writers of literati notes in the Qing Dynasty.From the perspective of literature transmission,the writers are the very beginning of literary dissemination.It is their writings that gives birth to such transmission elements as the transmission channels,the transmission methods and media,as well as the reception and feedback of the audience.The large number of the writers in the Qing Dynasty makes it impossible to obtain the exact statistics;however,judged from the available work of notes,there might be hundreds of them.In this dissertation,writers from Selective Notes in Qing Dynasty are quoted as the samples for analysis,because there are 145 writers in the book,accounting for one-fourth to one-third of all notes work available today,which provides not only enough examples in number,but also representative writers from diverse classes and strata.According to the research,these writers have various identities,among whom the group of Jinshi and Shengyuan constitutes the majority,and in contrast there are only few commoners engaged in notes writing.As for time and space distribution,research finds that these writers are distributed quite evenly in each period of the whole Qing Dynasty,with a considerable number of them engaged in writing notes.As for geographical or spatial distribution,the southern region is found to be the core productive area of notes.The majority of the writers were born in the provinces of Jiangsu,Zhejiang and Anhui,with Jiangsu and Zhejiang as top two,and contrastively,the writers from other provinces are sporadic.Based on the characteristics of temporal and spatial distribution as well as the creation of the notes writers in the Qing Dynasty,chapter two makes a historical analysis of the Qing Dynasty notes,and then summarizes the influencing factors concerning the notes creation and dissemination in different periods.The community of notes writers in the Qing Dynasty is mainly made up of the scholar-bureaucrats,who create and at the same time are influenced by the academic atmosphere and the intellectual ethos,and constitute part of the "scholars’ society" in the Qing Dynasty.Therefore,the academic background of the Qing Dynasty is indispensable to the discussion of notes creation and its development.The beginning of notes creation in the Qing Dynasty anticipates its development in the direction of scholarization.In the early Qing Dynasty,some scholar-officials who survive the Ming Dynasty reflect upon the academy in the Ming Dynasty,lay the foundation of the academics atmosphere in the Qing Dynasty,and the scholarizing tendency in their writing points out the direction for the notes development in the Qing Dynasty.This period lasts approximately from the foundation of the Qing Dynasty to the reign of Emperor Kangxi and even the early period of Emperor Qianlong’s reign,and can be called the foundation period of notes creation in the Qing Dynasty.In the later part of Emperor Kangxi’s reign,the generation who lays the foundation in the Qing Dynasty all passes away,and the following generations,born between the late part of Emperor Kangxi’s reign and the years under the reign of Emperor Qianlong,bring about the first climax of notes writing in the Qianjia Era,which is usually called the traditional booming period of notes creation in the Qing Dynasty.In the later period of Emperor Daoguang’s reign,the cultural collision between the East and the West occurs immediately after the Opium War,exerting a strong impact on the cognitive system and value system of the traditional scholars.Nourished jointly by the traditional resources and the modern concepts,the notes creation flourishes continuously and shows distinctive characteristics that are different from the previous ones,which is generally regarded as the prosperous modern period of notes writing in the Qing Dynasty.The third chapter discusses comprehensively the new changes of notes transmission along its development in the Qing Dynasty.From the perspective of dissemination technology,the dissemination of the literati notes in the Qing Dynasty coincides with the revolutionary period when the modern printing technology transforms from the traditional engraving and the printing technology of tylpography.The technological progress helps lower the cost of notes dissemination;moreover,after the Late Qing Dynasty,media like newspaper,with its extensive distribution network,enables the literary works that used to be transmitted in the small range to be disseminated quickly in the much larger range,which leads to the popularization and commercialization of the work of notes.From the perspective of dissemination concepts,changes occur in literary conceptions in the early Qing Dynasty,and genres such as novels and notes,and unofficial histories,miscellanea,and compiling notes in particular,began to be taken seriously.From the reception point of view,the notes,the manuscripts that are composed on the table,are transmitted from the desk of the writers to the desk of the recipients.As far as the recipients are concerned,the notes in the Qing Dynasty are synchronically accepted,and are characterized by the transmission in the circles.The development of notes is promoted by the reception ways that range variously from commentaries,inscriptions,transcriptions,versions of line,to word of mouth among the scholars,as well as sequels and imitations,references and documentations,catalogs and categories,and books banned or destroyed.The fourth chapter is about the study of Wang Yuyang,an important writer living in the founding period of notes writing in the Qing dynasty.Wang writes notes all his life,and his masterpieces include Chibeioutan Juyilu,Xiangzubiji,Gufuyutingzalu,Fenganyuhua,which are successive in time and similar in content.Analyses find that his ideas of notes writing are distinct in the consciousness of"supplementing history" and elites.From the perspective of transmission concept,he sticks to the rule of recording what is heard.And from the view of dissemination elements,he enjoys unique advantages,because as an eminent official and literary leader in the early Qing Dynasty,he has access to rich and reliable sources and channels of information,and is thus widely recognized as an authority of both information and commentary.At the same time,thanks to the power of family that passes on from generation to generation as well as the political and cultural influence of the time,his work of notes is widely disseminated,and has never been out of print since its first publication.Scholars today pay much attention to the historical data in his miscellanea and its historical value,and there are unaccountable imitations of his work in both content and creation in the Qing Dynasty.The fifth chapter makes an analysis of Liang Zhangju and his works.Living in the prosperous period of traditional notes in the Qing Dynasty,Liang is deeply influenced by the Qianjian School.And the heyday of notes creation in the Qing Dynasty coincidentally begins with the Qianjia School and ends with Liang.In his early years,Liang is educated at Aofeng Academy by Meng Chaoran the prestigious scholar of Neo-Confucianism,and later in his study in Beijing,he is influenced by the great sinologists like Ji Yun,Ruan Yuan and Chen Shouqi.The above experiences contribute to the formation of his academic views that make a compromise between Han Learning and Song Learning,and put emphasis on humanistic pragmatism,which has also been reflected in his notes writing.His work include such notes as Nanshenggongyulu,Tuiansuibi,Guitiansuoji,Langjicongtan,Shuhuanjilue,and it can be generally divided into two categories,namely,the miscellaneous notes,and the textual research and historical annals,among which there are some anecdotes and hearsays.Numerous and jumbled the number and content of his notes are,his historical notes are most valuable,and generally speaking,these notes are typically scholarly.In his notes,Liang gives much description of information transmission in the Qing Dynasty,and due to the fact that he lives in the era when the cultural exchanges between the East and the West are increasingly frequent,his notes are fairly valuable in revealing how the intellectuals understand the transmission of western culture.Permeated in Liang’ s notes creation is the understanding of the society and the world,and the transformation of the notes in the Qing Dynasty are finally completed by his scholarizing and functionalizing the notes.The sixth chapter is dedicated to the study of Yu Yue,a representative writer of notes who lives in the prosperous period of notes in the Qing Dynasty.His work of notes include Chunzaitangsuibi,Xiaofumeixianhua,Huicuibian,Eryou,Youtaixianguanbiji and so on,most of which are created in his later years with the implications of "leisure amusement for the old".However,his achievement in notes parallels with those in his Confucian classic studies,and he is thus regarded as the rear guard of notes creation in the late Qing Dynasty.In the notes of Yu,there is an obvious tendency toward scholarization which is common among the scholars in the Qing Dynasty.But at the same time his work shows great talents,and his notes are abundant in subjects,but the grotesque and weird are his favorites.All these characteristics attribute to the rich cultural inheritance of notes accumulated in the late Qing Dynasty.Just like the scholars in his generation,Yu’s work of notes is conservative,and at the same time it makes pioneering contributions.As the typical scholars of orthodox in the late Qing Dynasty,they are immersed in the "old learning",fully trained by the traditional academy,and then equipped with the traditional academic system.However,they encourage their children to obtain knowledge from the West and learn from the modern civilization rather than simply reject them,which is really the brilliant point of these intellectual elites.If Yu Yue is regarded as the representative writer of traditional notes that boom in the prosperous times in modern history,then Wang Tao is undoubtedly the model of newly rising class of intellectuals in the late Qing Dynasty.Chapter seven is the analysis of Wang and his notes.Work of notes in Qing Dynasty are dramatically different from those in the previous dynasty.On the other hand,during the process in which the scholars of late Qing Dynasty open their eyes to see the world and the Chinese culture undergoes modern evolution,the Chinese cultural tradition constitutes the cognitive basis for the scholars to observe the world.In the notes of the late Qing Dynasty,the traditional ideas and the scholars’ understanding of the writing style have been exerting influence on the creation of notes.From the perspective of dissemination,the status quo of literary transmission in the late Qing Dynasty has been changed to a large extent by the introduction of new printing technology and dissemination means.Through the newspaper and other media,a great number of literati notes are transmitted freely on a wide range,and its writers win both fame and some remuneration,which to a great extent stimulates the notes creation and promotes the transmission of notes.Both the traditional scholars like Yu and the new ones like Wang live in such dissemination environment.The notes work by Wang is characterized by rich content and miscellaneous subjects,and in addition to the path of scholorizing notes,he inherits elsewhere.His notes fall into three categories,namely,the miscellanea such as Dunkulanyan,Songyinmanlu,Songbinsuohua,Yingruzazhi,Siminbucheng and Wengpuyutan,the chivalry and heretical such as Huaguojutan and Haizuzhiyoulu,and the travel notes like Manyousuilu and Fusangyouji.In addition,there are some new changes in his notes writing,which are influenced by the factors such as commerce,technology,newspaper and media,and the change of dissemination environment.Therefore,his work contains the features such as the connectivity in abandoning the old school,the creativity in linking the past and the future,and the innovation in dissemination means.