"Group Of Books To Be" And The Return Of The Strict Can Be Lost

Research conducted by Qianjia scholars was of much significance in the field of ancient book collating and collecting. However, the role played by Qun Shu Zhi Yao was omitted by the academia. Few scholars have noticed the relationship between Qun Shu Zhi Yao and the important work Quan Shang Gu San Dai Qin Han San Guo Liu Chao Wen by Yan Kejun.This paper is initiated to cover the blankness of this field. Firstly, this paper presents the prevalence of Qun Shu Zhi Yao in China by listing the records in catalogues from Five Dynasties to Ming Dynasty. Secondly, by comparing with other scholars’ application of Qun Shu Zhi Yao which is mostly for collating, this paper emphasizes the key difference in Yan’s application was that he used it for collecting and editing scattering documents and manuscripts. Such difference can be regarded as one of the key reasons why Yan’s work is better than others’. Thirdly, this paper complements previous studies on Yan’s interaction with Yao Wentian and Sun Xingyan by quoting two neglected records, and points out that Yan’s research interests are influenced by Ding Jie, whose son and younger brother are Yan’s friends. Then, this paper discusses the relationship between Quan Shang Gu San Dai Qin Han San Guo Liu Chao Wen with Quan Tan Wen, Xu Gu Wen Yuan and WenXuan to illustrate the academic history of Quan Shang Gu San Dai Qin Han San Guo Liu Chao Wen. Finally, by comparing Yan’s collection and the source of collection, the paper points out that there are two ways of which Yan applies Qun Shu Zhi Yao in his collection:the collection based on Qun Shu Zhi Yao and the collection based on Jin Shu. The paper also finds out that in terms of vocabulary selection, Yan puts fullness in the first place, while expressing his opinion on the original look of the works that he collected by dealing with variants differently.