| This thesis examines Feng Fang’s(1494-?)classical forgeries and their intellectual significance,against the intellectual history and the history of the study of Confucian classics in Middle and Late Ming period of China.The Introduction includes the genesis of this topic,previous studies,the figure of Feng Fang and the cultural background of his forgeries.After falling into disgrace with his father in the political event "Great Rite Controversy",Feng Fang’s family fortunes declined,only leaving him the family learning tradition which he could boast,so he found sustenance in Confucian classics.Moreover,his calligraphy skills and book collection provided him conditions for forging classics.Chapter One researches the fact of Feng Fang’s classical forging.Except for forging whole books,he also orally forged classics or forged just titles of books.All his book forgeries include Shijing daxue,Guyi shixue,Gushu shixue,Lushi shixue(parts of the text were extracted,compiled and printed as Zigong Shizhuan and Shenpei Shishuo)and Chunqiu shixue,which were most likely finished in 1550s-1560s when Feng retired home or in Wu area.In these books,Feng Fang forged classical texts and commentaries from ancient scholars and his own ancestors under the name of "Stone classics" and "foreign version of classics".He even fabricated a contemporary reception group of his forgeries,which embodied significance of family,region and politics.Chapter Two researches manuscripts of Feng Fang’s forgeries and concludes the content and characteristics of the four Shixue books.One of the most important discovery in this chapter is the early version of Lushi shixue manuscript collected in Tianyige Museum;the comparation of it and other versions of Lushi shixue could embody the specific procedure of Feng Fang’s forging and how contemporary academic communication influenced Feng Fang’s forging.Chapter Three examines Feng Fang’s forging methods from the perspective of the"Song Learning" tradition.The essence of Feng Fang’s forging was subjectively revising classical texts.He carried on the academic methods,specific suspicions,and ideologies of Song and Yuan scholars.Moreover,Feng Fang was directly influenced by the academic atmosphere in Middle and Late Ming period,which could be showed by instances of Yang Shouchen,He Mengchun,and Ji Ben.In a word,Feng Fang’s classical forgeries is a continuation and variation of the Song and Yuan classical studies in Ming period and the East Zhejiang.Chapter Four studies Feng Fang’s Confucian thought expressed in the manner of forgeries,which endeavored to revolt the "Song Learning" orthodoxy.Feng Fang’s idea of "concrete principle and concrete learning" and his equal valuation of "moral"and "learning" were consistent with contemporary intellectual atmosphere,and in this sense guiding the new thought in the Late Ming and Early Qing period.Moreover,Feng Fang was unique for trying to revise the Neo-Confucian orthodoxy and strongly attacking Zhu Xi.But he failed to shake the discourse practice of Song Learning and completely overturn "Song scholars".Anyway,Feng Fang embodied a certain tendency to self-sublation of Dao Learning in Ming period.Chapter Five researches the reception of Feng Fang’s forgeries.Although these forgeries were being distinguished from Late Ming,they always had audience including famous scholars.After the Early Qing period,because of the accumulation of forgery detection achievement and change in academic style,the usage of these forgeries mainly appeared in the dimension of knowledge instead of thought.Afterwards Feng Fang’s forgeries were regarded as a typical "heresy" and an "abuse"of Song Learning.Feng Fang’s revolt to Song Learning was insignificant to Qing scholars,so he was denied by them,which could be showed by the instance of Quan Zuwang.It’s not enough to regard Feng Fang’s forgeries just as a sign of the shallow academic atmosphere in Ming period.The essence of Feng Fang’s forgeries should be studied from the perspective of intellectual and discoursive history,so does the whole"unbridled" study of Confucian classics in Ming period identified by Qing scholars. |
