A Study On Commentary Of Former Han Dynasty Written By Li Jingxing

As a traditional teacher and scholar in the late Qing Dynasty,Li Jingxing(1876~1934)not only has profound attainments in Confucian classics,history and literature,but also is proficient in astronomy,geography and various classical documents.“The Review of Four official Histories”,which includes Shiji(The Records of the Grand History written by Si-ma Qian),Han Shu(The History of Former Han Dynasty written by Gan Gu),Hou Han Shu(The History of Later Han Dynasty written by Fan Ye)and San Guo Zhi(The Records of the Three Kingdoms),is a textbook of high quality for students of Chinese traditional historiography and readers interested in Chinese history.The “The Review of Shiji and Han Shu”,the representative work of his research,which includes the analysis of the narrative structure,the evaluation of the characters and events in the Former Han Dynasty,the criticism of historical materials,and the comparative study between Han Shu and Shiji,etc.Based on the research history of Shiji and Han Shu,this article regards Li Jingxing as one of representative traditional scholars in the early 20 th century.By reviewing his life history and important writings,it states that Li’s methods,characteristics and achievements of “The Review of Shi ji and Han Shu”,and evaluates his achievements in the study of the history of Han Dynasty.In view of some scholars’ criticism that Li’s works were plagiarized by scholars Wu Jiansi(?1625-?1676)and Niu Yunzhen(1706-1758)of the Qing Dynasty,this article compares the texts of above three works and gives reasonable explanations finally.