Research On Mei Dingzuo’s Shi Wenji

Shi Wenji(《释文纪》)was compiled by Mei Dingzuo in Ming Dynasty,it has a total of 45 volumes,written between 1592 and 1610.Shi Wenji is a collection of essays written for Buddhism in all dynasties.This paper takes " Shi Wenji " as the main research object,researches on Mei Dingzuo’s life and academic life,as well as the reasons,editions,styles and historical sources of this book.This thesis is divided into five chapters,with an introduction,in which the origin of the research of the paper and the current research status of Shi Wenji are introduced.The first chapter researches Mei Dingzuo’s life and academic contribution.First of all,this chapter introduces Mei Dingzuo’s family cultural background and his experience of turning from official career to writing.Secondly,it introduces Mei Dingzuo’s academic thoughts and thinks that his academic thought is mainly influenced by Taizhou school and retro literary trend.Finally,it explains the current preservation of Mei Dingzuo’s works.Most of his works can be seen in the "Si Ku Quan Shu",and many of his works have independent schoolbooks published,which is very convenient to collect.The second chapter researches the compilation and edition of Shi Wenji.There are two main reasons for the creation of this book: on the one hand,the author is fond of the Buddhist thought and he has the desire to benefit all scholars all over the world;on the other hand,the influence of the retro literary trend and the prosperity of printing industry is very great.The edition system of Shi Wenji is not very complicated.At present,there are the engraved edition from the Chongzhen period of Ming Dynasty,the edition of "Si Ku Quan Shu" and the edition of Tripitaka supplement.This paper mainly uses the edition of "Si Ku Quan Shu" when writing.The third chapter researches the compilation thought and style of Shi Wenji.This chapter summarizes the compilation ideas of this Book into four points,which are as follows: to seek for perfection;with the development of Buddhism in China as a clue;the collection of articles of eminent monks;with The Chinese dynasty as the orthodox.In terms of style,Shi Wenji is generally characterized by taking dynasties as the order,and article associated with the author.In addition,the attachments,article titles and annotation in Shi Wenji are also very characteristic,which reflects the flexibility of the style of this book.The fourth chapter discusses the documentary sources research of Shi Wenji.According to my statistics,there are 65 kinds of literatures cited in Shi Wenji,covers a variety of genres.On the basis of fully absorbing the previous studies,this chapter classifies and lists the literatures cited in Shi Wenji for relevant textual research and explanation.Chapter five discusses the value of Shi Wenji,and expounds the value of this book from two aspects of content and style.