Qiming 1158

Chapter 1119 The first year of China
From the third year of Hongwu, Su Yonglin ordered the Ministry of Rites and the Department of State History to start work on the establishment of Huaxia Era.

The Department of National History has extensively collected official history books and private unofficial histories of all dynasties and dynasties, especially all ancient books from the pre-Qin period in ancient times, all of which must be collected and sorted out.

Since we want to do a big carding, the first important thing is to organize the time.

As far as Su Yonglin knew of the facts, there was an exact chronology in ancient China when the republican rule was triggered by the riots of the people in the period of King Li of the Western Zhou Dynasty, which opened the first year of the republic.

After this, the history and chronology have a relatively obvious continuity, and the credibility of historical events has also been greatly improved.

Before that, not only there was no such continuity, but there were also many different records in the time records of many major historical events. It is difficult to say which one is right and which one is wrong, and it is very difficult to explain.

For example, there are more than 40 theories about the time when the Battle of King Wu Keshang and Muye took place, each of which is supported by different historical materials or real objects. It is difficult to judge the authenticity, and the time gap between them can even reach 30. year.

If this question is unclear, it is impossible to determine the establishment time of the Western Zhou Dynasty and the collapse time of the Shang Dynasty, which will affect the study of the history of the Shang Dynasty.

However, even the beginning of the exact chronology is divided by different understandings of the concept of "Republic".

There are generally two theories about the republican year.

Once King Li of Zhou was expelled by the riots of the people, the officials and princes recommended that Duke Mu and Duke Ding of Zhou be in power together, called the Republic. This saying comes from the historical records of Sima Qian.

It is said that after the riots for the people of the country, the officials and princes recommended the reputable and virtuous monarch and lord of the kingdom to govern, so it was called the republic.

Because the Spring and Autumn Annals of Lv's and Bamboo Books were written earlier than Shiji, the second theory is more likely than the first.

This is recognized by all the historians of the National History Department.

Therefore, on this issue, all officials of the Department of State History are clearly inclined to the latter statement, and decided to adopt the latter statement as the interpretation of "republican ruling".

However, on other issues, there are too many people arguing, such as when the Huaxia chronology method is better.

Some people say that it started with Dayu's flood control.

Some people say that it should start after Xia Qi founded the country.

Some people say that it should start from the Yao era.

Some people say that it should start from the era of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors.

Some people think that it should start from Pangu's creation of the world.

It feels a bit bizarre that Pangu opened up the world. It is completely a myth and legend, and it is not supported by the current mainstream ideology of the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, only a small number of three or five people support it.

The Three Sovereigns and the Five Emperors generally believed in their existence, but the years were too long. I only knew their names and what they did in general, what era did they live in, when they established their regime and became emperors, etc. know how to record.

For example, Emperor Xuanyuan, Emperor Yan of Shennong, etc., know their existence, but in what year did they govern and establish their achievements?
There is no definite opinion on this issue, and we can only put it on hold.

Therefore, the main opening chronology disputes at present focus on the opening of the Yao, Shun and Yu era or the opening of the Xia Qi era.

The reason is also very simple. They all said the Chinese year. How can they avoid the Xia Dynasty?

There are also disputes within the historians who support the beginnings of various periods.

The main disputes in the era of Yao, Shun, and Yu were also concentrated on the issues of historical records and bamboo books.

The historians debated whether they should adopt the records of the historical records or the records of the pre-Qin historical records such as the Bamboo Book Chronicle and the Spring and Autumn Period of Lvshi when they described history, and what attitude should they adopt to treat the tradition of renunciation in the era of Yao, Shun, and Yu.

And how exactly the definite year is determined.

These disputes continued for a long time and became more and more intense. From the three-year debate in Hongwu to the middle of the fourth year of Hongwu, Su Yonglin finally stopped it.

"The establishment of the Huaxia chronology this time mainly focuses on one truth and one accuracy. We must uphold a responsible attitude and promulgate the most true and accurate chronology. This is to be passed on to future generations and is of great significance. Your personal likes and dislikes cannot be used as a guideline.

As I said, at the same time as the year, there needs to be a very clear supplement and testimony of what happened in that year, so that all citizens can clearly understand what happened in that year and what it means to the whole of China.

We build history in order to understand the past and present, the gains and losses, and to let people know what year they are today and when they live, so that they have a real sense of being alive, rather than a confused life that has passed. "

Su Yonglin reprimanded the arguing historians, and then made a decision in person, taking the earliest exact chronology that can be determined so far—the first year of the Republic of the Western Zhou Dynasty as the first year of the Huaxia chronology, as an anchor point to expand backwards and record history. , to sort out the years.

This decision was disapproved by many state historians.

They felt that if the first year of the republic was taken as the first year of China, wouldn't it mean to deny the events before the first year of the republic?

The riots of the Chinese people in the first year of the Republic of China were certainly important historical events, but a lot of events before that, especially King Wu’s attack on the Western Zhou Dynasty and the establishment of Duke Zhou’s government, were not all very important things?
Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, as well as the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, etc., do not count?
Su Yonglin also denied this explanation.

Su Yonglin believes that the anchor point of the first year of China can be temporary. He chooses the first year of the Republic of China as the anchor point, but because the history after the first year of the Republic of China can be traced and sorted out, there were constant debates before that, and I was afraid it was an argument. Ten or eight years without results.

Then do you want to sort out the historical context of China?
Therefore, his view is that we can first use the greatest energy to sort out the history after the first year of the republic, and rectify the history from the first year of the republic to the Hongwu era.

As for the history before the first year of the Republic, we should invest more energy to rectify it, collect ancient classics, and sort it out slowly, so as to try to sort out all the things before the first year of the Republic.

After the exact sorting out and sufficient corroboration, the time of the first year of Huaxia can be moved to the premise, and all subsequent years can be moved forward accordingly.

By then it will be simple addition and subtraction, because the year after that is exact and uncontroversial.

"The important thing in revising history is what really happened. We must make what really happened to the light of day again, announce it to the world, and let the people of Daming know all about our long history of China, instead of putting all the myths of gods and ghosts into it and going astray. .

Things before the first year of the Republic, we can invest our energy to investigate, I also think it is very meaningful, such as King Wu conquering the business, such as Tang Wu’s revolution, such as Dayu’s water control and Xia Qi’s succession to the throne, I think these are all things that can be investigated.

Before the investigation is clear, you can make hypotheses about history in your personal capacity. You can also use your personal capacity to write a book, put forward hypotheses, and express your own opinions. The misunderstanding of history by the world. "

At the meeting, Su Yonglin expressed his views.

After internal discussions, this view was unanimously approved by the State History Department, so the State History Department took this as a standard and set the Ming Dynasty's attitude towards history and the principles of history revision.

That is, it does not focus on the history of each dynasty, but focuses on the history of the entire Chinese context.

Not only should the history after the first year of the republic be rectified clearly, but also the history before the first year of the republic should be investigated clearly, the truth will be restored, and the true face of the lost years should be revealed.

(End of this chapter)