1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 711 The Civilization of Qi State

On February 1655, 1, Hanzhou, Jianye.

Standing at the entrance of the main hall, Huang Zongxi, the left deputy capital of the Ming Dynasty and the deputy envoy of the visiting mission to Qi, was shocked to see the rows of bookshelves covered with books.

When he came to Wenyuan Pavilion with Fang Yizhi, the social science department of the Ministry of Culture and Education of Qi State, he didn't take it seriously at first.This group of buildings looks majestic and majestic, and the windows on the exterior walls are all made of extremely precious transparent glass. Under the shade of the green hills in the distance, it looks extremely majestic.

In terms of architectural scale, not to mention the Zhongyuan Pavilion in Nanjing City, it is far inferior, even the Huangshicheng in the former Beijing imperial city, it cannot be compared with it.But Huang Zongxi did not show much envy for this. Qi State is located in the extreme southern continent. Although it occupies a vast area, has powerful ships and strong military force, its population is only a few hundred thousand, and the founding of the country has not been completed for 20 years. Presumably the Chinese style is not prosperous and the knowledge is withered.Therefore, in order to show its small domestic heritage, it took a lot of money to build this majestic (flashy) Wenyuan Pavilion complex.

In the viewing hall on the first floor, dozens of people were scattered in twos and threes, sitting in front of the window, holding a book, reading it carefully, taking out paper and pens from time to time, and constantly transcribing it. There is a bit of a scholarly atmosphere.

After ascending to the second floor and pushing open the book collection halls, Huang Zongxi immediately had a new definition of the two idioms "a house full of sweat" and "a vast ocean".

Books, lots of books, a seemingly endless sea of ​​books!
Walking among the rows of bookshelves, stretching out his hand to gently move the volumes, he instantly felt his own infinite insignificance, and even felt ashamed of himself for boasting that he was knowledgeable.

How many books must there be!

"Currently, there are more than 130 million volumes of various books in the library." Fang Yizhi said proudly: "And with the return of the immigrant fleet every year, the collection of various books is still increasing."

"More than a million volumes!" Huang Zongxi couldn't help but exclaimed, "This Wenyuan Pavilion has such a huge collection of books!"

"The entire Wenyuan Pavilion is mainly composed of three main buildings, covering about [-] square meters..."

"More than [-] square meters? What is a square meter? Is it a concept to describe the size of a building?"

"Square square meter? Oh, this is a unit that describes the surface size of things, similar to the concept of one mu, one hectare, etc., which describe the size of a field. This was established by Qi State (the unit of meter was established by France in 1791), and it is about length and The width is more than three feet in size. As for the unit of one meter, I will explain it to Mr. Taichong (Huang Zongxi) later.... In addition, the books in this library, except for some precious classics and books related to secrets, All are open to the public free of charge.”

"This is great!" Huang Zongxi praised sincerely: "Just now, when I observed in the hall on the first floor, I found that many scholars and scholars were copying with paper and pens. Is this behavior unstoppable?"

"All non-secret books can be freely transcribed." Fang Yizhi said with a smile: "With the permission of the host of the library, some books can even be borrowed at home for detailed reference."

"This move can be said to be a good deed of our generation of literati." Huang Zongxi couldn't help sighing: "I think there are countless book collectors in my Ming Dynasty, but I have never seen it for the public to read and borrow for free like your Qi State."

"Yes, to tell you the truth, Mr. Taichong, when I first arrived in the mainland of Hanzhou, when I saw so many books in Wenyuan Pavilion, I almost felt like going crazy. I used to hang around here for several months, never sleeping or eating, and reading all kinds of books all day long. It's like a collection of classics. Thinking about it, it's ridiculous!" Fang Yizhi smiled and stroked his short beard under his jaw.

"Haha..., Mr. Mizhi (Fang Yizhi), there are so many books in this library, so I want to do this!" Huang Zongxi stroked the books on the shelf and laughed endlessly.

The reason why human beings can get out of ignorance is not how shocking the violence and conspiracy of a special person are.To a large extent, it is because of the accumulation of wisdom and knowledge, or the power of books.Objectively speaking, the total amount of knowledge must reach a certain level before it can generate enormous power.For an individual, one book may be enough to make him "knowledgeable", but for a society, one book is obviously not enough.When many books are gathered together, there is a library.In fact, a multi-volume tome such as "Yongle Dadian" and "Encyclopedia" is a library in itself.

For quite a long time, books, a special "handicraft" because of their high cost, were almost impossible for ordinary individuals to own, so most books were kept in libraries.It is not a pleasant thing to read in a dark and cold library because of the avoidance of lights.

Early Western books and scriptures are generally collected in monasteries, but the number is very small, just a few books.It was not until the advent of the university that there were secular libraries in Europe, and the books in these libraries were pitifully few.In the mid-13th century, the Sorbonne School of Theology in Paris had the largest collection of books in Europe at that time, with only more than one thousand volumes (volumes).To prevent the theft of the precious parchment, the books were chained.

Compared with Europe, China's books and libraries have a glorious history.Among the people, there are Mengfu in the Western Zhou Dynasty, Shiqu Pavilion, Dongguan and Lantai in the Han Dynasty, Guanwen Hall in the Sui Dynasty, Chongwen Academy in the Song Dynasty, and Wenyuan Pavilion in the Ming Dynasty.Since the Tang Dynasty, academies have sprung up, and there is no academy without books, which greatly promoted the prosperity of book collection.

In the Ming Dynasty, "schools were established in counties and counties", and almost every government-run school had a "Zunjing Pavilion". In the middle of the 15th century, Songjiang Fuxue claimed to have a collection of thousands of books, while at the same time, the library of Cambridge University had only 122 books. That was a lot in England at the time.

In fact, the libraries of the past dynasties in China are actually library collections, and this has been the case since the time of Lao Tzu.After the advent of printing, books were commercialized, and book collection spread from the official to the private sector.

However, whether these are royal collections or private collections, they are fundamentally different from libraries in the modern sense.Its core is "Tibetan". The purpose of Tibetan is to pass on to future generations, and to maintain and increase value, which has little direct relationship with reading.As long as many books enter the library, they are shelved and isolated from readers.Books are just a kind of secret antiques, antiques and works of art, not a kind of reading material.

Although these library buildings preserve scarce books and knowledge, they have also become black holes for books and knowledge, similar to how landlords and old fortunes buried gold and silver in the cellar, which did not have much impact on public reading and social enlightenment.

The library is a typical product of familization, just as the library is the result of socialization.In this sense, in Chinese tradition there is only family, not society.The royal library of the past dynasties is known as "the place where the emperor lectures and reads", and the imperial decree is hung high on the door of the pavilion, "a confidential place, officials, idlers, etc. are not allowed to enter without permission, and those who violate it will not be punished." Private libraries are also heavily guarded, such as Qi Guolu. The Tianyi Pavilion, where the team looted books in Ningbo, stipulated that "people with foreign surnames are not allowed to enter the pavilion", let alone borrowing people to watch.

Books are not for storage, but for borrowing.Publicity is the biggest feature of modern libraries. It not only maintains the storage function of traditional libraries, but also lays more emphasis on the dissemination of knowledge.The public library for the public takes reading as the central function, thereby jumping out of the traditional knowledge privilege and monopoly, and realizing the socialization and democratization of books and knowledge.

In Qi State, Hanzhou mainland and several overseas territories, due to limited conditions, only Wenyuan Pavilion, the only national library, has been built in Jianye City.However, in prefectures, counties and towns, many small libraries have been set up in many primary and secondary schools, with collections of books ranging from hundreds of volumes (volumes) to more than ten thousand volumes (volumes). In addition, it is also open to ordinary people, so as to promote the improvement of people's wisdom.

No matter in ancient China or Europe during the Renaissance, people generally pay attention to "precision" in reading, and it is the usual attitude and practice of scholars to study well.However, comparatively speaking, "Bo Du" can inspire people's wisdom more. Extensive knowledge and comprehensive knowledge will make readers more free and independent, and even get some kind of spiritual and ideological enlightenment from it.

Both enlightenment and reading must be completed independently by individuals, so a certain social enlightenment movement is actually a reading movement, a movement to emancipate the mind.Whether they are European prophets or modern Chinese enlightenment thinkers or philosophers, they are as brilliant as stars, using pens as swords and books as knives, enlightening modern (or modern) civilization, and awakening and enlightening countless people.

As a soul from the future, Qi Tian will strive to bring the Chinese nation that has fallen into darkness back to the bright world, so that the Chinese nation can continue to be at the forefront of the forest of nations in the world. , How arduous and necessary it is to establish the embryonic form of a modern country.

Enlightenment is the civilized domestication of people, and it is about modern and national spiritual exercises; without enlightenment, one will never be able to enter modern times (or modern times) spiritually, and there will be no progress of the nation and the country.An unenlightened country and nation, even if it has realized modernization materially, its spirit still stays in the dark Middle Ages (or the age of ignorance).

However, within the territory of Qi State, not all cultures and trends of thought can spread and spread without restriction.There is an inconspicuous institution in the cabinet government department - the polling office.In addition to the anti-espionage function of this department, any domestic speeches and book publications will also be subject to its censorship and supervision.Any speech or book that opposes the king, the cabinet, the legitimacy of the Qi regime, and incites violent resistance is strictly prohibited, and may even be arrested and tried.

Since ancient times, power and knowledge have been in opposition. Power is barbaric monopoly and closed, while knowledge is civilized and open. Power comes from violence, but the legitimacy of power comes from knowledge. "As soon as the people think, the emperor gets nervous."Thought has never been far from politics, and there has been book censorship long before the printed book was born; the history of writing and "literary prison" has always been inseparable.

Although Qi State did not have the atrocities of Emperor Qin's "abolishing the way of the former kings, burning the words of hundreds of schools, and using the head of foolishness" to burn books and bury Confucianism, there is no such thing as my Qing Dynasty's "avoiding seats and fearing literary inquisition, and writing books for Daoliang's sake". "The indiscriminate creation of literary inquisition" and the evil behavior of "the Qing people compiled the "Siku Quanshu" and the ancient books died", but they will more or less control the public opinion and actively grasp the "mainstream consciousness" propaganda .

"This is the mansion newspaper?" Huang Zongxi took a newspaper from Fang Yizhi and opened it curiously.

"This is the "Ta Kung Pao" under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture and Education of the State of Qi." Fang Yizhi explained: "This newspaper is published once every ten days and spread in Hanzhou and overseas territories. Such major current events, as well as the latest developments in the local and overseas territories, and even many trivial matters of ordinary people's livelihood. In this way, the common people in the country can have a preliminary understanding and information of the world's major events."

""Ta Kung Pao"?" Huang Zongxi saw that there was a line of small characters under the headlines of this quarto newspaper: "Open, fair, and fair, for the Grand Duke."

The content of the newspaper mainly publishes the latest news from home and abroad. There is the "General Code of Civil Law" promulgated by the Qi cabinet government and distributed to the whole country. The indigenous war in Luzon, and news from Ming Dynasty, in August last year, Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo were attacked by Qing cavalry in Chuzhou and Gaoyou respectively. Both lost and had to retreat to the south bank of the Yangtze River; , and even some news from the West, such as news about the Anglo-Dutch war, the dispute between the Ottoman Empire and the Holy Roman Empire...

"Although this newspaper has only a few pages and tens of thousands of words, it covers many major events at home and abroad. After reading it, it will be an eye-opener!" Huang Zongxi glanced through a few pages of the newspaper, and then said calmly. Fold it into a roll and stuff it into the sleeve of the robe, ready to study it carefully in your spare time.

"Yes!" Fang Yizhi nodded and said, "National affairs, family affairs, world affairs, and everything is concerned. Mr. Donglin (Gu Xiancheng, the leader of the Donglin Party, who was honored as Mr. Donglin because he founded Donglin Academy) advocated it back then. Through the newspapers, the people of our country can not only learn about the government's administrative behavior and policy trends as soon as possible, but also understand the major events happening inside and outside the country, broaden the horizons of our people, and inspire the wisdom of the people."

In fact, the biggest purpose of publishing newspapers in Qi State is to serve as a propaganda tool and the mouthpiece of the government to grasp public opinion, which can be said to serve the ruling class interest groups headed by King Qi.As for disseminating knowledge and culture, learning about current events in the world, and letting people know what's happening in various places in the first place, these are all subsidiary functions brought by newspapers.

"I never imagined that Qi State, which is located in the remote southern continent, is in the process of construction, and is fighting with barbarians and barbarians, so it values ​​culture and rule so much and inspires the people." Huang Zongxi looked at the green mountains in the distance through the glazed window, Feeling ups and downs, "Qi Kingdom has been so prosperous for decades, it will surely be able to stand proudly in Nanyang and rise above the blue waves."

"Mr. Taichong, my majesty has been in love with you for a long time, and I want to meet you some day." Fang Yizhi looked at Huang Zongxi with a complicated look in his eyes, "The law of the world, business and industry, the majesty advocated to Mr. I agree with several propositions, such as the fact that publicity is not based on the school. You have only been in Hanzhou for a short time, and I am afraid you have not yet understood. The idea of ​​the school that Mr. said must make the tools for governing the world all come from the school, and then set up a school The meaning of the preparation is very consistent with the ideas of the schools at all levels established by our Qi State. I think it will be of great benefit for Mr. Taichong to understand the confusion he felt in Hanzhou after meeting our queen."

"It is my envoy's job to have an audience with King Qi." Huang Zongxi said solemnly: "Today, what Mr. De Mizhi said, I wish I could see him right away. King Qi is really an extraordinary person!"

(End of this chapter)