Local chronicles are historical records describing local conditions. Liang Qichao pointed out in the academic history of China in the past 300 years:? The oldest history is actually a local chronicle. As Mencius said? Jin's Cheng, Chu's Shou Bian and Lu's Chun Qiu were called by Zhuangzi? One hundred and twenty? National treasure book? Compared with today's book, it is only a county chronicle. ?
The ancients said:? Those who govern the world take history as a mirror, and those who govern counties and countries take ambition as a mirror. ?
Local chronicles are records of a place's geography, evolution, customs, education, products, people, places of interest, historical sites, poems and works. They are important materials for historical research, especially for local historical research.
There are two kinds of local chronicles: national general chronicles and local county chronicles. General annals such as Shan Hai Jing and Qing Tong Zhi. According to the local chronicles of the province? Tongzhi? For example, Shanxi Tongzhi, famous towns, temples and mountains and rivers after Yuan Dynasty are also interested, such as Nanxun Annals and Lingyin Temple Annals. Local chronicles are classified and rich in materials, which are important materials for studying history and historical geography.
Compiling local chronicles is a long-standing cultural tradition in China. China local chronicles have a long history, ranging from simple to complex in content and from incomplete to relatively complete in style.
There are always different opinions about the origin of local chronicles. There are two main viewpoints: First, local chronicles originated from history and developed from the accounts of ancient historians, such as unofficial history Zhang mentioned by Zhou Li? The ambition of the quartet? May be the source of local chronicles; Second, local chronicles are born out of geography, which was written by Shangshu, the earliest geographical work in ancient China. Yu Gong and Shan Hai Jing evolved. "History? Gong Yu recorded the territory, property and tribute before the Warring States Period, while Shan Hai Jing recorded the mountains, rivers, situations and strange things in ancient times, which was regarded as the embryonic form of local chronicles. At the beginning of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Yuan Kang, a member of Huiji, wrote Yue Jue Ji, which recorded the history and geography of wuyue. This is a historical work with the nature of local chronicles, which initiated the compilation history of local chronicles and was regarded as the originator of China local chronicles by many scholars in later generations. The ambition of one side begins with "Yue Jue"? . Modern scholar Fu Zhenlun thinks? " Yuejueshu first records mountains, battlements and tombs; Second, the biography, single spread to today, later generations of local chronicles really like this? . It can be said that Yuejueshu is the earliest existing local chronicles in China.
Originated from history
Liang Qichao pointed out in the academic history of China in the past 300 years:? The oldest history is actually a local chronicle. As Mencius said? Jin's Cheng, Chu's Shou Bian and Lu's Chun Qiu were called by Zhuangzi? One hundred and twenty? National treasure book? Compared with today's book, it is only a county chronicle. ? Scholars who hold this view believe that local chronicles originated from Zhou Guan. The so-called Zhou Guan refers to the official system of the royal family in the Zhou Dynasty, and later the book Zhou Li was also called Zhou Guan. In the Preface to Henan Records, Sima Guang of the Song Dynasty believed that the official position, local training and recitation training were similar to those of later local records. Zhang Jiacheng, a local historian in the Qing Dynasty? Ambition for history? From the point of view, it is believed that books recording local historical events during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, such as Cheng, Chu Ci and Lu Chunqiu of Jin State, should be the earliest local chronicles. Many scholars in later generations also believe that these history books are similar to local chronicles in later generations and have the embryonic form of local chronicles, which should be called the source of local chronicles.
Born out of geographical works
That is, the so-called local chronicles originated from Gong Yu and Shan Hai Jing, and it is believed that local chronicles evolved from geography (geography book). Gong Yu is an article in Shangshu, whose author is unknown and the age of the work is inconclusive. Most modern scholars believe that it was about the Warring States period. This book describes the geographical situation of China at that time in the form of natural division, divides the whole country into Kyushu, and records the mountains, rivers, mountains, native products, tributes and traffic in the Yellow River basin at that time under the guise of the administrative system of Yu Xia after water control. There are also records in the Yangtze River and Huaihe River basins, but they are relatively rough. It is the earliest geographical work with high scientific value in China. There are 18 mountain and sea classics, which are composed of mountain classics, sea classics and wild classics. The author is unknown, and the age of each work is inconclusive. Most modern scholars think that it was not written by one person at a time, among which 14 was written during the Warring States period. Four pieces of Hai Jing are works in the early years of the Western Han Dynasty. The content is mainly geographical knowledge in folklore, including mountains and rivers, roads, nationalities, products, medicine, sacrifices, witch doctors and so on. Many ancient myths and information have been preserved. In fact, from genre to content, these two geography books have a great influence on the formation and development of local chronicles, resulting in many local chronicles and geography books mixed together.
The founders are Yue Jue Shu and Wu Yue Chun Qiu.
Scholars who hold this view are more similar to local records in style and content. People think that local chronicles should be historical and geographical. Therefore, Hong, a local historian in Qing Dynasty, said in Preface to Chengcheng County Records:? The ambition of one side begins with "Yue Jue". ? Yuejueshu (15) is judged to be written by Yuan Kang and Wu Ping in the Eastern Han Dynasty (but neither of them has a history test). It describes the historical evolution, urban construction, mountains, rivers, people, production and customs of the places of Yue in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, which is very similar to the style and content of local chronicles in later generations. The book "Wu Yue Chun Qiu" 15, written by Zhao Ye in the Eastern Han Dynasty, records the rise and fall of wuyue. There is a 10 volume today. The first five volumes describe Wu, starting from Taibo and ending in Fu Cha, while the last five volumes record Yue, starting from Wu dialect and finally ending in Gou Jian. However, the book only records people, not geography and cities. As far as local chronicles are concerned, they are not as comprehensive as Yuejueshu, but they have a great influence on later generations. Therefore, Fan Wenlan believed that the Spring and Autumn Annals of Wu Yue and Yue Jue Shu were written by Zhao Ye, a member of the Eastern Han Dynasty. These two books are devoted to local anecdotes, creating a precedent for local chronicles. The National Records of Huayang, written by Jin Changqu, has a volume of 12 and an appendix, which describes the geographical evolution and historical changes of southwest China centered on Bashu. Records of political and historical figures are particularly detailed. Some scholars believe that it is the predecessor of local chronicles. Professor Tan Qixiang has different views on this. What does he think? History? With what? Pool? Different from the local chronicles after Sui and Tang Dynasties, Yuejueshu, Wuyue Chunqiu and Huayang Guozhi in the Eastern Han Dynasty are local chronicles. Recently, some experts and scholars believe that local chronicles should appear after the Qin and Han dynasties unified the country, and it originated from the record of land.
Multi-source theory
All the above statements can make sense, so they coexist for a long time, but they are mutually exclusive. Nowadays, many local chronicles experts and scholars believe that the birth of a new discipline often does not suddenly appear, but gradually takes shape in a long process. Local chronicles are works of a specific genre, which are composed of books of different genres such as history, calligraphy, local chronicles, notes, records, biographies, pictures and classics. So local chronicles are not one source, but multiple sources. China local chronicles have gradually evolved from various sources in the long history.