A Study On Gu Wen Yuan

This dissertation is a study on Gu Wen Yuan. It consists of three parts? the first part discusses the publication time of the book, the editor, and the versions of the book; the second part is about the types of the articles, the collection criteria, and the values of the book as a reference; and the third part is a comparison of the book with other similar collection books.Gu Wen Yuan collects totally 264 poems, odes, and essays from the Pre-Qin Dynasties to the Qi and Liang Dynasty. Most of them were not collected by history books and Wen Xuan. About the publication time of the book and the editor, it was said the ancient articles in the book were collected by people in the Tang Dynasty and found by Sun Zhu in the North Song Dynasty in lection niches of Buddhism temples. However, After the research on Mu Lan Shi, Shi Gu Wen, Zu Chu Wen, and Yi Shan Ke Shi Wen, we found that the book might be produced as late as in the North Song Dynasty, not in the Tang Dynasty or the North Song Dynasty. The publiation time of the book was between the Gao Zong Shao Xing 21st of the South Song Dynasty and 31st. We believe that the sphragistist Wang Houzhi was the editor of the book. Sun Zhu was the editor of the 57 odes of the 9 volume version of the book, also called Za Wen Zhang.About the versions of the book, we studied the spread of the various versions and the notes regarding the versions of various times. We also compared the 21 volume version with annotations by Zhang Qiao with the 9 volume version without annotations by Han Yuanji. We sumaized the differences and pros and cons of the two versions and gave a high evaluation to the Zhang Qiao's annotations.Furthermore, after comparing the private and official catalogs on the articles in the book from the Sui Dynasty to the early Yuan Dynasty, we affirmed the reference values of the book. We divided the articles in th book into four types: stone inscriptions, odes, poems, and essays. After studing these articles, we summarized four collection criteria of the book: 1) not including the articles that already being collected in Wen Xuan and history books; 2) refined tastes; 3) selecting classics of all times; and 4) intentionally collecting some disputed articles. Regarding the content of the book, Si Ku Quan Shu Zong Mu has an augment that the articles of the Han and Wei Dynasty in the book were mostly the ones from the abridged editions of Yi Wen Lei Ju and Chu Xue Ji. However, after comparing the articles of the Han and Wei Dynasty in the book with the article in the similar collection books of the Tang Dynasty and the Song Dynasty, we found that there are 49 articles only collected by the book, which means that the articles in Gu Weng Yuan were not from the similar books and they were from other sources.To compare the book with other collection books of poems, odes, and essays, we briefly reviewed the general situation of the collection books of the Pre-Song Dynasties and the Song Dynasty and pointed out that there are connections between Wen Xuan by Xiao Tong, Wen Yuan Ying Hua by Li Fang, Tang Wen Cui by Yao Xuan, Tang Bai Jian Shi Xuan by Wang Anshi, Song Wen Xuan and Gu Wen Yuan by unknown authors. And the"common characteristics"of the Confucianism were followed when they were edited. We also discussed the unique characteristic of the book ? the editor of the book was a sphragistist, not a politician or writer. Furthermore, we compared the times of publication, the criteria of collection, the types of articles, the statues of the authors, and the contents of Gu Wen Yuan and Xu Gu Wen Yuan by Sun Xingyan of the Qing Dynasty. We also pointed out the pros and cons of the two books and the status of Gu Wen Yuan in the history of literary selections.In conclusion, Gu Wen Yuan was produced between the Gao Zong Shao Xing 21st and 31 st of the South Song Dynasty. The editor was Wang Houzhi, a sphragistist in the South Song Dynasty. The book was based on Za Wen Zhang by Sun Zhu of the North Song Dynasty. It has important reference values in the literature history, collection, collation, etc. of the Han, Wei, and South-North Dynasties. Many authors used the book as a reference in editing their collections, such as Yang Zi Yun Ji, Kong Bei Hai Ji, Wang Can Ji, and Wang Rong Ji. Han Wei Liu Chao Bei San Ming Jia Ji by Zhang Pu of the Ming Dynasty and Quan Shang Gu San Dai Qin Han San Guo Liu Chao Wen by Yan Kejun of the Qing Dynasty used articles of the book in their collections directly. Its style of collecting both poems and essays and starting with inscriptions and ending with funeral eulogies has produced influences on the collection books of later generations.