A Study On The Compiling Of Academy Records In Qing Dynasty

The academy records refer to the comprehensive literature of the history,education management,rules and regulations,poetry and other aspects of the academy.There were already academy records in the Song and Yuan Dynasties,and the number had increased in the Ming Dynasty.In Qing Dynasty,academies flourished,and academy records was quite popular.According to preliminary statistics,there were 155 academy records in the Qing Dynasty,and 104 exist.Most of the academy records in the Qing Dynasty adopted the form of local chronicles.As far as the content of the academy records is concerned,it is nothing more than a record of the history of the academy or the culture of the area where the academy is located,based on the given location of the academy in time and space.But at different times,the main content of the academy records are different.The editors of the academy records in Qing Dynasty,are mainly composed of three major groups: local officials,scholars,and academic staffs,and local scholars account for a large proportion.They compiled the academy records,either for recording supplementing the history,or for clarifying and continuation of the Confucian Orthodoxy,but more concerned for the development of the academy.Also some editors had personal intentions in the compiling of the academy records.During the compiling of the records,they selected the material mainly from the old academy records,local chronicles,official history,local archives,and private writings,or officially recognized political regulations.The compilation of the academy records,namely searching the materials associated with the academy in specific spatial scope,and enriched the content of the book,gave the position of the academy in the historical period and the empire’s territory.The formation of the text was influenced by the social context and the personal situation of the creator,and the academy records is no exception.When the people compiled the academy,traditional knowledge about the chronicle form and the academy’s history,political pressures from the court,the academic’s changing,and the ideas of local standard,were very important contexts that restricted the compilation of the academy records.When compiling the academy records,people in Qing dynasty were benefited from the spread of traditional know ledge,both in form and in content.The form of the academy records was mainly derived from the traditional genre of local chronicles,and the form was very consistent.On the surface,this form came from the editors absorbing and using of the traditional genres,while there was a deeper social situation in it.As far as the content is concerned,the classical knowledge of the teaching and management such as the Bailu Cave Rules,four great academies,the Suhu Teaching Methods were important components of t he academy records,because of the problems they tried to respond at the time still existed in the Qing Dynasty,they passed through time and space,and the classics have practical significance.For a long period of time in Qing dynasty,the literary inquisition was prevalent.Political and cultural pressures have affected the compilation of the academy records.Taking the compilation of Donglin academy as an example,due to the relationship between Donglin and the party struggle and the history between Ming and Qing,there were many political taboos involved.Under strong political pressure,local scholars in Wuxi in order to avoid offend the law,they separated the Donglin history from politics,and the image of Donglin in their works changed.In other academy records,it was very common to find documents such as imperial decrees and decrees that represent official authority.This also reflects the influence of the editorial authority on the political rights of the court.Among the editors of the academy records,the scholars were the largest group,their sensitivity and concern for academics also reflected in the compilation of the academy records.In the early Qing,the Huizhou local scholars such as Shi huang,Wang you,who esteemed Cheng-Zhu,strictly guarded their academic boundary,and they constructed the spreading history of Zhu xi’s theory in Huizhou in the Ziyang Academy Records,and eclipsed the spreading history of Wang Yangming’s theory,thus,the academic history of Xin’an became the history of Zhu Xue’s inheritance.After the rise of Han xue,classics and history study thrived.In the academy records,the content about reading and researching of history and classics increased,and academy records such as Tongxiang and Yuexiu,obviously used the methods of Pu xue.It should be pointed out that,like Shi huang and Liang Tingnan,who showe d academic bias in compiling academy records were rare,and most of the editors merely objectively recorded the activities of the academy.This also makes us reflect on whether the association between the academy and the academics is really close in Qing d ynasty.In addition to being influenced by politics and scholarship,when compiling academy records,a local idea existed in editors mind,which is a more core quality that affected the compilation of the academy records.The academy lay in local administration,culture,and society.This locality standardized the thoughts and practice of the editors.In the process of compiling the academy records,they constructed local academic orthodoxy,commended local sages,and incorporated local figures and scholars into the national ethics,thereby increasing the glory of their hometown and highlighting the individual.And local officials expressed their concern for local governance.Local scholars also used the compiling of the academy to enhance family and personal reputation and acquire cultural capital.The local characteristics of the academy seem to be self-evident,but it is indeed the key to understanding the academy.Historical research is the process by which researchers obtain information through historical documents and construct history.But the literature is not transparent,it contains the individual’s will of the writer in response to various contexts,and these factors restrict the formation of the text as well its significance to future generations.The study on editorial writings of the Qing dynasty not only presents the nature of the literature of the academy records,but also reflects the political pressure,the mentalit y of the scholars,and the local society,which provides us with an understandi ng dimension of the text and historical writing,the era and the scholars,also provided a case for us to explore the process of text formation.