A Study On The Exegetics Of Shang Shu Ping

Yu Yue, master of Chinese exegetics in Qing Dynasty, followed Wang Niansun and Wang Yinzhi’s research path and devoted all his lifetime to explaining the words of Chinese classics------thoughts of various scholars and their exponents. Possessing encyclopedic knowledge and exploring the intangible, he was the most famous scholar during the reign of emperor Daoguagn and Xianfeng because his academic point of view was eminent above the masses. Among a number of books Yu Yue wrote and edited, Qun Jing Ping Yi is his representative work which is one of the classics in Chinese exegetical study and is admired by researchers in later generation.Shang Shu, the fundamental book of Chinese polities nd history, is written in obscure language. Therefore, countless exegetical works and interpretations of it appeared in successive dynasties. Shang Shu Ping Yi. listed in the fourth volume of Qun Jing Ping Yi, is one of those works. However, not much attention is paid to it and it still is a blind spot in academic research.Adhere to the spirit of seeking the truth and the attitude of critical thinking, Shang Shu Ping Yi makes equitable comments on Shang Shu with 180 entries of word exegesis in total. The compilation style of Shang Shu Ping Yi is coherent in general:first, quote Mei’s version or Yao’s version of Shang Shu; later, comment on them; last, present Yu Yue’s own point of view in the form of "note". Yu Yue’s "notes" illustrates his point by quotation from a number of sources and his comments are fair and just, all of which reveal his unique opinions on exegetics. Look in a comprehensive way, Yu Yue’s thoughts about the study of Chinese classics are coincident with the mainstream academic views in the period of between the Qianlong and Jiaqing-agreeing with learning modern style with ancient terms in Western Han Dynasty and learning ancient style with modem knowledge in Later Jin Dynasty; meanwhile, criticize Shang Shu Kong Zhuang, making 80% comments of the total 180 entries of word exegesis.Till now, Shang Shu Ping Yi still doesn’t have an edition that has punctuation and is checked in accordance with various related information. Therefore, this paper uses the edition of Shang Shu Ping Yi in Chun Zai Tang as basis, and then punctuates, collates as well as analyzes its text in multiple perspectives, hoping that a comprehensive research of Yu Yue’s exegetical thought on Shang Shu Ping Yi can be made.This paper will be divided into five parts:Introduction Make brief introduction of Yu Yue’s life and overview of researches on Shang Shu Ping Yi. Moreover, illustrate the significance of exegetical research of Shang Shu Ping Yi.Part One The exegeticai content of Shang Shu Ping Yi. Specifically, there are five sections. First, distinguish characters in Shang Shu Ping Yi, including 4 types:the connection and difference of interchanged characters. Ancient-modern Characters, variants and positive characters, and then analyze the characters which have same meaning with different shapes. In this way, the habit of using characters in Shang Shu Ping Yi can be concluded. Second section mainly discusses the omission of words and word classes. The omission of words is Menghou Shenglue. Word classes discuss auxiliary word of single syllable and sound overlapped word. The third section is about author’s comments on Yu Yue’s exegetical practice of pausing sentences by grammar and semantics. The forth section focuses on the collation of characters in Shang Shu Ping yi. The paper will respectively listed four types:mistaken words, lost words, misprinted words as well as reversed words and then analyze them. The fifth section mainly talks about rhetoric and regulations of Shang Shu Ping Yi.Part Two The exegetical terms in Shang Shu Ping Yi. The first section is about the term during the process of distinguishing characters; second is punctuation term and the third is paraphrase term. After systematic analysis about all kinds of term, a fact can be found that Yu Yue predominantly followed those traditional terms and showed some of his own ways.Part Three Exegetical methods of Shang Shu Ping Yi. There are six ways of seeking characters’meaning which are by grapheme, bypronunciation, by document, by related words or opposite words, by identical words and sentences, as well as by text. Among those six ways, the most frequently used way are by document and by pronunciation.Part Four Shang Shu Ping Yi’s achievements in exegetics. In general, four characteristics can be concluded. First, Shang Shu Ping Yi lays emphasis on explaining characters and homophones. Second, it quotes from a number of sources. Third, it is against the opinion of adding new words and interpret Chinese classics in a precise way. Fourth, it presents bold questions and creates new ideas. Hence, it has profound impact on researches of future generations.In summary, this paper displays Yu Yue’s academic status among Chinese exegetical study in the period of between the Qianlong and Jiaqing by exploring and arguing Shang Shu Ping Yi’s exegetics thoroughly and rigidly. In this way, a firm conclusion can be drawn that Shang Shu Ping Yi plays an important role in the study of Shang Shu.