Chapter 28 Preface to the reprint of "The Biography of Zhu Yuanzhang" by Zhang Lifan

Writing a preface for the re-edition of the masterpiece "The Biography of Zhu Yuanzhang" by Mr. Wu Han, a senior historian, I am deeply ambiguous, and there is an indescribable sadness.Looking back on my interest in history, it is related to reading the "Little Series of Chinese History", "Little Series of Foreign History" and "Little Series of Geography" edited by Mr. Wu in elementary school.At that time, I must buy these three series of books every time, and I have collected them completely.After going to middle school, I read "Zhu Yuanzhang's Biography" and "Notes on Reading History" and other monographs, and I was deeply impressed by the methods of textual research and the style of narrative and discussion.After the Cultural Revolution, I chose history as my major, which is not unrelated to this early reading history.

This reprint of "The Biography of Zhu Yuanzhang" is based on the 1949 edition.However, in the preface of the 1965 edition, the author made three points of review on the 1949 edition: 1. It had super-class thinking, and its evaluation of Monk Peng Yingyu and historical materials were improperly cited; 2. It did not understand Marxism-Leninism at the time. Regarding the theory of the state, it is believed that the state apparatus is only the bureaucracy and the army; third, Zhu Yuanzhang alludes to Chiang Kai-shek, so he criticizes Zhu Yuanzhang harshly.In fact, these three points are mainly criticisms from Mao Zedong.Regarding the evaluation of Zhu Yuanzhang, an autocratic monarch, the perspectives of leaders and scholars have never been on the same horizon.

Since the author said so, and this version is still used in this re-edition, it is really necessary to explain the reasons: 1. Among the four surviving editions, the 1944 edition is a historical popular book prepared in a hurry during the war, and the 1954 edition is a popular historical book. 1. The 1965 edition had too much political will involved, and only the 1949 edition truly expressed the author's own views at the time; 2. Compared with the 1949 edition, although the later editions had The label of class and state theory, but the narrative skeleton is still the original.3. The 1965 edition is currently the most popular, while the 1949 edition has a relatively small circulation (reprinted by Hainan Publishing House in 2001), and has not received corresponding attention.

"The Biography of Zhu Yuanzhang" has changed its manuscript four times.Among them, there are two editions in 1944. The title of the edition of Chongqing Shengli Publishing House is "Ming Taizu", and the title of the edition of Zaichuang Publishing House is "From Monk Bowl to Imperial Power".At the end of 1947, the revised chapters of this book began to be published in some journals. In 1949, it was officially published by Shanghai Sanlian Publishing Company under the title of "The Biography of Zhu Yuanzhang".When the author arrived in Shijiazhuang in 1948, he presented the manuscript to Mao Zedong.Mao once raised objections to the evaluation of the uprising leader Peng Heshang in the book, and believed that a strong and persistent revolutionary like Peng Heshang should not have evasive behavior, either he made a mistake himself, or there are problems with the historical materials.When returning the manuscript after reading it, Mao wrote a letter to Wu Han, emphasizing on the methodology of historical research:

Mr. Chen Bo: Two meetings, very fast.After reading the book, I will return it here.This book has been worked hard and explored extensively, and it has inspired me a lot, for which I am deeply grateful.Some immature opinions are for reference only, and have already been reported. In addition, on the issue of method, Mr. Wang seems to have not fully accepted historical materialism as a methodology for observing history.If you put in more effort in this area, you will achieve limitless achievements in the future.Sincerely Salute to the revolution! Mao Zedong November 24th In addition to the two meetings mentioned in the letter, according to Wu Han's memory, there was another long meeting in December of the same year.Mao pointed out at the time: First, the whereabouts of Peng (Yingyu) was negative and Taoist, and the praise was inappropriate.Second, the state machine is made up of the army, courts, secret service, etc., not the bureaucracy and the army.Third, Zhu Yuanzhang's transformation from the peasant class to the landlord class was not determined by individual human nature and material desires, but group interests determined personal interests.This conversation resulted in a revised manuscript in 1954, but it was not published, and only more than a hundred volumes were mimeographed for comments.The above postscripts are written in steel notes on the manuscript collected by the Library of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Wu Han also annotated with a brush:

The following enlightening notes are Chairman Mao's face-to-face instructions in December 1948, and the location is Chairman Mao's residence in Xibaipo, Pingshan County, Hebei.Talk time is from 6:00 pm to 12:00 pm.The chairman gave a lot of instructions, but what was recorded at that time was only the main words for this manuscript.Wu Han follow up.April 1, 1954. It can be seen from this that the two met at least three times in Xibaipo.According to Yuan Puzhi, Wu Han's sister-in-law, Mao also put forward such an opinion: Zhu Yuanzhang was the leader of the peasant uprising, so it should be affirmed, and the writing should be better and not so bad. (Yuan Puzhi: "Recalling Comrade Wu Han's Two or Three Things", "Beijing Mengxun" No. 3, 1981) It was not until 1965 that the author delivered the last revised manuscript to Sanlian Bookstore for publication.After the Cultural Revolution, Beijing Publishing House published "Wu Han Collected Works" in 1988, which included the 1954 mimeograph manuscript of "Zhu Yuanzhang Biography" collected by the Chinese Academy of Sciences Library and the 1965 Sanlian Bookstore edition. Version.

The first edition of "The Biography of Zhu Yuanzhang" has three great evaluations of the hero, namely the greatest military commander, the greatest statesman and the great national hero, of which the first two are still the greatest.But in the second edition, Zhu Yuanzhang's brutal and bloodthirsty character is highlighted, and the military commander who is famous for massacres and the most insidious and cruel politicians are added.Wu Han also admitted in his preface to the 1965 edition that he used Zhu Yuanzhang to allude to Chiang Kai-shek.Jiang's image was that of a national leader during the Anti-Japanese War, but he turned into an anti-democratic dictator after the war. The author praises Zhu Yuanzhang first and then criticizes him, which reflects the emotional changes of intellectuals towards this historical figure.

Mao Zedong encouraged Wu Han to have limitless achievements in the future. In 1950, Wu Han published the article "I Overcame the Viewpoint Beyond Class", and he also talked about the teachings of the great leader: He especially pointed out the article of Peng Monk, which gave me a very deep impression. Class education, dug out the cancer in my mind, and established my point of view of serving the people.He sincerely accepted Mao Zedong's criticism, revised his evaluation of Monk Peng based on newly discovered historical materials, added the theory of concession policy in the 1954 edition, and added the theory of small and medium landlords in the 1965 edition, affirming Zhu Yuanzhang's achievements Greater than ever.The evaluation is indeed well written, but it seems that the deep meaning is still not understood, and it has failed the leader's expectations.Nine months later, because of the historical drama "Hai Jui Dismissed from Office" published in 1961, the author became the first victim of the Cultural Revolution.

In the past, the academic criticism of this book mainly focused on the insinuation of history, and there were also careless comments and citations of historical materials.A scholar's political orientation affects his research work and even his historical evaluation of the research object, making Wu Han a representative figure of allusive historiography in the field of Chinese history. There are both his own reasons and traditional political and cultural reasons.In a pan-politicized era, once he becomes such a representative figure, all his writings may be labeled as insinuations, and in reality, the eternal romantic figures may automatically come to check their seats at any time.

It may be due to lack of self-confidence in culture. When reckless heroes or foreign leaders sit in Longting, they will inevitably be suspicious of the newly converted scholar-bureaucrat class, for fear of being fooled by these guys who play with words.When I read this book in my early years, I was most impressed by quoting an anecdote from Ming Xu Zhenqing's "Jian Sheng Ye Wen": Zhu Yuanzhang went out for a private visit to a broken temple, and saw a cloth bag monk painted on the wall, and there was a poem inscribed on it, the ink was still fresh, Immediately sent someone to hunt down the author, but was not found.His poem says:

The world is vast and boundless, and when you pack it up, you will hide it in a bag. After all, there are gains and losses, so why not relax a bit? It is an indisputable fact that Zhu Yuanzhang, who founded the Ming Dynasty including Jiangshan, has never let go of his grip on power all his life. He slaughtered heroes, intellectuals and common people through spy politics and literary prison. Deep heart, it can be said that the layers are peeled off, and it goes straight into the hall, which makes people take a breath of air after reading. Chinese scholar-bureaucrats can't get rid of the tradition of meritorious service. They prefer the study of emperors in their scholarship, hoping to assist the emperor and make achievements.From alluding to historiography to obeying historiography, from rewriting "The Biography of Zhu Yuanzhang" to publishing "Hai Rui Curses the Emperor", the author tried to have both politics and academics, but lost himself and was trapped in a black box.The allusive suspicion follows like a shadow, the research of obedience is counterproductive, and the deeper the relationship between the monarch and his ministers is, the more fatal the consequences will be.Among them, what is most lacking from top to bottom is the sense of normalcy between reality and history. Taking history as the frame of reference of reality should be a normal mode of thinking and expression.The so-called use of history as a mirror to know the rise and fall is just to use historical facts as a mirror to compare reality, and it does not need to be used as a means of allegory and allusion. This is the difference between normal reflection and abnormal allusion.Insinuating historiography is only a way of expression in the autocratic era, and it is a special product of a society lacking freedom of speech; it can also be used as a tool for political struggle. During the Cultural Revolution, criticizing Lin and Confucius, criticizing the law and criticizing Confucianism are the famous ones example.So far, insinuations are nothing more than serious spoofs, and spoofs are often informal insinuations. Before social life is normalized, the entanglement of various alternative expressions cannot be shaken off. The author studied under Hu Shi in his early years and specialized in Ming history under his guidance. Hu Shi had a great influence on the author's academic and life path.The 1930s and 1940s were the era of left leaning in the world. Although Wu Han once devoted himself to scientific research and ignored politics, as he said in his own words: After 1940, politics came to ask me.After he joined the Democratic League in 1943, his political inclinations caused the teachers and students to drift apart, and eventually parted ways.Hu Shi also lamented: "It's a pity that Wu Han went the wrong way."One year has passed, and today's academic circles are keen to reinterpret Chen Yinke, Hu Shi, Qian Mu and Fu Sinian, but few people comment on Wu Han's academic achievements. Like a large number of radical intellectuals of his time, this left-wing historian sincerely devoted himself to the revolution and actively followed it up, criticizing himself and hurting others.As one of the scholars with weak independent consciousness, instrumental historiography is like a double-edged sword, making historians victims of their own profession.After more than ten years of happy life, the author finally fell into a literary prison because of a historical drama "Hai Rui Dismissed from Office", and ended up with his family ruined and his family killed.Good luck tricks people, the revolution eats its own children, and its personal tragedy lies not only in how to study and interpret history, but also in stepping on the big stage of historical tragedy by mistake and becoming one of the actors unintentionally.This ending has been doomed since the book was presented in 1948, and it was also the common fate of intellectuals in that era. Reality is the continuation of history, Croce's saying that all history is contemporary history is still widely quoted today.Historical scenes are always repeated with striking similarities. There are dramas outside the drama and dramas in the drama, but the drama is still an old drama, only the script has been adapted and new actors have been replaced.If a nation with a long and rich history hides its history and refuses to reflect, it will be difficult to get out of the vicious circle of periodic law, let alone grasp the future. Living in a diversified information age, the Internet can provide richer historical references.Historians don't have to focus on insinuations, they just need to let the detailed historical materials speak for themselves; readers will become smarter from generation to generation, and their interpretation of history will become more and more personalized.Whether you are studying history or reading history, when you open this historical masterpiece, the author's fate is also showing to future generations: if you want to gain insight into the truth and seek true knowledge, stick to the spirit of independence and free thinking is the first priority. July 12, 2008 Wind and Rain Reading Building Contents of the 1949 edition of "The Biography of Zhu Yuanzhang" Chapter 1 Little Rascal a little novice Fangseng Eryou Three forces to go up Liangshan Chapter 2 The Red Army Marshal a little soldier Second Junior Officer Three Marshals, Great Prime Minister Chapter Three From Duke Wu to King Wu A decisive battle at Poyang Lake Take Soochow Three Southern Expeditions Chapter 4 The Great Emperor's Rulership Ming Empire and Ming Cult Two farmers were betrayed Sanxin Bureaucratic Training Institute Wheels of the Four Emperors｜Army The Five Wheels of Imperial Power｜New Bureaucracy Six capitals and national defense Seven unification and differentiation policies Chapter 5 The Politics of Terror massacre Binary Inquisition Three Secret Service Network The pinnacle of the four imperial powers Chapter 6 Family Life queen of horses Second prince and grandson Three upbringing and character four years of sorrow