Gan Bao

Gan Bao

Ganbao (280-336), whose name is Lingsheng, was born in Xincai County, Runan County (now Xincai County, Henan Province). In the Eastern Jin Dynasty, he was a minister, a writer and a historian. His works included Soushenji, and he participated in the compilation of Jin Ji.

Read a lot, start a salt official state, don't drive. He took part in the pacification of Du Zhen's rebellion and made contributions to it. He moved to Zuo Lang and participated in the compilation of Jin Ji. He has served as magistrate of Shanyin County, prefect of Shi'an, right chief of situ (Wang Dao), and worked as a regular official and writer.

In the second year of Xiankang (336), Gan Bao died at the age of 57.

Gan Bao's father was Gan Ying, Cheng of Danyang in the eastern Wu Dynasty.

Gan Bao's Soushenji has a far-reaching influence in the history of Chinese novels. Gan Bao is known as the originator of Chinese Ghost Novels.

(general drawing reference)

Life of the characters

Early experience

Since childhood, Gan Bao has been diligent, studious and well read.

From the end of Yuankang to Tai'an (299-303), Gan Bao was an adult in Jianghuai.

In the first year of Yongjia (307), Gan Bao was appointed as a subordinate official of the governor of Yanguan prefecture (now Yanguan village, Haining City, Zhejiang Province).

In the fourth year of Yongjia (310), Gan Bao's father died and was buried in the sun of green hills in Shupu.

In the first month of the fifth year of Yongjia (311), Du Chen rebelled in Changsha. In the same year, Gan Bao's family moved to Yanguan Lingquan Township, Haining (now the junction of Wufeng village in huangwan and Liuzhong village in Shupu), and began to be filial to his father.

Between the first year of Jianxing (313) and the third year of Jianxing (315), Gan Bao was called as the author of the book because of his talent.

In the third year of Jianxing (315), he participated in the pacification of Du Zhen's rebellion and made great contributions. The imperial court awarded him the title of Marquis of Guannei.

Write the history of the country

In the first year of Jianwu in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317), the Western Jin Dynasty perished and the Eastern Jin Dynasty was established. In November, because of the early establishment of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, there was no historiographer. Wang Dao, the supervisor of the central library, wrote a book and said, "the deeds of emperors must be recorded, written into classics and handed down forever. Emperor Xuan pacified the whole world, Emperor Wu complied with heaven's destiny and accepted the abdication of Cao Wei. His great achievements and virtues were comparable with those of ancient sages and sages. However, their biographies were not found in the imperial treasury, and their virtues were not written into music songs. Your majesty Shengming is the king of the resurgence of a generation. He should start to establish the national history, write the emperor's Chronicle, record the great achievements of his ancestors, and write down the contributions of his generals. He must record them according to the facts, set up rules for future generations, meet the wishes of the whole nation, and make people and gods happy. This is undoubtedly the foundation of long-term stability in the world. Therefore, historiographers should be set up, and an edict should be issued to assist the author to write a collection gradually. " Sima Rui, the emperor of Jin and Yuan Dynasties, adopted this suggestion. Therefore, Gan Bao began to be responsible for the writing of Jin Ji. After Jin Ji was written, it was presented to the imperial court. The book is composed of 20 volumes, from Emperor Xuan of Jin Dynasty to Emperor min of Jin Dynasty. The book is simple and clear. It is a direct book of historical facts, and it can be euphemistic. People all praise Gan Bao as a good historian.

Official career

In the second year of Daxing (319), Gan Bao wrote refutation of evocation.

In the second year of Taining (324), because of his poor family, Gan Bao asked to be the magistrate of Shanyin (now Shaoxing, Zhejiang).

In 325, Gan Bao was promoted to the prefect of Shi'an (now Guilin, Guangxi).

In the second year of emperor Xianhe (327), Wang Dao asked the imperial court to appoint Gan Bao as his situ Youchang. During his stay in situ Fu, Gan Bao once wrote the volume of situ Yi, a subordinate official of situ Fu.

In the ninth year of Xianhe (334), Gan Bao was promoted to be a regular official and a writer.

In March of the second year of Xiankang (336), Gan Bao died.

Main impact

historiography

Gan Bao has made outstanding contributions to historical theory, historical book writing and annotation

Jin Ji

In the Wei and Jin Dynasties, historiography broke away from the barrier of Confucian classics and became an independent academic category, which was fully developed. There are more than 20 historical books of Jin Dynasty. According to Liu Jie's textual research, there are 26 kinds of Jin history in the two Jin Dynasties, including 14 kinds of biographical style and 12 kinds of chronological style. Jin Ji written by Gan Bao is the best one in the chronological history books. In the Southern Dynasties and the Qi Dynasty, Zang Rongxu compiled a relatively complete book of Jin based on Wang Yin's book of Jin, Gan Bao's book of Jin and he Fasheng's book of Jin Zhongxing, which became the main basis for revising the book of Jin in the Tang Dynasty. Gan Bao's Jin Ji is also one of the 18 Jin histories that Tang Xiu's Jin Shu referred to. Although Gan Bao's Jin Ji no longer exists, it can be seen from the edition compiled by the Qing Dynasty that Jin Ji takes the chronological names of Emperor Wu, Emperor Xiaohui, Emperor Xiaohuai and Emperor Xiaomin as the outline, and also records the deeds of Emperor Xuan, Emperor shizongjing and Emperor Taizong Wen in the Western Jin Dynasty, including the main historical events in the Western Jin period of the Three Kingdoms, involving many historical figures at that time, which has high historical data and academic value.

According to the comments of ancient historians, Gan Bao's Jin Ji has the following advantages:

① The writing is simple and graceful, and it works in narration.

② To re-establish the common rules, the content of the verification is orderly.

③ In the history books of the Eastern Jin and Southern Dynasties, praise belongs to the good.

④ The influence on later generations can be seen from the editions compiled by the people of Qing Dynasty: Pei Songzhi's notes to the annals of the Three Kingdoms, Liu Yiqing's new sayings of the world, Xiao Tong's selected works of Zhaoming, Li Daoyuan's notes to the water classic, Li Xian's notes to the history of the Han Dynasty, shuchao, Yulan, Huanyuji and weilue.

On the view of history

① The thought of Yin Yang and five elements and the historical view of the unity of man and nature

Gan Bao inherited the theory of Yin Yang and five elements since the Warring States period, and used it to explore all things in nature and human society. Gan Bao inherited Sima Qian's historiography tradition of "studying the relationship between man and nature, understanding the changes of the past and the present (Exploring the relationship between natural phenomena and human society, and understanding the social development and evolution from the past to the present)".

Ganbao has a strong idea of "heaven and man induction". Gan Bao's thought is reflected in the book of Jin · five elements annals. Many natural disasters and strange human events are recorded in the annals of the five elements of the book of Jin. Gan Bao believes that these events are related to the success or failure of social politics and the gain or loss of personnel at that time. According to Gan Bao, the normality and strangeness of nature are the signs of human blame.

② On the causes of the rise and fall of the state

Gan Bao is good at discussing the changes of ancient and modern times from the development of historical situation. His "Jin Ji zonglun" and "Jin Wu revolution Lun" are historical theories that summarize the rise and fall of one or several generations, and give play to the author's historical views. According to Gan Bao, the main reason for the rise and fall of the Dynasty and the change of political power is not in personnel, not in the actions of the political figures themselves, but in the destiny, people's heart and fortune. Only when the actions of the political figures are in accordance with heaven, obedience and at any time, can they succeed. He believed that the long history of Zhou Dynasty was due to its broad foundation and deep roots, while the rapid decline of Jin Dynasty was due to its weak foundation.

③ Contribution to historical research and historical book writing

Gan Bao practiced the research method of "comparative history". His "Jin Ji zonglun" discussed the reasons for the rise and fall of the Western Jin Dynasty. By using the method of "comparison", he first compared the decline and rise period of the Western Jin Dynasty, and then compared the Jin Dynasty with the Zhou Dynasty, to explain why the Zhou Dynasty had a long history and why the Western Jin Dynasty quickly perished.

Gan Bao also discusses the "truth seeking" of historiography and the collection and application of historical materials. In his preface to Soushenji, he thinks that historians should be honest and faithful, but there are few historical events in the past. Even if they survive, there are many different opinions, or it is difficult to judge whether they pass on false information. So there are also limitations in being straightforward. The writing of history books is important to seek truth, but truth can only be relative. The implication is that even if it's weird, you can find some facts from it. No matter myths or legends, they all have social background, and they all have real historical "plain land".

literature

"Soushenji", written by Gan Bao, records a large number of legends from ancient times to the Han and Jin Dynasties. Many of these stories should have been collected by Gan Bao for a long time, covering a wide range and covering a wide range. From the royal family to the common people, they are all in their eyes. He does not simply copy legends, but carries out artistic processing on the basis of the collected materials, integrates the reality of life and the reality of art, makes these legends more typical and readable, and finally rises to the height of literary works.

In the Wei and Jin Dynasties, scholars and scholars became more interested in social things and all living beings, and their writing styles and genres became more active. As a new literary form, the notebook novel came into being, and Gan Bao was one of the main originators of this new literary form.

Because Gan Bao was an official, a historian and a "good historian", he should belong to the mainstream scholar of that era from the perspective of history. Besides, he wrote Jin Ji, annotated Zhouyi and Zhouguan, and made considerable achievements in learning. However, he did not stick to these achievements, and did not suppress his broad interests and talents because he took the right road of ruling; he did not want to follow the trend of poetry and Fu in literature, but created a new way of "Soushenji". It can be seen that the birth of Soushenji is closely related to the background of the times, as well as to Gan Bao's active thinking, unique temperament and wide interests.

In fact, the book is not limited to the theory of "Shinto". Many chapters break through the barriers of myth and folklore, reflecting the material and moral of recalling history and paying attention to society. Whether from the perspective of notes or from the perspective of Ghost Novels, Soushenji shows high value.

Some of the stories in Soushenji were widely spread at that time. For example, the story of Dong Yong, a filial son, was depicted in the Han Dynasty portraits. Such portraits were found in the Han Dynasty Tombs in Shandong, Henan, Jiangsu, Sichuan and many other places. The textual records of Dong Yong's story are mainly found in Soushenji. It's passed through Ganbao

Chinese PinYin : Gan Bao