Basic meaning of quasi-book

The so-called category book is a kind of reference book, which collects the information of various categories or a certain category, sorts it according to the category, and makes it easy to find and quote.

The genre of "quasi-book" is quite special. It is mentioned in the preface of the catalogue of Sikuquanshu: "There are four quasi-books, which are not non-historical and non-subsets, and there is no classification within the four books." The summary of Sikuquanshu only follows the old habit of Sui Shu Jingji Zhi, and classifies the quasi-books into volumes. In other words, "quasi-book" is neither a classic nor a history book, nor a sub-book, nor a collection of books.

The ancients divided their works into four parts: classics, history, philosophy and collection. A book "is neither a classic nor a history, nor a volume nor an anthology" ("The Preface of the Sikuquanshu") is not a work. What is a book? What is the relationship between books and four books? For thousands of years, there have been different opinions. Looking at the full text, there are nothing more than the following cognitive orientations. One is the same relationship: for example, li yanshou and Wei Zhi's Annals of Sui Shu Classics classify books into miscellaneous categories; Secondly, there is a parallel relationship: in the Song Dynasty, Zheng Qiao's Tongzhi divided ancient and modern books into twelve categories without the old classification of classics, history, books and collections, and generic books were one of them; In the Ming Dynasty, Hu Yinglin advocated that such books should be excluded from the "Four Books" and classified as Buddhist scriptures, Taoist scriptures and pseudo-ancient books. Classic Records of Old Tang Books in the Late Jin Dynasty separated genre books from miscellaneous categories and marked them as "genre things". Ouyang Xiu and others inherited the Book of the New Tang Dynasty and changed it into a genre book in the Song Dynasty. Third, affiliation: For example, in Ming Dynasty, Eric Lam believed that there were books of classics, history, zi and Ji, with the Five Classics and the Nine Classics as classics, and Tongdian and Yao Hui as history books. Take Six Branches of Bai Family, Notes for Beginners and Literature and Art as volumes; Take,, Tang, and as books; Zhang Qing Xuecheng advocated that books should be attached to classics, history, books and collections according to their different contents, such as the general examination of documents, which he thought should be attached to the history department.

The above cognitive tendency leads to many questions and academic disputes. The Summary of Sikuquanshu criticizes Hu Yinglin's classification as "doing nothing, doing nothing"; The Bibliographic Questions and Answers edited by Zhang Zhidong in Qing Dynasty holds that "this kind of books are not children" and "this kind of books is the most convenient for readers, because it is a great achievement to search for more books. If they want to read more ancient books, they must buy books from this group. There are classics, history, philosophy and collections, so it is difficult to transfer to four departments, so it is not a class. The course books and series books are behind the master department and the library department respectively. British scholars take Yongle Dadian as an example, and consider genre books as an encyclopedia of ancient China. Classic Notes published by 1980 pointed out that "the classification of He and Zhang Xuecheng reflects the lack of clear classical concepts in the past" and praised Zheng and Hu for belittling Lin and Zhang's views, but these views are unreasonable. Journal of academic libraries published "Types and Classification of Genus Books" in the 4th issue in 2002. Although it also pays attention to the instrumental nature of class books, it does not give a clear definition of class books. What is more regrettable is that the author also confuses the classification of generic books and the dispute over the classification of generic books, which makes the study of generic books fall into a misunderstanding.

"Introduction to Classic Classics" criticizes that all the books listed, except "White Post", are not excellent books, saying, "What is an excellent book? We haven't given him a scientific definition. Therefore, they belong to the same book and are considered to be a kind of book, while others think that they are not, different from each other and have different opinions. " Then, for example, the First Draft of yenching university Library Catalogue compiled by Siyu Deng in 1930s divides the books into ten categories (category, allusion, natural history, canon, name, compilation, similarity and difference, warning, enlightenment and common sense). It is considered that this classification avoids the controversy of being divided into four categories, and the categories are divided in detail. In order to make the concept of generic books clear and distinctive, it is advocated to classify generic books into two categories: (1) general generic books that compile various materials and are authentic; (2) A specialized book that compiles only one kind of content is another kind of book.

Twenty-two years later, the article "Types and Classification of Classics" repeated the old practice;

This paper affirms Eric Lam's handling of the books of the Ming Dynasty, but unconsciously confuses the dispute over the family and the division of the books of the Ming Dynasty, which is even more beside the point. The author lists the types of books in the bibliography of past dynasties with a large number of words, lamenting that the description is complicated, wrong and incomplete; It also focuses on the classification of books in the first draft of yenching university Library Catalogue: Book Department. I put forward my own ideas and divided books into three types: general books, general books and general books. The author suddenly felt confused: "As can be seen from the above types of books, the contents of books are varied and everything is available. It is a troublesome thing to distinguish the types of books according to their content characteristics. If we look carefully at ancient books, such as Buddhism, Taoism, agronomy and medicine, we will find more different books. "

The above discussion fails to grasp the characteristics of books. Although generic books can be divided into compiled and thematic categories, the theories of "authentic" and "different styles" are unreasonable and the classification is "unclear". The types and classifications of books are essentially classifications, but the classification levels are different, so there is no need to be unique. To make matters worse, both discussions avoided the dispute over the return of the Ministry and went astray.

The author thinks that attribution is a dispute between concept connotation and essential attribute, which is helpful to the theoretical construction of philology and has high academic value; Classifying category books is a logical method to reveal the extension of concepts, which is an unnecessary dispute, because each attribute can be used as a classification standard, and the classification results are different with different standards and levels. Besides, all kinds of books are their own kind; Even if we want to divide types, we should follow the division rules of formal logic. Classification is a logical method, and subitems are only linguistic expressions. The sub-items divided according to certain standards should be completely different and incompatible, and the concept of cross-relationship cannot be used side by side. People are used to judging books by their specious "patterns". In fact, the established pattern of books does not exist. This is also one of the reasons why they are different, different and controversial. There are not only differences between generic books and generic books; There are generic words (Erya), generic words (etymology), generic language (essence of old saying) and generic books (series). In the rapid development of information dissemination in the network era, it is necessary for us to re-examine and define the essential attributes and functions of books, which are described as follows.

Books, nouns, their word formation is verb-object type; Class, which means similarity, similarity and classification, is used flexibly as a verb. The so-called quasi-book, that is, the document information compiled from similar and related materials, is defined by logical principles. Zhunshu is a reference book for collecting and compiling similar materials, collecting, retrieving and disseminating original documents. The relationship between books and works is as follows: (omitted)

The author thinks that this kind of books has three functions: storing the original works for reference, drawing an outline for engine retrieval, and classifying and spreading. Try to take the paper in Volume 58 of Zawen Bu, a book compiled by the Tang Dynasty, as evidence;

History of the East View of Hanshu says: Cai Lun, Huangmen, made paper at the top of the standard, so-called Cai Hou paper. "Dongba Ji" says: Tokyo has Cai Hou paper, that is, Lun Ye. Therefore, it is called hemp paper, wood veneer and name paper, so the mesh paper is also. "Three Auxiliary Records" said: Dan Wei played, and Cai Yong boasted that he could combine good methods with good methods, so he didn't write in vain. If a husband wants to do a good job, he must sharpen his tools first. Zhang Zhi's pen, Bo Gu's paper, and Chen Hei are all ancient methods, and they are all three talents, and they can be perfect and speak freely. The Book of Jin said: When Chen Shou died, he wrote a letter to Henan, sent a pen and paper to Shoumen, and wrote "National Records". The Old Story of Zhu Gong said: At the beginning of the worship, the Crown Prince gave 100 pieces of red paper, light red paper, hemp paper, paper and French paper. "Bao Puzi" said: Hong Jia was poor, and he sold paper and pens at a reduced salary. Gardening during the day and writing books by firewood at night. Because of this, you should not dabble in art and literature too early, you are often short of paper. Everything you write is repetitive, and few people can understand it. "The Scholars" said: Yang Xiu is a master of Wei Wu. He knew that there must be repeated instruction to taste white things, and he was ready to answer questions and follow instructions. The defender said, "Every time I teach you something, I will repeat it. If you file a case, my brother will answer it. " It's windy, and it's messy to blow paper, which is wrong. Public anger pushes questions, repairs shame and fears, and answers truthfully. "Yang Jinqiu" said: Li Kasi was the secretariat of Jingzhou. Every time he made a fortune, he wrote in calligraphy about the county and the country. Ding Ning's brushwork was dense and he didn't like it. He turned his head upside down and said, "One public book is worth ten books." "Yu Lin" said: Wang Youjun is in the process of deliberation, thanking Gong for stationery. There are 90 thousand documents in the proofreading library, and I am grateful to him. Shen Yue's Song Shu says: Zhang Yongshan is a skilled calligrapher. Paper and ink are self-created, and everyone in the world can always express enlightenment, and he needs to play with advice and sigh for emperors and princes. [Fu] Jin Fuxian's "Paper Fu" said: If there is quality in the world, there will be gains and losses. Therefore, the ceremony changes at any time, while the utensils and things are easy. It is not only a contract to replace the rope, but also a paper-making policy. Husband is a thing, beauty is precious. Honesty is the rule, cleanliness is the truth. It contains Zhang Yunzao, which is really gentle. Take the disadvantages of others and make them new. It's comfortable to take it, and it's rolled up when you give it up. Flexibility and extensibility, quietness and expressiveness. [Rev.] Liu Liang's "Gong Zhi Qi" said: I am ashamed of being holy, and God is rushing like Lu; The city's fortresses are especially unprotected by birds. It is very difficult to attack the weak and threaten the dead; Meritorious reward, because it is too long. Despite the phoenix incident in the temple, Xie Guangming is like a fishing net in the Han Dynasty, a peach blossom in Pinghuai and a tree in Gonggu.

This passage lists the legends about papermaking in Cai Lun, the stories about paper by Dan Wei, Chen Shou, Ge Hong and Yang Xiu, and the articles by Fu Wei and Liu Xiaowei, and records various materials of paper together, which is similar to the setting of web pages and similar web pages on the Internet and the links to related articles. Judging from the citation order, it is similar to the retrieval order of relevant information databases, such as the Complete Collection of Laws and Regulations of China -WTO Legal Document Database-Provisional Rules on Anti-dumping and Tax Refund. However, the relevance of information hinders people's sight. For example, when we type "keywords" to find relevant information, the display screen will flash the information page we need. Open it, consume it, continue to click on similar web pages, or open related links attached to it, or consult information, just the proportion of the relevance of the information content we need to find. Usually some websites will mark percentages between information pages. There is also the relevance of the book, which is one of the reasons why the predecessors confused the concept, specious, and gave up the book. Knowing the problem of information relevance, it seems that we should not go back to the maze. There are countless ancient documents and books in China, all of which are photos with a long history of civilization. Among these voluminous books, there is a bright pearl, which is called Taiping Magnolia, the crown of books in China. Magnolia at Peace was compiled by Li Fang, Hu Meng and others in March of the second year of the Northern Song Dynasty (AD 977). The emperor at that time was Song Taizong Zhao Guangyi. Due to the stability of the regime and the initial prosperity of the economy, he made some efforts to improve peace in order to stabilize the people's hearts. In the name of advocating cultural rule, there are official book revision actions. After Taiping Yulan, there are Taiping Guangji, Wenyuan Huaying and Yuan Gui compiled by his son during the reign of Zhao Huan, which are collectively called the "Four Great Books of Song Hui", especially. Originally known as Taiping General Category, after the book was written, the emperor read three volumes every day, and finished it one year later, giving it the name "Taiping Magnolia". This is an encyclopedia with a wide range of knowledge. Class books are a kind of traditional reference books in China. They selectively extract historical allusions, people's names and things, poems and articles, and love phrases from ancient books, and then combine them in different categories for retrieval and citation. Books are divided into comprehensive and professional, mainly depending on the scope of materials. Magnolia Taiping is a comprehensive book. This book has 1000 volumes, divided into 55 parts, which means that "the number of heaven and earth, fifty has five" in the Book of Changes. The book copied and quoted hundreds of historical sayings from ancient times to Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties, arranged in chronological order. List the title first, then record the original text. There are more than 1000 kinds of books cited, including 100 kinds of biographies of Han people and 200 kinds of local chronicles, which are various and widely cited, and are called "unprecedented" in the category of books, so they are called "the crown of books". Moreover, nine times out of ten books quoted in Magnolia have been lost, so the learning skills are very valuable and have always been cherished by people.

A kind of book is a reference book compiled from relevant materials in various books and arranged in different categories, which has the nature of an encyclopedia. The arrangement methods of ancient books are not very scientific, but they are all arranged by rhyme. However, such books are still very useful, such as finding out the causes of ancient social things, the evolution of laws and regulations, the rise and fall of characters, anecdotes, and can also be used to revise ancient books.

There are more than 600 kinds of books compiled in past dynasties, and most of them have been lost. About 200 species survived for about 20 10 years. According to the scope of information, it can be roughly divided into two types: comprehensive books and specialized books. Today, I will introduce the most important of them as follows: ancient books are closely related to classics, history, books and collections, and their instrumental and encyclopedic characteristics are very obvious, and they are by no means "miscellaneous books". Eric Lam's understanding of the relationship between books of the Ming Dynasty and classics, history, Confucianism and discipline is a correct understanding of that era. Tang, Han, and E pointed out in their preface to "Sui Li" that "it is not difficult to imagine how seriously the ancestors in the non-electronic era studied knowledge and how much they relied on that kind of book." No wonder there are more than 1 100 kinds of China ancient books in the rare books collection. This is not a "rare phenomenon" in the cultural history of China, but an inevitable "universal phenomenon".

Classics are not the patent of the ancients, and there is no established model; With the progress of the times, the broadening of cognitive horizons and the change of information carriers, the connotation and extension of the quasi-book are constantly enriched and extended. Broadly speaking, it goes without saying that dictionaries, series, Chinese Library Classification and related literature databases should not be regarded as books. All previous books on narrow sense are inconclusive. We can understand ancient books as a "database" of similar information in the non-electronic era. It must be pointed out that the changes of information carriers (armor, bone, metal, stone, bamboo, wood, silk, paper and computer) and the changes of "writing" methods (engraving, engraving, writing, printing and inputting) cannot be used as the basis for distinguishing books from works; Derivation, collection and instrumentality are the most fundamental attributes of books, from which we can see the historical changes and connections of cultural communication.

Some people complained that "the study of ancient bibliography in China, whether in value orientation, concept category or expression depth, failed to surpass the level of the early 20th century, failed to meet the expectations of contemporary culture, failed to constitute a modern discipline in a strict sense", "failed to provide unique meaning creation, but was left out by contemporary culture", and prescribed a prescription: "The academic concepts and thinking orientations of predecessors can no longer be used, and the modern turn of research language must be completed". In order to get rid of the "declining trend" of ancient bibliography and restore the "prominent position" of "students attach importance to Chinese studies" (journal of library science, No.6, 2002). The author's ignorance of this topic coincides with the above remarks.