Biography of Wang Anshi

Name: Biography of Wang Anshi
ISBN: 9787506033930

Liang QichaoOriental Press2009

4.2

Word count: 300K words
Chapters: 25
ISBN: 9787506033930

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Summary

Biography of Wang Anshi (originally titled Wang Jinggong) is a critical biography of the Northern Song politician and reformer Wang Anshi written by Liang Qichao, and a representative work of the twentieth-century rehabilitation of Wang Anshi and his New Policies. Taking "expounding Jinggong's statecraft as the first principle," the book first discusses the mid-Northern Song situation in which Wang Anshi lived: impoverished and weak finances, the plight of redundant officials and soldiers, and the scholar-officials' habit of discussing state affairs. It then narrates Wang Anshi's trajectory from local official to assistant administrator, his sovereign-minister rapport with Emperor Shenzong of Song, and the design intentions and implementation of a series of New Policies—the Green Sprouts, Ever-Normal, Market Exchange, Corvée Exemption, Village Defense, and Square-Field Equal Tax measures. Liang Qichao organizes the New Policy provisions by civil administration and finance, military affairs, and education and selection, weighing the merits and defects of each, and devotes special chapters to Wang Anshi's military campaigns in the northwest, his administration of Xihe, and his state of mind in old age after being dismissed as chancellor and retiring to Jinling. The book also includes topical discussions of Wang Anshi's appointments and friendships, family life, scholarship (the New Learning and the New Commentary on the Three Classics), and literary achievements, as well as the artistic features of his poetry, prose, and ci. In writing, Liang Qichao cites historical sources extensively beyond the History of Song, correcting point by point the History's disparagements of Wang Anshi in a separate "Textual Criticism," and "often compares with modern European and American politics," using Wang Anshi to express his own constitutional ideals; the biography is thus both a work of historiography and a confession of a modern reformer.

Editor's review

读王安石，绕不开梁启超这部传。它不是冷静旁观的现代学术传记，而是一位改革者隔着八百年为另一位改革者辩护：梁任公写青苗、免役、市易，笔端常带自己的立宪关怀，读来能感到两代人对“变法为何难成”的共同焦虑。本书的价值有三：一是史料工夫扎实，作者不满《宋史》成于反对党之手，广引宋人笔记、文集与政书，对污蔑之词一一辨析，另立考异；二是结构宏阔，从时代大势、君臣关系、新法条文到学术文学、家庭交友，几乎把王安石还原为一个立体的“人”，而非一张变法的标签；三是文笔可观，梁氏特有的酣畅议论与排比铺陈，使一部百年前的评传至今仍有翻读的兴味。当然，书中为荆公回护之处也时有用力过猛，读者不妨带着辨析的眼光去读。在这个意义上，它既是一部传记，也是一份思想史文献：看王安石，也看梁启超那一代人如何借古人回答自己的时代之问。

Who it's for

A good fit for

对北宋政治史与王安石变法感兴趣的普通历史读者
想了解梁启超史学与传记写作的思想史爱好者
需要为论文或书评寻找经典评价框架的学生与研究者
喜欢带有强烈议论风格的经典评传的读者

Not a good fit for

期待通俗故事化叙事、情节化人物刻画的读者
初学文言、阅读宋人引文较吃力的读者
只想看新法条文清单、不关心作者议论的实务型读者

Reading tips

可先读第四章略传与第八章“荆公与神宗”，把握人物主线，再回头读时代背景两章。
读新法各章时随手对照青苗、免役、市易等条目做笔记，理清财、军、教三条线索。
留意作者“以欧美政治比较之”的段落，区分史料叙述与梁启超本人的立宪主张。
有争议处可配合其他王安石研究或《宋史》原文对读，形成自己的判断。

About the publisher

Oriental Press China · Founded in 1986

Founded in 1986, Oriental Press focuses on books in economics and management, inspirational reading, the humanities and social sciences, and lifestyle. Its library of 136 titles spans documentary literature, biography, history, cultural studies, world history and classic works. Representative books include Cao Jinqing's China Along the Yellow River, firsthand accounts of Auschwitz by Maya Lee, Magda Hellinger and others, and Liang Qichao's Scholarly History of China over the Past Three Centuries, Li Jianguo's Chinese Fox Culture and Ma Yong's Zhang Taiyan: A Biography. Its authors include Chinese and international scholars and writers such as Cao Jinqing, Liang Qichao, Li Jianguo, Ma Yong and David Brewster. The list combines academic and cultural works with documentary and biographical titles, and pays attention to collated editions and other forms of textual scholarship. Public information on other publishing activities is limited.

Explanatory Notes
Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 2 The Age of Jinggong (Part 1)
Chapter 3 The Age of Jinggong (Part 2)
Chapter 4 A Brief Biography of Jinggong
Chapter 5 Jinggong Before Holding Office (Part 1)
Chapter 6 Jinggong Before Holding Office (Part 2)
Chapter 7 Jinggong Before Holding Office (Part 3)
Chapter 8 Jinggong and Shenzong
Chapter 9 Jinggong's Statecraft (1): General Discussion
Chapter 10 Jinggong's Statecraft (2): Civil Administration and Finance
Chapter 11 Jinggong's Statecraft (3): Military Affairs
Chapter 12 Jinggong's Statecraft (4): Education and Selection
Chapter 13 Jinggong's Military Achievements
Chapter 14 Jinggong After Leaving Office
Chapter 15 The Achievements of the New Policies
Chapter 16 Obstruction and Destruction of the New Policies (Part 1)
Chapter 17 Obstruction and Destruction of the New Policies (Part 2)
Chapter 18 Jinggong's Appointments and Friendships
Chapter 19 Jinggong's Family
Chapter 20 Jinggong's Scholarship
Chapter 21 Jinggong's Literature (Part 1): Prose
Chapter 22 Jinggong's Literature (Part 2): Poetry and Ci
Appendix: Chronological Biography of Wang Jinggong
Afterword

FAQ

这本书和《王荆公》是同一本书吗？

是。梁启超原作题为《王荆公》，后多以《王安石传》为书名出版。全书二十二章加附录《王荆公年谱》，内容一致，只是不同出版社的章节标题和附录略有增删。

这本书立场客观吗？

不算中立。梁启超明确要为王安石翻案，对《宋史》贬抑之处多所辨正，并借新法谈自己的立宪理想。史实引证丰富，但评价带有明显倾向，宜与其他研究对读。

没有古文基础能读吗？

可以读，但书中大量引录宋人文集、奏议与笔记，未加白话翻译，文言底子弱的读者可能需要借助注释本或先读绪论、略传等议论较连贯的章节。

哪个版本比较好？

东方出版社“名人名传系列”本较通行，收有附录年谱；上海人民出版社、百花文艺出版社等版本内容相近。选购时以是否含《王荆公年谱》与考异为参考即可。

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About the author

Liang Qichao Author · China · 1873–1929

Liang Qichao, courtesy name Zhuoru and pseudonym Rengong, was a native of Xinhui, Guangdong. He was a thinker, politician, historian, and man of letters of the late Qing and early Republican periods, and one of the leaders of the Hundred Days' Reform. He founded the newspapers Shiwu bao and Xinmin congbao, and advocated the "revolution in poetry" and the "revolution in fiction," exerting a profound influence on intellectual enlightenment and literary reform. In his later years he served as a tutor at the Tsinghua Institute of Chinese Studies, continuing academic research and teaching. The library holds 131 of his works, spanning categories such as examinations, comprehensive biography, classic works, historical reading, and Eastern philosophy. Representative works include A History of Chinese Scholarship in the Last Three Hundred Years, The Biography of Li Hongzhang, An Introduction to Qing Dynasty Scholarship, The New Citizen, and the supplemented collection of writings outside the Yinbingshi Collected Works. His writings cross history, philosophy, and political commentary; his prose is vigorous and fluent, his reasoning clear, and his work combines scholarly weight with strong appeal, making it important material for understanding the intellectual transformation of modern China.