Earlier, we introduced you to the collection of philosophical transactions of the Royal Society, which was founded in 1665, and the French journal Journal des Scavans, also founded in 1665, is the world's earliest recognized academic journal with the same name as the Philosophical Society.
Which is the earliest academic journal in China is quite controversial in the academic community. Some people think that the Chinese Monthly Magazine, founded in 1815, is the world's first Chinese journal, and the Chinese Foreign Magazine, founded in 1833, is the first Chinese journal founded in China, both of which were founded by foreign missionaries. Some scholars have put forward another view, believing that the "Wu Yihui Lecture" published in the year of Qianlong Nonzi (1792) is the earliest Chinese journal in China and the earliest academic journal in China.
Today we will introduce you to some special features of "Wu Yihui Lecture".
1. Editor-in-chief and responsible editor
The editor-in-chief is Tang Da lie (?) –1801), a native of Changzhou County,Suzhou Prefecture (present-day Wujiang), was a Qing Dynasty Xiucai. He is a famous doctor in Jiangnan, Jiaqingjian, Qianlong, with rich clinical experience and theoretical knowledge of traditional Chinese medicine, and is diligent in writing. Tang Daren believes that due to the poor communication channels in the Chinese medicine community, it is difficult for the medical skills and knowledge of doctors to be promoted and mutually enhanced, so he took time to collect manuscripts of famous doctors while hanging the pot. He said that "the old knowledge and the excellent works sent by the princes" and "will read them repeatedly, and then discuss the two or three old friends, and the examination is perfect, and the party will be paid", so that each volume of the "Wu Yihui Lectures" has a "responsible editor" for proofreading.
Second, a clear purpose and a fixed style
Determine the professional direction of its "medical discipline", pay attention to academic innovation, and advocate academic controversy. In the example, it is mentioned that "all the good stories of the medical profession, which have not been issued before, can benefit others and learn, all of them are included", and are inclusive, for "each person's tendency is different", then "Gou can understand the same reason, may wish to say both at the same time". It has a fixed style of compilation, and after each article, the author's name, secret number, place of origin, residence, etc. are listed. At the beginning or end of many articles, there is a "sentence" from the compiler, or an explanation of the origin of the article, or a brief evaluation, or an indication of the intention to publish.
3. Continuous publication with volumes
In its example, the "Call for Papers" mentions that its publication procedures are "engraved on demand", "unlimited volumes", and "updated at any time", that is, once the length and word count can be combined into one volume, they can be engraved and bound into a book and publicly listed. In the past 10 years, a total of 11 volumes have been published, and there are consecutive volume numbers, and there is still a certain internal continuity in the content of each volume, for example, Tang Daren's own articles have the form of serialization, "first engraving" in volume TWO, "continuation" in volume VII, and "re-continuation" and "four continuations".
Fourth, the sources of manuscripts are diversified
It includes a total of 96 medical treatises distributed in Changzhou, Wuxi, Changshu, Taicang and other 41 doctors, as well as 15 articles by Tang Daren, the editor-in-chief, including topics such as experience exchange, medical book reviews, medical knowledge and even medical diary records.
Based on these, we can see that "Wu Yihui Lectures" does have some elements of modern academic journals, but whether it is the final engraving and publication or the continuous printing and dissemination of periodicals is the main point of controversy. Regular or irregular continuous publication of academic journals is a model in the history of Western printing and communication, in fact, in traditional Chinese scholarship, series of books, serials, etc. also have similarities, "Wu Yihui Lectures" can be regarded as China's first academic journal. However, through the "Wu Yihui Lecture", we can see that in China's traditional scholarship, it is also about innovation and exchange, which has changed the previous mode of oral transmission and mentoring, using books as the carrier to record and continuously update and disseminate, making contributions to the academic exchanges in the medical field and preserving a large number of precious reference materials.
The collection of Qianlong Fifty-seventh Year (1792) and Jiaqing Yuannian (1796) supplementary engraving of the two versions of "Wu Yihui Lecture", if interested readers, you can log on to the WeChat public account of Zhongke Zhihui, click "Service", "Ancient Book Appointment", fill in the appointment application form. Or visit the link below directly to fill out your appointment request:
http://51qiangda.cn/forms/4c6a2935b3e57c5319000046
bibliography:
1、 Yao Yuan, Chen Haoyuan. Wu Yihui Lectures: China's first Chinese journal. Journal of The Editors, 2015(4):307-309.
2. Qian Ronggui. "Wu Yihui Lecture" can be called "the first journal in China",Editorial Journal,2004(3):50-53.
3. Shen Min, Zhuang Jingchun, Jiang Wanjie. Is Wu Yihui Lecture a journal?.China Publishing,2010(13):53-55.