Bi4 zhong1 shu1, the books from inside the wall?

[Dragonbones]

I’m looking for information on the veracity of the traditional story about 壁中書 – books found in the walls of homes in the Han4 dynasty, perhaps specifically the home of the descendants of Confucius himself. Specifically, what is the source of this story? What is the earliest book in which the story is recorded, and what are the details of that version? What do scholars now think of the story? (The more reliable and well-documented the source of info, the better.) Is it just a traditional tale, or is there documented evidence of such discoveries?

I should think someone must have done research on this, and am curious to learn more about it.

[sjcma]

There’s no reason to doubt the “books in the wall” account.

Look in the 尚書 (經) page in Wikipedia. I’ll quote a relevant passage here but the rest of the entry does go a bit more into detail about books in the wall:

尚書本是上古檔案資料的彙編，按《漢書·藝文志》的說法，孔子將其整理編纂，形成了有百篇的《尚書》。秦始皇焚書時，秦朝博士伏生（伏勝）將《尚書》藏於壁中，後兵禍大起，伏生流亡，重新安定下來時，發現所藏「亡數十篇」僅剩下了29篇（緯書說28篇）。後朝廷派遣晁錯去聽伏生（當時已九十多歲）講授，以當時使用及流通的官方文字隸書來紀錄，記錄下來的本子就稱為「今文尚書」。

In the 國學 website, there’s this article as well which talks about the hidden books (with references – click on 返回). Here’s a relevant passage:

建元五年（前136），汉武帝采纳董仲舒主张，罢黜百家，专立五经（《诗》、《书》、《礼》、《易》、《春秋》）博士。其中，《书》即晁错就学于伏生的今文《尚书》。大约在汉武帝即位后十余年之间，由于“书缺简脱，礼坏乐崩”，于是“建藏书之策，置写书之官，下及诸子传说，皆充秘府。”〔30〕孔壁本成为皇家“秘府”藏书（所谓“中秘本”），与此有直接关系。这是孔安国《书大序》提到的第一次献书：“悉上送官，藏之书府”，第二次在“承诏为五十九篇作传” 后：“既毕，会国有巫蛊事，经籍道息，用不复以闻，传之子孙，以贻后代。

[Dragonbones]

Thanks, mate!

[sjcma]

Finally catching up on your reading?

[Dragonbones]

Yeah, sadly, I’ve been neglecting the Culture & History area and somehow missed your reponse.