Zhang Xuecheng (章学诚; 1738–1801) was a Chinese historian and philosopher during the Qing dynasty. His father and his grandfather had been government officials, but, although Zhang achieved the highest civil service examination degree in 1778, he never held high office. Zhang's ideas about the historical process were revolutionary in many ways and he became one of the most enlightened historical theorists of the Qing dynasty, but he spent much of his life in near poverty without the support of a patron and, in 1801, he died, poor and with few friends. It was not until the late 19th century that Chinese scholars began to accept the validity of Zhang's ideas.
His biographer, David Nivison, comments that while his countrymen did not think him a great literary artist, "the infrequent western reader will find his style often both moving and powerful." Zhang developed, Nivison continues, "an organic view of history and the state that approaches Hegelian thought, and then built this view upon and into a theory of culture that sometimes suggests Vico," the Italian philosopher.
His magnum opus, On Literature and History ( 文史通义), was published posthumously, in 1832. In Zhang's view, Confucianism developed over time in response to the concrete needs of the people for social organization. This developmental view contrasts with the view of the Neo-Confucians that Confucianism is the expression of timeless "principles" or "patterns" that are inherent in the human heart. Zhang's most famous quotation is that "the six classics are all history" ( 六经皆史). This means that the canonical texts of Confucianism are not to be understood as repositories of timeless wisdom, but as records of the actions and words of the sages in response to specific historical contexts.
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章学诚（1738年 - 1801年）。字
实斋，号
少岩，浙江会稽（今浙江绍兴）人，
清代史学家、思想家。
Read more...: 生平 家族 著作 评价
生平
学诚幼资椎鲁，体弱多病，日仅诵百馀言，好深思，隆冬盛夏读书常至午夜不倦。十四岁，随父至湖北，二十岁以后学业大进，好读史部之书。然而科举不顺，曾七应乡试，乾隆三十年，第三次乡试落榜，拜翰林院编修朱筠为师，朱筠告以「科举非君所长，不能学亦不足学」，筠藏书甚丰，得以纵览群籍。又得与邵晋涵、周永年、任大椿、洪亮吉、汪辉祖、黄景仁等交游。乾隆三十九年第六次应浙江乡试落第。乾隆四十二年（1777年）修《永清县志》，是年秋天乡试中举，乾隆四十三年（1778年）中进士。乾隆四十六年，至河南谋事，归途遇盗，携带所撰文稿荡然无存，日后写作必存副稿。曾官国子监典籍，主讲定州定武、保定莲池、归德文正等书院。乾隆五十三年（1788年），经周震荣介绍，入湖广总督毕沅幕府，协助编纂《续资治通鉴》等书，毕沅待之甚厚。五十五年，毕沅再邀为《湖北通志》总纂。嘉庆五年（1800年），贫病交迫，双目失明。次年十一月卒。葬山阴芳坞。
家族
父章镳是乾隆七年（1742年）进士，官湖北应城知县。
著作
章学诚一生精力都用于讲学、著述和编修方志。所著《文史通义》，与唐刘知几的《史通》并称史学理论名著。曾编纂《史籍考》，拟尽收古今史部书叙目凡例，总目达三百二十五卷，但书未完成，稿亦散失。所修方志，传世有和州、亳州、永清三志。曾主修《湖北通志》，现存遗稿数十篇。
章学诚一生颇自负，不与刘知几并称，他说：「郑樵有史识而未有史学，曾巩具史学而不具史法，刘知几得史法而不得史意，此余《文史通义》所为作也。」又在家书中说：「吾于史学，盖有天授。自信发凡起例，多为后世开山。而人乃拟吾于刘知几。」他主张「学为实事，而非为空言」，其见解「颇乖人好恶」，生前没没无闻，穷困潦倒。一直到死后，名字被人误写为「张学诚」，或「章石斋」。1920年，胡适受了日本学者内藤湖南出版的《章实斋先生年谱》的刺激，两年后以后出版了一本《章实斋先生年谱》，他表示︰「最可使我们惭愧的，是第一次作《章学诚年谱》的乃是一位外国学者。」
章学诚提出「道（理） 寓于器（事物）」命题，认为「道」是客观事物之规律，「求道」应根据对事物的实际考察。所提出「六经皆史」之说，主张治经以考证史料和发挥义理相结合，将治经引向治史，反映其解脱旧经学传统束缚学术趋向。论文注重内容，反对拟古和形式的倾向，批判了当时桐城派的流弊。其学说至清末始为人重视。1922年有《章氏遗书》刊行。仓修良称章为「浙东学派」的「殿军」。
章学诚相貌不佳，脸上有斑点、耳背，多少有点自卑，使得他的言论极具攻击性。例如汪中曾批评礼教对女性的约束，章学诚便说汪氏「黑白不分」。章学诚还批评袁枚「好色」，专收女弟子。
评价
• 梁启超在《清代学术概论》中称：「学诚不屑于考证之学，与正统派异。书中创见类此者不可悉数，实为晚清学者开拓心胸，非直史家之杰而已。」
• 钱基博对章学诚推崇备至，著《文史通义解题及其读法》，以发扬章学。
• 钱穆在《中国史学名著》表扬章氏：「他不站在史学立场来讲史学，而是站在整个的学术史立场来讲史学，这是我们应该特别注意的。也等于章实斋讲文学，他也并不是站在文学立场来讲文学，而是站在一个更大的学术立场来讲文学。这是章实斋之眼光卓特处。」
• 余英时认为：「刘知几决非章实斋之比。《史通》所能及的问题，始终未能迈出撰史体裁的范畴。」
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