Page:Eminent Chinese Of The Ch’ing Period - Hummel - 1943 - Vol. 1.pdf/176

Rh at Ch'ang-chou (1856–57) and then at Huai-yin (1857–59). In 1859 he went to Hangchow to take the provincial examination, but failed. A year later, when the Taipings expanded their territory in Kiangsu, he fled to Shanghai. In 1861 he went to Kwangtung where he remained for six years, working as a secretary in the magistrate's office at Kao-ming and then in the prefect's office at Ch'ao-chou. He returned to Kiangsu in 1867 and a year later went to Nanking where he lived for some time. Thereafter he resided in Ningpo, Shanghai, and other cities. He died in Shanghai.

The eventful life of Chin Ho is richly recorded in his poems which he jokingly called his 'diary'. Unfortunately many of his poems were destroyed. A collection of his verse was first printed in 1892, seven years after his death, under the title 來雲閣詩稿 Lai-yün ko shih-kao, 6 chüan. In 1914 the collection was re-edited and printed under the title 秋蟪吟館詩鈔 Ch'iu-hui yin-kuan shih ch'ao, 8 chüan, including 1 chüan of tz'ŭ and 1 of prose. In recent years the poems of Chin Ho have become popular owing to the fact that they reveal his experiences and his attitudes during the Taiping Rebellion. The 1869 edition of the famous novel, Ju-lin wai-shih (see under ), has a postscript by Chin, giving important data relative to the novel and its author.

[1/498/3a; 6/51/6b; 胡適文存 Hu Shih wên-ts'un, second series, pp. 106–12.]

2em

CHIN Jên-jui 金人瑞, d. Aug. 7, 1661, writer and humorist, was a native of Wu-hsien (Soochow). He is commonly known by his tzŭ as Chin Shêng-t'an. He was referred to by as "my pupil, Chin Ts'ai" (金采) and by some other writers as Chin K'uei 金喟. Statements to the effect that he was also known as Chang Ts'ai 張采 seem to be incorrect, being apparently due to a confusion with a contemporary of that name (see under ).

Chin Jên-jui was born toward the close of the Wan-li period, probably about 1610. He passed his childhood in poverty and loneliness, but when he was about ten sui he showed unusual aptitude in his studies and in the interpretation of the Classics. He liked best, however, to read novels and dramas, and this fondness increased as he grew older. He obtained a hsiu-ts'ai degree, but often ridiculed his fellow hsiu-ts'ai for their commonplace aims and their lack of aesthetic appreciation. Spending freely what money he had, he was often in straitened circumstances. Nevertheless, he had a few devoted friends whose views were similar to his, and with these he was fond of holding lengthy conversations. He liked to read Buddhist literature, and therefore cultivated friendship with some learned priests.

The career of Chin Jên-jui can be understood only in the light of the social and political background of his day. The land was overrun with bandits, the literati spent their energies in the formation of rival factions (see under ), and the dynasty was losing its sovereignty through the Manchu invasion. Consequently Chin Jên-jui attacked the oppressive measures of the government and even advocated rebellion on the part of the people who were pressed beyond endurance. For him the novel and the drama portrayed best the hollowness of obsolete conventions and taboos, and it is for this reason that he valued the 水滸 Shui-hu and the 西廂記 Hsi-hsiang chi as the outstanding specimens of the novel and the drama, respectively, in his day. In the Shui-hu the sympathy of the writer was obviously with the poor peasants who were forced by oppressive officials to unite and become bands of robbers. In the Hsi-hsiang chi we have an attractive love story in which the ordinary conventions are indirectly criticized, and the elemental passions are unreservedly portrayed. For these reasons Chin compared the former to the Spring and Autumn Annals and the latter to the Book of Odes. It is not surprising, therefore, that his notes and commentaries to both of these works became very popular. For the same reasons he praised the ancient works: 離騷 Li-sao ("An Elegy on Encountering Sorrows"); 南華 Nan-hua (the writings of Chuang-tzŭ); 史記 Shih-chi ("Historical Record"); and 杜詩 Tu-shih ("The Poems of Tu Fu", the T'ang poet). To these four works and to the above-mentioned Shui-hu and Hsi-hsiang chi, he gave the collective name, 才子書 Ts'ai-tzŭ shu ("Works by and for Men of Genius"), ranking the six in the order here given. Consequently these works are sometimes still referred to, not by the titles commonly assigned to them, but by the order in which Chin classified them. Thus the drama Hsi-hsiang chi is referred to as the 六才子書 Liu ts'ai-tzŭ shu, "The Sixth of the Works by and for Men of Genius". Chin's commentaries to the Shui-hu were written about 1641 and were printed in 1644 by Han 164