Page:Eminent Chinese Of The Ch’ing Period - Hummel - 1943 - Vol. 1.pdf/387

Rh dent of history; the fourth, Hung I-sun 洪齮孫 was a chü-jên of 1839. Two works by the former, entitled 三國職官表 San-kuo chih-kuan piao, 3 chüan, and 史目表 Shih-mu piao, 1 chüan, were first printed by in 1822; and one by the latter, entitled 補梁疆域志 Pu Liang chiang-yu chih, 4 chüan, was printed by Li in 1835.

Hung Liang-chi was respected as a calligrapher, particularly in the chuan (篆) and li (隸) styles. He was criticized by a contemporary,, as often dogmatic in his beliefs and statements on matters of scholarship.

[1/362/1a; 3/132/21a; 4/51/1a; 20/3/00 (portrait); 20/7/7b; Lü P'ei 呂培 et. al., 洪北江先生年譜 Hung Pei-chiang hsien-shêng nien-p'u; 武進陽湖合志 Wu-chin Yang-hu ho chih (1886) 22/34b; Lung, C. F., "A Note on Hung Liang-chi, the Chinese Malthus", in T'ien Hsia Monthly, Oct. 1935, pp. 248–50.]

2em

 HUNG Shêng 洪昇, 1646?–1704, dramatist and poet, was a native of Jên-ho (Hangchow), Chekiang. He married a granddaughter of the Grand Secretary,, and was a disciple of who dedicated a number of poems to him. Transferring his residence to the capital, he registered as a student in the Imperial Academy and while in Peking established friendly relations with and. His fame as a poet and playwright reached its culmination with the final release of his well-known drama, 長生殿 Ch'ang-shêng tien, about the year 1684—the preface of the first draft having been written in Hangchow in 1679. Several years later (1687–88) this play came to the attention of Emperor Shêng-tsu who praised it highly and made a gift of twenty taels to the performers. Thereafter its popularity grew and it was frequently acted in the houses of nobles and high officials. The Ch'ang-shêng tien is a sympathetic treatment of the well-known romance of Yang Kuei-fei and Emperor Ming-huang of the T'ang dynasty, and is based in part on earlier treatments of the same theme, such as the 長恨歌傳 Chang-hên ko chuan by Chên Hung 陳鴻 (eighth century); the famous poem, 長恨歌 Ch'ang-hên ko ("The Everlasting Wrong"), by Po Chü-i (see under ); the thirteenth century play, 梧桐雨 Wu-t'ung yü, by Po P'u 白樸 ; and two plays of the Ming dynasty. One of the greatest lyric dramas of China, the Ch'ang-shêng tien is still widely read and chanted, and after the lapse of two and a half centuries has lost none of its charm. Old melodies for many of the scenes were printed in 1924 in the third series of the 集成曲譜 Chi-ch'êng ch'ü-p'u.

In the autumn of 1689 a group of actors staged an extraordinary performance of the Ch'ang-shêng tien in the author's honor. Unfortunately the performance took place within the period of mourning set for a deceased female member of the imperial family—possibly Empress Hsiao-i (see under ) who died on August 24. In consequence of this breach of decorum Hung Shêng and a fellow-student,, were dismissed from the Academy; and Chao Chih-hsin, who composed some of the melodies and was a guest at the performance, was removed from office. Hung Shêng spent his remaining days in retirement and poverty, but it is known that he was with in Hangchow in 1695 when the latter wrote a preface to the Ch'ang-shêng tien. He drowned in a stream near Hangchow in 1704, having fallen overboard, it is said, when drunk. Hung Shêng is credited with 10 plays, the most famous (after the Ch'ang-shêng tien) being the 四嬋娟 Ssŭ ch'an-chüan. His collected poems were entitled 稗畦集 Pai-ch'i chi and Pai-ch'i hsü (續) chi. A daughter, Hung Chih-tsê 洪之則 (b. 1670), herself a poet of some note, wrote annotations to the Ch'ang-shêng tien.

[2/71/15a; 3/430/46a; 17/10/60b; Hung Chih-tsê, 讀三婦評牡丹亭書後 in Chao-lai ts'ung-shu 166/18b;, Yü-yang hsü-chi 10/15a, 丁巳稿 Ting-ssǔ kao (1677) for approximate date of birth; ibid., Hsiang-tsu pi-chi 9/12b; , P'u-shu-t'ing chi 20/9a; Wang Ying-k'uei 王應奎, 柳南隨筆 Liu-nan sui-pi 6/24b; Tung-hua lu: K'ang-hsi 28:7; , Chü-shuo 4/4a for date of completion of Ch'ang-shêng tien; 北京梨園掌故長編 Pei-ching li-yuan chang-ku ch'ang-pien /17a (in 清代燕都梨園史料 Ch'ing-tai Yen-tu li-yüan shih-liao, 1934).]

2em

HÛRHAN, 扈爾漢, 1576–1623, Nov. 13, belonged to the branch of the Tunggiya 佟佳 clan which settled at Yarhû 雅爾古. His father, Hûlahû 扈喇虎, after a disagreement with other members of the clan, came to join  375