Page:Eminent Chinese Of The Ch’ing Period - Hummel - 1943 - Vol. 1.pdf/467

Rh attracted by the literary gatherings in the latter's villa, Shui-hsi chuang 水西莊, that he proceeded no farther. Several months later he returned south. When Emperor Kao-tsung made his tour of South China in 1751, Li Ê and Wu Ch'êng 吳城 submitted to him two pieces of dramatic verse, entitled 迎鑾新曲 Ying-luan hsin-ch'ü, which they jointly composed for the occasion.

Several times Li Ê enjoyed the hospitality of the Ma brothers (see under ) of Yangchow, and at least the two following works were compiled primarily in the Ma family library: 宋詩紀事 Sung-shih chi-shih, in 100 chüan, anecdotes about poems of the Sung dynasty and their authors, of which Ma Yüeh-kuan is listed as co-compiler; and 遼史拾遺 Liao-shih shih-i, in 24 chüan, a supplement to the official history of the Liao dynasty (907–1211 A.D.). The former was first printed in 1746, the latter can be found in the Kuang-ya ts'ung-shu (see under ). Li Ê also wrote a biographical work on the court painters of the southern Sung period, entitled 南宋院畫錄 Nan-Sung yüan-hua lu, in 8 chüan, which is included in the Wu-lin chang-ku ts'ung-pien (see under ). His collected literary works, entitled 樊榭山房集 Fan-hsieh shan-fang chi, consisting of prose, poetry, tz'ŭ (詞), and ch'ü (曲), making a total of 40 chüan, were printed in 1884 by Wang Tsêng-wei (see under ). The Imperial Catalogue gives notice to eight of his works of which all but one were copied into the Ssŭ-k'u Manuscript Library (for both see under ). Li Ê was one of the prominent literary figures of his time, particularly in the field of poetry. His writing is characterized by originality, and by freedom from the standards set by and  in the preceding generation.

[1/490/2a; 3/434/35a; 4/141/3a; 20/2/00 (portrait); 31/5/5a; Hang-chou-fu chih (1922) 145/28b; Lu Ch'ien-chih 陸謙祉, 厲樊榭年譜 Li Fan-hsieh nien-p'u (1936).]

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LI Fu 李紱, Apr. 5, 1675–1750, official and scholar, was a native of Lin-ch'uan, Kiangsi, where his father who migrated from Shê-hsien, Anhwei, had settled after marrying into a family named Wu 吳. In his youth Li Fu was poor, and sometimes traveled hundreds of miles on foot to cities like Hui-chou (Anhwei) or Soochow in search of work. Despite these handicaps he managed to carry on with his studies. Fortunately he made the acquaintance of who gave him financial assistance. In 1708 Li Fu passed first in the provincial examination, and in the following year became a chin-shih. He was selected a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy and later became a compiler. In 1717 he was placed in charge of the provincial examination of Yunnan, and three years later held the same post in Chekiang. Early in 1719 he was sent to Canton to represent the Emperor in offering sacrifices to the "Gods of the South Seas" (南海之神). In 1720 he was made a sub-chancellor of the Grand Secretariat and early in the following year, vice-president of the Censorate. After serving as examiner in the metropolitan examination of 1721, he was accused of unfairness to students, and was deprived of his ranks and offices, but was given a chance to return to official life by being asked to aid in conservancy work of the Yung-ting River.

Early in 1723, soon after Emperor Shih-tsung ascended the throne, Li was summoned to Peking and appointed acting vice-president of the Board of Civil Office. In July of that year he was sent to Shantung and Kiangsu to speed up the shipment of grain which, as revenue, was annually transported by canal to Tungchow (east of Peking) where it was stored in granaries. In the later years of the K'ang-hsi reign-period this movement of grain was retarded through lack of water, and frequently boats had to winter in the vicinity of Tungchow and Tientsin. Even after the ice in the canal thawed, the boats were often delayed in returning to the south on account of the northward movement of grain for the ensuing year. Li Fu, who in the meantime was given the rank of junior vice-president of the Board of War, succeeded in remedying the difficulty. But fearing there would still not be sufficient time for the boats to return before the canal froze, he suggested that the grain should be stored in Tientsin instead of at Tungchow, thus shortening the distance to be traveled that year. Many officials at court regarded the plan as impractical, but Li volunteered to carry it out. The grain was held in Tientsin for the winter as projected, thus enabling the boats to return south before the canal froze. In the spring the grain was transported to Tungchow before the next fleet 455