Page:Eminent Chinese Of The Ch’ing Period - Hummel - 1943 - Vol. 1.pdf/530

 first twenty chapters were later issued in book form with a preface by the author, dated 1906. It has become one of the most popular novels of China. A supplement in 6 chapters appeared in 1935, under the title Lao-ts'an yu-chi, êr-chi 二集; Lin Yutang's translation (1936) is enentitled A Nun of Taishan. Aside from being a masterpiece, the Lao-ts'an yu-chi reflects the humane ideals of the author who almost explicitly attacks certain officials for subjecting innocent people to cruel torture. Among the officials so singled out was Yü-hsien (see under ), the anti-foreign sponsor of the Boxers, who in his day was praised as able and incorruptible. Naturally these scarcely-veiled attacks were resented by conservative officials who denounced Liu for his friendship with foreigners and for his ideals of reform. Liu incurred the enmity of Tuan-fang who disputed with him the ownership of certain antiques. In 1908 he was accused of having in 1900 pilfered and sold rice from Imperial Granaries and on that charge was banished to Ili where he died the following year. His property was confiscated and his collection of antiques fell mostly into the hands of Tuan-fang who, as governor-general at Nanking, had charge of the confiscation.

Liu Ê was the author of a work on Yellow River conservancy, entitled 治河五說 Chih-Ho wu-shuo, with supplement. He also left two works on mathematics, entitled 勾股天元草 Kou-ku t'ien-yüan t'sao, also known as T'ien-yüan kou-ku hsi (細)-ts'ao, and 51 弧三角術 Hu-san-chiao shu, 2 + 1 chüan. In addition, he left a work on medicine, a collection of verse, and some notes on paintings, antiques, etc.

[Lao-ts'an yu-chi (Ya-tung 亞東 ed. 1925); Lao-ts'an yu-chi, êr-chi; Wu K'o-chai nien-p'u (Wu Ta-ch'êng), pp. 168–195; Tan-t'u hsien-chih (1879); 甲骨年表 Chia-ku nien-piao (1937); Postscript in Lao-ts'an yu-chi êr-chi; Shao Tzŭ-fêng 邵子風, 甲骨書錄解題 Chia-ku shu-lu chieh-t'i (1935); Lo Chên-yü, 五十日夢痕錄, in Hsieh-t'ang ts'ung-k'o (see under ).]

2em

LIU Fêng-lu 劉逢祿, July 26, 1776—1829, Sept. 13, scholar and official, was a native of Wu-chin, Chekiang, and a descendant of a distinguished family. His grandfather,, and his two uncles, Liu T'u-nan and Liu Yüeh-yün (see under ), achieved note in their political careers and for their writings in prose and verse. His father, Liu Chao-yang (see under ), was a scholar of wide learning, and his mother, who lived in the years 1744–1808, was a daughter of. She had a good knowledge of the Classics and history and left in manuscript a small collection of poems, entitled 操縵室藁 Ts'ao-man-shih kao.

During his boyhood Liu Fêng-lu was educated both by a tutor and by his mother. When he was eleven and twelve sui he read with his mother the Elegies of Ch'u (Ch'u-tz'ŭ, see under ), the Wên-hsüan (see under ), and the prose and verse of T'ang and Sung authors. She remarked that these were the traditional fields of study in her family which her descendants must not forsake. Once when he visited his maternal grandfather, Chuang Ts'un-yü, his fluent answers brought forth the speculation that this boy would be the one who would transmit his grandfather's studies. At twenty-five sui his scholarly reputation paralleled that of —the two being known, because of the courtesy-names they had in common, as "The Two Shêns of Ch'ang-chou" (常州二申). Despite this reputation, however, Liu did not obtain the chin-shih degree until 1814 when he was thirty-nine sui. Three years later he received an appointment as a second class secretary in the Board of Ceremonies. In 1824 he became a department director in the same Board and remained there until his death. Though during his twelve years in the Board he sometimes lagged behind in his work, his able interpretation of puzzling problems on the basis of the Classics always threw much light on their solution.

Liu Fêng-lu's interest in the Kung-yang interpretation of the Spring and Autumn Annals, which came to be known as Kung-yang hsüeh 公羊學, came from his reading of the History of the Former Han Dynasty where his attention was drawn to a work of the second century B. C., known as Ch'un-ch'iu fan-lu (see under ). He found this last-mentioned work very suggestive and one in which he thought the true doctrines of Confucius were treasured. In addition, his attention was called to the 公羊春秋何氏解詁 Kung-yang ch'un-ch'iu Ho-shih chieh-ku, in which Ho Hsiu 何休 revealed his interpretations of the Kung-yang commentary. Liu exerted all his efforts for several months to understand this work until its principles seemed clear to him. His conclusions are embodied in his Kung-yang ch'un-ch'iu Ho-shih shih-li (釋例), 30 p'ien (篇) 518