Page:Eminent Chinese Of The Ch’ing Period - Hummel - 1943 - Vol. 2.pdf/209

 Fei-hung t'ang yin-jên chuan (印人傳), 8 chüan, was printed in 1789. The Library of Congress possesses a Fei-hung t'ang yin-p'u (譜), printed in four series from 1745 to 1757, which contains impressions of the seals which he owned, and also his portrait. Among some twenty works compiled by him on the subject of seals are: 漢銅印叢 Han t'ung-yin ts'ung, 12 chüan, printed in 1755; and 訒庵集古印存 Jên-an chi ku-yin ts'un, 16 volumes. He also left several collections of miscellaneous notes, among them the 水曹清暇錄 Shui-ts'ao ch'ing-hsia lu, 16 chüan, reprinted in Japan in 1862. A collection of his verse, entitled Jên-an shih-ts'un (詩存), 8 chüan, was printed in 1772. He reprinted a number of old works, issuing in 1782, for example, the Shuo-wên hsi-chuan (see under and ) by Hsü Ch'ieh (see under ).

The metropolitan area of Hangchow was, from the Sung period onward, the seat of many famous libraries. This was particularly true in Wang's day, the most prosperous period of the Ch'ing dynasty. Some of the collectors of this region—men like and Hang Shih-chün—were not wealthy, but accumulated large libraries by years of unremitting effort. Pao T'ing-po and Wang Ch'i-shu, on the other hand, were men of wealth who, though recorded as belonging to the neighboring town of Shê-hsien, nevertheless had frequent social contacts with collectors in Hangchow, of whom the following may be mentioned: the Chao family (see under ); the Wang family (see under ); Wu Ch'o 吳焯 ; Sun Tsung-lien 孫宗濂 ; and Wang Jih-kuei 汪日桂. The last named is the least known, although his library, Hsin-t'o chai 欣託齋, was said by Hang Shih-chün to have contained some 200,000 chüan.

The library of Wu Ch'o, known as P'ing-hua chai 瓶花齋, was a frequent meeting-place for Jocal poets. Wu prepared an annotated catalog of his collection, entitled 繡谷亭薰習錄 Hsiu-ku t'ing hsün-hsi lu, 8 chüan, of which only three chüan were salvaged and printed in 1918 in the Sung-lin ts'ung-shu (see under ). His sons, Wu Ch'êng (see under ) and Wu Yü-ch'ih 吳玉墀, were both noted bibliophiles. The library of Sun Tsung-lien was known as Shou-sung t'ang 壽松堂. A His son, Sun Yang-tsêng 孫仰曾, and Wu Ch'o's son, Wu Yü-ch'ih, each presented more than one hundred items to the throne for the compilation of the Imperial Manuscript Library, and received appropriate rewards.

Two other early Ch'ing bibliophiles of Hangchow were noted for their achievements in textual criticism, namely: Yao Chi-hêng 姚際恆 and Sun Chih-tsu 孫志祖. Yao possessed, in addition to paintings and antiques, a collection of rare books of which the catalog is entitled 好古堂書目 Hao-ku t'ang shu-mu, 4 chüan (reproduced in 1929 from an early manuscript copy). An exceptionally critical scholar, he refuted the traditional commentaries to the Classic of Poetry, and set forth his own views with a high degree of common sense, in a work entitled 詩經通論 Shih-ching t'ung-lun, 18 chüan, written in 1705 and printed in 1837. He wrote commentaries to the other Classics, but these seem to have been lost. Yao was interested also in the genuineness of ancient books, or the detection of forgeries whose age or authenticity had not been adequately studied. He prepared a list of spurious works, entitled 古今僞書考 Ku-chin wei-shu k'ao (Forgeries of Ancient and Modern Times), of which a re-punctuated edition, with notes by Ku Chieh-kang (see under ) was published in 1929. Though brief, it is one of the landmarks in Chinese historical criticism.

Sun Chih-tsu was a chin-shih of 1766 who, after serving a number of years in the Board of Punishments, became a censor (1775). He soon retired, however, and devoted the remainder of his life to study. Like Yao Chi-hêng, he was an exponent of the School of Han Learning (see under ) and wrote several works on the Classics. His collection of study notes, entitled 讀書脞錄 Tu-shu ts'o-lu, 7 chüan, printed in 1809, and its supplement, were included in the Huang-Ch'ing ching-chieh (see under ). In these works he corrected many mistaken interpretations of the Classics.

[6/45/20b, 10a; 3/454/51a; 3/137/14a, 補錄; Anhwei t'ung-chih (1934) 10/23a; Ssŭ-k'u, 50/2b, 51/6b; Chin-ch'êng shu-mu (see under ); Shên Shu-yen 沈叔埏, 頤綵堂文集 I-ts'ai t'ang wên-chi, 5/23b;, Hsiang-shu chai hsü-chi, 15/26a; Swann, N. L., "Seven Intimate Library Owners", in Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, vol. 1 (1936), pp. 363–90; Wu-lin ts'ang-shu lu (see under ); 6/45/10a; 3/454/51a; 3/137/14a; 6/39/1a; Ts'ang-shu chi-shih shih (see under 811