Page:Eminent Chinese Of The Ch’ing Period - Hummel - 1943 - Vol. 2.pdf/22

 stored. Some sources assert that Pi was not involved in these corrupt practices and that the blame lay with his subordinates with whom he was very lenient. It must be remembered that in the late Ch'ien-lung period the government was under the control of the notorious whose greed drove many officials to bribery and corruption in order to retain their posts. As head of various provincial governments over a period of more than twenty years (corresponding to the time when Ho-shên was in power) it is not likely that Pi could resist all the evil practices of the time.

Pi Yüan is remembered, not so much for his official career, as for his hospitality to young scholars and for his own contribution to several fields of knowledge. During his governorship of Shensi and Honan he had among his secretaries young men like and  whom he helped to fame. Later, other gifted men enjoyed his help, among them Chang Hsüeh-ch'êng and Shih Shan-ch'ang 史善長. Meanwhile most of Pi's own work on history, epigraphy, or in the re-editing of ancient books was done with the help of these scholars. He thus compiled a supplement to the Mirror of History (covering the Sung and Yüan periods) which was entitled 續資治通鑑 Hsü Tzŭ-chih t'ung-chien, in 220 chüan, and was finally edited by and. The preparation of the printing blocks for this work was about half completed when Pi died. The manuscript of the entire work was then purchased by Fêng Chi-wu 馮集梧, a chin-shih of 1781, who had it printed as a whole in 1801.

In epigraphical studies Pi is credited with two works: the 關中金石記 Kuan-chung chin-shih chi, in 8 chüan, printed in 1781 in Shensi; and the 中州金石記 Chung-chou chin-shih chi, in 5 chüan, printed in 1787 in Honan. Both works deal with ancient inscriptions on metal or stone found in central and northwest China. He initiated similar works on Shantung and Hupeh; the former was completed by, but the latter was never printed. Pi was one of the first scholars of the Ch'ing period to make a study of inscribed roof tiles of antiquity. Specimens of those he found in Shensi were brought together at the close of the nineteenth century under the title 秦漢瓦當圖 Ch'in Han wa-tang t'u.

Another of his interests was the collation of old texts which, after centuries of misprinting, had become difficult to read. The best of the ancient works which he thus restored were those of Mo Ti 墨翟 which he collated with the help of and Sun Hsing-yen, and printed in 1783. This marked the beginning of a new interest (see under ) in that ancient philosopher who had been consigned to comparative oblivion at the hands of orthodox Confucianists. Other works, similarly collated, were the Lü-shih ch'un-ch'iu (see under ), in 26 chüan (1789); the 老子道德經考異 Lao-tzŭ Tao-tê-ching k'ao-i, in 2 chüan (1781); the 山海經新校正 Shan-hai ching hsin chiao-chêng, in 18 chüan (1783); the 夏小正考註 Hsia-hsiao-chêng k'ao-chu (1783); the 三輔黃圖 San-fu huang-t'u in 6 chüan (1784); and the 長安志 Ch'ang-an chih, in 23 chüan, by Sung Min-ch'iu 宋敏求. The last two works deal with the geography of Shensi. Most of Pi's works on geography, including two on the historical geography of the Chin Dynasty (265–419 A.D.), were done with the assistance of Hung Liang-chi. With the help of he re-edited with annotations the ancient dictionary, 釋名 Shih-ming, under the title Shih-ming shu-chêng (疏證). A few months after this work was printed (1790) Chiang wrote with his own hand a copy in the ancient chuan 篆 script which was reproduced in facsimile, as another edition, by Pi Yüan. Most of the above-mentioned works, including several by Hui Tung and Sun Hsing-yen, were brought together under the title, 經訓堂叢書 Ching-hsün t'ang ts'ung-shu. and printed by Pi Yüan. The blocks for this ts'ung-shu were destroyed in 1860 during the Taiping Rebellion, but it was reprinted in 1887. Pi composed 8 chüan of short prose essays which seem not to have been printed. His collected poems in 40 chüan, entitled 靈巖山人詩集 Ling-yen shan-jên shih-chi, were edited by himself in 1793. He also selected and published the poems of sixteen younger contemporaries, natives of his own province, under the title 吳會英才集 Wu-k'uai ying-ts'ai chi, in 24 chüan. He and Chang Hsüeh-ch'êng attempted to compile a complete bibliography of historical works, entitled Shih-chi k'ao (see under ), after the manner of the Ching-i k'ao by, but the work was never printed. His daughter, Pi Hui 畢慧 and his sisters, Pi Fên 畢汾 and Pi Mei 畢湄, were known as poets. 624