Page:Eminent Chinese Of The Ch’ing Period - Hummel - 1943 - Vol. 2.pdf/242

 literary point of view and deducing from them techniques of essay-writing.

Wang Yüan's interest in political economy and military tactics show him to have been a matter-of-fact man who unfortunately never had an opportunity to put his theories into practice. He is destined, therefore, to be remembered only as a writer. From youth on he held in contempt the ideas of the Sung Neo-Confucianists, as expounded by the scholars of his day; he believed that Wang Yang-ming (see under ) was entitled to be called the true Confucianist because he at least made an effort to put his views into practice in both the civil and military spheres. Wang Yüan stressed the importance of energetic efforts for the amelioration of society long before he met the pragmatic philosopher, Yen Yüan. It is not surprising, therefore, that after meeting Yen he became a steadfast exponent of his views. In 1706 he assisted Li Kung to compile the chronological account (nien-p'u) of Yen's life and in various ways helped to secure a wider hearing for Yen's views.

In the sketch of Wang Yüan's life which appears in Tai Wang's Yen-shih hsüeh-chi (see under ) there is a much-quoted statement to the effect that Wang accompanied to Soochow in 1690 to help him edit the great gazetteer, Ta-Ch'ing i-t'ung chih (see under Hsü). This assertion is now known to be erroneous, the error being due to confusion with another Wang Yüan 王原 whose name is pronounced the same and varies only slightly in the writing. This Wang Yuan was a native of Ch'ing-p'u, Kiangsu, who assisted Hsü in editing the gazetteer and later served as magistrate of Mao-ming, Kwangtung (1694–97), and of T'ung-jên, Kweichow (1698–1702); and as a censor (1702–05). He was interested in the history of the Ming period and was the author of a treatise on the economics of that period, entitled 明食貨志 Ming shih-huo chih.

[1/486/20b; 3/431/23a; 4/139/8a; Shun-t'ien fu chih (1884) 99/13b; Ssŭ-k'u, 31/6a; Ch'ing-p'u hsien-chih (1879), 17/13a, 27/4b;, Ching-yeh t'ang shih-chi, 12/10a; Chü-yeh t'ang chi, 14/7b, 18/9b; Tung-hua lu, K'ang-hsi 44:5.]

2em

WANG Yüan-ch'i 王原祁, Sept. 9 or 11, 1642–1715, Nov. 7, landscape painter and official, came from a distinguished family in the district of T'ai-ts'ang, Kiangsu. His grandfather,, was a celebrated painter of the early Ch'ing period. His father, Wang K'uei 王揆, was a chin-shih of 1655, but never accepted governmental appointment. As a youth Wang Yüan-ch'i was greatly influenced by his grandfather who instructed him in the theory and technique of painting. To students of Chinese painting, Wang Yüan-ch'i, and  are known as the Four Wangs (四王). Wang Yüan-ch'i is said to have taken as his model the Yüan painter, Huang Kung-wang (see under ). He became a chin-shih in the same year (1670) as his uncle, —receiving appointment to a minor post in the Board of Civil Office. In 1681 he was made assistant examiner at the Shun-t'ien provincial examination, and later in the same year was appointed magistrate of Jên-hsien, Chihli, a post he held for four years. During his magistracy he showed such ability in handling law-suits that a number of important cases in southern Chihli were assigned to him by, then president of the Board of Punishments. Later he was called to the capital and was made a censor. In 1700 he was appointed junior, then senior, secretary in the Supervisorate of Imperial Instruction, thus becoming belatedly a member of the Hanlin Academy. Later he was made expositor, reader, and finally chancellor of the Hanlin Academy. In 1712 he was appointed senior vice-president of the Board of Finance, a post he held until his death in 1715.

So highly was Wang Yuan-ch'i regarded as an artist that he was often summoned to paint in the Imperial Palace. On November 24, 1705 he and four other official—Sun Yüeh-pan 孫岳頒, Sung Chün-yeh 宋駿業 , Wu Ching (see under ), and Wang Ch'üan 王銓 —were ordered to compile a comprehensive work on calligraphy and painting which was published in 1708 under the title 佩文齋書畫譜 P 'ei-wên chai shu-hua p'u, 100 chüan, with a preface by the Emperor bearing the same date. Eighteen chüan of this work are devoted to theories of calligraphy and painting, forty to biographies of calligraphers and painters, eight to anonymous painting and calligraphy, twenty-one to annotations and comments, three to critical appraisals, and ten to well-known collections. The com-  844