Page:Eminent Chinese Of The Ch’ing Period - Hummel - 1943 - Vol. 2.pdf/265

 was reprinted by Hu Shih in 1931, having been originally printed about the year 1739. It lacks the novelist's prose writings and the poems he is known to have written after the age of forty, a lack partly made up by a supplement containing some fifty poems written by his eldest son, Wu Lang 吳烺, a chü-jên of 1751. Wu Ching-tzŭ is said to have compiled another collection of literary works in 12 chüan, bearing the same title, which is probably no longer extant. He died suddenly in Yangchow.

After passing a special examination, Wu Lang had the chü-jên degree conferred on him by Emperor Kao-tsung when the latter made his first tour of South China in 1751. He later became a prominent mathematician, a sketch of his life appearing in the biographical handbook of astronomers and mathematicians known as Ch'ou-jên chuan (see under ). His comments on the ancient mathematical work, 周髀算經 Chou-pi suan-ching, entitled by him, Chou-pi suan-ching t'u-chu (圖注), was first printed in 1768 with a preface by Shên Ta-ch'êng 沈大成. Wu Lang regarded the mathematicians, and Liu Hsiang-k'uei 劉湘煃, as his teachers.

Wu Kuo-tui, the great-grandfather of Wu Ching-tzŭ, had a twin brother named Wu Kuo-lung 吳國龍, who became a chin-shih in 1643 and achieved some fame as a censor. Two sons of Wu Kuo-lung, named Wu Shêng 吳晟, and Wu Ping 吳昺 , were talented men of letters.

[3/435/12a; Ch'üan-chiao hsien-chih (1920), 10/47a, 48b, 49a, 15/2b, 3a, 5a, 8a, 12b; Nien-p'u in Wên-mu shan-fang chi and in Hu Shih wên-ts'un (see bibl. under ), 2nd series, vol. 4; Ch'ou-jên chuan, chüan 42; Report of the Librarian of Congress (1933), p. 115; Aoki Seiji, "On the Ju-lin wai-shih" (in Japanese) in Shina Bungei Ronsō (1927), pp. 272–81.]

2em

 WU Ch'ung-yüeh 伍崇曜, Mar. 9, 1810–1863, Dec. 2, a native of Canton, was the fifth son of the famous Hong merchant,. Like his father, he was known to Westerners as Howqua. In 1822, at the age of thirteen (sui), he obtained the hsiu-ts'ai degree and two years later was commended for his literary talent by the educational commissioner of Kwangtung,. Early in 1831 Emperor Hsüan-tsung conferred upon him a chü-jên degree in consideration of his father's contribution of 33, 000 taels—presented in his son's name—to repair the Sang-yüan-wei 桑園圍 dikes on a delta of the Pearl River in the district of Nan-hai, Kwangtung. During the ensuing sixteen years (1831–47) Wu Ch'ung-yüeh went to Peking four times to compete in the metropolitan examination, but was unable to obtain the chin-shih degree. In September 1833, while he was in Peking, his brother, Wu Yüan-hua (see under ), died, and upon his return to Canton a few months later he succeeded his brother as Hong merchant, adopting in this capacity the name, Wu Shao-jung 伍紹榮. Ten years later his father died, leaving him the family fortune. The prosperity of the family seems to have continued to the days of Wu Ch'ung-yüeh's grandson.

After the Anglo-Chinese war the Kwangtung provincial government was in financial straits and was forced to ask the support of wealthy merchants. As Wu Ch'ung-yüeh was the most affluent of the Canton traders, he not only contributed a large sum toward the war and for the promotion of public works, but aided the government in various financial and diplomatic negotiations as well. In 1854, when Canton was threatened by rioters known as Hung-chin-tsei (see under ), he negotiated with Western merchants to obtain a loan for suppressing the insurgents. During the war of 1857–58 (see under ), when Governor-general Yeh Ming-Ch'ên and other anti-foreign officials stubbornly resisted the British demands, Wu several times negotiated with Lord Elgin and Harry Parkes (for both see under ) in an effort to restore peace in Canton. He was also instrumental in organizing volunteer corps which maintained order at Canton during the Taiping Rebellion, in times of riot, or when disturbances arose with Western powers. His efforts to keep Canton at peace were, of course, partially motivated by commercial interests, for civil wars interfered with the transport of tea and silk from Central China to Canton, and conflict with foreign countries hindered his foreign trade. For his public services he was honored with the rank of financial commissioner and was decorated with the Red Coral Button of the second class—the 867