Page:Eminent Chinese Of The Ch’ing Period - Hummel - 1943 - Vol. 2.pdf/305

 of the Plain Red Banner, remained in the possession of his descendants.

[2/233/7a; 3/266/41a; 11/4/54b; 34/164/3a.]

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YEN Ch'ang-ming 嚴長明, 1731–1787, man of letters, was a native of Nanking, Kiangsu. As a boy, through the recommendation of, he studied under and Yang Shêng-wu 楊繩武. In 1755 he held a position in the office of, then salt commissioner of Yangchow, and thus had an opportunity to study in the excellent library of the wealthy Ma family (see under ) in that city. There he also met many of the famous scholars whom the Ma family patronized. He was granted the chü-jên degree in 1762, at a special examination convened by Emperor Kao-tsung on the latter's third southern tour, and was made a secretary in the Grand Secretariat. He participated in the compilation of the P'ing-ting Chün-ko-êr fang-lüeh (see under ) and the Ta Ch'ing i-t'ung chih (see under ), being particularly useful in the editorial office because of his knowledge of the languages of the Mongols and other Central Asian peoples. Subsequently, as a result of good judgment in advising against a suggestion of the Board of Revenue to put aside the various headings of tax-items and include then in a lump sum under the same heading as the land-tax item, Yen came to the favorable attention of, and. was recommended by the latter to serve as a secretary in the Grand Council of State. In 1771 or 1772 he was promoted to the position of assistant reader in the Grand Secretariat. Shortly thereafter because of the death of his parents he retired, never again to return to public life.

After his retirement Yen Ch'ang-ming travelled in Shensi, remaining there for about ten years and working in the office of the governor,. While in Shensi he helped in the compilation of a gazetteer for the prefecture of Sian, the Hsi-an fu-chih (see under ). In his later years, he went to Ho-fei, Anhwei, where he was director of the Lu-yang 廬陽 Academy, and where he died. In Yen's studio, the Kuei-ch'iu ts'ao-t'ang 歸求草堂, there was gathered a library of thirty thousand chüan of books and three thousand chüan of inscriptions from bronzes and stones. It is said that the margins of all his books were filled with critical comments. One of his friends was the novelist,, whom he mentions several times in poems. Of the large quantity of his prose writings (more than 100 chüan dealing with some 20 topics, including mathematics) none have been printed. Thanks to Yeh Tê-hui (see under ), some of his verse is now available in a collection entitled 嚴東有詩集 Yen Tung-yu shih-chi (10 chüan, preface 1911) appearing in the collection 觀古堂彙刻書 Kuan-ku t'ang hui-k'o shu (1902).

A son, Yen Kuan 嚴觀, was a specialist in epigraphy. His best-known work, entitled 江寧金石記 Chiang-ning chin-shih chi, 8 chüan, with supplement (待訪目, 2 chüan) was first printed in 1804. It deals with inscriptions on monuments in the environs of Nanking.

[1/490/12a; 3/146/1a; Chin-ling t'ung-chuan (see bibl. under ) 34/1a.]

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 YEN Hsi-chai. See under.

 YEN-hsin 延信, general, was a great-grandson of and a grandson of. His father, Mangge 猛峨 (d. 1674), was a prince of the second degree with the designation, Wên (温郡王), and was canonized as Liang 良. Being the third son of Mangge, Yen-hsin was made, in 1687, a noble of the eleventh rank in the third class (三等奉國將軍). Early in 1698 he was appointed an Imperial Bodyguard of the second class. In 1701 his ability came to the attention of Emperor Shêng-tsu who appointed him to the Council of National Affairs (議政). At the same time he was made lieutenant-general of the Manchu Plain Blue Banner, from which post he resigned five years later because of illness. In 1713 he was again made a lieutenant-general and in 1718 was appointed a member of the staff of [禵, q.v.], commander-in-chief of the armies in Kansu which were fighting the Eleuths. Tibet had been conquered by the Eleuths in 1717 and preparations were made by Yin-t'i for its recovery. Early in 1720 two armies were formed, one to enter Tibet from the north through Kokonor and a second to attack from the east through western Szechwan. Yen-hsin was made commander of the first army with the rank of P'ing-ni chiang-chün 平逆將軍, whereas com- 907