Page:Eminent Chinese Of The Ch’ing Period - Hummel - 1943 - Vol. 2.pdf/340

 His critical work on the text of this classic, Wên-hsüan yin-i (義), 8 chüan, was published with a preface dated 1758; and his Wên-hsüan chi-wên (紀聞), 30 chüan, was printed in the 碧琳琅館叢書 Pi lin-lang kuan ts'ung-shu (second edition 1909). He produced several other works, including a collection of verse which seems not to have been printed.

[1/487/10a; 3/419/17a; 4/133/21a; 7/36/16a.]

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 YÜ Huai 余懷, Aug. 25, 1616–1696, July, poet, was a native of P'u-t'ien, Fukien. When the Manchu troops advanced to Nanking in 1645 he was a student of the Imperial Academy in that city. Thereafter he lived for a time in Hsia-p'ei, Kiangnan, but spent most of his life at Nanking. An intimate friend of, Yü Huai, too, was a poet who seems to have had sufficient leisure to devote to his art. The best known of his works is the 板橋雜記 Pan-ch'iao tsa-chi, in 3 chüan, giving his reminiscences of the life of the singing girls of Nanking during the more tranquil days before that city fell under Manchu rule. This work was first printed in 1697 in the initial instalment of the Chao-tai ts'ung-shu (see under ) and has passed through many editions since that time.

Several minor works by Yü Huai may be mentioned: 硯林 Yen-lin, a treatise on ink-slabs, written in 1686 and first printed in the above ts'ung-shu in 1697; 茶史補 Ch'a-shih pu, being notes on the history of tea, written to supplement a more complete work, Ch'a-shih, on the same theme by a contemporary, Liu Yüan-ch'ang 劉源長, and published by the latter's son in 1677; and 婦人鞋襪考 Fu-jên hsieh-wa k'ao, a brief treatise on the foot-wear of women, which appeared in the T'an-chi ts'ung-shu (see under ) late in the K'ang-hsi period. A work of his on the personal names of women mentioned in Chinese history, 宮閨小名後錄 Kung-kuei hsiao-ming hou lu, is a supplement to a work by Yu T'ung on the same subject. It was printed in 1694, two years before Yü Huai died. Collections of his poems and essays appeared under two titles: 研山堂集 Yen-shan t'ang chi and 味外軒稿 Wei-wai hsüan kao. Two other works by him have recently been printed: a hook of miscellaneous notes in 8 chüan, 東山談苑 Tung-shan t'an-yüan, which appeared in 1934; and a collection of poems in irregular meter, entitled 玉琴齋詞 Yü-ch'in chai tz'ŭ, which was reproduced in 1928 from the original manuscript (shou-kao pên 手稿本) in the Kuo-hsüeh Library, Nanking.

[2/70/16a; 3/428/31a; 17/1/54a;, 艮齋倦稿 Kên-chai chüan kao, for poem in ch. 9/8b which gives the date of death; Shan-pên shu-shih ts'ang-shu chih (see under ) 40/29a.]

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YÜ Min-chung 于敏中, 1714–1780, Jan. 23, official, was a native of Chin-t'an, Kiangsu. He came from an illustrious family; his great-grandfather, Yü Ssŭ-ch'ang 于嗣昌, was magistrate of Hsiang-yüan, Shansi (1668–72), and his grandfather, Yü Han-hsiang 于漢翔 , served as commissioner of education in Shansi. His father, Yü Shu-fan 于樹範, was magistrate of Hsüan-p'ing, Chekiang. In his infancy Yü Min-chung was adopted by his uncle, Yü Fang 于枋, a chin-shih of 1724. Later Yü Fang had sons of his own and Yü Min-chung returned to his own family.

In 1737, when he was twenty-four sui, Yü Min-chung became a chuang-yüan, or chin-shih with highest honors. Made a first class compiler of the Hanlin Academy, he served in that capacity for seven years, studying Manchu and learning the history and functions of government. In 1744 he was in charge of the provincial examination of Shansi and early in 1745 was sent to Shantung as commissioner of education. Two years later he was transferred to Chekiang. In 1750 he returned to Peking, but after several promotions was again sent to Shantung to direct education. In 1754 he was recalled to Peking to serve as a vice-president of the Board of War. Two years later he was allowed to return to Chin-t'an to mourn the death of his father but, in 1757, long before the mourning period was over, he was specially recalled to Peking and appointed acting senior vice-president of the Board of Punishments. Early in 1759 a censor charged him with failure to report the death of his mother in 1756—an event which would ordinarily have prolonged his mourning period. But the Emperor asserted that Yu's services were indispensable and ignored the charge. Later in 1759 Yü was made a vice-president of the Board of Revenue.

In October 1760 Yü Min-chung was ordered to 942