Wang Zhong 汪中

WANG Chung 汪中 (T. 容甫, original ming 秉中), Jan. 22, 1745–1794, Dec. 11, scholar and bibliographer, was a native of Chiang-tu, Kiangsu. His great-grandfather, Wang Hao-ching 汪鎬京 (T. 快士, H. 西谷, 1634–1702), was a poet and calligrapher whose work, 紫泥法 Tzŭ-ni fa, on the method of making red ink for Chinese seal impressions, was printed in 1697 in the 檀几叢書 T'an-chi ts'ung-shu and was later reproduced in several other collectanea. At the age of seven (sui) Wang Chung lost his father, Wang I-yüan 汪一元 (T. 兆初, 1708–1749), who was known for his filial piety. The family was poor and had no means to send Wang Chung to school, so it was necessary for him to obtain his early education at home with his mother. During his teens he was employed in book stores, and this experience gave him a familiarity with literature which perhaps compensated for his lack of formal education. In 1763, owing to his unusual literary ability, he took highest honors in the Chiang-tu district examination and was made a licentiate of the first class. Hang Shih-chün [q.v.], who was at this time director of the local Academy known as An-ting Shu-yüan 安定書院, encouraged him in the study of the classics and history. He failed, however, to pass in the provincial examination held at Nanking in 1768. His reluctance to compete again for a higher degree, he attributed to a certain nervousness.

Wang Chung then secured employment as secretary on the staffs of various officials. In 1770 he was with Shên Yeh-fu 沈業富 (T. 既堂, 1732–1807, chin-shih of 1754), then prefect of T'ai-p'ing, Anhwei. Later he served on the secretarial staff of Chu Yün [q.v.] at Tang-t'u, Anhwei, where many scholars of note gathered and where, in 1772, he made the acquaintance of Wang Nien-sun [q.v.]. About the years 1774–75 he was in Ningpo with Fêng T'ing-ch'êng 馮廷丞 (T. 均弼, H. 康齋, 1728–1784, chü-jên of 1752) who was tao-t'ai of the Ning-Shao-T'ai Circuit, Chekiang. Later he was in Nanking for a time and then at Huai-an, Kiangsu (1782). During his sojourn in Nanking his scholarship was regarded highly by Hsieh Yung 謝墉 (T. 崑城 H. 金圃, 東墅, 1719–1795, chin-shih of 1716), commissioner of education of Kiangsu; and in 1777 he was made a pa-kung, or senior licentiate of the first class. In 1783 he was again in Nanking assisting in the preparation of the account of Emperor Kao-tsung's trip to the South in 1780. This work, entitled 南巡盛典 Nan-hsün shêng-tien, in 100 chüan, compiled under Sa-tsai 薩載 (d. 1786, governor-general of Liang-Kiang, 1779–86), was presented to the throne in 1784, but apparently was never printed; the Palace Museum in Peiping possesses the original manuscript copy. While on a visit to Chu Kuei [q.v.] in Hangchow, early in 1787, Wang Chung was asked about the history of Kuang-ling (Chiang-tu). In reference to this inquiry he wrote a famous essay, entitled 廣陵 Kuang-ling tui, which he later expanded into a work, entitled Kuang-ling t'ung-tien (通典), 10 chüan, first printed in 1823. In 1789 he went to Wuchang, Hupeh, to join the secretarial staff of Pi Yüan [q.v.]. Upon his return home from Wuchang in the summer of the following year he was invited to check for accuracy that copy of the Ssŭ-k'u ch'üan-shu which was deposited in the Wên Tsung Ko at Chinkiang—other sets being deposited about the same year (1790) in the Wên Hui Ko at Yangchow and in the Wên Lan Ko at Hangchow (for details see under Chi Yün and Lu-fei Ch'ih). For about two years Wang Chung carried on this work in the Wên Tsung Ko and it seems that he also did the checking for the Wên Hui Ko at Yangchow. Meanwhile, in 1792, his collected prose, entitled 述學 Shu-hsüeh, in 4 chüan, (a supplement of 2 chüan was added later by his son), was first printed. The Shu-hsüeh is regarded highly by scholars, not only for its literary quality but for its contributions to many lines of scholarship, such as the classics, ancient philosophy and etymology. In 1794 he was invited to go to Hangchow to undertake similar work at the Wên Lan Ko. He set out for this new task on October 22, 1794, but died in Hangchow on December 11 at the age of fifty-one (sui).

Wang Chung produced several works which are not extant—among them a catalogue of his library, 問禮堂書目 Wên-li t'ang shu-mu, and an historical atlas of Nanking, 金陵地圖考 Chin-ling ti-t'u k'ao, which was probably never completed. He was a collector of inscriptions copied from stone and bronze, and of these he is said to have possessed a large number. He was also an accomplished calligrapher. It was once supposed by some critics of the novel, Ju-lin wai-shih (see under Wu Ching-tzŭ), that the character K'uang Ch'ao-jên 匡超人 of that novel refers to Wang Chung, but this identification is rejected by Hu Shih (see under Ts'ui Shu) in his nien-pu of Wu Ching-tzŭ [q.%E2%80%AFv.].

Wang Chung's only son, Wang Hsi-hsün 汪喜荀 (T. 孟慈, original ming 喜孫, 1786–1847, chü-jên of 1807), who was only nine sui when his father died, also achieved fame as a scholar. This son edited and printed his father's works and wrote several books himself, including a chronological biography of his father, entitled 汪容甫先生年譜 Wang Jung-fu hsien-shêng nien-p'u. The collectanea, 江都汪氏叢書 Chiang-tu Wang-shih ts'ung-shu, printed in 1915, contains 13 titles—8 by the father and 5 by the son.

[1/487/29; 3/420/37a; 4/134/7a; 20/4/00 (portrait); 29/6/11a; Yangchow fu-chih (1810) 51/37b; Ts'ang-shu chi-shih shih (see under P'an Tsu-yin) 5/50; Huang Hsien-chün, "The Life and Scholarly Activities of Wang Chung" (in Chinese) in Kuo-wên chou-pao (see bibl. under Ting Pao-chên) vol. 8, nos. 35, 36.]

Tu Lien-chê

《清史稿》卷481

汪中，字容甫，江都人。生七歲而孤，家貧不能就外傅。母鄒，授以四子書。稍長，助書賈鬻書於市，因遍讀經、史、百家，過目成誦，遂為通人。年二十，補諸生。乾隆四十二年拔貢生，提學使者謝墉，每試別置一榜，署名諸生前。嘗曰：「余之先容甫，爵也。若以學，當北面事之。」其敬中如此。以母老竟不朝考。五十一年，侍郎朱珪主江南試，謂人曰：「吾此行必得汪中為選首。」不知其不與試也。中顓意經術，與高郵王念孫、寶應劉台拱為友，共討論之。其治尚書，有尚書考異。治禮，有儀禮校本，大戴禮記校本。治春秋，有春秋述義。治小學，有爾雅校本，及小學說文求端。中嘗謂國朝古學之興，顧炎武開其端。河、洛矯誣，至胡渭而絀。中、西推步，至梅文鼎而精。力攻古文者，閻若璩也。專治漢易者，惠棟也。凡此皆千餘年不傳之絕學，及戴震出而集其大成。擬作六儒頌，未成。又嘗博考先秦古籍三代以上學制廢興，使知古人所以為學者。凡虞、夏第一，周禮之制第二，周衰列國第三，孔門第四，七十子後學者第五。又列通論、釋經、舊聞、典籍、數典、世官，目錄凡六。而自題其端曰：「觀周禮太史云云，當時行一事則有一書，其後執書以行事，又其後則事廢而書存。至宋儒以後，則並其書之事而去之矣。」又曰：「有官府之典籍，有學士大夫之典籍，故老之傳聞。行一事有一書，傳之後世，奉以為成憲，此官府之典籍也。先王之禮樂政事，遭世之衰廢而不失，有司徒守其文，故老能言其事。好古之君子，憫其浸久而遂亡也，而書之簡畢，此學士大夫之典籍也。」又曰：「古之為學士者，官師之長，但教之以其事，其所誦者詩書而已。其他典籍，則皆官府藏而世守之，民間無有也。苟非其官，官亦無有也。其所謂士者，非王侯公卿大夫之子，則一命之士，外此則鄉學、小學而已。自辟雍之制無聞，太史之官失守，於是布衣有授業之徒，草野多載筆之士。教學之官，記載之職，不在上而在下。及其衰也，諸子各以其學鳴，而先王之道荒矣。然當諸侯去籍，秦政焚書，有司所掌，蕩然無存。猶賴學士相傳，存其一二，斯不幸中之幸也。」又曰：「孔子所言，則學士所能為者，留為世教。若其政教之大者，聖人無位，不復以教子弟。」又曰：「古人學在官府，人世其官，故官世其業。官既失守，故專門之學廢。」其書藁草略具，亦未成。後乃即其考三代典禮及文字訓詁、名物象數，益以論撰之文，為述學內、外篇，凡六卷。其有功經義者，則有若釋三九，婦人無主答問，女子許嫁而婿死從死及守志議，居喪釋服解義。其表章經傳及先儒者，則有若周官徵文，左氏春秋釋疑，荀卿子通論，賈誼新書序。其他考證之文，亦有依據。中又熟於諸史地理，山川阨要，講畫瞭然，著有廣陵通典十卷，秦蠶食六國表，金陵地圖考。生平於詩文書翰無所不工，所作廣陵對、黃鶴樓銘、漢上琴臺銘，皆見稱於時。他著有經義知新記一卷，大戴禮正誤一卷，遺詩一卷。五十九年，卒，年五十一。中事母以孝聞，左右服勞，不辭煩辱。居喪，哀戚過人，其於知友故舊，沒後衰落，相存問過於從前。道光十一年，旌孝子。中子喜孫，自有傳。同郡人為漢學者，又有江德量、徐復、汪光爔。