bronzes, vessels and implements. All the leisure he could spare from his official duties, even in time of war, he devoted to the collecting and the study of these objects. A catalogue of his collection, entitled 愙齋藏器目 K'o-chai ts'ang-ch'i mu, was published in 1896 in the Ling-chien ko ts'ung-shu (see under Ho Ch'iu-t'ao); but a better catalogue has appeared as an appendix to Wu's nien-p'u (see below). On the basis of his collection, he compiled the following catalogues with critical notes on bronze and copper objects of antiquity: 恆軒所見所藏吉金錄 Hêng-hsüan so-chien so-ts'ang chi-chin lu, printed in 1886 and reprinted in 1919; K'o-chai chi-ku lu (集古錄), completed in 1886 and printed in 1917; and K'o-chai chi-chin lu shih-wên shêng-kao (釋文賸稿), completed in 1886 and printed in 1919. He also compiled two catalogues of ancient seals in his collection: one entitled 十六金符齋印存 Shih-liu chin-fu chai yin ts'un, printed in 1888 and reprinted in 1909; another entitled 千鈢齋鈢選 Ch'ien-hsi chai hsi-hsüan, printed in 1889. He left a catalogue with critical remarks on ancient jades, entitled to 古玉圖考 Ku-yü t'u-k‘ao, printed in 1889 and reprinted in 1919. Two authoritative works by him, involving systematic research, are: 權衡度量實驗攷 Ch'üan-hêng tu-liang shih-yen k'ao, printed in 1894 and reprinted in 1915; and 說文古籀補 Shuo-wên ku-chou pu, 15 + 1 chüan, first printed in 1883 (reprinted in 1886) and revised and printed in 1895. The former is a study of ancient weights and measures; and the latter is an analysis of some 5,700 ancient characters in the pre-Ch'in style. Wu Tach'êng left about a dozen other works on archaeological topics, most of which still remain in manuscript. A collection of his verse, entitled K'o-chai hsien-shêng shih-ch'ao (詩鈔), was published in 1887; but his prose works, his memorials to the throne, and his diaries, are preserved in manuscript.
Wu Ta-ch'êng was one of the most skilled calligraphers of his day, particularly in the chuan style (see under Ho Shao-chi. Albums in his own handwriting of the Classic of Filial Piety and of the Analects were printed in 1885 and in 1886 respectively, and are well-known among calligraphers. He was also a good painter.
[1/456/4a; 5/32/1a; Ku T'ing-lung, Wu K'o-chai hsien-shêng nien-p'u (1934); Chin-shih jên-wu chih (see under Wêng T'ung-ho), pp. 122–25; Ch'ien Hsün (see under Fan Mou-chu), 中俄界約冓注 Chung-Ê chieh-yüeh chiao-chu (1894), chüan 7; 新纂約章大全 Hsin-tsuan Yüeh-chang ta-ch'üan (1909), chüan 44; Kirin t'ung-chih (1891), chüan 53 and 55; Yano Jinichi, Kindai Shina gaikoku-kankei kenkyū (Chinese Foreign Relations in Recent Years), pp. 382–401; Tabohashi Kiyoshi, Meiji gaikō shi (Foreign Relations in the Meiji Period), pp. 44–50; Morse, H.B., The International Relations of the Chinese Empire, vol. II, pp. 384–89; Pelliot, T'oung Pao, 1920–21, p. 140 ff.]
WU Wei-yeh 吳偉業 (T. 駿公, H. 梅村), June 21, 1609–1672, Jan. 23, scholar and landscape artist, was a native of T'ai-ts'ang, Kiangsu. Impressed with his talents as a youth, Chang P'u [q. v.], one of the founders of the party known as Fu-shê, voluntarily chose him as a pupil. In 1631 he became a chin-shih with high honors and was appointed a Hanlin compiler. In 1639 he was made a tutor in the Imperial Academy in Nanking. Despondent at the fall of Peking, and at the suicide of the last Ming Emperor, in 1644, he resolved to take his own life, but was prevented by his mother. In the following year he accepted a post as assistant supervisor of instruction in the government of the Prince of Fu (see Chu Yu-sung), but disagreeing with the policies of the officials in power, he soon resigned and went home.
While teaching in Kashing, Chekiang, in 1652 Wu Wei-yeh wrote the historical work 綏寇紀略 Sui-k'ou chi-lüeh, 12 chüan, which deals with the insurrections that preceded the fall of the Ming dynasty. This work went for a time under different names, such as 鹿樵紀聞 Lu-ch'iao chi-wên and Lu-ch'iao yeh-shih (野史). It was banned, together with his collected writings, in the Ch'ien-lung period, and doubts have been raised as to authorship.
Owing to official pressure and the advice of his parents, Wu Wei-yeh was induced in 1653 to accept official posts under the new dynasty, rising to the rank of libationer of the Imperial Academy. But he resigned four years later on the occasion of his mother's death. In 1660–61 he became involved in a tax delinquency case (see under Yeh Fang-ai) which resulted in the loss not only of his official rank, but also of a good share of his property.
Wu Wei-yeh was one of the foremost poets of his day. There are to be found in his verses many references to contemporary events, but never in a form that could offend the Manchus. Emperor Kao-tsung was fond of his poetry and
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