Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period/Shao Ch'ang-hêng
SHAO Ch'ang-hêng 邵長蘅 (T. 子湘, H. 青門山人), Aug. 24, 1637–1704, Dec. 18, man of letters, was a native of Wu-chin, Kiangsu. He became a hsiu-ts'ai at the early age of ten (sui). Some fifteen years later (in 1662) he was debarred from taking further examinations because he failed to pay taxes which had fallen in arrears (see under Yeh Fang-ai). Thereafter he devoted himself to forms of literature not required in the examinations. Before many years he achieved fame both as a poet and as an essayist. In 1673 he took part in the compilation of the history of his native place. He was in Peking at the time of the po-hsüeh hung-tz'ŭ examination of 1679 (see under P'êng Sun-yü), and although he was not one of the competitors, the occasion afforded him an opportunity to make the acquaintance of many scholars. In 1684, with the help of his official friends, he was allowed to compete in the provincial examination in Peking. Failing, however, to pass, he gave up hope for an official career. Thereafter he traveled extensively.
He gained the friendship of Sung Lao [q. v.] when the latter was in Huang-chou in 1664–69; and when Sung Lao became governor of Kiangsu in 1692 Shao was invited to be his private secretary. While serving in this capacity he compiled the 二家詩鈔 Êr-chia shih-ch'ao, in 20 chüan—an anthology of the poems of Wang Shih-chên [q. v.] and Sung Lao. In 1699 he edited for the latter the Shih chu Su shih (see under Sung Lao). His own collected works, 邵子湘全集 Shao Tzŭ-hsiang ch'üan-chi (also known as 青門集 Ch'ing-mên chi), consist of three parts: the Ch'ing-mên lu kao (簏稿), in 16 chüan, written before 1678; the Ch'ing-mên lü (旅) kao, in 6 chüan, written during the years 1679–1691; and the Ch'ing-men shêng (賸) kao, in 8 chüan, written after 1692. This work, in its complete form, was first printed in 1700 and was reprinted in the 常州先哲遺書 Ch'ang-chou hsien-chê i-shu of 1897. It received notice in the Imperial Catalog, but was not copied into the Ssŭ-k'u Manuscript Library.
[1/489/26a; 3/430/38a; 4/138/11b; Wu-chin Yang-hu ho-chih (1886, see under Li Chao-lo), 26/30b; Autobiography entitled, Ch'ing-mên lao-p'u chuan in Ch'ing-mên lu-kao; Ssŭ-k'u, 183/7a.]