Peking fell to the Manchus and the Ming dynasty thus came virtually to an end. As a loyalist of the defunct dynasty, his father assisted for a time in the government under the regency of the Prince of Lu (see under Chu I-hai). The early home life of Wan Ssŭ-t'ung was greatly disorganized—his mother dying when he was eight (sui), and his grandmother when he was nine. Owing to political tumoil and family misfortunes, his education was neglected, he being over ten (sui) before he had any formal schooling. His father left for Kiangsu and Kwangtung when the son was eighteen (sui), and died on his way home two years later (1657). Wan Ssŭ-t'ung himself did not marry until he was twenty-eight (sui). His wife died after they had been married five years. During a period of thirty-two years, in his later life, he was compelled to move his residence six times. But despite the disturbed and unsettled conditions of the time, he managed, by following ancestral traditions and the examples set by his elder brothers, and by relying on his own determination and love of learning, to ascend the difficult path of scholarship.
Like his brothers, he was a pupil of Huang Tsung-hsi [q. v.], the famous Chekiang scholar, whom he visited for the first time in 1659. He shared Huang's interest in the field of history and, like him, became one of the outstanding members of the so-called Eastern Chekiang School. During the years 1666–67 he and Huang Po-chia (see under Huang Tsung-hsi) studied together in the monastery, Hai-hui Ssŭ 海會寺, in the outskirts of his home district. During these years he read through the Official Dynastic Histories, applying himself so diligently that his eyes began to trouble him. Beginning in 1669, he and Huang Po-chia both taught and studied at the home of Chiang Hsi-chê 姜希轍 (T. 二濱, H. 定庵, chü-jên of 1642, d. 1698) of K'uai-chi, Chekiang. As the library of the Chiang family contained the official chronicles (shih-lu) of fifteen reigns of the Ming period, Wan seized this opportunity to digest their contents and to lay the foundation for his recognized mastery of the history of the defunct dynasty. In 1678, when names of candidates who were to compete in the special examination known as po-hsüeh hung-tz'ŭ (see under P'êng Sun-yü) were sent in, he was recommended by Hsü Hung-hsün 許宏勳 (T. 無功), intendant of the circuit of Ningpo and Shaohsing from 1675 to 1679. But Wan insistently declined the honor. When the Historiographical Board for the compilation of the History of the Ming Dynasty (Ming-shih) was re-established on a more ample scale in 1679, both Wan Ssŭ-t'ung and his nephew, Wan Yen [q. v.], were summoned to assist in the task. Huang Tsung-hsi wrote, as a farewell token, a poem of three stanzas in which he alluded to Wan Yen's literary ability and to Wan Ssŭ-t'ung's wide learning. Wan Ssŭ-t'ung declined the offer of an official post within the Bureau, preferring instead to labor privately in the Peking residence of the chief director, Hsü Yüan-wên [q. v.]. In pursuing this course he acted in accordance with a theory to which he was committed—namely, that private historical undertakings are likely to be superior to official ones. Since the latter are often carried out hurriedly by many persons, they are apt to lack coordination and consecutiveness, and sometimes fail to stress the important events of a dynasty. In the summer of 1690 Hsü Yüan-wên retired and went home, but Wan Ssŭ-t'ung was asked by the succeeding directors, Ch'ên T'ing-ching and Wang Hung-hsü [qq. v.], to remain with the project—his office being for a time in the Kiangnan Guildhall in Peking. When, in 1694, Wang Hung-hsü was reappointed director of the project, Wan Ssŭ-t'ung transferred his headquarters to Wang's residence. During his sojourn in Peking Wan gained wide recognition for his scholarship; his personality, too, being respected by men of learning and by high officials. For a time he was chief lecturer for a group of scholars who met twice each month.
Among his more intimate friends, were Wang Yüan and Liu Hsien-t'ing [qq. v.]. His friendship with Fang Pao [q. v.] began in 1691 when the latter came to Peking. In 1701 he first met the northern philosopher, Li Kung [q. v.], whom he admired very much. He thus demonstrated his catholicity of interest, and his ability to stand above the controversies of schools and sects. During this period in the capital, when he was occupied with the writing of the Ming-shih, we learn from various sources that he went South to visit his home at least three times—once in 1689 (when Huang Tsung-hsi once more wrote a poem to commemorate his return to Peking), and again in 1693 and 1698.
Wan Ssŭ-t'ung remained with the Historiographical Board for thirteen years, despite changes in the directing personnel. During this time he labored exclusively on the History of the Ming Dynasty, actually though not officially as director-in-chief. When he died, in 1702, his draft for the history evidently came into the possession of Wang Hung-hsü who was then director. After his retirement, in 1708, Wang had it re-
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