edited, with changes, and in 1723 presented it to the throne in a form comprising 310 chüan. Thereafter it came to be known as Wang Hung-hsü's "Draft Ming History" (明史稿 Ming-shih kao). The National Library of Peiping possesses a manuscript Ming-shih kao, in 416 chüan, which the officials of the Library attribute to Wan Ssŭ-t'ung, and of which they caused a transcript to be made for the Library of Congress.
Wan Ssŭ-t'ung wrote several other works on history of which perhaps the most celebrated is the 歷代史表 Li-tai shih-piao. In this work important historical events are arranged topically and in tabular form. Judging from a preface dated 1676, it was completed before he began his work on the Ming-shih, though possibly not in its final form. A printed edition, in 59 chüan, is included in the Kuang-ya ts'ung-shu (see under Chang Chih-tung). A work entitled 宋季忠義錄 Sung-chi chung-i lu, containing biographies of the loyalists living at the close of the Sung dynasty, was printed in 16 chüan in the second series of the Ssŭ-ming tsung-shu (see under Chang Huang-yen). Another biographical work, entitled 儒林宗派 Ju-lin tsung-p'ai, in 16 chüan, deals with the lives of philosophers of the Confucian school. Wan Ssŭ-tung assisted Hsü Ch'ien-hsüeh [q. v.] in the compilation of the Tu-li t'ung-k'ao, a work on mourning rites (see under Hsü). Fifty-six passages in this work are definitely accredited to Wan. He wrote, among other subjects, on calligraphy. His collected essays and poems, entitled 石園文集 Shih-yüan wên-chi, 8 chüan, were printed in 1936 in the fourth series of the Ssŭ-ming ts'ung-shu. He also left a collection of ballads, or narrative prose poems, relating to incidents of the Ming period, entitled 明樂府 Ming yüeh-fu, 2 chüan, which was printed in 1925 in the 又滿樓叢書 Yu-man lou ts'ung-shu.
Wan Ssŭ-t'ung is credited with having written or compiled more than thirty works, but only the few named here are known to be extant. Some of these, moreover, have circulated under the names of benefactors such as Hsü Ch'ien-hsüeh and Wang Hung-hsü. It was at Wan's suggestion, and perhaps with his assistance, that Wên Jui-lin 温睿臨 (T. 鄰翼, H. 哂園, chü-jên of 1705) wrote a history of the southern Ming regimes, entitled 南疆逸史 Nan-chiang i-shih. Owing to the recently revived interest in late Ming and early Ch'ing history, the contributions made by Wan Ssŭ-t'ung take on added significance.
[1/489/18a; 3/413/33a; 4/131/2b; 6/44/22a; 32/8/19a; Yin-hsien chih (1877) 41/21b; Ssŭ-k'u; Report of the Librarian of Congress 1935, pp. 184–85, for further data on the Draft History; Wan Yen's preface to Li-tai shih-piao.]
WAN T'ai 萬泰 (T. 履安, H. 悔庵), Mar. 19, 1598–1657, Nov. 11, scholar, native of Yin-hsien, Chekiang, was the son of Wan Pang-fu 萬邦孚 (T. 汝永, H. 瑞巖, 1554–1628). When he was nineteen (sui), he and his friend, Lu Fu 陸符 (T. 文虎, d. 1646 age 50 sui), studied under Liu Tsung-chou [q. v.]. They together became known as Lu-Wan—two pioneers who set a high standard of scholarship for the region in which they lived. In 1632 Wan T'ai made the friendship of Huang Tsung-hsi [q. v.], and his sons thereafter became the latter's pupils. He took the degree of chü-jên in 1636. When, in 1645, the Prince of Lu (see Chu I-hai) set up a temporary government at Shaohsing, Wan T'ai was offered a secretaryship in the Board of Revenue. He assisted in that capacity, but declined the title which went with the post. When Shaohsing fell in the following year he retired, indicating his determination never to enter political life by wearing the costume of a Taoist monk. He endeared himself to his contemporaries in a time of turmoil by burying his deceased friends and by saving others from death or imprisonment as political offenders. In 1656 he made a journey to Kwangtung, but died on his way back in the autumn of the following year. His literary collection, 續騷堂集 Hsü-sao t'ang chi, contains his writings for the period 1646 to 1650. Another collection, entitled 寒松齋稿 Han-sung chai kao, is reported in some catalogues, as well as some writings concerning his journey to Kwangtung, entitled 粵草 Yüeh-ts'ao.
Following are the names of his eight sons in the order of their ages; all became scholars and as such were styled the "Eight Dragons of the Wan Family" 萬氏八龍. The four younger became especially well-known.
Wan Ssŭ-nien 萬斯年 (T. 祖繩, 1617–1693) studied under Ch'ien Su-yüeh (see under Huang Tsung-hsi) in his youth.
Wan Ssŭ-ch'êng 萬斯程, 1621–1671, a student of medicine.
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