feet troubled him, but he still made some journeys to cities near Ch'ing-p'u, and headed several Academies, among them the Lou-tung (婁東) Academy at T'ai-ts'ang, Kiangsu (1796–97), and the Fu-wên (敷文) Academy at Hangchow (1800–01). In 1803, owing to a deficit in the provincial finances of Yunnan, he and all the officials who held posts in that province in the preceding twenty years were ordered to make up the arrears—the fine he was ordered to pay amounting to twelve thousand taels. After disposing of all his property he could barely raise half the amount. Hence in 1803, then eighty sui, he had to live for a time in a temple in Soochow until he was released from further payments through petition of his friends and disciples. He died three years later.
During his official career, lasting some forty years, Wang Ch‘ang took part in compiling many works for the government, among which (in addition to those already noted) may be mentioned the following: Li-tai t'ung-chien chi-lan (see under Lu Hsi-hsiung), 120 chüan, completed in 1768; 青浦縣志 Ch'ing-p'u hsien-chih, 40 chüan, printed in 1788; 太倉州志 Tai-ts'ang chou-chih, 65 chüan, printed in 1803; 陝省律例 Shan-shêng lü-li, 50 chüan, compiled about 1786; and 銅政全書 T'ung-chêng ch'üan-shu, 50 chüan, concerning the administration of the copper mines in Yunnan, compiled in 1787 but now listed as lost.
Wang Ch'ang was regarded as an efficient and conscientious official, but he is remembered especially as a poet and a man of letters. His fame as a poet won him many disciples, such as Huang Ching-jên, Ying-ho, Tai Tun-yüan [q. v.] and Yang Fang-ts'an (see under Sun Yüan-hsiang). As a poet he rivalled his contemporary, Yüan Mei [q. v.]. His collected works in prose and verse, entitled Ch'un-jung t'ang chi, 68 chüan, were printed in 1807. Attached to this collection is a biography of him, 述庵先生年譜 Shu-an hsien-shêng nien-p'u, in 2 chüan, compiled by his son-in-law, Yen Jung 嚴榮 (T. 瑞唐, chin-shih of 1795, d. 1821). Wang also edited an anthology, with biographies, of the poets of his native district, entitled Ch'ing-p'u shih-chuan (詩傳), 34 chüan; and two anthologies of contemporary writers: one of prose, entitled 湖海文傳 Hu-hai wên-chuan, 75 chüan, printed in 1839; and one of verse, entitled Hu-hai shih-chuan, 46 chüan, printed in 1803. For the anthology, Tz'ŭ-tsung, of Chu I-tsun [q. v.] he prepared a supplement, entitled Hsü (續) Tz'ŭ-tsung, 2 chüan. Relying partly on Chu's unpublished manuscripts, he compiled a Ming tz'ŭ-tsung in 12 chüan. Then he edited an anthology of tz'ŭ of the Ch'ing period, entitled Kuo-ch'ao (國朝) tz'ŭ-tsung, 48 + 8 chüan. These three anthologies of tzŭ were printed in 1803. In the same year he edited the collected works of the Ming loyalist, Ch'ên Tzŭ-lung [q. v.], whom he greatly admired.
In the field of epigraphy Wang Ch'ang won permanent fame for his collection of more than fifteen hundred rubbings of inscriptions on bronze or stone from the earliest times to the end of the Sung Dynasty (1279), entitled 金石萃編 Chin-shih ts'ui-pien, 160 chüan, printed in 1805. He made this great collection during fifty years of study and travel over the empire, and finally in 1802 asked Chu Wên-tsao 朱文藻 (T. 映漘, 1735–1806) and Ch'ien T'ung (see under Ch'ien Ta-chao) to edit them. The pre-T'ang inscriptions were reproduced in facsimile. Every item in this work is described in full with quotations from various authorities. A collection of inscriptions of the Yüan period in manuscript was found by Lo Chên-yü (see under Chao Chih-ch'ien) who identified it as Wang's supplement to his own work. This manuscript was reproduced by Lo in 1918 under the title Chin-shih ts'ui-pien wei-k'an-kao (未刊稿), 3 chüan. Many attempts have been made by later scholars to supplement or correct Wang's collection of epigraphs. Among these the best known is the 八瓊室金石補正 Pa-ch'iung shih chin-shih pu-chêng, 130 chüan, by Lu Tsêng-hsiang 陸增祥 (T. 魁仲, H. 星農, 1833–1889), printed in 1925.
[Nien-p'u in Ch'un-jung t'ang chi; 1/311/10b; 2/26/48b; 3/92/30a; 7/20/1a; 20/3/00; Ch'ing-p'u hsien-chih (1877); Ssŭ-k'u.]
WANG Chêng 王徵 (T. 良甫, H. 葵心, 了一道人), May 12, 1571–1644, scientist, scholar, and Ming official, was a native of Ching-yang, Shensi. His father, Wang Ying-hsüan 王應選 (T. 滸北, d. 1628), was a tutor to private families in his native place and the author of two short works, entitled 算數歌訣 Suan-shu ko-chüeh and 滸北山翁訓子歌 Hu-pei shan-wêng hsün-tzŭ ko. Wang Chêng took the chü-jên degree in 1594, but did not become a chin-shih until twenty-eight years later (1622), after failing nine times. His examination papers for this degree are said to be preserved in the Shensi Provincial Library at Sian. Being a youth interested in the applied sciences, he attempted to improve the tools used by farmers, and is said to have constructed a num-
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