Wang Niansun
Encyclopedia
Wang Niansun (1744 - 1832), courtesy name: Huaizu (懷祖) was a Chinese
scholar of the Qing Dynasty
.
, he worked as a government official specializing in channelization
before retiring to devote himself to his studies. As an official, he is still remembered today for having the guts to impeach the corrupt high-ranked official Heshen
.
A student of Dai Zhen
, Wang is most famous for his commentary on the ancient thesaurus Guangya
, Guangya shuzheng (廣雅疏證 "Guangya Annotations and Proofs"), which he spent a whole decade to complete. In his commentary he demonstrated his philological
principle of "looking for the ancient meaning by considering the ancient sound ... not constrained by the structure of the character" (就古音以求古義......不限形體). Although he was not the first one to point out this principle, he was the first one to demonstrate it in an exemplary manner.
His Dushu zazhi (讀書雜誌 Miscellaneous Notes on the Classics) is also a philological treasure house, especially valuable for its textual criticism
of ancient texts.
His son Wang Yinzhi (王引之) was also an important philologist. They are often referred together as "Father and Son Wang of Gaoyou" (高郵王氏父子).
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
scholar of the Qing Dynasty
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
.
Biography
A native of Gaoyou, JiangsuJiangsu
' is a province of the People's Republic of China, located along the east coast of the country. The name comes from jiang, short for the city of Jiangning , and su, for the city of Suzhou. The abbreviation for this province is "苏" , the second character of its name...
, he worked as a government official specializing in channelization
Channelization
Channelization may refer to:*Channelization *River engineering#Channelization...
before retiring to devote himself to his studies. As an official, he is still remembered today for having the guts to impeach the corrupt high-ranked official Heshen
Heshen
Heshen or Hešen , from the Manchu Niohuru clan, was a Manchu official of the Qing Dynasty, a favourite of the Qianlong Emperor. Born Shanbao , his given name was later changed to Heshen. His courtesy name was Zhizhai . He was a member of the Plain Red Banner, as well as one of the most corrupt...
.
A student of Dai Zhen
Dai Zhen
Dai Zhen was a notable Chinese scholar of the Qing Dynasty from Xiuning, Anhui. A versatile scholar, he made great contributions to mathematics, geography, phonology and philosophy...
, Wang is most famous for his commentary on the ancient thesaurus Guangya
Guangya
The Guangya was an early 3rd century CE Chinese dictionary, edited by Zhang Yi during the Three Kingdoms period. It was later called the Boya owing to naming taboo on Yang Guang , which was the birth name of Emperor Yang of Sui.Zhang Yi wrote the Guangya as a supplement to the centuries older...
, Guangya shuzheng (廣雅疏證 "Guangya Annotations and Proofs"), which he spent a whole decade to complete. In his commentary he demonstrated his philological
Philology
Philology is the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics.Classical philology is the philology of Greek and Classical Latin...
principle of "looking for the ancient meaning by considering the ancient sound ... not constrained by the structure of the character" (就古音以求古義......不限形體). Although he was not the first one to point out this principle, he was the first one to demonstrate it in an exemplary manner.
His Dushu zazhi (讀書雜誌 Miscellaneous Notes on the Classics) is also a philological treasure house, especially valuable for its textual criticism
Textual criticism
Textual criticism is a branch of literary criticism that is concerned with the identification and removal of transcription errors in the texts of manuscripts...
of ancient texts.
His son Wang Yinzhi (王引之) was also an important philologist. They are often referred together as "Father and Son Wang of Gaoyou" (高郵王氏父子).