Page 175 - Deydier UNDERSTANDING CHINESE ARCHAIC BRONZES

which were housed in the Ningshou Palace 寧壽宮 within the 通義 and Da Dai Liji bu shu 大戴禮記補注 he made frequent use of
Beijing Imperial Palace 北京皇宮. bronze inscriptions to support and prove his theses.

Amongst the antiquarians of the Qing 清 dynasty, who collected, ■ Ruan Yuan 阮元 (1764 – 1849), the most famous scholar of the
researched and published with scientific rigour, the most famous were: Qing 清 dynasty. In his book the Jiguzhai Zhongding Yiqi Kuanshi
積古齋鐘鼎彝器款識, with its preface dated 1804, he recorded
■ Qian Daxin 錢大昕 (1728 – 1804), a polymath who was one of the and commented on five hundred and fifty inscriptions, providing
most prominent poets, epigraphists, historians and linguists of translations and notes, some of which were contributed by other
the Qianlong 乾隆 and later periods. Qian had a special interest contemporary scholars like Wu Dongfa 吳東發, Zhu Yun 朱筠, etc.
in phonetics, etymology and epigraphy. An expert in ancient
inscriptions, he amassed a collection of more than two thousand ■ Xu Tongbo 徐同柏 (1775 – 1854), a great Qing dynasty scholar and
rubbings of inscriptions on bronze and stone. He wrote many books, collector of bronzes. His collection included many archaic vessels,
one of which, the Jinshi Wenzi Mulu 金石文字目錄, a dictionary of but because of the chaotic conditions created by the outbreak of
bronze and stone inscriptions, is still consulted to this day. the Opium War 鴉片戰爭(1840 – 1842 A.D.) and then the Taiping
Rebellion 太平天國 (1851 – 1864 A.D.), a book on the bronzes and
■ Zhu Yun 朱筠 (1729 – 1780), a great scholar, collector of antique inscriptions in his collection was published only in 1906, long after
books and connoisseur of ancient styles of calligraphy. Zhu his death, under the name Conggutang Kuanshixue 從古堂款識學.
considered himself to be the first bronze inscription specialist and
worked closely with Ruan Yuan 阮元. ■ Wu Shifen 吳式芬 (1796 – 1856), who prepared a compilation of one
thousand, three hundred and thirty-four inscriptions entitled the
■ Qian Dian 錢坫 (1741 – 1806), the nephew of the Qing polymath and Jungu Lu Jinwen 攈古錄金文, which was not published until 1895,
expert in ancient inscriptions, Qian Daxin 錢大昕 (1728 – 1804) and after his death, also because of the chaotic conditions caused by the
an eminent Qing dynasty scholar of the Shuowen 說文 and a great Opium War 鴉片戰爭 (1840 – 1842 A.D.) and Taiping Rebellion 太
calligraphist in his own right, as well as an avid collector of ancient 平天國 (1851 – 1864 A.D.).
bronze vessels. His collection of 49 bronzes was published in 1796
under the title Shiliu Changle Tang Guqi Kuanshi Kao 十六長樂堂 ■ Fang Junyi 方濬益 (died 1899), who wrote a book entitled
古器款識考 in which he included drawings and measurements of Zhuiyi Zhai Yiqi Kuanshi Kaoshi 綴遺齋彞器款識考釋 in which
each of the 49 vessels, together with transcriptions and translations one thousand, three hundred and eighty-two inscriptions were
of inscriptions. recorded, but the book was not published until 1935.

■ Wu Dongfa 吳東發 (1747 – 1803), who is well-known today not ■ Chen Jieqi 陳介祺 (1813 – 1884), one of the greatest bronze vessel
only for his paintings and calligraphy, but also as a great expert collectors of the Qing 清 dynasty, who personally owned about 130
in textology and on ancient stone and bronze inscriptions. He to 140 vessels. He wrote a catalogue entitled Fuzhai Jijinlu 簠齋
wrote the Shang Zhou Wenzi Shiyi 商周文字拾遺 (Compendium of 集金錄 which included one hundred and eighty-eight inscriptions,
Surviving Shang and Zhou Writing). but which was published only in 1918.

■ Kong Guangsen 孔廣森 (1752 – 1786), a seventieth generation ■ Pan Zuyin 潘祖蔭 (1830 – 1890), a famous official from the Qing
descendant of Confucius and a great scholar, especially on the Court, calligrapher and avid collector of archaic bronze vessels.
Chunqiu 春秋 period (circa 770 – 476 B.C.) and on the Da Dai Liji Pan had in his collection several hundred archaic bronzes. His
大戴禮記. In his books Chunqiu Gongyang Tongyi 春秋公羊經傳 catalogue of fifty of the bronzes in his collection, entitled Pangulou

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