Page 21 - Deydier VOL.2 Meiyintang Collection of Chinese Bronses

Amongst the collectors of the Qing dynasty, who collected, researched and then the Taiping Rebellion, a book on the collection was published only in
published with scientific rigour, the most famous were: 1906, long after his death, under the name Conggutang Kuanshixue (從古
堂款識學).
- Qian Daxin (錢大昕) (1728 – 1804), a polymath who was one of the
most prominent historians and linguists of the time and who served as - Wu Shifen (吳式芬) (1796 – 1856), who prepared a compilation of one
a commissioner of education and examinations in Guangdong province thousand, three hundred and thirty-four inscriptions entitled the Jungu
during the Qing dynasty. Qian had a special interest in phonetics, etymology Lu Jinwen (攈古錄金文), which was not published until 1895, after his
and epigraphy. An expert in ancient inscriptions, he collected and owned death, also because of the chaotic conditions caused by the Opium War and
more than two thousand rubbings of inscriptions on bronze and stone. He Taiping Rebellion.
wrote many books, one of which, the Jinshi Wenzi Mulu (金石文字目錄) is a
kind of dictionary of bronze and stone inscriptions, which is still consulted - Fang Junyi (方濬益) (died 1899), who wrote a book entitled Zhuiyi Zhai
to this day. Yiqi Kuanshi Kaoshi (綴遺齋彞器款識考釋) in which one thousand, three
hundred and eighty-two inscriptions were recorded, but the book was not
- Zhu Yun (朱筠) (1729 - 1780), who considered himself to be the first bronze published until 1935.
inscription specialist and worked closely with Ruan Yuan (阮元).
- Chen Jieqi (陳介祺) (1813 – 1884), probably the greatest bronze vessel

- Qian Dian (錢坫) (1741 – 1806), the nephew of the Qing polymath and expert collector of the Qing dynasty, who personally owned about 130 to 140 vessels.
in ancient inscriptions, Qian Daxin (錢大昕) (1728 – 1804) and an eminent He wrote a catalogue entitled Fuzhai Jijinlu (簠齋集金錄) which included
Qing dynasty scholar of the Shuowen (說文), a great calligraphist in his one hundred and eighty-eight inscriptions, but which was published only
own right and an avid collector of ancient bronze vessels. His collection in 1918.
of 49 bronzes was published in 1796 under the title Shiliu Changle Tang
Guqi Kuanshi Kao (十六長樂堂古器款識考) in which he included drawings - Wu Dacheng (吳大澂) (1835 – 1902). One thousand and forty-eight
and measurements of each of the 49 vessels together with transcriptions of inscriptions from Shang and Zhou dynasties are recorded in his Kezhai
inscriptions. Jigulu (愙齋集古錄) which was published only in 1916.

- Wu Dongfa (吳東發) (1747 – 1803), who is well-known today for his paintings - Duan Fang (端方) (1861 – 1911), whose book, the Taozhai Jijinlu ( 陶齋
and calligraphy, but also as a great specialist in textology, especially on 吉金錄), published in 1908, was the first in China in which rubbings of
stone and bronze. He wrote the Shang Zhou Wenzi Shiyi (商周文字拾遺) ancient bronze inscriptions were published using the then new technique
(Compendium of Surviving Shang and Zhou Writing). of ‘gravura reproduction’.

- Kong Guangsen (孔廣森) (1752 – 1786)
Modern studies
- Ruan Yuan (阮元) (1764 – 1849), was the most famous scholar of the Qing
th
dynasty. In his book the Jiguzhai Zhongding Yiqi Kuanshi (積古齋鐘鼎彝 At the end of the 19 century an extraordinary discovery deeply influenced
器款識), with its preface dated 1804, he recorded and studied five hundred and changed the course of all studies of ancient bronze inscriptions. In the late
and fifty inscriptions, with translations and notes, some contributed by 1890s, what were called in ignorance “dragon bones” made their appearance
other contemporary scholars like Wu Dongfa, Zhu Yun, etc. in a number of shops selling traditional Chinese herbal medicine, where they
were pounded into powder and made into medicine. Many of these ‘dragon
- Xu Tongbo (徐同柏) (1775 – 1854), a great Qing dynasty scholar and collector bones’ bore very unusual and, at the time, largely ignored inscriptions etched
of bronzes. His collection included many archaic vessels, but because of the in the earliest form of Chinese writing. This writing was later termed Jia gu
chaotic conditions created by the outbreak of the Opium War in 1840 and wen’ (甲骨文) ‘tortoise and bone writing’ in Chinese, since all these inscriptions
were written either on tortoise shells or on animal bones, and ‘oracle bone

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