Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period/Fang Tsung-ch'êng
FANG Tsung-ch'êng 方宗誠 (T. 存之, H. 柏堂, 西眉山人), Nov. 8, 1818–1888, April 2, scholar, came of a family of local gentry in T'ung-ch'êng, Anhwei, and was remotely related to Fang Tung-shu [q. v.]. After studying under a local scholar named Hsü Lu 許魯 (T. 子秀, H. 玉峯, original ming 鼎) he became a pupil of Fang Tung-shu with whom he stayed for twelve years. As his grandfather had expended the family property for famine relief, he was forced from his early days to earn his living by teaching. Late in 1853, when his native town fell to the Taipings, he took refuge in a small mausoleum attached to his ancestral tomb in a suburban village and lived there for about eight years. Early in 1859 he was invited to Tsinan as a tutor by Wu T'ing-tung 吳廷栋 (T. 彦甫, H. 竹如, 1793–1873), who was then financial commissioner of Shantung. Late in the same year he accompanied Wu to Pao-ting, Chihli, where the latter was judicial commissioner.
At the call of Tsêng Kuo-fan and Hu Lin-i [qq. v.] Fang left Pao-ting for Anking early in 1861, but was forced by, the Nien banditti to stop at Kaifeng, where he became a member of the secretarial staff of the governor of Honan, Yen Shu-sen (see under Hu Lin-i). Early in 1862 he visited Anking to see Tsêng Kuo-fan, but after a short sojourn went to Wuchang where Yen Shu-sên was governor of Hupeh. In the following year he returned to Anking and became a member of the famous secretarial staff of Tsêng Kuo-fan whom he followed later to Nanking, and to Chi-ning, Shantung. In the autumn of 1866, when Tsêng was stationed at Chou-chia-k'ou, Honan, Fang left him and returned to Anking. Once in 1867 and again in 1868–69, at Shanghai, he was engaged in the compilation of the Shanghai hsien-chih (see under Yü Yüeh). In 1869 he was again invited by Tsêng Kuo-fan, then governor-general of Chihli, to Pao-ting. In the following year, on the recommendation of Tsêng's successor, Li Hung-chang [q. v.], he was appointed magistrate of Tsao-ch'iang, Chihli, a position he held during the years 1871–80. During his term in office at Tsao-ch'iang he established (1876) an Academy named Ching-i shu-yüan 敬義書院; and compiled the 棗強縣志補正 Tsao-ch'iang hsien-chih pu-chêng, 5 chüan, printed in 1876—a supplement to the Tsao-ch'iang hsien-chih, 20 chüan, published in 1803. Late in 1880 he retired to Anking where he spent the remainder of his life teaching. He was honored in 1887 with the title of a fifth-rank official because of his scholarly contributions.
As one of the most brilliant followers of Fang Tung-shu, and for his erudition in the Sung philosophy, and his masterly compositions in the archaic style, Fang Tsung-ch'êng became well-known. During the years 1875-86 he edited and printed his various works. They are popularly known under the collective title 柏堂遺書 Pai-t'ang i-shu. Among eight items there included, four collections of his works may be mentioned: 志學錄 Chih hsüeh lu, 8 chüan, printed in 1877, with a continuation in 3 chüan, printed in 1885–86, being ethical treatises written from the standpoint of Sung Neo-Confucianism; Pai-t'ang ching-shuo (經說), 33 chüan, printed in 1875–82, being exegetical notes on the Classics; Pai-t'ang tu-shu pi-chi (讀書筆記), 13 chüan, printed in 1878-84, memoranda on the Classics; and Pai-t'ang chi (集) in 6 series, 14 + 13 + 22 + 22 + 8 + 33 chüan, respectively, printed in 1880-86, his literary compositions, and his letters.
A son of Fang Tsung-ch'êng, named Fang P'ei-chün 方培濬 (T. 哲甫, H. 毅齋, 1838–1860), left a literary collection, entitled 毅齋遺集 I-chai i-chi, 5 chüan, which was printed in 1886 as an appendix to the so-called Pai-t'ang i-shu. Another son, Fang Shou-i 方守彝 (T. 倫叔, H. 黃初, 清一老人, 1847-1924), was a pupil of Chêng Fu-chao (see under Fang Tung-shu). He and Ch'ên Tan-jan (see under Liu Ming-ch'uan) wrote a detailed biography of Fang Tsung-ch'êng, entitled Fang Pai-t'ang shih-shih k'ao-lüeh (事實考略), 5 chüan, which was printed in 1889.
[1/491/13b; 2/67/53b; 5/80/21b; Fang Pai-t'ang shih-shih k'ao-lüeh (not consulted); Sun Pao-t'ien, Chiao-ching shih wên-chi (see under Chang Yü-chao) 5/54a; Ch'iang Ju-hsün 強汝詢 (T. 蕘叔, H. 賡廷, 1824-1894), 求益齋文集 Ch'iu-i chai wên-chi (1898) 7/8b; Ma Ch'i-ch'ang (see under Fang Kuan-ch'êng) T'ung-ch'êng-ch'i-chiu ch'uan 11/31b.]