Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period/Wang Tuan
WANG Tuan 汪端 (T. 允莊, H. 小韞), Feb. 28, 1793–1839, Feb. 1, poetess, a native of Ch'ien-t'ang (Hangchow), was the wife of Ch'ên P'ei-chih 陳裴之 (T. 孟楷, H. 小雪, 朗玉仙人, 1794–1826), official and poet. Her mother was a daughter of Liang Tun-shu (see under Liang Shih-chêng), and her father, Wang Yü 汪瑜 (T. 季懷, H. 天潛, d. 1809), was a son of the famous bibliophile, Wang Hsien [q. v.]. She is said to have begun reading in infancy and to have written poetry at the age of seven (sui). After the death of her parents she was cared for by her aunt, Liang Tê-shêng (see under Hsü Tsung-yen). When she married Ch'ên P'ei-chih she became not only his wife but also his collaborator in the writing of poetry; and her father-in-law, Ch'ên Wên-shu [q. v.], greatly admired her verse. When Ch'ên P'ei-chih died at Hankow (see below) their only son, Ch'ên Pao-yung 陳葆庸, overcome by the news, became seriously ill and thereafter was mentally deranged. To assuage her grief Wang Tuan took consolation in Taoism to which her father-in-law was devoted. She assumed the Taoist names, Lai-han 來涵 and Hsin-ch'ê 心澈.
The literary works of Wang Tuan were collected and printed in 1839 under the title 自然好學齋集 Tzŭ-jan-hao-hsüeh chai chi, 4 chüan. Her anthology of verse from thirty poets of the Ming period, entitled 明三十家詩選 Ming san-shih chia shih-hsüan, in 2 series, each in 8 chüan (reprinted in 1873); and the supplement containing selections from seventy minor poets of the same period, reveal unusual literary taste and independance of judgment. She had courage even to disagree with such critics as Ch'ien Ch'ien-i and Shên Tê-ch'ien [qq. v.]. At the same time she was interested in history. Her notes on historical episodes of the Yuan and Ming periods were brought together in a work entitled 元明逸史 Yüan-Ming i-shih, 80 chüan, but the manuscript of this work she later destroyed.
Ch'ên P'ei-chih, her husband, was well-known as a poet. As a hsiu-ts'ai he purchased the rank of a second-class sub-prefect. While awaiting appointment he worked at Yangchow in charge of river transportation and was highly applauded by his superiors. About 1825 he was named second-class sub-prefect of Yunnanfu which he declined. While stopping at Hankow in expectation of appointment to another post, he died, at the age of thirty-three sui. An early collection of his verse was entitled 春藻堂初集 Ch'un-tsao t'ang ch'u-chi. His collected works were edited and published by Wang Tuan in 1828 under the title 澄懷堂集 Ch'êng-huai t'ang chi, 14 chüan. He is noted for his memoirs of his beautiful and talented concubine, Wang Tzŭ-lan 王子蘭 (T. 紫湘, H. 畹君, 1803–1824), a work entitled 香畹樓憶語 Hsiang-wan lou i-yü. These memoirs include a sketch of Wang Tzŭ-lan's life by Ch'ên Wên-shu, eulogies of her by many friends, including Wang Tuan, and a collection of tz'ŭ, or poems in irregular meter, by Ch'ên P'ei-chih, entitled 夢玉詞 Meng-gi tz'ŭ. These were published in 1824 under the collective title 湘煙小錄 Hsiang-yen hsiao-lu.
[1/513/19a; 2/73/8b;5/85/1a; 20/4/00, portraits of Wang Tuan and Ch'ên P'ei-chih; 21/8/1a; Liang-Chê yu-hsüan hsü-lu (see under Juan Yüan) 54/1a.]
Li Man-kuei