ics, phonetics, philology, calligraphy, painting, medicine, history, etc. Among his writings the following may be mentioned: 通雅 T'ung-ya, in 52 chüan, an encyclopaedia completed in 1636 but not printed until 1666; 物理小識 Wu-li hsiao-chih, in 12 chüan, another encyclopaedia on miscellaneous subjects, printed in 1664; and 藥地炮莊 Yao-ti p'ao-Chuang, in 9 chüan, a treatise on Chuang-tzŭ 莊子. The first two were copied into the Ssǔ-k'u Manuscript Library (see under Chi Yün) and the last was merely given notice therein. His literary works, entitled 浮山全集 Fu-shan ch'üan-chi, in 22 chüan, and 流寓草 Liu-yü ts'ao , in 2 chüan, were banned in the Ch'ing period. Other works attributed to him are: 易餘 I-yü, in 2 chüan; 周易圖象幾表 Chou-i tu-hsiang chi piao; 烹雪錄 P'ang-hsüeh lu; 博易集 Po-i chi, 2 chüan; and 文章薪火 Wên-chang hsin-huo, 1 chüan of miscellaneous notes.
As a scholar Fang is highly praised by the editors of the Ssǔ-k'u Catalogue. Liang Ch'i-ch'ao (see under T'an Ssŭ-t'ung) attributed his clarity and independence of judgment to the following three characteristics: (1) a skeptical approach to his subject (尊疑), (2) a realization of the importance of evidence (尊證), and (3) an emphasis on present-day utility (尊今).
One of his outstanding contributions was in the field of philology. Like Liu Hsien-t'ing [q. v.] and Yang Hsüan-ch'i 楊選杞 (T. 士季, H. 夢白齋主人), Fang I-chih was influenced by the Hsi-ju êr-mu tzŭ (see under Wang Chêng), a key to the pronunciation of Chinese characters, by Nicolas Trigault (see under Wang Chêng). Fang is regarded by some as the first Chinese to realize the advantage of the roman alphabet for the transcription of Chinese sounds.
Fang I-chih had three sons who also achieved reputations as scholars. The eldest, Fang Chung-tê 方中德 (T. 田伯, H. 依巖), was the author of an encyclopaedia, entitled 古事比 Ku-shih pi, in 52 chüan, preface dated 1708, reprinted in 1920; the second, Fang Chung-t'ung 方中通 (T. 位伯), was a mathematician and was the author, among other works, of a mathematical work, entitled 數度衍 Shu-tu yen, in 23 chüan. His discussions on mathematics, with Chieh Hsüan 揭暄 (T. 子宣, H. 韋綸, 半齋), were published under the title 揭方問答 Chieh-Fang wên-ta. A third son, Fang Chung-li 方中履 (T. 素北), was the author of an encyclopaedic work on various subjects, entitled 古今釋疑 Ku-chin shih-i, 18 chüan, which was banned but was given notice in the Ssǔ-k'u Catalogue.
[M.2/361/7b; M.36/16/3a; M.41/3/29b, 4/41b, 14/8a; M.59/24/8a; 1/505/10b, 511/7b; 2/68/5b; Wang Fu-chih [q. v.], Yung-li shih-lu 5/2a; Liang Ch'i-ch'ao 梁啟超, 中國近三百年學術史 Chung-kuo chin san-pai-nien hsüeh-shu shih, p. 240; Ma Ch'i-ch'ang (see under Fang Kuan-ch'êng), T'ung-ch'êng ch'i-chiu chuan 6/15b; Lo Ch'ang-p'ei 羅常培, 耶蘇會士在音韵學上的貢獻 in 國立中央研究院歷史研究所集刊 vol. 1, no. 3; Ssǔ-k'u 119/3a, 122/7a, 147/3a; L.T.C.L.H.M., 29a; T'oung Pao VI (1895) p. 428–29; Fang Hung 方竑, 方密之先生之科學精神及其物理小識 in 文藝叢刊 vol. 1, no. 2 (1934), pp. 179–99;桐城方氏七代遺書 T'ung-ch'êng Fang-shih ch'i-tai i-shu.]
FANG Kuan-ch'êng 方觀承 (T. 遐穀, H. 問亭, 宜田), Sept. 13, 1698–1768, Sept., official, came from the celebrated Fang family of T'ung-ch'êng, Anhwei, which was involved in the case of Tai Ming-shih [q. v.]. In 1711 Tai was accused of treasonous writing and two years later was executed. Fang Kuan-ch'êng's great-grandfather, Fang Hsiao-piao (see under Tai Ming-shih), wrote a work containing information about the late Ming princes of South China, and some of this information Tai reported in his works. Consequently Fang Hsiao-piao was posthumously convicted, his remains were dishonored, and his descendants were banished to Heilungkiang or enslaved in Peking. One source maintains that the harsh treatment meted out to him and his descendants was due to Emperor Shêng-tsu mistaking him for someone who had joined the rebellion of Wu San-kuei [q. v.]. However that may be, Fang Kuan-ch'êng's grandparents and parents were banished (1713) to Heilungkiang where they lived the rest of their lives.
Fang Kuan-ch'êng's grandfather, Fang Têng-i 方登嶧 (T. 鳬宗, H. 屏垢, d. 1728), was in childhood adopted by an uncle, yet he was banished for being the son of Fang Hsiao-piao. His father, Fang Shih-chi 方式濟 (T. 沃園, d. 1717), was a chin-shih of 1709 and a secretary in the Grand Secretariat. Fang Têng-i and Fang Shih-chi were compelled to live in exile in Tsitsihar (then known as Pu-k'uei 卜魁). The grandfather and the father each left several collections of verse—the latter being also the
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