for some error in administration, he went in the autumn of 1772 to Szechwan as an expectant magistrate. There he served twice as acting magistrate of Fu-shun (1772–74 and 1775–76), as well as at Nan-ch'i (1774) and at Wu-shan (1778). In 1775 he completed the above-mentioned Liu-shu yin-yün piao which classifies the ancient sounds into seventeen groups. In the same year he compiled the local history of Fu-shun, 富順縣志 Fu-shun hsien-chih, his postscript to the work being dated 1777. In 1780 he retired from official life on the plea of ill health. On his way home in 1781 he visited Ch'ien Ta-hsin [q. v.] at the Chung-shan Shu-yüan in Nanking. In 1791 he completed a work on the Classic of History, entitled 古文尚書撰異 Ku-wên Shang-shu chuan-i, in 32 chüan, in which he analyzes the form and meaning of difficult characters in the so-called ancient text of the Classic of History—a forged document of antiquity which had suffered by frequent reediting, sometimes at the hands of incompetent scholars (see under Yen Jo-chü). At this juncture he was compelled, on account of a law-suit over his family's ancestral tombs, to transfer his residence, in 1792, from Chin-t'an to Soochow. About this time, too, he re-edited and expanded to 12 chüan the literary works of his teacher, Tai Chên. That collection, entitled Tai Tung-yüan hsien-shêng ch'üan-chi (see Tai), was printed in 1793.
The chief contribution of Tuan Yü-ts'ai to classical and etymological studies was his analysis of the characters in the ancient dictionary, 說文解字 Shuo-wên chieh-tzŭ (commonly referred to as Shuo-wên) by Hsü Shên 許愼 (T. 叔重), which was completed in 100 A.D. and presented to the throne by his son, Hsü Ch'ung 許沖, in 121 A.D. It is the earliest extant dictionary on the origin and formation of Chinese characters, and scholars of the Ch'ing period found it helpful in the understanding of difficult texts. In the Sung period the brothers, Hsü Ch'ieh (see under Fêng Kuei-fên) and Hsü Hsüan (see under Yen K'o-chün), each made an improved edition of the Shuo-wên chieh-tzŭ, but Tuan Yü-ts'ai was the first scholar of modern times to make a thorough study of all the works relating to it. He began by collating Mao I's [q. v.] reprint of Hsü Hsüan's edition, which was the only one then in wide circulation, comparing it with the Sung and Ming editions, mostly rare manuscripts in the possession of Chou Hsi-tsan and Yüan T'ing-t'ao (for both see under Ku Kuang-ch'i). His notes on this collation he embodied in the work 汲古閣說文訂 Chi-ku ko Shuo-wên ting, 1 chüan, printed in 1771, revised and reprinted in 1772. It was later criticized by Yen K'o-chün [q. v.] under the title, Shuo-wên ting-ting. In 1807 he completed his annotations to the Shuo-wên and printed them in 1813–15 under the title Shuo-wên chieh-tzŭ chu (註), 30 chüan. The entire dictionary was thus annotated, giving corrections, emendations, and additions. The importance of his work, and the amount of interest it aroused, is certified by the large number of supplementary studies prepared by other scholars. The more ambitious of this type are the 說文段注訂補 Shuo-wên Tuan-chu ting-pu, 14 chüan (1888), by Wang Shao-lan 王紹蘭 (T. 畹馨, H. 南陔, 1760–1835); the Shuo-wên Tuan-chu k'ao-chêng (see under Fêng Kuei-fên); and the Tuan-shih Shuo-wên chiao-ting, by Niu Shu-yü [q. v.]. Minor supplements in the same field are the Shuo-wên Tuan-chu ch'ao-an (抄按), by Kuei Fu (see under Chou Yung-nien); the Shuo-wên Tuan-chu cha-chi (札記), by Hsü Sung [q. v.], and another with the same title by Kung Tzŭ-chên [q. v.], Tuan's grandson.
Among other etymologists who commented on Tuan's work, the following may be mentioned: Wang Nien-sun [q. v.], whose Tuan-shih Shuo-wên ch'ien-chi (簽記), was reproduced from a manuscript and included in the collectanea, 稷香館叢書 Chi-hsiang kuan ts'ung-shu (1935); Chu Chün-shêng 朱駿聲 (T. 豐芑, H. 允倩, 石隱, 1788–1858), whose Shuo-wên Tuan-chu nien-wu (拈誤), was reproduced in the same collectanea; Hsü Ch'êng-ch'ing 徐承慶 (T. 謝山), whose Shuo-wên Tuan-chu k'uang-miu (匡謬), 8 chüan, was printed in the Chih-chin chai ts'ung-shu (see under Yao Wên-t'ien); Hsü Hao 徐灝 (T. 子遠, H. 靈洲, 1810–1879), whose Shuo-wên Tuan-chu chien (箋), was printed in 1894 and reprinted in 1914; and Tsou Po-ch'i (see under Li Shan-lan).
The above-mentioned Kuei Fu, a native of Ch'ü-fu, Shantung, was less arbitrary than Tuan in his approach to the study of the Shuo-wên—at doubtful points he left more for the reader to decide. His Shuo-wên chieh-tzŭ i-chêng (義證), 50 chüan, was printed in 1851. He influenced two other natives of Shantung working in the same field, namely Hsü Han 許瀚 (T. 印林, chü-jên of 1835) and Wang Yün 王筠 (T. 貫山, H. 箓友, 1784–1854).
Tuan Yü-ts'ai printed his own works from time to time, under the collective title, 經韻樓叢書 Ching-yün lou ts'ung-shu. This ts'ung-shu contains, among other items, a collection of his essays, Ching-yün lou chi (集), in 12 chüan.
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