in charge of the provincial examination in Fukien, and in the following year became a tutor in the Imperial Academy. In 1735 he was appointed commissioner of education in western Kwangtung, with the designation Chao-Kao hsüeh-chêng 肇高學政 as distinguished from the office in eastern Kwangtung, known as Kuang-Shao (廣韶) hsüeh-chêng. The division of the province for this purpose was put into effect early in 1730, but in 1751 the earlier practice of having one commissioner for the whole province was resumed.
Upon his return to the capital (1739) Wang An-kuo was made vice-president of the Board of Punishments (1739–40). Late in 1740, while serving as vice-president of the Censorate, he charged Wang Mu (see under Wang Yüan-ch'i) governor of Kwangtung, with having illegally appointed a magistrate; and after Wang Mu's dismissal Wang An-kuo was ordered to fill the place. By virtue of his energetic and efficient administration many old rules and traditions in the province were altered. In 1744 he was appointed president of the Board of War, but did not take the post owing to his father's death (1744) and the customary period of mourning. In 1746 he returned to Peking to take the presidency of the Board of Ceremonies, a post he held until 1755. In 1747 he was named to serve concurrently as one of the directors for the compilation of the third edition of the 大清會典 Ta-Ch'ing hui-tien or "Collected Statutes of the Empire", and the first edition of the 大清通禮 Ta-Ch'ing t'ung-li, or "Collected Rules of Ceremony". The first edition of the Ta-Ch'ing hui-tien, in 162 chüan, was commissioned in 1684 and completed in 1690. The second edition, in 250 chüan, was commissioned in 1724 and completed in 1733. The third edition, in 100 chüan (with tsê-li 則例, or regulations, in 180 chüan), was commissioned in 1747 and completed early in 1767. The fourth edition, in 80 chüan (with shih-li 事例, or precedents, in 920 chüan, and t'u 圖, or illustrations, in 132 chüan), was commissioned in 1801 and completed in 1818 (see under Yü Chêng-hsieh). The fifth edition, in 100 chüan, with shih-li in 1,220 chüan and t'u in 270 chüan, was commissioned in 1886 and completed in 1899. The Library of Congress has all five editions. As for the Ta-Ch'ing t'ung-li, the first edition, in 50 chüan, was commissioned in 1736, completed in 1759 and printed in 1818. An expanded edition in 54 chüan was commissioned in 1819 and completed in 1824.
In 1755 Wang An-kuo was appointed president of the Board of Civil Office, but was permitted to resign, late in 1756, on grounds of ill health. Upon his death he was canonized as Wên-su 文肅. He exemplified in his life a long-standing family tradition of strict morality. He was serious-minded and rigorous in the application of his principles, and led a life of extreme simplicity. Though he held many high positions, he remained to the end a poor man, devoted whole-heartedly to the service of his country. By nature a student deeply interested in the classics, he was unable to complete his studies in this field. His ambitions were fulfilled, however, and that handsomely, by his son, Wang Nien-sun, and his grandson, Wang Yin-chih [qq. v.].
[3/76/32a; 4/29/11a; 9/21/24b; 20/2/00; 肇慶府志 Chao-ch'ing fu-chih (1876) 13/2b; Lo Chên-yü 羅振玉, 高郵王氏遺書 Kao-yu Wang-shih ishu (1925); Ssŭ-k'u 68/3b, 81/5a, 82/5b.]
WANG Ch'ang 王昶 (T. 德甫, H. 述庵, 蘭泉), Jan. 6, 1725–1806, July 22, scholar and official, was a native of Ch'ing-p'u, Kiangsu. In 1749 he entered the Tzŭ-yang (紫陽) Academy at Soochow. Two years later his poems were included in the anthology of verse by seven students of the Academy (see under Wang Ming-shêng), edited by the principal, Shên Tê-ch'ien [q. v.]. In 1754 he went to Peking and was employed by Ch'in Hui-t'ien [q. v.] to assist in compiling the latter's work, Wu-li t'ung-k'ao. In the same year he passed the examination for chin-shih, but as he failed to enter the Hanlin Academy he became disheartened and, after lingering for some time in Peking and in Tsinan, returned to Ch'ing-p'u. Late in 1756 he went to Yangchow and taught the sons and grandsons of Lu Chien-tsêng [q. v.], the salt commissioner. In the following year he competed in the special examination granted by Emperor Kao-tsung at Nanking in the course of the latter's second tour of Kiangnan and Chekiang. He received the highest grade at the examination and was appointed a secretary of the Grand Secretariat, a post he assumed late in 1758.
During his stay of about ten years in Peking Wang made the acquaintance of many famous scholars of the time and participated in the compilation of several official works, particularly the 西域同文志 Hsi-yü t'ung-wên chih, 24 chüan (completed in 1766), a dictionary of the languages of the Eleuths, Mohammedans, Tibetans, and natives of Kokonor. He also served (1767) in a
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