Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period/Ch'ien I-chi
CH'IEN I-chi 錢儀吉 (T. 藹人, 星湖, H. 衎石, original ming 逵吉), 1783–1850, May 18, scholar, native of Chia-hsing, Chekiang, was a great-grandson of Ch'ien Ch'ên-ch'ün [q. v.]. His grandfather, Ch'ien Ju-kung 錢汝恭 (T. 雨時, H. 蔇齋, Jan. 1727–1774), second son of Ch'ien Ch'ên-ch'un, was a chü-jên of 1747. His father, Ch'ien Fu-tso 錢福胙 (T. 雲岩, 1763–1802), was a chin-shih of 1790. Ch'ien T'ai-chi [q. v.] was his cousin. At the age of nine (sui) Ch'ien I-chi went with his father to Peking, where much of his youth was spent. By the time he was thirteen sui (1795) he is said to have read all the Thirteen Classics. When his father was made director of education of Fukien in 1799 Ch'ien I-chi accompanied him to that province. In 1801 he became a chü-jên, and shortly thereafter married Ch'ên Êr-shih 陳爾士 (T. 煒卿, 靜友, 1785–1821), a cultivated woman who left a collection of literary works, under the title 聽松樓遺稿 T'ing-sung lou i-gao, in 4 chüan. In 1802 his father died and for several years thereafter he remained at home. Although he became a chin-shih in 1808 he did not actually begin his official career until 1820—after he had observed the period of mourning for the death of his mother. From 1820 to 1830 he held posts in various Boards. Dismissed from office in 1830, on the ground of a deficit, he continued to reside in the capital until 1832 at which time he went to Kwangtung to direct the Hsüeh-hai-t'ang Academy in Canton (see under Juan Yüan). In 1836 he was invited to take charge of the Ta-liang Shu-yüan (大梁書院) in Kaifeng, Honan, where he remained until his death in 1850.
Ch'ien I-chi was the author and compiler of many works, among them the 國朝碑傳集 Kuo-ch'ao pei-chuan chi, 160 chüan, a collection of epitaphs, biographical sketches, and other source materials relating to some 2,000 persons—the material being drawn from some 560 works and arranged under 25 categories. It covers two centuries, beginning in the Manchu T'ien-ming reign-period (1616) and terminating in the Chia-ch'ing period (1796–1821). The work was, however, not printed until 1893, more than 40 years after the compiler's death. Two supplements to it appeared: one by Miao Ch'üan-sun (see under Chang Chih-tung), entitled Hsü (續) pei-chuan chi, 88 chüan, printed in 1910; the other by Min Êr-change (see under Ch'ien Ta-hsin), entitled Pei-chuan chi pu (補), 60 chüan, printed in 1932 by Yenching University, Peiping. There is a much larger work of the same nature compiled by Li Huan 李桓 (T. 叔虎, H. 黼堂, 1827-1891), under the title 國朝耆獻類徵初編 Kuo-ch'ao ch'i-hsien lei-chêng ch'u-pien, 720 chüan, which purports to begin in the T'ien-ming reign-period (1616) and terminates in 1850. The printing of this work began in 1884 and was completed in 1890. While teaching in the Ta-liang Shu-yüan, Ch'ien I-chi compiled and edited a collection of Sung, Yüan and Ming works on the Classics, under the title 經苑 Ching yüan. The collection was originally planned to include 41 works, but only 25 were printed by the time of his death. It is recorded that Ch'ien also compiled works on matters of state (會要) of the San-kuo (221–277 A.D.), Chin (265–419 A.D.) and Nan-Pei Ch'ao periods (420–454 A.D.). To preserve to posterity certain writings of his ancestors he compiled the following works: 廬江錢氏文匯 Lu-chiang Ch'ien-shih wên-hui and Lu-chiang Ch'ien-shih shih-hui (詩匯). His collected prose, 衎石齋記事稿 K'an-shih chai chi-shih kao, in 10 chüan, was first printed in 1834 in Canton; a supplement, K'an-shih chai chi-shih hsü (續) kao, 10 chüan, being printed in 1854. His youngest son, Ch'ien I-fu 錢彝甫, reprinted these in 1880-81, adding two collections of his father's poems: 刻楮集 K'o-ch'u chi, (4 chüan); and 旅逸小稿 Lü-i hsiao-kao, (2 chüan).
Ch'ien I-chi had four sons, of whom the eldest, Ch'ien Pao-hui 錢寳惠 (T. 子萬), and the third, Ch'ien Ch'ang-ch'un 錢鬯醇 (T. 子侑) both obtained the chü-jên degree in the year 1840.
[1/491/6a; 2/73/13b; 6/10/4a; Chia-hsing hsien chih (1909) 21/38a.]
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