Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period/Fêng Têng-fu
FÊNG Têng-fu 馮登府 (T. 雲[芸]伯, H. 柳東, 勺園主人), Feb. 1.2, 1783–1841, Dec. 7, scholar, was a native of Kashing, Chekiang. He became a licentiate when he was twenty sui and a chü-jên in 1818. In 1820, he obtained his chin-shih degree and was made a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy. Four years later (1824) he was appointed magistrate of Chiang-lo, Fukien, but after serving only seventy-five days was forced to return home on account of the illness of his mother. About the year 1829, Sun Êr-chun 孫爾準 (T. 萊甫, H. 平叔, 戒庵, 1770–1832), governor-general of Fukien and Chekiang (1825–32), invited him to Foochow where he engaged in the compilation of a gazetteer of the salt administration in Fukien—a work that was printed in 1830 in 22 chüan under the title Fukien yen-fa chih (鹽法志). In the same year he participated in the compilation of the Fukien t'ung-chih (see under Ch'ên Shou-ch'i). When, several months later, this editorial project came to an end he left Foochow, taking with him his manuscript drafts on the epigraphical section of the Fukien t'ung-chih, which remained for years in manuscript under the title 閩中金石志 Min-chung chin-shih chih. Fêng was soon made (1830) director of schools in the prefecture of Ningpo, a position he held until his death. In 1830 he was asked to compile a gazetteer of the district of Hsiang-shan near Ningpo, which he completed in 20 chüan in the following year. This gazetteer was published about 1834 under the title 象山縣志 Hsiang-shan hsien-chih and contains a supplement in 2 chüan compiled by local scholars. In 1836 Fêng hoped through the favor of higher officials again to be made a district-magistrate, but on the advice of his scholarly friend, Ch'ien T'ai-chi [q. v.], he abandoned this desire. After he became director of schools at Ningpo he often visited his native place where he laid out a beautiful garden which he called Shao-yüan 勺園. He died of consumption soon after the fall of Ningpo (October 13, 1841) to the British fleet under Pottinger (see under I-ching and Ch'i-ying).
Fêng Têng-fu was a brilliant student of textual criticism and of epigraphy. Among several critical studies by him on the texts of the Classics the following three may be mentioned: 十三經詁答問 Shih-san ching ku ta-wên, 6 chüan, a criticism in dialogue form of doubtful characters in the Thirteen Classics; 論語異文考證 Lun-yü i-wên k'ao-chêng, 10 chüan; and 三家詩異文疏證 San-chia shih i-wên shu-chêng, 2 + 1 chüan, on the textual criticism of the Analects and of the Odes, respectively. The first of these three works was printed in 1887 in the 槐廬叢書 Huai-lü ts'ung-shu; the second in 1890 in the 藏修堂叢書 Ts'ang-hsiu t'ang ts'ung-shu; and the third appears in the 1861 edition of the Huang-Ch'ing ching-chieh (see under Juan Yüan). Fêng's manuscript drafts on other philological subjects, entitled 漢三家詩異字詁 Han san-chia shih i-tzŭ ku, are preserved in the Chekiang Provincial Library. Among his works on epigraphy the following were published: 金石綜例 Chin-shih tsung-li, 4 chüan; 石經補考 Shih-ching pu-k'ao, 12 chüan, each with a preface by him dated 1827 and 1828 respectively; and 浙江磚錄 Chekiang chuan-lu, 4 chüan, with a preface by Juan Yüan [q. v.] dated 1836. These three works were later reprinted in various ts'ung-shu. The first is concerned with epigraphical studies in general; the second is a study of various texts of the Classics incised on stone; and the third concerns a collection of ancient bricks found in Chekiang. In gathering material for the last-mentioned work he was assisted by several scholars, among them Ch'ü Chung-jung (see under Ch'ien Ta-hsin) and Hung I-hsüan 洪頤煊 (T. 旌賢, H. 筠軒, 倦舫老人, 1765–1837). The latter owned a good library named Hsiao t'ing-yün shan-kuan 小停雲山館 which is said to have contained some 30,000 chüan of books as well as some 2,000 rubbings of inscriptions on stone and bronze. The collection of epigraphical notes by Fêng Têng-fu, which appears in the Huai-lü ts'ung-shu under the title 石經閣金石跋文 Shih-ching ko chin-shih pa-wên, is a reprint of chüan 7 and 8 in the Shih-ching ko wên-chi (see below). In many of his scholarly activities Fêng was on intimate terms with his fellow-townsman, Li Fu-sun [q. v.].
Fêng Têng-fu was an accomplished writer of verse and belles-lettres. A collection of his prose in 8 chüan, published during his lifetime under the title Shih-ching ko wên-chi (文集), is now very rare. The manuscript drafts of his prose works, preserved in the Peiping National Library, contain items not collected in the printed edition. Of several collections of his verse which have been printed, the following three may be mentioned: Shih-ching ko shih-lüeh (詩略), 5 chüan; 拜竹詩龕詩存 Pai-chu shih-k'an shih-ts'un, 4 chüan; and 種芸仙館詞 Chung-yün hsien-kuan tz'ŭ, 2 chüan. He compiled also several small collections of literary works by writers of Chekiang. He was also known for his calligraphy. His nien-p'u, compiled by Shih Ch'üan 史銓, is preserved in the Academy of Oriental Culture at Kyoto. It was partially consulted.
[2/69/29a; Kashing hsien-chih (1909) 21/39b, 34/61b; 梅里志 Mei-li chih (1877) and Mei-li pei-chih (備志) (1922), passim; Fukien t'ung-chih (1922), appendix to the bibliography, 2/14b-15b; nien-p'u of Sun Êr-chun and of Ch'ien T'ai-chi.]
Hiromu Momose