Yang Shou-ching (27 May 1839-9 January 1915), leading bibliophile and bibliographer who was also known for his accomplishments in the fields of epigraphy, calligraphy, historical geography, and printing.
Born into a merchant family in Ich'ang, Hupeh, Yang Shou-ching was taught to read byhismother when very young and subsequently had a few years of traditional schooling with a local teacher. Because of the early death of his father, he had to interrupt his schooling from 1849 to 1852 to assist his grandfather in the family business. While working in the family store, however, he continued his studies in the evenings. He was able to resume his formal education in 1852, and he passed the shengyuan examinations in 1857 and the chü-jen examinations in 1862. In the years following, he unsuccessfully participated several times in the metropolitan examinations. During this long period of preparation for the examinations, Yang made his living by teaching and by managing the family business.
While in Peking in 1863 for the metropolitan examinations, Yang Shou-ching encountered two scholars who stimulated his interest in bibliography and epigraphy. He began to collect books, bronze and stone inscriptions, and antique objects.
It was during one of his trips to Peking that Yang became acquainted with Ho Ju-chang (1838-1891), who in 1877 was appointed Chinese minister to Japan. Ho was an enthusiastic admirer of Yang's calligraphy, and in 1880 he invited Yang to join his staff" in Japan. Although Ho Ju-chang left his post soon afterwards, Yang Shou-ching remained in the Chinese legation at Tokyo until 1884 as secretary to Ho's successor, Li Shu-ch'ang (ECCP, I, 483-85). Yang's stay in Japan greatly enriched his experience as a bibliophile. With his knowledge and keen interest, he searched tirelessly through book stores and sought out Japanese collectors, discovering many rare Chinese works which he had not seen before or which were not to be found in China. He bought some items and obtained others in exchange for rubbings, old coins, old seals, or other objects he had brought from China. His notes on early editions of Chinese works which he found in Japan were assembled and printed in 1901 under the title Jih-pen fang-shu chih. It was on the basis of these materials and under Yang's supervision that Li Shu-ch'ang prepared the well-known collectanea of rare books no longer extant in China, the Ku-i ts'ung-shu, which was printed in Tokyo in 1882-84. Through his experience in Japan, Yang Shou-ching broadened his knowledge of book publishing and of the technique of carving wood blocks. When he returned to China in 1884, be brought back many rare and valuable books as well as a personal reputation as a bibliophile and authority on wood-block printing.
From 1884 to 1899, Yang served as district director of studies of Huangkang hsien in his native Hupeh. There in 1888 he built his library, the Lin-su yuan. The name Lin-su, meaning "neighbor of Su," was taken from Su Tung-p'o's essay on the Red Cliff", situated north of the city of Huangkang. During this period Yang began to print his own works and to reprint old and rare books. He also trained Chinese wood-block carvers to meet the standards which he had learned in Japan. In 1899 Chang Chih-tung, then governor general of Hupeh and Hunan, invited Yang Shou-ching to teach geography at the Liang-Hu shu-yuan, the provincial academy at Wuchang. Three years later, as part of a program to modernize the school system, the shu-yuan [old style academies] were converted into hsueh-t'ang [modern schools]. The Liang-Hu shu-yuan became the Ch'in-cheng hsueh-t'ang in 1902 and the Ts'un-ku hsueh-t'ang in 1907. Yang Shou-ching served as director of the school from 1902 until 1908.
Early in 1906 Yang made a trip to Nanking at the invitation of Tuan-fang, then governor general of Liang-Kiang, who was a lover of books and antiques. There Yang wrote descriptive and critical notes on Tuan-fang's collection ofrubbings ofinscriptions from bronzes and stones. From Nanking he proceeded to Shanghai, where, as a result of the admiration and publicity of a friend, he sold samples of his calligraphy for good prices. He made another trip to Nanking and Shanghai, with similar material success, in 1909.
After the outbreak of the revolution of 1911, Yang, then 72, took refuge in Shanghai. He derived his principal income from the sale of his calligraphy. In 1914, the Peking government appointed as advisers a number of elderly men of distinction, including Yang Shou-ching. Yang went to Peking, where he lived until his death on 9 January 1915. His acceptance of this position under the republic brought unfavorable criticism from conservative Chinese who believed that a man who had been an official under the former dynasty should not serve the new regime.
Of the two dozen or more works in the various fields of his special interest left by Yang Shou-ching, a number of volumes are particularly notable. In bibliography, the Jih-pen fang-shu chih not only re-introduced many ancient Chinese books to China but also revived interest in collecting Chinese books in Japan. The Liu-chen p'u and its supplement (1901-17) are two collections of examples in facsimile of rare books. They are important to bibliophiles because, unlike most catalogues, they provide pictures of the actual items rather than mere descriptions in words. In geography, the historical atlas Li-tai yü-ti yen-ko hsien-yao t'u (1904-11), is still a useful reference work for students of Chinese history. Of Yang's three works on the Shui-ching chu [water classic], the Shui-ching chu shu is the most comprehensive and finished product. This manuscript was completed after Yang's death by his student Hsiung Hui-chen (d.l936; T. Ku-chih) and was photographically reproduced in Peking in 1957. Yang's two collections of epigraphs, the Wang-t'ang chin-shih wen-tzu and Erh-pien, were published in 1870-77 and 1909. His collected essays, Hui-ming hsuan-chi, were printed in 1895. An annalistic autobiography, the Lin-su lao-jen nien-p'u stopped at the end of 1911 but was completed by Hsiung Hui-chen and printed in 1915 shortly after Yang's death.
