A Scholar of Three-Hundred-Years Significance

An International Forum on Sun Yirang (1848-1908) was held in Rui’an in 2000, home to the great Qing scholar in the field of critical interpretation of ancient texts. Scholars in the field flocked to the forum in commemoration of the great scholar. The active participation in the forum reminded people of the death of the scholar in 1908. Over 8,000 scholars both at home and abroad attended various mourning ceremonies in cities such as Tokyo, Beijing, Shanghai, and Zhejiang Province. Zhang Taiyan (1869-1936), a great scholar of classical learning, wrote a biography for the scholar. Zhang Jian, the number one scholar of the last imperial examination of the Qing Dynasty, wrote a tombstone essay. And there was a biography on him in the “Manuscripts of the History of the Qing Dynasty”.

A city square of Rui’an is named after the library of the Sun family and in the square is a standing statue of Sun Yirang. The statue presents old man wearing a pair of small round glasses and holding a thread-bound book in his hand. The scholar is regarded as a scholar of national renown and his former residence is also a national treasure which is now a key cultural heritage under national protection. The Yuhailou Library is one of the Big Four libraries in the province. The other three are the Wenlange Library in Hangzhou, the Tianyige Library in Ningbo and the Jiayetang Library in Jiaxing.

Both Sun Yirang’s father and uncle were metropolitan graduates of the Qing Dynasty and important officials in the Qing Government. Sun Yirang’s father also collected books in his official career. The junior helped putting books together. When the senior retired, he was able to bring 100,000 books home and set up the family library in 1888.

It was said that Sun read books without leaving the library for years and his meals were uplifted onto the second floor through a window by a hook and a rope. As legend goes, he spent three years reading all the books in the library and he could locate any book accurately in the library in the darkness.

Sun Yirang was gifted, composing his first book of criticism on a book at the age of 13. However, he ran into great difficulties in imperial examinations. He became a provincial graduate, but he failed eight times trying to become a metropolitan graduate. So he devoted himself to academic studies at home and worked for education undertakings.

With this learning, he became a great scholar in history, classic learning, etymology, textual research, and interpretation of ancient texts. He authored many academic books. Zhang Taiyan praised him as a scholar peerless in the past three hundred years. Sun Yirang, Yu Quyuan and Huang Yizhou were known as the three great scholars of Zhejiang Province.

Sun Yirang was more than a reader of books. He formulated and carried out a set of extremely strict commandments to preserve the precious books in the library. For example, he forbad reading leaning against a wall or standing on one foot or reclining or sleeping on one side; he forbad turning pages with fingers wet with saliva; he forbad pinching the binding seam of a book with finger nails; he ruled that a book must be put and placed evenly upon a square piece of blue cloth.

While Sun led a life of books, he also devoted himself to education and businesses. He was instrumental in setting up more than 300 schools across Zhejiang Province and was elected de facto president of Zhejiang Education Federation.

Sun Yirang was buried the Nan Village in Ouhai district of Wenzhou. Some people may wonder why the great scholar did not find a resting place in Rui’an. I made the enquiry at the Wenzhou Relics and Archaeological Research Institute and Ouhai Cultural Bureau. Nobody was sure. Some people conjecture that the Feng Shui of the village was very great as it is adjacent to a tomb of a number one scholar of the Ming Dynasty. But it may not be true: Rui’an is not without good Feng Shui places. The tomb is simple and modest with a tombstone stating “Tomb of Sun Yirang, a Scholar of Qing Dynasty”. The tomb, however, is made like a bookcase carved with doors and cabinets.

Some of Sun Yirang’s descendents are also scholars. Sun Yanzhao, a grandson, was director of Zhejiang Provincial Library. Sun Yishui, a great grandson, is the chief scientist of the non-linear program of the national 973 project.