Wang Fu

Life

Born into poverty, he educated himself. At Jingdezhen he painted bowls for kiln workers; he later went to Pucheng in Fujian, where he made his living by teaching. His reputation grew steadily, and he became known among scholars in Zhejiang, Fujian, and Jiangxi. He held the status of shengyuan (licentiate).

His family included his great-great-grandfather (the fourth-generation ancestor), Wang Yingjiao; his father, Wang Shiji; and his mother, a member of the Jiang clan. His son was Wang Siqian, and his son-in-law was Yu Xiongzhao. Yu Yuanlin (余元遴) and Yu Yuanlin (余元璘) were his students; Zhu Jun personally wrote the text for his tomb inscription, and Yu Kehe collated his writings.

Intellectual thought

His learning took the teachings of the Five Song Masters—Zhou Dunyi, Cheng Hao, Cheng Yi, Zhang Zai, and Zhu Xi—as its guiding principle. It ranged widely but lacked depth; he likened the views of other schools to “immoral sights and licentious sounds.”

Works

He wrote at least thirty other works in addition to the ten-juan Shuangchi wenji.

Among his works are Zhouyi quanyi, Yijing ruhua, Shujing quanyi, Shijing quanyi, Sishu quanyi, Chunqiu jizhuan, Liji zhangju, and Liji huowen.

Other works include Yuejing lülü tongjie, Lixue fengyuan, Wuji tanbing, Wuqian, Yilin zuanyao tanyuan, and Lixuezhai qinpu, covering music and pitch, learning, military affairs, natural things, medicine, and qin studies. Titles and juan counts vary in different forms: Zhouyi quanyi also appears as Yijing quanyi, in fourteen or fifteen juan; Shujing quanyi also appears as Shangshu quanyi; Shijing quanyi is given as twelve or fifteen juan, Sishu quanyi as thirty-eight or fifteen, Liji huowen as eight or four, and Du Kunzhi ji as three or two.