Qian Daxin (1728–1804) was a historian, Han-learning scholar, and poet of Qing China. His courtesy names were Xiaozheng and Jizhi; his style names included Xinmei and Zhuting Jushi, and he was known in later life as Qianyan Laoren. He was a native of Jiading, Jiangsu, now Jiading in Shanghai.
Life
Early in life, he became known in Jiangnan for poetry and fu composition. In 1751, during the Qianlong Emperor's southern tour, he was awarded the juren degree after presenting a fu and later entered the Grand Secretariat as a zhongshu. In 1754, he passed the metropolitan examination, was selected as a shujishi, and was appointed a compiler.
He later became a shijiang xueshi and a Shaozhanshi, served repeatedly as a provincial examination examiner, and in the thirty-ninth year of the Qianlong reign was chief examiner in Henan. In the thirty-fourth year, he entered the Imperial Study and taught the emperor's twelfth son; he also took part in compiling the Rehe Gazetteer. He was associated with Ji Yun as “Southern Qian and Northern Ji,” and also counted Wang Mingsheng and Hong Liangji among his friends.
Qian Daxin headed the lecture posts at Zhongshan, Loudong, and Ziyang academies, where as many as two thousand students studied under him. He participated in the compilation of works including *Yinyun Shuwei*, *Xu Wenxian Tongkao*, *Xu Tongzhi*, *Yitongzhi*, and *Tianqiutu*. He later served as educational commissioner of Guangdong; at about fifty, he returned home during mourning and withdrew from office on grounds of illness.
His father was Qian Guifa, his father-in-law was Wang Erda, and his younger brother was Qian Dazhao. His wife is listed under the names Wang Gongren and Wang Shunying; his sons were Qian Dongbi and Qian Dongshu, and he had three daughters, the eldest married to Qu Zhongrong, the second to Xu Xichong, while the third, a Qian daughter, lived from 1781 to 1791.
Scholarship
Qian Daxin studied the classics and histories, epigraphy, ancient scripts, phonology, calendrical astronomy, and geography. Applying methods of classical studies to history, he collated and carefully examined works from the *Shiji* and *Hanshu* through the *Jinshi* and *Yuanshi*. His historical scholarship was hailed as the foremost of the Qing, and he was also skilled in calligraphy.
Works
His works include *Ershi'er Shi Kaoyi* (also written *Nian'er Shi Kaoyi*), *Shijiazhai Yangxin Lu*, *Yuanshi Yiwen Zhi*, *Yuanshi Shizu Biao*, *Hengyan Lu*, *Yinian Lu*, and *Qianyan Tang Ji*, as well as *Song-Liao-Jin-Yuan Sishi Shuo-run Kao*, *Song Xueshi Nianbiao*, *Yuan Shi Jishi*, *Sanshi Yiyi*, *Zhushi Yiyi*, and *Qianyan Tang Jinshi Wen Bawei*. Other attributed writings include *Shenglei*, *Suan Shu Wenda*, *Jingdian Wenzi Kaoyi*, *Shuowen Dawen*, *Yinyun Wenda*, *Fengshu Can Tie Shiwen*, *Tang Shijing Kaoyi*, *Yanshi Jiaxun*, *Santong Shuyan*, and *Qianyan Tang Wenji*; he also compiled *Fengsu Tong Yiwen*. *Shijiazhai Yangxin Lu* appears with two different volume statements—three juan plus one juan of supplementary records, and twenty juan plus three—and later generations assembled his writings as the *Qianyan Tang Congshu*.
References
- CBDB Qian Daxin (29876)
- 搜韵 錢大昕 (71962)
- Wikidata Qian Daxin (Q7267607)