Wu Renchen (吳任臣, ) ( 1628 – 1689), with
courtesy name
A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.Ulrich Theob ...
s of Zhiyi (志伊), Erqi (爾器) and Zhenghong (征鴻), and an
art name
An art name (pseudonym or pen name), also known by its native names ''hào'' (in Mandarin), ''gō'' (in Japanese), ''ho'' (in Korean), and ''tên hiệu'' (in Vietnamese), is a professional name used by East Asian artists, poets and writers. The ...
of Tuoyuan (託園), was a Chinese historian, mathematician, politician, and writer during the Qing dynasty. Originally from Renhe (仁和; today's
Hangzhou
Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the province, sitting at the head of Hangzhou Bay, whic ...
,
Zhejiang
Zhejiang ( or , ; , Chinese postal romanization, also romanized as Chekiang) is an East China, eastern, coastal Provinces of China, province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable citie ...
), he gained recognition in the field of historical scholarship and was recommended in 1678 to take the special examination known as ''boxue hongci'' (博學鴻詞), which he passed in the following year. Thereafter he became a corrector in the
Hanlin Academy and contributed to the compilation of the official ''
History of Ming
The ''History of Ming'' or the ''Ming History'' (''Míng Shǐ'') is one of the official Chinese historical works known as the ''Twenty-Four Histories''. It consists of 332 volumes and covers the history of the Ming dynasty from 1368 to 1644. It ...
'', focusing on the section dealing with the calendar, in which he made special contributions. He is best known for writing the ''
Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms
The ''Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms'', also known by its Chinese title ''Shiguo Chunqiu'' (), is a history of the Ten Kingdoms that existed in southern China after the fall of the Tang Dynasty and before the reunification of China ...
'' on the 10th-century
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period
The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (), from 907 to 979, was an era of political upheaval and division in 10th-century Imperial China. Five dynastic states quickly succeeded one another in the Central Plain, and more than a dozen conc ...
history. This book, as well as his commentary on the ''
Classic of Mountains and Seas
The ''Classic of Mountains and Seas'', also known as ''Shan Hai Jing'', formerly romanized as the ''Shan-hai Ching'', is a Chinese classic text and a compilation of mythic geography and beasts. Early versions of the text may have existed sin ...
'', were later included in the ''
Siku Quanshu''.
Sources
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17th-century births
17th-century Chinese historians
17th-century Chinese mathematicians
17th-century deaths
Historians from Zhejiang
Mathematicians from Zhejiang
Qing dynasty historians
Qing dynasty politicians from Zhejiang
Politicians from Hangzhou
Writers from Hangzhou
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