Wuyue Anecdotes (Vol. 1 & 2)

Author: Sun Yiyan (Qing Dynasty), edited and annotated by Zhang Ruyuan
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-11-01
Features: "Ouhai Yiwén" is a compilation of local historical materials on Wenzhou compiled by the Qing Dynasty scholar Sun Yiyan. It is unprecedented in scale and profound in thought, and has been highly valued by the academic community since its publication. Sun Yiyan (1815-1894), styled Shaoxi, later styled Xunxue Laoren and Dunshou, was from Rui'an, Zhejiang. He passed the imperial examination in the 30th year of the Daoguang reign (1850) and served in the Hanlin Academy for eight years. In the 8th year of the Xianfeng reign, he was appointed as the magistrate of Anqing Prefecture in Anhui. The following year, he resigned from office and returned to his hometown, living in the countryside for four years. In the 2nd year of the Tongzhi reign, he temporarily held the post of military commander of Lu, Feng, and Ying. The following year, he returned to his hometown due to the death of his mother. Soon after, he was invited by the Governor of Zhejiang, Ma Xinyi, to lecture at the Ziyang Academy in Hangzhou and concurrently served as the director of the Zhejiang Official Book Bureau. In the 7th year, he went to the capital for a temporary appointment as a. In the 8th year, recommended by the Viceroy of Liangjiang, Ma Xinyi, he was appointed as the acting governor of Jiangning, and later held positions such as the Jiangnan Salt Administration, Anhui, and Hubei. In the 5th year of the Guangxu reign (1879), in August, he returned to his hometown Rui'an as the Minister of the Imperial Stables. That year, he was 55 years old. In his hometown, he promoted the Confucian studies of the Yongjia School of the Song Dynasty. In the 10th year of the Guangxu reign (1888), he built the Yuhai Tower in the east of Rui'an City and collected about 80,000 volumes of classical books he had accumulated throughout his life, contributing to the development of Wenzhou culture and the cultivation of talent in the late Qing Dynasty.