Duan Yucai

Duan Yucai (1735–1815), styled Ruoying and known by the sobriquet Maotang, was a native of Jintan, Jiangsu, and a Qing-dynasty scholar of Chinese philology and classical exegesis. He studied under Dai Zhen, passed the provincial examination in the Qianlong reign, and served as magistrate of Yuping in Guizhou and Wushan in Sichuan. Duan devoted forty years to his Annotated Edition of the Shuowen Jiezi and also wrote the Liushu Yinyun Biao and the Jingyunlou Ji; he is regarded as the foremost of the four great Qing scholars of the Shuowen. The library holds three of his works, most of them related to the Mao Shi, such as the Mao Shi Guxun Zhuan and the Shijing Xiaoxue · Mao Shi Bushu. These writings show how his scholarship began with classical exegesis and philology, stressing the original meanings of words and the verification of institutions and terminology, in a rigorous and solid style. They provide reliable lexical grounding for reading the Shijing and illustrate the Qing evidential approach of understanding the classics through language, offering reference value for later study of ancient poetry and literary appreciation.