Weng Fanggang

Weng Fanggang 翁方綱, 1733–1818, style name: Zhengsan 正三, Zhongxu忠敘; sobriquet: Tanxi覃溪, Suzhai 蘇齋.

Weng Fanggang was a native of Daxing (Beijing). Although born into a poor family, he passed the jinshi exams in 1752 at the young age of 19. He was given a post in the Hanlin Academy as examiner of the provincial exams in Jiangxi province and later held the same post in Hubei. Weng was a gifted scholar of the classics, calligraphy, and seal making. Owing to his calligraphic skill, he was named one of the artists to make the final manuscript copy of the second collection of Emperor Gaozong’s poems. Weng was an authority on bronze and stone inscriptions and published widely on the subject. His treatise an anthology on the various copies of the Orchid Pavilion Preface, published in 1803, served as a valuable reference for many later scholars. He also compiled a biography of the poet Yuan Haowen (1190-1257). It is reported that when Weng Fanggang died, his family found it necessary to dispose of his large collection of antiques and rare books in order to defray the expenses of his funeral.