Duan Yucai’s Tomb

　　Duan Yucai’s Tomb in Changzhou is situated in Dabatou Village, Huashan Township, Jintan, Changzhou. The tomb site is surrounded by protective blue brick walls, with a nine-tier stone staircase at the front of the tomb gate that connects to the passageway serving as the entrance and exit. On both sides are engraved couplets: "The joy of scholarly pursuits is a timeless legacy; the iron-willed family virtue of a seventh-rank official." At the center of the tomb area lies Duan Yucai’s grave, with his mother’s tomb to the east and, to the west, a newly erected and renovated memorial stele installed by the Jintan County People's Government and the China Society of Chinese Philology. It is now a provincial-level cultural heritage site of Jiangsu Province.

　　Provincial-Level Cultural Heritage Site of Jiangsu Province, Fifth Batch, October 2002 — Duan Yucai’s Tomb, Qing Dynasty, Xuebu, Jintan City

　　 

　　Duan Yucai (1735~1815)　　Duan Yucai (1735–1815) A Qing Dynasty scholar of Confucian classics, phonology, and philology. His courtesy name was Ruoying and his pseudonym Maotang. He was from Jintan, Jiangsu, and the maternal grandfather of Gong Zizhen. Duan Yucai extensively read widely and produced a large body of written work. He approached the study of ancient Chinese characters through the lens of Confucian classics. Within the field of philology, he further explored the study of characters and philology through phonology. His foundation was solid and he grasped the essential principles. His work, *The Table of Phonology of the Six Scripts*, based on Gu Yanwu’s *Five Books on Phonology* and Jiang Yong’s (1681–1762) *Standards of Ancient Rhymes*, divided ancient rhymes into 17 categories, marking an epoch-making contribution to the study of ancient phonology. *Annotations on Shuowen Jiezi* is a grand and incisive masterpiece. Duan Yucai not only provided comprehensive annotations throughout the book, but also... Details+