This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1916 edition. Excerpt: ... THE BIOGRAPHY OF WANG YANG-MING Ancestry and Birth The Teacher was named Shou-jen ( DEGREES ) and Po-an ( id His ancestor at the time of the Western Chin dynasty was Wang Hsi-chih, a general of the right division of the army; and the ancestral home was at Shanyin in the province of Chekiang. Twenty-three generations later, Wang Shou, an official of rank, moved the home to Yiiyao, also in Chekiang. At the time when the Ming dynasty first came into power, Wang Kang, who lived six generations before Wang Yang-ming, lost his life in the service of his emperor, at the hands of the aborigines in Canton Province. His son, Wang Yen-ta, wrapped his father's remains in sheep's skin and took them back to Yiiyao. A censor named Kuo Shun reported this to the emperor, who had a temple erected in honor of the father at Tseng in the province of Canton. In the fourth generation Wang Yii-chun was requested by Emperor Yung Lo to become an official, but refused, styling himself "the old man in obscurity among the rocks." In the third generation, Wang Shih-chieh was honored with the degree of Chinshih,2 because of superior knowledge of the classics. In the second generation Wang T'ien-hsii was the first of 1 The Chinese have the custom of giving each person a number of different names at various periods of life. The name Po-an was probably given to Wang at the age of twenty. The name Yangming (p BfJ ) was given to him by his students. The name Wench'eng (learning completed) was a posthumous title. 2 A graduate of the third degree. the Hanlin.3 He and his son Wang Hua were vice-presidents of the Board of Rites. The latter, who was styled Long-shan, was the father of Wang Yang-ming. He was the first of the Chinshih, held the office of President of the...