陈奂致冯桂芬书笺释

A Letter from Chen Huan to Feng Guifen

在田家英小莽苍苍斋旧藏中,有一通陈奂致冯桂芬的信函。这封信是扬州的杨亮托陈奂向主持修纂《两淮盐法志》的冯氏说情,以便续聘杨亮等人的。结合现存几封杨亮写给陈奂的信件,基本上可以勾勒出这一事件的来龙去脉,即杨亮、陈奂两人实际上并无深交,只不过是在之前不久才相识于南京的博山园内的。基于这样的交情,就能请托这样重要的事情,从而反映出当时底层文人学者的生活状态,实在是潦倒穷愁。而陈奂作为当时两江总督的座上客,他的这种请托,无疑应该是具有一定的效用的。至少,在杨亮眼中,可能比其老师姚莹,一位在任官员,更有效力。否则,他也不会在相识不久之后,就发出这样的请求。不过,即便如此,这封信发出之后,到底得到了什么样的结果,现在已经不太清楚了。但信中涉及的《两淮盐法志》一书,事实上因为太平军的攻陷江南,并没有修成,在此后不久就陷入了停顿。因此,即便是陈奂的这次请托,得到了满意的答复,事实上杨亮的生活也依旧不会有多大的改善。

The letter addressed to Feng Guifen （Xiaomangcangcang Studio, Tian Jiaying private collection） was written by Chen Huan, an honoured guest of the governor of Jiangnan and Jiangxi. At the request of Yang Liang, Chen tried to persuade Feng, who was then in charge of the compilation of Records of Salt Industry in Huainan and Huaibei [两淮盐法志] to employ Yang and others. This letter reveals the hard life of unprivileged scholars in those days. Not long before writing this letter, Chen became acquainted with Yang in Nanjing. Nothing is known about the outcome of this letter and the compilation project was hampered soon after the occupation of the Taiping Heavenly Army.