Volume 288 Biographies 176: Literature 4

文苑四

Literature IV

○李維楨〈（郝敬）〉徐渭〈（屠隆）〉王穉登〈（俞允文王叔承）〉瞿九思唐時升〈（婁堅李流芳程嘉燧）〉焦竑〈（黃輝陳仁錫）〉董其昌〈（莫如忠邢侗米萬鐘）〉袁宏道〈（鐘惺譚元春）〉王惟儉〈（李日華）〉曹學佺〈（曾異撰）〉王誌堅艾南英〈（章世純羅萬藻陳際泰）〉張溥〈（張采）〉

Li Weizhen Hao Jing)〉 Xu Wei Tu Long)〉 Wang Zhideng Yu Yunwen, Wang Shucheng)〉 Qu Jiusi, Tang Shisheng Lou Jian, Li Liufang, Cheng Jiasui)〉 Jiao Hong Huang Hui, Chen Renxi)〉 Dong Qichang Mo Ruzhong, Xing Tong, Mi Wanzhong)〉 Yuan Hongdao Zhong Xing, Tan Yuanchun)〉 Wang Weijian Li Rihua)〉 Cao Xuequan Zeng Yizhuan)〉 Wang Zhijian, Ai Nanying Zhang Shichun, Luo Wanzao, Chen Jitai)〉 Zhang Pu Zhang Cai)〉

李維楨，字本寧，京山人。父裕，福建布政使。維楨舉隆慶二年進士，由庶吉士授編修。萬歷時，《穆宗實錄》成，進修撰。出為陜西右參議，遷提學副使。浮沈外僚，幾三十年。天啟初，以布政使家居，年七十余矣。會朝議登用耆舊，召為南京太仆卿，旋改太常，未赴。聞諫官有言，辭不就。時方修《神宗實錄》，給事中薛大中特疏薦之，未及用。四年四月，太常卿董其昌復薦之，乃召為禮部右侍郎，甫三月進尚書，並在南京。維楨緣史事起用，乃館中諸臣憚其以前輩壓己，不令入館，但超遷其官。維楨亦以年衰，明年正月力乞骸骨去。又明年卒於家，年八十。崇禎時，贈太子太保。

Li Weizhen, styled Benning, came from Jingshan. His father Yu had served as provincial commissioner of Fujian. Weizhen earned his jinshi degree in the second year of Longqing and, following a stint as a Hanlin bachelor, was made a compiler. In the Wanli reign, after the 《Veritable Records of Emperor Muzong》 were finished, he was promoted to sub-editor. He left the capital to serve as right assistant administrator of Shaanxi, then was transferred to vice commissioner of education. He remained in provincial service, rising and falling without advancement, for nearly thirty years. At the start of the Tianqi reign he was retired at home, having served as a provincial commissioner, and was already over seventy. When the court debated recalling elderly worthies to office, he was summoned as vice minister of the Court of the Imperial Stud at Nanjing and soon after reassigned to vice minister of imperial sacrifices, but he never reported. Learning that censorial officials had objected, he declined the appointment. While the 《Veritable Records of Emperor Shenzong》 were being compiled, Censor-in-Chief Xue Dazhong submitted a special memorial recommending him, but the appointment did not come through in time. In the fourth month of the fourth year, Minister of Imperial Sacrifices Dong Qichang recommended him again; he was summoned as vice minister of rites and, only three months later, promoted to minister—both posts at Nanjing. Weizhen had been recalled for work on the history, but the academicians feared him as a senior who would overshadow them and kept him out of the Hanlin Academy, granting him only an extraordinary promotion in rank. Weizhen, feeling the weight of his years, the next year in the first month petitioned forcefully to retire. The year after that he died at home, at the age of eighty. In the Chongzhen reign he was posthumously ennobled as grand guardian of the heir apparent.

維楨弱冠登朝，博聞強記，與同館許國齊名。館中為之語曰：「記不得，問老許；做不得，問小李。」維楨為人，樂易闊達，賓客雜進。其文章，弘肆有才氣，海內請求者無虛日，能屈曲以副其所望。碑版之文，照耀四裔。門下士招富人大賈，受取金錢，代為請乞，亦應之無倦，負重名垂四十年。然文多率意應酬，品格不能高也。

Weizhen entered court service before he was twenty; widely read with an exceptional memory, he was as famous as his fellow academician Xu Guo. A saying went around the Academy: "If you cannot remember, ask old Xu; if you cannot manage it, ask young Li. Weizhen was by nature open, easygoing, and broad-minded, and guests of every sort came and went. His prose was expansive and spirited; requests from across the realm arrived daily without fail, and he could shape his writing to meet whatever was asked of him. His commemorative inscriptions were celebrated in every corner of the realm. His disciples brought in wealthy merchants, took their money, and begged him to write on their behalf; he answered without weariness and carried a great name for nearly forty years. Yet most of his writing was casual work done to oblige others, and its quality could not be high.

邑人郝敬，字仲輿。父承健，舉於鄉，官肅寧知縣。敬幼稱神童，性跅弛，嘗殺人系獄。維楨，其父執也，援出之，館於家。始折節讀書，舉萬歷十七年進士。歷知縉雲、永嘉二縣，並有能聲。征授禮科給事中，乞假歸養。久之，補戶科，數有所論奏。

A fellow townsman, Hao Jing, styled Zhongyu. His father Chengjian passed the provincial examination and served as magistrate of Suning. As a boy Jing was hailed as a prodigy, but his nature was undisciplined; he once killed a man and was imprisoned. Weizhen, a close friend of his father, secured his release and took him in as a guest. Only then did Jing apply himself to his studies, and he passed the jinshi examination in the seventeenth year of Wanli. He served in turn as magistrate of Jinyun and Yongjia, winning a reputation for competence at both posts. He was summoned and appointed censor-in-chief in the Office of Rites, then requested leave to return home and care for his parents. After a long interval he was transferred to the Office of Revenue, where he submitted several memorials.

山東稅監陳增貪橫，為益都知縣吳宗堯所奏，帝不罪。敬上言：「開采不罷，則陛下明旨不過為愚弄臣民之虛文。乞先停止，然後以宗堯所奏下撫按勘核，正增不法之罪。」不聽。頃之，山東巡撫尹應元亦極論增罪，帝怒，切責應元，斥完堯為民。敬再上言：「陛下處陳增一事，甚失眾心。」帝怒，奪俸一年。帝遣中官高寀榷稅京口，暨祿榷稅儀真，敬復力諫。宗堯之劾增也，增怒甚，誣訐其贓私，詞連青州一府官僚，旁引商民吳時奉等，請皆籍沒，帝輒可之。敬復力詆增，乞速寢其奏，亦不納。坐事，謫知江陰縣。貪汙不檢，物論皆不予，遂投劾歸，杜門著書。崇禎十二年卒。

Chen Zeng, the tax supervisor in Shandong, was greedy and overbearing; Wu Zongyao, magistrate of Yidu, impeached him, but the emperor did not punish him. Jing memorialized: "If mining is not halted, Your Majesty's clear edict will be nothing but empty words meant to deceive officials and people. I beg that it be stopped first; then let Zongyao's memorial be sent down to the governor and inspector for investigation, so that Zeng's unlawful crimes may be properly punished. The emperor did not agree. Shortly afterward, Grand Coordinator Yin Yingyuan of Shandong also strongly denounced Zeng's crimes; the emperor was furious, sharply rebuked Yingyuan, and demoted Zongyao to commoner status. Jing memorialized again: "Your Majesty's handling of the Chen Zeng affair has greatly lost the hearts of the people. The emperor was angry and stripped him of salary for one year. The emperor dispatched the eunuch Gao Cai to levy taxes at Jingkou and Ji Lu to levy taxes at Yizhen; Jing remonstrated forcefully again. When Zongyao impeached Zeng, Zeng was furious and falsely accused him of corruption, implicating the entire bureaucracy of Qingzhou prefecture and naming in addition the merchant Wu Shifeng and others, requesting that all their property be confiscated; the emperor promptly approved. Jing again fiercely denounced Zeng and begged that the memorial be quickly withdrawn, but this too was rejected. For an offense he was demoted to magistrate of Jiangyin. Corrupt and undisciplined, he won no public esteem; he then submitted his resignation, returned home, and shut his doors to write books. He died in the twelfth year of Chongzhen.

徐渭，字文長，山陰人。十余歲仿揚雄《解嘲》作《釋毀》，長師同里季本。為諸生，有盛名。總督胡宗憲招致幕府，與歙余寅、鄞沈明臣同憲書記。宗憲得白鹿，將獻諸朝，令渭草表，並他客草寄所善學士，擇其尤上之。學士以渭表進，世宗大悅，益寵異宗憲，宗憲以是益重渭。宗憲嘗宴將吏於爛柯山，酒酣樂作，明臣作《鐃歌》十章，中有雲「狹巷短兵相接處，殺人如草不聞聲」。宗憲起，捋其須曰：「何物沈生，雄快乃爾！」即命刻於石，寵禮與渭埒。督府勢嚴重，將吏莫敢仰視。渭角巾布衣，長揖縱談。幕中有急需，夜深開戟門以待。渭或醉不至，宗憲顧善之。寅、明臣亦頗負崖岸，以侃直見禮。

Xu Wei, styled Wenchang, came from Shanyin. Before he was fully grown he composed the 《Explaining Slander》, modeled on Yang Xiong's 《Defending Ridicule》, and in youth studied under Ji Ben of the same district. As a licentiate he enjoyed great renown. Grand Coordinator Hu Zongxian brought him into his staff, where he served as Hu's secretary alongside Yu Yin of She and Shen Mingchen of Yin. Zongxian obtained a white deer and intended to present it at court; he had Wei draft a memorial and also sent drafts by other guests to a scholar he favored, choosing the best one to submit. The scholar submitted Wei's memorial; Emperor Shizong was greatly pleased, bestowed even greater favor on Zongxian, and Zongxian therefore valued Wei all the more. Zongxian once feasted his officers at Mount Lanke; when the wine was warm and music was playing, Mingchen composed ten 《Naoge》 songs, one of which ran, 「In the narrow lanes where short weapons meet, men are cut down like grass without a sound.」 Zongxian rose, stroked his beard, and said: "What sort of fellow is this Master Shen—so bold and spirited! He immediately ordered it carved in stone and honored him with favors equal to Wei's. The governor's headquarters was formidable in authority; officers and clerks did not dare look up. Wei wore a kerchief and plain robes, bowed with hands clasped, and spoke freely. When the staff had urgent business, they would open the halberd gate deep into the night to await him. Wei might be drunk and fail to come; Zongxian nevertheless looked upon it favorably. Yin and Mingchen likewise carried themselves with lofty dignity and were honored for their frank straightforwardness.

渭知兵，好奇計，宗憲擒徐海，誘王直，皆預其謀。藉宗憲勢，頗橫。及宗憲下獄，渭懼禍，遂發狂，引巨錐剚耳，深數寸，又以椎碎腎囊，皆不死。已，又擊殺繼妻，論死系獄，裏人張元忭力救得免。乃遊金陵，抵宣、遼，縱觀諸邊厄塞，善李成梁諸子。入京師，主元忭。元忭導以禮法，渭不能從，久之怒而去。後元忭卒，白衣往吊，撫棺慟哭，不告姓名去。

Wei understood warfare and delighted in daring stratagems; he took part in planning both Zongxian's capture of Xu Hai and his enticement of Wang Zhi. Relying on Zongxian's power, he became somewhat overbearing. When Zongxian was imprisoned, Wei feared disaster and went mad; he drove a large awl into his ear several inches deep and smashed his scrotum with a mallet, yet did not die. Later he struck and killed his stepwife, was sentenced to death and imprisoned; his fellow townsman Zhang Yuanbian fought hard to save him and secured his release. He then traveled to Jinling, reaching Xuancheng and Liaodong, roamed the strategic passes along the frontiers, and befriended the sons of Li Chengliang. Entering the capital, he lodged with Yuanbian. Yuanbian guided him with ritual and propriety, but Wei could not follow; after a long while he left in anger. Later, when Yuanbian died, Wei went in white mourning clothes to offer condolences, stroked the coffin and wept bitterly, then left without giving his name.

渭天才超軼，詩文絕出倫輩。善草書，工寫花草竹石。嘗自言：「吾書第一，詩次之，文次之，畫又次之。」當嘉靖時，王、李倡七子社，謝榛以布衣被擯。渭憤其以軒冕壓韋布，誓不入二人黨。後二十年，公安袁宏道遊越中，得渭殘帙以示祭酒陶望齡，相與激賞，刻其集行世。

Xu Wei possessed talent that surpassed the ordinary, and his poetry and prose stood utterly above his contemporaries. He excelled at cursive calligraphy and was adept at painting flowers, grasses, bamboo, and rocks. He once said of himself: "My calligraphy comes first, poetry second, prose third, and painting last of all. During the Jiajing reign, Wang and Li founded the Seven Masters society, and Xie Zhen, though he was a commoner, was pushed aside. Xu Wei resented their use of official rank to crush men in plain cloth, and swore never to join the faction of the two. Twenty years later, Yuan Hongdao of Gong'an traveled in Yue, found Wei's scattered remaining volumes, and showed them to Tao Wangling, Chancellor of the Imperial Academy; they praised them together and had his collected works printed and circulated.

寅，字仲房。明臣，字嘉則。皆有詩名。

Yu Yin, whose style name was Zhongfang. Shen Mingchen, whose style name was Jiaze. Both enjoyed reputations as poets.

屠隆者，字長卿，明臣同邑人也。生有異才，嘗學詩於明臣，落筆數千言立就。族人大山、裏人張時徹方為貴官，共相延譽，名大噪。舉萬歷五年進士，除潁上知縣，調繁青浦。時招名士飲酒賦詩，遊九峰、三泖，以仙令自許，然於吏事不廢，士民皆愛戴之。遷禮部主事。

Tu Long, styled Changqing, was a fellow townsman of Shen Mingchen. Born with unusual talent, he had once studied poetry under Shen Mingchen, and when he put brush to paper several thousand words would be completed at once. His kinsman Dashan and fellow townsman Zhang Shiche, who were then high officials, jointly praised him, and his fame spread far and wide. He passed the jinshi examination in the fifth year of Wanli, was appointed magistrate of Yingshang, and was transferred to the busy post of Qingpu. He would invite famous scholars to drink and compose poetry, roam the Nine Peaks and Three Mo marshes, and style himself an immortal magistrate; yet he never neglected official business, and both officials and commoners loved and respected him. He was transferred to serve as a principal secretary in the Ministry of Rites.

西寧侯宋世恩兄事隆，宴遊甚歡。刑部主事俞顯卿者，險人也，嘗為隆所詆，心恨之。訐隆與世恩淫縱，詞連禮部尚書陳經邦。隆等上疏自理，並列顯卿挾仇誣陷狀。所司乃兩黜之，而停世恩俸半歲。隆歸，道青浦，父老為斂田千畝，請徙居。隆不許，歡飲三日謝去。

Song Shi'en, the Marquis of Xining, treated Tu Long as an elder brother, and they feasted and traveled together with great pleasure. Yu Xianqing, a principal secretary in the Ministry of Justice, was a treacherous man; Tu Long had once denounced him, and he nursed a grudge. He accused Tu Long and Song Shi'en of debauchery and excess, and implicated Chen Jingbang, Minister of Rites, in the charge. Tu Long and the others submitted memorials in their own defense, detailing how Xianqing had borne a grudge and falsely framed them. The responsible offices then dismissed both parties, and suspended Song Shi'en's salary for half a year. On his way home Tu Long passed through Qingpu, where the elders pooled a thousand mu of fields and asked him to move there. Tu Long refused; after three days of merry drinking he thanked them and departed.

歸益縱情詩酒，好賓客，賣文為活。詩文率不經意，一揮數紙。嘗戲命兩人對案拈二題，各賦百韻，咄嗟之間二章並就。又與人對弈，口誦詩文，命人書之，書不逮誦也。

Once home he gave himself ever more freely to poetry and wine, loved entertaining guests, and made a living by selling his writings. His poetry and prose were mostly dashed off without effort; a few sweeps of the brush would fill several sheets. Once in jest he had two men sit facing each other, draw two topics, and each compose a hundred-rhyme poem; in a moment both pieces were finished. He would also play chess with someone while reciting poetry and prose aloud and having another person write it down; the writing could not keep up with his recitation.

子婦沈氏，修撰懋學女，與隆女瑤瑟並能詩。隆有所作，兩人輒和之。兩家兄弟合刻其詩，曰《留香草》。

His daughter-in-law, Lady Shen, daughter of the compiler Maoxue, and Tu Long's daughter Yaose were both accomplished poets. Whenever Tu Long wrote a poem, the two women would compose matching verses. The brothers of both families jointly published their poems under the title 《Fragrant Grass Left Behind》.

王穉登，字伯谷，長洲人。四歲能屬對，六歲善擘窠大字，十歲能詩，長益駿發有盛名。嘉靖末，遊京師，客大學士袁煒家。煒試諸吉士紫牡丹詩，不稱意。命穉登為之，有警句。煒召數諸吉士曰：「君輩職文章，能得王秀才一句耶？」將薦之朝，不果。隆慶初，復遊京師，徐階當國，頗修憾於煒。或勸穉登弗名袁公客，不從，刻《燕市》、《客越》二集，備書其事。

Wang Zhideng, whose style name was Bogu, was a native of Changzhou. At four he could compose parallel couplets; at six he was skilled at large seal-script characters; at ten he could write poetry; as he grew his talent flourished ever more brilliantly and he gained great fame. Near the end of the Jiajing reign he traveled to the capital and stayed as a guest in the home of Grand Secretary Yuan Wei. Yuan Wei tested the Hanlin academicians with a poem on purple peonies, but none satisfied him. He had Zhideng compose one, and it contained striking lines. Yuan Wei summoned several academicians and said: "You gentlemen are charged with literary work—can you produce even one line like Scholar Wang's? He was about to recommend him to the court, but the recommendation never went through. At the beginning of the Longqing reign he traveled to the capital again; Xu Jie was directing state affairs and nursed considerable resentment toward Yuan Wei. Some advised Zhideng not to style himself a client of Lord Yuan; he refused, and published the two collections 《Yanshi》 and 《Guest in Yue》, recording the whole affair in detail.

吳中自文征明後，風雅無定屬。穉登嘗及征明門，遙接其風，主詞翰之席者三十余年。嘉、隆、萬歷間，布衣、山人以詩名者十數，俞允文、王叔承、沈明臣輩尤為世所稱，然聲華烜赫，穉登為最。申時行以元老裏居，特相推重。王世貞與同郡友善，顧不甚推之。及世貞歿，其仲子士骕坐事系獄，穉登為傾身救援，人以是重其風義。萬歷中，詔修國史，大學士趙誌臯輩薦穉登及其同邑魏學禮、江都陸弼、黃岡王一鳴。有詔征用，未上，而史局罷。卒年七十余。子留，字亦房，亦以詩名。

In the Wu region, after Wen Zhengming there was no settled leader of refined letters. Zhideng had once studied at Zhengming's gate and from afar received his influence; for more than thirty years he presided over the literary world. Between the Jiajing, Longqing, and Wanli reigns, more than ten commoners and mountain recluses were famed for poetry; Yu Yunwen, Wang Shucheng, Shen Mingchen, and others were especially praised, yet for brilliance of reputation none matched Zhideng. Shen Shixing, as a senior statesman living in retirement in his native place, especially honored and valued him. Wang Shizhen, a fellow of the same commandery, was on friendly terms with him, but did not greatly promote his reputation. When Shizhen died, his second son Shirun was imprisoned on account of a case; Zhideng threw himself wholly into rescuing him, and people respected him all the more for his moral courage. During the Wanli reign an edict ordered the compilation of the national history; Grand Secretary Zhao Zhigao and others recommended Zhideng, together with Wei Xueli of his native place, Lu Bi of Jiangdu, and Wang Yiming of Huanggang. An edict summoned them for appointment, but before they reported the history office was dissolved. He died at over seventy years of age. His son Liu, whose style name was Yifang, was also famed for his poetry.

俞允文，字仲蔚，昆山人。其父舉進士，官大理評事。允文年十五為《馬鞍山賦》，援據該博。年未四十，謝去諸生，專力於詩文書法。與王世貞善，而不喜李攀龍詩，其持論不茍同如此。

Yu Yunwen, whose style name was Zhongwei, was a native of Kunshan. His father had passed the jinshi examination and served as a reviewing official in the Court of Judicial Review. At fifteen Yunwen wrote the 《Rhapsody on Mount Ma'an》, with citations that were broad and thorough. Before he was forty he gave up his status as a student and devoted himself entirely to poetry, prose, and calligraphy. He was on good terms with Wang Shizhen but did not care for Li Panlong's poetry; such was his unwillingness to agree uncritically.

王叔承，字承父，吳江人。少孤，治經生業，以好古謝去。貧，贅婦家，為婦翁所遂，不予一錢，乃攜婦歸奉母，貧益甚。入都，客大學士李春芳所。性嗜酒，春芳有所撰述，覓之，往往臥酒樓，欠伸弗肯應。久之，乃謝歸。太倉王錫爵，其布衣交也。再召，會有三王並封之議，叔承遺書數千言，謂當引大義以去就力爭，不當依違兩端，負主恩，辜物望。錫爵得書嘆服。其詩，極為世貞兄弟所許。卒於萬歷中。

Wang Shucheng, whose style name was Chengfu, was a native of Wujiang. Orphaned in youth, he pursued the study of classicist learning but withdrew because of his love of antiquity. Poor, he married into his wife's family; his father-in-law sent him away without giving him a single coin; he took his wife home to serve his mother, and his poverty grew worse still. He went to the capital and stayed as a guest with Grand Secretary Li Chunfang. By nature he loved wine; when Li Chunfang had something to compose and sought him out, he would often be lying drunk in a wine shop, stretching lazily and refusing to answer. After a long while he took his leave and returned home. Wang Xijue of Taicang had been his friend when both were commoners. When he was summoned again, there happened to be discussion of enfeoffing three princes simultaneously; Shucheng sent a letter of several thousand words, saying one should appeal to grand principle and fight to the utmost over whether to stay or withdraw, and should not waver between two sides, betray the sovereign's grace, and disappoint public expectation. Wang Xijue received the letter and sighed in admiration. His poetry was highly praised by the brothers Wang Shizhen. He died during the Wanli reign.

瞿九思，字睿夫，黃梅人。父晟，嘉靖三十二年進士。歷官廣平知府。鑿長渠三百里，引水為四閘，得田數十萬畝。卒於官。九思十歲從父宦吉安，事羅洪先。十五作《定誌論》。後從同郡耿定向遊，學益進。舉萬歷元年鄉試。居二年，縣令張維翰違制苛派，民聚毆之，維翰坐九思倡亂。巡按御史向程劾維翰激變。吏部尚書張瀚言御史議非是，九思遂長流塞下。子甲，年十三，為書數千言，歷抵公卿，訟父冤。甲弟罕，亦伏闕上書求宥。屠隆作《訟瞿生書》，遍告中外，馮夢禎亦白於楚中當事，而張居正故才九思，乃獲釋歸。三十七年，以撫按疏薦，授翰林待詔，力辭不受。詔有司歲給米六十石，終其身。乃撰《樂章》及《萬歷武功錄》，遣罕詣闕上之。卒年七十一。九思學極奧博，其文章不雅馴，然一時嗜古篤誌之士亦鮮其儔。甲，字釋之，年十九舉於鄉，早卒。罕，字曰有，七歲能文。白父冤時，往返徒步，不避寒餒，天下稱雙孝。崇禎時，辟舉知州。

Qu Jiusi, whose style name was Ruifu, was a native of Huangmei. His father Sheng passed the jinshi examination in the thirty-second year of the Jiajing reign. He held office in succession as prefect of Guangping. He dug a long canal three hundred li long, drew water through four sluice gates, and brought several hundred thousand mu of fields under cultivation. He died while in office. At the age of ten Jiusi followed his father on official service to Ji'an and studied under Luo Hongxian. At the age of fifteen he wrote the 《On Fixing the Will》. Later he studied with Geng Dingxiang of the same commandery, and his learning advanced further. He passed the provincial examination in the first year of the Wanli reign. Two years later the county magistrate Zhang Weihan made illegal harsh levies; the people gathered and beat him, and Weihan blamed Jiusi for inciting the disorder. The touring censor Xiang Cheng impeached Zhang Weihan for provoking the upheaval. Minister of Personnel Zhang Han said the censor's judgment was incorrect, and Jiusi was then sentenced to long exile on the northern frontier. His son Jia, at the age of thirteen, wrote a letter of several thousand words, went from one high official to another, and pleaded his father's innocence. Jia's younger brother Han also prostrated himself before the palace gate and submitted a memorial asking for pardon. Tu Long wrote the 《Petition on Behalf of Scholar Qu》, informing officials at home and abroad; Feng Mengzhen also pleaded on his behalf to the authorities in Chu; and because Zhang Juzheng had long valued Jiusi's talent, he was finally released and allowed to return home. In the thirty-seventh year, on the recommendation of the governor and inspector in a memorial, he was appointed Hanlin awaiting imperial decree, but firmly declined the appointment. An edict ordered the local offices to grant him sixty shi of grain each year for the rest of his life. He then compiled the 《Musical Compositions》 and the 《Record of Wanli Military Achievements》, and sent Han to the palace to submit them. He died at the age of seventy-one. Jiusi's learning was extremely profound and vast; his writings were not elegant and tame, yet among lovers of antiquity and men of earnest purpose in that age few could match him. Jia, whose style name was Shizhi, passed the provincial examination at nineteen and died young. Han, whose style name was Riyou, could write at the age of seven. When they pleaded their father's innocence, they traveled back and forth on foot without avoiding cold and hunger; all under heaven called them the Two Filial Sons. During the Chongzhen reign he was summoned by recommendation and appointed prefect.

唐時升，字叔達，嘉定人。父欽訓，與歸有光善，故時升早登有光之門。年未三十，謝舉子業，專意古學。王世貞官南都，延之邸舍，與辨晰疑義。時升自以出歸氏門，不肯復稱王氏弟子。及王錫爵枋國，其子衡邀時升入都，值塞上用兵，逆斷其情形虛實，將帥勝負，無一爽者。家貧，好施予，灌園藝蔬，蕭然自得。詩援筆成，不加點竄，文得有光之傳。與裏人婁堅、程嘉燧並稱曰「練川三老」。卒於崇禎九年，年八十有六。

Tang Shisheng, whose style name was Shuda, was a native of Jiading. His father Qinxun was on good terms with Gui Youguang, so Shisheng entered Youguang's school at an early age. Before he was thirty he gave up the pursuit of examination essays and devoted himself wholly to ancient learning. When Wang Shizhen served in the southern capital, he invited him to his residence and discussed difficult points in order to clarify their meaning. Shisheng considered himself a product of the Gui school and refused to call himself Wang's disciple again. When Wang Xijue directed state affairs, his son Heng invited Shisheng to the capital; there happened to be military action on the northern frontier, and he foretold the actual situation, the truth and falsehood of reports, and the victories and defeats of commanders, without a single error. Though his family was poor he loved to give; he watered the garden and cultivated vegetables, content in austere simplicity. His poetry came from the brush complete without revision; his prose inherited Youguang's literary tradition. Together with his fellow townsman Lou Jian and Cheng Jiasui he was collectively known as "The Three Elders of Lianchuan." He died in the ninth year of the Chongzhen reign, at the age of eighty-six.

婁堅，字子柔。幼好學，其師友皆出有光門。堅學有師承，經明行修，鄉里推為大師。貢於國學，不仕而歸。工書法，詩亦清新。四明謝三賓知縣事，合時升、堅、嘉燧及李流芳詩刻之，曰《嘉定四先生集》。

Lou Jian, whose style name was Zirou. From youth he loved learning; his teachers and friends all came from Gui Youguang's school. Jian had true lineage in his studies—clear mastery of the classics and exemplary conduct—and his community hailed him as a master scholar. He presented himself for study at the Imperial Academy but returned home without entering government service. He excelled at calligraphy, and his poetry was likewise fresh and lucid. While serving as magistrate of Siming, Xie Sanbin collected and published the poetry of Shi Sheng, Lou Jian, Cheng Jiasui, and Li Liufang under the title 《Collected Works of the Four Masters of Jiading》.

流芳，字長蘅，萬歷三十四年舉於鄉。工詩善書，尤精繪事。天啟初，會試北上，抵近郊聞警，賦詩而返，遂絕意進取。

Li Liufang, styled Changheng, passed the provincial examination in the thirty-fourth year of the Wanli reign. He was accomplished in poetry and calligraphy and especially distinguished as a painter. Early in the Tianqi reign he set out north for the metropolitan examination, but on reaching the suburbs he heard news of an emergency, wrote a poem, and turned back—after which he abandoned all ambition for official advancement.

程嘉燧，字孟陽，休寧人，僑居嘉定。工詩善畫。與通州顧養謙善。友人勸詣之，乃渡江寓古寺，與酒人歡飲三日夜，賦《詠古》五章，不見養謙而返。崇禎中，常熟錢謙益以侍郎罷歸，築耦耕堂，邀嘉燧讀書其中。閱十年返休寧，遂卒，年七十有九。謙益最重其詩，稱曰松圓詩老。

Cheng Jiasui, styled Mengyang, was a native of Xiuning who lived in Jiading as a resident outsider. He was accomplished in both poetry and painting. He was close friends with Gu Yangqian of Tongzhou. When friends urged him to visit Gu, he crossed the Yangtze and stayed in an old temple, where he caroused with drinking companions for three days and nights, wrote five poems titled 《On the Ancient》, and then returned without ever calling on Yangqian. During the Chongzhen reign, Qian Qianyi of Changshu returned home after being dismissed from his post as vice minister and built the Hall of Coupled Plowing, inviting Jiasui to join him there for scholarly retreat. After ten years he returned to Xiuning, where he soon died at the age of seventy-nine. Qianyi held his poetry in the highest regard and called him the Old Master of the Pine Garden Poets.

焦竑，字弱侯，江寧人。為諸生，有盛名。從督學御史耿定向學，復質疑於羅汝芳。舉嘉靖四十三年鄉試，下第還。定向遴十四郡名士讀書崇正書院，以竑為之長。及定向裏居，復往從之。萬歷十七年，始以殿試第一人官翰林修撰，益討習國朝典章。二十二年，大學士陳於陛建議修國史，欲竑專領其事，竑遜謝，乃先撰《經籍志》，其他率無所撰，館亦竟罷。翰林教小內侍書者，眾視為具文，竑獨曰：「此曹他日在帝左右，安得忽之。」取古奄人善惡，時與論說。

Jiao Hong, styled Ruohou, was a native of Jiangning. Even as a county school student he enjoyed wide renown. He studied under the provincial education commissioner Geng Dingxiang and also sought out Luo Rufang to discuss his questions. He took the provincial examination in the forty-third year of Jiajing, failed, and returned home. Dingxiang selected leading scholars from fourteen prefectures to study at the Chongzheng Academy and appointed Hong their head. When Dingxiang retired to his home district, Hong again went to study under him. In the seventeenth year of Wanli he at last ranked first in the palace examination and was appointed Hanlin Compiler, devoting himself ever more to mastering the institutions and regulations of the dynasty. In the twenty-second year Grand Secretary Chen Yubi proposed compiling a national history and wanted Hong to head the project, but Hong modestly declined. He did draft the 《Bibliographical Treatise》, but contributed little else, and the editorial bureau was eventually dissolved. Hanlin instructors assigned to teach palace eunuchs calligraphy treated the duty as a mere formality, but Hong alone said: 「These men will one day stand at the Emperor's side—how can we neglect their education? He would draw on stories of good and wicked eunuchs from antiquity and discuss them with his pupils from time to time.

皇長子出閣，竑為講官。故事，講官進講罕有問者。竑講畢，徐曰：「博學審問，功用維均，敷陳或未盡，惟殿下賜明問。」皇長子稱善，然無所質難也。一日，竑復進曰：「殿下言不易發，得毋諱其誤耶？解則有誤，問復何誤？古人不恥下問，願以為法。」皇長子復稱善，亦竟無所問。竑乃與同列謀先啟其端，適講《舜典》，竑舉「稽於眾，舍己從人」為問。皇長子曰：「稽者，考也。考集眾思，然後舍己之短，從人之長。」又一日，舉「上帝降衷，若有恒性」。皇長子曰：「此無他，即天命之謂性也。」時方十三齡，答問無滯，竑亦竭誠啟迪。嘗講次，群鳥飛鳴，皇長子仰視，竑輟講肅立。皇長子斂容聽，乃復講如初。竑嘗采古儲君事可為法戒者為《養正圖說》，擬進之。同官郭正域輩惡其不相聞，目為賈譽，竑遂止。竑既負重名，性復疏直，時事有不可，輒形之言論，政府亦惡之，張位尤甚。二十五年主順天鄉試，舉子曹蕃等九人文多險誕語，竑被劾，謫福寧州同知。歲餘大計，復鐫秩，竑遂不出。

When the crown prince was formally established in his own residence, Hong became one of his lecturers. By custom, lecturers rarely received questions from the crown prince after delivering their lectures. After finishing a lecture, Hong would say gently: 「Learning broadly and questioning carefully serve the same purpose. I may not have explained everything fully—I hope Your Highness will honor me with your questions. The crown prince would praise him, but still never asked a question. One day Hong pressed again: 「Your Highness seldom speaks up—is it because you fear being wrong? In explaining there may be mistakes, but in asking questions, what mistake is there? The ancients were not ashamed to ask those beneath them for instruction—I hope Your Highness will take them as your model. The crown prince praised him again but still never asked anything. Hong then conspired with his fellow lecturers to break the ice: while lecturing on the 《Canon of Shun》, he prompted the crown prince with the passage 「consult the people widely and set aside your own views to follow what is better in others.」 The crown prince replied: 「Ji means to examine. One gathers the thoughts of the people, then sets aside one's own shortcomings and follows others' strengths. On another occasion he prompted him with the line 「God sent down the inmost heart, as if imparting a constant nature.」 The crown prince said: 「This means nothing else—it is what Mencius called nature as the mandate of Heaven. He was only thirteen at the time, yet answered without hesitation, and Hong in turn devoted himself wholeheartedly to guiding him. Once during a lecture a flock of birds flew overhead calling; the crown prince looked up, and Hong stopped speaking and stood at attention. When the crown prince composed himself and turned back to listen, Hong resumed the lecture as before. Hong once compiled stories of crown princes from antiquity that could serve as models or warnings into the 《Illustrated Discourse on Cultivating Rectitude》, which he intended to submit to the throne. Colleagues such as Guo Zhengyu resented his not having consulted them and accused him of currying favor; Hong abandoned the plan. Jiao Hong enjoyed enormous renown and was blunt by nature; whenever he saw something wrong in public affairs he spoke out openly, which the court resented—especially Grand Secretary Zhang Wei. In the twenty-fifth year, while chief examiner for the Shuntian provincial examination, he was impeached because nine candidates including Cao Fan had submitted essays full of dangerous and extravagant language; he was demoted to assistant prefect of Funing. After little more than a year his rank was reduced again in the triennial review, and Hong never returned to office.

竑博極群書，自經史至稗官、雜說，無不淹貫。善為古文，典正馴雅，卓然名家。集名《淡園》，竑所自號也。講學以汝芳為宗，而善定向兄弟及李贄，時頗以禪學譏之。萬歷四十八年卒，年八十。熹宗時，以先朝講讀恩，復官，贈諭德，賜祭蔭子。福王時，追謚文端。子潤生，見《忠義傳》。

Hong read exhaustively across the entire range of literature, from the classics and dynastic histories to unofficial histories and miscellaneous writings—there was nothing he had not mastered. He wrote ancient-style prose with canonical dignity and restrained elegance and stands as a master in his own right. His collected works were titled 《The Tranquil Garden》—Danyuan being the name he gave himself. In his teaching he took Luo Rufang as his guide and was close to the Dingxiang brothers and Li Zhi, though many at the time mocked him for leaning toward Chan Buddhism. He died in the forty-eighth year of Wanli at the age of eighty. Under the Tianqi emperor he was posthumously reinstated in recognition of his service lecturing the crown prince, granted the posthumous title of Junior Mentor, and his son received sacrificial honors and hereditary privilege. Under the Southern Ming Prince of Fu he was posthumously given the temple name Wenduan (Cultured and Upright). His son Runsheng is treated in the 《Biographies of Loyalty and Righteousness》.

黃輝，字平倩，一字昭素，南充人。竑同年進士。幼穎異，父子元，官湖廣，御史屬訊疑獄，輝檢律如老吏。御史聞而異之，命負以至，授錢谷集，一覽輒記。稍長，博極群書。年十五舉鄉試第一。久之，成進士，改庶吉士。館課文字多沿襲熟爛，目為翰林體，及李攀龍、王世貞之學行，則又改而從之。輝刻意學古，一以韓、歐為師，館閣文稍變。時同館中，詩文推陶望齡，書畫推董其昌，輝詩及書與齊名。至征事，輝十得八九，竑以閎雅名，亦自遜不如也。

Huang Hui, styled Pingqian and also Zhaosu, was a native of Nanchong. He passed the jinshi examination in the same year as Jiao Hong. Exceptionally bright from childhood, while his father Ziyuan served in Huguang the boy was asked by a supervising censor to help examine doubtful cases—and parsed the legal codes like a veteran clerk. Astonished, the censor had him brought in and handed him a register of tax and grain receipts, which the boy memorized at a single reading. As he grew older he devoured books across every field. At fifteen he ranked first in the provincial examination. Some years later he passed the jinshi examination and was appointed a Hanlin bachelor. Hanlin trainees typically wrote in a stale, formulaic Academy style, but when the archaist school of Li Panlong and Wang Shizhen rose to prominence, he too switched and followed their lead. Hui deliberately turned to antiquity, taking Han Yu and Ouyang Xiu as his sole models, and Academy prose began to shift. Among his Hanlin cohort Tao Wangling was ranked first in poetry and prose and Dong Qichang in calligraphy and painting, but Hui's poetry and calligraphy matched either man's reputation. When it came to marshaling historical allusions, Hui was right eight or nine times out of ten—even Jiao Hong, famed for his broad erudition, conceded he could not match him.

由編修遷右中允，充皇長子講官。時帝寵鄭貴妃，疏皇后、長子，長子生母王恭妃幾殆。輝從內豎征知其狀，謂同里給事中王德完曰：「此國家大事，旦夕不測，書之史冊，謂朝廷無人，吾輩為萬世僇矣。」德完奮然，屬輝具草上之，下獄，廷杖瀕死。輝周旋橐饘，不避險阻，人或危之。輝曰：「吾陷人於禍，可坐視乎？」輝雅好禪學，多方外交，為言者所論。時已為庶子掌司經局，遂請告歸。已，起故官，擢少詹事兼侍讀學士，卒官。

He rose from compiler to Right Attendant-in-Waiting and served as a lecturer to the crown prince. At the time the emperor favored Lady Zheng, neglected the empress and crown prince, and the crown prince's mother, Lady Wang, was nearly brought to ruin. Learning the situation from palace eunuchs, he told his fellow townsman Wang Dewan, a supervising secretary: 「This is a matter of state. Anything may happen at any moment. If history records that the court had no one willing to act, we will be shamed for all time. Wang resolutely commissioned Hui to draft a memorial and submit it. Wang was thrown into prison and nearly beaten to death in a court flogging. Hui went back and forth bringing him food and supplies, undeterred by the risk, though others warned him he was in danger. Hui said: 「I drew him into this disaster—how can I stand by and do nothing? Hui was deeply drawn to Chan Buddhism and maintained wide contacts outside official circles, which drew censure from the censoriate. By then he was Junior Mentor in charge of the Classics Bureau; he resigned and returned home. He was later recalled, promoted to Junior Vice Director of the Hanlin Academy and Reader-in-Waiting, and died in office.

陳仁錫，字明卿，長洲人。父允堅，進士。歷知諸暨、崇德二縣。仁錫年十九，舉萬歷二十五年鄉試。聞武進錢一本善《易》，往師之，得其指要。久不第。益究心經史之學，多所論著。天啟二年以殿試第三人授翰林編修。時第一為文震孟，亦老成宿學。海內鹹慶得人。明年丁內艱，廬墓次。服闋，起故官，尋直經筵，典誥敕。魏忠賢冒邊功，矯旨錫上公爵，給世券。仁錫當視草，持不可，其黨以威劫之，毅然曰：「世自有視草者，何必我！」忠賢聞之怒。不數日，裏人孫文豸以誦《步天歌》見捕，坐妖言鍛煉成獄，詞連仁錫及震孟，罪將不測。有密救者，得削籍歸。崇禎改元，召復故官。旋進右中允，署國子司業事，再直經筵。以預修神、光二朝實錄，進右諭德，乞假歸。越三年，即家起南京國子祭酒，甫拜命，得疾卒。福王時，贈詹事，謚文莊。仁錫講求經濟，有誌天下事，性好學，喜著書，一時館閣中博洽者鮮其儔雲。

Chen Renxi, styled Mingqing, was a native of Changzhou. His father Yunjian had passed the jinshi examination. He had served successively as magistrate of Zhuji and Chongde. Renxi passed the provincial examination at nineteen in the twenty-fifth year of Wanli. Hearing that Qian Yiben of Wujin was master of the Book of Changes, he went to study under him and grasped its essentials. For many years he failed to pass the metropolitan examination. He devoted himself ever more deeply to the classics and histories and produced a substantial body of scholarly writing. In the second year of Tianqi he ranked third in the palace examination and was appointed Hanlin Compiler. The top-ranked graduate that year was Wen Zhenmeng, likewise a mature scholar of long standing. Scholars throughout the empire celebrated that the examinations had produced men of genuine talent. The following year, when his mother died, he took up mourning residence at her tomb. When mourning ended he was recalled to his former post, soon joined the Classics Lectern, and took charge of drafting edicts and rescripts. Wei Zhongxian fabricated military merit on the frontier and, by forged imperial order, had himself ennobled as a duke and granted a hereditary patent of nobility. When Renxi was assigned to draft the decree he refused. Wei's faction tried to intimidate him, but he declared firmly: 「There are plenty of people in this world willing to draft edicts for you—why must it be me! Wei Zhongxian was enraged when he heard of this. Within days a townsman named Sun Wenzhi was arrested for reciting the 《Song of Pacing the Heavens》; framed for seditious speech and tortured into a case, his testimony implicated Renxi and Wen Zhenmeng, and their fates hung in the balance. Through secret intervention they were spared and allowed to return home stripped of office. When the Chongzhen reign began he was recalled to his former post. He was soon promoted to Right Attendant-in-Waiting, given acting charge of the Vice Directorship of the National University, and again joined the Classics Lectern. For helping compile the Veritable Records of the Wanli and Taichang reigns he was promoted to Right Junior Mentor, then requested leave to return home. Three years later he was summoned from home to serve as Chancellor of the Nanjing National University, but fell ill and died soon after accepting the appointment. Under the Prince of Fu he was posthumously made Vice Director of the Hanlin Academy and given the temple name Wenzhuang (Cultivated and Dignified). Renxi devoted himself to practical statecraft and cared deeply about the affairs of the realm. Naturally studious and fond of writing, among contemporary court scholars few could rival his breadth of learning.

董其昌，字玄宰，松江華亭人。舉萬歷十七年進士，改庶吉士。禮部侍郎田一俊以教習卒官，其昌請假，走數千里，護其喪歸葬。遷授編修。皇長子出閣，充講官，因事啟沃，皇長子每目屬之。坐失執政意，出為湖廣副使，移疾歸。起故官，督湖廣學政，不徇請囑，為勢家所怨，嗾生儒數百人鼓噪，毀其公署。其昌即拜疏求去，帝不許，而令所司按治，其昌卒謝事歸。起山東副使、登萊兵備、河南參政，並不赴。

Dong Qichang, styled Xuanzai, was a native of Huating in Songjiang Prefecture. He passed the jinshi examination in the seventeenth year of Wanli and was appointed a Hanlin bachelor. When Vice Minister of Rites Tian Yijun died in office while serving as an instructor, Qichang took leave and traveled thousands of miles to escort his coffin home for burial. He was subsequently appointed Hanlin Compiler. When the heir apparent left the palace to establish his household, Dong Qichang served as his lecturer; on many occasions he offered candid counsel, and the crown prince would invariably fix his gaze on him. For falling out of favor with those in power, he was posted out as vice commissioner of Huguang; he pleaded illness and returned home. Recalled to his former post, he oversaw Huguang provincial education; he refused to yield to solicited favors, and powerful families resented him—they incited several hundred scholar-students to raise a clamor and demolish his official residence. Qichang immediately submitted a memorial requesting leave; the emperor refused, but ordered the relevant office to investigate; Qichang ultimately resigned his duties and returned home. He was appointed Shandong vice commissioner, Denglai military intendant, and Henan administrative commissioner—in every case he declined to take up the post.

光宗立，問：「舊講官董先生安在？」乃召為太常少卿，掌國子司業事。天啟二年擢本寺卿，兼侍讀學士。時修《神宗實錄》，命往南方采輯先朝章疏及遺事，其昌慶搜博征，錄成三百本。又采留中之疏切於國本、藩封、人才、風俗、河渠、食貨、吏治、邊防者，別為四十卷。仿史贊之例，每篇系以筆斷。書成表進，有詔褒美，宣付史館。明年秋，擢禮部右侍郎，協理詹事府事，尋轉左侍郎。五年正月拜南京禮部尚書。時政在奄豎，黨禍酷烈。其昌深自引遠，逾年請告歸。崇禎四年起故官，掌詹事府事。居三年，屢疏乞休，詔加太子太保致仕。又二年卒，年八十有三。贈太子太傅。福王時，謚文敏。

When Guangzong ascended the throne, he asked, "Where is the former lecturer, Master Dong?" Thereupon Dong was summoned as vice minister of the Directorate of Ceremonies, in charge of the affairs of vice director of education in the Imperial Academy. In the second year of the Tianqi reign he was promoted to director of his directorate and concurrently appointed lecturer-in-waiting in the Hanlin Academy. At the time the court was compiling the 《Veritable Records of Emperor Shenzong》; he was ordered to travel south to collect memorials and anecdotes from the previous reign. Qichang searched widely with evident delight and compiled three hundred volumes. He also gathered memorials held back at court that bore on the foundation of the state, enfeoffment of princes, talent, customs, waterways, food and goods, governance of officials, and frontier defense, arranging them separately into forty volumes. Following the example of historical commentaries, he appended to each piece his own judgment in brush. When the work was finished he submitted it by memorial; an edict praised him, and the compilation was ordered sent to the Historical Archives. The following autumn he was promoted to right vice minister of rites and assistant director of the Crown Prince's Household; soon after he was transferred to left vice minister. In the first month of the fifth year of Tianqi he was appointed minister of rites at Nanjing. At the time power lay with the eunuchs, and factional persecution was fierce. Qichang kept himself deeply aloof; after more than a year he requested leave to return home. In the fourth year of Chongzhen he was recalled to his former post and put in charge of the Crown Prince's Household. After three years he repeatedly submitted memorials begging to retire; an edict added the title grand guardian of the heir apparent and granted him retirement. Two years later he died, at the age of eighty-three. He was posthumously granted the title grand tutor of the heir apparent. Under the Prince of Fu he was given the posthumous name Wenmin.

其昌天才俊逸，少負重名。初，華亭自沈度、沈粲以後，南安知府張弼、詹事陸深、布政莫如忠及子是龍皆以善書稱。其昌後出，超越諸家，始以宋米芾為宗。後自成一家，名聞外國。其畫集宋、元諸家之長，行以己意，瀟灑生動，非人力所及也。四方金石之刻，得其制作手書，以為二絕。造請無虛日，尺素短劄，流布人間，爭購寶之。精於品題，收藏家得片語只字以為重。性和易，通禪理，蕭閑吐納，終日無俗語。人儗之米芾、趙孟頫雲。同時以善書名者，臨邑刑侗、順天米萬鐘、晉江張瑞圖，時人謂刑、張、米、董，又曰南董、北米。然三人者，不逮其昌遠甚。

Qichang was gifted with extraordinary talent; from youth he bore a great reputation. Earlier, in Huating since Shen Du and Shen Can, the prefect of Nan'an Zhang Bi, junior mentor Lu Shen, provincial administration commissioner Mo Ruzhong, and Mo's son Shi Long had all been acclaimed for skill in calligraphy. Qichang came later and surpassed all the schools, initially taking the Song calligrapher Mi Fu as his model. Later he formed a school of his own, and his fame spread even beyond the realm. His painting gathered the strengths of Song and Yuan masters, executed with his own intent—effortless and vivid, beyond what human effort could achieve. For stone inscriptions throughout the realm, to obtain both his design and his own hand in writing was regarded as a double perfection. Visitors came without a day free; letters and brief notes circulated among the people, and all competed to purchase and treasure them. He was skilled at connoisseurship; collectors prized even a phrase or a single character from him. His nature was easygoing; he mastered Chan Buddhist principles, and in quiet ease practiced breath control—throughout the day he spoke no vulgar words. People compared him to Mi Fu and Zhao Mengfu. Those famed at the same time for calligraphy were Linyi's Xing Tong, Shuntian's Mi Wanzhong, and Jinjiang's Zhang Ruitu; contemporaries called them Xing, Zhang, Mi, and Dong, or again "Dong in the south, Mi in the north." Yet the three of them fell far short of Qichang.

莫如忠，字子良。嘉靖十七年進士。累官浙江布政使。潔修自好。夏言死，經紀其喪。善草書，詩文有體要。是龍，字雲卿，後以字行，更字廷韓。十歲能文，長善書。皇甫汸、王世貞輩亟稱之。以貢生終。刑侗，字子願。萬歷二年進士。終陜西行太仆卿。家資鉅萬，築來禽館於古犁丘，減產奉客，遂致中落。妹慈靜，善仿兄書。米萬鐘，字友石。萬歷二十三年進士。歷官江西按察使。天啟五年，魏忠賢黨倪文煥劾之，遂削籍。崇禎初，起太仆少卿，卒官。張瑞圖者，官至大學士，逆案中人也。

Mo Ruzhong, courtesy name Ziliang. He passed the jinshi examination in the seventeenth year of the Jiajing reign. He rose through successive offices to provincial administration commissioner of Zhejiang. He cultivated purity and kept himself above reproach. When Xia Yan died, he managed his funeral arrangements. He was skilled at cursive script; his poetry and prose had structure and substance. Shi Long, courtesy name Yunqing; later he was known by his courtesy name and changed his style name to Tinghan. At ten he could compose essays; as an adult he excelled at calligraphy. Huangfu Fan, Wang Shizhen, and their circle praised him highly. He ended his career as a tribute student. Xing Tong, courtesy name Ziyuan. He passed the jinshi examination in the second year of the Wanli reign. He ended his career as vice minister of the Court of the Imperial Stud in Shaanxi. His family wealth ran to tens of thousands; he built the Coming-Birds Pavilion at ancient Liqiu, reduced his estate to entertain guests, and so fell into moderate ruin. His younger sister Cijing was skilled at imitating her brother's calligraphy. Mi Wanzhong, courtesy name Youshi. He passed the jinshi examination in the twenty-third year of the Wanli reign. He rose through successive offices to surveillance commissioner of Jiangxi. In the fifth year of Tianqi, Ni Wenhuan, a partisan of Wei Zhongxian, impeached him, and he was struck from the rolls. At the beginning of the Chongzhen reign he was recalled as vice minister of the Court of the Imperial Stud and died in office. As for Zhang Ruitu, he rose to grand secretary and was a man implicated in the eunuch faction cases.

袁宏道，字中郎，公安人。與兄宗道、弟中道並有才名，時稱「三袁」。宗道，字伯修。萬歷十四年會試第一。授庶吉士，進編修，卒官右庶子。泰昌時，追錄光宗講官，贈禮部右侍郎。

Yuan Hongdao, courtesy name Zhonglang, was a native of Gong'an. Together with his elder brother Zongdao and younger brother Zhongdao he shared literary fame; at the time they were called "the Three Yuans." Zongdao, courtesy name Boxiu. In the fourteenth year of Wanli he placed first in the metropolitan examination. Appointed Hanlin bachelor, he advanced to compiler and died in office as right subdirector of the Eastern Palace. During the Taichang reign he was posthumously recorded among Guangzong's lecturers and granted the posthumous office of right vice minister of rites.

宏道年十六為諸生，即結社城南，為之長。閑為詩歌古文，有聲里中。舉萬歷二十年進士。歸家，下帷讀書，詩文主妙悟。選吳縣知縣，聽斷敏決，公庭鮮事。與士大夫談說詩文，以風雅自命。已而解官去。起授順天教授，歷國子助教、禮部主事，謝病歸。久之，起故官。尋以清望擢吏部驗封主事，改文選。尋移考功員外郎，立歲終考察群吏法，言：「外官三歲一察，京官六歲，武官五歲，此曹安得獨免？」疏上，報可，遂為定制。遷稽勛郎中，後謝病歸，數月卒。

At sixteen Hongdao became a registered student and immediately formed a literary society south of the city, serving as its head. In his leisure he wrote poetry and ancient-style prose and gained a reputation in the district. He passed the jinshi examination in the twentieth year of Wanli. Returning home, he lowered the curtain and devoted himself to reading; in poetry and prose he advocated intuitive insight. Selected as magistrate of Wuxian, he judged cases with swift decisiveness, and there were few matters pending in the public hall. With literati he discoursed on poetry and prose, styling himself a man of refined taste. Soon he resigned his office and left. Recalled, he was appointed professor in Shuntian, then served successively as tutor in the Imperial Academy and director in the Ministry of Rites; he pleaded illness and returned home. After a long interval he was recalled to his former post. Soon, on account of his reputation for integrity, he was promoted to director in the Ministry of Personnel for the verification and sealing section, then transferred to the selection section. Soon transferred to assistant director in the Ministry of Personnel for merit evaluation, he established the law for year-end review of all officials, stating, "Outside officials are inspected once every three years, capital officials every six years, military officials every five years—how can this group alone be exempt?" When the memorial was submitted, approval was granted, and it became fixed regulation. He was transferred to director in the Ministry of Personnel for meritorious deeds; later he pleaded illness and returned home, and died several months later.

中道，字小修。十余歲，作《黃山》、《雪》二賦，五千余言。長益豪邁，從兩兄宦遊京師，多交四方名士，足跡半天下。萬歷三十一年始舉於鄉。又十四年乃成進士。由徽州教授，歷國子博士、南京禮部主事。天啟四年進南京吏部郎中，卒於官。

Zhongdao, courtesy name Xiaoxiu. Before he was ten he wrote the two fu 《Mount Huang》 and 《Snow》, more than five thousand characters in all. As he grew he became even more bold and free; following his two elder brothers on official tours to the capital, he made many acquaintances among famous men throughout the realm, and his footsteps covered half the world. Not until the thirty-first year of Wanli did he pass the provincial examination. Fourteen years more passed before he became a jinshi. Starting as professor in Huizhou, he served successively as doctorate in the Imperial Academy and director in the Nanjing Ministry of Rites. In the fourth year of Tianqi he was promoted to director in the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue and died in office.

先是，王、李之學盛行，袁氏兄弟獨心非之。宗道在館中，與同館黃輝力排其說。於唐好白樂天，於宋好蘇軾，名其齋曰白蘇。至宏道，益矯以清新輕俊，學者多舍王、李而從之，目為公安體。然戲謔嘲笑，間雜俚語，空疏者便之。其後，王、李風漸息，而鐘、譚之說大熾。鐘、譚者，鐘惺、譚元春也。

Earlier, the Wang and Li school flourished widely; the Yuan brothers alone inwardly disapproved of it. While in the Hanlin Academy, Zongdao together with his colleague Huang Hui strongly opposed their doctrine. In the Tang he favored Bai Juyi; in the Song he favored Su Shi; he named his studio White-Su. By Hongdao's time the movement overcorrected further toward freshness, clarity, lightness, and wit; many students abandoned Wang and Li and followed him, calling it the Gong'an style. Yet with jesting ridicule mixed in and vulgar speech at times, those shallow of learning found it convenient. Afterward the Wang and Li vogue gradually faded, while the doctrines of Zhong and Tan blazed greatly. Zhong and Tan—that is, Zhong Xing and Tan Yuanchun.

惺，字伯敬，竟陵人。萬歷三十八年進士。授行人，稍遷工部主事，尋改南京禮部，進郎中。擢福建提學僉事，以父憂歸，卒於家。惺貌寢，羸不勝衣，為人嚴冷，不喜接俗客，由此得謝人事。官南都，僦秦淮水閣讀史，恒至丙夜，有所見即筆之，名曰《史懷》。晚逃於禪以卒。

Xing, courtesy name Bojing, was a native of Jingling. He passed the jinshi examination in the thirty-eighth year of the Wanli reign. Appointed traveling censor, he was gradually promoted to director in the Ministry of Works, then transferred to the Nanjing Ministry of Rites and advanced to director. Promoted to education intendant of Fujian, he returned home to mourn his father and died there. Xing's appearance was unprepossessing; he was frail and barely filled his clothes. In conduct he was stern and cold and disliked receiving vulgar guests—thereby he gained release from worldly affairs. While serving in the southern capital he rented a waterside pavilion on the Qinhuai to read history, often until the third watch of the night; whatever he observed he wrote down at once, calling it 《Reflections on History》. In his later years he took refuge in Chan Buddhism until his death.

自宏道矯王、李詩之弊，倡以清真，惺復矯其弊，變而為幽深孤峭。與同里譚元春評選唐人之詩為《唐詩歸》，又評選隋以前詩為《古詩歸》。鐘、譚之名滿天下，謂之竟陵體。然兩人學不甚富，其識解多僻，大為通人所譏。元春，字友夏，名輩後於惺，以《詩歸》故，與齊名。至天啟七年始舉鄉試第一，惺已前卒矣。

After Hongdao had overcorrected the defects of Wang and Li poetry by advocating purity and truth, Xing again overcorrected those defects, changing the style into depth, remoteness, solitude, and austerity. Together with his fellow townsman Tan Yuanchun he selected and appraised Tang poetry as 《Return to Tang Poetry》, and also selected pre-Sui poetry as 《Return to Ancient Poetry》. The names of Zhong and Tan filled the world; this was called the Jingling style. Yet the learning of the two men was not very rich; their interpretations were often eccentric, and they were greatly ridiculed by the broadly learned. Yuanchun, courtesy name Youxia; though junior in reputation to Xing, because of the 《Poetry Returns》 he was ranked equally with him. Not until the seventh year of Tianqi did he place first in the provincial examination—by then Xing had already died.

王惟儉，字損仲，祥符人。萬歷二十三年進士。授濰縣知縣，遷兵部職方主事。三十年春，遼東總兵官馬林以忤稅使高淮被逮，兵部尚書田樂等救之。帝怒，責職方不推代者，空司而逐，惟儉亦削籍歸。家居二十年，光宗立，起光祿丞。三遷大理少卿。

Wang Weijian, courtesy name Sunzhong, was from Xiangfu. He passed the jinshi examination in the twenty-third year of the Wanli reign. He was appointed magistrate of Weixian County and later promoted to secretary in the Ministry of War's Bureau of Operations. In the spring of the thirtieth year of Wanli, Ma Lin, the regional commander of Liaodong, was arrested after offending the tax commissioner Gao Huai; Minister of War Tian Le and others intervened on his behalf. The emperor was furious and blamed the Bureau of Operations for failing to recommend successors; he emptied the bureau and dismissed its entire staff, and Weijian was also struck from the official rolls and sent home. He remained at home for twenty years until Emperor Guangzong took the throne, when he was recalled to serve as Commissioner of the Imperial Household Department for Sacrifices. He was promoted three times to Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review.

天啟三年八月擢右僉都御史，巡撫山東。值徐鴻儒之亂，民多逃亡，遼人避難來者，亦多失所，惟儉加意綏輯。五年三月擢南京兵部右侍郎，未赴。入為工部右侍郎，魏忠賢黨御史田景新劾之，落職閑住。

In the eighth month of the third year of Tianqi he was promoted to Right Assistant Censor-in-Chief and made Grand Coordinator of Shandong. During Xu Hongru's rebellion, many people fled, and Liaodong refugees who came seeking safety often found themselves destitute; Weijian devoted special care to pacifying and resettling them. In the third month of the fifth year he was promoted to Right Vice Minister of War at Nanjing, but never assumed the office. He was transferred to the capital as Right Vice Minister of Works, but the censor Tian Jingxin, a follower of Wei Zhongxian, impeached him, and he was dismissed and forced into retirement.

惟儉資敏嗜學。初被廢，肆力經史百家。苦《宋史》繁蕪，手刪定，自為一書。好書畫古玩。萬歷、天啟間，世所稱博物君子，惟儉與董其昌並，而嘉興李日華亞之。日華，字君實，嘉興人。萬歷二十年進士。官至太仆少卿。恬淡和易，與物無忤。惟儉則口多微詞，好抨擊道學，人不能堪。嘗與時輩宴集，征《漢書》一事，具悉本末，指其腹笑曰：「名下寧有虛士乎！」其自喜如此。

Weijian was quick-witted and devoted to learning. After his first dismissal from office, he devoted himself wholeheartedly to the classics, histories, and the hundred schools of thought. Finding the 《History of Song》 excessively cumbersome, he edited it by hand into a work of his own. He was fond of calligraphy, painting, and antique curios. During the Wanli and Tianqi reigns, among the broadly learned gentlemen celebrated by the age, Weijian was ranked alongside Dong Qichang, with Li Rihua of Jiaxing just below them. Li Rihua, courtesy name Junshi, was from Jiaxing. He passed the jinshi examination in the twentieth year of the Wanli reign. He rose to the post of Vice Minister of the Court of the Imperial Stud. He was calm and easygoing and never at odds with anyone. Weijian, by contrast, was given to subtle sarcasm and loved attacking Neo-Confucian moralism, which people found hard to tolerate. Once at a gathering with contemporaries, when a question from the 《Book of Han》 was raised, he knew the whole story from beginning to end; patting his belly he laughed and said, 「Can a man of such renown be an empty scholar!」 Such was the pleasure he took in himself.

曹學佺，字能始，侯官人。弱冠舉萬歷二十三年進士，授戶部主事。中察典，調南京添註大理左寺正。居冗散七年，肆力於學。累遷南京戶部郎中，四川右參政、按察使。蜀府毀於火，估修資七十萬金，學牷以《宗藩條例》卻之。又中察典，議調。天啟二年起廣西右參議。初，梃擊獄興，劉廷元輩主瘋顛。學牷著《野史紀略》，直書事本末。至六年秋，學牷遷陜西副使，未行，而廷元附魏忠賢大幸，乃劾學牷私撰野史，淆亂國章，遂削籍，毀所鏤板。巡按御史王政新，以嘗薦學牷，亦勒閑住。廣西大吏揣學牷必得重禍，羈留以待。已，知忠賢無意殺之，乃得釋還。崇禎初，起廣西副使，力辭不就。

Cao Xuequan, courtesy name Nengshi, was from Houguan. At twenty he passed the jinshi examination in the twenty-third year of Wanli and was appointed a secretary in the Ministry of Revenue. After failing the inspection review, he was transferred to Nanjing as supplementary Left Assistant Director of the Grand Court of Revision. He spent seven years in a supernumerary post with little to do, devoting himself wholeheartedly to study. He was promoted in turn to director in the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue, then to Right Assistant Administration Commissioner and Surveillance Commissioner of Sichuan. When the princely residence in Shu was destroyed by fire, the estimated repair cost came to seven hundred thousand taels of silver; Xuequan rejected the expense under the 《Regulations for Imperial Clans》. He failed the inspection review again, and a transfer was proposed. In the second year of Tianqi he was recalled to serve as Right Administration Vice Commissioner of Guangxi. Earlier, when the Killing-with-a-Staff case broke, Liu Tingyuan and his allies argued that the assailant had been insane. Xuequan wrote the 《Outline of Unofficial History》, setting down the events plainly from beginning to end. In the autumn of the sixth year Xuequan was transferred to Vice Commissioner of Shaanxi, but before he could depart, Tingyuan—now greatly favored as a follower of Wei Zhongxian—impeached him for privately writing unofficial history and subverting the statutes of the state; Xuequan was struck from the rolls and his printing blocks were destroyed. The touring censor Wang Zhengxin, who had once recommended Xuequan, was also forced into retirement. The senior officials of Guangxi assumed Xuequan would face severe punishment and detained him while they waited. Later, when it became clear that Zhongxian had no intention of killing him, he was released and allowed to go home. At the beginning of the Chongzhen reign he was recalled as Vice Commissioner of Guangxi, but firmly declined the appointment.

家居二十年，著書所居石倉園中，為《石倉十二代詩選》，盛行於世。嘗謂「二氏有藏，吾儒何獨無」，欲修儒藏與鼎立。采擷四庫書，因類分輯，十有余年，功未及竣，兩京繼覆。唐王立於閩中，起授太常卿。尋遷禮部右侍郎兼侍講學士，進尚書，加太子太保。及事敗，走入山中，投繯而死，年七十有四。詩文甚富，總名《石倉集》。萬歷中，閩中文風頗盛，自學牷倡之，晚年更以殉節著雲。

He lived at home for twenty years, writing in his Stone Granary Garden; his 《Stone Granary Anthology of Poetry from Twelve Dynasties》 became widely popular. He once said, 「Buddhism and Daoism each have their canon—why should Confucianism alone have none?」 and planned to compile a Confucian treasury to stand alongside them. For more than ten years he gathered books from the four repositories and arranged them by category, but the work was still unfinished when both capitals fell in succession. When the Prince of Tang established his court in Fujian, Xuequan was recalled and appointed Minister of Ceremonial. He was soon made Right Vice Minister of Rites and Concurrent Lecturing Academician, then promoted to Minister of Rites with the additional title of Grand Mentor of the Heir Apparent. When the cause collapsed, he fled into the mountains and hanged himself at the age of seventy-four. His poetry and prose were voluminous, collected under the title 《Collected Works from the Stone Granary》. During the Wanli reign literary culture flourished in Fujian under Xuequan's leadership, and in his later years he became even more celebrated for dying for his principles.

其同邑後起者，曾異撰，字弗人，晉江人，家侯官。父為諸生，早卒。母張氏，以遺腹生。家寠甚，紡績給晨夕。異撰起孤童，事母至孝。歲饑，采薯葉雜糠乞食之，母妻嘗負畚鋤乾草給爨。然性介甚，長吏知其貧，欲為地，不屑也。吳興潘曾纮督學政，上其母節行，獲旌於朝。及曾纮巡撫南、贛，得王惟儉所撰《宋史》，招異撰及新建徐世溥更定，未成而罷。異撰久為諸生，究心經世學，所為詩，有奇氣。崇禎十二年舉鄉試，年四十有九矣，再赴會試還，遂卒。

Among those who rose later from the same district was Zeng Yizhuan, courtesy name Furen, a native of Jinjiang whose family lived in Houguan. His father was a licentiate who died young. His mother was née Zhang; he was born after his father's death. The family was desperately poor; they spun thread to keep themselves fed from day to day. Yizhuan grew up fatherless and served his mother with the utmost filial devotion. In famine years they gathered sweet-potato leaves mixed with chaff to stave off hunger; his mother and wife would carry baskets and hoes to gather dry grass for fuel. Yet he was fiercely upright; when senior officials learned of his poverty and wished to help him along, he refused. Pan Zenghong of Wuxing, as provincial education commissioner, reported his mother's chaste conduct, and she received imperial commendation. When Zenghong became Grand Coordinator of southern Jiangxi, he obtained Wang Weijian's revised 《History of Song》 and summoned Yizhuan and Xu Shipu of Xinjian to revise it further, but the project was abandoned before it was finished. Yizhuan remained a licentiate for many years, devoting himself to statecraft; his poetry had a singular force. In the twelfth year of Chongzhen he passed the provincial examination at forty-nine; he died shortly after returning from a second attempt at the metropolitan examination.

王誌堅，字弱生，昆山人。父臨亨，進士。杭州知府。誌堅舉萬歷三十八年進士，授南京兵部主事，遷員外郎、郎中。暇日要同舍郎為讀史社，撰《讀史商語》。遷貴州提學僉事，不赴，乞侍養歸。天啟二年起督浙江驛傳，奔母喪歸。崇禎四年復以僉事督湖廣學政，禮部推為學政第一。六年卒於官。

Wang Zhijian, courtesy name Ruosheng, was from Kunshan. His father Linheng was a jinshi. He served as prefect of Hangzhou. Zhijian passed the jinshi examination in the thirty-eighth year of Wanli, was appointed a secretary in the Nanjing Ministry of War, and rose to vice director and then director. In his spare time he gathered fellow officials into a History-Reading Society and wrote the 《Historical Discussions》. He was appointed Education Intendant of Guizhou but declined the post, requesting leave to return home and care for his parents. In the second year of Tianqi he was recalled to supervise postal stations in Zhejiang, but rushed home when his mother died. In the fourth year of Chongzhen he again served as education intendant for Huguang; the Ministry of Rites ranked him first among all education intendants. He died in office in the sixth year of Chongzhen.

誌堅少與李流芳同學，為詩文，法唐、宋名家。通籍後，卜居吳門古南園，杜門卻掃，肆誌讀書，先經後史，先史後子、集。其讀經，先箋疏而後辨論。讀史，先證據而後發明。讀子，則謂唐、宋而後無子，當取說家之有裨經史者補之。讀集，則定秦、漢以後古文為五編，考核唐、宋碑誌，援史傳，捃雜說，以參核其事之同異、文之純駁。其於內典，亦深辨性相之宗。作詩甚富，自選止七十余首。

Zhijian studied in youth with Li Liufang and modeled his poetry and prose on the great masters of the Tang and Song. After entering official life he settled at the Old South Garden in Suzhou, shut his doors to visitors, and devoted himself to reading—classics first, then histories; histories first, then masters and collected writings. In reading the classics he began with commentaries and glosses before turning to disputation. In reading history he began with evidence before moving to interpretation. In reading masters he held that after the Tang and Song there were no true philosophical masters, and that one should supplement them with commentators whose work illuminated the classics and histories. In reading collected writings he organized post-Qin and Han ancient prose into five compilations, examined Tang and Song stele inscriptions and epitaphs, drew on historical biographies and gathered miscellaneous accounts to compare events and assess the reliability of texts. In Buddhist scriptures as well he made deep distinctions among the schools of nature and appearance. He wrote a great deal of poetry but selected only some seventy pieces for preservation.

弟誌長，字平仲，舉於鄉，亦深於經學。

His younger brother Zhichang, courtesy name Pingzhong, passed the provincial examination and was also deeply versed in classical learning.

艾南英，字千子，東鄉人。七歲作《竹林七賢論》。長為諸生，好學無所不窺。萬歷末，場屋文腐爛，南英深疾之，與同郡章世純、羅萬藻、陳際泰以興起斯文為任，乃刻四人所作行之世。世人翕然歸之，稱為章、羅、陳、艾。天啟四年，南英始舉於鄉。座主檢討丁乾學、給事中郝土膏發策詆魏忠賢，南英對策亦有譏刺語。忠賢怒，削考官籍，南英亦停三科。

Ai Nanying, courtesy name Qianzi, was from Dongxiang. At seven he wrote the 《Essay on the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove》. As an adult he became a licentiate; he loved learning and explored every field. Near the end of the Wanli reign, examination essays had grown stale and formulaic; Nanying deplored this deeply, and together with his fellow graduates Zhang Shichun, Luo Wanzao, and Chen Jitai took it upon themselves to revive serious letters; they published the four men's writings. The literary world flocked to them, calling them Zhang, Luo, Chen, and Ai. Nanying first passed the provincial examination in the fourth year of Tianqi. His chief examiner, the reviser Ding Ganxue, and the supervising censor Hao Tugao set examination questions denouncing Wei Zhongxian, and Nanying's answers also contained satirical remarks. Zhongxian was furious; the examiners were struck from the rolls, and Nanying was barred from the examinations for three cycles.

章世純，字大力，臨川人。博聞強記。舉天啟元年鄉試。崇禎中，累官柳州知府，年已七十矣，聞京師變，悲憤，遘疾卒。

Zhang Shichun, courtesy name Dali, was from Linchuan. He was broadly learned with an extraordinary memory. He passed the provincial examination in the first year of the Tianqi reign. During the Chongzhen reign he rose to prefect of Liuzhou; he was already seventy when news of the fall of the capital reached him; grief and indignation brought on an illness, and he died.

羅萬藻，字文止，世純同縣人。天啟七年舉於鄉。崇禎中行保舉法，祭酒倪元璐以萬藻應詔，辭不就。福王時為上杭知縣。唐王立於閩，擢禮部主事。南英卒，哭而殯之，居數月亦卒。

Luo Wanzao, courtesy name Wenzhi, was from the same county as Zhang Shichun. He passed the provincial examination in the seventh year of Tianqi. During the Chongzhen reign the recommendation system was implemented; Chancellor of the Imperial Academy Ni Yuanlu nominated Wanzao by imperial edict, but he declined the appointment. During the reign of the Prince of Fu he served as magistrate of Shanghang. When the Prince of Tang established his court in Fujian, Wanzao was promoted to secretary in the Ministry of Rites. When Nanying died, Wanzao mourned him and laid him out for burial; several months later he too died.

陳際泰，字大士，亦臨川人，父流寓汀州武平，生於其地。家貧，不能從師，又無書，時取旁舍兒書，屏人竊誦。從外兄所獲《書經》，四角已漫滅，且無句讀，自以意識別之，遂通其義。十歲，於外家藥籠中見《詩經》，取而疾走。父見之，怒，督往田，則攜至田所，踞高阜而哦，遂畢身不忘。久之，返臨川，與南英輩以時文名天下。其為文，敏甚，一日可二三十首，先後所作至萬首，經生舉業之富，無若際泰者。崇禎三年舉於鄉。又四年成進士，年六十有八矣。又三年除行人。居四年，護故相蔡國用喪南行，卒於道。

Chen Jitai, courtesy name Dashi, was also from Linchuan; his father had settled temporarily in Wuping, Tingzhou, where Jitai was born. The family was poor; he could not afford a teacher and had no books of his own, so he would borrow a neighbor child's book, slip away alone, and recite it in secret. From a maternal cousin he obtained a copy of the 《Book of Documents》 whose corners were worn away and which had no punctuation; by working out the phrasing on his own he mastered its meaning. At ten he spotted the 《Book of Songs》 in his maternal family's medicine chest, snatched it, and ran off. His father caught him, grew angry, and sent him to work in the fields; Jitai would take the book along, sit on a high mound and chant, and thus memorized it for life. After many years he returned to Linchuan and, together with Nanying and the others, became famous throughout the realm for examination essays. He wrote with extraordinary speed, producing twenty or thirty essays in a single day; his total output eventually reached ten thousand pieces—no licentiate in examination composition was as prolific as Jitai. In the third year of Chongzhen he passed the provincial examination. Four years later he earned his jinshi degree, at the age of sixty-eight. Three years later he was appointed a courier. After four years in office, he escorted the funeral of the former chief minister Cai Guoyong southward and died on the journey.

張溥，字天如，太倉人。伯父輔之，南京工部尚書。溥幼嗜學。所讀書必手鈔，鈔已朗誦一過，即焚之，又鈔，如是者六七始已。右手握管處，指掌成繭。冬日手皸，日沃湯數次。後名讀書之齋曰「七錄」，以此也。與同里張采共學齊名，號「婁東二張」。

Zhang Pu, styled Tianru, came from Taicang. His uncle Fuzhi served as minister of works at Nanjing. From youth Pu loved learning. Every book he read he copied by hand; once copied he would recite it aloud once, then burn it and copy again—six or seven times before he was satisfied. Where his right hand held the brush, his fingers and palm were covered with calluses. In winter his hands cracked, and he poured hot water over them several times a day. Later he named his study "Seven Recordings" for this reason. He studied together with his fellow townsman Zhang Cai and shared equal fame, being called "The Two Zhangs of Loudong."

崇禎元年以選貢生入都，采方成進士，兩人名徹都下。已而采官臨川。溥歸，集郡中名士相與復古學，名其文社日復社。四年成進士，改庶吉士。以葬親乞假歸，讀者若經生，無間寒暑。四方啖名者爭走其門，盡名為復社。溥亦傾身結納，交遊日廣，聲氣通朝右。所品題甲乙，頗能為榮辱。諸奔走附麗者，輒自矜曰：「吾以嗣東林也。」執政大僚由此惡之。裏人陸文聲者，輸貲為監生，求入社不許，采又嘗以事抶之。文聲詣闕言：「風俗之弊，皆原於士子。溥、采為主盟，倡復社，亂天下。」溫體仁方枋國事，下所司。遷延久之，提學御史倪元珙、兵備參議馮元揚、太倉知州周仲連言復社無可罪。三人皆貶斥，嚴旨窮究不已。閩人周之夔者，嘗為蘇州推官，坐事罷去，疑溥為之，恨甚。聞文聲訐溥，遂伏闕言溥等把持計典，己罷職實其所為，因及復社恣橫狀。章下，巡撫張國維等言之夔去官，無預溥事，亦被旨譙讓。

In the first year of Chongzhen he entered the capital as a selected tribute student; Cai had just earned his jinshi degree, and both men's names resounded throughout the capital. Before long Cai took office in Linchuan. Pu returned home, gathered eminent scholars of the prefecture to revive ancient learning together, and named their literary society the Fushe Restoration Society. In the fourth year he earned his jinshi degree and was made a Hanlin bachelor. He requested leave to return home to bury his parents and read like a classicist, without pause through summer and winter. Those hungry for fame from every quarter rushed to his door; all were enrolled as members of the Restoration Society. Pu also devoted himself to forming alliances; his associations grew daily, and his influence reached the highest officials at court. The rankings he assigned could greatly bring honor or disgrace. Those who rushed to attach themselves would boast: "We are the successors of the Donglin faction. The great officials in power therefore hated them. A fellow townsman, Lu Wensheng, paid money to become a student of the Imperial Academy and sought to join the society but was refused; Cai had also once beaten him over an affair. Wensheng went to the palace gate and said: "The corruption of customs all originates with the literati. Pu and Cai lead the alliance, advocate the Restoration Society, and throw the realm into disorder. Wen Tiren was then directing state affairs and sent the matter down to the responsible offices. After a long delay, Education Censor Ni Yuangong, Defense Assistant Administrator Feng Yuanyang, and Taicang Prefect Zhou Zhonglian said the Restoration Society was guilty of nothing. All three were demoted and dismissed; stern edicts demanded investigation without end. Zhou Zhikui of Fujian had once served as judicial assistant in Suzhou; dismissed for an offense, he suspected Pu was behind it and hated him deeply. Hearing Wensheng's accusation against Pu, he prostrated himself at the palace gate and said Pu and others controlled the examination system, that his dismissal was actually their doing, and described the overbearing conduct of the Restoration Society. When the memorial was sent down, Grand Coordinator Zhang Guowei and others said Zhikui's dismissal had nothing to do with Pu, but they too received an edict of rebuke.

至十四年，溥已卒，而事猶未竟。刑部侍郎蔡奕琛坐黨薛國觀系獄，未知溥卒也，訐溥遙握朝柄，己罪由溥，因言采結黨亂政。詔責溥、采回奏，采上言：「復社非臣事，然臣與溥生平相淬礪，死避網羅，負義圖全，誼不出此。念溥日夜解經論文，矢心報稱，曾未一日服官，懷忠入地。即今嚴綸之下，並不得泣血自明，良足哀悼。」當是時，體仁已前罷，繼者張至發、薛國觀皆不喜東林，故所司不敢復奏。及是，至發、國觀亦相繼罷，而周延儒當國，溥座主也，其獲再相，溥有力焉，故采疏上，事即得解。

By the fourteenth year Pu had already died, yet the affair was still unresolved. Vice Minister of Justice Cai Yichen, imprisoned for association with Xue Guoguan, not knowing Pu was dead, accused Pu of wielding court power from afar, said his own crime was Pu's doing, and charged Zhang Cai with factionalism and disordering government. An edict demanded that Pu and Cai respond; Cai memorialized: "The Restoration Society is not my affair, yet Pu and I tempered each other throughout our lives; now dead he cannot escape the net, and to save myself by betraying righteousness—friendship does not permit this. Consider that Pu day and night expounded the classics and wrote essays, vowed his heart to repay the realm, never served a single day in office, and took his loyalty to the grave. Even now under stern edicts he cannot weep blood to clear himself—this is truly worthy of mourning. At that time Tiren had already been dismissed earlier; his successors Zhang Zhifa and Xue Guoguan both disliked the Donglin faction, so the responsible offices dared not memorialize again. By then Zhifa and Guoguan had also been dismissed in turn; Zhou Yanru held power—Pu had been his examination patron, and Pu had helped him regain the chancellorship—so when Cai's memorial went up, the affair was immediately resolved.

明年，御史劉熙祚、給事中姜埰交章言溥砥行博聞，所纂述經史，有功聖學，宜取備乙夜觀。帝御經筵，問及二人，延儒對曰：「讀書好秀才。」帝曰：「溥已卒，采小臣，言官何為薦之？」延儒曰：「二人好讀書，能文章，言官為舉子時讀其文，又以其用未竟，故惜之耳。」帝曰：「亦未免偏。」延儒言：「誠如聖諭，溥與黃道周皆偏，因善讀書，以故惜之者眾。」帝頷之，遂有詔征溥遺書，而道周亦復官。有司先後錄上三千余卷，帝悉留覽。

The next year Censor Liu Xizuo and Censor-in-Chief Jiang Kan jointly memorialized that Pu's upright conduct and broad learning, and his compilations of the classics and histories, had served sagely learning and should be collected for the emperor's late-night reading. At the Classics Lecture the emperor asked about the two men; Yanru replied: "They are good scholars who love reading. The emperor said: "Pu is already dead, and Cai is a minor official—why do the remonstrance officials recommend them? Yanru said: "Both men love reading and can write well; the remonstrance officials read their writings when they were examination candidates, and because their talents were not fully used, they regret it—that is all." The emperor said: "That is still somewhat partial. Yanru said: "Truly as Your Majesty says, both Pu and Huang Daozhou are partial—but because they read well, many regret them." The emperor nodded, and thereupon an edict summoned Pu's surviving writings, and Daozhou was also restored to office. The offices recorded and submitted more than three thousand scrolls in succession; the emperor kept them all for reading.

溥詩文敏捷。四方征索者，不起草，對客揮毫，俄頃立就，以故名高一時。卒時，年止四十。

Pu's poetry and prose were swift. Those who sought his work from every quarter—he made no draft; facing guests he wielded the brush and finished in a moment, and for this his fame stood highest of the age. When he died he was only forty.

采，字受先，與溥善。溥性寬，泛交博愛。采特嚴毅，喜甄別可否，人有過，嘗面叱之。知臨川，摧強扶弱，聲大起。移疾歸，士民泣送載道。知州劉士鬥、錢肅樂嚴重之，以奸蠹詢采，片紙報，鹹置之法。福王時，起禮部主事，進員外郎，乞假去。南都失守，奸人素銜采者，群擊之死，復用大錐亂刺之。已而蘇，避之鄰邑，又三年卒。

Cai, styled Shouxian, was on good terms with Pu. Pu's nature was broad; he made friends widely and loved many. Cai was especially stern and resolute; he liked to distinguish right from wrong, and when someone erred he would rebuke him to his face. As magistrate of Linchuan he crushed the strong and supported the weak; his reputation greatly rose. He resigned on grounds of illness and returned home; officials and people wept and escorted him, filling the roads. Prefects Liu Shidou and Qian Sule held him in high esteem; they consulted Cai about corrupt villains, and on a single sheet of paper he would report—all were punished by law. During the reign of the Prince of Fu he was recalled as secretary in the Ministry of Rites, promoted to vice director, then requested leave and departed. When the Southern Capital fell, villains who had long resented Cai attacked him in a mob and killed him, then stabbed him repeatedly with large awls. Later he revived, fled to a neighboring district, and died three years later.

Cite this Chapter