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Biography of Gentleman He Xueyun (1841)
Created by: Yung-chang Tung
Title: |
Biography of Gentleman He Xueyun (1841) |
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Text: |
Biography of Gentleman He Xueyun The surname of the gentleman was He, first name Yuanqi, and courtesy name Youren. In his later years, he used Xueyun [Plowing in the Snow] as his style name. He was from Guodong Hamlet in The Gentleman’s father, the Gentleman [He] Fanghan, passed away when he was only three years old. If it were not for his mother the Lady Tang’s sedulous rearing, he would not have been able to establish himself. As soon as he could speak, she taught him to read books by lamplight. During moments of leisure, she would discuss ancient principles and politics with him; he could understand it all, and followed her instructions carefully. He was brilliant, and was diligent in study. Once he went to school his learning became ever more refined and his accomplishment more profound. His writings often surprised the elders. He went to the county school when he was young, and soon became a Government Student.[1] When the education officials examined the students, he always ranked in the top group. When he participated in the Provincial Examination, as soon as his examination essay became public, his friends were surprised and admiring. The discerning said that his essays were in the style of the Jiajing (1522-1566) and Longqing (1567-1572) reign periods of the former Ming dynasty[2] and could serve as the model for the literati. His ability did not match his fate. He participated in the civil service examinations ten times, but no matter how many times he participated in he failed. After [the county] nominated him to the His ancestors had already acquired a rich collection of books. The Gentleman kept on buying books that the collection lacked, so that it continued to grow. Day and night, eating and sleeping, he was in the library, a book always in his hand. He read through them all, from the Classics and histories, to the hundred philosophers and unofficial records, to the modern collections of poetry and prose, and he could remember all he read. When young students had questions, re responded without any difficulty, analyzing the issue from beginning to end in detail. Besides composition in the examination format,[5] he was especially fond of ancient-style prose. However, he never composed anythin perfunctorily. When composed a piece, it achieved superiority. His writings were like unadorned jade and undecorated gold, one would know they were precious treasures at the first glance. At home he was famous of his filial piety and fraternality. He loved doing good deeds. He administered the affairs of the ancestral hall and established a community school; he built forts, and renovated bridges. He did not begrudge the enormous expense, he was only concerned with getting it done. When among the neighbors and relatives there those who were poor and suffering, he would help them without being stingy. His family was wealthy but gradually it ran short of money. Yet whenever there was good to be done, he supported it without hesitation even if it bankrupted him. It must have been his nature. He lost several wives. His first wife was [surnamed] Zhu, the second Xu, and the third Tang. All were virtuous and pure. He was past forty years old before he had his two sons. The first, Yingmeng, was a National University Student.[6] The second, Yinghao, was a Tribute Student.[7] When [Yinghao]was a Prefectural Graduate, he participated in the provincial examinations in the same year as I, and we associated with each other through writing. In his youth he was scholarly and gained literary fame. At the time he was expected to go far, but he died in the middle age, and ended up only as a Classicist.[8] People felt sorry for him and sad for his father. Today, because they are recompiling the genealogy, his grandson has asked me to write his biography for the family history, in accord with his father’s will. Now those who do not receive just reward in their own lifetimes will certainly see it received by their descendants. Since the Gentleman had accumulated so muchvirtue and in addition to the richness of his book collection, we sincerely that his descendants to study and cultivate themselves, and thus to achieve fame and succeed in their work. On the auspicious shangwan day of the tenth month, in the winter of the twenty-first year of Daoguang reign period, the xinchou year (1841), Respectfully written by Gu Zhuomao, his junior, who bears the title of Metropolitan Graduate, with the rank of Gentleman-litterateur, formerly Magistrate of Fuliang County in [1] Government Students were those students in government schools who received stipends and were eligible to to participate in the Provincial Examinations. [2] During the Jiajing and Longqing reign periods (1522-1572) some literati advocated for returning to ancient style in literature to redress what they what they saw as the decline in contemporary literature They took as their model the succinct, undecorative, and powerful prose from Qin and Han (221 BC-220 AD) times. [3] He thus gained formal status as a “Tribute Student” this made him eligible to participate in the Metropolitan Examination and, in principle, eligible for a low ranking post. [4] An allusion to Mao Yi of the Eastern Han (25-220) who was famous for his filial piety. One day, when his friend Zhang Feng was visiting, a summons arrived appointing Mao to a governmental position. Mao was delighted but Liu [5] The required format at the time was known as the “eight-legged essay.”Here “leg” refers to the creation of parallelisms in writing. The typical examination essay discussed the core idea in an assigned passage from the Four Books. In addition to creating an elaborate parallel structure and the writer was expected to write from the perspective of the sage or worthy who had authored the passage. For a discussion of this form see Ching-I Tu, “The Chinese Examination Essay: Some Literary Considerations,” in Monumenta Serica, 31 (1974-74). [6] There were various kinds of National University Students including both Tribute Students, recommended by the county school (such as He Yuanqi himself and his second son), and students who had purchased this status. Perhaps the lack of clarity in He Yingmeng’s case means hehad the status by purchase. [7]Tribute students were the students annually promoted into the [8] Referring to those |
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Collection: | Guodong text |
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