Xu Qianxue

Life

At the age of eight, Xu could write prose and was taught by his maternal uncle Gu Yanwu; in 1650, the seventh year of the Shunzhi reign, he joined Wu Weiye, You Tong, Zhu Yizun, and Song Deyi in organizing the Ten-Prefecture Society at South Lake in Jiaxing. His circle included Hu Wei, Gu Zuyu, Wan Sitong, Yan Ruoqu, Huang Yi, Zhu Yizun, Jiang Chenying, Huang Yuji, and Gu Mei. He was also a friend of Lu Longqi, Zhu Heling, and Lu Zhixi; Han Tan and Nalan Xingde were his students. His younger brothers Xu Bingyi and Xu Yuanwen were both high officials; another younger brother was Xu Hongji, and his grandsons included Xu Defen, Xu Deshu, and Xu Demian.

His educational and examination statuses included county student, jiansheng, and xianggong juren. In 1670, the ninth year of the Kangxi reign, he placed third in the first rank—the tanhua—and was appointed an editor in the Inner Hongwen Academy. In 1672, the eleventh year of Kangxi, he served as deputy chief examiner for the Shuntian Prefecture provincial examination with Cai Qiguan. He was demoted and reassigned for improper selection of candidates; another account attributes the affair to the omission of Han bannermen's papers from the supplementary list and an impeachment by the censor Yang Yongjian. In 1675, the fourteenth year of Kangxi, he secured restoration of his original office after making a payment, was promoted to Left Palace Assistant (左春坊左贊善), and was appointed to the daily lecture and imperial diary office (日講起居注官).

He returned home for mourning his mother and wrote 讀禮通考 in 120 juan; after completing the mourning period, he became a chief compiler of the History of Ming and was promoted to Academician Reader. The appointment as chief compiler of the History of Ming is also dated to 1682. He was commissioned to participate in compiling Da Qing Yitongzhi, Qing Hui Dian, and the History of Ming. In 1685, the twenty-fourth year of Kangxi, he came first in the palace examination, entered the Southern Study, taught the imperial princes, became an Academician of the Grand Secretariat, served as deputy chief compiler of Qing Hui Dian and Da Qing Yitongzhi, and taught the shujishi. In the twenty-fifth year of Kangxi he became vice minister of rites and a lecturer at the classical lectures; in the twenty-sixth year he was promoted to Left Censor-in-Chief and Minister of Justice, and in 1688 he served as an examiner in the metropolitan examination.

His later associations with Gao Shiqi and Wang Hongxu involved mutual self-promotion; his family members, household retainers, and nephews were involved in bribery and private dealings and acted oppressively in the countryside, leading to repeated impeachments. After his dismissal, the emperor still ordered him to keep the book bureau with him.

Scholarship and works

His expertise lay in the Classics of Rites; he was well versed in court institutions and affairs of state, and his views were often used to settle court debates over ritual. His poetry was refined and elegant, effective in every genre, and contemporaries considered it very close to Gu Yanwu's. His editorial and literary works included 讀禮通考 in 120 juan, 通志堂經解, 傳是樓書目, and 憺園集; the collection is also titled 澹園集 or 檐園集, and he additionally wrote 教習堂條約 in one juan. His library at Chuanshilou held a rich collection of books, and he compiled its catalogue, 傳是樓書目.