Ouyang De

Life

As a young man, he studied under Wang Shouren at Qiantai and was one of Wang's disciples; he repeatedly did not sit for the examinations. He studied the Book of Changes and, as an upper licentiate of a county school, passed the 1519 Jiangxi provincial examination in the bingzi cycle, ranking fortieth as a juren.

In 1523, in the Guiwei examination, he ranked twenty-third in the metropolitan examination and eleventh in the second class, becoming a jinshi. Appointed prefect of Lu'an, he built Longjin Academy, gathered students for lectures, and gained the reputation that half the realm had Nanye disciples.

In the sixth year of the Jiajing reign (1527), he was transferred to the post of vice director in the Ministry of Punishments and, on the strength of his learning and conduct, appointed a compiler. In the eleventh year he moved to Nanjing as guozijian siye and Nan Shangbaosi qing; three years later he became taipusi shaoqing and soon afterward qing of the Nanjing Honglu Temple.

After returning home on mourning leave, he was recalled on recommendation in the twenty-fifth year (1546) and restored to his former post; in the twenty-sixth year he became Nanjing taichangsi qing, was soon summoned to oversee the Directorate of Education as jijiu, and was promoted to left vice minister of Rites. In the twenty-eighth year (1549), he became left vice minister of Personnel, concurrently a Hanlin academician, took charge of the Office of the Heir Apparent, and was ordered to teach the shujishi; in the twenty-ninth year (1550), he presided over the Ministry of Rites metropolitan examination. That summer he went on mourning leave for his mother and ultimately reached the post of minister of Rites concurrently with Hanlin academician.

He petitioned the Jiajing Emperor to establish an heir, arguing that the Prince of Yu, Zhu Zai坖, should not be sent to an external fief. Late in life he gained the emperor's confidence and died in 1554, aged fifty-nine, just as he was about to receive a major appointment. After his death, he was granted the title Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent and the posthumous name Wenzhuang.

Thought and associations

He and Xu Jie and Nie Bao held high office as senior scholars; he was upright in handling affairs and could recommend younger men. His learning emphasized practice and rejected empty abstraction. In 1553, he and Xu Jie, Nie Bao, Cheng Wende, and others lectured on the learning of innate knowledge at Lingji Palace in the capital.

Five thousand people attended; it was a major gathering, and its grandeur was unparalleled for several centuries. Among his associates was Weng Wanda; his students included Wang Zongmu, Li Sui, and Feng Weina.

Works

His works include the thirty-juan Ouyang Nanye xiansheng wenji. Another title associated with him is Nanye ji.