Li Weizhen

Family and education

His father was Li Shu (1517–1581), his grandfather Li Jingrui, and his great-grandfather Li Jue; his younger brothers were Li Weizhu, Li Weiji, Li Weibiao, and Li Weichun. His family also included a stepmother, Chen; a principal wife of his father, Wang; a birth mother listed only as 某氏; his wife, Wang; his son, Li Yingshi; and his daughter-in-law, Liu Yuanzhi.

In the second year of Longqing (1568), he passed the jìnshì examination in the wuchen class, ranking twenty-fourth in the second class; he ranked forty-fifth in the Huguang provincial examination and was also listed as a xianggong juren and shengyuan.

Official career

He was selected as a shujishi of the Hanlin Academy, became a bianxiu after the san'guan, and was promoted to xiuzhuan. During the Wanli era, he helped compile the Muzong shilu.

In Wanli 3 (1575), he became Shaanxi Right Can'yi (陝西右參議); in Wanli 5 he was promoted to Supervising Education Vice Commissioner (提學副使), and in Wanli 8 to Henan Right Can'zheng (河南右參政). In Wanli 17 he was reappointed to his former post, and in Wanli 19 he was assigned as Jiangxi Right Can'zheng (江西右參政).

In Wanli 26 he was reassigned as Sichuan Left Can'zheng (四川左參政); in the intercalary fourth month of Wanli 27 he became Zhejiang Surveillance Commissioner (浙江按察使). After an assessment in Wanli 29 he was demoted, becoming Zhejiang Right Can'zheng (浙江右參政) in the fifth month. In Wanli 33 he became Shaanxi Right Can'zheng and supervised the Hexi military-preparations circuit (河西兵備道); in Wanli 34 he was recalled as Shanxi Right Can'zheng, was promoted to Surveillance Commissioner in the intercalary sixth month of Wanli 35, and in Wanli 37 became Right Regional Administration Commissioner of the Shaanxi Taomin circuit (陝西洮岷道右布政使). He later retired to his home.

In the opening years of Tianqi (1621), he was appointed Nanjing Taichang si qing (南京太常寺卿). Censor Jia Jichun impeached him for overly rapid promotion, and he was ordered to retire under his new title. After Xue Dazhong recommended him in a memorial, he was recalled in the third year of Tianqi (1623), in the third month, to his former Nanjing Taichang si qing post and placed in charge of the office of shaoqing; he did not take up the appointment, and was again recommended as Nanjing Vice Minister of Rites (南京禮部右侍郎). In the eighth month of Tianqi 4 (1624), he reached the post of Nanjing Minister of Rites (南京禮部尚書), retiring in the twelfth month because of illness.

Literary work

He was widely learned and had a strong memory; his prose was expansive and full of talent. People throughout the empire sought his writing, he carried a major reputation for forty years, and the prestige of his poetry and prose rose sharply; much of his work, however, was occasional writing of low literary quality. He was also counted among the “Jialong-mo Five” (嘉隆末五子).

He wrote prefaces for works by Feng Mengzhen, Qi Cheng㸁, Shen Lian, Wang Shizhen, and Wang Shimao.

His works include History of the Inner Canon Evaluated (《史通評釋》), Explanation of the Inscription for the Shrine of the Yellow Emperor (《黃帝祠額解》), and The Collected Works of the Dami Mountain Studio (《大泌山房集》), the last in 134 juan and also known as The Collected Works of the Dami Mountain Hermit (《大泌山人集》).