Li Tang

Family and associations

Family tradition traced his ancestry to Li Fang, a Song chancellor. His father was Li Ding; his grandfather, Li Boru; his great-grandfather, Li Taiheng; his mother was Lady Shen, and his stepmother Lady He. His elder brothers were Li Lin, Li Yi, Li Jie, and Li Qi, and his younger brother was Li Chang; he had wives surnamed Yang and Lin, a son, Li Weixiao, and a grandson, Li Chengsi, born in 1527.

Li Tang married into the Yin County Yang family and was the husband of Yang Shouzhi’s second daughter. His literary associations included Zhang Bangqi, who wrote his epitaph; Li Tang wrote an epitaph for Tu Gong and postscripts to works by Xie Duo and Liu Daxia.

Life

Precocious from childhood, he could commit several thousand words to memory each day at the age of eight and often astonished guests with his remarks. When he came of age, Hong Shitian gave him the courtesy name Shisheng and wrote an essay to encourage him. After passing the provincial examination, he entered the Southern Imperial Academy; he and Li Wenxiang of Macheng became known for their poetry and were called the “Two Lis.”

At the Zhejiang provincial examination he ranked fortieth among the recommended candidates. In 1487, the twenty-third year of the Chenghua reign, he ranked eighteenth in the metropolitan examination of the Dingwei cohort and earned the ninetieth place in the second rank of the Presented Scholars.

He was appointed secretary in the Ministry of Works and assigned to supervise taxation at Wuhu. When the eunuch Song Ang requisitioned imperial timber and put merchants in difficulty, Li Tang intervened, eased the merchants’ tax burden, and established strict registers; eunuch assignments of this kind did not recur thereafter.

His recorded offices include a prefecture post, vice director in the Ministry of Works’ Office of Construction, vice director in its Office of Land Reclamation, director of Construction, vice prefect of Yingtian, senior official of the Southern Court of Imperial Accoutrements, assistant censor-in-chief, left assistant censor-in-chief, vice minister of Works, and vice superintendent of the Grand Treasury.

After the fire at Qingning Palace, he oversaw the rebuilding of the empress dowager’s residence, requesting that the inner treasury provide the funds rather than levy the people. Once the construction budget had been set, he asked that it be reduced by half; when the work was completed, three-tenths of the funds still remained. The court ordered his promotion by two ranks, but he declined it in three memorials. The following year he rebuilt the Ministry of Rites and repaired the Queli, using the earlier accumulation of funds; he also petitioned to cut the expense of Lantern Festival lights, recalled the order for the firing of kiln vessels, restrained excessive requests from the Ning princedom, and stopped untimely construction by the Ji and Zheng princely establishments, to the benefit of both public and private interests.

After becoming vice prefect of Yingtian, he dealt with a famine in which bandits gathered in large numbers: riding alone, he explained the consequences of their actions, executed only the leaders, and dispersed the rest. As examiner in charge of the Yingtian provincial examination, he reported three candidates who had gained admission through bribery and had them expelled; senior officials consequently judged him capable of undertaking major responsibilities.

He was later promoted to vice minister of Works, supervised repairs to the Xu and Bian rivers, and was placed in charge of the river conservancy, a responsibility also described as oversight of the grain-transport waterways. He was separately ordered to take over the Yellow River repairs from Cui Yan. Liao Tang, the eunuch stationed in Henan, acted in concert with another powerful eunuch and deeply resented Li Tang; Li Tang therefore requested retirement on grounds of illness and was authorized to return by post relay. After he recovered, local officials urged him to resume office; when Qianqing Palace burned, the court considered recalling him, but the attempt did not succeed.

After returning home, he spent more than ten years in retirement, built the Jinshan Thatched Hall, and devoted himself to writing. He later said that from fifteen to thirty, learning to serve in office was only superficial; from thirty to fifty, learning through office was mere dross; after seeking retirement at forty and obtaining it at fifty, he hoped to move from history to the Classics, seek the Way through concrete affairs, and resolve doubts and elaborate meanings for later readers.

Scholarship and works

In retirement, he devoted himself to writing and was known among scholars as “Master Jinshan.” His works include 《正學類稿》, 《四明文獻志》, and 《堇山集》. The title forms also include 《正學類編》, 《堇山全集》, 《堇山遺稿》, and 《堇山文集》; 《堇山集》 is described as a fifteen-volume work.