Zhang Yigui (1540–1592) was a Ming dynasty official and man of letters. His courtesy name was Tingfang and his style name Yuyang; some accounts give a further courtesy name, Zhigui. Registered under the commoner household of Xiangfu county, Kaifeng prefecture, Henan, he was a native of She county in Zhili, and his place of origin is recorded variously as She or Xiangfu.
Life
His great-grandfather was Zhang Menghuan, his grandfather Zhang Fugao and his father Zhang Qing; his mother was of the Liu family and his wife of the Zheng family. In his early years he was a student of the Xiangfu county school and passed the Henan provincial examination as a juren; in 1568, the second year of the Longqing era, he became a jinshi, ranked fifty-first in the second class, and was chosen as a bachelor (shujishi).
In the third month of 1570, the fourth year of Longqing, he was appointed a compiler of the Hanlin Academy and charged with compiling the Veritable Records of Emperor Shizong, and in 1572, the sixth year, he was sent with imperial credentials to confer a princely title in the princedom of De. In 1574, the second year of Wanli, he served as assistant examiner in the metropolitan examination and took part in compiling the Veritable Records of Emperor Muzong, being promoted to senior compiler when the work was completed; in 1575 he was appointed scroll presenter for the imperial lectures and also put in charge of drafting patents. In the third month of 1576 he asked for leave to accompany his mother home, and in the seventh month he presided over the Nanking provincial examination, where he admitted Tang Wenxian and others; in the eighth month of 1577, on the completion of the Veritable Records of Shizong, he was promoted to expositor, and in the second month of 1578 he was appointed to compile memorials, but, discontented with Zhang Juzheng's retention in office while in mourning, he resigned and went home.
After Zhang Juzheng's death, in the intercalary second month of 1583, the eleventh year of Wanli, he was restored to a lectureship in the Hanlin Academy and appointed a compiler of the Collected Statutes as well as a lecturer for the imperial lectures; in the second month of 1584 he was promoted to right admonisher of the Right Spring Capping Office and concurrently expositor of the Hanlin Academy; in the sixth month of 1585 he was made a daily lecturer, and in the eighth month he and Chen Yubi, an official of the heir apparent's establishment, served as examiners for the Shuntian provincial examination. In the tenth month of that year, after it came to the emperor's notice that a protégé had fraudulently passed the Shuntian examination under a false registration, he was reprimanded by imperial order and transferred to Nanking as a vice director in the Bureau of Operations of the Ministry of War.
In the fifth month of 1588, the sixteenth year of Wanli, he was moved to the deputy libationership of the Nanking Imperial College while retaining the salary of the fifth grade; in the eighth month of 1589 he was promoted to libationer; in the fifth month of 1591 he was transferred to the libationership of the Imperial College in Peking and soon afterwards promoted to chief minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices while still superintending the college, without proceeding to Peking; in the tenth month he was promoted again, to right vice minister of the Ministry of Rites at Nanking. In the seventh month of 1592 he was transferred to right vice minister of the Ministry of Rites at Peking and concurrently reader-in-waiting and bachelor of the Hanlin Academy, and in the eighth month he was promoted to left vice minister; on the twenty-ninth day, on the road to Yongcheng in Henan, he died of a phlegm ailment at the age of fifty-three.
Works and literary connections
His collected writings are recorded as the Shuyitang wenji in twenty juan; another account gives the title as Shuyi tang ji. He wrote prefaces for the works of Wang Bangrui, Tan Lun, Sun Long, Liang Menglong, Jiang Guan, Wu Daozhi, Zhong Zhenji, Tao Chengxue and Zhao Yao; epitaphs for Li Kaixian, Zhu Daqi, Zhu Guangyu, Li Bangzuo, Meng Huai, Yin Zongfu, Lu Jian and Chu Shun; a biography and a spirit-path stele for Zhu Muhe, a grave inscription for Lu Weizhen, and a record for the living shrine of Xu Yuantai.
He exchanged letters with Feng Mengzhen, Fang Hongjing, Zhang Weixin, Feng Qi, Wang Jiaping and Shen Shixing. On parting he wrote a farewell piece for Hou Donglai and received one from Liu Yingqiu, and he offered congratulations to Ge Shouli, Zhu Daqi, Wu Daozhi, Zhong Zhenji, Cao Jin and Zhao Yongxian. After his death Zhao Yongxian wrote his biography, Yu Shenxing a conduct record and a sacrificial address, and Xu Xianqing a sacrificial address as well.
References
- CBDB Zhang Yigui (130305)
- 搜韵 張一桂 (45396)
- Wikidata Zhang Yigui (Q45516157)