Xu Jingheng

Life

Early in life he studied under Cheng Yi, and in 1094 he earned the jinshi degree, dated in one account to the first year of Shaosheng and in another to the ninth year of Yuanyou. During Huizong's Daguan era he served as a reviser in the Office for Revising Edicts, was appointed assistant prefect of Daming, did not take up the post, and was reassigned as assistant prefect of Fuzhou; he later held a shrine appointment.

During the Xuanhe era he entered the Censorate as Investigating Censor and was then promoted to Palace Censor; the appointment is dated either to the second year of Xuanhe (1120) or its sixth year (1124). While serving as a censor, he urged the curtailment of the Three Dukes' power, argued against employing Tong Guan, criticized the state purchase, grain procurement, and salt systems as harmful to the people, and petitioned for the removal of the comparative assessment system for tea and salt in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. His opposition to Wang Fu led to his expulsion from office.

On Qinzong's accession, he was summoned as Left Rectifier; because of a kinship conflict, he was instead made Junior Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, concurrently served as instructor to the heir apparent, and was then appointed acting Secretariat Drafter. His dismissal is described either as removal for remonstrating or as dismissal and assignment to a palace shrine after he defended Li Guang and others.

Under Gaozong, he was appointed Censor-in-chief in the first year of Jianyan (1127) and promoted to Right Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs; the latter appointment is also dated to 1128. Huang Qianshan and others obstructed him, or were said to have brought about his dismissal by slander. He was dismissed and made Academician of the Zizheng Hall, also styled Grand Academician, and appointed superintendent of the Hangzhou Dongxiao Palace. He reached Jingkou in 1128, contracted a heat illness, and died at the age of fifty-seven, receiving the posthumous title Zhongjian.

Family

His father was Xu Qiu, and his brother was Xu Jingliang (1057–1113). His first wife was Chen (1075–1108); his eldest son was Xu Shihou, and his son-in-law was Xiao Zhen (1086–1157).

Learning and works

His learning followed Cheng Yi, and he was grouped with Jiang Yuanzhong and others within the Luoxue tradition. His collected works include the Hengtang ji.

The Hengtang ji is described as a thirty-juan collection that was lost; the Siku compilers reconstructed a twenty-juan edition from the Yongle dadian, including six juan of poetry, and appended newly collected poems outside the collection. The edition was based on the Wenyuange Siku quanshu impression and collated against the Sun family's Yongjia congshu from Ruian.