Xue Yingqi (born around 1500–1501, died in 1574 or 1575) was a Ming-dynasty Neo-Confucian scholar, thinker, and official. His courtesy name was Zhongchang and his style name was Fangshan; he came from Wujin in Changzhou Prefecture, present-day Wujin District of Changzhou, Jiangsu.
Life
In the thirteenth year of the Jiajing era, Xue ranked 90th in the Yingtian provincial examination; in the following year, 1535, he ranked second in the metropolitan examination and 33rd in the third class of the palace examination, earning the jinshi degree. He was appointed magistrate of Cixi in Zhejiang and transferred to serve as professor at the Jiujang prefectural school; in the sixteenth year of Jiajing he served as an examiner for the Fujian provincial examination, moved in the autumn of the eighteenth year to the Nanjing Office of Evaluation in the Ministry of Personnel, passed the assessment in the twenty-second year, and was promoted to langzhong of the same office.
During his tenure as langzhong of the Office of Evaluation, Grand Secretary Yan Song, angered after being impeached by Wang Ye, asked Shangbao si cheng Zhu Jie to write to Xue and order Wang's dismissal; Xue instead dismissed Zhu, provoking Yan's fury. Xue subsequently dismissed Fu Yan, prefect of Changzhou, and was impeached by Censor Gui Rong for allegedly using private motives to retaliate against the magistrate of his native commandery. He was demoted to assistant prefect of Jianchang, but after three months there he was promoted to vice director in the Ministry of Punishments.
In the twenty-fifth year of Jiajing, in the fifth month, his stepmother, Wu, died, and Xue entered mourning; his father, Xue Qing, died the following year. After Yan Song fell from power and Xue completed his mourning, he was reappointed as a langzhong in the Ministry of Rites, promoted in the twenty-ninth year to Vice Commissioner of Education in Zhejiang, and transferred in the thirty-fourth year to serve as Vice Commissioner for Military Preparedness of the Fuyan circuit in Shaanxi. He was ultimately dismissed in the grand evaluation and died in 1574.
His great-grandfather was 薛瑞, his grandfather 薛鍈, his father 薛卿, his mother née 史氏, and his stepmother 吴氏; he had an elder brother, 薛應廷, and younger brothers 薛應辰, 薛邦臣, and 薛應嘉. His wife was 馮氏. His sons were 薛近魯, the eldest, and 薛近兗, the fourth; his descendants included the grandson 薛敷教, the great-grandson 薛奕, and another direct descendant, 薛子衡.
Scholarship and associations
Gu Xiancheng and his brother studied under Xue when they were young; 吳嶔 is also identified as his student. 趙時春 and 何良俊 wrote prefaces for books associated with him.
Works
The works attributed to him include 《宋元資治通鑑》、《四書人物考》、《憲章錄》、《甲子會紀》、《薛子庸語》、《薛方山紀述》、《方山文錄》, and 《隱逸傳》; another work is 《方山集》. The 28-volume 《方山薛先生全集》 is also associated with him.
References
- CBDB Xue Yingqi (30627)
- 搜韵 薛應旂 (52550)
- 法鼓佛教人名规范数据库 薛應旂 (A018788)
- Wikidata Xue Yingqi (Q16904216)