Fang Xiaoru (1357–1402) was a Ming scholar, writer, and official. His courtesy name was Xizhi, with Xigu as an alternative form; his native place is generally given as Ninghai, in present-day Zhejiang, though Linhai is also recorded. He was also known as Zhengxue Xiansheng, Xunzhi, and Houcheng Xiansheng, with Goucheng Xiansheng as another form; he was posthumously named Wenzheng.
Life
Precocious in childhood, Fang read extensively and was called “Little Han Yu” by local people. He studied under Song Lian and was said to have absorbed his teacher’s learning. In 1392, the twenty-fifth year of the Hongwu reign, he was summoned to the capital and appointed professor of Hanzhong Prefecture, where he tirelessly lectured to his students; another account presents the appointment as one made through recommendation.
The Prince of Shu, Zhu Chun, heard of his ability and engaged him as tutor to the heir, naming Fang’s study “Zhengxue”; this gave rise to the designation Zhengxue Xiansheng. After the Jianwen Emperor’s accession, Fang was summoned as a Hanlin expositor, promoted the following year to expositor-in-waiting, and reassigned as a literary classicist; during the Jianwen reign he also served as a lecturer in the Wenyuan Pavilion. He worked on the Taizu Veritable Records and the Leiyao, serving as chief editor of both, while the government regularly sought his advice on major affairs. He twice served as an examiner for the provincial examinations, in 1393 and 1396, and was a friend of Wang Shou, Wang Shen, and Wang Shuying.
His father was Fang Keqin; his great-grandfather was Fang Ziye and his uncle was Fang Kejian. His eldest son, Fang Zhongxian, and his second son, Fang Zhongyu, both died in 1402. After the forces of the Prince of Yan, Zhu Di, entered Nanjing, Fang was ordered to draft an edict on the claim that Zhu Di was following the example of the Duke of Zhou in assisting King Cheng; Fang answered, “Where is King Cheng?”, threw down his brush, and refused to comply.
In 1402, when the Jinchuan Gate was opened in the fourth year of the Jianwen reign and the Yan forces entered the city, the Jianwen Emperor died by fire and Fang was arrested and imprisoned. He wrote the four characters “The Yan bandit has usurped the throne,” remained unyielding, and was executed by dismemberment in the marketplace. His clan, relatives, friends, and disciples were also implicated and killed under the “ten clans”; the reported number varies between several hundred and more than eight hundred.
Thought and writing
Fang treated literary technique as secondary and made the clarification of the kingly way and the attainment of peace throughout the realm his life’s purpose; he also took a strongly anti-Buddhist position. Later assessments described his learning as orthodox and his prose as expansive and forceful, comparing its style to that of Su Shi and Chen Liang.
He wrote the “Preface to the Yellow Crane Tower Poetry Scroll,” also titled “Written on the Back of the Yellow Crane Tower Scroll,” and the “Preface to the Ten Views of Wuchang”; the former discusses the warfare in the Wuchang region and the compilation of the Yellow Crane Tower poetry scroll.
Works
His works include the twenty-four-volume 《遜志齋集》, as well as titles such as 《候城雜誡》, also found as 《侯城雜誠》, 《宗儀一卷附家人箴一卷》, and 《方正學先生幼儀雜箴一卷》.
The collection known as the Fang Zhengxue writings circulated widely, but the authorship of 《勉學》, twenty-four poems, 《漁樵》, one poem, and 《牧牛圖》, a quatrain, was later assigned respectively to Chen Ziping, Yang Mengzai, and a Yuan-period poet.
References
- CBDB Fang Xiaoru (28093)
- 搜韵 方孝孺 (46560)
- Wikidata Fang Xiaoru (Q707875)
- 法鼓佛教人名规范数据库 方孝孺 (A008291)