Wu Lai

Life

His father was the Jixian Academician Wu Zhifang; Fang Feng was his wife’s grandfather and Fang Chu his father-in-law. He was a friend of Dai Cheng.

He studied under Fang Feng and, with Huang Jin and Liu Guan, belonged to the school of Fang Shaofu; he read extensively. He was listed as a provincial tribute candidate and, in the seventh year of the Yanyou era, entered the presented-scholar examination with the Spring and Autumn as his field, but failed.

After failing, he withdrew to Shenniao-shan, also written Shenniaoshan, where he pursued the hidden meanings of the books. He travelled through Haidongzhou, Jiaomen Gorge, Xiaobaihua Mountain, and Pantuo Rock, and wrote the fu *觀日賦* to express his aspirations. He later lodged with Chen Shizhen in the same county; his residence was near Longqiu and Wuxie, and he found contentment in daily chanting and composing poetry.

A censor later recommended him as a maocai, and he was appointed to head Changxiang Academy in Raozhou Circuit; the appointment is also described as an assignment to that post. He fell ill and died in 1340, aged forty-four, before taking it up. His disciples, including Song Lian, proposed the posthumous title Yuanying Xiansheng because his interpretations of the Classics were profound and his prose chaste and incisive.

His children included the eldest son Wu Shi’e and the second son Wu Shimi. His disciples included Song Lian, Dai Liang, Zheng Shen, Hu Han, Chen Shizhen, Fu Zhirou, and Lou Guangheng.

Learning and writing

Wu Lai was physically frail, as if unable to bear his clothing, and had blue-green eyes that shone like lightning beneath a cliff. When people tested him with ancient prose, he could identify its period and author from its diction and tone.

At a friend’s house one day, he saw dozens of sheets of Shan paper piled on a table; he jokingly composed a long song, using them up in an instant, to the astonishment of those watching. Hu Zhu likened his prose to a thousand troops and ten thousand horsemen racing silently without a sound; Huang Jin called it strikingly bold and profound, like the work of the Qin and Han periods. Others found it too shallow, whereas Lifu alone worried that it was too expansive.

Works

His works included *尚書標說*, *春秋世變圖*, *春秋傳授譜*, *古職方錄*, *孟子弟子列傳*, *楚漢正聲*, and *樂府類編*.

Other writings include *南海古蹟記*, *吳萊文集*, *唐律刪要*, *月府類編*, *松陽志略*, *桑海遺錄*, *淵穎吳先生附錄*, and *甬東山水古蹟記*. During his travels through Haidongzhou he also wrote *觀日賦*; after his death, his son Wu Shi’e arranged his surviving writings into twelve juan, his disciple Hu Han wrote the preface, and the title *淵穎集* is also associated with him.