Xu Xianqing (his birth year is disputed, with one account giving 1537; he died in 1602) was a Ming-dynasty Hanlin official and politician. His courtesy name was Gongwang, his hao was Jianan (also written 檢庵 or 檢菴), and he was third in birth order; he was a native of Changzhou County, Suzhou Prefecture, Zhili.
Life
His father was Xu Qi, his mother Lady Lin, and his stepmother Lady Li; his grandfather was Xu Tinglan and his great-grandfather Xu Jingchun. His elder brothers were Xu Xianchen and Xu Xianxian, his younger brothers Xu Xianzai, Xu Xianxiang, and Xu Xiandao, and his wife was Lady Qiu.
He held the statuses of shengyuan and xianggong; in the second year of the Longqing era (1568), he passed the jinshi examination, ranking sixteenth in the second class. After selection as a shujishi, he served for many years in the Hanlin Academy and the Office of the Heir Apparent, presided over the Jingyan lectures, and helped compile the Veritable Records of Shizong and Muzong and the Da Ming Huidian. He later served as libationer of the Imperial College and chief of the Office of the Heir Apparent, then was promoted to Academician Reader in the Hanlin Academy, where he took charge of the institution. The offices he held were largely among the select posts regarded as qinghua. In the fifteenth year of the Wanli era (1587), he was appointed vice minister of rites, and the following year (1588) transferred as vice minister of personnel; after remonstrating officials attacked him, he submitted a memorial requesting retirement, returned to Jiangnan, and spent his final years in Yixing County, Changzhou Prefecture.
Writings and literary connections
His poetry and prose were distinctive, and Tianyuanlou ji, a collection in twenty-seven juan, has survived. His literary relationships included letters sent and answered, exchanged poems and prose, prefaces, epitaphs, sacrificial texts, grave inscriptions, biographical accounts, and biographies written for others; some works associated with him also received prefaces from others. Among the named connections, he wrote prefaces for books by Cai Qing and Wang Shou, while Li Weizhen wrote a preface for one of his works; he composed epitaphs for Wang Dingjue, Yu Daosheng, Sun Yikui, and Liu Zhuo, a biography of Zhou Ziyi, and a sacrificial text for Wang Shizhen.
Legacy
In later life, he commissioned the painters Yu Ren of Taicang and Wu Yue of Shexian to depict the course of his life. He inscribed and composed verses for each panel, producing the Xu Xianqing huanji tu (《徐顯卿宦跡圖》); it has survived and is now held by the Palace Museum in Beijing.
References
- 搜韵 徐顯卿 (46184)
- Wikidata Xu Xianqing (Q29577167)
- CBDB Xu Xianqing (130015)