Xia Liangsheng

Life

As a young man he won the notice of Cai Qing (蔡清), the provincial education vice-commissioner, who declared that he would surely become a loyal minister. He took first place in the Jiangxi provincial examination of 1507, came sixty-first in the metropolitan examination of 1508, and graduated as a jinshi of that year in the third class, forty-fourth place. He was first appointed a secretary in the Ministry of Justice, then moved to the Ministry of Personnel, where he served successively as a secretary in the Bureau of Appointments and as vice-director of the Bureau of Records of Merit and of the Bureau of Assessment.

In the third month of 1519, when the Zhengde Emperor proposed a tour of the south, Xia joined Wan Chao (萬潮), a secretary of the Ministry of Rites, Chen Jiuchuan (陳九川), a doctor of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, and others in a joint memorial urging him to desist. The emperor was enraged, made him kneel at the palace gate for five days, had him given fifty strokes, and struck him from the register of officials. He returned home and earned his living by teaching. On the accession of Emperor Shizong he was restored to office. The minister Qiao Yu (喬宇), judging him a man of ability, had him appointed director of the Bureau of Appointments, where he advanced many officials of integrity.

In the Great Rites Controversy he repeatedly joined the other officials in pressing their opposition and firmly blocked the irregular promotions that Xi Shu (席書), Zhang Cong (張璁), Gui E (桂萼) and Fang Xianfu (方獻夫) obtained by direct imperial order. He was then transferred to the post of Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices at Nanjing, which he did not take up, and became a supervising secretary. The supervising secretary Chen Guang (陳洸), siding with Zhang Cong, memorialised that he and the minister Qiao Yu had formed a faction to push others aside, and he was sent out as magistrate of Chaling Department (茶陵州). After the Minglun dadian was completed he was reduced to commoner status. Later, on a false accusation, he was imprisoned again, sentenced to flogging, and banished to the Sanwan Guard (三萬衛) in Liaodong, where he died five years afterwards. In the early years of the Longqing reign he was posthumously granted the title of Chief Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices (太常寺卿).

Works

His writings include Zhongyong yanyi (中庸衍義) in seventeen juan, Dongzhou chugao (東洲初稿) in fourteen juan, Dongzhou shi (東洲詩) in eight juan, Dongshu lu (東戍錄) in one juan and Quansi cungao (銓司存稿); a Dongzhou gao (東洲稿) is also recorded, variously as twelve or twenty juan. The editors of the Siku Quanshu catalogue observed that he had twice been demoted for blunt remonstrance, that his integrity was awe-inspiring, and that his verse and prose, written without striving for polish, all had an upright spirit.

Associations

Among his literary exchanges are letters he addressed to Wang Shouren (王守仁) and Gui E (桂萼) and replies to Li Mengyang (李夢陽), Wang Xuan (王萱) and Yu You (余祐); Shu Fen (舒芬) and Yang Lian (楊廉) also wrote to him. He composed a funerary account and a sacrificial address for Luo Qi (羅玘), a grave inscription for He Qiaoxin (何喬新), and a preface for a work by Qiao Yu. A preface to his own writings was supplied by Luo Wenli (駱問禮), and after his death Ouyang Duo (歐陽鐸) wrote his epitaph.