Lü Nan (1479–1542) was a Ming official and scholar. He was styled Zhongmu and also given the style name Datong, used the sobriquet Jingye, and was known among scholars as Master Jingye. His name also appears in the forms 呂仲木 and 呂枏, and his posthumous name was Wenjian. He was a native of Gaoling in Shaanxi; the sobriquet Jingye was associated with his residence north of the Jing River.
Life
His father, Lü Pu, was known for hidden virtue; his elder son was 呂田 and his second son was 呂畇.
At the 1501 Shaanxi provincial examination he placed tenth; in 1508 he ranked first in the jìnshì examination of the Wuchen year and was appointed a compiler. After offending the eunuch Liu Jin, he withdrew on grounds of illness; after Liu Jin's death, he returned to office on recommendation. During the Jiajing period, the Great Rites controversy angered the emperor, and he was sent to the imperial prison, demoted to judge of Jiezhou, and made acting administrator of the prefecture, where he achieved notable results.
Career summaries differ, giving either Nanjing Junior Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices (南京太常寺少卿) or Nanjing Vice Minister of Rites (南京禮部侍郎) as his highest post. A fuller sequence places him successively in the Court of the Imperial Clan (南京宗人府經歷), the Ministry of Personnel (吏部郎中), the Office of the Imperial Seals (尚寶司卿), the Court of Imperial Sacrifices (太常寺少卿), the Directorate of Education (國子監祭酒), and the Nanjing Ministry of Rites, where he also acted for the Ministry of Personnel. His dated Nanjing appointments were Jiajing 6, 9, 13, and 15, respectively, as Director of the Ministry of Personnel's Office of Evaluation (吏部考功司郎中), Director of the Office of the Imperial Seals, Junior Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, and Vice Minister of Rites. After retiring, he returned home; in the early Longqing period he was posthumously granted the rank of Minister of Rites and the posthumous name Wenjian.
Learning and thought
Lü Nan studied under Xue Jingzhi, while Zhou Hui was also his teacher and Lü Qian was his pupil. He adhered to the teachings of Cheng Yi and Zhu Xi, making the investigation of principle and practical cultivation central to his learning; his fields of classical study included the Book of Changes, the Book of Documents, the Book of Odes, the rites, and the Spring and Autumn, and he was regarded as a Neo-Confucian and thinker as well as a specialist in these classics.
While serving in Nanjing, he joined Zhan Ruoshui and Zou Shouyi in leading lecture sessions for more than three decades. His teaching did not accord with Wang Yangming's doctrine of innate knowing; when Wang promoted learning in the southeast and incurred the hostility of powerful officials, an examination policy in the guiwei metropolitan examination also proposed burning books and prohibiting learning, but Lü argued against it and prevented its implementation. During the Liu Jin period, Kang Fengshan was implicated and expelled after appealing to Liu Jin on behalf of Li Kongtong; Lü exchanged poems with Kang at Huxi, became close to him, and understood his motives.
Works
His writings include 《周易說翼》 in five juan, 《尚書說要》 in five juan, 《毛詩說序》 in six juan, 《春秋說志》 in five juan, 《四書因問》 in six juan, 《周子抄釋》 in three juan, 《橫渠張子抄釋》 in six juan, 《二程子抄釋》 in ten juan, 《朱子抄釋》 in two juan, and 《涇野子內篇》 in twenty-seven juan.
Other works include 《小學訓》, 《史館獻納》, 《南省奏稿》, 《寒暑經圖解》, 《史約》 in thirty-seven juan, 《詩樂圖譜》 in eighteen juan, and 《禮問內篇外篇》 in two juan. In local gazetteers and genealogies, he wrote 《潛江縣志》, 《解州志》 in four juan, 《宋氏族譜》, and 《魏氏族譜》; he also compiled 《陝西通志》 and 《鄉約集成》 in fourteen pieces, and edited 《平陽府志》. Further works include 《涇野九詠》, 《監規發明》, 《署解文移》, and 《上陵詩賦曲頌》.
His collected writings include 《涇野詩文集》, also titled 《涇野集》, in a thirty-six-juan version; two essays, 〈甘泉記〉 and 〈仰止亭記〉, are included in 《九華山志》.
References
- CBDB Lü Nan (33860)
- 搜韵 呂柟 (43679)
- Wikidata Lü Nan (Q10919954)
- 法鼓佛教人名规范数据库 呂柟 (A007182)