Lü Ben (1504–1587) was a Ming-dynasty politician and grand secretary. His courtesy name was Ruli; his studio names were Nanqu and Houping, while Qizhai is also written with the variant character 斎. He came from Yuyao in Shaoxing Prefecture, Zhejiang. His family was mistakenly entered under the Li surname when household registers were revised in the early Ming; he first used Li and later restored his original surname, and was also known as Li Ben. He was listed as first in birth order.
Life
He first held the status of shengyuan (licentiate), ranking 24th, and later became a provincial recommended candidate, ranked 189th. In the eleventh year of the Jiajing reign (1532), he passed the jinshi examination in the third class, 173rd place.
He was appointed a Hanlin Academy Compiler, served as director of the Imperial Academy in both capitals, and presided over the Shuntian examination. His appointments included 禮科都給事中, 吏科都給事中, 太常寺少卿, 刑部尚書, the Nangan circuit governorship (巡撫), 右通政, 工部觀政, 工部侍郎, 刑部侍郎, 太少卿, and 操江大理卿. Other positions included 國子司業, 國子監司業, 總裁官, 吏部尚書, 太子太傅, and 太子少保. He also served as 少詹事 and as the Shuntian examination official; his 國子祭酒 appointment was in Nanjing. The appointments of 副使, 國子監司業, the Shuntian examination official, and Nanjing 祭酒 are respectively dated to the fourteenth, seventeenth, twenty-fifth, and twenty-seventh years of Jiajing.
In the twenty-eighth year of Jiajing (1549), in the second month, he entered the cabinet as 少詹事 concurrently serving as a Hanlin academician, participating in the handling of state affairs; in the following year he became Grand Secretary of the Eastern Pavilion. In the thirty-second year (1553) he became Minister of Rites; in the thirty-third year (1554) he was made Grand Protector of the Heir Apparent and Grand Secretary of the Wenyuan Pavilion; in the thirty-fifth year (1556) he was promoted to Junior Guardian and Grand Secretary of the Wuying Palace, while also supervising the Ministry of Personnel.
When Li Mo was imprisoned, Lü Ben took charge of the Ministry of Personnel. To accommodate Yan Song, he proposed a three-grade review of senior officials, and all who did not support Yan Song were dismissed. He was subsequently made Junior Guardian, but left office to observe mourning for his mother; in the fortieth year of Jiajing (1561) he returned home. After Yan Song fell, Lü Ben lost his support and was not recalled. In the fifteenth year of Wanli (1587), he died at home at the age of eighty-four; he was posthumously granted the title Grand Tutor and given the name Wen'an.
Family and associations
His great-grandfather was 李公瓊, his grandfather 李懋, his father 李改, his mother 楊氏, and his stepmother 俞氏. His brothers were 李禾, 李杜, 李樂, 李采, and 李來; his wife was 夏氏, and his sons were 李衢, 李斆, and 李致. A great-grandson was 呂章成; 呂氏（平煜妻） is also listed among his direct descendants.
Among his associations, Tu Long was a friend, and Li Tingji wrote his epitaph. Lü Ben wrote epitaphs for Tu Qiao, Tao Xie, Yuan Wei, Chen Kezhai, Huang Tingyong, Fu Pei, Yang Dazhang, Guan Jian, Gu Chong, and Gong Hui. Wang Shizhen and Wang Daokun wrote biographies of him, while Li Weizhen and Yu Menglin wrote sacrificial texts. He composed shendao bei for Fang Xianfu and Jiang Xiao, and a xingzhuang for Chen Sheng; he exchanged letters with Zhao Bingran, Yin Tai, Yan Ne, and Chen Zhu. Shen Maoxiao, Wu Zhongxing, Fan Qin, and Zhang Bi received poems and prose from him; Chen Younian and Jiang Bao received congratulatory writings from him, and Yuan Wei had a shrine inscription composed by him.
Works
He was skilled in poetry and prose, and wrote 《四明先賢記》. 《期齋集》 is described as a fourteen-volume collection and also appears under the title 《期齋呂先生集：十四卷》. Other works include 《館閣類錄》; 《奏謝稿》 and 《館閣漫錄》 are also attributed to him.
References
- CBDB Lü Ben (128301)
- 搜韵 呂本 (43680)
- 法鼓佛教人名规范数据库 呂本 (A004254)
- Wikidata Lv Ben (Q10918384)