Wang Hongru

Life

Brilliant from childhood, he could read a text once and remember it. Because his family was poor, he worked as an assistant clerk in the prefectural office. The Nanyang prefect is named Duan Rongsi in one account and Duan Jian in another; he recognized the young man's ability, kept him in the office, taught him the classics, and later sent him to the school as a student, after which Hongru became a major Confucian scholar.

In 1483, the nineteenth year of Chenghua, he passed the provincial examination, ranking first as the jieyuan. In 1487, the twenty-third year of Chenghua, he passed the jinshi examination in the Dingwei cohort, ranking eighth in the second class.

In 1489 he was appointed a secretary in the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue. In Hongzhi's seventh year he was promoted to yuanwailang, supervising grain transport at Huai'an and tax collection at Fengyang. In 1496 he became a Shanxi educational inspector, and in 1502 he was promoted to vice commissioner while continuing to oversee educational administration. His nine years in office were said to have invigorated Shanxi's scholarly climate.

In 1505 he requested retirement on grounds of illness. Recalled in 1509 as Director of the Imperial Academy, he soon entered mourning for his father. In 1512 he returned as junior vice minister of the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue; in 1515 he transferred to the Nanjing Ministry of Personnel as junior vice minister and then became senior vice minister, before reaching the post of Nanjing minister of Revenue in 1519.

During Zhu Chenhao's rebellion, he was ordered to supervise military provisions. He reached Anlu by boat in the seventh month, developed a carbuncle on his back, and died at the age of sixty-one; his posthumous name was Wenzhuang. His office titles also include Zizheng dafu (資政大夫), associated with Nanjing.

His father was Wang Ben, his grandfather Wang Cheng, and his great-grandfather Wang Yun; his mother was Lady Si, his wife Lady Wu, and his younger brother Wang Hongjian. His grandson Wang Rulu (1523–1584) also passed the jinshi examination.

Learning and associations

He was described as upright, and his learning was directed toward investigating principle and applying it to practice. He was also associated with calligraphy and philosophical thought. He admired Zhang Jingchun (張景純) for pursuing the principles of human nature and morality as well as astronomy and geography; Cui Xian (崔銑) wrote a preface for one of his books.

Emperor Xiaozong praised him to Liu Daxia, saying that a man like Wang Hongru among the provincial commissioners would one day be fit for important use. During Liu Jin's ascendancy in the Zhengde era, Hongru was pushed aside but was later recalled.

Works and literary activity

His works include *Ningzhai Biyu* (《凝齋筆語》). A nine-volume *Ningzhai ji* is also associated with him; bibliographical titles give *Wenzhuang Ningzhai ji* in nine volumes and a two-volume supplement, while *Wang Wenzhuang deng ji* is also listed. His poetry was praised as “清俊不凡,” and he had *Chen Houshan ji* (《陳後山集》) printed from woodblocks and circulated.

His literary activity included writing epitaphs for 馬文升, 史學, 田鐸, 丘璐, 朱仕颯, 杜忠, 郭堅, 張潤, 張澤, and 臧瑛; composing spirit-way inscriptions for 朱芝垝 and 藍福盛; writing tomb表 for 李聰 and 龔原海; and writing a biography of 史彪. 袁袠 and 朱睦㮮 wrote biographies of him, 郭維藩 wrote a sacrificial text and a xingzhuang for him, and 崔銑 wrote a preface for his book; at parting, he received a farewell text—送別詩 or 序—from 羅欽順.