Zhang Mao

Life

Family records name 章叔良 as his great-grandfather; the grandfather is given as 章邦和 in one entry and 章有成 in another. His father was 章蕃 (1416–1501), and his mother was 吳氏.

His younger brothers were 章忞 and 章憼, and his wife was 郭玉 (1433–1504). His sons were 章振, 章擴, 章捷, and 章接, the last born in 1517.

Other relatives listed for him include 章檉 (1433–1505), 章拯 (1479–1548), 郭彌 (1406–1480), and 趙儆; he also had a clansman 章贄, a grandson 章訢 (1483–1507), and a great-grandson 章衢.

His examination record includes 鄉貢舉人, 生員, and 進士. He ranked first in the metropolitan examination in the second year of the Chenghua era (1466), passed the jinshi examination, and was selected as a shujishi; in the winter of the following year he was appointed a Hanlin compiler.

When the Chenghua emperor planned to stage lantern displays at the Lantern Festival, Zhang Mao, 黃仲昭, and 莊昶 remonstrated, urging a prohibition for the sake of the people. He was beaten at court, first demoted to magistrate of Linwu, and then, before taking up that post, reassigned as a left assessor in the Nanjing Court of Judicial Review. The three men, together with the dismissed remonstrator 羅倫, became known as the “Four Hanlin Remonstrators.”

During the Chenghua era he served as an assistant commissioner in Fujian, where he suppressed disturbances in Ning and Sha and was credited with notable accomplishments. After completing a performance review he sought retirement, but 尹旻, the Minister of Personnel, refused; he then withdrew home to reading and lecturing and took students.

In the sixteenth year of the Hongzhi era (1503), he was appointed Nanjing director of the Imperial Academy, but did not take up the post because of his father’s death. After completing the mourning period he declined again but was not allowed to do so, and therefore assumed office. In the first year of the Zhengde era he sought retirement; five memorials were rejected, and only after again pleading illness did he receive permission in the third month of the following year.

In the fifth year of the Zhengde era (1510) he was appointed Nanjing Grand Court Minister, and the next year was named Nanjing Vice Minister of Rites, but he declined both appointments. Accounts differ over his final rank: one says that after the accession of the Jiajing emperor he was promoted to Nanjing Minister of Rites and retired, while another gives Nanjing Vice Minister of Rites as his highest office. He was posthumously granted the title Taizi shaobao and the posthumous name Wenyi.

He was a friend of 羅倫 and 鄭錡, and 鄭晃 was his friend from the same examination year.

Learning and writings

While Zhang Mao was a shujishi, 劉定之 served as his instructor. In examination pieces on a vegetable garden and moon viewing, Zhang referred respectively to Gong Yixiu pulling up the garden vegetables and to the unequal pleasure of moonlight for the poor and the wealthy; Liu regarded the passages as flippant and was angered. Zhang was later demoted after remonstrating against the Lantern Festival fireworks, and Liu did not come to his aid.

One assessment says that Zhang’s contemporary reputation rested on his moral standing rather than literary ornament, yet calls his poem “Hearing Orioles in the Palace” clear and beautiful. A poem beginning “The bells of Weiyang sound as dawn breaks” in the Fengshan collection was once mistaken for an imperial composition of the Siling; the anthology reads “君王” where the imperial brush reads “及時.”

His writings include 《楓山集》 and 《楓山語錄》. 《楓山集》 is given as four juan in one account, while 《楓山語錄》 appears as two juan, one juan, and one juan with an additional juan of textual notes. Other titles include 《文集（章懋）》 in nine juan, 《楓山章先生文集》 in nine juan, 《諸經講義（章懋）》 in two juan, and 《闇然子集》; books attributed to him also include 《婺鄉賢志》, 《正德蘭溪縣志》, 《蘭溪縣志》, 《楓山語錄一卷》, 《楓山章先生語錄一卷附考異一卷》, and 《金華章楓山先生正學編一卷》.