Xu Youren

Life and career

At the age of twenty, he was recommended for entry into the Hanlin Academy but was not appointed; he later became an instructor in Kaining Circuit, passed the jinshi examination in 1315, and was appointed Tongzhi of Liaozhou. He curbed clerks’ harassment of the people and overturned wrongful cases even when judgments had already been issued.

In 1319 he became an administrator in the Shanbei Surveillance Commission, and in 1321 he was promoted to a Ministry of Personnel secretary. In 1322 he served as an Investigating Censor of the Jiangnan Branch Censorate, touring Guangdong and impeaching lawless officials and local magnates.

After the accession of the Taiding Emperor, Xu submitted ten proposals on current affairs, calling for ministers not to combine office with military command, lighter taxes, and restraint in miscellaneous expenditure. As Vice Director of the Left Bureau of the Secretariat in 1324, he requested the opening of granaries during the capital’s famine and used 400,000 hu of grain for relief; in 1326 he served successively as Director of the Right Bureau and Director of the Left Bureau.

After the accession of the Wenzong Emperor, he became Commissioner of Salt Transport for Lianghuai and reformed the salt administration; in 1331 he became a Participant in Secretariat Affairs. His recorded offices also include Secretariat Academician, Left Vice Chancellor of the Department of State Affairs, Secretary in the Censorate, Attendant Censor, Hanlin Academician-in-Chief, Censor-in-Chief, Grand Academician of Jixian, Vice Privy Councillor, Left Tutor to the Heir Apparent, and Pacification Commissioner.

In 1334 he became Director of Remonstrance and Archives, then Vice Councillor of the Secretariat and Attendant Censor. When Cheri Temür proposed abolishing the jinshi examination, Xu argued forcefully at court; he also opposed proposals to restore nose-cutting as a punishment and to forbid Han and Southern Chinese from studying Mongolian and Uyghur scripts.

During the Zhiyuan period, he resigned because too many people resented him; he later returned as Vice Councillor but soon retired because of illness. He was recalled as Vice Councillor of the Secretariat in 1340 and became Left Chancellor of the Secretariat in 1341.

The order of his appointments during the Zhizheng era is variously given. One account places his summons as Hanlin Academician-in-Chief and subsequent transfer to Censor-in-Chief in 1346, followed by retirement through illness and appointment as Left Chancellor of Henan Province; another places his illness-related retirement and summons as Hanlin Academician-in-Chief and Director of the Classics Mat lectures in 1342, followed by a return as Censor-in-Chief in 1347 and another retirement.

In 1353 he became Left Chancellor of Henan Province, responsible for securing grain for the campaign against anti-Yuan forces in Henan; he also proposed conciliating rebel forces in various regions.

In 1355 he was promoted to Grand Academician of Jixian, also styled Grand Academician of Jixian Hall, then made Vice Privy Councillor and again Left Chancellor of the Secretariat; one account additionally gives him the concurrent office of Left Tutor to the Heir Apparent.

He retired in 1357 because of age and illness and was granted a life stipend. He died seven years later at the age of seventy-eight and received the posthumous name Wenzhong. He served across seven reigns for nearly five decades.

Family and associations

Xu Youren was the son of Xu Xizai, the elder brother of Xu Youheng (1285–1329), and the younger brother of Xu Youfu. He first married Zhao Ding (1296–1329) and later Zhao Luan (1308–1341); Zhao Jianshan and Zhao Shiyan (1260–1336) were, respectively, the fathers of his two wives.

He had a son, Xu Zhen. A niece surnamed Xu was married to Zhao Shu, who died in 1359.

He recommended Zhao Shiyan, Wu Bing, and Chen Yizeng, and wrote prefaces for works by Zhang Yanghao, Song Jiong, Song Ben, and Liu E.

Literature and works

Xu was skilled in calligraphy and prose. Ouyang Yuangong described his writing as vigorous, grand, and broad, rising like successive waves, yet quiet, deep, and substantial; Jie Manshuo called his literary reputation outstanding among the great ministers of his age and said that he poured into his poetry the frustration of unfulfilled aims and unspoken counsel.

Late in life he acquired the old Kang family garden with money he had been granted and named it Guitang Villa. His brothers, uncles, senior relatives, and guests gathered there for wine and verse, and the poems composed there quickly circulated throughout the realm.

His *Zhizheng ji* comprised one hundred juan. Because the collection was so large, and Zhen was hurriedly sent south before it could be gathered, his younger brother Youfu compiled Xu’s poems of exchange and travel into *Guitang xiaogao* for transmission.

*Guitang xiaogao* is also found under the form 《圭唐小稿》.