Wu Dake

Life

He was a grandnephew of Wu Yan (吳儼); his father was 吳駰, his mother was 屠氏, his grandfather was 吳儉, and his great-grandfather was 吳經. His brothers included 吳夢熊, 吳士遇, 吳達禮, and 吳達聰, and his younger brothers included 吳達德, 吳達義, 吳達善, 吳達觀, and 吳達能; his wife was 李氏 and his son was 吳正志.

In 1573, he passed the Yingtian prefectural provincial examination in 115th place; in 1577, he ranked 129th in the metropolitan examination and received the jinshi degree in the third class, fifty-third place. He was appointed magistrate of Kuaiji and later served as magistrate of Shanggao and Fengcheng, earning a reputation for capable administration; he was also described as a good and exemplary official. He was subsequently selected for office as a censor.

In 1586, he was selected as an Investigating Censor of the Huguang Circuit. He petitioned for the establishment of the jingyan lectures and greater diligence in study, and for the Wanli emperor to confer in person with grand councillors and censorate officials; the emperor replied that he knew. He also impeached Grand Secretary Zhao Zhihao as incompetent through age and illness and called for his dismissal, but the request was not granted. In the first month of the twenty-eighth year of Wanli, he urged the enthronement of the heir apparent as crown prince, the ceremonies of capping and marriage, the selection of grand secretaries and appointment of remonstrance officials, and the withdrawal of eunuch commissioners overseeing the mining and salt taxes; no reply was given.

He was later transferred to the Henan Circuit and sent to inspect the Changlu salt administration. When a poor harvest caused famine, he presented the Fourteen Pictures of Starving People and vigorously petitioned for relief loans; when Ma Tang and Zhang Rihua proposed raising the salt tax, he argued against the proposal and it was abandoned.

In 1602, he was transferred to serve as an Investigating Censor on circuit in Jiangxi. The tax commissioner Pan Xiang beat Zhu Moupei, a Fuguo jiangjun, detained the imperial clansman Zong Da, accused the two of seizing tax revenues, and alleged that Li Hong, magistrate of Shangrao, had secretly instigated them; Wu Dake memorialized that the imperial clansmen should not have been punished and that Li Hong was innocent, and asked that Pan Xiang be punished and Li Hong restored to office, but his requests were not accepted. Pan Xiang also proposed developing Tongtang Mountain in Guangxin, felling large timber, and mining gypsum at 斌姥 Mountain in Taihe; Wu Dake again opposed the schemes, which were abandoned.

After returning to court, he took charge of the Henan Circuit and assisted Wen Chun with the metropolitan review of officials. He then proposed a program of new government measures and sharply remonstrated with Grand Secretary Shen Yiguan; the memorial was held in the palace. In the thirty-third year of Wanli he was promoted to Junior Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Studs, in the thirty-sixth year he became the Nanjing Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Studs, in the thirty-eighth year he became the Nanjing Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies, and in the fortieth year he was promoted to Commissioner of Transmissions. During his tenure as Commissioner of Transmissions, he impeached Shi Jin, a zhenfu official who, after being dismissed for an offense, submitted memorials slandering court officials; he also proposed correcting the format of memorials and rejecting wicked men, and the Wanli emperor approved these proposals.

In the sixth month of the forty-first year of Wanli, he requested retirement and later died at home at the age of eighty-one. In the second year of Tianqi, he was posthumously granted the title Right Vice Censor-in-chief.

Writings and associations

His works included 《奏疏遺稿》 and 《三忠文選》. 曹于汴 wrote a preface to one of his books, 葉向高 wrote his epitaph, and Wu Dake compiled a chronicle of 周怡. He exchanged letters with 馮夢禎, 鄒元標, 高攀龍, 顧憲成, 葉向高, and 趙南星, among others, and received poems and prose presented by 顧憲成.