Liu Daxia

Life

His father is named as Liu Renzhai (劉仁宅) or Liu Rongzhai (劉容宅); his great-grandfather was Liu Bihong, his grandfather Liu Xingjian, and his mother Yan.

His elder brother was Liu Dazhong, his younger brothers were Liu Daqi and Liu Dachuang, and his two recorded wives were Lü and Fu.

In 1459, he came first in the Huguang provincial examination and became its jieyuan; in 1464 he passed the jinshi examination, ranking twenty-first in the third class, and was selected as a shujishi.

At the academy examination early in the Chenghua era, he could have remained in the Hanlin Academy but asked to transfer to a ministry post. He was appointed to the Ministry of War's Office of Military Geography and promoted to langzhong in the Chariot and Cavalry Office; an official chronology places his service as bingbu langzhong in 1476–1483.

In 1483 he became right assistant administration commissioner in Fujian and was credited with administrative achievements. He later served as right administration commissioner in Guangdong, dated to 1490–1492 in one chronology and to 1489 in another, then as left administration commissioner in Zhejiang from 1492 to 1493; in the following year he was promoted to vice censor-in-chief.

In October 1490, the native official Cen Meng of Tianzhou and Sicheng in Guangxi rebelled, and Liu Daxia went to suppress the rising.

In 1493 he was assigned to deal with the breach at Zhangqiu and was also placed in charge of the river conservancy. In 1495 he became a vice minister of the Ministry of Revenue, concurrently serving as left assistant censor and managing the military provisions of Xuanfu; the office chronology also gives the title left vice censor.

After retiring because of illness in 1498, he built a thatched hall below Dongshan and read there, becoming known as Dongshan Xiansheng.

Recalled two years later as right censor-in-chief, he supervised military affairs in the two Guang regions. In 1502 he became Minister of War, submitted several memorials on state affairs, and won the confidence of the Hongzhi emperor; the office chronology instead places the beginning of his ministerial tenure in 1501 and its continuation through 1506.

After the Zhengde emperor succeeded to the throne, Liu Daxia was unable to prevail against the powerful favorites at court. In March 1506 he memorialized for retirement; he received the additional title Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent—also given in the office chronology as Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent—and was allowed to return home.

In September 1508, because of the Cen Meng affair and his opposition to Liu Jin, he was arrested and confined in the Northern Pacification Office prison. Liu Jin sought his execution, but the intervention of Tu Yong and Li Dongyang changed the sentence to military exile at Sùzhou, in present-day Jiuquan, Gansu.

Another account says that Wu Hong argued forcefully on his behalf and secured his release.

At Sùzhou, local officials, afraid of Liu Jin, would not provide him with food or lodging, and only three students supported him. He was pardoned and returned in the summer of 1510; after Liu Jin's execution he was restored to office and soon retired.

He died on 30 May 1516. He was posthumously made Grand Guardian, received the posthumous name Zhongxuan, and was buried on a hillside in Huagang village, Shengfeng township, Huarong.

Writings and associations

Liu Daxia was a poet. His works include the Dongshan Poetry Collection and the Collected Works of Liu Zhongxuan; the title Dongshan Collection is also found.

His poetry was not composed as an exercise in elaborate craftsmanship: his occasional poems were grounded in events and true in feeling, with a notably vigorous language. Poems such as “Admonishing and Consoling Tianzhou,” “Crossing Liupan Mountain,” and “Shown to Nephews at the Place of Exile” address the Tianzhou campaign, exile at Liupan Mountain, and his longing to return from banishment.

Jiang Bao and Chen Wenzhu wrote prefaces to his books, while He Mengchun, Cui Xian, and Li Tang wrote postscripts. Shao Bao, Wang Shizhen, and Sun Yi wrote biographies of him; Lin Jun, Zhang Bangqi, He Mengchun, Shao Bao, and Gu Lin wrote commemorative essays.

At parting, Li Dongyang, Ni Yue, Wang Ao, Li Mengyang, and Zhan Ruoshui presented him with farewell poems or prefaces.