He Qiaoxin

Life

His father, He Wenyuan, was a Presented Scholar of the sixteenth year of the Yongle era, entered the censorate, and served as an inspecting censor in Shandong and Sichuan; his mother was née Jie, and He Qiaoxin was the third son.

His elder brothers were He Benmao and He Benqian, and his younger brothers were He Qiaoshou, He Qiaofu, and He Qiaonian; his wife was née Wu, and his sons were He Chengfeng and He Yongbi. Later descendants included He Yuan, described as a great-great-grandson or fourth-generation descendant, and He Tao, described as a fifth-generation descendant or later descendant.

He first qualified as a licentiate and later became a provincial recommended candidate. In 1454, the fifth year of the Jingtai era, he passed the Presented Scholar examination in the second class, ranked sixty-fifth. In 1456, the seventh year of Jingtai, he was appointed a Director in the Nanjing Ministry of Rites’ Office of State Guests.

His father died in 1457, the first year of Tianshun, and He Qiaoxin subsequently observed mourning for both his father and his mother. One account says that in 1458, the second year of Tianshun, the former student of He Wenyuan, Jie Ji, accused He Qiaoxin and others of misconduct before the throne and forced his father to take his own life; He Qiaoxin in turn accused Jie Ji of having composed, on behalf of Huang Hong, a memorial concerning the change of heir while serving in Guangdong. He was later restored to office as a Director of the Shaanxi Office of the Ministry of Justice and successively served as an Assistant Director and a Director.

As a Director in the Ministry of Justice, he arrested and prosecuted soldiers of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and refused a request from the military commander Yuan Bin, becoming known for this. In 1468, the fourth year of Chenghua, he became Vice Commissioner of Surveillance in Fujian and was subsequently transferred to Henan; in 1473, he became Commissioner of Surveillance in Henan, where he assisted Metropolitan Censor Yuan Jie in pacifying refugees in Nanyang, personally entering the mountain valleys to persuade them, and bringing many into the household registers.

He later served as Right Provincial Administration Commissioner of Huguang, holding that office from 1478 to 1480 and earning a reputation for administrative accomplishments. In 1480, the sixteenth year of Chenghua, he was promoted to Deputy Chief Censor of the Censorate; the title is given variously as Right Vice Chief Censor (右副都御史) and Right Associate Chief Censor (右僉都御史). In November of the same year he went to Jin to serve as governor of Shanxi, and he later became Left Vice Chief Censor.

In August 1483, he inspected the frontier with Li Yan, Vice Minister of Revenue; in 1484 he was recalled to the capital, appointed Right Vice Minister of Justice, and sent to Shanxi to administer famine relief. In the spring of 1485, he was sent with Li Xian and Jia Jun to Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Henan to relieve famine.

When the Hongzhi emperor succeeded to the throne in 1487, Wan An and Liu Ji, disliking his uprightness, sent him out as Minister of Justice in Nanjing; in 1488, Wang Shu recommended him for the post of Minister of Justice, and contemporaries celebrated the appointment as that of a father and son who had both become ministers. As Minister of Justice, his initiatives were repeatedly obstructed by Liu Ji, and he was also attacked by hostile parties; after Liu Ji prompted the censor Zou Lu to bring false accusations against him, He Qiaoxin retired to his home in the eighth month of 1491.

His year of death is given as 1502, while another account places his death on the twenty-second day of the twelfth month of the fifteenth year of Hongzhi, corresponding to 19 January 1503. In 1516 he was posthumously granted the title Grand Protector of the Heir Apparent, and the following year received the posthumous name Wensu; the posthumous offices are also given as Junior Tutor and Junior Protector of the Heir Apparent.

Literary work and writings

He was learned and widely read, and his poetry drew extensively on classical allusions; one assessment describes his verse as elegant and well disciplined, with a deep engagement with antiquity. His works include 《元史臆見》, also styled 《宋元史臆》, 《周禮集註》 and 《周禮述註》, 《勛賢琬琰錄》, and the three-juan 《策府羣玉》.

His collected writings are known as 《椒丘文集》 and 《椒丘集》, with the collection variously assigned thirty-four or thirty-two juan; there is also a one-juan 《椒丘文集外集》. After the Hongzhi era began, Zhang Sheng was demoted to Assistant Director in the Nanjing Ministry of Works for presenting a memorial against Liu Ji, and He Qiaoxin wrote a farewell poem for him, praising his memorial in pursuit of good government.