Huang Zongxi

Life

Huang Zongxi was the eldest son of Huang Zunsu (1584–1626), who died in the imperial prison after impeaching the Wei eunuch faction. When the Chongzhen Emperor acceded, the nineteen-year-old Huang went to the capital to seek redress, carrying an awl with which he attacked Xu Xianchun. After returning home and completing the funeral arrangements, he devoted himself to scholarship, studied under Liu Zongzhou, and read historical works closely.

In the eleventh year of the Chongzhen reign, he and Wu Yingji composed the *Liudu Fangluan Gongjie* to attack Ruan Dacheng. After the Prince of Fu established his regime, Ruan sought to kill Huang and 140 others, but the plan failed when Qing forces moved south. Huang took part in anti-Qing activities and was one of the leaders of the Fu She.

After the Ming fell, he led several hundred local followers from Yuyao in support of the Prince of Lu, organized as the Shizhong Camp, and was appointed to the Zhifang office before becoming a censor. After the Prince of Lu was driven out to sea, Huang still maintained a stronghold in the Siming Mountains, went to sea in search of the prince, and received the title of Left Vice Censor-in-Chief; the title is also given as Left Assistant Censor-in-Chief.

When the restoration cause appeared hopeless, he returned home with his mother, devoted himself to writing and teaching, and attracted an increasing following of scholars. In the Kangxi era he was nominated for the Boxue Hongci examination and recommended to help compile the *History of the Ming*, but declined both invitations; major deliberations of the historical bureau nevertheless continued to seek his advice. He repeatedly declined summons from the Qing court. He was also listed as a jiansheng (監生) and was later enshrined in the Temple of Confucius.

Family and associations

His family included his mother, Yao, and his wife, Ye Baolin; his younger brother was Huang Zongyan (1615–1686), his son was Huang Baijia (born 1643), and his son-in-law was Liu Maolin. His friends included Mao Qiling, Wan Tai, Yan Ruju, Tang Bin, Hu Wei, and Chen Que.

Scholarship and thought

His teaching urged the exhaustive study of the Classics and the reading of history, and he was especially accomplished in historiography. His writing and teaching drew a growing following of scholars from many regions.

The *Mingyi daifang lu* condemned the crimes of monarchs and took enlightened autocracy as its ideal, crystallizing Huang Zongxi’s political and social thought. In the preface to the *Shili*, he argued that poetry could not be achieved through imitation of famous masters: it required familiarity with the Classics and the hundred schools, encompassed both individual feeling and the order and disorder of the world, and should be judged by genuineness rather than confined to literary schools.

Works

Major works include the sixty-juan *Mingru xue’an* and the unfinished *Songyuan xue’an*, later completed by Quan Zuwang. He collected writings of the Ming in the *Ming wen’an* and expanded it into the *Ming wenhai*; his works also include the 240-juan *Mingshi an*.

His historical writings include the *Longwu jinian* and *Yongli jinian*, collectively known as the *Xingchao lu*; his poetry and prose include the *Nanlei wending* and *Nanlei shili*. Other titles include *Jin shuijing*, *Lidai jiazi kao*, *Gehuan baxian jie*, *Jugu tushuo*, *Datong li tuifa*, and *Lülü xinyi*, extending across water geography, calendrical calculation, mathematics, astronomy, and musical theory. Modern editors have compiled the *Complete Works of Huang Zongxi*.

Influence

Huang Zongxi was grouped with Gu Yanwu and Wang Fuzhi as the “Three Great Confucians of the Early Qing” and has been called the “Father of Chinese Enlightenment thought.”