Chen Guan (born in 1057 or 1060; died in either 1122 or 1124) was a Northern Song jinshi and official. His courtesy name was Yingzhong; his sobriquets included Liaoweng and Liaozhai. He was also known as Liaotang. He came from Shaxian in Nan-kien Prefecture (present-day Shaxian, Fujian), and was also known as Huayan Jushi and Chen Tuifu.
Life and career
His grandfather was Chen Shiqing, and his father was Chen Cheng. In 1079, the second year of Yuanfeng, he passed the jinshi examination and is described as having placed third; he began as military secretary of Zhaoqing and was appointed instructor at the Huzhou Prefecture School.
He later became magistrate of Dingyuan County in Haozhou and an inspector at the Ministry of Rites Examination Office. In Yuanyou 4 (1089), he served as judge of Yuezhou and assistant prefect of Mingzhou. In Shaosheng 1 (1094), he was summoned as a Hanlin academician of the Imperial Academy and transferred to the Secretariat Library as a collator; in Shaosheng 4 he was sent out as assistant prefect of Cangzhou, and in Yuanfu 2 (1099) became prefect of Weizhou.
After Huizong's accession, he was summoned as Right Remonstrance Advising Official and promoted to Left Remonstrance Advising Official. One account says that, after he impeached Cai Jing, he was removed from supervision of the Yangzhou Grain Office and soon made prefect of Wuwei; another connects his transfer to Wuwei with his denunciation of the imperial relative Xiang Zongliang's dealings with court attendants. In Jianzhong Jingguo 1 (1101), he was recalled as a Vice Director in the Right Department of the Secretariat and concurrently served as acting Palace Censor; after offending Zeng Bu, he was sent out as prefect of Taizhou.
During Chongning, he was entered in the Yuanyou party register, stripped of office, and placed under administrative control successively in Yuanzhou and Lianzhou; after an amnesty he was moved to Chenzhou. In the fifth year of Chongning he was allowed to live at his own convenience and stayed in Mingzhou. He was exiled to Tongzhou in Daguan 4, and in Zhenghe 1 (1111), after submitting 《尊堯集》, was moved again to Taizhou, where he remained for five years; an amnesty in Zhenghe 6 restored his freedom of residence, but he continued to be moved. The year of his death is variously given as 1122 and Xuanhe 6 (1124); one account gives his age as 68 and another as 65. In the Shaoxing period he was posthumously awarded the title Zhongsu.
Political and religious thought
While serving as a collator, Chen Guan opposed the policy of restoring the earlier political line and prevented Cai Bian and others from destroying the printing blocks of the Zizhi Tongjian. In his remonstrance posts he repeatedly prosecuted the offenses of Cai Bian, Cai Jing, Zhang Dun, and An Dun, and submitted 《國用須知》 and 《日錄辨》.
《四明尊堯集》 argued that Wang Anshi's 《日錄》 had fabricated Shenzong's statements and confused right and wrong. After he submitted it in Zhenghe 1, Huizong condemned it as “語言無緒，盡係詆誣” and sent him to Taizhou under confinement.
Chen Guan was a dharma heir of the Chan master Lingyuan Weiqing. During his exile in Tongzhou, he gained insight while reading 《洛浦錄》, devoted himself to Buddhist practice, and nearly completed an interpretation of the recorded sayings of the Southern Chan master. After meeting Mingzhi, he gained a deep understanding of Tiantai doctrine and composed 《三千有門頌》 and 《止觀坐禪法要記》.
Works
His writings included 《了齋集》, whose extent is variously given as 40 or 42 volumes, as well as the 17-volume 《約論》 and the three-volume 《諫垣集》; most of these works are lost. The extant works include the 10-volume 《四明尊堯集》, the one-volume 《了齋易說》, and the one-volume 《了齋詞》; 《兩宋名賢小集》 preserves one volume of his poetry under the title 《了齋詩集》.
References
- CBDB Chen Guan (2) (7128)
- 搜韵 陳瓘 (34462)
- 法鼓佛教人名规范数据库 陳瓘 (A009572)
- Wikidata Chen Guan (Q15938146)