Tao Wangling (陶望齡) was born in 1562; his death is given as 1609 in some accounts and left unspecified in others. He was a Ming literary figure and political official. His courtesy name was Zhou Wang (周望), his style names were 歇菴 and 石簣, and his posthumous name was Wenjian (文簡). Other recorded forms include Tao Zhouwang (陶周望), Tao Shikui (陶石簣), Xie'an xiansheng (歇庵先生), and Tao Wenjian (陶文簡); he came from Kuaiji in Zhejiang, at Taoyan (陶堰) in present-day Shaoxing.
Life
He was the son of Tao Chengxue (陶承學), who was Nanjing Minister of Rites; he was known for literary talent from an early age. His family included his younger brother 陶奭齡, agnatic cousin 陶德望, elder brother 陶與齡, who died in 1585, and his adopted son 陶履平, explicitly identified as not an heir.
In 1585 he placed second in the Zhejiang provincial examination and was listed as a xianggong juren (鄉貢舉人). In 1589 he became a jinshi; in the ji-chou metropolitan examination he ranked first and in the palace examination third, taking third place in the first class—the tanhua. He was appointed a Hanlin compiler, participated in the compilation of the dynastic history, and later rose to director of the Imperial Academy (Guozijian jijiu; 司成); his offices also included shijiang (侍講). In 1604 he left the capital and returned home.
In 1609, he died after being overcome by grief during mourning for his mother.
Learning and associations
He favored the teachings of Wang Shouren, became known for lecturing, studied Wang’s writings, and followed the learning of Zhou Rudeng. His teachers included Li Kuiyang, Huang Xueshi, and Zhang Ying. Dong Yongshi admired and valued him, while Huang Hui praised his learning.
He was a member of the Gong’an school, exchanged poems with Yuan Hongdao, traveled with him, and received poetry and prose from him. He wrote prefaces for works by Li Tingji and Zhou Rudeng, and a sacrificial text for Zhou Rudeng; he wrote biographies of Xu Wei, Luo Wanhua, and Chen, the wife of Tao She. He also wrote tomb inscriptions for Tao Dashun, Wang Erkang, Lin Xiechun, Fan Jia, Gao Congli, Xu Yandeng, Shang Weizheng, and Zhao Tang, as well as xingzhuang for Tao Dashun, Zhao Jin, Wu Dui, Wang Yuanjing, Wang Jiaping, Shang Weizheng, and Qian Li.
Works
His works include the sixteen-volume 《歇庵集》, 《墨雜說》 in one volume, and 《放生辨惑》 in one volume. Other works include 《解莊》 and 《水天閣集》, the latter also appearing as 《天水閣集》; a collected 《陶望齡全集》 was compiled in later times.
References
- CBDB Tao Wangling (130726)
- 搜韵 陶望齡 (51362)
- 法鼓佛教人名规范数据库 陶望齡 (A007225)
- Wikidata Tao Wangling (Q15933413)