Jiao Hong

Life

Jiao Hong studied diligently from childhood. At sixteen he came first in the children’s examination, was selected as a metropolitan student, and won the praise of the examiners and the Southern Zhili educational inspector Zhao Fangquan. In 1564, at the Jiazi provincial examination, he qualified as a juren at age twenty-five; he then failed seven metropolitan examinations in succession. Twenty-five years later, in 1589, he finally passed the metropolitan examination and ranked first in the first degree at the palace examination.

In 1589 he was appointed a compiler in the Hanlin Academy. In 1594 he was ordered to help compile the Ming national history, served as a lecturer and Eastern Palace instructor, and presented the one-fascicle Yangzheng Tushuo (養正圖說), also titled Yangzheng Tujie (養正圖解). In 1597 he served as chief examiner for the Shuntian provincial examination, selecting the unsuccessful candidate Xu Guangqi first and declaring him “unquestionably a great scholar of lasting renown.”

Blunt and uncompromising by temperament, he offended a number of powerful officials. Cao Daxian, Yang Tinglan, and others later impeached him on the charge that the essays of nine candidates contained reckless and eccentric wording, and he was demoted to assistant prefect of Funing. In 1598 he took up the post in Funing, Fujian. In the following year’s general assessment he was rated “impetuous,” had his rank reduced, and resigned to return home; another account says that he was transferred to a post in the Court of Imperial Studs after a year and then resigned. After returning home, he lectured on yin-yang and innate knowing (liangzhi) and was friendly with Li Zhuowu. He studied under Geng Dingxiang and maintained friendships with Wang Mao and Pan Zixiang. In 1602 Matteo Ricci, the Italian missionary, visited him during his missionary work in China.

Jiao Hong died in 1620, in the first year of the Taichang reign. Anzong later bestowed on him the posthumous name Wenduan, although another tradition gives Wenxian.

Scholarship and thought

His scholarly roles encompassed historiography, Confucian learning, philosophy, and the compilation of opera anthologies. He read widely, mastered the classical institutional tradition, and excelled in ancient prose. His discussions extended to yin-yang, liangzhi, and Buddhist doctrine. At Qixia he formed a Lotus Society, invited scholars and eminent monks to discuss Buddhist teachings, and wrote the Record of Paintings of Five Hundred Arhats (《五百羅漢畫記》) for a temple.

Works

His works include Danyuan ji (《澹園集》), also known as Yiyuan ji (《漪園集》), Guochao xianzheng lu (《國朝獻徵錄》), Guoshi jingji zhi (《國史經籍志》), Jiaoshi bicheng (《焦氏筆乘》), Jiaoshi leilin (《焦氏類林》), Jiaoshi cangshumu (《焦氏藏書目》), in two fascicles, Yangzheng tuj ie (《養正圖解》), also written Yangzheng tushuo (《養正圖說》), and Laozi yi (《老子翼》) and Zhuangzi yi (《莊子翼》). Other works include Sushu kanwu (《俗書刊誤》), in twelve fascicles; 《荀子》, in three; 《老子》, in one; 《莊子》, in five; 《莊子翼》, in eight with an appendix; 《列子》, 《韓非子》, 《呂氏春秋》, 《揚子》, 《文中子》, and 《墨苑序》, each in one; 《淮南子》, in one; 《支談》, in three; 《陰符經解》, in one; and the Buddhist titles 《楞嚴經精解評林》, 《楞伽經精解評林》, 《圓覺經精解評林》, and 《法華經精解評林》.