Xu Xiangqing

Life

His birth and death dates are generally given as 1479–1557; one account leaves his death year unknown, while another gives the exact dates 1 October 1479 and 2 September 1557.

Xu came from the Xu family of Haining. His recorded lineage included Xu Shun as a fourth-generation ancestor, Xu Zhen as great-grandfather, Xu Xun as grandfather, and Xu Zi as father; his mother was Lady Yu and his stepmother Lady Ju. He had six younger brothers—Xu Shiqing, Xu Qiangqing, Xu Huaiqing, Xu Caiqing, Xu Ganqing, and Xu Tongqing—as well as a wife surnamed Shen, a second wife surnamed Li, a son, Xu Wenzao, and a grandson, Xu Dunjian.

He first held the status of a licentiate and placed forty-first in the Zhejiang provincial examination of 1507, the second year of the Zhengde era. In 1517, the twelfth year of Zhengde, he ranked 267th in the metropolitan examination and 112th, in the second class, in the palace examination. He then underwent observation service in the Censorate; after the accession of the Jiajing Emperor, he was selected in the eighth month of 1521 to serve as a remonstrator in the Military Section (兵科給事中), a post he held for about three years while repeatedly submitting memorials.

In office he memorialized against the illegal redemption of crimes with money by the eunuchs Zhang Rui and Zhang Zhong, opposed the succession to office of Zhang Qin’s adopted son, and defended the upright official Lin Jun after he was slandered. He also argued that the sons of meritorious officials received fewer hereditary appointments than eunuch servants; his language was so pointed that he reproached the emperor as arrogant and indolent, leaving the entire court stunned, although his arguments were not heeded.

Not long afterward, he requested leave on grounds of illness and returned home. Accounts differ about what followed: one career record places his restoration as a remonstrator in the Ritual Section in 1539, while another says that the 1529 decree removing officials who had been ill for more than three years but did not report to the capital left Xu dismissed and inactive, after which he did not return to office.

Retirement and associations

After withdrawing to Haiyan, Xu moved from Ziyun Village to Chamoshan south of the village because of the scenery, cut through rock to draw water, and laid out plots for tea. He rode a yellow ox in a short rain cape and high hat, with two cranes following him through the valleys. During a heavy snow he climbed to the summit of Yunxiu to compose a poem, and people who saw him took him for an immortal, prompting the sobriquet Yuncun Laoren. He later bought a mountain at Yong’an Lake and established the Yuntao Estate at Duqugang; later generations consequently called the mountain Jiuqi.

More than ten people recommended him for office, but he declined them all. He lived in seclusion for forty years without once entering a city, and Xia Yan held him in the highest esteem.

After Xia Yan took power, he summoned Xu to return to office, but Xu declined. When Xia later passed through Jiahe, he wrote to Xu to ask whether he should proceed; officials at the provincial, prefectural, and county levels waited in boats along the route. Wearing a Ge cap and a li belt, Xu went to meet him in a small boat and said only that it was regrettable that Li Changyuan had been made an observation judge. Xia rose and thanked him, saying that he would submit a resignation memorial; Xu soon beat a drum and turned his boat back, the attendants dispersed, and Xia, angered by the episode, failed to resign and eventually died in a disaster.

Poetry and works

Xu’s poetry is described as cool and sinewy, and his Huangmen ji circulated in his time. Other bibliographic titles include Yuntun wenji (雲屯文集), Shihan fangjia (史漢方駕), Xu Xiangqing quanji (許相卿全集), in twenty-six juan, Yuncun ji (雲邨集), in ten juan, Ge chao zhi (革朝志), in ten juan, another Yuncun ji (雲村集), in fourteen juan, and Xu shi yimou sizhe (許氏貽謀四則), in one juan; the two Yuncun titles differ in both wording and length.