Xin Qiji

Life

After the Central Plain fell at the end of the Jingkang era, Xin joined the resistance against Jin while still young. In Shaoxing 31 (1161), he joined Geng Jing's loyalist army as secretary; the following year he submitted a memorial to the Song court. The emperor welcomed the army at Jiankang, appointed him secretary to the Tianping military command, and sent him with the commander's seal to summon Geng Jing. Zhang Anguo, a commander under Geng Jing, murdered Geng and surrendered to Jin; Xin returned to Haizhou, led loyalist troops to the Jin camp, captured Zhang, brought him back, and was then transferred as a military judge at Jiangyin.

At the beginning of the Qiandao era, Xin presented the memorial 《美芹十論》; in Qiandao 4 (1168) he became assistant prefect of Jiankang. In Qiandao 6, Emperor Xiaozong summoned him for an audience at Yanhe Hall, where he submitted a detailed memorial on the strategy of restoration, and in Qiandao 8 he became prefect of Chuzhou. At Chuzhou he eased tax levies, attracted displaced people, trained local militia, and discussed tuntian.

Over the following years he served as prefect of Jiangling, Longxing, and Tanzhou, and as pacification commissioner for Hubei, Jiangxi, and Hunan. He also served as criminal justice inspector in Jiangxi, transport judge for Jingxi, criminal justice inspector in western Zhejiang, and prefect of Fuzhou with pacification responsibility in Fujian. While serving as prefect of Tanzhou and pacification commissioner for Hunan, he established the Feihu Army, which became a powerful regional force; his other appointments included Director of the Granary Section of the Ministry of Revenue, Grand Minister of the Court of the Treasury, and Junior Minister of the Court of Judicial Review.

During his second term as prefect of Longxing, he was dismissed after independently diverting grain boats for famine relief. In Shaoxi 2 (1191), he was recalled as inspector of criminal justice in Fujian, then became prefect of Fuzhou and pacification commissioner for Fujian, but was dismissed again soon afterward. In Jiatai 3 (1203), he was recalled as prefect of Shaoxing and pacification commissioner for eastern Zhejiang, and was made a Hanlin academician-in-waiting; the following year he became prefect of Zhenjiang but soon lost office after an improper recommendation. In Kaixi 3, he was summoned to the capital to present affairs and advanced to Director of the Privy Council, but died before receiving the appointment, at the age of sixty-eight; he was posthumously awarded the name Zhongmin.

Family and associations

His father was Xin Wenyu; his grandfather was Xin Zan, his great-grandfather Xin Ji, and his fourth-generation ancestor Xin Shigu. His father-in-law was Fan Bangyan, his brother-in-law Fan Rushan, and his clan cousin Xin Zhu. He had two concubines, Tian and Qian, and two daughters, who married Fan Yan and Chen Chengfu respectively.

The family included a son, Xin 㔶, who died in 1184, as well as Xin Zhen, Xin Ju, Xin 稏, Xin Biao, Xin Rang, Xin Sui, Xin Jie, and Xin 褎, listed from eldest to eighth son. Xin 稏 was born in 1181 and died in 1242, while Xin 褎 was born in 1205 and died in 1250; he also had a grandson, Xin 鞬. His friends included Chen Liang, Zhu Xi, and Lu You.

Thought and literary achievement

Xin made resistance to Jin and restoration his life's aims, measured himself by achievement, and was repeatedly appointed and dismissed before dying in grief and anger. He was a major writer of ci and changduanju; his verse is tragic and impassioned, represents the bold and unconstrained style, and led to his being paired with Su Shi as “Su-Xin.”

In late spring 1179, Xin was transferred from the Hubei to the Hunan transport commission. His colleagues held a farewell banquet for him at South Tower in Wuchang, where he composed 《水調歌頭·折盡武昌柳》 on the spot, expressing a bold, tragic, and frustrated mood.

Works and transmission

His collections include 《稼軒詞》 and 《稼軒長短句》.

Accounts differ on the transmission of 《稼軒集》. One says that the poetry collection was lost, while noting that Xin Qitai compiled 《稼軒集抄存》 during the Jiaqing era and Deng Guangming later expanded it as 《辛稼軒詩文抄存》; another says that 《稼軒集》 circulated. Volume 401 of the 《宋史》 contains his biography, and Chen Si produced 《辛稼軒年譜》; 《辛稼軒詩文抄存》 also places newly collected poems outside the original collection in its second volume.