Wang Jiusi

Life

His great-grandfather was Wang Yan, his grandfather Wang Xuan, and his father Wang Ru; his mother was Liu. He had three younger brothers—Wang Jiuxu, Wang Jiugao, and Wang Jiufeng—and his wife was Zhao.

He held the status of shengyuan and also became a xianggong juren. In the ninth year of the Hongzhi era (1496), he passed the bingchen examination and ranked thirty-sixth in the third class. After the examination, he was selected as a shujishi and appointed a Compiler in the Hanlin Academy; he later served as a zhushi in the Ministry of Personnel and as a langzhong.

At the beginning of the Zhengde era, his affiliation with Liu Jin brought him appointment as langzhong in the Ministry of Personnel. After Liu Jin’s fall, he was demoted to assistant prefect of Shouzhou, a post he took in the fifth year of Zhengde; he was soon subjected to further censure and compelled to retire. In his prime, after being cast aside, he paid musicians handsomely to teach him the pipa and became skilled in composing lyrics and songs.

Literary work

His work included ci, zhu gong diao, and sanqu; he is also counted among the Former Seven Masters of Ming literature. He and Kang Hai were leading masters of the qu tradition for several decades, and his works conveyed indignation at injustice. His poetry was rich in talent and inclined toward ornate beauty, although one assessment found its texture rough and not wholly free of Qin-style sound.

After returning to his native place, he planned the chuanqi play 游春记; criticism from friends and its submission to the academies caused a disturbance that fortunately subsided. His poem 《马嵬废庙》 depicts temple construction at Mawei during the Zhengde era, the seizure of farmland and expenditure of public funds, and the destruction of the stele after Liu Jin’s downfall.

He was a friend of Li Kaixian. He wrote prefaces for works by Wang Shu and Peng Ze, and he also wrote an epitaph for his younger brother, Wang Jiufeng.

Works

Works attributed to him include 《渼陂集》 in sixteen juan and 《渼陂集续集》 in three juan, as well as 《碧山乐府》, 《碧山续稿》, 《碧山新稿》, and 《王翰林集注黄帝八十一难经》 in five juan.