Zhang Wei

Life

His great-grandfather was Zhang Rui, his grandfather Zhang Yuanchun, his father Zhang He, and his mother Chen. He had five elder brothers—Zhang Zhong (born 1523), Zhang Ru, Zhang Bo, Zhang Zuo, and Zhang Zhun—and seven younger brothers—Zhang Pei, Zhang Hua, Zhang Fen, Zhang Yin, Zhang Ren, Zhang Manxu, and Zhang Chu. His wife was Cao, and his son was Zhang Dapu.

In the thirty-seventh year of the Jiajing reign (1558), he placed second in the Jiangxi provincial examination and became a juren. In the second year of Longqing (1568), he placed second in the metropolitan examination and received the second-class, thirty-first-place result in the palace examination, earning the jinshi degree.

After earning the jinshi degree, he was selected as a shujishi and appointed a compiler in the Hanlin Academy, taking part in compiling the Veritable Records of the Shizong Emperor. At the beginning of the Wanli reign, he proposed that historians keep the起居注 according to historical precedent; after offending Zhang Juzheng, he was demoted and appointed assistant prefect of Xuzhou. After Zhang Juzheng’s death, he was recalled as Left Zhongyun.

His subsequent offices included Director of Studies, Left Zhongyun, Grand Secretary of the Eastern Pavilion, Vice Minister of Personnel, Minister of Personnel, Minister of Rites, Grand Secretary of the Wenyuan Hall, and Grand Secretary of the Wuying Hall; he also held the titles Junior Guardian, Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent, and Guardian. Other offices included Shijiang, Director of the Office of Imperial Seals, National University Libationer, Vice Minister of Rites, Director of Studies of the National University, Acting Director of Studies of the National University, and the posts of 詹事府少詹事 and 詹事府詹事.

In 1574, the eighth year of Wanli, he became Director of Studies in the sixth month. In 1591, the nineteenth year of Wanli, he became Vice Minister of Personnel and concurrently Grand Secretary of the Eastern Pavilion, later serving as Grand Secretary of the Wenyuan Hall; another account describes him as being promoted to Minister of Personnel and then transferred to Grand Secretary of the Wuying Hall.

Forceful and energetic, he made many decisions in government but often interfered with the Personnel Ministry’s authority over appointments and dismissals. When the controversy over the mining taxes arose, he could not stop it. He recommended Yang Hao for military affairs in Korea; Yang failed to perform adequately, and critics alleged that his promotion had been obtained through “由賄位得之.”

After being implicated in the first Demon Book case and accumulating other charges, he was removed from office and reduced to commoner status. He returned to Nanchang and retired at South Lake, where he established a villa on an island in the lake called Xinghualou. There he cultivated literary friendships and once drank and composed poetry with Tang Xianzu, Liu Yingqiu, and others.

During the Tianqi era under the Xizong Emperor, he was posthumously granted the title Guardian and given the posthumous name Wenzhuang; the posthumous name is also written Wenduan or Wenrui.

Works and associations

Shen Shixing recommended his appointment as Vice Minister of Personnel and Grand Secretary of the Eastern Pavilion. Wang Zongmu, Feng Mengzhen, Huang Fengxiang, and Zhao Shixian, among others, wrote prefaces to his works, while Cao Xuequan was his student. Zhang Wei exchanged letters, poems, and prose with Tang Xianzu, Liu Yingqiu, and others.

His works included *Wenqi ji* in one juan, *Fayin lu* in one juan, *Daode jing zhu* in two juan, *Yinfu jing zhu* in one juan, *Xianyun guan ji*, and *Conggui shanfang gao*. *Cilin dian gu* is also associated with him, and *Conggui shanfang gao* is alternatively written *Conggui shanfang huigao*.