Wei Liaoweng

Life

His father was 魏孝璹, his grandfather 魏革, and his great-grandfather 魏大昕; his paternal uncle and adoptive father was 魏上行. He had a son 魏近思; a second son is given as 近愚 in one account and 魏克愚 in another, and he had a daughter 魏璧海.

In the fifth year of the Qingyuan era (1199), Wei passed the jinshi examination and was appointed a signing clerk in the Jiannan Xichuan military command. In the second year of the Jiatai era (1202), he was summoned as Guozi zheng, and in the following year became a military-academy erudite. In the first year of the Kaixi era (1205), he was summoned to an examination at the Hanlin Academy; his opposition to the proposal to expand the frontier brought him into conflict with Han Tuozhou, and he was reassigned as a secretary in the Palace Secretariat. The following year he became a proofreader and, requesting an external post because of an elderly parent, was appointed prefect of Jiading.

After Shi Miyuan entered the central government, Wei declined further summons. During mourning for his father, he built a residence below Mount Baihe and opened his doors to students. He later served as prefect of Hanzhou and Meizhou and remained in Shu for seventeen years. In the fourth year of the Jiading era (1211), he was promoted to judicial commissioner of Tongchuan Circuit; in the eighth year he concurrently became a supervisory commissioner and transport commissioner, and in the tenth year he became prefect of Luzhou, later serving as prefect of Tongchuan.

When summoned for an audience in the fifteenth year of Jiading, Wei became Vice Minister of War, then Director of the Office of State Historiography as well as a Director of the Ministry of Personnel, and subsequently Grand Court常卿, Director of the Palace Library, and Palace Attendant. After Lizong's accession, he became a Palace Recorder. His discussion of the matter of Prince Ji brought him into conflict with the chief minister; he was impeached, reduced by three grades, and sent to reside in Jingzhou.

During the Shaoding era he was restored to office and given a fengci appointment, then advanced to Palace Attendant of the Baozhang Repository. In the fifth year of Shaoding (1232), he was recalled as pacification commissioner of Tongchuan Circuit and prefect of Luzhou, where he built fortifications, repaired military preparedness, and promoted schools. In the first year of Duanping (1234), he was recalled as acting Minister of Rites and Director of the Hanlin Academy; within six months he submitted more than twenty memorials on urgent affairs, and was then appointed Academician of the Duanming Palace and Assistant Commissioner of the Privy Council to supervise the armies of Jinghu, soon also taking charge of the Jianghuai command.

He was later made prefect of Shaoxing and pacification commissioner of eastern Zhejiang. In the first year of Jiaxi (1237), he was transferred to Fuzhou as prefect and pacification commissioner of Fujian, and died in office from illness that year at the age of sixty. He was posthumously granted the title Grand Preceptor, received the posthumous name Wenjing, and was later posthumously elevated to Duke of Qin.

Learning and associations

Wei was deeply learned in the classics and antiquity, and his scholarship formed a school of its own; while residing at Mount Baihe, he taught students. He submitted a memorial discussing ten abuses and was recalled, and during his time at court submitted more than twenty memorials in six months, all addressing urgent matters of the day. His friends included 虞剛簡, 范仲黼, and 李心傳.

Works

His writings were extensive. A transmitted edition of the Heshan quanwen ji consists of 109 juan; his posthumous manuscripts were printed by his sons 近思 and 近愚, while a kin list gives the second son's name as 魏克愚.

His classical works include 《周易要義》, 《尚書要義》, 《毛詩要義》, 《春秋左傳要義》, 《儀禮要義》, 《禮記要義》, and 《九經要義》. Other titles include 《正朔考》, 《古今考》, 《經外雜鈔》, 《師友雅言》, 《鶴山題跋》, 《鶴山渠陽讀書雜抄》, 《鶴山渠陽經外雜鈔》, 《鶴山筆錄》, 《學醫隨筆》, and 《鶴山集》; he also wrote 《鶴山詞》.