Zheng Shen

Life

His great-grandfather was Zheng Dechi (鄭德池), his grandfather Zheng Wentai (鄭文泰), and his father Zheng Rui (鄭銳, 1289–1320); his mother was of the Lou family. In his youth others derided him as eccentric, but his uncle Zheng Qin (鄭欽) recognized his ability and sent him to study in the capital. He became a pupil of Wu Lai (吳萊), who wrote the farewell piece "Seeing Off Zheng Xunchang on His Journey North to the Capital"; among his fellow students were Song Lian (宋濂), Xuan Jie (宣岊) and Lou Shibao (樓士寶), with whom he studied at the charitable school of Fang Yi at Baimen in Zhuji.

He served as a xuanshi (herald) in the Xuanzheng Yuan and the Zhongshu Sheng (Secretariat), and was recruited as a retainer by Biligtü Buqa (別兒怯不花). In 1348, the eighth year of the Zhizheng era, he became a zhangshi (senior secretary), with Toghto (脫脫) as his superior; in 1350 he was appointed lecturer (shoujing lang) at the Xuanwen Pavilion, and in 1354 he moved to the Ministry of Personnel as a yuanwai lang (vice-director) while also serving as a jianshu boshi (connoisseur of calligraphy) at the Xuanwen Pavilion. In 1356 he became a censor and an assistant commissioner (qianshi) of the Zizhou circuit surveillance commission; he later served as an assistant commissioner of the surveillance commission under the Jiangzhe Branch Secretariat and as a langzhong (director) of the Left and Right Office of the Jiangxi Branch Secretariat. In 1361, while serving as assistant surveillance commissioner of Jiangdong, he died at Hangzhou and was later buried at Yiwu.

He held the teaching seat in the household of a grand preceptor (taishi), instructing its young members in letters and poetry, and the grand preceptor never stopped praising him. When an order came that the crown prince should join the studies, Zheng Shen firmly declined, but to no avail: the crown prince came to his house, and Zheng presented the Classic of Filial Piety, receiving in return a suit of brocade. He was afterwards summoned to the Mingren Hall, where the emperor praised the severity of his teaching and ordered him admitted to the palace school; the Secretariat also had him appointed concurrently a translation officer of the imperial lectures, and his exposition of the classics was so earnest that the emperor's countenance changed.

In the Ministry of Personnel, when Zhang Ding (張鼎), a vice-magistrate of Hu County aged sixty-seven, was blocked by the clerks on the ground of a three-year rule of office, Zheng Shen had his appointment submitted at once; and when Dong Jia (董甲) of Mubang in Yunnan, entitled to office by hereditary privilege but too poor to bribe the clerks, was challenged over discrepancies in the household register, Zheng ordered the archivists to check the records and register him. While serving on a surveillance commission, he examined the dates in the case of Zhao Dane (趙大訥), magistrate of Yongxin, whose request to retire had lapsed under a new regulation, and allowed it to proceed under the earlier rule. When the grand preceptor wished to choose censors, Zheng recommended Wang Mei (王梅), and the grand preceptor regarded him as a man of integrity. A chancellor later sought to appoint him a xuanshi and sent the investigating officer Yaozhu (咬住) to call on him, but Yaozhu misrepresented his answer and the appointment lapsed; knowing himself to have been betrayed, Zheng made no attempt to clear himself.

Friends and commemoration

He was closely associated in literary exchange with Jie Xisi (揭傒斯), Ouyang Xuan (歐陽玄), Li Haowen (李好文) and Wei Su (危素). Ouyang Xuan wrote a colophon on his large characters "Long Life" (眉壽) and an encomium on his "Unicorn and Phoenix" (麟鳳), and at his request composed the tomb inscription for a member of the Zheng family. After his death the left chancellor of Jiangzhe province, Dashi Temür (達識帖睦邇), grieved deeply and ordered the registrar Qian Yongren (錢用壬) and the assistant commissioner Badu (八都) to arrange the funeral. Song Lian wrote the tomb inscription "Tomb Inscription for the Late Zheng Jun, Assistant Surveillance Commissioner of Jiangdong", Shen Menglin (沈夢麟) composed the lament "Mourning Zheng Zhongji, Assistant Surveillance Commissioner", and Zheng Yong (鄭泳) wrote his conduct record.

Family

His wives were women of the Zhou (d. 1361), Wu and Wang families, and he had a concubine of the Kang family; a daughter, Zheng Fen (鄭棼). His younger brother was Zheng Qi (鄭淇) and his younger cousin Zheng Tao (鄭濤).