Xu Qianxue (, 24 November 1631 – 8 September 1694) was a

Han Chinese The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctive v ...

politician,

scholar A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or research ...

, and

bibliophile Bibliophilia or bibliophilism is the love of books. A bibliophile or bookworm is an individual who loves and frequently reads and/or collects books. Profile The classic bibliophile is one who loves to read, admire and collect books, often ama ...

of the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

Career

Xu Qianxue was born in

Kunshan Kunshan is a county-level city in southeastern Jiangsu province with Shanghai bordering its eastern border and Suzhou on its western boundary. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Suzhou. Name There is a strong po ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its c ...

province in 1631. He obtained a ''

jinshi ''Jinshi'' () was the highest and final degree in the imperial examination in Imperial China. The examination was usually taken in the imperial capital in the palace, and was also called the Metropolitan Exam. Recipients are sometimes referr ...

'' degree in the

imperial examination The imperial examination (; lit. "subject recommendation") refers to a civil-service examination system in Imperial China, administered for the purpose of selecting candidates for the state bureaucracy. The concept of choosing bureaucrats by ...

in 1670, ranking third overall as a ''Tanhua''. In 1672, he was placed in charge of supervising the Shun-t'ien provincial examinations. He was tasked with compiling the ''

History of Ming The ''History of Ming'' or the ''Ming History'' (''Míng Shǐ'') is one of the official Chinese historical works known as the '' Twenty-Four Histories''. It consists of 332 volumes and covers the history of the Ming dynasty from 1368 to 1644. ...

'' in 1682 before being promoted to the sub-chancellorship of the

Grand Secretariat The Grand Secretariat (; Manchu: ''dorgi yamun'') was nominally a coordinating agency but ''de facto'' the highest institution in the imperial government of the Chinese Ming dynasty. It first took shape after the Hongwu Emperor abolished the off ...

in 1685. He concurrently served as an instructor in the

Hanlin Academy The Hanlin Academy was an academic and administrative institution of higher learning founded in the 8th century Tang China by Emperor Xuanzong in Chang'an. Membership in the academy was confined to an elite group of scholars, who performed se ...

. The following year, Xu was appointed vice-president of the Board of Rites and was made president of the

Censorate The Censorate was a high-level supervisory agency in Imperial China, first established during the Qin dynasty (221–207 BC). The Censorate was a highly effective agency during the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty (1271–1368). During the ...

in 1687. At the same time, Xu served as director-general of the commission appointed to compile the ''Comprehensive Geography of the Empire'' (大明一統志). Xu then became president of the Board of Punishments in 1688 as well as chief examiner of the metropolitan examination. Xu was heavily involved in the factional struggles between

Mingju Mingju (Manchu:, Mölendroff: ''mingju''; , November 19, 1635 – June 3, 1708), of the Manchu Nara clan, was an official of the Qing Dynasty during the reign of the Kangxi Emperor. He was thrown in prison for corruption. Second cousin to the ...

and

Songgotu Songgotu (Manchu: ; ; 1636 – 1703) was a minister during the reign of the Kangxi Emperor of the Qing dynasty. He was an uncle of the emperor's primary spouse, Empress Xiaochengren of the Hešeri clan, who died during childbirth. He was als ...

in the late-seventeenth century. He supported Mingju's 'northern party' against Songgotu, but formed his own 'southern party' after falling out with Mingju. Xu also had a bitter rivalry with

Li Guangdi Li Guangdi (; 1642–1718), also known by his courtesy name Jinqing () and sobriquet Hou'an (), was a Chinese neo-Confucianist court official during the reign of the Kangxi Emperor of the Qing dynasty. Biography Li was a native of An-khoe Coun ...

, who considered him 'treacherous and dangerous in Court politics'. Xu resigned from office after he was accused to taking bribes from Zhang Qian, who was then governor of

Huguang Huguang was a province of China during the Yuan and Ming dynasties. It was founded by the Yuan dynasty in 1274. During the Yuan dynasty it included the areas of modern Hubei south of the Yangtze river, Hunan, Guizhou, and Guangxi. During the Min ...

. However, Xu remained in Beijing to supervise various literary projects. After his opponents accused one of his sons of, among other offences, obtaining his ''jinshi'' degree fraudulently, Xu resigned from these literary duties in the capital and returned home in 1690 to work on the ''Comprehensive Geography of the Empire'' with other leading scholars. Accusations of bribery, oppression of the common people, and misdemeanours committed by his family and servants followed Xu into retirement. According to Qizhi Zhang, Xu had developed an infamous reputation for abuse of power and taking bribes. There were popular ballads satirizing Xu's wealth 'piled up to the sky'. Consequently, he was stripped of his official rank and honours in 1691. In 1694, Xu was summoned to the capital to serve in various literary posts; however, he died before he could take office again.

Family

Xu had five sons, all of whom also obtained ''jinshi'' degrees. His two younger brothers, Xu Bingyi and Xu Yuanwen, were ''jinshi'' degree holders as well. In addition, Xu was a nephew of

Gu Yanwu Gu Yanwu () (July 15, 1613 – February 15, 1682), also known as Gu Tinglin (), was a Chinese philologist, geographer, and famous scholar-official in Qing dynasty. He spent his youth during the Manchu conquest of China in anti-Manchu activities ...

, another famed scholar-official in the Qing Dynasty.

References

Qing dynasty historians Qing dynasty government officials 18th-century Chinese historians {{China-politician-stub

Career

Family

See also

References