Zhang Xie

Zhang Xie

Zhang Xie (Xie) (1574-1640 A.D.) was named Shaohe, and he was named Haibin anecdote. At the age of 10, he had a good command of five classics and read hundreds of historical books. When he was young, he was famous for his poems. After Zhang Xie's mid-term election at the age of 20, he felt the fierce competition in the officialdom after his father Zhang tingbang was dismissed without any reason. So he didn't want to go to Beijing for official career. Instead, he settled in Zhenjiang (Shima town) to serve his father. Wanli 45 years (1617) written "East and West Ocean Research.". In the reign of Tianqi, he Qiaoyuan recommended Zhang Xie to the imperial court to compile Shenzong Shilu. Huang Zongxi, the author of Wenji, dongxiyangkao and qunyuluoji, and the author of selected works of 72 schools of thought in Han and Wei dynasties, called him "wanlijianzuo".

Life of the characters

Shima, Longxi County, Ming Dynasty. Zhang Xie was born in an official family. His great grandfather, Zhang Chuo, was a Jinshi. He was an official and a doctor in the criminal department. His uncle, Zhang Tingdong, was a Jinshi and a pedestrian. His father, Zhang tingbang, was a Jinshi. He once served as magistrate of Taiping County and Cheng of Zhenjiang. Zhang tingbang was a clean and honest official and retired from his hometown at the age of 30. Influenced by his family, Zhang Xie was well-known for his literary talent when he was young. He won the mid-term examination at the age of 21, but he saw the political corruption in the late Ming Dynasty, and in view of his father's experience of being demoted or even dismissed because of "bad deeds", he had no intention of becoming an official. During the period of living at home, he devoted himself to writing, serving his father, and forming the Fuyun poetry club with local celebrity Jiang Mengyu and Fengya hall beside Kaiyuan Temple in Zhangzhou. In the Ming Dynasty, the handicraft industry and overseas trade of Zhangzhou developed rapidly, and Yuegang became the largest foreign trade port in China. At that time, Zhang Xie was entrusted by Tao Rong, the magistrate of Haicheng County, Xiao Ji, the manager of Zhangzhou government, and Wang Qizong, the governor of the State Council, to compile a survey of the East and the West as a guide for Zhangzhou's trade with eastern and Western countries. Zhang Xie not only extensively collected government official papers and archives, but also consulted many predecessors' and contemporary people's notes and writings. He also interviewed boatmen, shipowners, sailors, and maritime merchants. After detailed and rigorous examination and analysis, he imitated Zhao Rushi's Zhufan Zhi in Song Dynasty and wrote the book in 1617. The book consists of 12 volumes, recording the history, deeds, situation, products and trade of 40 countries in the East and West; recording the waterway, two ocean routes, marine meteorology, tides, as well as the Chinese people's long-term sailing activities in the South China Sea Islands, shipbuilding industry and the organization of sea vessels, etc.; it also contains the relevant historical materials of Sino foreign relations since the Qin and Han Dynasties and the relevant documents of Sino foreign relations in the song, yuan and Ming Dynasties. The book also records the atrocities of Gaoyu in Fujian during Shenzong period, and the demonstration movement of Haicheng people against Gaoyu. A study of the eastern and Western oceans is an important document on the relations between China and foreign countries and the history and geography of Southeast Asian countries in the Ming Dynasty. It is also a guide to the trade between Zhangzhou and the eastern and Western countries. It is of great historical value to the study of the history of Sino foreign relations, economic history, maritime history and overseas Chinese history. Zhou Qiyuan wrote a preface to the book, which was praised as "the beginning of an interview and the end of a book that has not been published" and "the supplement to what the predecessors had not prepared", indicating the value of the book. In the Tianqi period (1621-1627), he Qiaoyuan recommended Zhang Xie to the imperial court to compile the shenzongshi Lu, but he refused. He is a man of elegant interests, bold and erudite. He has made friends with many famous scholars at home and abroad, especially with scholars and celebrities such as Huang Daozhou, Xu Xiake, Zeng Xuequan and he Qiaoyuan. In his later years, Zhang Xie lived in seclusion in the "ten thousand stone room" of shishiyan in the south of Zhangzhou city. He died in 1640 at the age of 66.

work

Zhang Xie wrote 15 kinds of works in his life, totaling about 700 volumes. Huang Zongxi called him "Wanli intermediate writer". In addition to the famous "East and West Ocean Research", his works include 54 volumes of Fei Yunju collection, 66 volumes of sequel, 1 volume of Beihai manuscript, 4 volumes of cangzhenguan collection, 84 volumes of qunyuluo collection, and several volumes of minzhongji. He also engraved 72 anthologies of Han and Wei dynasties and the anthologies of Wang Bo, Yang Jiong, Lu Zhaolin and Luo Binwang. (the four part series of Hao Zhuan, Wang Zian's collection and youyou's subset, which are photocopied, are printed in Zhang Xie's block printed version.) Together with Liu Tinghui and others, he compiled Zhangzhou Prefecture annals, Haicheng county annals with CAI Guozhen and others, and Huang Mingzheng with he Qiaoyuan. The selected works of 72 schools of thought published by him in the Han and Wei dynasties became the base for later generations to publish these books. He wrote "Ode to autumn", which can be seen in volume 8 of "sea of plaintext".

Chinese PinYin : Zhang Xie