[1]DatesXu Xianqing's death year is 1602, while his birth year is presented inconsistently: one account leaves it unknown and another gives 1537; the year values 1537 and 1602 are also explicitly supplied elsewhere.
Souyun徐顯卿 (46184)The two biographical texts differ over whether the birth year is known, with one giving 1537, but both give 1602 as the death year; the profile supplies 1537 and 1602 as the year values.
WikidataXu Xianqing (Q29577167)The date claims give 1537 and 1602 as the birth and death years.
[2]IdentityXu Xianqing was a Ming-dynasty Hanlin official and politician.
[3]Names and birthplaceHe was styled Gongwang, used the hao Jianan, whose Chinese forms include 檢庵 and 檢菴, was third in birth order, and came from Changzhou County in Suzhou Prefecture, Zhili.
CBDBXu Xianqing (130015)The alternate-name fields identify Gongwang as the courtesy name, Jianan as the romanized hao, 檢菴 as its Chinese form, and 三 as the birth-order designation; the address field gives Changzhou as the ancestral place.
Souyun徐顯卿 (46184)The biographical text and profile give the courtesy name, the hao 檢庵, and Changzhou County in Suzhou Prefecture, Zhili as his native place.
WikidataXu Xianqing (Q29577167)The name data preserves the romanized alias Jianan and the Chinese forms 公望, 檢菴, and 檢庵.
[4]Immediate familyHis father was Xu Qi, his mother Lady Lin, his stepmother Lady Li, his grandfather Xu Tinglan, and his great-grandfather Xu Jingchun.
CBDBXu Xianqing (130015)The kinship entries name Xu Qi, Lin, Li, Xu Tinglan, and Xu Jingchun and specify their respective relationships as father, mother, stepmother, grandfather, and great-grandfather.
[5]Siblings and wifeHis elder brothers were Xu Xianchen and Xu Xianxian, his younger brothers were Xu Xianzai, Xu Xianxiang, and Xu Xiandao, and his wife was Lady Qiu.
CBDBXu Xianqing (130015)The kinship entries list two elder brothers, three younger brothers, and Lady Qiu as his wife.
[6]Examination careerHe held the statuses of shengyuan and xianggong, passed the jinshi examination in the second year of the Longqing era, and ranked sixteenth in the second class.
CBDBXu Xianqing (130015)The examination entries list the jinshi, xianggong, and shengyuan statuses and give the jinshi placement as sixteenth in the second class.
Souyun徐顯卿 (46184)The biographical texts identify the Longqing second-year jinshi degree, and the date annotation gives the corresponding year as 1568.
[7]Hanlin serviceAfter selection as a shujishi, Xu Xianqing served for many years in the Hanlin Academy and the Office of the Heir Apparent, presided over the Jingyan lectures, and helped compile the Veritable Records of Shizong and Muzong and the Da Ming Huidian.
Souyun徐顯卿 (46184)The biographical text gives the selection as shujishi, the years in the Hanlin Academy and Office of the Heir Apparent, the Jingyan lectures, and the compilation of the imperial records and Da Ming Huidian; the profile repeats the relevant titles.
[8]Senior officesHe served as libationer of the Imperial College and chief of the Office of the Heir Apparent, then became an Academician Reader in the Hanlin Academy and took charge of the institution.
Souyun徐顯卿 (46184)The biographical text lists the Imperial College, Office of the Heir Apparent, and Hanlin offices and states that he took charge of the institution.
[9]Career standingThe biographical account characterizes most of his offices as select qinghua appointments.
Souyun徐顯卿 (46184)The biographical text says that the offices he held were largely qinghua selections.
[10]Later careerIn 1587 he became vice minister of rites and in 1588 vice minister of personnel; after criticism from remonstrating officials he requested retirement, returned to Jiangnan, and spent his final years in Yixing County, Changzhou Prefecture.
Souyun徐顯卿 (46184)The biographical text gives the sequence from vice minister of rites to vice minister of personnel, the attack by remonstrating officials, the request for retirement, and the final years in Yixing; the date annotations identify 1587 and 1588.
[11]WritingsHis poetry and prose were distinctive, and the twenty-seven-juan Tianyuanlou ji has survived.
CBDBXu Xianqing (130015)The works field gives Tianyuanlou ji as a twenty-seven-juan collection.
Souyun徐顯卿 (46184)The biographical texts mention Tianyuanlou ji as a work that survives and describe his poetry and prose as distinctive.
[12]Literary relationsHis literary relations included correspondence, exchanged poems and prose, and the composition of prefaces, epitaphs, sacrificial texts, grave inscriptions, biographical accounts, and biographies for others, while others also wrote prefaces connected with his works.
CBDBXu Xianqing (130015)The collection and association fields together show letters sent and answered, exchanged poems and prose, prefaces, epitaphs, sacrificial texts, grave inscriptions, biographical accounts, biographies, and prefaces written by others.
[13]Named connectionsHe wrote prefaces for books by Cai Qing and Wang Shou; Li Weizhen wrote a preface for a work associated with him; he composed epitaphs for Wang Dingjue, Yu Daosheng, Sun Yikui, and Liu Zhuo, a biography of Zhou Ziyi, and a sacrificial text for Wang Shizhen.
CBDBXu Xianqing (130015)The association fields identify Cai Qing, Wang Shou, Li Weizhen, Wang Dingjue, Yu Daosheng, Sun Yikui, Liu Zhuo, Zhou Ziyi, and Wang Shizhen and specify the preface, epitaph, biography, and sacrificial-text relationships.
[14]Portrait scrollIn later life he commissioned Yu Ren and Wu Yue to depict his life, inscribed verses on each panel, and made the Xu Xianqing huanji tu, which survives and is now held by the Palace Museum in Beijing.
Souyun徐顯卿 (46184)The biographical text names Yu Ren of Taicang and Wu Yue of Shexian, describes the depiction and inscriptions of his life, and states that the resulting work is now held by the Palace Museum in Beijing.
CBDB
