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Hai Rui

Type Figure Region China Time 1514–1587 Also known as Gangfeng、Hai Gangfeng、Hai Ruigangfeng

Hai Rui (1514–1587), sobriquet Gangfeng, was a famous upright official of the Ming dynasty from Qiongshan, Hainan, who served as instructor, county m…

Timeline

  1. 1537–1544Qiongshan · QiongshanHai Rui passed the provincial examination (juren) in the sixteenth year of Jiajing (1537) and later served as instructor in Nanping, Fujian, beginning to be known among scholars and locally for his integrity and firmness.
  2. 1551–1560Zhejiang, Jiangxi, and elsewhere · Ming dynastyIn the 1550s Hai Rui served as magistrate of Chun'an and other posts, building waterworks, relieving famine, and curbing the powerful, gradually earning the name 'Hai Qingtian'. By this stage his administrative practice and upright conduct were widely known.
  3. 1565–1587Beijing, Nanjing · NanjingIn 1565 he submitted the Memorial on Governance directly remonstrating with the Jiajing emperor, was imprisoned, then returned to office; under Longqing and Wanli he rose to Right Censor-in-Chief in Nanjing, dying in office there, his upright name surviving after him.

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