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Hai Rui

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

Hai Rui (1514–1587), courtesy name Ruxian, sobriquet Gangfeng, from Qiongshan, Guangdong, was a famous upright official of the Ming dynasty, known fo…

Timeline

  1. 1585–1587Nanjing · Nanjing CityIn the thirteenth year of the Wanli reign, the 71-year-old Hai Rui was recalled as Minister of Personnel in Nanjing. In office he pressed for reform of the bureaucracy and elimination of entrenched abuses, remaining diligent despite his age; his reputation for integrity shook the court, though he kept his distance from capital politics, chiefly managing personnel selection in the secondary capital.
  2. 1587Nanjing · Nanjing CityIn the eleventh month of the fifteenth year of the Wanli reign, Hai Rui died of illness in his Nanjing office at the age of seventy-four. The court granted him sacrificial rites and burial, posthumously conferred the title Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent, and gave him the posthumous name Zhongjie; his integrity has been praised by later generations.

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