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Yuan Hongdao

Type Figure Region China Time c. 1568–1610 Also known as courtesy name Zhonglang、style Shigong、Yuan Zhonglang

Yuan Hongdao (c.1568—1610), Ming litterateur and leader of the Gong'an school, advocate of the 'innate spirit' theory and one of the 'Three Yuans.'

Timeline

  1. 1601–1602Wuyuan · HuizhouFrom Wanli 29 to 30 Yuan Hongdao served as magistrate of Wuyuan in Huizhou Prefecture. He showed sympathy for the people, reduced exorbitant levies, reformed the administration, while also touring Huangshan and Baiyue, writing many landscape travel essays and poems. During this period he further practiced his innate-spirit literary theory, replacing archaic imitation with genuine feeling.
  2. 1603–1607Jiangnan · JiangnanAfter resigning, Yuan Hongdao wandered Jiangnan, socializing with literary notables like Tang Xianzu and Zhong Xing, and writing famous prose pieces such as 'History of Vases' and 'Broadened Zhuangzi.' He vigorously advocated 'expressing the innate spirit alone, unbound by fixed forms,' and the Gong'an school's literary ideas spread widely in this period, influencing the late-Ming poetry and prose reform movement.
  3. 1608–1610Nanjing · NanjingFrom Wanli 36 Yuan Hongdao again sat the examinations and went to the capital, later requesting leave to recover from illness and residing in Nanjing. He died of illness in Wanli 38, aged only forty-three. His brother Zongdao collected his posthumous works into the 'Complete Works of Yuan Zhonglang,' through which the Gong'an school's literary legacy was systematically transmitted to later ages.

Sources