Wu Jingzi

Wu Jingzi

Wu Jingzi ( Chinese吴敬梓; also known as Mǐn Xuān敏 軒 or Wén Mù文 木; * 1701 in Quanjiao ; † December 12, 1754 in Yangzhou ) was a Chinese writer.

Life

Wu was born the son of an insignificant school inspector from Anhui , but from a famous family of officials , who was also fired because of a dispute with his superiors. He imparted to his son extensive knowledge on a Confucian basis at an early stage , but also an aversion to the civil service and the official examination system , which Wu would later caricature in his main work. At the age of 20, Wu successfully completed the licentiate examination and achieved the Xiucai title, but later refrained from further efforts.

Wu lost his mother at the age of 13 and his father at 23. After that, Wu led a loose, self-indulgent life and brought through all of parental inheritance within ten years. He married a doctor's daughter who bore him three sons, but who soon passed away. His way of life aroused offense from relatives and neighbors, who then avoided him and presented the youth as a chilling example.

At the age of 33, Wu therefore moved to Nanjing , where he soon found access to officials and scholars and, in particular, made friends with the "enlighteners" Gu Yanwu and Yan Yuan . After a few years, he temporarily returned home to take one of the special exams that the Qing government set up to attract Chinese talent. He was successful and was even proposed by the provincial governor for the capital examination, but Wu evaded him on the pretext of illness.

Later on, Wu became even more impoverished due to his generosity and wastefulness. For example, despite limited funds, he donated a considerable amount for the construction of a pagoda on the flower rain terrace in Nanjing. He often had to sell his books or ask friends for loans to finance groceries.

Wu died in 1754 while visiting Yangzhou , but was then transferred to Nanjing. A museum has been dedicated to him in his hometown of Quanjiao .

plant

Wu's most famous work is the satirical novel The unofficial story of the learned forest from 1749, in which he processes his experiences with the world of academics. He has portrayed himself in the figure of the lavish scholar Du Shaoqing, who is committed to the true values ​​of Confucian culture .

In addition, a commentary on the book of songs from Wu's pen is no longer preserved . Of the original 12 volumes in his collection of articles, only four still exist today.

literature

• Peters, Irma: epilogue to Wu Jingzi, The way to the white clouds - stories from the learned forest, Leipzig 1989, p. 799ff.
• Schmidt-Glintzer, Helwig: History of Chinese Literature , Bern 1990, ISBN 3406453376 , p. 479

Web links

• Literature by and about Wu Jingzi in the catalog of the German National Library