Read the Notes from the Weimo Study

Author: (Qing) Ji Yun
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-05-01
Features: The author of Notes from the Studio of Watching Microcosm is the famous Qing Dynasty scholar Ji Yun. Ji Yun, styled Zuo Lan, styled Yun Shi, styled Chun Fan, also called himself Guan Yi Tao Ren in Notes from the Studio of Watching Microcosm. Born in the second year of the Yongzheng reign, died in the tenth year of the Jiaqing reign, aged eighty-two. He was from Xian County, Zhili Province in the Qing Dynasty. Ji Yun came from a wealthy and prosperous family. His father, Ji Rongshu, was a Jinshi (provincial-level scholar) during the Kangxi reign and served as an official in the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Personnel in the capital. He also served as the magistrate of Yao'an, Yunnan. His older brother, Ji Zhao, was a Jinshi during the Qianlong reign and reached the position of Inner Court Secretary. At the age of 24, Ji Yun took the Shuntian provincial examination and passed as a (provincial-level scholar). At the age of 31, he passed the imperial examination and became a (imperial scholar). After entering the civil service, he served as the magistrate of Duyun Prefecture in Guizhou and as a Court Academician in the Hanlin Academy. At the age of 45, he was demoted to Urumqi for leaking salt trade secrets. After being released and recalled, he returned to the Hanlin Academy. Due to his profound knowledge, he was appointed as the Chief Compiler of the Complete Collection of the Four Treasuries. Over the next ten years, he devoted most of his energy to compiling the Brief Catalogue of the Complete Collection of the Four Treasuries and the Comprehensive Notes on the Complete Collection of the Four Treasuries. Notes from the Studio of Watching Microcosm was a work in which Ji Yun aimed to inherit the style of the Biographies of Strange Events from the Wei and Jin periods to resist the influence of Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio.