Biography of Jiao Xun

Author: Liu Jinhui
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-05-01
Features: Zhang Shengming was born into a prosperous era, Jiao Xun, styled Lizhang, also known as Litang, and later as Litan Laoren. He was born in Huangjiaoqiao Town, Ganquan County (now Hanyangling District, Yangzhou City, Jiangsu Province). He lived from 1763 to 1820. His life coincided with the flourishing period of academic studies in the Qing Dynasty. He was prolific in his writings, covering the entirety of Confucian classics, history, philosophy, and literature, as well as poetry, ci, prose, and fu. Later generations referred to him as an economist, mathematician, and dramatist. Statistics indicate that he wrote nearly sixty works, over four hundred volumes, and millions of words. Ruan Yuan wrote "Biography of the Scholar Jiao of Yangzhou," praising him as "unparalleled in learning" and "proficient in all Confucian classics," describing his knowledge as "deep and vast," and calling him a "universal scholar." This was undoubtedly a fair evaluation from the academic authorities of the time. He could be considered a representative figure in the "Yangzhou School of Learning." His remarkable achievements were undoubtedly due to his diligent study and deep dedication to scholarship. However, the stability of the social and political environment, economic prosperity, and the rulers' advocacy of academic culture laid the foundation for the flourishing of Qianlong and Jiaqing scholarship and created conditions for nurturing a generation of "universal scholars."
First, a stable political situation and a peaceful social environment provided the necessary guarantees for economic and cultural development. After the Qing court took control of the Central Plains, it took decades of warfare and adjustments to finally establish a stable joint autocratic regime dominated by Manchu nobles and Han landlords. As the last feudal dynasty in China, it developed the centralized autocratic system to its extreme, with the emperor's power and autocracy far surpassing any previous dynasty. Starting from the Kangxi era, on one hand, the power of the Manchu princes and banner lords within the Manchu elite was significantly weakened, making it difficult for them to threaten the emperor. On the other hand, the court successfully co-opted and utilized Han officials and scholars, though Han-Manchu tensions occasionally flared up, they no longer played a decisive role in the central government. The three emperors of Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong were wise, diligent, autocratic, and visionary, ruling with exceptional insight and strategy. The Qing Dynasty entered its most prosperous "Kang-Qian Prosperity." The "Kang-Qian Prosperity" was one of the few periods in Chinese history with relatively clear political governance. Militarily, through continuous campaigns, the Qing court suppressed rebellions in the provinces and frontier regions, largely achieving national unity and relative political stability. As the Qing Dynasty's rule consolidated and strengthened, the empire grew magnificent, its power extending far and wide. Looking around, nearby states were all vassal states, a level of unified grandeur not seen even in the Han and Tang dynasties. The vast territory, numerous ethnic groups, powerful military, prosperous economy, and well-structured system brought Chinese feudal society to its peak, an unprecedented prosperity. A stable political situation and peaceful social environment provided the necessary guarantees for economic and cultural development. Jiao Xun spent most of his life during the Qianlong era, coinciding with a prosperous era.
Second, political stability provided a suitable academic environment for the flourishing of scholarship during the Qianlong and Jiaqing periods. After the intense class and ethnic struggles in the early Qing, the dynasty achieved political stability, allowing the unified multi-ethnic nation to establish and consolidate its political system. To ease ethnic tensions, after Kangxi's reign, the court gradually revised or abolished some discriminatory policies against ethnic minorities, recommended reclusive scholars, and established the "Academy of Scholars and Literary Masters," attracting