Wang Shuogao Collection: Wenzhou Literature Series

Author: Wang Shugao (Ming), edited by Zhang Xianwen
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-10-01
Features: Since the middle period of the Ming Dynasty, the land of Yongjia and Yongqiang has produced many outstanding talents. The Wang family of Yingqiao in Erdu, Yongjia, was a prominent literary family, with generations of scholars and officials, including Wang Cheng, Wang Ji, Wang Shuguo, Wang Shugao, Wang Guangyun, and Wang Guangmei, among others. Wang Shugao (1517–1600), styled Yangde and styled Yanggu, was the second son of Wang Cheng, the Left Assistant Censor-in-Chief of Fujian Provincial Administration. His ancestors moved from Huangyan, Taizhou, to Yongjia during the late Song Dynasty and settled in Erdu, Yingqiao, Huagai Township. From a young age, he was intelligent and eager to learn, studying not only classic texts but also mountains and rivers classics, geographical records, astronomy, and divination books. In the ninth year of the Jiajing era (1530), at the age of fourteen, his father, Wang Cheng, was serving as a minister in the capital. He accompanied his older brother, Wang Shuguo, to the capital to study, further advancing his academic pursuits. In the thirteenth year of the Jiajing era, his mother, Lady Pan, passed away in the capital. He waited for his father to return and bury her remains in Banshan, observing a period of mourning. In the twenty-second year (1533), at the age of twenty-seven, he passed the provincial examination. The following year, he failed the imperial examination held by the Ministry of Rites. Afterward, he stayed in the countryside to care for his elderly father, indifferent to fame and fortune, and did not take the examination again for a long time. When the Japanese pirates began raiding the coastal areas, his uncle, Wang Pei, and his cousin, Wang Xing, both died resisting the invasion. He believed that without fortifications, it would be difficult to maintain an invincible position, and thus proposed building Yongchang Fortress and oversaw its construction. Once completed, the fortress became a shield for the region, bringing peace and security to the locals.