JIANG YINGKE'S PLACE IN THE GONG'AN SCHOOL

Abstract

Of the many late-Ming authors whose work deserves fuller study, one of the most interesting and appealing is surely Jiang Yingke (zi Jinzhi, hao Luluo, 1553–1605). Although Jonathan Chaves some years ago drew attention to his key role in promoting the ideas of the Gong'an school (Chaves 1983), Jiang's place in literary history has until recently been largely overshadowed by the figures of the Yuan brothers, who are typically seen as forming the core of this intellectual circle. There is no mention of Jiang in Goodrich and Fang's Dictionary of Ming Biography, for example, and only passing reference to him in Chih-p'ing Chou's monograph, Yuan Hung-tao and the Kung-an School. Jiang's low profile may be explained in large part by his comparatively brief career and the modest scale of his published work: a short collection of prose and poetry completed in 1600, Xuetaoge ji; a collection of biographical sketches, Huang Ming shiliuzhong xiaozhuan (1601); and an anthology of jottings, anecdotes, poetry criticism, and jokes, Xuetao si xiaoshu (completed 1604, published 1612). Much of his unpublished work appears to have perished during the upheavals of the mid-seventeenth century, and only fragments survive in the gazetteer of his native district. When considered as a whole, however, his extant writings represent a significant body of work and deserve greater appreciation. For this reason, the publication in China of a new edition of Jiang's work is a particularly welcome event.