Li Guangdi (; 1642–1718), also known by his

courtesy name A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.Ulrich Theobald ...

Jinqing () and sobriquet Hou'an (), was a Chinese neo-Confucianist court official during the reign of the

Kangxi Emperor The Kangxi Emperor (4 May 1654– 20 December 1722), also known by his temple name Emperor Shengzu of Qing, born Xuanye, was the third emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1661 to 1 ...

of the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

Biography

Li was a native of An-khoe County,

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capi ...

Province. In 1670, he was promoted to the rank of ''

jinshi ''Jinshi'' () was the highest and final degree in the imperial examination in Imperial China. The examination was usually taken in the imperial capital in the palace, and was also called the Metropolitan Exam. Recipients are sometimes referre ...

'' and moved to

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, leaving his brother Li Guangpo behind to look after his family. Li's career prospects improved when the Emperor pacified

and acted on Li's suggestion to defeat

Wu Sangui Wu Sangui (; 8 June 1612 – 2 October 1678), courtesy name Changbai () or Changbo (), was a notorious Ming Dynasty military officer who played a key role in the fall of the Ming dynasty and the founding of the Qing dynasty in China. In Chinese ...

. He also helped defeat Geng Jingzhong, persuading his friend

Chen Menglei Chen Menglei (; 1650-1741) was a Qing dynasty scholar-writer known for being the chief editor, compiler, and author of the Gujin Tushu Jicheng Chinese encyclopedia. In 1670, he became a Jinshi. Chen Menglei conducted research for over 50 years, c ...

to work as a spy in Geng's camp. Later in life, he was responsible for planning

Shi Lang Shi Lang (1621–1696), Marquis Jinghai, also known as Secoe or Sego, was a Chinese admiral who served under the Ming and Qing dynasties in the 17th century. He was the commander-in-chief of the Qing fleets which destroyed the power of Zheng Che ...

's conquest of

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

. During the course of his life, Li held various court positions, including Chancellor of the

Hanlin Academy The Hanlin Academy was an academic and administrative institution of higher learning founded in the 8th century Tang China by Emperor Xuanzong in Chang'an. Membership in the academy was confined to an elite group of scholars, who performed sec ...

, Governor of

Zhili Zhili, alternately romanized as Chihli, was a northern administrative region of China since the 14th-century that lasted through the Ming dynasty and Qing dynasty until 1911, when the region was dissolved, converted to a province, and renamed ...

and Grand Secretary, and positions on the Board of War, Board of Civil Service and the Board of Public Works.

Philosophy

Li's philosophy was rooted in the Cheng-Zhu school. However, despite being a follower of

Zhu Xi Zhu Xi (; ; October 18, 1130 – April 23, 1200), formerly romanized Chu Hsi, was a Chinese calligrapher, historian, philosopher, poet, and politician during the Song dynasty. Zhu was influential in the development of Neo-Confucianism. He con ...

he did not entirely disregard the teachings of Zhu's rivals Lu Jiuyuan and Wang Yangming. He also highlighted similarities between the teachings of Confucius and those of

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...

and

Lao Tzu Laozi (), also known by numerous other names, was a semilegendary ancient Chinese Taoist philosopher. Laozi ( zh, ) is a Chinese honorific, generally translated as "the Old Master". Traditional accounts say he was born as in the state of ...

. Li felt that human nature (which he believed to be inherently good) was the ultimate subject of his study, and that nature was the guiding principle on which to base human morality. He had an interest in the sciences. Li wrote or edited a number of philosophical texts, including the ''Complete Works of Master Zhu'' (''Zhuzi daquan''), the ''Essential Ideas of Nature and Principle'' (''Xingli jingli'') and the ''Interpretation of the Meaning of the Four Books'' (''Si shu Jieyi''). An expert on the ''

I Ching The ''I Ching'' or ''Yi Jing'' (, ), usually translated ''Book of Changes'' or ''Classic of Changes'', is an ancient Chinese divination text that is among the oldest of the Chinese classics. Originally a divination manual in the Western Zho ...

'', he also wrote two books on the subject, the ''Penetrating Discourse'' (''Zhouyi tonglun'') and the ''Balanced Annotations'' (''Zhouyi zhezhong''); the latter took the (at the time) unusual editorial step of segregating the original text of the ''I Ching'' from its subsequent commentaries. A complete collection of Li's works (around thirty books) was published around a hundred years after his death, entitled the ''Complete Works of Rongcun'' (''Rongcun quanji'').

Biography

Philosophy

References

Further reading