Hu Yinglin

Hu Yinglin (Chinese: 胡應麟; 1551–1602), also known as Hu Yuanrui, was a Chinese scholar, writer and bibliophile during the late Ming dynasty. A native of Lanxi,[1] he produced over 1,000 works of scholarship.[2] His two most noted works are the Shaoshishan fang bicong 少室山房筆叢 (Notes from Shaoshishan Studio, a work of historical and literary criticism) and the Shisou 詩藪 (Thickets of criticism), which is a treatise on poetry.[2][3]

In this Chinese name, the family name is Hu.

Hu earned the rank of juren (a low-level degree) in the Imperial Examinations of 1576. He travelled extensively collecting works for his personal library, the Eryou shanfang, often selling his clothes or his wife's jewellery in order to fund the purchase of texts. He eventually amassed a collection of more than 42,300 bamboo scrolls and around 20,000 paper books.[4][5] In later life, prevented from travelling due to ill health, Hu created an "armchair travel studio" (wouyou shi); since he was unable to visit the Five Great Mountains, he had them painted on the walls of his room.[6]

He was one of the first critics of fiction, arguing that it was similar to philosophy.[7] Hu divided fiction into six subgenres:

  • Zhiguai, records of strange events
  • Chuanqi, tales of the unusual
  • Zalu, informal notes
  • Congtan, collected discourses
  • Bianding, textual inquiry
  • Zhengui, rules and admonitions

He was aware, however, that this categorisation was imperfect, since one work could fit into multiple categories, and his system failed to include plays and novels entirely.[8][9]

Hu was an admirer of the courtesan and artist Xue Susu, praising her "lovely and elegant appearance" and claiming that "Even those famous painters with excellent skills cannot surpass her".[10]

References
  1. Mary G. Mazur (1 January 1955). Wu Han, Historian: Son of China's Times. Lexington Books. p. 78. ISBN 978-0-7391-3022-3.
  2. Hu, Yinglin (1525). "Thickets of Poetic Criticism". World Digital Library (in Chinese). Retrieved 6 June 2013.
  3. Wang, Minghui. "Hu Yinglin (1551–1602) and the Shisou". Center for Chinese Studies. UCLA. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
  4. Kai-Wing Chow (2004). Publishing, culture, and power in early modern China. Stanford University Press. pp. 23, 33. ISBN 978-0-8047-3368-7.
  5. Theobald, Ulrich. "Persons in Chinese History - Hu Yinglin 胡應麟". China Knowledge. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
  6. Li-tsui Flora Fu (1 January 2009). Framing Famous Mountains: Grand Tour and Mingshan Paintings in Sixteenth-century China. Chinese University Press. p. 155. ISBN 978-962-996-329-3.
  7. Kang-i Sun Chang; Stephen Owen, eds. (2010). The Cambridge History of Chinese Literature: From 1375. Cambridge University Press. pp. 66, 93, 121. ISBN 978-0-521-85559-4.
  8. Maram Epstein (2001). Competing Discourses: Orthodoxy, Authenticity, and Endangered Meanings in Late Imperial Chinese Fiction. Harvard Univ Asia Center. p. 45. ISBN 978-0-674-00512-9.
  9. Alister D. Inglis (2006). Hong Mai's Record of the Listener And Its Song Dynasty Context. SUNY Press. pp. 107–108. ISBN 978-0-7914-8137-0.
  10. Kenneth James Hammond; Kristin Eileen Stapleton (2008). The Human Tradition in Modern China. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 22. ISBN 978-0-7425-5466-5.
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