Mao Qiling

Mao Qiling (simplified Chinese: 毛奇龄; traditional Chinese: 毛奇齡; pinyin: Máo Qílíng; Wade–Giles: Mao Ch'i-ling; 1623–1716) was a Chinese scholar and philologist of the early Qing Dynasty. A native of Xiaoshan in Zhejiang province, he became a licentiate at the age of fifteen sui.^[1] After the fall of the Ming Dynasty in 1644, he refused to serve the Qing. In 1679, however, he took part in and passed a special honorary examination held by the Kangxi Emperor to attract scholars who had not yet announced their allegiance to the new dynasty.^[1] He was then appointed to the compilation of the official History of Ming.^[1] After retiring from office in 1687, he went to live in Hangzhou (Zhejiang), where he taught many disciples.^[1]

A scholar of wide learning, Mao compiled works on the Confucian Classics and on phonetics, music, history, and geography.^[2] He was famous for vehemently opposing the orthodox commentaries on the Classics by Song-dynasty Neo-Confucians like Zhu Xi.^[3] He also unsuccessfully attacked Yan Ruoju's demonstration that the Old Text chapters of the Book of Documents (one of the Five Classics) were Han-Dynasty forgeries.^[4]

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Tu 1943, p. 563.
2. ^ Tu 1943, p. 564.
3. ^ Wang, p. 107; Elman 2001, p. 89.
4. ^ Elman 2001, pp. 237-239; Tu 1943, p. 564.

Bibliography

• Elman, Benjamin A. (2001), From Philosophy to Philology: Intellectual and Social Aspects of Change in Late Imperial China, Los Angeles: UCLA Asian Pacific Monograph Series, ISBN 1-883191-05-X; 1-883191-04-1 .
• Tu, Lien-chê (1943), "MAO Ch'i-ling", in Arthur W. Hummel (ed.), Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing period, Washington: United States Government Printing Office, pp. 563-564 .
• Wang, Hui (2008), Translating Chinese Classics in a Colonial Context, Bern: Peter Lang, ISBN 978-3-03911-631-7 .