Hong Liangji

Hong Liangji (zh-cpw|c=洪亮吉|p=Hóng Liàngjí|w=Hung Liangchi, 1746–1809), courtesy names Junzhi (君直) and Zhicun (稚存), was a Chinese scholar, statesman, political theorist, and philosopher. He was most famous for his critical essay to the Jiaqing Emperor, which resulted in his banishment to Yili in Xinjiang.

Life

Hong was born in Changzhou and was relatively slow in his accomplishment of the rank of jinshi, which he finally attained at the age of 44. He held minor government posts up until his criticism of the Jiaqing Emperor in the early nineteenth century which focused on the emperor's failure to weed out corrupt officials like Heshen or reform the bureaucracy that had allowed Heshen to secure power. Although well-intentioned and meant to serve as a call to action, the punishment for his transgression was originally decapitation, and subsequently lessened to banishment. Later, the emperor once more commuted Hong's sentence and pardoned him completely in hopes of ending a drought.

Philosophy

Hong was a proponent of the New Text scholarship, and felt that political remonstrance was part of his Confucian duty, as many other philosophers of his time did. He was concerned with such issues as population control, geography, the Chinese classics, and government corruption. He critically re-evaluated the common Chinese assumption that a growing population was the sign of a good government.

Works

*"Letter to Prince Cheng Earnestly Discussing the Political Affairs of the Time", 1799
*"Opinions", 1793

References

* de Bary, William Theodore and Irene Bloom, eds. "Sources of Chinese Tradition".
* Kuhn, Philip A. "Origins of the Modern Chinese State"