Fāng Xiàorú 方孝孺 (1357–1402), zì Xīzhí 希直 (also Xīgǔ 希古), hào Xùnzhìzhāi 遜志齋 (the studio-name from Shūjīng Yuèmìng “xùn zhì shí mǐn”; bestowed by Tàizǔ) and Zhèngxué xiānshēng 正學先生 (bestowed by his teacher Sòng Lián), native of Nínghǎi 寧海 (Tāizhōu, Zhèjiāng). Foremost Jiàn-wén-era Confucian scholar-official and the central Jiànwén loyalist of the early Míng. Pupil of 宋濂 Sòng Lián. Under Jiànwén appointed Hànlín shìjiǎng 翰林侍講 with effective tenure as one of the principal political advisors alongside Qí Tài 齊泰 and Huáng Zǐchéng 黃子澄. Refused to draft Yǒnglè’s jíwèi zhào (accession edict) on the famous formula biàn sǐ jué bù cǎo (便死決不草, “I will die — I will absolutely not draft it”); executed in Yǒnglè 0 / Jiànwén 4 (1402) by jiémián 戒面 mutilation plus the unprecedented shízú 十族 extermination of his ten kindreds — including teachers and friends as the tenth kindred, the only such punishment in Chinese imperial history. The Zhèngxué xiānshēng title became the canonical formula under which Fāng was venerated as the foundational Confucian martyr of the Míng in subsequent Ruist tradition. Literary collection KR4e0074 Xùnzhìzhāi jí 遜志齋集 in 24 juǎn, recovered through five distinct mid-Míng recensions (Shǔběn → Yìběn → Jùnběn → Lùnyuān → SBCK comprehensive). CBDB id 28093: 1357–1402, confirmed. Wilkinson, Chinese History, §28.4 and §43.7 treat him as the central figure of the Jiànwén loyalist literary tradition.