Late-Míng polymath, scholar-official, bibliographer, and lay Buddhist; one of the central figures of the Wànlì 萬曆 era’s literati Buddhism. DILA Authority A001685. Zì Ruòhóu 弱侯, sobriquets Dànyuán 澹園 / Yīyuán 漪園, also referenced as Jiāo tàishǐ 焦太史 (“Senior Historian Jiāo”). Native of Jiāngníng 江寧 (Nánjīng / Jīnlíng). Born 1540; died 1620, aged 80.
A jǐnshì 進士 (presented-scholar) of Wànlì 17 (1589), placed first in the imperial examinations (zhuàngyuán 狀元) — an extremely rare distinction. Appointed Hànlín bīanxiū 翰林編修 (Hanlin Academy junior compiler), then Dōnggōng jiǎngdúguān 東宮講讀官 (lecturer to the heir apparent). His political career was complicated by factional struggles in the late Wànlì court and he was eventually forced into retirement.
His scholarly output was vast and multi-disciplinary: the bibliographical work Guóshǐ jīngjí zhì 國史經籍志, the historical Xiànzhēng lù 獻徵錄, the literary Dànyuán xùjí 澹園續集, and a substantial Buddhist corpus including the present Fǎhuá jīng jīngjiě pínglín 法華經精解評林 (KR6d0078, X31n0612, 2 juan) — a Lotus Sūtra critical-evaluation compendium.
His Buddhist activity placed him at the centre of the late-Wàn-lì literati Buddhist circle, alongside contemporaries such as Lǐ Zhì 李贄 (1527–1602), Yúan Hóngdào 袁宏道 (1568–1610), and the Míngmò sìdà gāosēng 明末四大高僧 (Yúnqī Zhūhóng 雲棲祩宏, Hānshān Déqīng 憨山德清, Zǐbǎi Dáguān 紫柏達觀, Ǒuyì Zhìxù 蕅益智旭). Jiāo Hóng’s substantial role as a literati patron of the Jiāxīngzàng 嘉興藏 publishing project documents the institutional importance of late-Wàn-lì literati Buddhism in the production of the late-Míng monastic publishing renaissance.
Sources: Míng shǐ 明史 juan 288; Wǎnmíng wénrén bīng 晚明文人寶; DILA A001685; Wikipedia (Wikipedia link cited in DILA dating note).