Qián Qiānyì 錢謙益
The dominant scholar-official-poet of the MíngQīng transitional period. Zì Shòuzhī 受之; hào Mùzhāi 牧齋 (“Shepherd Studio”), Yúshān 虞山 (“Mount Yú”), Dōngjiàn lǎorén 東澗老人 (“Old Man of East Stream”). Lay Buddhist sobriquets include Hǎiyìn dìzǐ 海印弟子 (“Disciple of the Ocean-Seal [samādhi]”), Fújīn dìzǐ 幅巾弟子 (“Kerchief-Wearing Disciple”), Jùshā jūshì 聚沙居士, Hǎiyú jūshì 海虞居士. Native of Chángshú 常熟 (Sūzhōu prefecture, Jiāngsū). Lifedates 1582–1664.
Jìnshì in Wànlì 38 (1610). Rose to senior positions in the Hànlín Academy under the late Míng; leader of the Dōnglín 東林 political-philosophical movement. After the Míng fall in 1644 briefly served the Southern-Míng Hóngguāng 弘光 regime, then capitulated to the Qīng and served as Lǐbù shàngshū 禮部尚書 (Minister of Rites) in the Qīng capital for less than a year before retiring in disaffection. His political trajectory — high-Míng loyalist → brief Southern-Míng service → Qīng collaborator → disaffected retirement — was widely read at the time and subsequently as a betrayal of Míng-loyalist ideals; the Qiánlóng emperor included him on the posthumous list of èrchén 貳臣 (“double-minister” traitors). Despite this political infamy, Qián was one of the most accomplished literary figures of his age, author of major literary anthologies and histories.
Notable spouse: Liǔ Rúshì 柳如是 (1618–1664), the famous late-Míng courtesan-poet who became Qián’s consort in 1641 and followed him through his MíngQīng transitional crisis.
As a lay Buddhist, Qián was a substantial patron and participant of late-Wànlì and early-Qīng Buddhist publishing. Works of note for the Kanripo corpus:
- Authenticator (dìng 訂) of Yúnqī Zhūhóng’s compilation of Sòng Lián’s Buddhist writings as the Hù fǎ lù 護法錄 KR6q0187, with Qián’s 1616 preface.
- Principal editor (zuǎnyuè 纂閱) of the Zǐbǎi zūnzhě biéjí 紫柏尊者別集 KR6q0383 (X73 n1453) — the four-juan supplementary collection of 真可 Zǐbǎi Zhēnkě’s writings drawn from Zhēnkě’s middle-life period and collated from three Wànlì-era private manuscript-holdings; Qián’s long preface is an important document of late-Míng Chán political-religious interpretation.
- Composed substantial Buddhist commentarial-historical material in his own right, preserved in the Mùzhāi chū xué jí 牧齋初學集, Mùzhāi yǒu xué jí 牧齋有學集, and Mùzhāi tóu bǐ jí 牧齋投筆集.
Sources: Qīng shǐ gǎo 清史稿 biography; Chén Yínkè 陳寅恪’s Liǔ Rúshì biézhuàn 柳如是別傳 (1960) for the QiánLiǔ intellectual-biographical record; extensive modern scholarship.