Chén Zhù 陳著 (1214–1297; lifedates unresolved — see note), zì Zǐwēi 子微, sobriquet Běntáng 本堂 (“Root-Hall”). A native of Yínxiàn 鄞縣 in Sìmíng 四明 (modern Níngbō 寧波, Zhèjiāng 浙江). A Sòng jìnshì of the cohort of Wén Tiānxiáng (文天祥) and Xiè Fāngdé (謝枋得); the third major late-Sòng literary survivor of that examination, who lived on into the early Yuán as an yímín 遺民 archivist of his generation.
Lifedates — unresolved. The catalog meta for KR4d0368 gives 1226–1289, but this appears to be a meta-cataloguing artifact (identical to the dates given for Xiè Fāngdé in the same KR4d batch). CBDB person 10543 gives b. 1224 with no death-year. The dating widely current in standard Chinese reference works and on Wikipedia / Wikidata is 1214–1297, drawing on Chén Zhù’s own Běntáng niánpǔ and the Sìmíng prefectural gazetteers. This is followed here as the dating most consistent with Chén’s jìnshì in 1256 (at age 43), his administrative career, and his early-Yuán yímín survival. The matter is not finally resolved; readers should regard the 1214 birth-year as conventional and not as established.
Career. Jìnshì of Bǎoyòu 4 (1256) — alongside Wén Tiānxiáng and Xiè Fāngdé. Served as Zhùzuòláng 著作郎 (Compiler), then was sent out as Prefect of Jiāxìngfǔ 嘉興府. Having offended the chancellor Jiǎ Sìdào 賈似道, he was demoted to Vice-Prefect (tōngpàn) of Lín’ān 臨安通判. After the 1276 surrender of Lín’ān to the Yuán, Chén retreated into private life in his native Sìmíng, dedicating himself to writing and to local lineage and ritual affairs. Unlike Wén and Xiè, he did not engage in armed resistance but neither did he take Yuán office — a third path of yímín quietism.
Writings. The Běntáng jí (KR4d0368) — at 94 juàn one of the most extensive Sòng biéjí — preserves Chén Zhù’s poetry, cí, and miscellaneous prose, including a substantial corpus of commemorative writings for the Sìmíng provincial elite of the dynastic transition. The Sìkù tíyào assesses his poetry as following the Jírǎng jí line of Shào Yōng 邵雍 (the lǐxué didactic poetry tradition) and his prose as mixed with the yǔlù (recorded-sayings) idiom — placing him within the philosophical-pedagogic prose lineage rather than the LùYángYáng virtuoso line.
Sources. Sòngshǐ 宋史 contains no biography. Principal sources: Chén Zhù’s own Běntáng jí (KR4d0368); Sìmíng jīngcí 四明經詞; Yányòu Sìmíng zhì 延祐四明志 and other prefectural gazetteers. CBDB 10543 (with incomplete dating).
Works in the Kanripo corpus. KR4d0368 Běntáng jí 本堂集, 94 juàn.