Zhāng Jiǔchéng 張九成 (1092–1159)
Zì Zǐsháo 子韶, hào Wúgòu jūshì 無垢居士 (“Stainless Layman” — a self-imposed Buddhist title), Héngpǔ 橫浦 (after his exile-residence on the Héng River in Nánān 南安, Jiāngxī). Native of Qiántáng 錢塘 (modern Hángzhōu, Zhèjiāng). Posthumous title Wénzhōng 文忠 (post. ennobled as 太師 榮國公 — “Tàishī Róngguógōng” — hence the SBCK title-line of KR1h0013: “皇朝太師榮國文忠公”).
Jìnshì of Shàoxīng 2 (1132), placed first (zhuàngyuán 狀元) — hence the colloquial title “Zhāng zhuàngyuán” 張狀元 by which his Mèngzǐ zhuàn (KR1h0013) was conventionally known. Disciple of Yáng Shí 楊時 (the Sòng Dàoxué transmitter through whom the Cheng-brothers tradition reached the South); but also a serious student of the Buddhist Chán master Dàhuì Zōnggǎo 大慧宗杲 (1089–1163), under whom he received Linji 臨濟 transmission — making him perhaps the most important officially-Buddhist Lǐxué figure of the early Southern Sòng.
Career: served at court as Hànlínyuàn lǐbù shìláng 翰林院禮部侍郎 and other senior offices in the early Shàoxīng decade. A consistent opponent of the chief minister Qín Huì 秦檜 and his peace policy with the Jurchen Jin, Zhāng Jiǔchéng was demoted in 1141 and exiled to Nánānjūn 南安軍 (modern Dàyú 大庾, Jiāngxī), where he lived for fourteen years, returning to office only after Qín Huì’s death in 1155. During his exile he compiled most of his major scholarly works, including the Mèngzǐ zhuàn and the Zhōngyōng shuō 中庸說 (KR1h0042).
Surviving works in Kanripo:
- KR1h0013 Mèngzǐ zhuàn 孟子傳 (29 juàn, WYG; SBCK reprints under the title Zhāng zhuàngyuán Mèngzǐ zhuàn 張狀元孟子傳).
- KR1h0042 Zhōngyōng shuō cán 中庸說殘 (3 juàn, SBCK) — fragment of his lost Zhōngyōng shuō.
- KR4d collection: Héngpǔ jí 橫浦集 (CBDB id 12431, Lǐxué corpus).
Zhāng Jiǔchéng’s place in Sòng Lǐxué is contested. The orthodox Cheng-Zhu transmission — and especially Zhū Xī, who repeatedly attacked Zhāng’s Mèngzǐ zhuàn in his Yǔlù — placed him outside the dàotǒng 道統 because of his Buddhist commitments. Yet Wáng Yángmíng 王陽明 and the later Xīnxué school read him sympathetically. The Sìkù editors’ note at KR1h0013 is balanced: they acknowledge the Buddhist accents but praise the work’s overall yìlǐ substance.
(CBDB id 12431; dates 1092–1159 are firmly fixed by the Sòngshǐ 374 biography and the dating of his collected works.)