Zeng Gong

Family and early life

His father was 曾易占 and his grandfather was 致堯; his elder brother was 曾曅, and his younger brothers were 曾布, 曾肇, and 曾宰; his agnatic elder cousin was 曾叔卿. His first wife was 晁德儀, while the father of his second wife was 李禹卿; his three sisters were 曾德耀, 曾德操, and 曾氏, his brother-in-law was 王幾, and his grandson was 曾怘.

Career

He passed the jinshi examination in the second year of the Jiayou era (1057). Recognized for his literary talent at an early age, he was valued by Ouyang Xiu, associated with Wang Anshi and Su Shi, and studied in Ouyang Xiu’s school.

His early posts included Judicial Assistant of Taiping Prefecture, Palace-Library Collator, Academician of the Jixian Academy concurrently in charge of the Court of Announcements, and a reviser; he then became assistant prefect of Yuezhou. He subsequently governed Qi, Xiang, Hong, Fu, Ming, Bo, and Cang prefectures, and was credited with effective administration wherever he served. He also held the titles Hanlin Reader, Junior Preceptor, Director of the Longtu Library, and Vice Director in the Duzi Office of the Ministry of Revenue.

In the third year of Yuanfeng (1080), he presided over the Three Class Court and argued that frugality was the key to financial administration. The following year he became a Court Historian, oversaw the compilation of the official histories of five reigns, managed the editorial institute, and concurrently headed the Court of Imperial Sacrifices; he was later promoted to Secretariat Drafter. In the sixth year of Yuanfeng (1083), he died in Jiangning at the age of sixty-five; during the reign of Emperor Lizong, he was posthumously given the name Wending.

Scholarship and literature

Zeng Gong’s poetry and prose were both renowned; he was particularly noted for prose and is counted among the Eight Masters of Tang and Song Prose. He collated such works as Warring States Strategies (戰國策), Shuoyuan (說苑), Xin Xu (新序), Biographies of Exemplary Women (列女傳), Li Taibai’s collected works (李太白集), and Chen Shu (陳書).

He was an avid book collector, keeping more than 20,000 ancient books and gathering 500 juan of seal inscriptions under the name Jinshi lu. Chen Shidao, Wang Wujia, Zeng Zhao, and Zeng Bu were among his disciples.

Works

His collected writings include Yuanfeng leigao (50 juan), Xu Yuanfeng leigao (40 juan), and Waiji (10 juan). Only Yuanfeng leigao survives among these collections; Song-printed Zeng Nanfeng xiansheng wen cui (10 juan) and Jin-printed Nanfeng Zeng Zigu xiansheng ji (34 juan) also remain in circulation.

His other works include the historical work Longping ji. Other titles include Weidao lu, Daxue ji zhong zhuan, Li jing leibian, Zazhi, Songchao zhengyao ce, and Shijing jiaokao, as well as Shujing shuo (1 juan), Yuanfeng tiba (1 juan), Zashi ershou, Hong Wo zhuan, and Xudao.

His poetry is now arranged in nine juan, based on Gu Songling’s 1717 printed edition of Yuanfeng leigao, collated against Ding Sijing’s 1304 edition and Ming editions from the Zhengtong, Jiajing, Longqing, and Wanli eras, while also incorporating He Zhuo’s collation in Yimen dushu ji.