Cheng Dachang

Life and career

He passed the jinshi examination in 1151, the twenty-first year of the Shaoxing era. In the twenty-sixth year he was appointed Professor of Taiping Prefecture; in the twenty-seventh he was summoned as Taixue zheng; and in the thirtieth he became a Corrector in the Secretariat.

After Xiaozong's accession, he was promoted to Authorial Editor and successively held the posts of Director of the Imperial University, concurrently acting Vice Minister of Rites, and 直學士院. He then served as Judicial Commissioner of the Eastern Zhejiang Circuit and Transport Commissioner for Jiangxi; in the second year of Chunxi (1175) he was summoned as Assistant Director of the Palace Library, and in the third year became acting Vice Minister of Punishments. He also concurrently served as acting Secretariat Drafter and 給事中, eventually rising to acting Minister of Personnel.

He was appointed governor of Quanzhou and then transferred to Jianning Prefecture; after Guangzong's accession, he was transferred to Mingzhou. At the places where he served, he paid close attention to the people's hardships, and he retired as a Longtuge Academician. He died in the first year of the Qingyuan era (1195), aged seventy-three; one account specifies the eleventh month, and he was posthumously named Wenjian (文簡).

Scholarship and writings

He was deeply learned and specialized in textual investigation of names, things, and historical allusions. His twenty-juan collection 《程文簡集》 has been lost. Extant works include 《詩論》, 《易原》, 《禹貢論》, 《禹貢山川地理圖》, 《雍錄》, 《考古編》, 《考古續編》, 《演繁露》, 《續演繁露》, and 《文簡公詞》; other works attributed to him include 《易老通言》 and 《北邊備對》.

The extant works are given as 《易原》 in eight juan, 《禹貢論》 in five juan with a one-juan 《後論》, 《禹貢山川地理圖》 in two juan, 《雍錄》 in ten juan, 《考古編》 in ten juan, 《考古續編》 in ten juan, 《演繁露》 in sixteen juan, 《續演繁露》 in six juan, and 《文簡公詞》 in one juan. The recorded forms vary: 《易原》 also appears as ten juan, 《禹貢論》 as two juan, and 《演繁錄》 as six juan; 《考古編》 is also written 《攷古編》. 《樗蒲經略》 and 《程氏則古》 are likewise listed among his authored works.

Family and associations

His father was 程畎 and his mother was Chen (陳氏); his sons included 程準, 程阜, and 程覃, and his nephew was 程卓. Zhou Bida was his fellow examination graduate and composed his spirit-path stele. Fang Tian recommended him. He exchanged poetic responses with Zhou Jie and received a reply from Zhu Xi.