Wen Tianxiang

Life

His great-grandfather was Wen Anshi, his grandfather Wen Shiyong, his father Wen Yi, and his mother was Zeng Deci, also recorded as Madam Zeng; his elder brother was Wen Tianzhen, and his younger brothers were Wen Bi (1237–1298), Wen Zhang, and Wen Tianlin. His wife was a woman of the Ouyang clan; Wen Sheng is listed both as a nephew and as an adopted heir, born in 1268 and dying in 1313.

He studied under Wang Guowang, Zhu Huan, and Zeng Feng. While serving as judge of Ji Prefecture, Mou Zicai recognized him as a boy and anticipated his great future. He was friendly with Li Liwu and Xie Fangde; after Wen was taken north, his friend Zhang Qianzai lived near his place of confinement. In the fourth year of the Baoyou era (1256), he came first in the jinshi examination and became the zhuangyuan, or palace examination champion.

In 1259 he became military judge of the Ninghai Army; in 1261 he was appointed Secretariat Corrector and successively promoted to Authorial Drafter concurrently serving as a Criminal Bureau official. After memorializing the court to execute Dong Songchen and proposing measures to resist the enemy, he became prefect of Ruizhou; in the fifth year of the Jingding era he was transferred as judicial commissioner of Jiangxi. In the third year of the Xianchun era (1267), he was summoned to a langguan post, styled Shangyou in one account and Shangzuo in another; in the fifth year he became prefect of Ningguo, and in the sixth year he was summoned as military equipment supervisor and acting director of the Hanlin Academy, but was dismissed after opposing Jia Sidao. In the ninth year of Xianchun (1273) he was recalled as judicial commissioner of Hunan, and in the tenth year he became prefect of Ganzhou.

When Yuan forces crossed the Yangtze in the first year of Deyou (1275), he answered the call to aid the dynasty, spent his family fortune on military expenses, and led ten thousand volunteers to relieve Lin'an. He was appointed deputy director of the Privy Council and grand military commissioner for western Zhejiang and eastern Jiangnan concurrently with pacification commissioner of Jiangxi, and also served as prefect of Pingjiang. In the second year of Deyou (1276), he was appointed right chancellor and Privy Council commissioner, went to the Yuan army to negotiate peace, and was detained at Zhenjiang; he escaped by night to Zhenzhou and eventually crossed by sea to Wenzhou.

After Duanzong's accession and the adoption of the Jingyan era name, he was summoned to Fuzhou and again appointed right chancellor, Privy Council commissioner, and commander of the armies of the various circuits. After disagreeing with the left chancellor Chen Yizhong, he continued the resistance in Fujian and Guangdong, campaigning against Yuan forces around Tingzhou and Zhangzhou and recovering several prefectures and counties. He was defeated at Kongkeng in the second year of Jingyan and withdrew through the Nanling; in the third year he was made Junior Guardian and Duke of Xinguo, moved his forces to Haifeng—another account places them at Chaoyang—and was taken north after his army collapsed. He was captured at Wupo Ridge in the twelfth month of the first year of Xiangxing (1278); on the journey north he fasted for eight days without dying and was then held in the Yuan capital for three years.

When Zhang Hongfan tried to induce his surrender, Wen wrote 《過零丁洋》 to make his resolve clear. He repeatedly rejected threats and inducements and never submitted. He died in the Yuan capital in the nineteenth year of the Zhiyuan era (1283), was posthumously given the name Zhonglie, and wrote 《正氣歌》 at the time of his execution.

Writings

Many of Wen Tianxiang's writings were lost after the calamity. During the Yuanzhen and Dade periods, people from his native place compiled them as a first collection of thirty-two volumes and a second collection of seven; in the early Ming, they were rearranged as seventeen volumes of poetry and prose. Works transmitted under his name include 《文山集》, also called 《文山詩集》, 《文山詩史》, 《文山題跋》, 《文山樂府》, 《指南錄》, 《指南後錄》, and 《集杜詩》.

The various editions of 《集杜詩》 contain omissions and corruptions in their verses and titles; later editors emended them against 《杜少陵集》 and placed newly collected poems outside the main corpus at the end. He also wrote 《齊天樂·慶湖北漕知鄂州李樓峰》, a lyric describing the scenery of the Southern Tower that has been regarded as a fine piece.