Wu Jingzi
Encyclopedia
Wu Jingzi was a Chinese
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 scholar and writer who was born in the city now known as Chuzhou, Anhui
Chuzhou
Chuzhou is a prefecture-level city in eastern Anhui Province, People's Republic of China. It borders the provincial capital of Hefei to the southwest, Huainan to the west, Bengbu to the northwest, Chaohu to the south, and the province of Jiangsu to the east...

 and who died in Yangzhou, Jiangsu
Yangzhou
Yangzhou is a prefecture-level city in central Jiangsu Province, People's Republic of China. Sitting on the northern bank of the Yangtze River, it borders the provincial capital of Nanjing to the southwest, Huai'an to the north, Yancheng to the northeast, Taizhou to the east, and Zhenjiang across...

.

Biography

Wu was born into a well-to-do family, his father Wu Linqi (吳霖起) was a Qing
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....

 official, but met no success himself. He attempted the Jinshi examination, but placed only at the county level. Poverty stricken by the age of thirty-two, he moved to Nanjing
Nanjing
' is the capital of Jiangsu province in China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions...

, where he met and acquainted himself with many government officials.

Wu's family may have had ties to the famous philosophers Yan Yuan (颜元) and Li Gong (李塨). The philosophers emphasized the importance of ritual in Neo-Confucianism
Neo-Confucianism
Neo-Confucianism is an ethical and metaphysical Chinese philosophy influenced by Confucianism, that was primarily developed during the Song Dynasty and Ming Dynasty, but which can be traced back to Han Yu and Li Ao in the Tang Dynasty....

 and may have influenced Wu's novel.

While in Nanjing, in 1740, he started his famous novel Rulin Waishi. There is a museum in his honor located in his hometown of Quanjiao county, now Chuzhou
Chuzhou
Chuzhou is a prefecture-level city in eastern Anhui Province, People's Republic of China. It borders the provincial capital of Hefei to the southwest, Huainan to the west, Bengbu to the northwest, Chaohu to the south, and the province of Jiangsu to the east...

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