Dai Zhen

19 January 1724 – 1 July 1777

Dai Zhen was a Chinese philosopher, philologist, and mathematician of the Qing dynasty, a leading figure of the evidential research (kaozheng) movement. He criticized the Song Neo-Confucian separation of principle from desire and argued for grounding moral philosophy in careful philological study of the classics, most notably in his Evidential Commentary on the Meanings of Terms in the Mencius.

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Life events

Born in Xiuning, Anhui
19 January 1724

Dai Zhen was born into a poor cloth merchant's family in Xiuning county, Huizhou prefecture, Anhui province.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Birth ✓
Early studies in the classics and philology
c. 1733

Despite his family's modest means, he mastered the Confucian classics, phonology, and mathematics, showing an early insistence on understanding every word of a text.

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Studied under the scholar Jiang Yong
c. 1742

In his twenties he studied with Jiang Yong, a noted expert on the classics, mathematics, and astronomy, who deeply influenced his evidential methods.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Moved to Beijing after a lawsuit forced him from his home
c. 1754

Fleeing a dispute with a powerful clansman, he settled in Beijing around 1754, where his scholarship won the admiration of leading scholars of the capital.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Passed the provincial examination and earned the juren degree
1762

Dai Zhen obtained the juren degree in 1762, though he repeatedly failed the highest metropolitan (jinshi) examination thereafter.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Achievement ✓
Appointed a compiler for the Siku Quanshu imperial library project
1773

In 1773 the Qianlong Emperor's court appointed him to the board compiling the Complete Library of the Four Treasuries, where he edited mathematical and classical texts.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Granted jinshi status by imperial grace
1775

After his sixth failure in the metropolitan examination, the emperor conferred on him the jinshi degree and membership in the Hanlin Academy in recognition of his scholarship.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Achievement ✓
Completed his Evidential Commentary on the Meanings of Terms in the Mencius
1777

His philosophical masterwork, Mengzi ziyi shuzheng, finished shortly before his death, attacked Song Neo-Confucian metaphysics and defended human desires as the basis of morality.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Died in Beijing
1 July 1777

Dai Zhen died in Beijing while still serving on the Siku Quanshu compilation project.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Death ✓