Chen Wenzhu
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Chen Wenzhu (陈文烛; 1525 – 1595), courtesy name Yushu (玉叔), was a Ming Dynasty government official and writer.
He was a friend of Xu Zhongxing and Wu Cheng'en, and wrote the preface for two books of the latter. Government official and writer Fu Yi was his cousin.
He was a native of Mianyang Prefecture (present-day Honghu, Hubei), where he was born in the fourth year of the Jiajing era (1525).[1] He was born into a prominent family who had produced jinshi for three generations.[2] He passed the provincial examination of Huguang in the 37th year of the Jiajing era (1558), becoming a juren. In the 44th year of the Jiajing era (1565), he became a jinshi in the third class.[2]
In the fourth year of the Longqing era (1570), he became the prefect of Huai'an Prefecture.[3][4] It was during this time that he met and befriend Wu Cheng'en, the author of Journey to the West, who was 30 years his senior. Despite the age difference they became close friends and Chen would later write the preface for two of Wu's books.[2][5] After Wu's death he endeavored to have his friend's book printed.[6]
He then served in a number of official posts including as prefect of Yingtian Prefecture and Minister of the Court of Judicial Review in Nanjing. Eight months after being appointed as such, Wu Zhipeng, a Supervising Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue of Nanjing, impeached him for accepting bribes from Xu Shengxun and for leniently letting his adopted son Yang Feng kill his master Xu Yaonian. He was then ordered to return to his hometown to hear the investigation. He then retired and died in the twenty-third year of the Wanli era (1595), at the age of sixty.[7][8]
Works
His works include the Eryouyuan Poetry Collection (二酉園詩集) in twelve volumes and the Wuyue Zhi (五嶽志), also in twelve volumes, a Qing Dynasty manuscript of which is still extant.[9] He also wrote the preface for two books of Wu Cheng'en,[10][2] in which he fervently praised him.[3] The prefaces also contain other biographical material about Wu, and are important in the study of Wu's life.[10]
References
- ↑ 陳文燭之生卒年，眾說紛紜。葉德均《戏曲小说丛考·西游记研究的资料》谓陈文烛生于嘉靖十四年。他的依據是陈文燭《廷中诗》卷一《遣儿归省大人书怀》八首之三: “嘉靖庚戌时，我生十有六。”又同卷《己已除夕拟杜七歌》之七: “吁嗟我年三十五”，以此推得陈氏當生於嘉靖十四年。王学范主编《王世贞抚郧诗文集》中，将陈文烛生年标注为1525年。此據《先君行状》載： “丙申，历齐鲁泛江淮而归登太山梅子，至家得奇梦，而不肖生，小字武当，盖四月八日，先君又喜得子也。”又《游太和山记》(二西园文集》卷九) : “岁丙申三月，按察公再登，祷绝顶，得奇梦。四月八日，甫归，而不殺生。小字武當。人以為異云。”
- 1 2 3 4 刘怀玉. "吴承恩与湖北人士的交往" (in Chinese). Retrieved 21 November 2025.
- 1 2 吴承恩和西遊记 (in Chinese). 胡光舟. 1980. pp. 19–23. Retrieved 22 November 2025.
- ↑ 《淮安府志·卷八》
- ↑ 苏兴 (1989). 西游记及明清小说研究 (in Chinese). 上海古籍出版社. p. 18. ISBN 9787532504107. Retrieved 22 November 2025.
- ↑ 刘怀玉 (2008). 吴承恩与《西游记》. 东方出版中心. p. 29. ISBN 9787801867964. Retrieved 22 November 2025.
- ↑ 陳文燭卒年見龙腾《給隐文集》卷十二《祭陈岳翁文》。
- ↑ 《嘉靖四十四年乙丑科進士履历便览》：陳文燭，五嶽，書三房，丙申四月初八日生，严侍，沔阳州人，乡试七名，会试三百四十二名，三甲一百一名。吏部政，乙丑八月授大理寺评事，丙寅九月升寺副，己巳二月升寺正，庚午四月升淮安知府，甲戌二月升四川提学副使，丁丑十一月升参政，丁忧。癸未二月復除四川，十二月升福建按察使，甲申九月升右布政，丙戌九月升江西左，己丑六月升应天府尹，庚寅正月升大理寺卿，辛卯十月回籍听用，丙申正月卒。曾祖瓒。祖泮，贈兵部主事。父栢，按察司副使進階奉议大夫。
- ↑ 郭明芳撰國立臺灣師範大學圖書館藏古籍考述--以明版圖書為中心
- 1 2 余大中. "明代荆州籍进士略考（三）" (in Chinese). Retrieved 21 November 2025.