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Li Chunfang
Ming grand secretary from Xinghua, top graduate of 1547, who rose by writing Daoist prayer texts and briefly headed the cabinet between Xu Jie and Gao Gong
In a council hall, a long table holds an unrolled map scroll, a brass-cornered chest and a brush pot, with tall-backed chairs around it and a bronze lamp at the left; a figure stands with their back turned on the balcony at the right, with palace roofs beyond.
Also known as Zi Zishi · Hao Shilu
- Roles
- Chief Ministers
Li Chunfang, courtesy name Zishi, came from Xinghua in Yangzhou and took first place in the palace examination of 1547, entering the Hanlin Academy as compiler. Chosen to write Daoist prayer texts in the Western Park, he caught the Jiajing emperor's eye and within a few years had risen to minister of rites. In 1565 he joined the Grand Secretariat with Yan Ne. After Xu Jie retired in 1568 he became chief grand secretary, working beside the forceful Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng; Zhang openly looked down on him, but he answered with forbearance. In 1571 he twice asked leave to go home and care for his parents, and was sent off with post horses and an escort. He outlived both parents by several years and died at seventy-five, receiving the posthumous name Wending.
Life and times
Dates 1510 CE–1584 CE