Wu Jingzi

Also known as Zi Minxuan · Hao Limin

Wu Jingzi, courtesy name Minxuan, styled Limin and later Old Man of Wenmu, came from Quanjiao in Anhui, from a family that had produced several jinshi graduates in the early Qing. He passed the county examination in his twenties but failed at the provincial level, and through generosity and poor management he ran through his inheritance. In 1733 he moved to Nanjing beside the Qinhuai River, calling himself a sojourner there. When the Anhui governor recommended him for the special erudite scholars examination of 1736, he pleaded illness and did not attend. Over many years he wrote the novel The Scholars (Rulin waishi), which sets its satire of examination candidates and officials in the Ming; scenes such as Fan Jin going mad with joy at passing, and the miser Yan holding up two fingers on his deathbed, became widely known. He died in Yangzhou in 1754, leaving also the collection Wenmu Shanfang ji. The biography written by his friend Cheng Jinfang remains the main source for his life.