刘瑞年谱

LIU Rui’s Chronicle

刘瑞,明朝内江人,历仕弘治、正德和嘉靖三朝,是明中期文坛和政坛的重要川籍士大夫。政治上,刘瑞在京任官时,不附权贵,多次上疏谏君,以敢言名;督学两浙时,他重视文教,造士公允,两浙风化为之一新。文学观方面,他倡导复古以明道,与何景明、王九思、边贡等复古派文人关系匪浅。文学创作丰富且较负盛名,时人将之与韩愈、曹植相论。关于刘瑞生平及其仕宦经历,学界研究较少,故以刘瑞诗文集《五清集》为主要参考文献,并结合其他史料,力图呈现其生平面貌。

LIU Rui,a native of Neijiang,Sichuan Province in Ming Dynasty,served three subsequent reigns:the Hongzhi,Zhengde,and Jiajing.Therefore,LIU was a well-known and important scholar-official from Sichuan during the middle period of Ming Dynasty in both literary and political circles.Politically,he did not cling to the powerful and aristocratic factions.He repeatedly submitted remonstrances to the emperor during his tenure in the capital.Therefore,he earned a reputation for daring to speak the truth.As the Supervisor of Education in the east and south parts of Zhejiang Province,he attached great importance to education,and was fair in cultivating talents.As a result,a transformation was made in the custom in the two parts.He finally passed away in his official residence in Nanjing.In terms of literary views,he advocated a return to classical principles by ancient Chinese sages.He had close relationships with other literary figures of the classical school,such as HE Jingming,WANG Jiusi,and BIAN Gong.LIU was prolific in literary creations and enjoyed considerable fame so that he was compared to HAN Yu(a renowned scholar in Tang Dynasty)and CAO Zhi(a famous literati in Three Kingdom Period).There has been relatively little scholarly research on LIU's life and his official career.This chronicle primarily relies on Collection of Five Clearings,LIU's collection of poetry and prose,as the main reference.It is also supplemented by other historical materials,in an attempt to present a comprehensive portrait of his life.