Tao Zongyi

Tao Zongyi (c. ad 1320 – c. 1410), also known by his courtesy name Tao Jiucheng and his style name Tao Nancun, was a Chinese scholar during the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties.

Tao Zongyi was born under the Mongolian-ruled Yuan dynasty and grew up in the village of Qingyang (清陽, 清阳, Qīngyáng)¹ in Huangyan County outside Taizhou in Jiangzhe province (now Eastern China's Zhejiang province).² However, the exact date of his birth is now obscure,³ being variously placed in 1316,²⁴ 1321,⁵ 1322,¹ and 1329.⁶

He was a friend and correspondent of many of his era's most famous scholars and writers and may have held some official offices under the Yuan.³ As that dynasty collapsed,¹ he repeatedly declined further appointments, instead focusing on scholarship and literature.² He continued to decline appointments under the early Ming,⁶ relocating to Yunjian in Nanzhili (now Songjiang in Shanghai Municipality).

The year of his death is also obscure,³ being variously placed in 1403,¹⁴ 1407,⁵ or 1410.⁶

Tao's known works include the 1361⁴ Environs of Fiction² or Persuasion of the Suburbs (t 《說郛》, s 《说郛》, Shuōfú), a compilation of 1292 historical and semihistorical stories;⁶ his 1366⁴ historical "novel" Nancun Chuogeng Lu ("Records from a Southern Village after Retiring from the Plow") covering a wide range of topics in the daily life under the late Yuan;¹ his 1376⁷ Important Matters in the History of Calligraphy (t 《書史會要》, s 《书史会要》, Shūshǐ Huìyào), covering the historical development of Chinese characters and other Asian writing systems alongside biographies of prominent calligraphers;⁸ the biographical compilation A Private History of Common Heroes (《草莽私乘》, Cǎomǎng Sīchéng); and a book of poems.² His works were included in the Ming and Qing compilations the Siku Quanshu, the Sibu Congkan (t 《四部叢刊》, s 《四部丛刊》, Sìbù Cóngkān),¹ and the Baichuan Xuehai (t 《百川學海》, s 《百川学海》, Bǎichuān Xuéhǎi).⁸

Tao's life was the subject of a 1374 biography by his friend Sun Zuo (t 孫作, s 孙作, Sūn Zuò)⁷ and was among the dynastic biographies included in the official 1739 History of the Ming and in Ke Shaomin's 1920 New History of the Yuan.³