Chen Tingjing

Chen Tingjing (, 31 December 1638 – 23 May 1712) was a Han Chinese politician and scholar who served as tutor to the Kangxi Emperor and was chief editor of the Kangxi Dictionary.

Biography

Chen Jing was born in Zezhou in Shanxi province. He obtained a jinshi degree in the imperial examination in 1658 and was given the vocable "Ting" by the Shunzhi Emperor to differentiate him from another successful candidate with the same name. He served in a number of official posts during his long career, working in the Imperial Diary Office in 1672 before being appointed sub-chancellor of the Grand Secretariat in 1676. Shortly after, he was also appointed chancellor of the Hanlin Academy. In 1678, Chen was sent to serve in the Imperial Study with Ye Fang'ai, but returned home to observe a mourning period for his mother who recently died. In 1682, Chen became chief-examiner of metropolitan examination and was also tasked with compiling music for court festivals and gatherings. Chen, being a relative of the accused, resigned from his post. He was soon recalled to office two years later but temporarily resigned again to undertake a period of mourning. In 1694, Chen again became a director in the Historiographical Board and continued working on literary projects sponsored by the government. He took an exceptional interest in Tang poetry and considered Du Fu to be the epitome of poetic excellence. Later in his life, he was also entrusted with editing the Peiwen Yunfu and the Yuxuan Tangshi, an anthology of Tang poetry.