Tao Zongyi

Tao Zongyi , 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.

Life Tao Zongyi was born under the Mongolian-ruled Yuan dynasty and grew up in the village of Qingyang (, , ) in Huangyan County outside Taizhou in Jiangzhe province (now Eastern China's Zhejiang province). 1321, 1322, and 1329.

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. As that dynasty collapsed, he repeatedly declined further appointments, instead focusing on scholarship and literature. He continued to decline appointments under the early Ming, relocating to Yunjian in Nanzhili (now Songjiang in Shanghai Municipality).

The year of his death is also obscure, being variously placed in 1403, 1407, or 1410.

Works Tao's known works include the 1361 Environs of Fiction or Persuasion of the Suburbs ), a compilation of 1292 historical and semihistorical stories; his 1366 historical "novel" ("Records from a Southern Village after Retiring from the Plow") covering a wide range of topics in the daily life under the late Yuan; his 1376 Important Matters in the History of Calligraphy ), covering the historical development of Chinese characters and other Asian writing systems alongside biographies of prominent calligraphers; the biographical compilation A Private History of Common Heroes ); and a book of poems. His works were included in the Ming and Qing compilations the Siku Quanshu, the Sibu Congkan ), and the Baichuan Xuehai ).

Legacy Tao's life was the subject of a 1374 biography by his friend Sun Zuo ) 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.