Wang Huizu

Wang Huizu (; 1731–1807; courtesy name Xuanzeng ; art name Longzhuang ) was a scholar-official, jurist, historian and moralist in Qing dynasty China. He was a commentator on social and local governance issues, and he was also an administrator who preached benevolence in judicial affairs.

Early life Wang Huizu was born on 21 January 1731 in Xiaoshan county, Shaoxing circuit, Zhejiang (present-day Xiaoshan, Hangzhou). Situated in the lower Yangtze valley, this region was marked by the presence of Jiangnan, a city which was the center of Chinese literacy and an intellectually flourishing area. Wang Huizu's father, Wang Kai , was the warden of a prison in Henan. Wang's mother was Kai's concubine. Therefore, it could be said that Wang Huizu belonged to the local literati elite. However, Wang Kai died in Canton in 1741, putting Wang Huizu and his mother in a precarious situation. As a result, the young Wang was forced to struggle in poverty.

Life and career as an official In 1747, at the age of sixteen, Wang Huizu passed the local-level examination and therefore gained the status of shengyuan (; "student member"). Afterwards, he remained for a moment in Changsha but finally retired in his home district in 1793 where he focused on his work as a scholar. all these evocative comparisons reflect the officials' inability to manage an economically and demographically expanding society. Wang Huizu even stated in the preface of his book that he would make a critical study on the routine of Chinese local administrators. He also underlined the importance of the hearing of people's plaints as one of the key for a good governance, notably because this activity creates a direct link between the magistrate and the civilians under his jurisdiction. This shows that, in a majority of cases, arbitrage was used to ensure civil justice— a convenient means to maintain social peace.

Although many literati produced works of belles-lettres and especially poetry, this was not the case for Wang Huizu. However, he was in contact with other Chinese scholars such as the historian Zhang Xuecheng and Zhu Yun – who originated the Siku Quanshu under the Qianlong Emperor – Shao Jinhan , Lu Jiugao , and the bibliophile Bao Tingbo.

As moralist Wang Huizu was also a moralist, notably producing a handbook for the management of family life called Shuangjietang yongxun (; "Simple Precepts from the Hall of Chaste Widows"). Wang wrote that the two women who inspired his model of the virtuous, chaste wife were his mother and his father's second wife. The book was dedicated to educating his sons as future patriarchs. He underlines that the equilibrium of a family, especially the virtue of its women, depends on the zunzhang yueshu (; "family elder's discipline").