Guo Zi-zhang And The Late Ming Society (1543-1618)

Late Ming Dynasty, a turning point that the traditional society changed dramatically, within which the changes of society shocked all aspects of the elite official class directly, and shown an adjusting process of a scholar-bureaucrat existing in an changing society. As a deputy of elite scholar-officials,Guo Zi-zhang had been experienced the reigns of three emperors, Jiaqiong,Longqing and Wanli, so the process all through his life can be considered as the portraying of this period truly. Different from ordinary scholar-bureaucrat, he did not drift with the current,and did not belong to the line of "the Literati's change of Morality and their Loss of Social Responsibility". He was born in a family of advocating Confucianism,and been studious since young. The track of his growing up was similar with others. As an official,he had arrived at the regions almost half of our country. As an official,he still pay much attention to the performing of social responsibility. He worked hard, been concerned about the plebs, and spent much energy in pacification of Bozhou convulsion. At the same time, he was also wild about local public affairs. With the influence of traditional Confucian teaching and Jiangyou Wang school, he payed much homage to traditional culture. He also developed Wang school, promoting traditional school construction and Jiang xue actives actively, simultaneity, he did not forgetting the renewal of Buddhism. All the above show a value turning in xin school Confucian a certain extent. This paper tries to put Guo Zi-zhang's life story against a background of Late Ming Dynasty through his case study, and depicts existence of the elite official class though analysing the state of Gou Zi-zhang's growing, record as as an official, ideology and actives in learning. Because he was considered as the apotheosis of the elite official class. Then we can pry into Late Ming society, in which Guo Zi-zhang lived.