Zha Jizuo

In this Chinese name, the family name is Zha.

Zha Jizuo 查繼佐さ other names
Born	1601 Haining, Zhejiang
Died	1676 (aged 74–75)
Occupation	Writer, scholar
Notable works	Zui Wei Lu Guo Shou Lu Lu Chunqiu Dongshan Guoyu Ban Han Shi Lun Xu Xixiang
Relatives	Zha Erhan (father)

Zha Jizuo (1601–1676) was a Chinese writer and scholar who lived during the late Ming dynasty and early Qing dynasty.

Names

Zha Jizuo's given name was originally Jiyou (繼ままし佑たすく) before he changed it to Jizuo (繼つぎ佐さ). His courtesy name was originally Sanxiu (三さん秀しゅう) but was later changed to Yousan (友三ゆうぞう). He was also known by various pseudonyms, including Yihuang (伊い璜), Yuzhai (與あずか齋とき), Dongshan Diaoshi (東山ひがしやま釣ひとし史し), Dongshan Diaoyu (東山ひがしやま釣ひとし玉だま), Zuoyi Feiren (左ひだり尹いん非人ひにん), and Jingxiu Xiansheng (敬たかし修おさむ先生せんせい).

Life under the Ming dynasty

Zha was born in an impoverished family in Haining, Zhejiang Province during the late Ming dynasty. His ancestral home was in Wuyuan County, Jiangxi Province. His father was Zha Erhan (查爾翰). In 1633, he sat for the imperial examination and obtained the position of juren.

After the fall of the Ming dynasty in 1644, Zha accompanied Zhu Yihai, the Prince of Lu, to Shaoxing, where the latter proclaimed himself the regent of the Southern Ming, a state formed by Ming loyalists. Zha was appointed as an official in the Ministry of War of the Southern Ming government. When the forces of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty invaded Zhejiang Province, Zha joined the Southern Ming forces in resisting the invaders until Shaoxing fell to Qing forces in 1646.

Life under the Qing dynasty

Zha then went into retirement in present-day Xiashi District in Haining, Zhejiang Province. In 1652, he moved to Hangzhou, where he taught at Juejue School (覺さとし覺さとし堂どう) near the West Lake and later at Jingxiu School (敬たかし修おさむ堂どう) in Tiezhiling (鐵治てつはる嶺みね). He had thousands of students, who referred to him as "Jingxiu Xiansheng".

In 1661, Zha was implicated in a case of literary inquisition involving a merchant, Zhuang Tinglong, who had sponsored the publication of an unauthorised book on the history of the Ming dynasty because Zha had helped to proofread the book before it was published. (This book was different from the History of Ming, which was approved by the Qing government.) Although Zha was arrested and imprisoned, he was eventually released.

Two historical texts – Lang Qian Ji Wen (郎ろう潛せん紀き聞) and Ming Shi Ji Shi Ben Mo (明あきら史紀ふみのり事ごと本末ほんまつ) – mentioned that Zha was responsible for reporting the unauthorised book to the Qing government.

Another account stated that Wu Liuqi saved Zha from imprisonment because he wanted to repay Zha's kindness. Zha himself denied this account in Zha Jizuo Nianpu (查继佐さ年譜ねんぷ). Wu Qian (吳ご騫; 1733–1813) also wrote in Bai Jing Lou Shi Hua (拜はい經けい樓ろう詩話しわ) that the account involving Wu Liuqi was unreliable and unlikely to be true.

In his later years, Zha wrote a number of books and other writings, including Zui Wei Lu (罪つみ惟おもんみ錄ろく), Guo Shou Lu (國くに壽ことぶき錄ろく), Lu Chunqiu (魯春秋しゅんじゅう), Dongshan Guoyu (東山ひがしやま國語こくご), Ban Han Shi Lun (班はん漢かん史し淪), and Xu Xixiang (續ぞく西にし廂ひさし).

Relation to Jin Yong

Zha was from the scholarly Zha clan of Haining, whose members include the wuxia writer Zha Liangyong, who is better known by his pen name Jin Yong. Jin Yong was also born in the same place as Zha Jizuo: Haining, Zhejiang. Zha Jizuo appears as a minor character in one of Jin Yong's novels, The Deer and the Cauldron.

Further reading

• Hummel, Arthur W. Sr., ed. (1943). "Cha Chi-tso" . Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period. United States Government Printing Office.