Life

Chen was born in Lingui, Guangxi, to a family who migrated from Chenzhou in Hunan province in the late Ming dynasty. He was noted for the longest total service and most provincial posts than any other official during the Qing dynasty. In their work Anthology of Qing Statecraft Writings, He Changling and Wei Yuan praised him as an exemplary official, being surpassed only by Gu Yanwu.

Philosophy

Chen considered himself a disciple of Zhu Xi, but condemned various types of intellectual partisanship. His essays were very progressive for his time - in his vigorous advocation of education for people everywhere, he was one of the first philosophers to clearly state the idea that women and non-Chinese tribes could, and should, receive the same education as Han Chinese men.

Together with Gu Yanwu, He Changling, and Wei Yuan (mentioned above) he belongs to the "statecraft school" of the Chinese thought: its proponents advocated accommodation of the local administration to the changing social realities.

生平

雍正元年（1723年）癸卯恩科第一名举人（解元），同年联捷进士。改庶吉士，授检讨。雍正四年（1726年），授吏部郎中。雍正七年（1729年），考选浙江道御史，仍兼郎中。雍正十一年（1733年）起外派，至乾隆二十八(1763)年回京，期间历任甘肃、江西、陕西、湖北、河南、福建、湖南、江苏等省巡抚，后成为两广、两湖总督、兵部、吏部尚书。乾隆三十二(1767)年官至东阁大学士。乾隆三十四(1769)年多次以病请辞，但被慰留。乾隆三十六(1771)年春病情严重，获准辞职，加太子太傅，食俸如故。乾隆帝命令其孙刑部主事兰森侍归，所经处有司在20里内料理护行。6月，乘船到达兖州韩庄，卒于途中。命祀贤良，赐祭葬，諡文恭。

任陕西巡抚期间，兴修农田水利，疏浚河流航道，提倡植树养蚕、农事深耕，均有成效。

陈宏谋墓位于今广西壮族自治区桂林市临桂县四塘乡。

嘉庆二十五年庚辰恩科状元陈继昌系其曾孙。

著作

除政事外，他也是清朝盛世知名之哲学家，将历代重要的风俗政事文献整理成五部精简扼要的参考教本，名为《五种遗规》。其中《教女遗规》他提出当时妇女的教养之道，主张：「天下无不可教之人，亦无可以不教之人，而岂独遗于女子也？」为中国帝制时期少见主张实行女性教育者。此外，《从政遗规》亦为清朝菁英政治之重要著作。