(钱德洪 Qián Déhóng) was a notable Chinese philosopher, writer, and educator during the mid-late
.
Biography
Qian was born in Yuyao, Shaoxing Fu (绍兴府/绍兴府; current Ningbo), Zhejiang Province. His original name was Kuan (宽), and courtesy name was Hongfu (洪甫). Because his recent ancestry also had the same name, to avoid the taboo, his name was changed from Kuan to Dehong.
When Qian was young, he settled in Lingxu Hill (霛绪山/灵绪山; aka Lingxushan) and systematically studied the I Ching, so people also call him Mr. Xushan (绪山先生/绪山先生).
In the 11th Year of Jiajing Era (嘉靖十一年; 1532), Qian joined the imperial examination together with Wang Ji, who was his classmate and also an important Confucian philosopher during his time. Qian was qualified and ranked as Jinshi (进士/进士).
He was later matriculated as a local governmental official. Qian spent most of his life as a secretary for Wang Yangming, and a lecturer in several schools.
Philosophy
Qian was an early student (or disciple) of the philosopher Wang Yangming, together with his classmate Wang Ji. Qian spent most of his life studying Confucian classics and developing the philosophy of the Yangming School of Mind (阳明心学/阳明心学; Japanese: 阳明学; Japanese romanization: Ōyōmei-gaku, Ō stands for the surname "Wang", yōmei stands for "Yangming", gaku means "school of learning").
Qian collected and emended Wang's philosophical works. When Wang died, he also edited Wang's full biography. Qian demonstrated and further developed Wang Yangming's philosophy, especially the explanation of Wang Yangming's influential Four-Sentence Doctrine (四句教), however his interpretation was quite different from his classmate and colleague Wang Ji's.
Qian wrote the preface and postscript for Wang Yangming's most important philosophical work – The Record of Teaching and Practising (《传习录》/《传习录》)
Other works
• Contributed to The Record of Teaching and Practising (《传习录》/《传习录》)
• Contributed to the Questioning to the Great Learning (《大学问》/《大学问》)
• Edited the A History of Horse and Posthouse Policies (《历代马政志》/《历代马政志》), 1 Volume
Main references
Historic records & books:
• The Record of Teaching and Practising (《传习录》/《传习录》), Ming Dynasty
• The Collection of Xu Ai, Qian Dehong, and Dong Yuan (《徐爱钱德洪董澐集》/《徐爱钱德洪董沄集》), Ming Dynasty (Full collections of these three philosophers' works, plus their biographies)
• The History of Ming (《明史》): Biography of Qian Dehong
Modern materials:
• Ethics in the Confucian Tradition: The Thought of Mengzi and Wang Yangming, by P. J. Ivanhoe, 2002
• Questions on the Great Learning Introduction by Qian Dehong
钱德洪（1496年 - 1574年），初名宽，字洪甫，号绪山，因避先世讳，以字行。尝读《易》于灵绪山（今浙江馀姚龙泉山）中，故人称绪山先生。浙江馀姚县（今馀姚市，由宁波市代管）人。明朝中后期哲学家，思想家，教育家。钱德洪是王阳明的学生，是王阳明之后儒家心学的重要代表人物之一，于同时期的哲学家、思想家王龙溪齐名。。