家庭背景

龔自珍生於乾隆五十七年七月初五，長於書香門第，從祖父一代開始做官，但也並非累世官宦之家。

先祖龔潮原籍浙江山陰（今紹興），潮之祖父明永樂年間由山陰徙居餘姚，潮再由餘姚徙居仁和，世居於此數百年。高祖龔茂城、曾祖龔斌均布衣一生，曾經商，以品學皆優名聞鄉里，龔斌更有詩集《有不能草》傳世。祖父輩兄弟五人：龔敬身、龔藻身、龔禔身、龔理身、龔治身。前三人有文名，人稱「東城三龔」。龔自珍之父龔麗正其實是龔禔身之次子，因龔敬身無子，過繼為敬身長房長子。所以龔自珍名義上的祖父是龔敬身。龔敬身也是由「商籍」「撥入仁和縣學附生」，開始科舉之路的。他于乾隆三十四年（1769年）高中進士，歷任內閣中書、宗人府主事、吏部員外郎、禮部郎中等職，在京時曾參與《四庫全書》編纂，任繕書處分校官。乾隆四十八年（1783年）任雲南省楚雄知府四年多，頗有政績，得民之愛戴。乾隆五十二年（1787年）升迤南兵備道，以父丁憂去職，不再出仕，著有《桂隱山房遺稿》。逝于嘉慶六年（1801年），紀曉嵐曾為之撰挽聯。

本生祖龔禔身於乾隆三十四年（1769年）以舉人任內閣中書，並派軍機處。兩兄弟同時任京官，京中人曾有「二龔」之譽。乾隆四十一年（1776年）病故，著有《吟臞山房詩集》。

父親龔麗正於乾隆六十年（1795年）中舉，第二年中進士，歷任禮部主事、員外郎、郎中，並曾任軍機處章京。嘉慶十七年（1812年）出任徽州府知府，二十年（1815年）升蘇松太兵備道，署江蘇按察使，道光七年（1827年）病辭。著作包括《國語補注》、《三禮圖考》、《兩漢書質疑》、《楚辭名物考》等。娶古文字學和漢學大師段玉裁之女段馴為妻，這就是龔自珍的母親。段馴亦工詩，有詩集《綠華詠榭詩草》。

生平

少年之幸

龔自珍1792年8月22日生於杭州城東馬坡巷小米園（今有紀念館於此），是龔家的長房長孫。6歲隨父母租居北京繩匠胡同、潘家河、門樓胡同、手帕胡同和城外上斜街等處。祖父病逝後與家人回杭州守孝。兩年後返京，租住北京法源寺南。啟蒙教育由母親承擔，教讀吳偉業詩和桐城派方苞、劉大櫆散文。後有家庭塾師宋璠，教學文史並重，經子兼顧，善誘導，打下了很好的基礎。12歲隨外祖父段玉裁習說文解字。13歲秋，作《水仙華賦》。14歲考訂古今官制。16歲讀《四庫全書總目提要》，並由此搜羅善本古籍，致力目錄學。17歲收集石刻，攻金石文字。

科舉之艱

嘉慶十五年（1810年）順天鄉試，龔自珍中副榜第28名，未取得正式功名。只得以副榜貢生資格通過考試充任武英殿校錄。對此龔自珍是十分不滿的。不久，他隨外放徽州知府的父親南下。同年訪時在蘇州的外祖父段玉裁，與外祖父孫女段美貞（表妹）結婚。攜新婚妻子回杭州，遊西湖，寫下龔詞代表作之一《湘月》：

::壬申夏泛舟西湖，述懷有賦。時予別杭州蓋十年矣。

天風吹我，墮湖山一角，果然清麗。曾是東華生小客，回首蒼茫無際。屠狗功名，雕龍文卷，豈是平生意？鄉親蘇小，定應笑我非計。

才見一抹斜陽，半堤春草，頓惹清愁起。羅襪音塵何處覓？渺渺予懷孤寄。怨去吹蕭，狂來說劍，兩樣消魂味。兩般春夢，櫓聲蕩入雲水。

嘉慶十八年（1813年）四月，自珍前往京城參加順天鄉試。加上嘉慶二十一年（1816年）計兩次，均落第。正當他深感失意時，又接到家中來信，新婚僅一年的美貞，因病為庸醫誤診，已於當年七月間卒於徽州府署。雙重打擊，使自珍悲憤交集。他匆匆南還，見旅店牆壁上有"一騎南飛"的字樣，遂填寫詞一首，一瀉胸中鬱悶。1813年九月天理教農民起義。1814年著四篇《明良論》，提出改革主張。回徽州後參與父親主持的《徽州府志》重修工作。

1815年，續娶安慶知府何裕均侄孫女何吉雲。何氏也是大家閨秀，能詩善畫，尤其擅長書法。六月中，父親麗正升任蘇松太兵備道，全家共赴上海。

直到嘉慶二十三年戊寅（1818年），第四次應鄉試，即清嘉慶帝六旬萬壽恩科，他終於中試第四名舉人。那時不過是二十七歲。第四名舉人是所謂「五經魁」之一，這使龔自珍大受鼓舞，以為科名從此一帆風順，可望置身於卿相之列，實現改革政治的理想了。

嘉慶二十四年（1819）、二十五年（1820），自珍兩次會試落榜。于是轉而參加軍機處考試，仍舊沒有被錄取。且其中有李姓官員作梗，使得希望更為渺茫，只能在國史館充任校對官。值得說明的是，龔自珍祖父龔禔身、父親龔麗正都在軍機處擔任過章京。滯留京城時自珍師從公羊學家劉逢祿。並試圖從《公羊傳》中汲取變法改革的靈感。然而，時人對他的志向頗有非議，道光元年，他與朋友閒談時竟突然有人闖入，詢問他們在謀劃什麼。二年，自珍家中失火，藏書罹難，大多燒毀。同年會試不第。道光六年（1826），與魏源一同參加會試，再度失利，計已連續五次落榜，無法施展抱負，心情十分低落。有《秋心三首·其三》詩云：「我所思兮在何處？胸中靈氣欲成雲。槎通碧漢無多路，土蝕寒花又此墳。」

道光九年（1829年），中進士第九十五名，為內閣中書。道光十五年（1835年），擢宗人府主事。十七年（1837年）改為禮部主事祠祭司行走，補主客司主事。道光十九年己亥（1839年），48歲，辭官南歸。四月二十三日出北京，五月十二日到達江蘇清江浦。南下揚州、鎮江，途經江陰、秀水、嘉興。七月九日回到杭州，至八月底到自己在崑山的羽琌別墅。九月複北上接妻兒，至十二月回到崑山。這一年間，龔自珍在旅途中用鵝毛筆在賬簿上寫下己亥雜詩三百十五首。二十一年（1841年），八月暴卒于江蘇丹陽雲陽書院（又名鳴鳳書院），終年50歲。

子女

• 兒子龔橙。迫于生活困窘經由他人介紹在上海英國人辦事處當任幕僚，晚年由于酒精梅毒的傷害，不久病發而死。

• 中華民國經濟學者朱敬一自稱龔自珍為其五代祖。

文學

龔自珍學問淵博，涉及金石、目錄，泛及詩文、地理、經史百家。其為文縱橫，自成一格，有「龔派」之稱。晚年辭官南歸，後又北上接取家屬，於往返的途中，寫成了三百一十五首短詩，並總命名為《己亥雜詩》，是一生中思想的精華。其詩風瑰麗奇肆，今存800餘首，輯有《龔自珍全集》。己亥以前有詩凡二十七卷，已散佚。另有散文「病梅館記」最為膾炙人口。柳亞子稱他為「三百年間第一流」。

學術

龔自珍自幼受到外祖父段玉裁的指導，奠定厚實的樸學基礎；後又面對社會變遷日劇，西方勢力侵入，轉而致力經世之務。

面對嘉道年間經濟衰敗，社會危機日益深重，他棄絕考據訓詁之學，轉而講求經世之務，志存改革，追求「更法」，在許多方面產生了有益的影響。他的思想為後來康有為等人提倡變法圖強開了先聲。

思想

在哲學上，持「性無善與不善」之說，反對孟子性善論和荀子性惡論；認為「自古及今，法無不改，勢無不積，事例無不遷，風氣無不移易」，強調萬事萬物都處于變化之中。

收藏

龔自珍多年收藏不輟，涉及古書、銅彞、印鑑、碑拓、字畫等等，藏品極為豐富。其兒媳婦之弟陳元祿曾稱「不可勝記」。《龔自珍全集》中記載的藏品就有：秦天禽四首鏡、商尊、孝成廟鼎、召伯虎敦、姬大母鬲、有孔之大圭、赤蛟大硯、漢雙魚列泉洗、有丹砂翡翠色之古瓦、漢三十六字鏡，高句麗花瓶、碧玉版蒙古牌、佛紐六朝印、馬湘蘭「惜花弄月」印，還有宋拓歐陽詢皇甫誕碑、羅池廟碑、曹娥碑、漢敦煌太守裴岑紀功碑、宋拓洛神賦十三行、宋拓蘭亭定武本以及明拓石鼓文、唐人雙鉤衛夫人殘字卷、虞集隸書卷、管道山水卷、薛素素蘭花卷等等。

他關于收藏研究的文章《說宗彞》、《說刻石》、《說碑》、《說印》等，頗多新解，金石學家吳昌綬有評語「精博絕特」。

交遊

與林則徐

林則徐與龔自珍之父龔麗正是老朋友，曾于1822年同路進京、同日引見和召對，又同日南下，相處融洽，林則徐曾作詩為記，稱讚龔麗正：「一門華萼總聯芳」。而龔自珍本人和魏源都以漢學批宋學，主張改革而聞名，並稱「龔魏」。林則徐與魏源關係相當密切。林則徐赴廣東禁煙前，龔自珍贈文《送欽差大臣侯官林公序》，堅決要求剷除煙禍，並表示願意南遊參與其事。林則徐在途中回書作答。

Biography

He was born August 22, 1792, in the town of Renhe near Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, into an eminent family of scholars and officials. He moved to the capital Beijing with his parents when he was six, about 1100 kilometers to the northwest of his hometown. As a child, he was required to read all the classics in literature, poetry and philosophy. Gong was a grandson of the famous philologist Duan Yucai, who put a lot of hope in Gong and began educating him in the Han period old text classics. Later on Gong studied the new text tradition under Liu Fenglu, as well as Tiantai Buddhism under Jiang Tiejun. But, when he grew up, Gong became more interested in social and government affairs. In 1821 when he was 29, Gong passed the imperial civil examinations at the provincial level and obtained the title of Juren, or Recommended Man. He succeeded to a series of metropolitan posts in the Qing administration. His lifelong desire to serve the nation was frustrated by repeated failure to gain the Jinshi degree, or Presented Scholar. When he finally did pass that in 1829, his low ranking on the list disqualified him from the Hanlin Academy. The highest office he ever held was a chief official on the Board of Rites and Ceremonies in 1837.

Gong was interested in studies of the Gongyang Zhuan, using its theory of the historical cycle (chaos - ascending peace - universal peace) to criticize the current social practices in the Qing empire. Concern over the Qing failure to deal with internal problems and Western pressures led Gong in 1830 to join other progressives in founding a literary club to agitate for reform. Unlike most of his political companions, Gong stressed that the greatest danger to Qing society was not Western pressure but the loss of the spiritual basis of society. He also pointed out that apart from domestic troubles, the country was facing external threats from the Russian Czar in the north and the Japanese aggression in the east. In his style and behavior, Gong Zizhen was reminiscent of the early Qing "essentrics", breaking the ritual norms, gambling, and being disrespectful to elders.

In his stance against opium, Gong became a confidant of Imperial Commissioner Lin Zexu. When he learned the Qing government had sent his colleague Lin to the south to suppress the opium trade, Gong was very excited and advised Lin to beef up military defenses on the southern and southeastern coasts to fend off a possible invasion of British warships. However, seeing that he could do little to change the government as a minor official, Gong resigned in disillusionment in 1839 when he was only 47.

He began to be sunk in confusion, depression and agony following his frustration at court. He tried to relieve himself from the miserable life by resorting to Buddhism. However, he failed to become a Buddhist, because his passion for the nation and his concern about the general public prevented him from cutting off the external connection with the secular world.

On the way home to Hangzhou, Gong wrote 315 poems in the traditional form of "qiyan jueju" or seven-character, four-line "cut-shorts." In these poems, the writer recorded what he had seen along the journey, expressed his deep concern about the country on the eve of the conflict that would become known as the First Opium War and put forward his ideas for reform. Gong believed all the problems that had been plaguing the government and society were caused by a disheartening dearth of talents. He said the imperial court was staffed by unqualified officials, and even "dumb" thieves and "incapable" bandits were roaming the streets around the country. He also predicted the country would inevitably fall into chaos one day due to this lack of talent. Gong fell ill when he arrived at Danyang, Jiangsu province, about 200 kilometers to the north of his hometown, and died there soon after on September 26, 1841.

The poems Gong wrote on the journey were later compiled into a book, Ji Hai Miscellaneous Poems, which is still quite popular among Chinese people today. His first poems date from the age of 15, and during his life he composed a total of 27 volumes of poetry, in addition to more than 300 articles and nearly 800 songs. His works include Annotations on Chinese, A Textual Research on The Three Rituals, A Critical Review of 'History of the Han and Latter Han Dynasties', and Verification on the Names and the Objects in 'Songs of Chu'.

Gong's New Text Confucianism influenced thinking of later reform-minded Chinese intellectuals, especially Kang Youwei and Kang's student Liang Qichao.

A Memorial Hall to Gong opened in 1990 in Hangzhou.