生平

陳廷敬原名陳敬，明崇禎十二年（1638年）生于山西澤州直隸州皇城村。順治十五年（1658年）考中戊戌科進士，選庶吉士，因與庶常館翰林院通州陳敬重名，故順治帝賜「廷」字，改名廷敬。康熙帝即位，陳廷敬深得賞識。康熙十七年（1678年）秋七月丙寅，與葉方藹一起入直南書房。累遷翰林院掌院學士。

康熙二十三年（1684年），授左都御史兼管戶部錢法堂事物。康熙二十五年（1686年），遷工部尚書，與徐乾學奏進《鑑古集覽》，奉詔任纂修《三朝聖訓》，《政治訓典》，《方略》，《大清一統志》，《明史》等書，任總裁。康熙二十七年（1688年），前湖廣巡撫張汧因「貪污銀九萬餘兩」獲罪。陳廷敬為其親戚，上《俯瀝懇誠祈恩回籍以安愚分疏》，謝罪懇請回鄉。兩年後重新起用為左都御史。

康熙四十二年（1703年），拜文淵閣大學士兼吏部尚書，值經筵。康熙四十九年（1710年）十一月以耳病乞休，獲允。次年五月，大學士張玉書卒，李光地患病未愈，陳廷敬又應詔入直。康熙五十一年（1712年）三月，陳廷敬病劇，四月去世。康熙帝親作輓詩哀悼，謚文貞。《清史稿》有傳。

著作

陳廷敬生平好學，詩、文、樂皆佳。與清初散文家汪琬，著名詩人王士禎皆有往來，「皆能得其深處，而面目各不相假」。康熙對陳廷敬有「房姚比雅韻，李杜並詩豪」的評價。乾隆皇帝親書「德積一門九進士，恩榮三世六翰林」的楹聯，對陳廷敬及其家族予以褒獎。

康熙四十九年（1710年），皇帝命張玉書、陳廷敬領導編纂一部大型字典。後張玉書病逝，陳廷敬獨任總裁官。陳廷敬編纂《康熙字典》付出了極大的心力，親自審閱文稿、編訂目錄、考校典籍、查閱大量古代辭書。這部字典是在前人《字匯》和《正字通》的基礎上補充而成的，共收四萬七千多字，是清代最大的字典。陳廷敬工詩文，器識高遠，文詞淵雅，有五十卷《午亭文編》收入《四庫全書》，其中詩歌二十卷，還有《午亭山人第二集》三卷等作品。

家庭

妻子

• 王氏

子女

• 大兒子陳忘機

• 二兒子陳豫朋

• 三兒子陳壯履

• 女兒 陳採薇

遺跡

陳廷敬在家鄉所建的午亭山村保留至今。

評價

陳廷敬頗有清名，受康熙評價為「寬大老成，幾近完人」。長篇歷史小說《大清相國》塑造了以其為主要代表的大臣群相，王岐山任北京市長時曾向同僚推薦該書。

皇城陳氏

皇城陳氏在明清兩代，科甲鼎盛，人才輩出， 九人考中進士，其中六人入翰林。陳廷敬六世祖陳天祐為明嘉靖進士，官至都察院御史。伯父陳昌言為明崇禎進士，官至學政，陳昌言子陳元為順治十六年進士，選庶吉士。陳廷敬二子陳豫朋為康熙三十三年進士，官至學政，三子陳壯履為康熙三十六年進士，侄子陳觀顒、陳隨貞，孫陳師儉均為進士。康熙年間，皇城陳氏為官者高達十六人。

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Biography

Chen Jing was born in Zezhou in Shanxi province. He obtained a jinshi degree in the imperial examination in 1658 and was given the vocable "Ting" by the Shunzhi Emperor to differentiate him from another successful candidate with the same name. He served in a number of official posts during his long career, working in the Imperial Diary Office in 1672 before being appointed sub-chancellor of the Grand Secretariat in 1676. Shortly after, he was also appointed chancellor of the Hanlin Academy. In 1678, Chen was sent to serve in the Southern Study, but returned home to observe a mourning period for his mother who recently died. In 1682, Chen became chief-examiner of metropolitan examination and was also tasked with compiling music for court festivals and gatherings. He served a stint at the Imperial Mint in 1684 and was involved in currency reform. To discourage the practice of melting down currency to profit from the higher price of the metal, Chen successfully petitioned a decrease in the weight of copper coins and suggested that copper mines be opened to private operation. In 1684, Chen was also appointed senior president of the Censorate and president of the Board of Works two years later. At the same time, he served as a director of the Historiographical Board, helping compile the History of Ming. In 1688, the governor of Hubei, Zhang Qian, was implicated in a bribery case and Chen, being a relative of the accused, resigned from his post. He was soon recalled to office two years later but temporarily resigned again to undertake a period of mourning. In 1694, Chen again became a director in the Historiographical Board and continued working on literary projects sponsored by the government.

In 1703, Chen Tingjing was made Grand Secretary of the Wenyuan Library. He accompanied the emperor during his fifth tour of the South in 1705 before retiring on grounds of ill-health in 1710. However, Chen was immediately recalled to office to look after government affairs after the death of one Grand Secretary, Zhang Yushu, and the absence of another, Li Guangdi. During his final years, he served as one of the chief editors of the Kangxi Dictionary. He died in office in 1712.

Poetry

Chen was a highly accomplished poet during his lifetime, believing that the fundamental purpose of poetry was to encourage moral virtue. He took an exceptional interest in Tang poetry and considered Du Fu to be the epitome of poetic excellence. The Kangxi Emperor regarded his poetic talents the best out of all his high officials and he was gifted the Imperial Poetry Collection (Yuzhi shiji) in 1678. Later in his life, he was also entrusted with editing the Peiwen Yunfu and the Yuxuan Tangshi, an anthology of Tang poetry.