Fang Xiaoru

Life & Legacy

Fang Xiaoru (Chinese: 方孝孺; pinyin: Fāng Xìaorú; 1357 – 25 July 1402), courtesy name Xizhi (希直) or Xigu (希古), a native of Ninghai County, Zhejiang (present-day Ningbo, Zhejiang), was a Chinese official and Confucian scholar of the Ming dynasty. He was an orthodox Confucian scholar-bureaucrat, famous for his continuation of the Jinhua school of Zhu Xi and later for his loyalty to the former Jianwen Emperor (Zhu Yunwen), who died in the rebellion of the Prince of Yan (Jingnan rebellion).