Li Mengyang, the North-South Divide, and Literati Learning in Ming China

Li Mengyang (14731530) was a scholar-official and man of letters who initiated the literary archaist movement that sought to restore ancient styles of prose and poetry in sixteenth-century China. In this first book-length study of Li in English, Chang Woei Ong comprehensively examines his intellectual scheme and situates Lis quest to redefine literati learning as a way to build a perfect social order in the context of intellectual transitions since the Song dynasty. Ong examines Lis emergence at the distinctive historical juncture of the mid-Ming dynasty, when differences in literati cultures and visions were articulated as a north-south divide (both real and perceived) among Chinese thinkers. Ong argues that this divide, and the ways in which Ming literati compartmentalized learning, is key to understanding Lis thought and its legacy. Though a northerner, Li became a powerful voice in prose and poetry, in both a positive and negative sense, as he was championed or castigated by the southern literati communities. The southern literatis indifference toward Lis other intellectual endeavorsincluding cosmology, ethics, political philosophy, and historiographyfurthered his utter marginalization in those fields.