Lü Kun

Lü Kun (1536–1618), courtesy name Shujian and style name Xinwu, was a native of Ningling, Henan, and a Ming dynasty thinker and man of letters. A jinshi of 1574, he served as Grand Coordinator of Shanxi and Vice Minister of Justice; upright and incorruptible in office, he was known with Shen Li and Guo Zhengyu as the "three worthies" of the Wanli reign. He championed practical learning and helped open the way for the late Ming and early Qing currents of reformist and enlightenment thought. His works include Shenyin Yu, Quwei Zhai Ji and Shizheng Lu. His writing spans Eastern philosophy, prose miscellany and folk literature; twelve titles are held here, including several editions of Shenyin Yu, Xinwu Lü Xiansheng Shizheng Lu, Jiuming Shu, Xu Xiao'er Yu, and the annotated Chinese family-instruction series. Whether discussing self-cultivation and governance, recording administrative and everyday life, or collecting maxims and household precepts, his plain, practical style emphasizes daily conduct and has influenced later writing on self-improvement and literary appreciation.