Li Qing

Li Qing (1602–1683), courtesy name Xinshui and styled Bishui Weng, later known as Tianyi Jushi, was a native of Xinghua in present-day Jiangsu and a historian, legal scholar and man of letters of the late Ming and early Qing. A jinshi of 1631, he served as a prefectural judge and as supervising censor in the ministries of Justice, Personnel and Works, and under the Hongguang court of the Southern Ming was promoted to deputy minister of the Court of Judicial Review. After the Ming fell he withdrew to his native place, where he spent thirty-eight years in seclusion writing and repeatedly declined summons to office. His numerous works span history and law, including the Sanyuan biji and Zheyu xinyu; his Taowu xianping, also known as Mingzhu yuan, a historical novel set against eunuch factional strife in the Ming, is among his more influential writings. Ten of his works are held here, with public information on his life remaining limited.