Nalan Xingde (January 19, 1655 - July 1, 1685), Yehenala, named Rongruo, a native of Lengjia Mountain, a native of Zhenghuang Banner in Manchuria, in the early years of the Qing Dynasty The poet's original name was Nalan Chengde. He changed his name to Nalan Xingde because he avoided Prince Baocheng. The eldest son of the great scholar Mingzhu, his mother is Aixinjueluo, the fifth daughter of Prince Azig.
Nalan Xingde read poetry and books since he was a child, and studied both literature and martial arts. He entered the Imperial Academy at the age of seventeen and was appreciated by Xu Yuanwen, who offered wine as a sacrifice. At the age of eighteen, he passed the examination and became a tribute scholar the following year. In the 15th year of Kangxi's reign (1676), he ranked seventh in the second class in the palace examination and was awarded the title of Jinshi. Nalan Xingde once worshiped Xu Qianxue as his teacher. In two years, he presided over the compilation of a Confucian compilation - "Tongzhitang Jingjie", which was highly appreciated by Emperor Kangxi. He was awarded the title of first-class bodyguard and accompanied him on many tours.
In May of the twenty-fourth year of Kangxi (1685), Nalan Xingde passed away suddenly at the age of thirty (thirty-one years old). Nalan Xingde's poems are characterized by their "truth", and his descriptions of scenes are lifelike and vivid. His style of poems is "clear, elegant, graceful, sad, and far-reaching, and unique." He is the author of "Tongzhitang Collection", "Zi Mao Collection", "Drinking Words", etc.
Extended information:
Nalan Xingde loved books and collected them all his life. He studied classics under the tutelage of Gu Zhenguan, Chen Weisong and Xu Qianxue. He once spent 400,000 gold to compile various Confucian classics since the Song Dynasty, which were engraved into 1860 volumes of "Tongzhitang Jingjie" (later scholar He Zhuo compiled the "Tongzhitang Jingjie Catalog"). Compiled "Selected Poems of the Tang Dynasty". He is the author of "Tongzhitang Collection", "Drinking Ci", "Lushui Pavilion Miscellaneous Knowledge", "Collection of Yi Yi Collection", "Abridged and Supplementary Words of Daxue Yi", "Ci Yun Zheng Lue", "Chen's "Book of Rites" and other books.
Yingnian devoted himself to classics, history, calligraphy, and poetry. He asked his friends Qin Songling and Zhu Yizun to purchase scriptures and interpretations from various schools in the Song and Yuan Dynasties. They obtained more than 140 manuscripts, surrounded by thousands of ancient books, and built library "Tongzhitang" and "Coral Pavilion" to recite songs, evaluate calligraphy and paintings, and appraise collections. Ancient books are a pleasure. The books in the collection are printed with the words "Coral Pavilion", "Embroidered Buddha Studio", "Yuanyang Pavilion" and other words.