Ye Xianggao, named Jinqing and named Taishan, was born in the 38th year of Jiajing reign of Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty (1559 AD) and died in the 7th year of Tianqi reign of Emperor Xizong of the Ming Dynasty (1627 AD) in Fujian. A native of Fuqing. His father, Ye Chaorong, was appointed magistrate of Yangli Prefecture. Ye Xianggao became a Jinshi in the 11th year of Wanli Emperor Shenzong (AD 1583), was awarded the title of Shujishi, was promoted to editor and editor, and was promoted to the post of Secretary of the Imperial Academy of Nanjing, and was changed to Zuo Zhongyun. Later, he was called Zuo Shuzi and served as the official of the emperor's eldest son. Soon, he was promoted to the right minister of the Nanjing Ministry of Rites, and later the right minister of the Ministry of Personnel. After the "Demon Book "Continued Concerns about Dangerous Snakes"" case arose, he wrote to Chief Assistant Shen Yiguan, urging not to implicate innocent people, which aroused Shen Yiguan's dissatisfaction. Therefore, he was suppressed by Shen, and he was not promoted for nine years.
After Shen Yiguan was dismissed from office, in May of the 35th year of Wanli, Ye Xianggao was promoted to Minister of Rites and Bachelor of Dongge University, and became Prime Minister. The following year, the first assistant Zhu Geng died of illness, and he was promoted to the first assistant.
At that time, Shenzong had stopped paying attention to the court for a long time, and his cabinet minister Li Tingji was attacked by public opinion and stayed at home. Ye Xianggao was the only one left in the cabinet. In the face of political chaos, partisanship has intensified. He made great efforts to increase the number of cabinet ministers, fill other vacant official positions and suspend the mining tax. He made petitions more than a hundred times. Ye himself is a veteran of the Donglin Party, but he has been an official for many years and strives to be prudent in his actions and can get along well with the Zhejiang Party. Therefore, he also mediated partisan disputes several times. However, due to the deep grievances between the parties, his mediation efforts are unlikely to be effective. After many failed attempts at mediation, Ye Xianggao felt that he was powerless, so he resolutely requested to resign. In August of the 42nd year of Wanli, he was promoted to the position of Shaoshi and Crown Prince. In the first year of Taichang of Guangzong (AD 1620), Ye Xianggao, who had been at home for six years, was called as the chief assistant, but before he could make any difference, Guangzong died of illness.
In the first year of Emperor Xizong's Tianqi (AD 1621), Ye Xianggao was promoted to bachelor of Zhongji Palace and served as the chief assistant for the third time. Xizong ascended the throne at a young age and was controlled by his wet nurse Keshi and the eunuch Wei Zhongxian. Wei Zhongxian was in charge of the Supervisor of Ceremonies and used his power to review memorials on behalf of the emperor to stir up trouble. He successively expelled a number of upright ministers such as Zhou Jiamo, the Minister of Personnel, and Liu Yiliao, the academician, from the court. Ye Xianggao was an upright man, supported the virtuous, and tried his best to protect Shuai Zhong, Chen Liangxun, Xiong Tingbi and other courtiers from disaster. In the fourth year of Tianqi, Wei Zhongxian became powerful and began to massacre Donglin Party members. All upright people in the court were charged with Donglin Party crimes and were either exiled or killed. Wei Zhongxian's disciple Wang Shaohui also compiled a blacklist called "Donglin Point General Record". Ye Xianggao was listed as the leader of the Donglin Party because he was a representative of Qingliu in the DPRK. Ye Xianggao saw dark clouds looming over the city and he was unable to support himself, so he resigned from office in July of the same year.
In 1627 AD, Xizong passed away, and Ye Xianggao also died of illness in the same year at the age of 69. Sizong (Emperor Chongzhen) came to the throne. After killing Wei Zhongxian, he posthumously made him Taishi and gave him the posthumous title Wenzhong.
Ye Xianggao (1559-1627), one of the "elders of the three dynasties" in the Ming Dynasty, was also known as Jinqing and Taishan. In 1582, Italian missionary Matteo Ricci (1552-1610) was called to preach in China. Arriving in Beijing on September 7, 1598. On May 18, 1600, Matteo Ricci went to Beijing again, and was allowed to settle down on January 24 of the following year.
According to records, in the twenty-seventh year of Wanli (1599), when Ye Xianggao was serving as the right minister of the Ministry of Rites in Nanjing, he met Matteo Ricci for the first time and competed with him on Go skills. We discussed the issue of Go and had a lot of fun. In the thirty-fifth year of Wanli (1607), after Ye Xianggao was promoted to the chief minister of the cabinet, he entertained Matteo Ricci in his private residence in Beijing, and once again formed a deep friendship with Matteo Ricci through Go. Matteo Ricci recorded the game of Go in his book "Matteo Ricci's Notes on China". It is said that these texts are the first record of Chinese Go in European history.
Ye Xianggao was happy to meet knowledgeable international friends, and happily wrote a poem "Poetry to the Scholars of the Western Kingdom" as a gift: "The heaven and the earth are boundless, and a small wisdom is enough to imitate them. I love Westerners." , comes from eight thousand miles away. He talks about the Chinese style and has a deep understanding of my Confucianism. Confucian people take a look at the grand view. I also travel with it, waiting for the deep meaning. "The manuscript of the poem is now preserved in the National Library of France.
On May 11, 1610, Matteo Ricci died of illness in Beijing. According to convention, missionaries who died in various places in China must be moved to the cemetery of Macau Theological Seminary. During his lifetime, Matteo Ricci had the desire to buy a cemetery in the suburbs of Beijing. Foreign missionaries and Chinese Catholics also hoped that the emperor would grant him land to bury Matteo Ricci. But if this is the case, it would be equivalent to recognizing the legal status of foreign churches in China. After consultation, the foreign missionaries submitted a memorial to the emperor in the name of a Spanish priest. Ming Shenzong was a lazy person and had always neglected to review memorials. Only on the third day did he transfer the review of memorials to Ye Xianggao, the cabinet scholar, and asked him to handle it as usual. Because Ye Xianggao had formed a deep friendship with Matteo Ricci, he ordered his subordinates to transfer the memorial from the Ministry of Household Affairs to the Ministry of Rites. Ricci was finally allowed to be buried in the suburbs of Beijing. When some officials objected to this move on the grounds that "there has never been such a case", Ye Xianggao retorted: "Since ancient times, among the Chinese and foreigners, is there anyone whose moral knowledge is as good as Li Zi? Regardless of other things, that is, the translation of "Elements of Geometry" "A book, a burial place is cheap.
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In 1624, Ye Taishan, who returned from his official career, invited Givlio Aleni, an Italian missionary who was known as “Confucius from the West” to Fuzhou. The “Three Mountains Theory” became a favorite for a while, and Aleni After arriving in Fuzhou, he preached there for 25 years. It is worth noting that Ai wrote extensively, especially introducing the new geographical knowledge after the Western geographical discovery into China, and compiled it into the book "Shi Fang Wai Ji". It was widely circulated, and it can also be seen from this that scholars in the late Ming Dynasty had an open attitude towards the outside world and their quietly rising interest in the West.