The Xue Yuanxi 薛元曦

Xue Yuanxi (1288-1345) was a native of Guixi in Xinzhou during the Yuan Dynasty, a place now part of Jiangxi Province.

His courtesy name was Xuanqing, and he adopted the literary name (hao) "Shangqing Waishi" (Outer Scribe of the Supreme Purity, reflecting his connection to the Shangqing School of Taoism).

At the age of twelve, he entered Longhu Mountain (the ancestral shrine of the Zhengyi School of Taoism) and studied under Zhang Liusun, the "Kaifu Dazongshi" (Grand Hierarch with the Rank of Opening a Mansion), and Wu Quanjie, another "Dazongshi" (Grand Hierarch).

During the reign of Emperor Renzong of the Yuan Dynasty, he was granted an audience with the emperor and appointed to assist in imperial sacrificial rituals.

In the fourth year of the Yanyou era (1317), by imperial decree, he was appointed "Tidian" (Administrator) of the Chongzhen Wanshou Palace in Dadu (the Yuan imperial capital, present-day Beijing) and conferred the title "Yuande Zhixu Fujiao Zhenren" (Real Person of Profound Virtue, Attaining Emptiness, and Assisting the Teachings).

In the seventh year of the Yanyou era (1320), he was promoted to "Tidian" of the Chongzhen Wanshou Palace in Shangdu (the Yuan Dynasty’s summer capital, present-day Inner Mongolia).

In the first year of the Taiding era (1324), he was ordered by imperial edict to summon the successor Tian Shi (Celestial Master, the leader of the Zhengyi School). After the successor arrived, Xue was further ordered to reside and manage the Qianyuan Palace in Zhenjiang. However, before he could depart, he was summoned to accompany the imperial entourage to Luanyang. When the entourage returned to Longhu Terrace, he immediately requested to resign and return to his hometown. He later built a residence near Longhu Terrace and lived there.

In the sixth year of the Zhiyuan era (1340), officials from the Prime Minister’s Office and regional envoys jointly sent letters to invite Xue Yuanxi to serve as the abbot of Yousheng Temple, but he declined the appointment.

In the third year of the Zhizheng era (1343), by imperial decree, he was conferred the title "Hongwen Yude Chongren Zhenren" (Real Person of Expansive Literature, Abundant Virtue, and Revered Benevolence) and appointed abbot of Yousheng Temple, while also overseeing the affairs of various Taoist temples in Hangzhou.

Xue Yuanxi accepted the imperial appointment but sent his disciple Chen Yanlun to act on his behalf in managing the temple affairs. He himself thus fulfilled his ambition of "retreating to a quiet life and keeping a distance from secular affairs."

By nature, Xue Yuanxi was pure, serene, and elegant. His scholarship was broad and profound; he had a passion for ancient calligraphy, and his poems carried an ethereal style that seemed to "soar above the clouds."

He passed away due to illness in the fifth year of the Zhizheng era (1345) at the age of fifty-seven.

He authored several works, including Collected Works of Shangqing (in several volumes), Questions from a Woodcutter (in one volume), and Collected Works of Qionglin (in several volumes)—a compilation of poems and essays by various virtuous scholars of his time.