The Corpse Reader

BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY OF Cí SONG

Cí Song was born in 1186 in Jianyang, a subprefecture of Fujian. His father, Kung Song, was not an outstanding student but managed, due to the facilities provided by Emperor Ningzong, to pass the governmental exams. Obsessed with his son’s future, Kung had Cí take lessons with a follower of Hsi Chu before entering the t’ai-hsue, the National University at Lin’an (current-day Hangzhou). In 1217, after taking courses in medicine, law, and criminology, Cí Song obtained a Chin-shih doctorate, which qualified him to become a sheriff in Yin, in the subprefecture of Chekiang. But his father’s sudden death prevented him from taking the post, as he had to withdraw from public life to observe the customary mourning period. Almost a decade later, Cí Song became a registrar in Hsin-feng, in the subprefecture of Kiangsi. His successes in forensics made his quartermaster envious, and the latter had him demoted several times until Cí Song gave up the life of an official. After the death of the quartermaster, though, Cí Song took up his former post and went on to rise through the administrative ranks, including subprefect, prefect, and judicial intendant. He dedicated himself to forensic study and analysis, discarding several ancient, esoteric, and magic-based practices. Some of his innovations are still in use today. He died in 1249, two years after completing the first and most important scientific treatise on forensics in history, the Hsi yuan lu hsiang I.