Wen Tianxiang
Failing to pass the "jinshi" examination just prior to the invasion of Jiangxi by the Mongols, Wu supported the resistance forces of Wen Tianxiang (1236-1283). After the takeover, educators in the capital tried unsuccessfully to recruit him to serve the Yuan and instead disseminated his classical commentaries. He refused local appointments, but in 1309 he served in the Directorate of Education in Dadu (Beijing), leaving in 1312 over differences with those reinstituting the examination system, which had been defunct since the Mongol takeover. Wu had wished to broaden the classical curriculum beyond Zhu Xi’s commentaries on the Four Books and proposed models that challenged the prevailing plan. In the 1320s he also served in the Historical Bureau in the capital.