Wu Jingzi (吳敬梓) Glossary

Qing-dynasty Chinese satirical novelist, 1701–1754, author of *The Scholars* (儒林外史). The Dictionary's reference text for *sycophancy* and the corruption of feedback systems.

Wu Jingzi (吳敬梓, 1701–1754) was a Qing-dynasty Chinese writer best known for The Scholars (儒林外史), the great 18th-century satirical novel of the imperial examination system. Wu himself failed the examinations — got only as far as the county level before the system closed its door on him — and spent his inheritance hosting parties for artists and writers who had also failed, or refused to try, or tried and decided the cost was too high. He published The Scholars anonymously. He could not have done otherwise.

For this Dictionary, Wu is the origin source for the argument developed at length in Prof. Langenkamp’s essay The Sincere Society (Substack, May 2026): that feedback systems which reward the performance of virtue over virtue itself produce structural sycophancy, regardless of the costumes the participants wear. Wu was describing this mechanism in 18th-century imperial China. The Sincere Society extends his diagnosis to the French Terror, modern Student Evaluations of Teaching, RLHF, and HAL. The mechanism is the same.

The Dictionary refers to Wu by his full name on first mention and by surname thereafter, following the convention of his own period.

See also

• The Scholars — Wu’s novel; the canonical text for the sycophancy argument
• Fan Jin — the examination-mad character at the centre of The Scholars’ most famous scene
• Du Fu — the Tang poet Wu set himself against as a model of honest writing
• The Sincere Society — Prof. Langenkamp’s essay drawing the through-line
• Sycophancy

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