| 1527 |
Born in Jinjiang in Quanzhou, Fujian (Ming period, sixth year of the Jiajing reign). |
| ca. 1547 |
Marries Ms. Huang (born 1533). |
| 1552 |
Passes provincial civil service examination. |
| 1555 |
Li’s first child, a son, dies. |
| 1556 |
Assumes first post as instructor in Hui county, Henan province. Serves until 1560. |
| 1560 |
Promoted to the position of erudite in the Imperial Academy, Nanjing. Moves to Nanjing to accept the position. Several months later, he returns home to Quanzhou to mourn his father’s death. “Japanese” pirates ransack the city. |
| 1563 |
Upon the completion of the mourning period for his father, Li and his family return to Nanjing, where Li works as a tutor for ten months while awaiting an official post. |
| 1564 |
Named erudite in the Imperial Academy at Beijing. Receives notification of the death of his paternal grandfather. Li’s second-eldest son too falls ill and dies. Li returns alone to Quanzhou to mourn his grandfather’s death. Leaves his wife and three daughters behind, purchasing a plot of land in Hui county for their sustenance. |
| 1565 |
Unbeknownst to Li, who is still in Quanzhou, two of his three daughters starve to death during the drought in Hui county. |
| 1566 |
Li returns to Hui county to rejoin his wife and one remaining child, a daughter. The family returns to Nanjing, where Li takes a temporary position in the Ministry of Rites. During this time, Li begins to study the teachings of Wang Yangming and becomes increasingly interested in Buddhism. |
| 1567 |
(Ming period, Longqing reign, year one) |
| 1570 |
Assumes the position of secretary of the Ministry of Punishments in Nanjing. He holds this position until 1577. |
| 1572 |
Meets Geng Dingli. |
| 1573 |
(Ming period, Wanli reign, year one) |
| 1577 |
Having been appointed prefect of Yao’an in Yunnan province, Li travels west to assume the post. Passing through Huang’an, he visits Geng Dingli, meets Geng Dingxiang, and leaves his daughter and son-in-law in Huang’an. |
| 1580 |
Li resigns his post as prefect of Yao’an and travels through Yunnan to visit the Buddhist monasteries of Mount Jizu. |
| 1581 |
Takes up residence at the Geng household in Huang’an. Meets Zhou Youshan and the monk Wunian. |
| 1582 |
Begins period of intensive writing. |
| 1584 |
Death of Li Zhi’s soul friend, Geng Dingli. |
| 1587 |
Sends his wife and daughter home to Fujian. Takes up residence in Macheng at the Vimalakīrti Monastery. |
| 1588 |
Receives the news of his wife’s death in Fujian. Li takes the Buddhist tonsure, shaving off his hair but leaving his long beard intact. Moves to the Cloister of the Flourishing Buddha on Dragon Lake. |
| 1590 |
Likely date for first publication of A Book to Burn. |
| 1591 |
Yuan Hongdao visits Li at Dragon Lake. The two travel together to Wuchang, where Li is attacked by a rowdy mob while sightseeing at the Yellow Crane Pavilion. |
| 1592 |
Stays in Wuchang under the protection of Liu Dongxing. |
| 1593 |
Returns to Dragon Lake. |
| 1595 |
Huguang Provincial Surveillance Commissioner Shi Jingxian threatens to have Li deported from Macheng for being a danger to public morals. |
| 1596 |
Seeks refuge with Liu Dongxing in Qinshui, Shanxi. |
| 1597 |
Travels to Datong. |
| 1598 |
Visits the Temple of Bliss in Beijing, then travels south to Nanjing with Jiao Hong. |
| 1599 |
Publishes A Book to Keep (Hidden); meets the Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci for the first time. |
| 1600 |
Meets Ricci again. Li’s residence at Dragon Lake is attacked, and the grave site he had been preparing for himself is desecrated. |
| 1601 |
Goes to live with Ma Jinglun in Tongzhou, near Beijing. |
| 1602 |
Zhang Wenda, the chief supervising secretary in the Ministry of Rites, submits a memorial to the throne impeaching Li Zhi. Li is arrested and commits suicide in prison in Tongzhou. An imperial edict is issued banning his books. |
| 1609 |
Another Book to Keep (Hidden) is published. |
| 1618 |
Another Book to Burn is published. |
| 1625 |
The edict banning Li Zhi’s books is reissued. |