Fang Xiaoru (Chinese: 方孝孺; pinyin: Fāng Xìaorú; 1357 – 25 July 1402), courtesy name Xizhi (希直) or Xigu (希古), a native of Ninghai County, Zhejiang (present-day Ningbo, Zhejiang), was a Chinese official and Confucian scholar of the Ming dynasty.

The official History of Ming, compiled by Qing-era scholars, records that the Yongle Emperor summoned Fang Xiaoru, and demanded Fang write an inaugural address that would compare his usurpation of the throne with the regency of the Duke of Zhou during the reign of his nephew King Cheng of Zhou in ancient China.

[5] Another account, found in the 17th century text, Annals of Ming History, records a similar exchange, but adds that Fang was threatened with the extermination of nine kinships.

[7] The second and third account are generally considered by historians to be apocryphal; it is speculated that they were invented posthumously by Chinese literati of later generations who sympathized with Fang.

[8] People in Fujian (闽南人) regard Fang Xiaoru, along with Tie Xuan and Jing Qing (景清), as the Sanfu Qiansui (三府千岁; "three houses, a thousand years"), or Sanwang (三王; "three king"), deities in the Wang Ye worship (王爷神).