Xun Can
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Xun Can ( 209–237),
courtesy name A courtesy name ( zh, s=字, p=zì, l=character), also known as a style name, is an additional name bestowed upon individuals at adulthood, complementing their given name. This tradition is prevalent in the East Asian cultural sphere, particula ...
Fengqian, was a Chinese ''
xuanxue Xuanxue (), sometimes called Neo-Daoism (Neo-Taoism), is a metaphysical Post-classical history, post-classical Chinese philosophy from the Six Dynasties (222-589), bringing together Taoist and Confucianism, Confucian beliefs through revision and di ...
'' philosopher of the state of
Cao Wei Wei () was one of the major Dynasties in Chinese history, dynastic states in China during the Three Kingdoms period. The state was established in 220 by Cao Pi based upon the foundations laid by his father Cao Cao during the end of the Han dy ...
in the
Three Kingdoms The Three Kingdoms of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu dominated China from AD 220 to 280 following the end of the Han dynasty. This period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and followed by the Jin dynasty (266–420), Western Jin dyna ...
period of China. He was a son of
Xun Yu Xun Yu (163–212), courtesy name Wenruo, was a Chinese military official and politician who served as an adviser to the warlord Cao Cao during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Early life Xun Yu was from Yingchuan Commandery (around ...
.


Family background

Xun Can's
ancestral home An ancestral home is the place of origin of one's extended family, particularly the home owned and preserved by the same family for several generations. The term can refer to an individual house or estate, or to a broader geographic area such as a ...
was in
Yingchuan Commandery Yingchuan Commandery ( zh, 潁川郡) was a Chinese commandery from the Warring States period to Tang dynasty, located in modern central Henan province. The name referred to the Ying River, which flowed through its territory. The commandery was ...
(穎川郡; around present-day
Xuchang Xuchang ( zh, s=, t= ; postal: Hsuchang) is a prefecture-level city in central Henan province in Central China. It is bordered by the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the northwest, Kaifeng to the northeast, Zhoukou to the east, Luohe ...
,
Henan Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Lu ...
). He was born in the influential Xun family as a son of
Xun Yu Xun Yu (163–212), courtesy name Wenruo, was a Chinese military official and politician who served as an adviser to the warlord Cao Cao during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Early life Xun Yu was from Yingchuan Commandery (around ...
, a prominent statesman of the late
Eastern Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...
and an adviser to the warlord
Cao Cao Cao Cao (; ; ; 15 March 220), courtesy name Mengde, was a Chinese statesman, warlord, and poet who rose to power during the end of the Han dynasty (), ultimately taking effective control of the Han central government. He laid the foundation f ...
. His exact birth order among his siblings is not clear; it is only known that he was younger than Xun Yu's sixth son,
Xun Yi Xun Yi (early 200s - 19 June 274), courtesy name Jingqian, was a Chinese politician of the state of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period of China. After the fall of Wei, he continued serving under the Jin dynasty, which replaced Wei in February ...
.


Views on human understanding of reality

Xun Can was markedly different from the rest of his brothers; he enjoyed studying and discussing
Taoism Taoism or Daoism (, ) is a diverse philosophical and religious tradition indigenous to China, emphasizing harmony with the Tao ( zh, p=dào, w=tao4). With a range of meaning in Chinese philosophy, translations of Tao include 'way', 'road', ' ...
as opposed to his brothers' preference for
Confucianism Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, Religious Confucianism, religion, theory of government, or way of li ...
. He believed that when
Zigong Zigong ( zh, s=自贡 , ), formed by the merger of the two former towns of Ziliujing (Tzuliuching, literally "self-flow well") and Gongjing (Kungching, literally "offering well"), is a prefecture-level city in Sichuan, Southwestern China. Demo ...
talked about how sages came to understand human nature and divine order, he was referring to a particular higher state of mind that these sages had attained, and that state of mind cannot be expressed in any way. In his opinion, even though the past sages had written books such as the six Confucian classics, these books are actually the "leftovers" from the sages' journeys towards that higher state of mind rather than an expression of that state of mind itself. Xun Yu (), one of Xun Can's elder brothers, rebutted him, "The ''Yi Zhuan'' (易傳) says the sages created images to make sense of reality. They used words to express and describe their understanding of reality. How can you say that human understanding cannot be expressed in any way?" Xun Can replied, Even the most skilled debaters at the time were unable to counter his argument.


Views on Xun Yu and Xun You

Xun Can had another debate with his brothers about their father
Xun Yu Xun Yu (163–212), courtesy name Wenruo, was a Chinese military official and politician who served as an adviser to the warlord Cao Cao during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Early life Xun Yu was from Yingchuan Commandery (around ...
and their
third cousin A cousin is a relative who is the child of a parent's sibling; this is more specifically referred to as a first cousin. A parent of a first cousin is an aunt or uncle. More generally, in the kinship system used in the English-speaking world, c ...
Xun You Xun You (157–September 214), courtesy name Gongda, was a statesman who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China and served as an adviser to the warlord Cao Cao. Born in the influential Xun family of Yingchuan Commandery (arou ...
. In his opinion, his father focused on maintaining his image as a morally virtuous and upright man who assumed the moral high ground, whereas his third cousin was not concerned about his external image and was careful about maintaining a low profile and keeping to himself. His brothers were angry with him for describing Xun You in more favourable terms, but they could not refute him.


Friendships with Fu Gu and Xiahou Xuan

In the early Taihe era (227–233) of
Cao Rui Cao Rui () (204 or 205 – 22 January 239), courtesy name Yuanzhong, was the second emperor of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period. His parentage is in dispute: his mother, Lady Zhen, was Yuan Xi's wife, but she later remarr ...
's reign, Xun Can travelled to the imperial capital
Luoyang Luoyang ( zh, s=洛阳, t=洛陽, p=Luòyáng) is a city located in the confluence area of the Luo River and the Yellow River in the west of Henan province, China. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zheng ...
to meet
Fu Gu Fu Gu (209–255), courtesy name Lanshi, was an official of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. Life Fu Gu's grandfather was Fu Rui (傅睿), the Administrator (太守) of Dai Prefecture (代郡) in the late Easter ...
and have a discussion with him. Fu Gu focused on concrete details while Xun Can focused on abstract things, hence they could not understand each other and ended up in a heated quarrel. Pei Hui (), the Inspector of
Ji Province Ji Province, also known by its Chinese name Jizhou, was one of the Nine Provinces of ancient China. It is referenced in Chinese historical texts such as the ''Tribute of Yu'', ''Erya'' and ''Rites of Zhou''. It consisted of lands north of the Y ...
, stepped in to mediate and successfully helped them resolve their misunderstandings. Xun Can and Fu Gu developed a close friendship after that. Xun Can was also close friends with
Xiahou Xuan Xiahou Xuan (209 – 27 March 254), courtesy name Taichu, was a Chinese essayist, historian, military general, philosopher, and politician of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. Family background Xiahou Xuan was a s ...
. He once told Fu Gu and Xiahou Xuan, "The two of you will become more famous than me, but not as wise as me." Fu Gu retorted, "A famous person should also be a wise person. How can there be people who gain more than they are worth?" Xun Can replied, "A person becomes famous as a reward for being ambitious. However, ambition is a quality on its own and isn't necessarily linked to wisdom. I can also become famous like you, but I might not do so in the same way as you."


Marriage and death

Xun Can assessed women in terms of their beauty and appearance rather than their talent and intelligence. He married the general
Cao Hong Cao Hong (died 232), courtesy name Zilian, was a Chinese military general of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He started his career in the late Eastern Han dynasty under the warlord Cao Cao, who was his older secon ...
's daughter, who was known for her pretty looks. At their wedding, they were dressed in extravagant garments and had expensive decorations for their bedroom. Xun Can treated his wife with special care and devotion. However, their romance did not last long as she died of illness a few years later. Fu Gu went to comfort Xun Can at his wife's funeral and saw that he was extremely grieved even though he did not shed tears. Fu Gu told him, "It's difficult to find a wife who has both looks and talents. However, you prefer looks over talents, so it's not too hard to find a new wife. What's there to feel sad about?" Xun Can replied, "It's difficult to find another beautiful woman like her again! Even though she may not have had the most beautiful looks, it wasn't easy for me to have found someone like her." He was so deeply upset over his wife's death that he died a few years later at the age of 28. Xun Can's personality and outlook on life made it difficult for him to socialise with ordinary people. His friends were all great talents of their time. Although only about 10 people attended his funeral, all of them were famous members of the
scholar-gentry The "gentry", or "landed gentry" in China was the elite who held privileged status through passing the Imperial exams, which made them eligible to hold office. These literati, or scholar-officials, (''shenshi'' 紳士 or ''jinshen'' 縉紳), a ...
. They mourned him so much at his funeral that they even touched the hearts of passers-by.


Yuan Can's name change

The
Liu Song dynasty Song, known as Liu Song (), Former Song (前宋) or Song of (the) Southern dynasties (南朝宋) in historiography, was an imperial dynasty of China and the first of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties peri ...
official
Yuan Can Yuan Can (c. 420 – 12 January 478), originally named Yuan Minsun, courtesy name Jingqian, was a high-level official of the Liu Song dynasty who, near the end of the dynasty, made a futile attempt to prevent the general Xiao Daocheng from gain ...
admired Xun Can so much that he changed his given name from "Minsun" () to "Can" (). He also adopted the
courtesy name A courtesy name ( zh, s=字, p=zì, l=character), also known as a style name, is an additional name bestowed upon individuals at adulthood, complementing their given name. This tradition is prevalent in the East Asian cultural sphere, particula ...
"Jingqian" (),(粲,字景倩,洵弟子也。父濯,揚州秀才,早卒。粲幼孤,祖哀之,名之曰愍孫。 ... 幼慕荀奉倩為人,孝武時求改名粲,不許;至明帝立,乃請改為粲,字景倩。 ... 其外孫王筠又云:「明帝多忌諱,反語袁愍為『殞門』,帝意惡之,乃令改焉。」) ''Nan Shi'' vol. 26. which was also the courtesy name of Xun Can's brother
Xun Yi Xun Yi (early 200s - 19 June 274), courtesy name Jingqian, was a Chinese politician of the state of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period of China. After the fall of Wei, he continued serving under the Jin dynasty, which replaced Wei in February ...
.


See also

*
Lists of people of the Three Kingdoms The following are lists of people significant to the Three Kingdoms period (220–280) of Chinese history. Their names in Mandarin pinyin are sorted in alphabetical order. Fictional characters in the 14th-century historical novel '' Romance o ...


References

* * * Li, Yanshou (7th century). ''
History of the Southern Dynasties The ''History of the Southern Dynasties'' is one of the official Chinese historical works in the ''Twenty-Four Histories'' canon. It contain 80 volumes and covers the period from 420 to 589, the histories of the Liu Song, Southern Qi, Liang, ...
'' (''Nan Shi''). * Pei, Songzhi (5th century). ''
Annotated Records of the Three Kingdoms ''Annotated Records of the Three Kingdoms'' () by Pei Songzhi (372–451) is an annotation completed in the 5th century of the 3rd century historical text ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'', compiled by Chen Shou. After the fall of the Eastern Jin ...
'' (''Sanguozhi zhu''). * {{DEFAULTSORT:Xun, Can 3rd-century births 3rd-century deaths People of Cao Wei Philosophers from Henan Three Kingdoms philosophers