Xun Yue (148–209),

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 ...

Zhongyu, was a Chinese historian, philosopher, and politician of the

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 ...

of China. Born in the influential Xun family of

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 ...

), Xun Yue served in the Han government as a historian and wrote 13 chapters of the historical text ''Annals of Han'' (), which covered the history of the

Western Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an 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 a warring in ...

(206 BCE – 9 CE).

Life

Xun Yue'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

(穎川郡; around present-day

). His grandfather, Xun Shu (), was an official who served as the Prefect () of Langling County () and as the Chancellor () to the Marquis of Langling County. Xun Shu had eight sons, who were nicknamed the "Eight Dragons of the Xun Family" (). Xun Yue's father, Xun Jian (), was the eldest among Xun Shu's eight sons. He died early. Xun Yue was known for being studious and academically inclined since childhood. When he was just 11, he could already recite and discuss the ''

Spring and Autumn Annals The ''Spring and Autumn Annals'' is an ancient Chinese chronicle that has been one of the core Chinese classics since ancient times. ''The Annals'' is the official chronicle of the State of Lu, and covers a 242-year period from 722 to 481&nbs ...

''. As his family was poor and could not afford books, he borrowed books from others to read and memorised them after reading through once. Although he had a good-looking appearance, he was also known for his quiet and introverted character. When the eunuch faction came to power during Emperor Ling's reign (168–189), many

scholar-official The scholar-officials, also known as literati, scholar-gentlemen or scholar-bureaucrats (), were government officials and prestigious scholars in Chinese society, forming a distinct social class. Scholar-officials were politicians and governmen ...

s decided to leave the political arena to avoid getting into trouble. Xun Yue claimed that he was in poor health and led a life of seclusion. Many people did not know about his talent. Only his younger cousin,

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 ...

, treated him respectfully and regarded him highly. In the 190s, 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 ...

came to power and took control of the Han central government, while paying nominal allegiance to

Emperor Xian Emperor Xian of Han (2 April 181 – 21 April 234), personal name Liu Xie (劉協), courtesy name Bohe, was the 14th and last emperor of the Eastern Han dynasty of China. He reigned from 28 September 189 until his abdication and subsequent end ...

. At the time, Cao Cao held the appointment of General Who Guards the East (). He initially recruited Xun Yue as his subordinate. Xun Yue was later promoted to a Gentleman of the Yellow Gate (). As Emperor Xian was fond of studying literature, he ordered Xun Yue,

and

Kong Rong Kong Rong () (151/153 – 26 September 208), courtesy name Wenju, was a Chinese poet, politician, and minor warlord who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He was a 20th generation descendant of Confucius. As he was once the Cha ...

, who were known for their expertise in literature, to mentor and guide him. Xun Yue was further promoted to Custodian of the Private Library () and Palace Attendant (). At the time, Emperor Xian had been reduced to the status of a figurehead emperor and Cao Cao was in fact the ''de facto'' ruler even though he was nominally a subject of the emperor. Although Xun Yue longed for Emperor Xian to retake the reins of power from Cao Cao, he knew that it would not become reality and worried that his ideas would go to waste. As such, he wrote the five-chapter ''Shenjian'' (申鑒; ''Extended Reflections''), in which he discussed, among other things, the importance of education and customs, of the balance of rewards and punishments, and the requirements of social justice – including a proposal for restoring the

well-field system The well-field system () was a Chinese land redistribution method existing between the eleventh or tenth century BCE (Western Zhou dynasty) to around the Warring States period. Though Mencius describes examples from the Xia and Shang dynasties, ...

and opposing the excesses of the

landed gentry The landed gentry, or the gentry (sometimes collectively known as the squirearchy), is a largely historical Irish and British social class of landowners who could live entirely from rental income, or at least had a country estate. It is t ...

. More generally, he sought to defend the Han dynasty's traditions by arguing for the preservation and striving for ideals of government, in spite of the realities of human failing. The Australian sinologist

Rafe de Crespigny Richard Rafe Champion de Crespigny (born 1936), also known by his Chinese name Zhang Leifu (), is an Australian sinologist and historian. He is an adjunct professor in the College of Asia and the Pacific at the Australian National University. ...

pointed out that when Xun Yue advocated for the need to rely on good officials rather than the vagaries of individual rulers, he could almost be seen as approaching a view of

constitutional monarchy Constitutional monarchy, also known as limited monarchy, parliamentary monarchy or democratic monarchy, is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in making decisions. ...

. Ch'en Ch'i-yün, who translated the ''Shenjian'' into English in 1980, described Xun Yue as "

Confucianist 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, religion, theory of government, or way of life. Founded by Confucius ...

in his approach to scholarship,

Taoist 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', ...

in his relativistic view of reality, and Legalist in his pragmatic approach towards politics." Emperor Xian also enjoyed reading historical texts. He found

Ban Gu Ban Gu (AD32–92) was a Chinese historian, poet, and politician best known for his part in compiling the ''Book of Han'', the second of China's 24 dynastic histories. He also wrote a number of '' fu'', a major literary form, part prose ...

's ''

Book of Han The ''Book of Han'' is a history of China finished in 111 CE, covering the Western, or Former Han dynasty from the first emperor in 206 BCE to the fall of Wang Mang in 23 CE. The work was composed by Ban Gu (32–92 CE), ...

'', which covered the history of the

(206 BCE – 9 CE), very complicated and difficult to read. He thus ordered Xun Yue to write another version of the ''Book of Han'' in the style of the ''

Zuo Zhuan The ''Zuo Zhuan'' ( zh, t=左傳, w=Tso Chuan; ), often translated as ''The Zuo Tradition'' or as ''The Commentary of Zuo'', is an ancient Chinese narrative history traditionally regarded as a commentary on the ancient Chinese chronicle the '' ...

'', a commentary on the historical text ''

''. Xun Yue did as instructed, and completed and presented 13 chapters of the historical text ''Annals of Han'' () in 200 CE. Apart from being a study of history, the ''Annals of Han'' sought to demonstrate how imperial virtue had accumulated over generations. It implied that the process had continued under the Eastern Han dynasty and that one should look to a restoration of the Han dynasty rather than usurpation by a subject, no matter how powerful he was. In recognition of his contributions, Xun Yue was promoted to a Master of Writing () and awarded an ink brush and a scroll. Xun Yue also wrote numerous chapters in other books such as ''Chongde'' () and ''Zhenglun'' ().(又著崇德、正論及諸論數十篇。) ''Houhanshu'' vol. 62. He died in 209 at the age of 62 (by

East Asian age reckoning Traditional East Asian age reckoning covers a group of related methods for reckoning human ages practiced in the East Asian cultural sphere, where age is the number of calendar years in which a person has been alive; it starts at 1 at birth and i ...

).(年六十二，建安十四年卒。) ''Houhanshu'' vol. 62.

Notes

References

* Chen, Shou (3rd century). ''

Records of the Three Kingdoms The ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'' is a Chinese official history written by Chen Shou in the late 3rd century CE, covering the end of the Han dynasty (220 CE) and the subsequent Three Kingdoms period (220–280 CE). It is regard ...

'' (''Sanguozhi''). * Fan, Ye (5th century). ''

Book of the Later Han The ''Book of the Later Han'', also known as the ''History of the Later Han'' and by its Chinese name ''Hou Hanshu'' (), is one of the Twenty-Four Histories and covers the history of the Han dynasty from 6 to 189 CE, a period known as the Lat ...

''. * Pei, Songzhi (5th century). ''

Annotations to 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''). * Sima, Guang (1084). ''

Zizhi Tongjian The ''Zizhi Tongjian'' (1084) is a chronicle published during the Northern Song dynasty (960–1127) that provides a record of Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD, covering 16 dynasties and spanning almost 1400 years. The main text is ...

''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Xun, Yue 148 births 209 deaths 2nd-century Chinese historians 2nd-century Chinese philosophers Han dynasty government officials Han dynasty writers Politicians from Xuchang Writers from Xuchang

Life

See also

Notes

References