Yuan Hong (, 328?–376?),

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 ...

Yanbo, was a scholar, historian and politician from the

Eastern Jin Eastern or Easterns may refer to: Transportation Airlines *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 192 ...

. He was born in

Zhoukou Zhoukou ( zh, s=周口 , p=Zhōukǒu, w=Chou-k’ou; Postal romanization, postal: Chowkow) is a prefecture-level city in eastern Henan province of China, province, China. It borders Zhumadian to the southwest, Xuchang and Luohe to the west, Ka ...

, Henan, and served as an advisor to generals Xie Shang and

Huan Wen Huan Wen (桓溫) (312 – 18 August 373), courtesy name Yuanzi (元子), formally Duke Xuanwu of Nan Commandery (南郡宣武公), was a general and regent of the Jin dynasty (266–420), as well as the leader of Huan clan of Qiaoguo (谯国桓� ...

on a number of military campaigns. While on one of the latter general's campaigns, Yuan was asked to compose an official document. While leaning against his horse, he managed to complete seven pages, which led to the

chengyu ''Chengyu'' ( zh, t=, s=, first=t, p=chéngyǔ, tr=set phrase) are a type of traditional Chinese idiomatic expressions, most of which consist of four Chinese characters. ''Chengyu'' were widely used in Literary Chinese and are still common in ...

''yǐmǎkědài'' ( zh, t=, s=倚马可待, first=t). Yuan is best known for his literary works, especially the '' Annals of the Later Han'', which served as the basis for the more famous ''

Book of 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 Late ...

'' by Fan Ye. An original collection of works by him, in thirty volumes, is no longer extant. Around twenty poems and essays have been preserved.

References

See also