Hu Yan
| Hu Yan | |||||||||
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| Courtesy name | |||||||||
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| Literal meaning | Master Fan Viscount Fan | ||||||||
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| Jiu Ji | |||||||||
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| Jiu Fan | |||||||||
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| Literal meaning | Uncle Fan | ||||||||
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| Sikong Jizi | |||||||||
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| Literal meaning | Jizi, the Minister of Works | ||||||||
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Hu Yan (715–629 BC) was a Di tribesman who served as a minister and general of Jin during the Spring and Autumn period of Chinese history. Hu Yan assisted Prince Chong'er (posthumously the "Wen Duke") during his long exile, his usurpation of his nephew Yu, and his rise to hegemonic status over the other states of the Zhou Kingdom. The Legalist Han Fei considered Hu Yan one of the best advisors of ancient China, and the historian Sima Qian listed him with Sun Tzu as the greatest tacticians of the age.
Names
[edit]Hu Yan is a Chinese name: Hu is the surname and Yan is the given name. His courtesy name was Zifan[1][a] ("Master" or "Viscount Fan"). Classical sources also refer to him as Jiu Ji[1] and Jiu Fan[a] ("Uncle Fan"),[4][5] in reference to his relationship to Chong'er through his mother's line. He is also sometimes known as Sikong Jizi ("Minister of Works").[1]
Life
[edit]Hu Yan was born in 715 BC[6] into the leadership of one of the "barbarian" Di tribes who lived north of China during the Zhou. His father was Hu Tu (zh:
After the Jin minister Li Ke (zh:
In Qi, Duke Xiaobai (posthumously the "Huan Duke") treated Chong'er with such generosity that he did not wish to leave at all.[5] Hu Yan conspired under a mulberry tree with some of the other Jin exiles, planning to abduct the prince and force him to concern himself with matters of state.[5] The prince's wife Qi Jiang killed the young silk worker who overheard them and reported to her; although she told her husband of his advisors' plans, she advised him to permit his own abduction, as it was for the best.[5] He refused, saying that he chose to end his days idling in Qi.[5] Qi Jiang then joined the conspirators and, getting him drunk, helped Hu in carrying him off.[12] When Chong'er recovered, he seized a spear and threatened Hu, crying, "If we succeed, fine! but if we don't, then I will eat your flesh as if I can never get my fill!"[12]
The party then passed to Cao, Song, Zheng, and Chu,[12] passing through other states as they went. After its duke disrespected Chong'er while he was passing through Wey, the prince was ready to beat a peasant who offered him a clod of dirt instead of food. Hu Yan supposedly intervened, kowtowed to the peasant, and loaded the dirt into his wagon, taking it as a portent that Jin would later take the peasant's territory Wulu (
Chong'er, Hu Yan, and the others were invited to Qin after Yiwu's death. There, Duke Renhao supported their overthrow of Yiwu's son Yu (posthumously, the "Huai Duke"). During Yu's brief period of rule in 637 BC, he attempted to force Hu Tu to compel his sons to return to Jin and cease supporting the cause of Chong'er. When Hu Tu refused, he was executed.[7][14]
When the Qin army reached the border of Jin, Hu Yan made a great show of humility. He apologized for his many faults while in Chong'er's service[d] and, offering him a jade disk, tendered his resignation. Poised to be the next duke of Jin, Chong'er threw the disk into the Yellow River and called upon it to witness that he would not forget those who had followed him in adversity.[15][4][e] Jie Zhitui was so disgusted by what he took to be presumption and insincerity on both sides that he withdrew silently from Chong'er's service.[17]
Hu Yan served Chong'er as a general in the Jin army.[1] In 635 BC, he led men from Jin in assisting the restoration of King Zheng (posthumously the "Xiang King") against the usurper Shu Dai (zh:叔帶).[1] In 633 BC, he served as the assistant commander of the Central Army (
In 630 BC, Hu Yan was one of the Jin representatives to the conference at Diquan (狄泉), near present-day Luoyang in Henan, where Prince Hu (
He died in 629 BC.[6] His son was Hu Shegu (zh:
Legacy
[edit]Centuries later, Han Fei still considered the incident between Chong'er and Hu Yan in Qi as a classic example of how rulers sometimes depend on their followers and advisors for their success.[21][22] Sima Qian placed Hu Yan beside Sun Tzu in a list of "famous soldiers" who "developed and threw new light on the principles of war",[3] although no treatise in his name similar to the Art of War survives from antiquity. A passage in the Han Feizi suggests that Hu Yan was credited in antiquity with legitimizing and popularizing the use of deception in Chinese warfare.[19] By offending Jie Zhitui into early retirement,[17] Hu Yan may also be considered indirectly responsible for China's Cold Food and Tomb-Sweeping Festivals.
Hu Yan was portrayed by Zhang Rihui (张
Notes
[edit]- ^ a b In addition to the forms given above, Zifan and Jiu Fan also appear as Tse-fan and Kieou-fan in older sources following Chavannes.[2] Giles reads
咎 犯 as Kao or Gao Fan.[3] - ^ The commentary on Confucius's Spring and Autumn Annals traditionally credited to Zuo Qiuming states that Chong'er and his followers were among the Di for 12 years.[9]
- ^ Other sources state that Hu Mao and Xian Zhen formed part of the court of Duke Yu (posthumously, the "Huai Duke"), the son and successor of Chong'er's brother Duke Yiwu. When Chong'er and his followers invaded Jin with a Qin army, Hu and Xian refused to obey orders to oppose them. Hu Yan then recommended his brother to Chong'er, who appointed him general of his Upper Army.[11]
- ^ Hu Yan's supposed mistakes are not specified in the Zuozhuan[15] or by Sima Qian.[4] Han Fei has Hu Yan apologize to his prince for the many lies that he had been forced to tell during their travels, but as part of a remonstrance against the prince's attempt to hide the poor equipment and ragged servants of his travels from his new subjects.[16]
- ^ Han Fei has him untie the left horse from his chariot and swear by the river that he will countermand his order to hide his loyal but bedraggled followers from public view.[16]
- ^ Other sources make him the lead general of the Upper Army (
上 軍 ), with his brother Hu Mao as his lieutenant.[1]
References
[edit]Citations
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i Theobald (2012), "Hu Yan".
- ^ Chavannes (1895), Ch. XXXIX.
- ^ a b Giles (1910), p. 43.
- ^ a b c Nienhauser & al. (2006), p. 331.
- ^ a b c d e Kinner (2014), p. 28.
- ^ a b Liu (1993), p. 35.
- ^ a b c d Theobald (2012), "Hu Tu".
- ^ Theobald (2012), "Jia Tuo".
- ^ a b Durrant & al. (2016), p. 365
- ^ "Discourses of Jin", Discourses of the States, vol. X, §337. (in Chinese)
- ^ Theobald (2012), "Hu Mao".
- ^ a b c Kinner (2014), p. 29.
- ^ "Discourses of Jin", Discourses of the States, vol. X, §338–9. (in Chinese)
- ^ Durrant & al. (2016), p. 363.
- ^ a b Durrant & al. (2016), p. lxxx.
- ^ a b Liao (1959), Bk XI, Ch. xxxii.
- ^ a b Nienhauser & al. (2006), p. 331–2.
- ^ Durrant & al. (2016), p. 417.
- ^ a b c Liao (1959), Bk. XV, Ch. xxxvi.
- ^ a b Liao (1959), Bk XVII, Ch. xliv.
- ^ Liao (1959), Bk. XVI, Ch. xxxvii.
- ^ Schaberg (2011), p. 407.
Bibliography
[edit]- Han Fei (1959), Liao Wên-kuei (ed.), The Complete Works of Han Fei Tzŭ with Collected Commentaries, Oriental Series, Nos. XXV & XXVI, London: Arthur Probsthain.
- Liu Guanwen (1993), 《
三 晋 历史人物 》 [Sānjìn Lìshǐ Rénwù, Historical Figures of the Three Jins], Beijing: Shumu Wenxian Chubanshe. (in Chinese) - Liu Xiang (2014), Kinner, Anne Behnke (ed.), Exemplary Women of Early China, Translations from the Asian Classics, New York: Columbia University Press, ISBN 978-0-231-16308-8.
- Schaberg, David (2011), "Chinese History and Philosophy", The Oxford History of Historical Writing, Vol. I: Beginnings to AD 600, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 394–414, ISBN 978-0-19-921815-8.
- Sima Qian (1895), Chavannes, Édouard (ed.), Les Mémoires Historiques, Paris: Adrien Maisonneuve. (in French)
- Sima Qian (2006), Nienhauser, William H. Jr.; et al. (eds.), The Grand Scribe's Records, Vol. V: The Hereditary Houses of Pre-Han China, Pt. 1, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, ISBN 9780253340252.
- Sun Tzu (1910), Giles, Lionel (ed.), The Art of War, London: Luzac & Co., ISBN 9781462905126
- Theobald, Ulrich (Nov 2012), China Knowledge, Tübingen
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link). - Zuo Qiuming (2016), Durrant, Stephen W.; et al. (eds.), Zuo Tradition, Classics of Chinese Thought, Seattle: University of Washington Press, ISBN 978-0-295-9991-59.