Han Yü

Han Yü
/hahn" yyuu"/, (Han Wen-kung, Han Wengong)
A.D. 768-824, Chinese writer, poet, and philosopher.
Also, Pinyin, Han Yu.

* * *

or Han

born 768, Henan province, China
died 824, Chang'an

Chinese poet and prose writer, the first proponent of Neo-Confucianism.

An orphan, he joined the Chinese bureaucracy and served in several high government posts. He attacked Daoism and Buddhism, which were then at the height of their influence, and sought to restore Confucianism to its former status. He revived interest in the writings of Mencius and other neglected Confucian classics. His own works were written in a simple prose style unlike the elaborate manner popular at the time, and he became known as the "Prince of Letters."

Han Yü, portrait by an unknown artist; in the National Palace Museum, Taipei

By courtesy of the Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China

* * *

▪ Chinese author
Wade-Giles romanization  Han , also called  Han Changli  or  Han Wengong,  courtesy name (zi)  Tuizhi 
born 768, Heyang [now Mengxian], Henan province, China
died 824, Chang'an [now Xi'an], Shaanxi province
 master of Chinese prose, outstanding poet, and the first proponent of what later came to be known as Neo-Confucianism, which had wide influence in China and Japan.

      An orphan, Han initially failed his civil service exams because the examiners refused to accept his unconventional prose style, but he eventually entered the bureaucracy and served in several high government posts. At a time when the popularity of Confucian doctrine had greatly declined, Han began a defense of it. He attacked Daoism and Buddhism, which were then at the height of their influence. So outspoken was he that he castigated the emperor for paying respect to the supposed finger bone of the Buddha; this act of criticism almost cost Han his life and caused him to be banished to South China for a year. In defending Confucianism, Han quoted extensively from the Mencius, the Daxue (“Great Learning”), the Zhongyong (“Doctrine of the Mean”), and the Yijing (“Classic of Changes”; known to many as I-Ching), works that hitherto had been somewhat neglected by Confucians. In so doing, he laid the foundations for later Neo-Confucianists who took their basic ideas from these books.

      Han advocated the adoption of Guwen, the free, simple prose of these early philosophers, a style unencumbered by the mannerisms and elaborate verselike regularity of the pianwen (“parallel prose”) style that was prevalent in Han's time. His own essays (e.g., "On the Way," "On Man," and "On Spirits" ) are among the most beautiful ever written in Chinese, and they became the most famous models of the prose style he espoused. In his poetry also, Han tried to break out of the existing literary forms, but many of his efforts at literary reform failed. He is considered the first of the renowned “Eight Masters of the Tang and Song.” At his death the title of president of the ministry of rites was conferred upon him, as well as the epithet “Master of Letters,” both great honours.

Additional Reading
Charles Hartman, Han Yü and the T'ang Search for Unity (1986); Stephen Owen, The Poetry of Meng Chiao and Han Yü (1975).

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • han — han …   Dictionnaire des rimes

  • Han — steht für: Han (Staat) (韓 Hán), ein chinesischer Staat in der Zeit der streitenden Reiche Han Dynastie (漢 Hàn), eine chinesische Dynastie die Westliche Han Dynastie (206 v. Chr.–8 n. Chr.) die Östliche Han Dynastie (23–220) die Shu Han… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Han — may refer to: China * Chinese (漢), an abbreviation or adjectival modifier for things Chinese. * Han Chinese (漢族 Hanzu , 漢人 Hanren ), the dominant majority ethnic group of China and overseas Chinese. * Chinese language (漢語 Hanyu ) or Chinese… …   Wikipedia

  • Han Wu di — Hàn Wǔdì (漢武帝) Familienname: Liú (劉) Vorname: Zhi (彘), später Che (徹) Großjährigkeitsname (Zi): Tong (通) Großjährigkeitsname (Hao) …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Han Mu Do ® — Han Mu Do Le Han Mu Do (coréen : La voie des arts martiaux coréens ) est un art martial de self défense. Le système a été créé par l historien en arts martiaux coréens le docteur KIMM He Young (également Grand Maître de Hapkido, Kuk Sul Won …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Han Bi-ya — (born 1958 in Seoul, South Korea) is a celebrated Korean travel writer, relief worker and refugee advocate. She has published a number of best selling travel books and now leads the Emergency Relief Team for World Vision Korea. Education Han Bi… …   Wikipedia

  • Han — Chinese are China’s majority ethnic group, consisting of 92 per cent of the mainland’s population. Regarded as descendants of the inhabitants of the Yellow River basin, they are traced to the earliest years of any identifiable Chinese culture, as …   Encyclopedia of Contemporary Chinese Culture

  • han — [ ɑ̃; hɑ̃ ] interj. • 1307; onomat. ♦ Onomatopée (cri sourd d une personne qui fait un violent effort, soupir). « Le “han” naturel du bûcheron » (Alain). Subst. Faire, pousser un han. ⊗ HOM. An, en. Han (dynastie des) la deuxième et la plus… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • HAN YU — Homme politique, écrivain, poète, penseur, Han Yu joua un rôle important dans l’histoire de la littérature chinoise dans la dernière période de la dynastie des Tang (618 907). Son mouvement de réforme de la prose chinoise se présente comme un… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Han Yu — (Han Yü) (768–824)    One of the better known poets of China’s Middle TANG DYNASTY, Han Yu was also a very important prose stylist who advocated a change from the prevailing “parallel prose” style of his day in favor of a more organic prose… …   Encyclopedia of medieval literature

  • Han’yō — Han Yōkai (japanisch 半妖怪, dt. „Halb Yōkai“), kurz auch: Han’yō (半妖) sind japanische Halbdämonen. Der Begriff „Han Yōkai“ wurde vom Manga und Romanautor Shigeru Mizuki eingeführt und populär gemacht, wobei er sich jedoch streng an die Vorgaben aus …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”