Han Yu

Han Yu (zh-cp|c=韓愈|p=Hán Yù, 768—824), born in Nanyang, Henan, China, was a precursor of Neo-Confucianism as well as an essayist and poet, during the Tang dynasty. The "Indiana Companion" calls him "comparable in stature to Dante, Shakespeare or Goethe" for his influence on the Chinese literary tradition (p. 397). He stood for strong central authority in politics and orthodoxy in cultural matters.

An orphan, he went to Chang'an in 786, but needed four attempts to pass the "jinshi" exam, finally succeeding in 792. In the last few years of the 8th century, he began to form the literary circle which spread his influence so widely.

He gained his first central government position in 802, but was soon exiled; seemingly for failing to support the heir apparent's faction (other possible reasons are because of his criticism of the misbehaviour of the emperor's servants or his request for reduction of taxes during a famine). From 807 to 819 he held a series of posts first in Luoyang and then in Chang'an. During these years, he was strong advocate of reimposing central control over the separatist provinces of the north-east. This period of service came to an end when he wrote his celebrated Memorial on Bone-relics of the Buddha. This protest against Buddhist influence on the country has been called "belligerently uncompromising and... disrespectful to the edge of personally insulting the emperor". Its only immediate effect was to prompt Han Yu's dismissal and exile to Chaozhou.

In poetry, Han Yu sought to follow the principle that the form of the work should match the content; thus a simple subject would be treated in a simple style, and vice versa.

In prose, he was a strong proponent of the "Classical Prose Movement" (古文運動), which advocated a clear and concise style of writing.

Nearly three centuries after his death, Han’s ideas had an important influence on Ouyang Xiu, an eleventh century Song Dynasty reformer. [ [Mote p. 121] ]

Quote

*"It is universally admitted that the unicorn is a supernatural being of good omen; such is declared in all the odes, annals, biographies of illustrious men and other texts whose authority is unquestionable. Even children and village women know that the unicorn constitutes a favorable presage. But this animal does not figure among the domestic beasts, it is not always easy to find, it does not lend itself to classification. It is not like the horse or the bull, the wolf or the deer. In such conditions, we could be face to face with a unicorn and not know for certain what it was. We know that such and such an animal with horns is a bull. But we do not know what the unicorn is like." ["Kafka and His Precusors", "Selected Non-Fictions", Jorge Luis Borges; ed. Eliot Weinberger, trans. Ester Allen, Suzanne Jill Levine, and Eliot Weinberger; 1999. ISBN 0-670-84947-2]

ources

*cite book|author=Mote, F.W.|title=|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=1999|page=121
*cite book|editor=Nienhauser, William H|title=The Indiana Companion to Traditional Chinese Literature|publisher=Indiana University Press|year=1986|id=ISBN 0-253-32983-3
*cite book|author=Owen, Stephen|title=An Anthology of Chinese Literature|publisher=W. W. Norton|year=1996|id=ISBN 0-393-03823-8

References

Persondata
NAME=Hán Yù
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Chinese writer
DATE OF BIRTH=768
PLACE OF BIRTH=
DATE OF DEATH=824
PLACE OF DEATH=Chaozhou