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Periods of Chinese History
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Ji Han 嵇含 (263-306), courtesy name Ji Jundao 嵇君道, style Boqiuzu 亳丘子, was a writer and botanist from the Western Jin period 西晉 (265-316). He came from Zhixian 銍縣 (modern Suzhou 宿州, Anhui) and was a nephew of the famous thinker Ji Kang 嵇康. Ji Han was known for his excellent literary skills and his direct and honest character. He occupied the offices of adjutant-general conquering the West (zhengxi canjun 征西參軍), record keeper of the cavalry (piaoji jishi 驃騎記室) and secretarial court gentleman (shangshu lang 尚書郎). Ji Han was killed by a personal enemy.
As a thinker, Ji Han was an adherent of the Confucian tradition and a vehement critique of the very popular "School of the Mystery" (xuanxue 玄學), an offspring of Daoist philospophy, whose adherents he thought to be irresponsible and even dangerous to social stability. His hope was that a revival of Confucianism would be of immense help for the administration of the empire. Literature was another means of promoting Confucianism.
Ji Han's most famous book is the Nanfang caomu zhuang 南方草木狀, a study of plants in southern China. His collected works, Ji Han ji 嵇含集, are lost. Only a few poems have survived, like Yueqing 悅晴, Kangli 伉麗, a dirge on Zhuangzi 莊子, Diao Zhuang Zhou wen 吊莊周文, and the rhapsodies Guafu 瓜賦 and Changshengshu fu 長生樹賦.
Source: Xiao Yuan 曉源 (1996), "Ji Han 嵇含", in Feng Kezheng 馮克正, Fu Qingsheng 傅慶升 (ed.), Zhuzi baijia da cidian 諸子百家大辭典 (Shenyang: Liaoning renmin chubanshe), p. 82.
March 1, 2013 © Ulrich Theobald · Mail
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Important Chinese of the...
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