Ren Fang 任昉

Ren Fang 任昉 (460-508), courtesy name Yansheng 彥升, was a writer of the Liang period 梁 (502-557). He hailed from Bochang 博昌 in the commandery of Le'an 樂安 (today's Shouguang 壽光, Shandong). Under the Southern Qi dynasty, he was Vice Director of the Palace Secretariat (zhongshu shilang 中書侍郎) and Right Aide to the Minister of the Masses (situ you changshi 司徒右長史). Ren was befriended to Xiao Yan 蕭衍 (Emperor Wu 梁武帝, r. 502-549), the eventual founder of the Liang dynasty, and served him as a private secretary, for instance, writing the declaration of Emperor He's 齊和帝 (r. 501-502) abdication. Ren was then appointed Gentleman Attendant at the Palace Gate (huangmen shilang 黃門侍郎), Director in the Ministry of Personnel (libu lang 吏部郎), governor (taishou 太守) of the commandery of Yixing 義興, Vice Censor-in-Chief (yushi zhongcheng 御史中丞) and Director of the Imperial Library (mishu jian 秘書監). His lat post was governor of Xin'an 新安. He was posthumously awarded the title of Chamberlain for Ceremonials (taichang 太常). His posthumous title is Viscount Jing 任敬子.

Ren Fang was erudite and gifted in writing, and he was highly esteemed by leading scholars of his time, such as Wang Jian 王儉 (452-489) and Shen Yue 沈約 (441-513). He had a vast range of reading and owned a personal collection of over ten thousand fascicles of books, making him, along with Shen Yue and Wang Sengru 王僧孺 (465-522), one of the most renowned book collectors of the era. When He Zong 賀縱 and Shen Yue were collating the imperial catalogue, they used Ren Fang's collection to supplement and correct it.

Ren was known for his spirited literary mind and was exceptionally skilled in composing official memorials and proclamations. When drafting documents, he rarely needed to revise them. At the time, there was a popular saying: "Shen is versed in poetry, and Ren excels in prose." Most of his surviving works are stylised, formal prose writings composed on behalf of others, rich in literary flair and displaying his vast knowledge. Among Ren Fang's better works are Wang Wenxian xu 王文憲集序 and Diao Liu Wenfan 吊劉文范, which are emotionally expressive and profoundly moving. Though written in the ornate parallel prose style, they do not detract from the natural elegance of his expression.

In his later years, Ren turned increasingly to writing poetry. However, he tended to overuse literary allusions, and his phrasing often became sluggish and obscure. At the time, people spoke of him as someone whose talent had run dry. The trend of Wwriting poetry that constantly pursued novel ideas" (jing xu xin shi 競須新事), which he helped to initiate in unison with Wang Rong 王融 (467-493), was attacked by the literary critic Zhong Rong 鐘嶸 (d. 518).

Nonetheless, 21 of Ren Fang's poems survive today, and they are generally straightforward in style and relatively restrained in their use of classical allusions. Poems such as Zeng Wang Sengru 贈王僧孺 and the Chu jun zhuan she ku Fan Puye san shou 出郡傳舍哭范僕射三首 are direct expressions of personal emotion, deeply moving in tone and language. Others, like Ji Zhejiang 濟浙江 and Luori fa zhou dong xi 落日泛舟東溪, offer elegant and vivid depictions of landscape and feeling, subtly infused with reflection and poetic sentiment.

The writings of Ren Fang originally comprised 33 juan of prose writings, a book of 247 juan of miscellaneous biographies, Zazhuan 雜傳, and a geographical treatise Diji 地記 with 252 juan. These books are all lost. A collection of bizarre stories, Shuyiji 述異記, is traditionally attributed to Ren Fang. Another book ascribed to him is a brief literary history, Wenzhang yuanqi 文章緣起 (also called Wenzhang shi 文章始. The collected writings, Ren Fang ji 任昉集, had a length of 34 juan. During the Ming period 明 (1368-1644), Zhang Pu 張溥 (1602-1641) assembled the remainders of Ren's literary products, calling them Ren Yansheng ji 任彥升集.