Fan Li
| Fan Li | ||
|---|---|---|
Hanyu Pinyin Fàn Lǐ | | |
| Wade–Giles | Fan Li | |
Fan Li (fl. 5th-century BCE) from the Spring and Autumn period, was a Chinese businessman, military strategist, and politician. Fan Li was an important political and military advisor to Goujian, the king of Yue. He later was known as Tao Zhu Gong (陶朱公) a name he took after achieving a decisive victory for Yue over the state of Wu and retiring to live a secluded life with his wife Xi Shi, one of the most famous beauties in Chinese history.
Biography
Along with
King Goujian of Yue, Fan Li was once a hostage of the state of Wu. After three years of captivity the two of them returned to Yue where Fan Li helped Goujian carry out a host of reforms to streamline the administration of the Yue state. In 473 BCE, Yue was finally able to destroy the state of Wu. After the victory, Fan resigned and renamed himself Tao Zhu Gong (Chinese: 陶朱公; pinyin: Táo Zhū Gōng). After his departure, he was said to have written a letter to Wen Zhong from Qi
, advising Wen Zhong to leave Goujian's service. Wen took notice of the advice in the letter and later was able to escape to Qi, living his remaining days there.
After retiring from his ministerial post he lived with
Cai Shen).[1]
Fan Li was an ancestor of
Song Dynasty.[2]
Writings
Fàn Li's writings are lost, and only known through quotes in a compilation of works by
Tang Dynasty
.
His original works include:
- Several treatises on business management and risks
- The Yangyu Jing (養魚經 Book of Fish Breeding), an early text on fish farming.
- The Bingfa (兵法 Art of War), on military strategy. Not to be confused with Sunzi.
References
- ^ "God of Wealth". www.chinatownology.com.
- ISBN 978-981-4578-44-8. Retrieved 2017-06-25.
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