Yan Zhitui

Yan Zhitui (

Confucian

-taught peers.

Family background

Yan Zhitui's ancestors were originally from

Yan Jianyuan starved himself to death in an act of piety towards the dynasty he once served.^[1] Despite this act of devotion from his grandfather, his father Yan Xie decided to serve Emperor Wu and the new Liang Dynasty. Yan Zhiyi

and Yan Zhisan were his older brothers.

Descendant

He had three sons, Yan Silu, Yan Minchu and Yan Youqin.

Life

Yan Zhitui's father Yan Xie died when he was only nine years old. Without a father figure to guide or support him, Yan was raised largely by his elder brother.

execution once they were made prisoners of Hou Jing.^[1]

In the year 552 Yan Zhitui fled to Jiangling (江陵) in what is modern Jingzhou, Hubei, accompanying the Liang prince he served prior to Hou Jing's revolt. The Liang prince established a rival court, yet it was destroyed when Western Wei invaded from the north and captured Jiangling in the year 554. At age twenty-four, Yan Zhitui had become an enslaved prisoner of war, carted off with 100,000 others to the Western Wei capital of Chang'an.

In 556 his family managed to escape Chang'an, and prepared to move east in hopes of returning to the Liang Dynasty over southern China. However, the

Sui Dynasty headed by Emperor Wen of Sui

usurped control in the north from the Northern Zhou Dynasty, Yan Zhitui was once again recognized and appointed to several scholarly and ministerial posts.

Written works

In his 26-chapter book Yanshi jiaxun《顏氏家訓》"The Family Instructions of Master Yan") Yan Zhitui left an entire written compendium of his own philosophy and life-advice to his sons, advising them on which paths to take and which paths to avoid to gain success in life. In addition, he also made observations about the differences between

Northern and Southern China of his time, especially in regards to language, customs, and culture. He wrote that he formed many bad habits in life that took years to overcome because his elder brother had not been strict enough with him in the absence of their father.^[1] He stressed the need to acquire a good education, since well-educated ministers were chosen for posts, while others who had prestigious family lines for centuries wound up working on farms or tending to horses in the stable if they were not properly educated.^[1] Although he stressed the need for mastering calligraphy, painting, and playing the musical instrument of the lute (guqin), he warned against them from practicing too much and gaining too much skill. This was because those of higher rank, in a degrading and humiliating fashion, could easily call upon them to constantly entertain and produce fanciful calligraphy, poetry, or a musical song on the spot.^[1] Yan Zhitui was an antiquarian when it came to the prized calligraphy in his family's collection, with written pieces in his possession that were originally penned by the masters of early calligraphy, Wang Xizhi and his son Wang Xianzhi

.

In his writing, Yan Zhitui also supported Buddhism. Yan defended it against many peers who were staunch critics of the religion, despite Yan's own emphasis on Confucian learning and education. Yan also required of his sons that his funeral be accompanied by Buddhist services, and persuaded his sons not to offer meat in traditional ancestral offerings.^[1] Although he called upon his sons to observe and respect the teachings of Buddhism, he did not want them to lead a remote and isolated monastic life, as he still had expectations that his sons should marry and have families of their own. He did, however, encourage them to:

...attend to the chanting and reading of the sacred books and thereby provide for passage to your future state of existence. Incarnation as a human is difficult to attain. Do not pass through yours in vain!^[1]

Although paper had been known as a wrapping and padding material in China since the 2nd century BC,^[2] an early reference to the use of paper for toilet purposes was made by Yan.^[3] In 589 AD Yan Zhitui wrote: