Fan Ye (historian)
| Fan Ye | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 范曄 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 范晔 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Fan Ye (398[1] – 23 January 446[2]), courtesy name Weizong (蔚宗), miik name "Zhuan" ((塼), "brick", apparently because his mother gave birth to him in a toilet, and his forehead was cut by a brick[3].), was a Chinese historian, philosopher, and politician of the Liu Song dynasty during the Southern and Northern dynasties period. He was the compiler of the historical text Book of the Later Han. The fourth[4] son of Fan Tai (范泰), Fan Ye was born in present-day Shaoxing, Zhejiang, but his ancestral home was in Nanyang, Henan. After his birth, he was made heir of another male relative Fan Hongzhi (范弘之)[5].
He was a noted atheist who heavily criticised Buddhism, Yin and Yang, and the concept of the Mandate of Heaven. To this end, he cited Zhang Heng's scientific studies as evidence.
In January 446, Fan Ye was accused of rebellion and executed, along with many associates. His son Fan Ai (范蔼) was also not spared.
Appearance and personality[edit]
The Book of Song described Fan as "less than seven chi in height, fat and dark in complexion, with no eyebrows or beard"[6].
When Fan Ye was young, his elder brother Fan Yan (范晏) frequently mentioned that Fan Ye was drawn towards advancing his interests and that this habit would bring disaster to their clan, which was what eventually happened[7].
References[edit]
- ^ According to Fan Ye's biography in Book of Song, he was 48 (by East Asian reckoning) when he died. (...诸所连及，并伏诛。晔时年四十八。) Song Shu, vol.69. Thus by calculation, his birth year should be 398.
- ^ According to Liu Yilong's biography in Book of Song, Fan Ye and his accomplices were executed on the yiwei day of the 12th month of the 22nd year of the Yuan'jia era. This corresponds to 23 Jan 446 on the Julian calendar. [(元嘉二十二年)十二月乙未，太子詹事范晔谋反，及党与皆伏诛.] Song Shu, vol.05
- ^ (母如厕产之，额为塼所伤，故以塼为小字.) Song Shu, vol. 69
- ^ The age order of Fan Ye and his brothers was listed in Fan Tai's biography in Book of Song (volume 60)
- ^ Fan Hongzhi has a biography in volume 91 of Book of Jin.
- ^ (晔长不满七尺，肥黑，秃眉须。) Song Shu, vol. 69
- ^ (晔少时，兄晏常云：“此儿进利，终破门户。”终如晏言。) Song Shu, vol.69
Sources[edit]
- Tan, Jiajian, "Hou Hanshu" ("Book of Later Han"). Encyclopedia of China (Chinese Literature Edition), 1st ed.
Further reading[edit]
- Yap, Joseph P. (2019). The Western Regions, Xiongnu and Han, from the Shiji, Hanshu and Hou Hanshu. ISBN 978-1792829154.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| People | |
| Other | |
 | This biographical article about a Chinese historian is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- 398 births
- 445 deaths
- 5th-century Chinese historians
- 5th-century Chinese philosophers
- 5th-century executions
- Executed Liu Song people
- Executed Northern and Southern dynasties people
- Historians from Zhejiang
- Jin dynasty (266–420) historians
- Liu Song historians
- Liu Song government officials
- People executed by a Northern and Southern dynasties state by decapitation
- People executed by Liu Song
- Writers from Shaoxing
- Chinese academic biography stubs
- Asian historian stubs
- Chinese people stubs