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Yan Zhitui

Type Figure Region China Time 531–591 Also known as courtesy name Jie、Yan Jie、Yan Shujian

Yan Zhitui (531–591), noted scholar from the Northern and Southern Dynasties through the Sui, who served four dynasties and wrote the Family Instruct…

Timeline

  1. 531–554Jiankang · YangzhouYan Zhitui was born in Jiankang, his family having followed Confucianism for generations. In youth he studied under good teachers, read widely, entered service under the Liang dynasty, and held posts including palace attendant. In 554 Western Wei captured Jiangling, and Yan Zhitui was taken captive and moved north, beginning a career spanning four dynasties.
  2. 555–577Ye · HebeiAfter arriving at Northern Qi, Yan Zhitui's deep learning won him preferment, serving as palace attendant and other posts. During his time at Ye he extensively studied northern documents and languages, keenly felt the cultural differences between north and south, and accumulated much material later used in writing the Family Instructions of Master Yan.
  3. 577–591Chang'an · ShaanxiIn 577 Northern Zhou destroyed Northern Qi; Yan Zhitui followed into Chang'an and briefly served Northern Zhou. After the Sui dynasty was founded he continued in office, successively serving as academician and palace attendant. In his later years, drawing on a lifetime of serving four dynasties and his learning, he completed the twenty-chapter Family Instructions of Master Yan, covering child-rearing, household management, self-cultivation, conduct in the world, and phonology, the most complete early model of Chinese family instructions.

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