Siddhesh Joshi (Editor)

Xu Gan

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Died
  
217

Courtesy name
  
Weichang (偉長)

Traditional Chinese
  
徐幹

Name
  
Xu Gan

Simplified Chinese
  
徐干

Role
  
Poet

Pinyin
  
Xu Gan


Xu Gan (170 - 217) was a philosopher and poet of the late Han Dynasty. He was known in the cohort of the Seven scholars of Jian'an 建安七子 (name of the famous essay by Cao Pi).

Contents

He is best known in the West for his discourse on the relationship between the names and actualities, preserved in his treatise Zhonglun, the Balanced Discourses.

Biography

Born in Ju prefecture in Beihai county (today the eastern part of Lechang, Shandong), Xu Gan from his youth developed a reputation for good memory and diligent studies. After the start of Dong Zhuo's rebellion Xu left his residence in Linzi and went into hiding on the Jiaodong peninsula.

Literature

  • John Makeham, Name and Actuality in Early Chinese History. State University of New York Press, Albany, 1994.

    • Translations

  • Balanced Discourses: a Bilingual Edition. English translation by John Makeham; Introductions by Dan Shengyuan and John Makeham. Yale University Press, 2002.

    • References

    Xu Gan Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA