Yan Zhitui facts for kids

Yan Zhitui (Chinese: 顏之推; pinyin: Yán Zhītuī; Wade–Giles: Yen² Chih¹-t'ui¹, 531–591) was a very talented Chinese man. His courtesy name was Jie (Chinese: 介). He was a calligrapher (someone who writes beautifully), a painter, a musician, a writer, a philosopher (a deep thinker), and a politician (someone involved in government). Yan Zhitui lived during a time when China was divided into many different states, called the Northern and Southern dynasties. He worked for four of these states: the Liang dynasty in the south, the Northern Qi and Northern Zhou dynasties in the north, and finally the Sui dynasty, which brought China back together. Yan Zhitui was a big supporter of Buddhism, even though many of his friends and colleagues who followed Confucian teachings did not agree with him.

Who Was Yan Zhitui's Family?

Yan Zhitui's family came from a place called Linyi in what is now Shandong Province. They were part of a very important and old family known as the Yan clan of Langya. After the capital city of the Jin dynasty fell in the year 317, Yan's family moved south, crossing the Yangtze River. They settled in the new capital, Jiankang (which is now Nanjing), and became a well-known and powerful family among the rich and important people there.

The Yan family had many members who worked as officials for the government. They served the Eastern Jin dynasty and the dynasties that came after it in southern China. However, Yan Zhitui's grandfather, Yan Jianyuan, was different. When the Southern Qi dynasty was replaced by the Liang dynasty in 502, he refused to work for the new Liang government. He stayed loyal to the Southern Qi. When Emperor Wu of Liang became the new ruler, Yan Jianyuan chose to starve himself to death. This showed his strong loyalty to the dynasty he had served. Even with this, Yan Zhitui's father, Yan Xie, decided to work for Emperor Wu and the new Liang dynasty. Yan Zhitui also had two older brothers named Yan Zhiyi and Yan Zhisan.

Yan Zhitui's Children

Yan Zhitui had three sons. Their names were Yan Silu, Yan Minchu, and Yan Youqin.

What Was Yan Zhitui's Life Like?

Yan Zhitui's father, Yan Xie, died when Yan Zhitui was only nine years old. Because he didn't have his father to guide him, his older brother mostly raised him. As a teenager, Yan Zhitui worked as a low-level helper at the court in the southern capital, Jiankang.

When he was eighteen, a famous general named Hou Jing started a rebellion against the Liang dynasty. Yan Zhitui and a royal prince were captured by Hou Jing. They were very lucky to escape being killed.

In 552, Yan Zhitui ran away to Jiangling (in modern Jingzhou, Hubei). He went with the Liang prince he had served before the rebellion. This prince tried to set up his own government there. But in 554, the Western Wei dynasty from the north attacked and captured Jiangling. Yan Zhitui, who was twenty-four years old, became a prisoner of war. He was taken with 100,000 other people to Chang'an, the capital of Western Wei.

In 556, his family managed to escape Chang'an. They planned to move east, hoping to return to the Liang dynasty in southern China. But things had changed! The Chen dynasty had taken over from the Liang dynasty in the south. Just like his grandfather, who refused to serve the Liang dynasty, Yan Zhitui decided not to serve the new Chen government.

Instead, Yan Zhitui found work in several government jobs for the Northern Qi dynasty in northeastern China. But fate had more changes for him. In 577, the Northern Zhou dynasty defeated the Northern Qi. This meant the Northern Zhou now ruled northern China. At forty-six years old, Yan Zhitui had to move back to Chang'an, the city where he had once been a prisoner. For a few years, he didn't have any government jobs and was quite poor.

Finally, the Sui dynasty took control from the Northern Zhou dynasty. The new emperor, Emperor Wen of Sui, recognized Yan Zhitui's talents. He gave Yan Zhitui several important jobs as a scholar and a government official.

What Did Yan Zhitui Write?

Yan Zhitui wrote a 26-chapter book called Yanshi jiaxun (which means "The Family Instructions of Master Yan"). In this book, he shared his ideas and advice for his sons. He told them what to do and what to avoid to be successful in life.

He also wrote about the differences between Northern and Southern China during his time. He noticed how language, customs, and culture were different in the two regions. Yan Zhitui wrote that he picked up many bad habits when he was young because his older brother wasn't strict enough with him after their father died. He believed it was very important to get a good education. He saw that educated people were chosen for important jobs, while others from famous families ended up working on farms if they weren't properly educated.

Yan Zhitui thought it was good to learn calligraphy (beautiful writing), painting, and playing the lute (a musical instrument called a guqin). However, he warned his sons not to become too skilled at them. He worried that if they were too good, people of higher rank might force them to constantly entertain others by creating fancy calligraphy, poetry, or music on the spot.

Yan Zhitui loved old and valuable things. He had a collection of prized calligraphy pieces that were written by famous masters like Wang Xizhi and his son Wang Xianzhi.

In his writings, Yan Zhitui also supported Buddhism. He defended it against many people who strongly criticized the religion, even though Yan himself focused on Confucian learning. Yan also asked his sons to have Buddhist services at his funeral. He told them not to offer meat in their traditional family offerings. While he wanted his sons to respect Buddhist teachings, he didn't want them to live a lonely life in a monastery. He still expected them to marry and have their own families. However, he did 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!

People in China had known about paper for a long time, using it for wrapping things since the 2nd century BC. But Yan Zhitui was one of the first to write about using paper for toilet purposes. In 589 AD, he wrote:

"Paper on which there are quotations or commentaries from Five Classics or the names of sages, I dare not use for toilet purposes".

See also

In Spanish: Yan Zhitui para niños