Fan Zhi

In thisChinese name,thefamily nameisFan.

Fan Zhi
1stChancellorof theSong dynasty
In office 5 March 960 – 26 February 964 Serving withWang Puand Wei Renpu
Monarch	Emperor Taizu of Song
Succeeded by	Zhao Pu
Chancellor of theLater Zhoudynasty
In office 27 July 951– 3 February 960
Monarchs	Guo Wei Chai Rong Chai Zongxun
Personal details
Born	911 or January 912 likely Zongcheng,Later Liang(in today'sWei County,Hebei)
Died	(964-11-05)5 November 964 (aged 52–53) Kaifeng,Henan,China
Children	Fan Min ( phạm mân ), son
Occupation	Essayist, historian, jurist, politician
Full name	Surname:Fàn (Phạm) Given name:Zhì (Chất) Courtesy name:Wénsù (VănTố)
Father	Fan Shouyu ( phạm thủ ngộ )

Fan Zhi
Traditional Chinese	PhạmChất
Simplified Chinese	PhạmChất
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Fàn Zhì Wade–Giles Fan4Chih4 Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Faan6Jat1 Jyutping Faan6Zat1

Fàn Zhi(Chinese:Phạm chất) (c.911– 5 November 964), formally theDuke of Lu(Lỗ Quốc công), was a Chinese essayist, historian, jurist, and politician who served under 12emperorsof 6 dynasties duringimperial China'sFive Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms periodand the subsequentSong dynasty.He was theLater Zhouchancellorfrom 951 until 960, and the Song dynasty chancellor from 960 until 964, not long before his death. A strict adherent to legal guidelines, he had influenced Later Zhou and Song rulers to rely more on civil administration in an age dominated by the military. Fàn was a member of the eliteFàn family.

Early life

Growing up, Fàn Zhi's fatherFàn Shouyu ( phạm thủ ngộ )was a staff supervisor (Phán quan) serving theLater Liang.BiographerJack Dullconsiders Fàn Zhi a representative of the rise of "new families" which were gradually replacing the exclusivearistocracyof theTang dynasty.At age eight, Fàn Zhi was able to write essays, and by 12 he already mastered and began teaching the voluminous classicBook of Documents.

Career under Later Tang

Later Liang was replaced by theLater Tangin 926, and Fàn passed theimperial examinationin 933. The chief examination administrator He Ning (Cùng ngưng) reportedly liked Fàn's writing the most that he intentionally assigned Fàn 13th place, which was the placing he himself got back in the day. Fàn became a prefectural judge (Đẩy quan) for the Zhongwu Commandery ( trung võ quân; roughly governing today's centralHenan), and was later promoted to the post ofsubprefectofFengqiuwhich he served until Later Tang was overthrown in 936.

Career under Later Jin

Under the newLater Jin,Fàn's essays caught the eyes ofchancellorSang Weihan,who helped Fàn become the imperial investigating censor (Giám sát ngự sử), a lowly position at the censorial offices. When Sang was subsequently appointed to otherprefecturesand eventually back as the chancellor, Fàn followed him along the way. In 943, Fàn Zhi was promoted to the post of assistant division chief of the Department of Hospitality (Chủ khách viên ngoại lang) and auxiliary official of the Institute of History (Thẳng sử quán). A year later, he became a Hanlin Academician and division chief (Lang trung) of the Department of Accounting, Ministry of Finance (So bộ), as well as special drafting of the Secretariat (Biết chế cáo).

Career under Later Han

WhileGuo Wei(Quách uy,a general and the future founder of theLater Zhou,was serving in theLater Hancourt, he was impressed by Fan Zhi. Guo later appointed Fan as vice-commissioner of military affairs.

Career under Later Zhou

Guo Wei, had been impressed by the timeliness and the contents of the imperial orders he received while fighting rebellions away from thecapital.Once he asked the messenger who wrote the orders. "Fàn Zhi" was the reply, and Guo remarked, "Definitely fit to be chancellor."

In the winter months of early 951,Guo Weirebelled against the Later Han emperorLiu Chengyouand his army swiftly conquered the capitalKaifeng.Amidst the chaos after Liu's fleeing from the city, Guo remembered the name Fàn Zhi and asked for his whereabouts. When Fàn – who was living with other commoners – was located, Guo paid him a personal visit in heavy snow and during the conversation, removed his own robe to put on Fàn for warmth. As a token of his friendship to Guo, Fàn wrote several imperial orders for Guo, helping him to transition the state as Guo declared himself the emperor of the newLater Zhoudynasty.Fan was appointed as chancellor following Guo's ascension to the throne.

Career under Song

One day in 960, Fàn was dining in his own residence when generalZhao Kuangyin,who was supposed to be on the way to resist theLiao dynastyinvasion, stormed in. In tears, Zhao explained to Fàn that he was forced to become the emperor and return to the capital by his subordinates. Stunned and not sure what to suggest, Fàn was confronted by Zhao's attendant Luo Yangui (La ngạn khôi), who raised his sword to threaten Fàn into accepting the usurpation. When Fàn realized that everything was nothing but acting, he came down the stairs and bowed to Zhao, who became the first emperor of theSong dynasty.

Notes and references

Sources

• Dull, Jack L.(1976). "Fan Chih". InFranke, Herbert(ed.).Sung Biographies.Wiesbaden:Franz Steiner Verlag.pp. 310–321.ISBN3-515-02412-3.
• (in Chinese)Toqto'a;et al., eds. (1345).Song Shi( Tống sử )[History of Song].
• (in Chinese)Li Tao(1183).Xu Zizhi Tong gian Changbian( tục tư trị thông giam bản thảo sơ bộ )[Extended Continuation toZizhi Tong gian].
• (in Chinese)Sima Guang(1086).Zizhi Tong gian( tư trị thông giam )[Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government].
• Twitchett, Denis; Smith, Paul Jakov (2009).The Cambridge History of China Volume 5 Part One: The Sung Dynasty and its Precursors, 907-1279.Cambridge University Press.ISBN978-0-521-24330-8.