Jia Yi

In thisChinese name,thefamily nameisJia ( giả ).

Jia Yi
18th century depiction of Jia Yi
Traditional Chinese	Giả nghị
Simplified Chinese	Giả nghị
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Jiǎ Yì Gwoyeu Romatzyh Jea Yih Wade–Giles Chia3I4 IPA [tɕjà î] Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Gáa Yih Jyutping Gaa2Ji6 IPA [ka˧˥ ji˨] Southern Min Tâi-lô Ká Gī Middle Chinese Middle Chinese Kǽ Ngje Old Chinese Baxter–Sagart (2014) *C.qˤ<r>aʔŋ(r)aj
Alternative Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	Giả sinh
Simplified Chinese	Giả sinh
Literal meaning	"Scholar Jia"
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Jiǎ shēng Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Gáa sāang Southern Min Tâi-lô Ká sing Old Chinese Baxter–Sagart (2014) *C.qˤ<r>aʔsreŋ

Jia Yi(Wade–Giles:Chia I;c. 200 – 169 BCE) was a Chinese essayist, poet and politician of theWestern Han dynasty,best known as one of the earliest known writers offurhapsodyand for his essay "Disquisition Finding Fault with Qin" (Guò Qín LùnQuá Tần Luận), which criticises theQin dynastyand describes Jia's opinions on the reasons for its collapse. In particular, he is famous for his twofu,On the Owl(Phục điểu phú) and hisLament forQu Yuan(Điếu Khuất Nguyên phú), and is author of the treatiseXinshu(Sách mới), containing political and educational insights. TheBook of Han's Journal on Literature attributes thirty eight writings to him.

Life

Jia Yi's biography is contained in Volume 84 of theRecords of the Grand Historian.Jia Yi was born about 200 BCE inLuoyang,though some sources suggest his birth may have been a year earlier in about 201 BCE.As a youth Jia became well known in his home county for his literary skills and ability to recite theChinese Classics.His precociousness caught the attention of "Venerable Wu" (Wu gongNgô công), the local governor and a prominentLegalistscholar who had been a student of theQin dynastyofficialLi Si.Wu brought Jia onto his staff, and when he became Commandant of Justice in 179 BCE he recommended Jia toEmperor Wen of Hanas a scholar of the Classics.Emperor Wen made Jia a "professor" (bóshìTiến sĩ), and within one year had promoted him to Grand Master of the Palace (tàizhōng dàfūQuá trung đại phu), a relatively high-ranking position at the imperial court.

Upon assuming his new position, Jia began submitting proposals for institutional reforms—including a proposal to require vassal lords to actually reside in their fiefs and not at the capital. He advised Wen to teach his heir to use what is likelyShen Buhai's administrative method, so as to be able to "supervise the functions of the many officials and understand the usages of government." He was frequently opposed by a group of older officials who had been early supporters ofLiu Bang,the founder of the Han dynasty, and who continued to hold important positions under Emperor Wen.

This old-guard faction, probably feeling that Jia was a threat to their own positions, protested when Emperor Wen was considering promoting Jia to a ministerial post, saying that Jia was "young and just beginning his studies, yet he concentrates all his desires on arrogating authority to himself, and has brought chaos and confusion to everything."The emperor, bowing to the faction's pressure, gradually stopped seeking Jia's advice, and in 176 BCE exiled Jia to the southernChangsha Kingdom(roughly corresponding to modernHunan Province) to serve as Grand Tutor to its young king Wu Chan (Ngô sản;r. 178 – 157 BCE).

Emperor Wen ended Jia's exile around 172 BCE by summoning him back to the imperial capital atChang'an,ostensibly in order to consult him on matters ofDaoistmysticism. The emperor appointed him to the position of Grand Tutor (tàifùThái phó) toLiu Yi,Emperor Wen's youngest and favorite son, who was said to have been a good student and to have enjoyed reading.Liu Yi died in 169 BCE due to injuries he suffered in a fall from a horse. Jia blamed himself for the accident and died, grief-stricken, about one year later.

Works

Jia known for his famous essay "Disquisition Finding Fault with Qin"(Guò Qín LùnQuá Tần Luận ), in which Jia recounts his opinions on the cause of theQin dynasty's collapse, and for two of his survivingfurhapsodies:"On the Owl" and "Lament forQu Yuan".Since he wrote favorably of social and ethical ideas attributed to Confucius and wrote an essay focused on the failings of theLegalist-based Qin dynasty (221–206 BC), he was classified by other scholars in the Han dynasty as aConfucian scholar(rujia).Jia Yi was known for his interest in ghosts, spirits, and other aspects of the afterlife;and, he wrote hisLament to Qu Yuanas a sacrificial offering to Qu Yuan,who had a century-or-so earlier drowned himself after being politically exiled. Jia Yi's actions inspired future exiled poets to a minor literary genre of similarly writing and then tossing their newly composed verses into theXiang River,or other waters, as they traversed them on the way to their decreed places of exile.

As a figure favored by Wu gong, Jia Yi would for a time be classed as a Legalist himself. Although he does bare resemblances, as a figure who wrote the Disquisition Finding Fault with Qin, Jia Yi was probably not a proponent ofShang Yang.He likely was familiar with their writings, as suggested bySima Qian.But his writings have a core based more in Confucianism andHuang-Lao.Between Shang Yang andShen Buhai,he was likely much more influenced by Shen Buhai.

See also

• Chao Cuo
• Fu (poetry)
• Jia Yi's Former Residence
• Qu Yuan
• Ten Crimes of Qin
• Xiaoxiang poetry

References

Sources

Works cited

• Cutter, Robert Joe (1986). "Chia I giả nghị". In Nienhauser, William H. (ed.).The Indiana Companion to Traditional Chinese Literature(2nd revised ed.). Bloomington: Indiana University Press. pp.254–5.ISBN0-253-32983-3.
• Di Cosmo, Nicola. (2002).Ancient China and Its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History.Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.ISBN0-521-77064-5.
• Hawkes, David(1985).The Songs of the South.London, England: Penguin Books.ISBN978-0-14-044375-2.
• Knechtges, David R.(2010). "Jia Yi giả nghị". In Knechtges, David R.; Chang, Taiping (eds.).Ancient and Early Medieval Chinese Literature: A Reference Guide, Part One.Leiden: Brill. pp. 417–28.ISBN978-90-04-19127-3.
• Loewe, Michael(1986). "The Former Han Dynasty". InTwitchett, Denis;Loewe, Michael (eds.).The Cambridge History of China, Vol. 1: The Ch'in and Han Empires, 221 BC – AD 220.Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. pp. 103–222.
• Murck, Alfreda (2000).Poetry and Painting in Song China: The Subtle Art of Dissent.Harvard Univ Asia Center.ISBN978-0-674-00782-6.
• Sima, Qian; Watson, Burton (1993).Records of the Grand Historian: Han Dynasty I(Revised ed.). New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 443–452.ISBN978-0-231-08165-8.

External links

• Xin Shu sách mớiat Chinese Notes