Fan Zhongyan (October 1, 989 - June 19, 1052), whose courtesy name was Xiwen. His ancestral home is Pizhou, and he later moved to Wuxian County, Suzhou. A politician and writer in the early Northern Song Dynasty. Fan Zhongyan lost his father when he was young, and his mother remarried to the Zhu family of Changshan, so she changed her name to Zhu Shuo.

In the eighth year of Dazhong Xiangfu (1015), Fan Zhongyan studied hard and passed the exam, and was awarded the title of Guangde Army Manager to join the army. Later, he successively served as magistrate of Xinghua County, school administrator of Mi Pavilion, general magistrate of Chenzhou, magistrate of Suzhou, etc. He was repeatedly criticized for his impartiality and outspokenness.

In the fourth year of Huangyou's reign (1052), he changed his name to Yingzhou and died on the way to take office at the age of sixty-four. He was given the title of Taishi, Zhongshu Ling and Shangshu Ling, and Duke of Chu. He was given the posthumous title "Wenzheng" and was known as Fan Wenzhenggong in the world.

His representative work is "Shi Shuo", and his outstanding articles include: "Miscellaneous Shuo", "Yuan Rui", "Jin Xue Jie", "Reply to Liu Zhengfu's Letter", and "Send Meng Dong Ye Preface" , "Essay on Sacrifice to the Twelve Langs", "Preface to Sending Li Yuan Back to Pangu", "Following the Biography of Zhang Zhongcheng", etc.

In addition, he also wrote "Liu Zihou's Epitaph", "Send Liu Zihou's Essay", "Painting Notes", "Reply to Li Xiang's Book", "Original Way", "Original Destruction", "Original Nature" ", "On the Situation of Drought and Human Hunger", "On the Table of Buddha's Bones", "Song of the Poor", "Ping Huaixi Stele", etc.

His poems mainly include: "Mountain Rocks", "Bianzhou Rebellion", "Nanshan", "Stone Drum Song", "Luhun Mountain Fire", "Solar Eclipse", "Inscribed on Bianliang", "Inscribed on Yiliang", "Inscribed on the Temple of the King of Chu", "Presented to Zhang Gongcao on the 15th night of August", "Moved to Languan from the left to show his nephew Xiang", "Presented Zhang to the eighteen members of the Ministry of Water in the early spring", "Send Zhang first at Yintong Pass" "Twelve Pavilions Old Envoy" and so on.

Anecdotes and Allusions

1. Duanjun Painting Porridge

Fan Zhongyan lost his father when he was young. He moved to Changshan with his stepfather when he was four years old and studied hard in Liquan. temple. Because his family was poor, he used two liters of millet to cook porridge. After the porridge solidified overnight, he cut it into four pieces with a knife. He ate two pieces in the morning and evening, and then cut some pickles to go with it. As an adult, Fan Zhongyan went to Yingtian Academy to study hard. When he was tired and sleepy from studying in winter, he washed his face with cold water. When he had nothing to eat, he drank gruel to survive.

Fan Zhongyan never complained about the difficult life that ordinary people could not bear. After studying hard, Fan Zhongyan finally passed the imperial examination in the eighth year of Dazhong Xiangfu (1015), and became an official to participate in political affairs.

2. Rigorous scholarship

Fan Zhongyan wrote an epitaph for someone, and when he was about to send it away after sealing it, he suddenly thought: "This inscription must be read by Yin Zhu."< /p>

The next day, Fan Zhongyan gave the inscription to Yin Zhu for reading. After reading it, Yin Zhu said: "Your article is already very famous, and future generations will use your article as an example. You cannot be careless." Now you write the transfer envoy as the governor and the governor as the prefect. Although it is elegant and ancient, but now there are no such official titles, future generations will definitely be confused. This is the reason for the controversy among vulgar scholars. "

After hearing this, Fan Zhongyan sighed and said: "Thank you for reading it, otherwise, I almost made a mistake."

3. Teaching children to help others in danger

Fan Zhongyan is very good at running a family. Yan teaches his children to be upright, cultivate their moral integrity, and do good deeds. Fan's family style is honest, frugal, and charitable. Once, Fan Zhongyan asked his second son Fan Chunren to transport wheat from Suzhou to Sichuan. When Fan Chunren came back, he met Shi Manqing, an acquaintance, and learned that he had lost a relative and had no money to transport his coffin back home, so he gave him a boatload of wheat to help him return home. Fan Chunren returned home and did not dare to mention the matter.

Fan Zhongyan asked him if he had met any friends in Suzhou. Fan Chunren replied: "When I was passing through Danyang, I met Shi Manqing. He was trapped there because he had no money to transport the coffin back to his hometown due to the funeral of his family." Fan Zhongyan immediately said: "Why don't you give him all the wheat on the boat?" Fan Chunren replied: "I have already given it to him." After hearing this, Fan Zhongyan was very happy with his son's actions and praised him for doing the right thing.