Fu Xuan's Biography

Author: Wei Ming'an / Zhao Yiwu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1996-03-01
Features: This book conducts an in-depth and meticulous examination of the family background, life, and works of Fu Xuan, a thinker and litterateur during the Wei-Jin period. It provides a serious analysis of his ideological profile and literary achievements, arriving at novel conclusions about understanding a person in the context of their times. As a thinker, Fu Xuan was a political commentator and ethicist, rather than a philosopher. His representative work, Fu Zi: Inner Chapters, discusses the "techniques of governing," serving the political reality of the Sima clan's usurpation of Wei, and belongs to the category of "miscellaneous works." As a litterateur, Fu Xuan's main achievements were achieved during the Wei period, and he was not among the writers of the Western Jin Taikang era. The opinions on Xuanxue (Neo-Daoism) and other academic insights in Fu Zi are also worth attention. This book also provides a specific analysis and explanation of the phenomenon where a large amount of Fu Zi text is mixed into Yang Quan's Wuli Lun, distinguishing and identifying them. Yang Quan was an astronomer and philosopher, with thoughts distinct from Fu Xuan. Based on the existing scattered materials, this book reconstructs Yang Quan's life and argues for his ideology, offering fresh insights.