Title

The Life and Legend of Chong Fang: The Journey from Recluse to Imperial Favorite to Master of Yi Learning

Author

Douglas Skonicki

Genre

Article

Pages

287-326

Download

PDF

Language

English

Key words

Chong Fang 种放, biji 筆記, recluses, Yi learning 易學, lineages

Abstract

The noted eremite, poet, official and proponent of guwen 古文, Chong Fang 种放 (955-1015), was one of the most interesting intellectuals of the early Song 宋 dynasty. While living in relative seclusion with his mother in the mountains outside of Chang’an 長安, Chong became a well-known teacher, achieving fame for both his intellectual views and moral integrity. In the late tenth century, Emperors Taizong 太宗 (r. 976-997) and Zhenzong 真宗 (r. 997-1022) summoned Chong for imperial audiences and bestowed him with monetary and titular rewards. Zhenzong in particular showered Chong with an unprecedented degree of imperial favor, and after granting him an official position, he allowed Chong to move relatively freely between the court and his mountain hermitage. Following his death, Chong’s exploits attracted the attention of Song biji 筆記 authors, who recorded numerous stories about his idiosyncratic lifestyle and the largess he received from court in their biji. In this article, I analyze these stories chronologically in an effort to determine how Chong was depicted and how those depictions changed over time. My analysis focuses on anecdotes that linked Chong with Chen Tuan 陳摶 (?-989), the purported creator of several important diagrams on the Yijing 易經, and attempts to show how Chong came to be regarded as an important interpreter of the text and placed in lineages of Yi learning 易學.