Yan Zhenqing (709–784; a birth year of 708 and a death year of 785 are also given) was a Tang-dynasty statesman and calligrapher. He was styled Qingchen, ranked thirteenth, and was also known by the childhood name Xianmenzi and the byname Yingfang; he was later known as Yan Lugong and posthumously as Wenzhong. His place of origin is variously given as Langya Linyi, Jingzhao Wannian (present-day Xi'an), and Jingzhao Chang'an.
Life
His father was Yan Weizhen. Yan Shigu is identified in one genealogy as his grandfather, while another calls Yan Zhenqing a fifth-generation descendant of Yan Shigu; he is also described as a fifth-generation descendant of Yan Zhitui. He passed the Presented Scholar examination in the twenty-second year of Kaiyuan (734). In the first year of Tianbao (742), he passed the Literary Excellence examination, also attaining the Bacuike and a special examination.
His early appointments included Palace Archivist and Collator in the Secretariat (736), Magistrate of Liquan, Investigating Censor (747), and Palace Attendant Censor (749). Because he would not attach himself to Yang Guozhong, he was sent out as governor of Pingyuan; when the An Lushan rebellion began, he joined with his cousin Yan Gaoqing to raise troops, won broad support in Hebei, was chosen as their盟主, and commanded a force said to have reached 200,000. Pingyuan was well prepared for defense, and he was given the post of Vice Minister of Revenue.
After Suzong's accession, he was appointed Minister of Works, concurrently Grand Censor, and Commissioner for Hebei Pacification and Military Operations. In 756 he was again appointed Minister of Justice and Grand Censor, and served successively as prefect of Tong, Pu, Rao, and Sheng; a post as prefect of Li is also listed. When the commanderies fell again, he made his way by a byroad to Fengxiang, was repeatedly appointed Grand Censor and sent as governor of Fengyi, then suffered repeated demotions because his integrity made him unwelcome, eventually reaching the post of Assistant Governor of Pengzhou.
Under Daizong, he again held the post described variously as Left or Right Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs; he was then made Investigating Minister of Justice and concurrently Grand Censor, and was enfeoffed as Duke of Lu. After falling out with Yuan Zai, he was demoted to Assistant Governor of Xiazhou. In 764 he became Minister of Justice and was again enfeoffed as Duke of Lu; in 768 he became governor of Fuzhou, later moved to Huzhou, and in 777 was recalled as Vice Minister of Justice. The beginning of his Huzhou tenure is variously placed in 772 and in the eighth through twelfth years of the Dali era.
In 782 he was made Grand Tutor of the Heir Apparent and commissioned as Military Pacification Commissioner of Huaining. During Dezong's reign, Lu Qi turned against him; when Li Xilie rebelled, he was ordered to persuade him, was held and threatened for years, and refused to yield. In 784 Li Xilie had him killed by strangulation; an age of seventy-seven is also given. His place of death is given as Caizhou, he was later buried at Wannian, and he was posthumously granted the title Situ and the posthumous name Wenzhong.
Family and associations
His wife was Lady Wei; his sons were Yan Yun and Yan Shuo, and his son-in-law was Wei Zheng. His brother was Yan Yunnan, and his wider family included the clan kinsman Yan Hun, the nephews Yan Xian, Yan Xu, Yan Xu, Yan Can, and Yan Zhuan, and an aunt who was the wife of Yin Lüzhi. Du Ji was his wife's sister's husband; his grandson was Wei Dan, and Yan Xu is also listed as a direct descendant. Linghu Huan composed his tomb inscription, while Yan Zhenqing composed tomb inscriptions for Song Jing and Yin Jianyou.
Calligraphy and literature
Yan Zhenqing first studied under Chu Suiliang and later followed Zhang Xu. He excelled in regular and running script: his regular script was stately and expansive, while his running script was forceful and vigorous; this style became known as the Yan style. He is paired with Liu Gongquan as Yan-Liu, and their styles gave rise to the phrase “Yan sinews and Liu bones.” He was accomplished in poetry and prose, but much of his extensive writing has been lost.
While serving as governor of Huzhou, he assembled 32 writers to compile the rime-based reference work *Yunhai Jingyuan*, forming a singing-and-response community of as many as 95 poets; their poems were collected as the ten-volume *Wuxing ji*. Fewer than one hundred poems are said to survive in the collection, most composed during his tenure at Wuxing in exchange with the monk Jiao and the scholar Lu.
*Yunhai Jingyuan* comprised 360 volumes. The ten-volume *Li yue ji*, *Wuxing ji*, *Luling ji*, and *Linchuan ji* are all lost. The fifteen-volume *Yan Lugong ji* was edited by Liu Yuangang; a later compilation is also known as the *Yan Lugong wenji*. The *Complete Tang Poems* preserves one volume of his poems, including 21 joint poems, while later supplements add one poem, one joint poem, and two fragments.
Other titles listed include *Zhongwen ji*, *Wujing yaolüe*, *Jiajiao*, and the one-volume *Twelve Instructions on Brushwork by Zhang Changshi*, also called *Yan Gong's Method*. Surviving calligraphic works include *Self-written Official Credentials*, *Contending for Seats*, and *Draft of a Requiem to My Nephew*.
References
- CBDB Yan Zhenqing (95025)
- 搜韵 顏真卿 (21650)
- Wikidata Yan Zhenqing (Q758566)
- 法鼓佛教人名规范数据库 顏真卿 (A004865)