Han Yuanji

Life

Han Wei is identified as his great-great-grandfather, or fourth-generation ancestor; Han Qiu was a collateral grand-uncle, and Han Yuanlong a cousin. His son was Han Biao, his eldest daughter was Han Fu, and his sons-in-law included Lü Zuqian and Zhao Yifu. In his wife's family, Su Shide was his father-in-law, Liu Yuanshan her grandfather, and Liu Yongong her uncle.

Han Yuanji studied under Yin Dun in his early years. After an unsuccessful attempt at the ci examination with his cousin Han Yuanlong, he later entered the jinshi ranks, although he had initially entered office through yin privilege; he began as registrar of Longquan County and was transferred to the registrarship of Nanjiang Prefecture. In 1158 he became magistrate of Jian'an County; near the end of the Shaoxing era he was summoned as a registrar of the Court of State Granaries, serving in that post in 1160–1161, and in 1163 held a langzhong post in the Ministry of Revenue's Directorate of Finance.

During the Fuli campaign, he wrote to Zhang Jun urging him not to act rashly, but Zhang ignored the advice; his subsequent appointment is given as Jian'an in one account and Jianning in another, and he expanded schools and initiated a prefectural gazetteer. In 1165 he became Jiangnan East Circuit Transport Commissioner; during the Qiandao era he successively held the posts of Junior Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, Acting Drafter in the Secretariat, and Vice Minister of Personnel, and he also served as an envoy to the Jin.

He served as prefect of Jiangzhou (1168–1170) and twice as prefect of Wuzhou (1173–1175; 1178–1179). The number of his Jianning appointments is disputed: one account gives one term, while another lists periods in 1168 and 1175–1176; he also served in Jianzhou. His offices and honors also included 直敷文閣 (1168), 敷文閣待制 (1173), and 三公 (1178).

Early in the Chunxi era he became prefect of Wuzhou and then served at court as Zhengfeng Dafu and Minister of Personnel. After requesting an outside appointment, he was again made prefect of Wuzhou as a Longtuge Academician; he was later removed from office and assigned a shrine sinecure, withdrew to Xinzhou in old age, and was ennobled Duke of Yingchuan. His death date is disputed: one account says that he died in the fourteenth year of Chunxi (1187), aged seventy, while another leaves the year open and says that he was still alive in the thirteenth year (1186).

Learning and associations

Han Yuanji and Lü Zuqian studied and lectured together at Cixiang Temple in Deqing. Han was a friend of Zhu Xi; Zhu Xi and Fu Zide recommended him, and he was also a friend of Zhao Yanduan. In literary circles, he exchanged ci poetry with Zhang Yuangan, Zhang Xiaoxiang, Fan Chengda, Lu You, and Xin Qiji. He also exchanged letters with Chen Liang and Zhu Xi, and received poetry and prose from Lu You.

Works

The original Nanjian jia yi gao consisted of seventy juan and is lost; Qing compilers reconstructed twenty-two juan from the Yongle dadian. Editions of Han's poetry use the Wenyuange *Siku quanshu* text of *Nanjian jia yi gao* as their base, collated against the Wuying dian juzhen edition and other texts, with newly collected poems outside the original collection placed at the end.

Other works include 《易繫辭解》, 《焦尾集》 (also titled 《焦尾集詞》), 《南澗詩餘》, 《桐蔭舊話》 (also written 《桐陰舊話》), and 《全國生辰語錄》 in one juan.