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Xiang Xiu

Wei-period scholar among the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove, author of an early Zhuangzi commentary and of the Rhapsody on Past Friends mourning Xi Kang and Lu An

Also known as Zi Ziqi

Xiang Xiu, courtesy name Ziqi, came from Huai county in Henei and was a close friend of Xi Kang and Lu An, with whom he is counted among the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove; he worked the bellows when Xi Kang forged iron in Luoyang and tended gardens with Lu An at Shanyang. The Book of Jin (Jinshu) says his commentary on the Zhuangzi opened up its hidden meanings and revived the study of the mysterious. After Sima Zhao had Xi Kang and Lu An executed, Xiang Xiu accepted a local nomination and went to Luoyang; asked why he had abandoned his hermit ideals, he replied that the ancient recluses were too rigid to admire. Passing Xi Kang's old house and hearing a neighbour's flute, he wrote the Rhapsody on Past Friends. He died in office, having held court posts without real duties. The Jinshu biography of Guo Xiang says Guo passed off Xiang's Zhuangzi notes as his own, a charge modern scholars still debate.

Life and times

  1. c. 227 CEBornThree KingdomsJin
  2. 240Flourishing of Neo-Daoist ThoughtTook partThe Bamboo Grove Sages and metaphysical ontology, sparking individual awakening and literati aesthetic freedom.
  3. c. 272 CEDied

Works

  1. Literature · Sayings3
    1. Talents No Bridle Could HoldThree KingdomsIdiom in Xiang Xiu's preface to Recalling Old Friends: Ji Kang and Lü An, unbridled talents
    2. The Sun Sinking Toward the Abyss of YuThree KingdomsIdiom from Xiang Xiu's Rhapsody Recalling Old Friends: the sun nearing its setting place
    3. Drooping Millet and Ripening Wheat: Xiang Xiu Remembers Old FriendsThree KingdomsIdiom in Xiang Xiu's Rhapsody on Remembering Old Friends: mourning the executed Ji Kang
  2. Literature · Rhapsodies1
    1. Rhapsody on Remembering Old FriendsThree KingdomsXiang Xiu's short rhapsody for Ji Kang and Lü An, prompted by a neighbour's flute at their home

Connections

  1. Shared events4
    1. Ji Kang223 CE–262 CE
    2. Wang Bi226 CE–249 CE
    3. He Yanc. 203 CE–249 CE
    4. Ruan Ji210 CE–263 CE

Records

Annotated the Zhuangzi and revived Mysterious Learning

Wei-Jin transition

The Book of Jin says Xiang Xiu, courtesy name Ziqi, came from Huai in Henei, was known to Shan Tao from youth, and was fond of the learning of Laozi and Zhuangzi. Of the inner and outer chapters of Zhuang Zhou, scholars of past ages had read them but none had set out their main drift; Xiang Xiu wrote a hidden-sense commentary on them, brought out their strange charm and revived Mysterious Learning (xuanxue), so that readers felt a calm understanding. He also debated nourishing life with Xi Kang in long exchanges of objections and replies.

References (1)