Scholars › Philosopher / Thinker
Fu Lang
Former Qin royal kinsman and conversationalist who wrote the Daoist-flavoured Fuzi after surrendering to Eastern Jin.
A thatched pavilion open on three sides stands among tall bamboo; one person sits with their back turned at the veranda rail beside a zither and a stack of bamboo slips, while a stone path runs to a calm pond reflecting clouds and distant hills.
Also known as Zi Yuanda · Fuzi
Fu Lang (also written with a variant surname character), courtesy name Yuanda, was a Di nobleman of Lüeyang, a nephew of the Former Qin ruler Fu Jian, who served as Inspector of Qingzhou and was celebrated for elegant conversation. After the Battle of Fei River he surrendered to the Eastern Jin, became a cavalier attendant, and was later executed through the slander of Wang Guobao. His Fuzi, a collection of Daoist-style parables, contains the fable behind 'asking a tiger for its skin'.
Life and times
Dates Dates unknown; Former Qin prince who surrendered to Eastern Jin c. 384 CE and was later killed