MUZIChinese Matrix
Clerics › Religious Figure
Han Xiang, Tang grandnephew of Han Yu and a jinshi of 823, whom later legend made one of the Eight Immortals; his story became a staple of daoqing ballads.
Mural of the cultural record “Daoqing and Yugu Fish-Drum Ballads”, which this person is tied to.
Also known as Han Xiangzi · Zi Qingfu
The figure of Han Xiangzi rests on the Tang man Han Xiang, styled Qingfu, Han Yu's grandnephew and son of Han Laocheng, born around 794. When Han Yu was banished to Chaozhou in 819, Han Xiang went with him as far as Languan Pass, and Han Yu wrote him the poem Demoted and Arriving at Languan, for My Grandnephew Xiang. He passed the jinshi examination in 823 and rose to assistant in the Court of Judicial Review. Later legend made him a disciple of Lu Dongbin who became an immortal, counted him among the Eight Immortals and credited him with making flowers bloom in an instant and converting Han Yu; from the Ming on, narrative daoqing ballads told and retold the tale of his nine attempts to convert his uncle.
TangBorn c. 794 CE; death date unknown
Han XiangHan Xiang was a grandnephew of Han Yu. In 819 Han Yu was demoted to prefect of Chaozhou for his memorial against welcoming the Buddha's bone, and at Lan Pass he wrote the poem Demoted and Reaching Lan Pass, Shown to My Grandnephew Xiang for him. In 823 Han Xiang passed the jinshi examination and rose to the post of Judge of the Court of Judicial Review.
Folk tales count Han Xiangzi among the Eight Immortals. He is said to have taken Lu Dongbin as his teacher in the Way and to have played the flute, and the Daoist music piece Heavenly Flowers Prelude is traditionally credited to him. Legend says he became an immortal after death, as one released from the corpse. Later people took him to be Han Xiang, the grandnephew of Han Yu.
