Writers › Writer / Poet
Xiahou Zhan
Western Jin writer, courtesy name Xiaoruo, from Qiao commandery, brilliant and handsome, paired with Pan Yue as the Joined Jades; his Dongfang Shuo Hua Zan is included in the Wen Xuan.
In a study at night, a desk holds a brush pot, a porcelain vase with a plum branch, a lit red lantern, a folded fan and an unrolled blank scroll, with no one seated there, while through a round window the moon rises over a lake with a sailboat.
Also known as Courtesy name Xiaoruo
Xiahou Zhan (243–291), courtesy name Xiaoruo, came from Qiao commandery (around Bozhou, Anhui), a descendant of the Wei general Xiahou Yuan, and his sister Xiahou Guangji was the mother of Emperor Yuan of Jin. Gifted and handsome, he was close to Pan Yue and the pair were called the Joined Jades. He served as aide to the Grand Commandant, Gentleman, Secretary, Secretariat Attendant and Chancellor of Nanyang, and under Emperor Hui was a cavalier attendant; he died in 291 at forty-nine. He wrote a history of Wei but destroyed it on seeing Chen Shou's Sanguo Zhi. His Dongfang Shuo Hua Zan is included in the Wen Xuan, and his other works include Di Yi and Kun Di Gao.
Life and times
Dates 243–291 CE