Writers › Writer / Poet

Zhang Han

Western Jin writer from Wu Commandery, aide to Sima Jiong, Prince of Qi, who resigned and went home pining for Wu's water-shield soup and perch, the origin of the idiom chunlu zhi si.

Also known as Ji Ying · Infantry Commander of Jiangdong

Zhang Han, courtesy name Jiying, was from Wu in Wu Commandery (today's Suzhou), a Western Jin writer. In 301 Sima Jiong, Prince of Qi, made him a secretary in the Grand Marshal's office; the next year, seeing the autumn wind rise, he longed for the water-shield, soup and perch of his homeland and resigned to go south, escaping the disaster that soon overtook the prince. This is the source of the idiom chunlu zhi si. Free-spirited, he was called the 'Infantry Commander of Jiangdong' and was close to Gu Rong; he wrote the Shouqiu Fu and some poems survive in anthologies such as the Wen Xuan.

Life and times

  1. UnknownBornJinjoined the Prince of Qi's staff in 301 CE and resigned for home in 302 CE
  2. UnknownDied