Han Yu (768–824 CE) was a towering literary figure, philosopher, and statesman of the Tang dynasty. His courtesy name was Tui Zhi, and though born in Heyang (modern Mengzhou, Henan), he traced his ancestral roots to Changli, for which he is commonly known as “Han of Changli”.
He passed the imperial civil service examination during the Zhenyuan era (785–805). In the Yuanhe period (806–820) under Emperor Xianzong, he served as Erudite at the Imperial Academy and later as Vice Minister of Justice Xingbu Shilang). In 819, he submitted a bold memorial – “Memorial on the Buddha’s Relic” – strongly opposing Emperor Xianzong’s lavish ceremony to welcome a Buddhist relic into the palace, warning that such superstition undermined state morality. Enraged, the emperor demoted him to Prefect of Chaozhou (in modern Guangdong), a remote and malarial post.
Under Emperor Muzong, Han Yu was recalled and rose to Vice Minister of Personnel (Libu Shilang). After his death, he was posthumously honored with the title “Wen” (meaning “Cultured” or “Literary”), and thus is also revered as “Master Han Wen” (Han Wengong).
Han Yu saw himself as the rightful heir to the Confucian “transmission of the Way”, positioning Confucius and Mencius as the true intellectual lineage against what he viewed as the corrosive influence of Buddhism and Daoism. Politically, he staunchly opposed regional warlordism, advocating for centralized imperial authority.
In literature, he championed the principle that “writing should convey the Way”, reviving the clear, direct, and morally purposeful prose of the pre-Qin and Han periods while vehemently rejecting the ornate, parallel-couplet style (pianwen) dominant since the Six Dynasties. His essays are marked by majestic momentum, emotional intensity, and linguistic precision.
Together with Liu Zongyuan, Han Yu spearheaded the Ancient Prose Movement, and the two are jointly celebrated as “Han and Liu”. Later generations placed Han Yu at the head of the “Eight Great Prose Masters of the Tang and Song”.
As a poet, Han Yu favored a bold, unconventional, and even startling aesthetic – often described as “heroic, strange, perilous, and grotesque.” He pioneered the technique of “using prose in poetry”, breaking from lyrical conventions. He is frequently paired with Meng Jiao as “Han and Meng”, both known for their rugged originality.
The great Song-dynasty writer Su Shi (Su Dongpo) famously praised him:
“His writing revived literature after eight generations of decline; his Way rescued the world from drowning in chaos.”
His collected works, the Collected Writings of Master Changli, remain foundational to Chinese literary and intellectual history.
Leave a Reply