Yan Guang, whose courtesy name was Ziling, was a native of Yuyao in Kuaiji Commandery. In his youth, he enjoyed immense fame and had studied alongside Liu Xiu, who later became Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han dynasty. Upon Liu Xiu’s ascension to the throne, Yan Guang changed his name and withdrew into seclusion, disappearing from public view. Missing his wisdom, the Emperor sought him out by tracing his whereabouts. Later, officials in the state of Qi reported that a man wearing a sheepskin coat was fishing in a marsh. Suspecting it was Yan Guang, the Emperor dispatched an envoy bearing an enclosed carriage and ceremonial silk to recruit him. Only after the envoy made three trips did Yan Guang finally agree to come.
Hou Ba, the Minister over the Masses, was an old friend of Yan Guang and wished to persuade him to visit his estate for a conversation. He dispatched Hou Zidao, an official from his West Bureau, to deliver a letter of invitation. Yan Guang did not rise; instead, he sat on his bed with his legs sprawled, hugging his knees as he opened the letter. After reading it, he asked Zidao, “Junfang (Hou Ba’s courtesy name) has always been somewhat foolish. Now that he has become one of the Three Excellencies, has he improved even slightly?” Zidao replied, “His position is now as stable as a tripod; he is no longer foolish.” Yan Guang asked, “What message did he send you to convey?” After Zidao relayed Hou Ba’s words, Yan Guang remarked, “You say he is not foolish, yet this is precisely the speech of a fool! When the Son of Heaven summoned me, I only came after three invitations. I do not even grant an audience to the Emperor; why should I see a mere subject?” Zidao requested a written reply, but Yan Guang said, “My hand cannot hold a brush.” He then dictated his response orally. Finding the reply too brief, the envoy suggested adding more content. Yan Guang retorted, “Are you buying vegetables, that you ask for extra?”
Hou Ba sealed the letter and presented it to the Emperor, who laughed and said, “This arrogant slave is still his old self!” That very day, the Emperor personally visited Yan Guang’s lodging. Yan Guang remained lying down and did not rise. Approaching his bedside, the Emperor patted his belly and said, “Alas, Ziling, can you not condescend to assist me in governing?” Yan Guang continued to feign sleep and remained silent. After a long while, he opened his eyes and said, “In ancient times, when Emperor Yao manifested his virtue, Chaofu (Chao Fu) washed his ears to avoid hearing of it. A scholar has his own aspirations; why must you press him so?” The Emperor sighed, “Ziling, am I truly unable to make you yield?” He then boarded his carriage and departed with a heavy sigh.
Later, the Emperor invited Yan Guang into the palace to discuss the Dao of governance. They conversed as old friends for several days, during which Yan Guang continued to lounge. The court appointed him as an Official of Remonstrance, but he refused to accept the official post and instead went to farm on Mount Fuchun. Later generations named the place where he fished the Yanling Rapids. In the seventeenth year of the Jianwu era, he was summoned once more by special decree, but he did not go. He passed away at his home at the age of eighty.
Note
Yan Guang, Emperor Guangwu’s old classmate, hid as a fisherman after the emperor took power. He treated the emperor and ministers casually, rejecting the official post of remonstrator. He farmed and fished at Fuchun Mountain and declined later summons till his death at eighty.
Yan Guang / Yan Ziling (严光 / 严子陵):
Perhaps the most famous hermit in Chinese history. His unwavering refusal of power, even when personally courted by his former classmate who became Emperor, set the ultimate standard for the noble recluse. He represents the absolute independence of the scholarly spirit from imperial authority.
Emperor Guangwu (Liu Xiu):
The founding emperor of the Eastern Han dynasty. His extraordinary patience and tolerance toward Yan Guang’s extreme rudeness highlight a golden era of imperial respect for scholars. His famous remark, “This arrogant slave is still his old self,” reflects a rare, affectionate understanding between equals.
Sprawling on the Bed:
Sitting with legs sprawled out was considered highly disrespectful and unrefined in ancient Chinese etiquette. Yan Guang’s deliberate use of this posture in front of imperial envoys and the Emperor himself was a bold, physical assertion of his refusal to be bound by courtly conventions.
Chao Fu Washing His Ears:
A famous Daoist allusion. Legend has it that when Emperor Yao tried to offer the throne to the hermit Xu You, Xu You fled and washed his ears in a river to cleanse himself of the corrupting words of political power. His friend Chaofu then led his cattle away, fearing the water downstream was polluted by Xu You’s washed ears. Yan Guang uses this to assert that political power is inherently defiling to a pure scholar.
Buying Vegetables:
A brilliant and sarcastic retort. By comparing the envoy’s request for a longer letter to a customer asking for free extras when buying vegetables, Yan Guang completely stripped the imperial summons of its sacred authority, reducing it to a mundane, even insulting, transaction.
Yanling Rapids:
The location of Yan Guang’s fishing spot on the Fuchun River in Zhejiang province. It became one of the most enduring cultural landmarks in Chinese literature, symbolizing the eternal allure of nature, freedom, and spiritual purity over worldly glory.
严光，字子陵，会稽馀姚人也。少有高名，同光武游学。及帝即位，光乃变易姓名，隐逝不见。帝思其贤，乃物色求之。后齐国上言，有一男子披羊裘，钓泽中。帝疑光也，乃遣安车玄纁聘之，三反而后至。司徒霸与光素旧，欲屈光到霸所语言，遣使西曹属侯子道奉书，光不起，於床上箕踞抱膝发书。读讫，问子道曰：“君房素痴，今为三公，宁小差否？”子道曰：“位已鼎足，不痴也。”光曰：“遣卿来何言？”子道传霸言，光曰：“卿言不痴，是非痴语曲也。天子徵我，三乃来。人主尚不见，当见人臣乎？”子道求报，光曰：“我手不能书。”乃口授之，使者嫌少，可更足。光曰：“买菜乎？求益也。”霸封奏其书，帝笑曰：“狂奴故态也。”车驾即曰幸其馆，光卧不起，帝即卧所，抚其腹曰：“咄咄子陵，不可相助为理邪？”光又眠不应。良久，乃张目而言曰：“昔唐尧著德，巢父洗耳。士故有志，何至相迫乎？”帝曰：“子陵，我竟不能下汝邪？”於是升舆，叹息而去。复引光入论道，旧故相对累曰，因其偃卧。除为谏议大夫，不屈，乃耕於富春山。后人名其钓处为严陵濑焉。建武十七年，复特徵，不至。年八十，终於家。
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