Handan Chun

Handan Chun , courtesy name Zishu or Zili , also known as Handan Zhu , was a writer, calligrapher, and official from Yingchuan Commandery (modern day Yuzhou, Henan) who served the state of Cao Wei during the early 3rd century. As a calligrapher, he was an expert in many types of scripts and was one of the first scholars to study the Shuowen Jiezi. He is credited with restoring the archaic tadpole script tradition. His most famous work is the Xiaolin , a collection of humorous anecdotes.

Life The Shui Jing Zhu records that Handan Chun was a nephew of , and accompanied him when he became county magistrate in Kuaiji. In 151 Du Shang wanted to set up a stele commemorating Cao E, a girl who died trying to save her father from drowning eight years before. The , quoted in the Book of Later Hans commentary, records the following story: Du Shang first commissioned to write the inscription. When Du Shang asked if Wei Lang had completed the inscription at a drinking banquet, Wei Lang responded negatively and apologized for his lack of skill. Du Shang then promptly asked Handan, who was also at the banquet, to write the inscription. Handan quickly composed it without revising. The result was so good that Wei Lang destroyed his own draft. Handan, in this account, is described as being "just twenty years old, but has extraordinary talent." According to this record, Handan was probably born sometime around 130.

In early 190, Handan had a position in the court in Chang'an, but due to the turmoil in North China, he fled to Jing province the next year, serving in the staff of Liu Biao, which became an important literary salon. In 199, he wrote the funerary stele for the official Chen Ji, who died the same year. At the time, Chen Ji was an important figure, so the choice to make Handan his funerary inscription's composer could imply that he had already established himself as a famous scholar.

In 208, Handan accepted an invitation to join the court of Cao Cao in Ye (modern-day Linzhang County, Hebei). In 211, he became a literary scholar in the court of Cao Pi. When Cao Zhi requested for Handan to come to his court, Cao Cao obliged, and in 216 Handan arrived in Cao Zhi's court in Linzi. The Weilüe, quoted in Pei Songzhi's commentary on the Records of the Three Kingdoms, records the following story: When Handan Chun first arrived, Cao Zhi did not talk to him. The day was very hot, so Cao Zhi ordered his attendants to bring water for bathing. After bathing, they put powder on their faces, and sat bare-headed and bare-chested, watching various performances, including the "Dance of the Five Hammers", juggling of balls, the performance of swords, and performances of jesters. Only after the performances did Cao Zhi address Handan, saying "Scholar Handan, how are you?" Cao Zhi then changed clothes and started conversing with Handan Chun on topics such as the beginning of the universe and the "evaluation of men since the time of Fuxi". They also recited ancient and modern texts and discussed military strategies. After their conversations, Cao Zhi prepared a feast, after which Handan Chun returned home praising Cao Zhi, calling him a "heavenly man".

In 217, Handan was appointed literary scholar in Cao Zhi's court. When Cao Cao was considering which of his sons would be named heir, Handan Chun recommended Cao Zhi, which Cao Pi resented. Rafe de Crespigny holds the opinion that this is the reason why Cao Pi did not rank Handan Chun as one of the Seven Masters of Jian'an. Cao Pi later gave Handan Chun the position of erudite supervising secretary in the Cao Wei court. When Handan wrote the Touhu fu , a fu on the traditional East Asian game of touhu, or pitch-pot, Cao Pi was so impressed that he gave him a thousand bolts of silk. The compiler of the Weilüe, Yu Huan, named Handan as one of the seven Confucian Exemplars .

According to Hu Zhao's biography in Records of the Three Kingdoms, Handan Chun's calligraphy was widely emulated by others, alongside those of Hu, Zhong Yao, Wei Ji (卫觊), and Wei Dan (韦诞).

Works Handan Chun's works include Xiaolin , a collection of jokes and folk humor; "Zeng Wu Chuxuan shi" , also called "Dazengshi" , a farewell poem about him leaving Linzi to go to Luoyang; "Shang shouming shubiao" , which announces his other composition, "Shouming shu" , a poem praising the new Cao Wei dynasty, and "Touhu fu" , a fu on the traditional East Asian game of touhu.

Xiaolin Handan Chun's most famous work is the Xiaolin , a collection of humorous anecdotes. It is considered by scholars to be the first collection of jokes in Chinese literature, and the earliest zhiren xiaoshuo (, "records of personalities"). It was recorded for the first time in the Book of Sui, where it is attributed to Handan and records it as consisting of three juan (scrolls). The Old History of the Five Dynasties and New History of the Five Dynasties also record it as three juan. It is not mentioned in any other official dynastic history after this point. During the Southern Song, recorded in the Nenggaizhai manlu that the imperial palace had a ten-juan copy of the Old Xiaolin . Wang Liqi states that this text was probably an expanded edition of Xiaolin. The book was lost after the Song dynasty, with the individual stories scattered in various collections. The first person to collect the various surviving stories of the Xiaolin was Ming dynasty scholar , who collected 10 surviving fragments in his Guanghuaji . Qing dynasty scholar collected 26 fragments in the Yuhan shanfang jiyi shu . Lu Xun then edited the most complete collection of stories in the Xiaolin so far in his Guxiaoshuo gouchen , basing it on Ma Guohan's collection as well as adding three stories he found himself for a total of 29 stories.

"Zeng Wu Chuxuan shi" The "Zeng Wu Chuxuan shi" was a farewell poem that Handan wrote upon leaving Linzi for the Cao Wei court in Luoyang, where he took on the position of erudite supervising secretary in 220. It was written in return to a poem written by Wu Chuxuan , who was probably also an attendant in Cao Zhi's court, but there are no mentions of him otherwise. The poem is also a source of historical information, confirming the accuracy of the Weilüe 's records on Handan Chun's life.

"Touhu fu" The "Touhu fu" was a fu written by Handan Chun in 220. It describes in detail the game of touhu, which was becoming popular at the time with the educated elite. The Weilüe records that Handan wrote the poem, which consisted of over a thousand characters, in 220 and presented it to Cao Pi, who liked it and rewarded him with a thousands bolts of silk. The poem is preserved in the Yiwen leiju, with only 389 characters remaining.