Three Kingdoms and Six Dynasties · Filial Commoner

Zhang Yuan 張元

Born c. AD 535

Passages: 21
Chapters: 2
Histories: 1

Overview

Zhang Yuan was a Filial Commoner.

Other names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Courtesy name	Xiaoshi	孝始	Xiaoshi

Life and dates

Age

16
Reckoning Sui
Directly stated · Book of Zhou 46, passage 236
6
Reckoning Sui
Directly stated · Book of Zhou 46, passage 217

Attested activity

AD 550 to AD 580 年六歲
Directly stated · Book of Zhou 46, passage 217
AD 550 to AD 580 年十六
Directly stated · Book of Zhou 46, passage 236
AD 557 to AD 581 有周
Strongly inferred · Book of Zhou 46, passages 252, 257
AD 578 to AD 579 獄卒張元
Dated from the passage context · Book of Zhou 26, passages 172-173

Family

Immediate relationships attested in the translated histories.

Descendant of Zhang Cheng (張成)
grandfather 祖 · paternal line · 2 generations
Directly stated · Book of Zhou 46, passage 212
Child of Zhang Yanjuan (張延雋)
father 父 · paternal line
Directly stated · Book of Zhou 46, passage 213
Kin of Uncle of Zhang Yuan (張元之叔父)
paternal uncle 叔父 · paternal line
Directly stated · Book of Zhou 46, passage 227

Key source chapters

Career and standing

jailer 獄卒
Directly stated · Book of Zhou 26, passage 173
Interrogated under torture
Torture · Outcome Said nothing
Directly stated · Book of Zhou 26, passage 174

Places and affiliations

At Ruicheng in Hebei 河北芮城 · Relation Native of
Directly stated · Book of Zhou 46, passage 211

Learning and skills

Belief Buddhism 釋典 · Relation Adherent of
Directly stated · Book of Zhou 46, passage 216

Works and attributed material

Speech · Speaker · Addressed to Zhang Cheng (張成)
Directly stated · Book of Zhou 46, passages 220-221
Speech · Speaker · Addressed to Uncle of Zhang Yuan (張元之叔父)
Directly stated · Book of Zhou 46, passages 229-233
Historian appraisal · Subject · Paraphrased
Directly stated · Book of Zhou 46, passage 257
Prayer · Speaker
Directly stated · Book of Zhou 46, passages 238-240

Events and relationships

Broke prison wall to free Hu Sizheng
Legal · Rescuer · With Hu Sizheng (斛斯徵)
Directly stated · Book of Zhou 26, passage 173
Medicine Master Sutra rite for grandfather sight
Ritual · Devotee
Directly stated · Book of Zhou 46, passages 237-241
Rescued abandoned pup
Moral · Actor
Directly stated · Book of Zhou 46, passages 226, 233
Returned fallen apricots to owner
Moral · Actor
Directly stated · Book of Zhou 46, passage 225
Sincerity and filial piety moved heaven and spirits
Filial conduct · Exemplar
Directly stated · Book of Zhou 46, passage 257

Assessments and attributes

Assessment marveled at by lanes and alleys · Mode historian-judgment
Directly stated · Book of Zhou 46, passage 249
Assessment modest, cautious, filial · Mode historian-judgment
Directly stated · Book of Zhou 46, passage 215
Assessment sincerity that moves Heaven and Earth and filial piety that reaches the spirits · Mode historian-judgment
Directly stated · Book of Zhou 46, passage 257

References in the histories

Search passages

History

21 passages

Book of Zhou, Chapter 26Volume 26 Biographies 18: Zhang Sunjian; Zhangsun Shaoyuan; Younger Brother Cheng; Elder Brother Si; Hu Sizheng · 2 passages

獄卒張元哀之，乃以佩刀穿獄牆，遂出之。 The jailer Zhang Yuan took pity on him, used his girdle knife to break through the prison wall, and got him out.

元卒被拷而終無所言。 Zhang Yuan was tortured in interrogation but never spoke.

Book of Zhou, Chapter 46Volume 46 Biographies 38: Filial Piety · 19 passages

李棠柳檜杜叔毗荊可秦族皇甫遐張元 Li Tang, Liu Gui, Du Shubi, Jing Ke, Qin Zu, Huangfu Xia, and Zhang Yuan

張元字孝始，河北芮城人也。 Zhang Yuan, whose courtesy name was Xiaoshi, was a native of Ruicheng in Hebei.

元性謙謹，有孝行。 Yuan by nature was modest and cautious and had a record of filial conduct.

年六歲，其祖以夏中熱甚，欲將元就井浴。 At age six his grandfather, because the midsummer heat was fierce, wished to take Yuan to bathe at the well.

元固不肯從。 Yuan firmly refused to go.

元對曰：「衣以蓋形，為覆其褻。 Yuan replied, "Clothing covers the body in order to veil what is private.

元不能褻露其體于白日之下。」 Yuan cannot expose his private body beneath the open sky."

南鄰有二杏樹，杏熟，多落元園中。 South of the neighborhood stood two apricot trees; when the apricots ripened many fell into Yuan's garden.

元所得者，送還其主。 what Yuan gathered he returned to the owner.

村陌有狗子為人所棄者，元見，卽收而養之。 In the lanes was a pup someone had abandoned; when Yuan saw it he at once took it in and reared it.

元對曰：「有生之類，莫不重其性命。 Yuan replied, "Among living creatures none fails to value its life.

未幾，乃有狗母銜一死兔，置元前而去。 Before long the mother dog brought a dead hare in her mouth, laid it before Yuan, and departed.

及元年十六，其祖喪明三年，元恒憂泣，晝夜讀佛經，禮拜以祈福佑。 When Yuan reached sixteen his grandfather had been blind for three years; Yuan constantly grieved and wept, reading Buddhist sutras day and night and performing obeisance to seek divine protection.

元為孫不孝，使祖喪明。 Yuan as grandson was unfilial and caused his grandfather to lose his sight.

今以燈光普施法界，願祖目見明，元求代闇。」 Now with lamp-light spread through the dharma-realm, I pray my grandfather's eyes may see clearly; let Yuan take the darkness in his place."

謂元曰：「勿憂悲也，三日之後，汝祖目必差。」 He said to Yuan, "Do not grieve; after three days your grandfather's eyes will surely recover."

元於夢中喜躍，遂卽驚覺，乃遍告家人。 Yuan in the dream leaped for joy, then startled awake, and told the whole family.

其後祖臥疾再周，元恆隨祖所食多少，衣冠不解，旦夕扶侍。 Afterward his grandfather lay ill for two full years; Yuan matched his grandfather's meals, never removed his cap and belt, and morning and evening supported and served him.

若乃誠感天地，孝通神明，見之於張元矣。 As for sincerity that moves Heaven and Earth and filial piety that reaches the spirits—this is seen in Zhang Yuan.