Three Kingdoms and Six Dynasties · Official and Filial Exemplar

Zhao Yan 趙琰

Attested AD 467 - AD 494

Passages: 10
Chapters: 1
Histories: 1

Overview

Zhao Yan was an official and Filial Exemplar.

Other names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Courtesy name	Shuqi	叔起	Shuqi

Life and dates

Death

died at eighty 年八十卒
Directly stated · Book of Wei 92, passage 24

Age

60
Reckoning Sui · past sixty
Directly stated · Book of Wei 92, passage 22
80
Reckoning Sui
Directly stated · Book of Wei 92, passage 24

Attested activity

AD 467 to AD 471 皇興中
Dated from the passage context · Book of Wei 92, passage 11
AD 494 遷都洛陽
Dated from the passage context · Book of Wei 92, passage 25

Family

Immediate relationships attested in the translated histories.

Child of Zhao Wen (趙溫)
father 父
Directly stated · Book of Wei 92, passage 8
Child of Mother of Zhao Yan (趙琰母)
mother 母
Directly stated · Book of Wei 92, passage 19
Parent of Zhao Ying (趙應)
son 子
Directly stated · Book of Wei 92, passage 12
Parent of Zhao Xu (趙煦)
son 子
Strongly inferred · Book of Wei 92, passage 26

Kinship Role descendants · [object Object] · Quantity unspecified
Directly stated · Book of Wei 92, passage 21
Kinship Role sons · [object Object] · Quantity unspecified
Directly stated · Book of Wei 92, passage 25

Career and standing

chief clerk of Prince of Huainan 淮南王他府長史
Appointed
Directly stated · Book of Wei 92, passage 17
marshal of Yanzhou 兗州司馬
Appointed
Directly stated · Book of Wei 92, passage 16
deputy commandant of Tuncheng garrison 團城鎮副將
Transferred
Directly stated · Book of Wei 92, passage 16

Places and affiliations

Polity Northern Wei 北魏 · Relation Served
Directly stated · Book of Wei 92, passage 16
At Tianshui 天水
Directly stated · Book of Wei 92, passage 7

Events and relationships

Returned lost sheep
Filial service · Agent
Directly stated · Book of Wei 92, passage 12
Unable to bury parents
Burial delay · Son · Duration more than thirty years 三十餘年
Directly stated · Book of Wei 92, passage 19
Relation Served under · Person Prince of Huainan Tuo (淮南王他)
Directly stated · Book of Wei 92, passage 17
Relation Carried by · Person Wet nurse of Zhao Yan (趙琰乳母)
Directly stated · Book of Wei 92, passage 9

Assessments and attributes

Assessment filial and upright · Mode historian-judgment
Directly stated · Book of Wei 92, passages 6, 141

References in the histories

Search passages

History

10 passages

Book of Wei, Chapter 92Volume 86: Filial Piety: Zhao Yan, Zhang Sunlu, Qifu Bao, Sun Yide, Dong Luosheng, Yang Yin · 10 passages

趙琰長孫慮乞伏保孫益德董洛生楊引閻元明吳悉達王續生李顯達張昇倉跋王崇郭文恭 Zhao Yan, Zhangsun Lu, Qifu Bao, Sun Yide, Dong Luosheng, Yang Yin, Yan Yuanming, Wu Xida, Wang Xusheng, Li Xianda, Zhang Sheng, Cang Ba, Wang Chong, and Guo Wengong

至如溫床扇席，灌樹負土，時或加人，咸為度俗，今書趙琰等以孝感為目焉。 Matters such as warming the bed, fanning the mat, watering trees, and carrying earth on one's back sometimes surpass ordinary men, yet all serve to gauge custom. This book therefore treats Zhao Yan and the others under the heading of responsive filial piety.

趙琰，字叔起，天水人。 Zhao Yan, courtesy name Shuqi, was from Tianshui.

初，苻氏亂，琰為乳母攜奔壽春，年十四乃歸。 When the Fu clan fell into chaos, Yan was carried off to Shouchun by his wet nurse and did not return until he was fourteen.

皇興中，京師儉，婢簡粟糶之，琰遇見切責，敕留輕粃。 During the Huangxing period, when the capital was in want, a servant winnowed grain to sell. Yan happened upon her and rebuked her sharply, ordering her to leave only the light chaff.

嘗送子應冀州娉室，從者於路偶得一羊，[2]行三十里而琰知之，令送於本處。 Once, while escorting his son Ying to Jizhou to fetch a bride, a follower on the road happened to obtain a sheep. After they had gone thirty li Yan learned of it and ordered the sheep returned to its owner.

又過路傍，主人設羊羹，琰訪知盜殺，卒辭不食。 On another occasion he passed a roadside inn whose host served mutton broth. Yan learned the sheep had been stolen and slaughtered, and at once declined to eat.

刃主高之，義而不受，琰命委之而去。 The owner held him in esteem and on principle refused to take them back; Yan ordered the shares left with him and departed.

琰積三十餘年，不得葬二親。 For more than thirty years Yan could not bury his two parents.

趙琰等或出公卿之緒，籍禮教以資； Zhao Yan and others either issued from lines of dukes and ministers, drawing support from ritual teaching;