Yan Junping严君平

Style & Daoist names

Zhuang Zun, Zhuang Junping, Yan Zun

Period

Western Han

Dates

c. 86 BCE — c. 10 CE

Role

Daoist PhilosopherRecluse

Birthplace

Chengdu, Shu commandery

Life

Yan Junping, originally named Zhuang Zun (changed to "Yan" in the Eastern Han to avoid the taboo name of Emperor Ming), courtesy name Junping, was a native of Chengdu, Shu commandery, at the end of the Western Han. He lived in seclusion and never held office, earning his living by divination in the markets of Chengdu; each day, once he had earned the hundred coins sufficient to support himself, he would close his stall, lower the curtain, and read the Laozi, "guiding people toward goodness according to the circumstances," using divination to urge loyalty and filial piety upon his clients. Widely read, he wrote the Laozi zhigui (Pointing to the Essentials of the Laozi), some hundred thousand words in length, in accordance with the teachings of Laozi and Zhuangzi; Yang Xiong studied under him in his youth. The surviving text of the Laozi zhigui (Daode zhenjing zhigui), a fragmentary work in seven scrolls, is an important Han-dynasty commentary on the Laozi, expounding Laozi's philosophy on the principle that "the Dao and De are the root, and wuwei (non-action) is the essence," with a subtle discussion of cosmogony. He died past the age of ninety. Yan Junping is regarded as the founder of Daoist scholarship in Ba-Shu, later revered by Daoism, and Junping Street in Chengdu is named after him.

Contributions & Influence

• Wrote the Laozi zhigui, a representative Han-dynasty exposition of the Laozi
• Founded the tradition of Daoist scholarship in Ba-Shu, and was the teacher of Yang Xiong

Works

• Laozi Zhigui (Pointing to the Essentials of the Laozi)