He Yan

He Yan (approximately 190-249)

A metaphysician of the Wei Dynasty in the Three Kingdoms. The name is Uncle Ping. A native of Wan County, Nanyang (now Nanyang, Henan Province). Grandson of Han Dynasty general He Jin. Cao Cao took Yan's mother as his concubine, and Yan was adopted and Cao Cao loved her. He is famous for his talents, his old-fashioned and solemn speech, "his beautiful appearance and extremely white hair", he likes to wear powder, "looks at his shadow when he walks", and is known as "Fu Fenhe Lang". Marry Princess Wei Jinxiang. He was a lecherous person and dressed like a prince. He was hated by Emperor Wen of Wei, Cao Pi, who called him a "fake son" and was not given an official position. Emperor Ming also suppressed it because of his ostentation. Only redundant officials are awarded. During the Zhengshi period (240-248), Cao Shuang was in power, and He Yan was attached to Shuang. As a result, he was tired of officials, ministers, ministers, election officials, nobles and marquises, and used his power to rule the country. He was later killed by Sima Yi. He Yan, Xia Houxuan, Wang Bi and others advocated metaphysics and talked about matters in a casual manner, which created a trend for a while and became one of the founders of metaphysics in the Wei and Jin Dynasties. I discussed Lao and Zhuang with Wang Bi and other ancestors, and concluded that all things in the world are based on nothingness. He believes that "Tao" or "Nothing" can create everything, "Nothing" is the most fundamental, and "Existence" can exist only by "Nothing". This establishes the concept of "taking Nothing as the basis", "nothing is precious" and "being is cheap". The ontological theory of idealism. It is also believed that the sage has no joy, anger, sorrow, or joy. The sage is not burdened by things, nor does he respond to things. Therefore, the main theory of "the sage is ruthless" means that the sage is completely unaffected by external things, but takes "inaction" as his essence. The emphasis on "nature" in thought and the underestimation of "famous teachings" is inconsistent with his actual behavior of relying on power and authority. Therefore, Fu Gu, a famous scholar at the time, said that he was "a person who speaks far but feels close, is arguable but insincere, and is so-called sharp-tongued." People of the country." His main works include "On Moral Theory", "Anonymous Theory", "Wuwei Theory", "Analects of Confucius", etc. Currently, only "Analects of Confucius" exists relatively completely.