A Study of Sanfu Scholars in Later Han China
Date Issued
2011
Date
2011
Author(s)
Chen, Pei-Hsuan
Abstract
Sanfu（三輔）refers to three regions（京兆尹、左馮翊、右扶風三郡）which encircle Changan（長安）, the capital of Han China. The Han regime maintained the prosperity of the regions by means of the construction of mausoleum population resettlement（陵寢徙民）, water transport（漕運）and other policies. Due to the central government’s particular attention to these regions, residents in Sanfu, particularly scholars, were consequently regarded as the elites of the nation. As the capital was moved from Changan to Luoyang（洛陽）, however, the restored regime（Later Han）introduced new people into the political circle. Threatened by those new political powers, Sanfu scholars developed a new culture to tackle with the political milieu and to compete with families from other regions.
This research takes political and social perspectives to illustrate Sanfu scholarly culture in Later Han China（東漢）. On the level of politics, in order to continue and strengthen their influence, Sanfu scholars of this period married members of the royal family, conquered the nomadic Huns （匈奴）in the Northwest, and also introduced upright officials（循吏）into the central and local governments. These actions in politics and military revived Sanfu scholars’ influence in politics.
As for the creation of their social network, Sanfu scholars took several interesting approaches. Some Sanfu scholars held an administrative position（出仕）and created political network with scholars from other regions. In order to advertise their reputation, those scholars create a new literary genre（七字評論,鄉論）on physiognomic criticism and character appraisals. On the other hand, scholars from Sanfu regions looked into activities beyond politics, in contrast to those from other regions. Scholars who chose to live like a hermit（隱逸）developed a new kind of social network by teaching in their hometown（居鄉教授）. As Sanfu became the research centre of Confuscian Classics （古文經學）, those scholars taught and travelled, which were very common in that time. They consequently created a new kind of party which comprised basically teachers and students. It served as the historical context of Partisan Prohibitions（黨錮）.
Subjects
Later Han Dynasty
Sanfu scholars
emperor relatives
upright officials
interpersonal networks
scholar culture
Type
thesis
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