Xiang Lang (died 247),

courtesy name A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.Ulrich Theob ...

Juda, was an official and scholar of the state of Shu Han during the

Three Kingdoms The Three Kingdoms () from 220 to 280 AD was the tripartite division of China among the dynastic states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The Three Kingdoms period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and was followed by the West ...

period of China. He previously served under the warlords

Liu Biao Liu Biao () () (151 – September 208), courtesy name Jingsheng, was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He is best known for serving as the Governor of Jing Province (coveri ...

and

Liu Bei Liu Bei (, ; ; 161 – 10 June 223), courtesy name Xuande (), was a warlord in the late Eastern Han dynasty who founded the state of Shu Han in the Three Kingdoms period and became its first ruler. Although he was a distant relative of the ...

(later the founding emperor of Shu Han) in the late Eastern Han dynasty. In 243, Xiang Lang resigned and spent the remaining years of his life reading, writing, proofreading and editing various classical texts. By the time of his death in 247, he was one of the foremost book collectors of his time and a major source of influence for many later scholars. He was an uncle of the Shu general Xiang Chong.

Early career

Xiang Lang was from

Xiangyang Xiangyang is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Hubei province, China and the second largest city in Hubei by population. It was known as Xiangfan from 1950 to 2010. The Han River runs through Xiangyang's centre and divides the city no ...

Commandery In the Middle Ages, a commandery (rarely commandry) was the smallest administrative division of the European landed properties of a military order. It was also the name of the house where the knights of the commandery lived.Anthony Luttrell and G ...

, Jing Province and was born in Yicheng,

Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The ...

. In his youth, Xiang Lang was a student of Sima Hui alongside Han Song,

Pang Tong Pang Tong () (179–214), courtesy name Shiyuan, was a key adviser to the warlord Liu Bei in the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. In his youth, Pang Tong was disregarded because he was plain looking, however Sima Hui highly esteemed him call ...

Xu Shu Xu Shu ( 207–220s), courtesy name Yuanzhi, originally named Xu Fu, was an official of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was born in the late Eastern Han dynasty and used to be a vigilante swordsman in his early ...

and

Zhuge Liang Zhuge Liang ( zh, t=諸葛亮 / 诸葛亮) (181 – September 234), courtesy name Kongming, was a Chinese statesman and military strategist. He was chancellor and later regent of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period. He is ...

. Among them, all were close and friendly. Known for his intelligence, he was appointed as the Chief of Linju County by

. Upon Liu Biao's death, Xiang Lang went to serve under

Service under Liu Bei

After Liu Bei conquered the lands south of the

Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest list of rivers of Asia, river in Asia, the list of rivers by length, third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in th ...

, he put Xiang Lang in charge of all military and civil affairs of Mushan, Yidao, Yiling and Zigui counties. After Liu Bei seized control of

Yi Province Yizhou (益州), Yi Province or Yi Prefecture, was a '' zhou'' (province) of ancient China. Its capital city was Chengdu.de Crespigny, p. 256. During the Han dynasty, it included the commanderies Hanzhong, Ba, Guanghan, Shu, Wenshan, Jianwei, ...

(covering present-day

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

and Chongqing) from Liu Zhang in 214, he appointed Xiang Lang as the Administrator of Baxi Commandery. Later, Xiang Lang was reassigned to serve as the Administrator of Zangke Commandery and then as the Administrator of Fangling Commandery.

Service under Liu Shan

In 223, after

Liu Shan Liu Shan () (207–271), courtesy name Gongsi, was the second and last emperor of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period. As he ascended the throne at the age of 16, Liu Shan was entrusted to the care of the Chancellor Zhug ...

succeeded his father Liu Bei as the emperor of Shu, he appointed Xiang Lang as a Colonel of Infantry and as Chief Clerk to the Imperial Chancellor,

. In 225, when Zhuge Liang led the Shu forces on a campaign to pacify rebellions in the

Nanzhong Nanzhong () is the ancient name for a region in southwest China that covers parts of present-day Yunnan, Guizhou and southern Sichuan provinces. During the Three Kingdoms period (220–280) of China, the Nanzhong region was part of the territory ...

region, he left Xiang Lang in charge of domestic affairs at Shu's imperial capital,

Chengdu Chengdu (, ; simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), alternatively romanized as Chengtu, is a sub-provincial city which serves as the capital of the Chinese pro ...

. In 228, when Zhuge Liang led Shu forces on the first of a series of campaigns against Shu's rival state,

Cao Wei Wei ( Hanzi: 魏; pinyin: ''Wèi'' < Middle Chinese: *''ŋjwei^C'' <

Hanzhong Commandery. The Shu vanguard, led by

Ma Su Ma Su (190–228), courtesy name Youchang, was a military general and strategist of the state of Shu Han in the Three Kingdoms period of China. Ma Su had conspicuous talent in military theories and was admired by the Shu chancellor Zhuge Liang. ...

, suffered a devastating defeat at the

Battle of Jieting The Battle of Jieting was fought between the states of Cao Wei and Shu Han in 228 during the Three Kingdoms period in China. The battle was part of the first Northern Expedition led by Shu's chancellor-regent, Zhuge Liang, to attack Wei. The b ...

against Wei forces led by

Zhang He Zhang He () (died July or August 231), courtesy name Junyi, was a military general serving under the warlord Cao Cao in the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He continued serving in the state of Cao Wei under its first two rulers, Cao Pi and ...

. Xiang Lang received news that Ma Su fled his post after the defeat, but due to his friendship with Ma Su, he did not report it to Zhuge Liang. Later, after Zhuge Liang found out, he was so furious that he dismissed Xiang Lang and sent him back to Chengdu. Some years later, Xiang Lang returned to serve in the Shu government as Minister of the Household. In 234, after Zhuge Liang's death, Liu Shan promoted Xiang Lang to the position of General of the Left and enfeoffed him as the Marquis of Xianming Village in recognition of his past contributions. When he was young, even if he didn't study the fundamentals Xiang Lang did study diligently through literature and for his ability as an official received many praises. From the moment he was dismissed from his office as Chief Clerk, he observed, traveled and reflected without personal affairs for almost thirty years. He concentrated his mind and heart on the collection of records working assiduously and never slacking. When he was more than eighty years old, still he would check personally each documents and would correct and check any errors from his own hands. He collected many books, volumes and scrolls and at the time disposed of the largest library. He would welcome any guests and would teach and receive many of the later generations but only to debate over ancient principles and not speaking about the current affairs. For this, he was respected from those still in office to those not yet scholars. Whatever the status, all honored him. He died in 247.

Xiàng Tiáo

Xiang Lang's son, Xiàng Tiáo (向條) succeeded him and during Shu Han Jingyao (景耀; 258–263) became Censorate Central Deputy. The Xiangyang Ji records that Xiang Lang last words to his son were : It also states that Xiàng Tiáo

was Wenbao (文豹) was famous for his wide study and tallented, he later joined the Jin government as the Administrator of Jiangyang and Major of the South Central Army.(襄陽記曰：條字文豹，亦博學多識，入晉為江陽太守、南中軍司馬。) ''Xiangyang Ji'' annotation in ''Sanguozhi'' vol. 41.

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