Fu Sheng (; 268–178 BC), also known as Master Fu (伏生), was a Chinese philosopher and writer. He was a

Confucian Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, religion, theory of government, or way of life. Founded by Confucius ...

scholar of the Qin and

Western Han The Han dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) and a warring int ...

dynasties of ancient China, famous for saving the

Confucian classic The Chinese classics or canonical texts are the works of Chinese literature authored prior to the establishment of the imperial Qin dynasty in 221 BC. Prominent examples include the Four Books and Five Classics in the Neo-Confucian traditi ...

'' Shangshu'' (''Book of Documents'') from the

book burning Book burning is the deliberate destruction by fire of books or other written materials, usually carried out in a public context. The burning of books represents an element of censorship and usually proceeds from a cultural, religious, or politic ...

of the

First Emperor of Qin Qin Shi Huang (, ; February 25912 July 210 BC), born Ying Zheng () or Zhao Zheng (), was the founder of the Qin dynasty and the first emperor of China. He is widely regarded as the first ever supreme leader of a unitary dynasty in Ch ...

. Fu Sheng is depicted in the Wu Shuang Pu (無雙譜, Table of Peerless Heroes) by Jin Guliang.

Biography

Fu Sheng was a native of Jinan prefecture (濟南, in present-day Zouping or Zhangqiu,

Shandong Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural ...

province), and was said to be a descendant of the legendary ancient ruler

Fu Xi Fuxi or Fu Hsi ( zh, c=伏羲) is a culture hero in Chinese mythology, credited along with his sister and wife Nüwa with creating humanity and the invention of music, hunting, fishing, domestication, and cooking, as well as the Cangjie system ...

. He was a ''boshi'' (博士, "erudite") of the Qin dynasty. In 213 BC the First Emperor of Qin ordered the Burning of Books and killed many Confucian scholars. Risking his life, Fu Sheng hid a copy of the book in the walls of his house. He later escaped his hometown in the warfare that soon broke out and eventually ended the Qin dynasty. After the Han dynasty was established in 206 BC, Fu Sheng returned home and retrieved the scrolls. However, he was only able to recover 29 chapters; the rest (tens of chapters) had been lost to damage or decay. (Some scholars believe that Fu Sheng memorized the chapters instead of recovering them from the walls.) According to

Sima Qian Sima Qian () was a Chinese historian during the early Han dynasty. He is considered the father of Chinese historiography for the ''Shiji'' (sometimes translated into English as ''Records of the Grand Historian''), a general history of China cov ...

's ''

Records of the Grand Historian The ''Shiji'', also known as ''Records of the Grand Historian'' or ''The Grand Scribe's Records'', is a Chinese historical text that is the first of the Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. It was written during the late 2nd and early 1st ce ...

'', when

Emperor Wen of Han Emperor Wen of Han (; 203/02 – 6 July 157 BC), personal name Liu Heng (), was the fifth Emperor of China, emperor of the Han dynasty from 180 until his death in 157 BC. The son of Emperor Gaozu of Han, Emperor Gao and Empress Dowager Bo, Conso ...

(r. 180–157 BC) searched the country for copies of the ''Shangshu'', Fu Sheng was the only person who could produce one. As Fu was already over 90 years old and unable to travel, Emperor Wen dispatched the official Chao Cuo to study the ''Shangshu'' from him. Fu's daughter or granddaughter had to interpret the old man's words for the official. "The daughter’s role was crucial because Fu Sheng spoke only the dialect of the ancient state of Qi, an idiom incomprehensible to the official charged with transcribing the text." Fu's other disciples, surnamed Ouyang and Zhang, also became masters of ''Shangshu''. Master Ouyang's great-grandson (歐陽高) would later found one of the three main schools for the study of ''Shangshu''. Kong Anguo, the scholar who later compiled the "old text" ''Shangshu'', also studied with him. The commentary '' Shangshu Dazhuan'' ( 尚書大傳, ''Amplification of the Shangshu'') is traditionally attributed to Fu Sheng, but much of the work was probably done by his disciples and Zhang Sheng (both fl. 180–157 BC), or even later scholars.

Legacy

Along with

Dong Zhongshu Dong Zhongshu (; 179–104 BC) was a Chinese philosopher, politician, and writer of the Han dynasty. He is traditionally associated with the promotion of Confucianism as the official ideology of the Chinese imperial state, favoring heaven worsh ...

, Fu Sheng is recognized as one of the most important Confucianists of the Han dynasty. He is often venerated in Confucian temples along with other sages, and has been the subject of many poems, essays, and paintings.

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

poet-painter Wang Wei's portrait of him is now in the collection of the

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

City Museum of Fine Arts in Japan, and another portrait by the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

painter Cui Zizhong is in the

Shanghai Museum The Shanghai Museum is a municipal public museum of ancient Chinese art, situated on the People's Square in the Huangpu District, Shanghai, Huangpu District of Shanghai, China. It is funded by thShanghai Municipal Culture and Tourism Bureau Reb ...

. Fu Sheng's family remained prominent throughout the Han dynasty. His descendant Fu Shou married

Emperor Xian Emperor Xian of Han (2 April 181 – 21 April 234), personal name Liu Xie (劉協), courtesy name Bohe, was the 14th and last emperor of the Eastern Han dynasty of China. He reigned from 28 September 189 until his abdication and subsequent end ...

, the last emperor of Han. Fu Sheng's offspring held the title of Wujing Boshi ( 五經博士; Wǔjīng Bóshì). Fu's tomb is still extant in Zouping County,

province. Its remains measure 45 meters in diameter and 2 meters in height. In Zouping there also used to be a Fu Sheng Temple, a Fu Sheng Academy, and a Fu Sheng Township.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fu, Sheng 3rd-century BC Chinese writers 2nd-century BC Chinese writers 268 BC births 178 BC deaths Chinese Confucianists Han dynasty philosophers Han dynasty writers Qin dynasty philosophers Han dynasty classicists