The yuan family in Runan, the largest family in the Eastern Han Dynasty, was “Shu en IV, and the disciples and old officials were all over the world”. When Yuan clan is mentioned in the romance of the Three Kingdoms, it often refers to “four generations and three princes”. In the annals of the Three Kingdoms · Shu Shu · biography of the first master, Liu Bei mentioned Yuan Shao’s family background as “four generations and five Princes”. Why are there two descriptions? Who is right and who is wrong?
The so-called “Sangong” is a high-level position below one person and above ten thousand people in successive dynasties. In the Western Han Dynasty, the prime minister, the great Sima and the censor doctor were the Sangong, while in the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Taiwei, situ and Sikong were the Sangong. At that time, it was not easy for one member of the family to reach a high position. The yuan family in Runan is worthy of being the best in the world because there are many senior officials in their family.
“Four generations and three princes” are often seen in the romance of the Three Kingdoms. Here, “Three Princes” is a noun, which means that the yuan family in Runan has produced three princes for four consecutive generations. So, how many generations did the yuan family in Runan produce Sangong senior officials?
The first “Sangong” of the yuan family in Runan was Yuan’an, Yuan Shao’s great grandfather. Yuan’an served as Sikong and situ successively in the three dynasties of emperor Han’an, Emperor Han Zhang and Emperor Han he. Yuan an’s son Yuangeng served as Sikong, Yuan Chang’s nephew yuantangze successively served as Sikong, situ and Taiwei, and Yuan Tang’s two sons Yuanfeng and Yuan Wei also successively served as Sangong. This is the origin of Yuan’s “four generations and three gongs” in the romance.
The “four generations and five gongs” mentioned by Liu Bei in the biography of the first lord means that the four generations of the yuan family produced five Sangong, yuan an, Yuan Chang, Yuan Tang, Yuan Feng, and Yuan Kai.
However, it is worth mentioning that yuanshao, the nephew of Yuan Feng, has successively held the posts of senior general and Taiwei. From this, it can be seen that the fifth generation of the yuan clan had a total of six Sangong, Yuan Jing, Yuan Peng and other local dignitaries.
From this point of view, when we make some comments on the yuan family in Runan, we can’t help praising the yuan family as a “five generations and six princes, and the disciples and old officials are all over the world”.