Analysis The Spread And Changes Of Yanhui's Story

Yanzi, who began to learned form Confucius from his 13 years old, be regarded by generations of Confucian scholars as "the only person who inherit the spirit of Confucius". He did not write any book by himself, and his story are all coming from the earliest stage《Lunyu》.It was said that he was a diligent person with good behavior and respects Confucius and his teaching. So, generations of Confucian scholars worshiped Yanhui. At very early time, Yanhui is recorded by the dialogue records between Yanhui and his teacher in history books. In the Zhanguo period, his original appearance was changed in Zhuangzi's book. Zhuangzi changed Yanzi and Confucius to his spokesperson. Began from Han Dynasty, because Simaqian's worship to Confucianism, the rulers recognized Yanhui's politic importance and gave full honor and values to Yanhui. So, after Confucius was named as "Zhisheng" (the most important sage) in Han Dynasty, Yanhui was gradually regarded as "Fusheng" (the second important sage). The emergence in the book named Weishu in Han Dynasty made him more mysterious. Then, the novels of Weijin period changed him into a strange person. From Xianqin Period to Tang Dynasty, the Confucian scholars' critic and praise made him more and more famous. So, what did he exactly like? How about the variety of his story? Why people are all interested in Yanzi? Why his story have spread and changed. This is the research area of this paper. The records of Yanyuan's life story were inconsistent through dynasties. This paper did a foundation study on the books which from Xianqin period to Tang Dynasty, analyzed the reason of Yanhui's changes, explored the background of his time. So we can have a better understanding about the influence on the literary by political, culture, and philosophy change and development.