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Jiao Xian 焦先

Oct 28, 2015 © Ulrich Theobald

Jiao Xian 焦先, courtesy name Xiaoran 孝然 or Xiaoruo 孝若, also called Jiao Guang 焦光, was a hermit living during the Three Kingdoms period 三國 (220-280).

He came from the commandery of Hedong 河東 (modern Xiaxian 夏縣, Shanxi). For some time he had left the Central Plain and lived on Mt. Jiaoshan 焦山 in the province of Yangzhou 揚州. His surname is derived from this place. Returned to northwest China, he decided to live in a grass hut on an island in the wilderness of Dayang 大陽. He refused to talk with people, lived of virtually nothing, and refrained from wearing clothes even in winter. The governors of the region, Jia Mu 賈穆 and Dong Jingjun 董經均, visited him and offered him something to eat, but he refused. Some believed he was mad, while others venerated him as an immortal.

Source:
Zhang Shunhui 張舜徽, ed. (1992). Sanguozhi cidian 三國志辭典 (Jinan: Shandong jiaoyu chubanshe), 500.