{{Short description|Philosophy text by Yang Xiong (c. 9 AD)}} {{About|the work of philosophy|the dictionary by the same author|Fangyan (book){{!}}''Fangyan'' (book)}} {{Infobox book | title_orig = {{langn|zh|法言}} | author = Yang Xiong | country = China | language = Classical Chinese | genre = Philosophy | release_date = {{circa|AD&nbsp;9}} | exclude_cover = yes }} {{Infobox Chinese | c = {{linktext|法|言}} | l = Model sayings | p = Fǎyán | w = Fa Yen | mi = {{IPAc-cmn|f|a|3|-|yan|2}} | gr = Faa Yan | j = Faat3 jin4 | y = Faat Yìhn | ci = {{IPAc-yue|f|aat|3|-|j|in|4}} | tl = Huat Giân | mc = {{IPA|Pjop ngjon}} }} The '''''Fayan''''',<!-- Chinese in infobox; see MOS:ZH --> also known in English as the '''''Model Sayings''''' or '''''Exemplary Figures''''', is a Classical Chinese text by the Han dynasty writer and poet Yang Xiong that was completed {{circa|AD&nbsp;9}}. It comprises a collection of dialogues and aphorisms in which Yang gives responses to a wide variety of questions relating to philosophy, politics, literature, ethics, and scholarship.{{sfnp|Knechtges|2010|p=213}}

== Contents == The text of the ''Fayan'' is divided into 13 chapters. It is presented in the form of dialogues between Yang and an anonymous interlocutor, whose questions which Yang responds with terse, authoritative pronouncements that rely more on wit and puns than on logical exposition. The style is deliberately modeled on the ''Analects'', and was intended to counter the ideas of the "syncretic" philosophical school, which Yang believed was contrary to the orthodox teachings of Confucianism and the ancient Chinese sages.{{sfnmp|Knechtges|1993|1p=100|Knechtges|2010|2p=213}}

== Translations == {{Refbegin}} * {{Citation |year=1972 |script-title=ja:法言 |place=Tokyo |publisher=Meitoku shuppansha |language=ja |translator-last=Suzuki |translator-first=Yoshikazu}} * {{Citation |title=Sinologische Beitrage |volume=4, pt. 1 |year=1939 |trans-title=Sinological contributions |trans-chapter=Yang Xiong's Fayan (Words of Strict Admonition) |chapter=Yang Hsiungs Fa-yen (Worte Strenger Ermahnung) |language=de |translator-last=von Zach |translator-first=Erwin |translator-link=Erwin von Zach}} * {{Citation |title=Exemplary Figures: Fayan ''法言'' |year=2013 |place=Seattle |publisher=University of Washington Press |isbn=978-0-295-99289-1 |translator-last=Nylan |translator-first=Michael |translator-link= Michael Nylan}} * {{Citation |title=Yang Xiong, Philosophy of the Fa Yan: A Confucian Hermit in the Han Imperial Court |year=2011 |url=https://ctext.org/yangzi-fayan |publisher=Mountain Mind Press |translator-last=Bullock |translator-first=Jeffrey S. |via=Chinese Text Project}} {{Refend}}

== References == {{wikisourcelang|zh|法言 |''Fayan'' (in Chinese)}} * {{Citation |title=Yangzi Fayan |script-title=zh:揚子法言 |url=https://ctext.org/yangzi-fayan |access-date=2024-02-29 |language=lzh,en |translator-last=Bullock |translator-first=Jeffrey S. |via=Chinese Text Project}}

=== Citations === {{Reflist|30em}}

=== Works cited === {{Refbegin}} * {{Citation |last=Knechtges |first=David R. |title=Early Chinese Texts: A Bibliographical Guide |pages=100–104 |year=1993 |editor-last=Loewe |editor-first=Michael |chapter=Fa yen |script-chapter=zh:法言 |publisher=Society for the Study of Early China; Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California Berkeley |isbn=1-557-29043-1 |author-link=David R. Knechtges |editor-link=Michael Loewe}} * {{Citation |last=Knechtges |first=David R. |title=Ancient and Early Medieval Chinese Literature: A Reference Guide, Part One |pages=213–217 |year=2010 |editor-last=Knechtges |editor-first=David R. |author-mask=3 |editor-last2=Chang |editor-first2=Taiping |chapter=Fa yan |script-chapter=zh:法言 |place=Leiden |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-9-004-19127-3}} {{Refend}}

=== External links === * [http://chinesenotes.com/fayan.html Chinese text with matching English vocabulary]

Category:Confucian texts Category:Classical Chinese philosophy Category:Han dynasty texts Category:1st-century books Category:Books of quotations