A Chinese Biographical Dictionary/Ch'ên Fan
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
217 Ch'ên Fan 陳蕃 (T. 仲舉). 2nd cent. A.D. A native of Ju-nan in Honan, who rose to be Governor of Yü-chang, part of Kiangsi, but fell a victim to eunuch intrigues, together with Tou Wu. When a boy of fifteen, he carried a letter from his father to 薛勤 Hsieh Ch'in; and the latter, on coming to call next day, said, "You have an extraordinary son. I came to see him, not you." Then, noticing that the court-yard was in a neglected state, he turned to Ch'ên Fan and asked him why he did not sweep it against the arrival of guests. "A hero," replied the lad, "should sweep the empire, and not court-yards."