Wen TianXiang poet from China was born on June 6, 1236, had 46 years and died on January 9, 1283. Poems were written mainly in Chinese language. Dominant movement is chinese dynasties.
Biography
Wen Tianxiang (Chinese: 文天祥; pinyin: Wén Tiānxiáng; Cantonese Yale: Man Tin Cheung; June 6, 1236 – January 9, 1283 AD), Duke of Xinguo, was a scholar-general in the last years of the Southern Song Dynasty. For his resistance to Kublai Khan's invasion of the Song, and for his refusal to yield to the Yuan Dynasty despite being captured and tortured, he is a popular symbol of patriotism and righteousness in China. He is considered one of three heroes of the Song's last years, alongside Lu Xiufu and Zhang Shijie.[citation needed]
His symbolic role can be seen from the following fact of 1908: in Wen Tianxiang's historical shrine in Haifeng Chen Jiongming persuaded over thirty young men of the village to swear secret support for a national revolution.
Biography
Wen was born on 6 June 1236 in Luling (Ji'an), Jiangxi Province during the Song Dynasty. At the age of 18 he excelled in his local examinations, and two years later participated in examinations in the capital, during which he was personally awarded first rank by the emperor. He would subsequently take up several posts in the government of the Southern Song, including being Attendant (郎官) of the Justice Ministry and Prefect ofGanzhou.
In 1278, Wen was captured by the invading Yuan armies of Kublai Khan, "offered" a Yuan post, and ordered to convince the remaining Song forces to surrender. Wen refused both and suffered for 4 years in a military prison before his execution in 1283. During this time he wrote the famous classics "Song of Righteousness" (Zhengqige), and "Passing Lingdingyang".
Wen Tianxiang adopted the three sons of his younger brother when his two sons died young.
Legend has the Wen family name existing during the Western Zhou Dynasty over 3,000 years ago. Historical lineages can be documented to 1,500 years ago to Sichuan province.
There are now at least six branches of the Wen family in the provinces of Jiangxi, Hunan, Hainan, Guangdong, Fujian, and in Hong Kong and overseas locations. Local dialect pronunciations would be Man (Cantonese), Vun (Hakka), and Bun (Hokkien). The Man clan are considered one of the original founding families in the history of Hong Kong.
The well-known Ming dynasty painter and calligrapher Wen Zhengming also belonged to the Wen family. The mother of Mao Zedong, Wen Qimei, was a descendant as well. The majority of Wen Tianxiang's descendants still live in mainland China.
One of the oldest continuous branches of the Wen family established itself in the Hengyang/Hengshan area of present-day Hunan shortly after AD 1000. A branch of this Wen family settled in the United States in the mid-1940s and is related through marriage to the prominent Sun family of Shouxian, Anhui (Sun Jianai; Fou Foong Flour Company 福豐麵粉廠) and the Li family of Hefei, Anhui (Li Hongzhang 李鴻章).
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