Family Instructions of Yan Family is a family instruction created by Yan Zhitui in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. This book was written after Emperor Wen of Sui Dynasty destroyed the State of Chen and before Yang Di ascended the throne (about the end of 6th century AD). Yan Zhitui's personal experience, thoughts and knowledge are the books to warn future generations. There are seven volumes and twenty articles.
They are first in order, second in godson, third in brothers, fourth in marriage, fifth in running the family, sixth in moral exercise, seventh in wood constitution, eighth in reading, ninth in articles, tenth in name and substance, eleventh in doing things, twelfth in saving trouble, thirteenth in stopping, fourteenth in discipline, fifteenth in nourishing the heart, sixteenth in returning to the heart, seventeenth in documentary evidence, and eighteenth in pronunciation and miscellaneous words.
Yan Zhitui not only believed in cause and effect and worshiped Buddha, but also formed his own set of views on worshiping Buddha and its problems, which were fully discussed in the chapter of Yan Family Instructions: Returning to the Heart. In Yan Zhitui's view, first of all, Buddhism is superior to Confucianism. Although Confucianism has profound knowledge, it teaches people the ways of self-cultivation, such as benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom and faith.
As a model teaching material of traditional society, Family Instructions of Yan directly initiated the family instructions of later generations, and it is a precious heritage in the theoretical treasure house of ancient family education in China. Yan Zhitui didn't have Hector's merit and rank, but he has a long-standing reputation because of one of Yan's family precepts, which shows that his family precepts have far-reaching influence.
The influence of Yan Family Instructions on later generations;
Yan Family Instructions not only recorded the resurgence of mysterious wind, the popularity of Buddhism, the spread of Xianbei, the Sheng Xing of popular characters and many other aspects, but also preserved some valuable historical documents for future generations. In his article, he also discusses the works of writers in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, reflecting the literary views at that time and his own literary views.
Yan Zhitui attaches great importance to literature. He criticized Yang Xiong's view that literature is a small skill, and expounded the importance of literature from the perspective of personal cultivation. As for the function of literature, Yan Zhitui not only narrowly attributed it to serving political enlightenment and practicality, but also affirmed that literature has the aesthetic function of pleasing people's eyes and ears and cultivating the soul, and at the same time showed a strong literary aesthetic ability in his creative practice.