Chen An was born and raised in the port city of Quanzhou and demonstrated poetic talent from a young age. The responsibility of caring for his widowed mother delayed him from sitting for the jinshi (“presented scholar”) civil service examination until he was in his early forties. After failing the examination about eighteen times between 845 and 864, he gave up and spent his last years as a recluse. Many of his prose writings were later lost or scattered in the “flames of war,” probably when the warlord Wang Chao’s (846–898) army besieged and captured Quanzhou in 885–86. Three scrolls of Chen’s works were still extant in the eleventh century, but only nine essays and one valedictory preface have survived to the present via inclusion in Song-period anthologies.

The essay “Huaxin” may have originated as part of Chen An’s xingjuan, a literary portfolio presented to influential officials and literati in the Tang capital Chang’an, in the hope that they would endorse his candidacy to the jinshi examiner and thus greatly improve his chances of passing. If so, the essay’s intended audience was probably Lu Jun, the “Duke of Fanyang” mentioned in the first sentence. Chen’s essay was carefully designed to achieve two effects at once: flattering Lu with praise for his perspicacity and impartiality, while impressing him with a creative reinterpretation of the Chinese-barbarian dichotomy. Chen An may also have hoped that Lu Jun’s patronage would translate into an opportunity for employment after passing the examinations: we know that Lu appointed another graduate from the jinshi cohort of 848 to his staff during another stint as a provincial governor in 852–855. Nonetheless, “Huaxin” evidently did not open any doors for Chen An, whose dreams of an official career remained unfulfilled.

For a detailed analysis of this essay, see Shao-yun Yang, The Way of the Barbarians: Redrawing Ethnic Boundaries in Tang and Song China (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2019), Chapter 3.

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In the first year of the Dazhong era (847) the Duke of Fanyang, who was the governor of Daliang¹, came to know Li Yansheng, a man from the country of the Arabs (Dashi²), and recommended him to the throne. The emperor issued an edict ordering the Department of Rites to examine his abilities. In the second year (848), he made his name by passing the jinshi examination. Among the ordinary recommended guest (bingong) candidates³, none was his equal.

Someone might argue, “Daliang is a large city, and the governor is a very worthy man. He was appointed by a Hua ruler, and his salary comes from taxes paid by Hua people. Yet when he recommends men, he seeks them from the barbarians (Yi). How can there be no worthy candidate among the Hua? Are barbarians the only ones suitable for employment? I remain perplexed by the governor even now.”

I would reply, “The governor truly recommends men based on their talent, without any favoritism toward his own people. If we speak in terms of land [of origin], then there is a distinction between the Hua and the barbarians. But in terms of [moral] teaching, is there also a distinction between Hua and barbarians? Now, the distinction between Hua and barbarians lies in their hearts⁴, and to distinguish a [Hua heart from a barbarian] heart, one must examine [the heart’s] inclinations. One who is born in the Central Lands, but whose deeds go against ritual propriety and moral duty, is Hua in physical form but a barbarian at heart. One who is born in the lands of the barbarians, but whose deeds accord with ritual propriety and moral duty, is a barbarian in physical form but Hua at heart. Take the cases of Lu Wan (256–194 BCE) and Li Ling (d. 74 BCE), who rebelled and defected [to the Xiongnu]—were they barbarians? Consider [the Xiongnu captive] Jin Midi’s (134–86 BCE) steadfast loyalty [to Han Emperor Wu]—was he Hua?⁵ From this we can see that it all depends on a person’s inclinations.

Now, Li Yansheng came from across the sea, and he came to the attention of the governor because he is able to analyze things using the Way. The governor therefore recognized him as an exceptional talent and recommended him in order to encourage the barbarians, so that all peoples who receive the light of the sun and moon will turn to the transforming influence of illumination by civility (wenming). He perceived Li Yansheng to be Hua at heart, and therefore did not consider him a barbarian based on his land of origin.” Hence I wrote [this essay,] “Hua at Heart.”

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1. Lu Jun (776–862), who was appointed governor of the Xuanwu Army and prefect of Bianzhou (i.e., Daliang or Kaifeng) in 847. He was conferred the title “Duke of Fanyang” in 850, when he returned to Chang’an from Bianzhou to take up the post of Junior
   Tutor to the Heir Apparent. ↩︎
2. Dashi 大食, the Tang Chinese name for the Arabs, was a transcription of the Middle Persian tāzīk (Arab). ↩︎
3. From around 821, the jinshi examinations included a special category for foreign candidates, known as bingong (“recommended guests”). Bingong candidates answered the same questions as regular candidates, but had a separate pass quota that made it easier to pass, given their smaller numbers. ↩︎
4. The Chinese word xin 心 conflates heart and mind and is thus often translated as heart-mind. Here, I translate it as “heart” because the emphasis is on morality rather than reason or intellect. ↩︎
5. See Jin Midi’s biography in source 6.1. ↩︎