Li Yannian 李延年

Names

Identity

Historicity

Historical

Identification

Named

Sex

Male

• Sex: male
  Explicit · hanshu:068:s0258, liaoshi:054:s0135
• Sex: male
  Strongly inferred · jiuwudaishi:144:s0091
• Value: male
  Strongly inferred · hanshu:105:s0007
• Value: male
  Explicit · shiji:125:s0038, shiji:125:s0055

Roles

• Courtier
• Eunuch
• Musician
• Official

Family

• Sibling of Lady Li (李夫人)
  Kinship Term: younger sister / 女弟 · Subject Relative Age: younger · Shared Parentage: full
  Kinship Term: younger sister / 女弟 · Subject Relative Age: elder · Shared Parentage: full

• Kinship Role: brothers · Note: brothers formerly entertainers; later arrested and executed with him · Count: 2
  Explicit · shiji:125:s0056, shiji:125:s0065
• Kinship Role: parents · Count: 2 · Note: parents were formerly entertainers
  Explicit · shiji:125:s0056
• Kinship Role: sisters · Note: sisters formerly entertainers; one younger sister individuated as Lady Li · Count: 2
  Explicit · shiji:125:s0056

Career and standing

• Label: entertainer / 倡
  Explicit · shiji:125:s0056
• Label: musician / 樂人
  Strongly inferred · liaoshi:054:s0135
• Label: service in the dog kennels / 給事狗中
  Explicit · shiji:125:s0057
• Label: Director of the Music Bureau / 典樂府 · Action: held
  Explicit · liaoshi:054:s0135
• Label: Harmonizer of Tones and Pitches / 協聲律 · Action: held
  Explicit · shiji:125:s0062
• Title: director of harmony
  Explicit · hanshu:105:s0066
• Status: eunuch · Action: entered
  Explicit · shiji:125:s0057
• Status: imperial-favorite · Action: held
  Explicit · shiji:125:s0058, shiji:125:s0063
• Status: two-thousand-bushel seal · Action: held
  Explicit · shiji:125:s0062
• Label: arrested and executed with brothers / 禽誅延年昆弟 · Action: executed
  Explicit · shiji:125:s0065
• Label: castration for a crime / 坐法腐 · Action: punished
  Explicit · shiji:125:s0057

Places and affiliations

• Label: Western Han / 漢 · Relation: served
  Explicit · hanshu:068:s0258
• Place: Zhongshan / 中山
  Explicit · shiji:125:s0055
• Text: Zhongshan
  Explicit · hanshu:105:s0060

Learning and skills

• Skill: singing and composing new melodies / 善歌，為變新聲 · Level: skilled
  Explicit · shiji:125:s0059

Works and attributed material

• Work: newly composed ceremonial poems set to music / 初詩 · Relation: composer
  Explicit · shiji:125:s0059, shiji:125:s0060
• Work: Mahadoule / 摩訶兜勒 · Relation: expanded
  Explicit · jiuwudaishi:144:s0091

Events and relationships

• Kind: cultural · Role: musician · Action: expanded-Mahadoule-into-twenty-eight-pieces
  Explicit · jiuwudaishi:144:s0091
• Kind: personal · Role: offender · Action: illicit-affairs-with-palace-women
  Explicit · shiji:125:s0064
• Kind: administrative · Role: appointee · Action: took-charge-of-music-bureau
  Explicit · liaoshi:054:s0135
• Type: elder-brother-of · Person Id: Lady Li (李夫人)
  Explicit · hanshu:105:s0062

Assessments and attributes

• Assessment: harmonizing pitch (協律) · Provenance: Mode: historian-judgment
  Explicit · hanshu:068:s0258