Xiang Lang 向朗

Xiang Lang, courtesy name Juda, was a man of Yicheng in Xiangyang. Liu Biao, Governor of Jing Province, made him Chief of Linju, and when Liu Biao died he went over to Liu Bei. After pacifying the region south of the Yangtze, Liu Bei had Xiang Lang oversee the military and civil affairs of the four counties of Zigui, Yidao, Wu and Yiling. When Shu had been pacified he became Administrator of Baxi; soon afterwards he was transferred to another post, and then moved again to Fangling. Records, Shu 11 §13

When the Later Sovereign took the throne he became Colonel of Infantry, and in place of Wang Lian he concurrently held the post of Chief Clerk to the Chancellor. When the Chancellor Zhuge Liang campaigned in the south, Xiang Lang stayed behind in overall charge of affairs at the rear. According to the biography of Yang Hong, in the 5th year of Jianxing (227), when Zhuge Liang, stationed in the north at Hanzhong, wished to employ Zhang Yi as Chief Clerk of the rear headquarters, Yang Hong said that Zhang Yi's character was not impartial and it seemed he could not be given sole charge, so it would be better to leave Xiang Lang behind, because Xiang Lang showed little difference between his inner feelings and his outward conduct. Records, Shu 11 §13 · 32

According to the biography of Liao Li, when the Chancellor's clerk Li Shao and Jiang Wan came to see him, Liao Li disparaged the men of the court, calling Xiang Lang and Wen Gong mere ordinary, vulgar men. Xiang Lang, he said, had once revered the Ma Liang brothers and called them sages, and now that he had become Chief Clerk he conducted himself nicely in keeping with the Way as usual. Records, Shu 10 §35–36

In the 5th year of Jianxing (227) Xiang Lang went with Zhuge Liang to Hanzhong. Xiang Lang had long been on good terms with Ma Su, and when Ma Su fled he knew the circumstances but did not report him, so Zhuge Liang resented him, dismissed him from office and sent him back to Chengdu. Some years later he became Superintendent of the Imperial Household, after Zhuge Liang's death he was transferred to General of the Left, and in recognition of his earlier merits he was enfeoffed as Marquis of Xianming Village and given the rank of Specially Advanced. Records, Shu 11 §14

In the 1st month of the 1st year of Yanxi (238), when the Later Sovereign made Honored Lady Zhang (Empress Zhang) his empress, Xiang Lang, General of the Left acting for the Chancellor, went bearing the tally of authority to confer the seal and ribbon. In the same month, when the Later Sovereign's son Liu Xuan was made Crown Prince, Xiang Lang, General of the Left acting for the Chancellor, again went bearing the tally of authority to confer the seal and ribbon. Records, Shu 4 §15 · 24

In his youth Xiang Lang read widely in literature but did not keep a check on his conduct, and he was praised for his ability as an official. After leaving the post of Chief Clerk he lived at leisure with nothing to do for nearly thirty years, and then he again devoted himself to the classics and records, working at them tirelessly. Even past eighty he collated books with his own hands and corrected their errors, and the books he collected were the most numerous of his time. He opened his gate to receive guests and guided younger scholars, but he only discussed the principles of antiquity and did not meddle in current affairs, so that everyone, from those holding power above to boys and young men just capped below, respected and esteemed him. Records, Shu 11 §14–15

He died in the 10th year of Yanxi (247). His son Xiang Tiao succeeded him and became Palace Assistant Imperial Clerk in the Jingyao era. His elder brother's son Xiang Chong became General of the Standard under Liu Bei, and in the defeat at Zigui his camp alone remained intact; Zhuge Liang, setting out on his northern campaign, wrote in a memorial to the Later Sovereign that all matters of the camp should be referred to him. Xiang Chong became Central Commander of the Army, and in the 3rd year of Yanxi (240) he was killed while attacking the barbarians of Hanjia. Records, Shu 11 §15 · 17–18

In his assessment Chen Shou named the six men of this volume, saying among other things that Huo Jun held a lone city without letting it fall, that Wang Lian kept firm integrity without wavering, and that Xiang Lang loved learning and never wearied of it, and he said that all of them had something worth recording. Records, Shu 11 §50