Five-Dynasties 五代 scholar-official, Grand Academician of the National University (Tài xué bó shì 太學博士) under the Later Jìn 後晉 dynasty (936–946). Author of the foundational ancient commentary on the Dòng líng zhēn jīng (DZ 747, the Kàngcāng zǐ).
Office. Tài xué bó shì 太學博士 — Grand Academician of the National University, a mid-to-high-rank educational-academic office under the Later Jìn 後晉 dynasty (one of the Five Dynasties 五代 that succeeded the Táng 唐 and preceded the Sòng 宋 unification of 960).
Dating. Active during the Later Jìn dynasty (936–946). No precise lifedates. No CBDB record identified.
Context. The Later Jìn was the third of the Five Dynasties — a Shā tuó 沙陀 Turkic-origin kingdom that ruled northern China from its capital at Kāi fēng 開封 (Biàn 汴). Hé Càn’s activity as Tài xué bó shì places him in the court-scholarly establishment of this brief dynasty, between the fall of the Later Táng 後唐 in 936 and the Khitan conquest of 946.
Work. His sole known work is the [[KR5c0141|Dòng líng zhēn jīng zhù]] 洞靈真經註 (DZ 747) — a commentary on the pseudo-Gēngsāngzǐ Kàngcāng zǐ composed by Wáng Shìyuán in 742. Hé Càn’s preface (preserved only in Tōng lè dà diǎn 同樂大典 10286.14b–15a) records that a certain Liú Tiān cōng 劉天聰 commissioned the edition for private printing.
Disambiguation. Not to be confused with other Hé Càn figures. The Later-Jìn Tài xué bó shì is identified specifically through the Tōng lè dà diǎn preface attribution and is otherwise not documented.