Shěn Wén’ā 沈文阿
Zì Guówèi 國衛. Native of Wúkāng 武康 in Wúxīng 吳興 commandery (modern Zhèjiāng). Confucian classicist of the Liáng 梁 and Chén 陳 dynasties. He held guózǐ bóshì 國子博士 (Erudite of the Imperial Academy) and served as tutor to the heir-apparent under the Chén. During the Hóu Jǐng 侯景 disturbance (548–552) he attempted to take his own life by hanging from a tree rather than submit to the rebels, and was subsequently pardoned by Chén Bàxiān 陳霸先 (Chén Wǔdì).
His scholarly programme covered the Sānlǐ 三禮 (with a substantial Lǐ yì 禮義 in over eighty juàn), the Chūnqiū Zuǒzhuàn (the Chūnqiū Zuǒshì zhuàn yìlüè 春秋左氏傳義略, of which 王元規 Wáng Yuánguī’s KR1e0125 is the continuation), and a general handbook Jīngdiǎn dàyì 經典大義 in eighteen juàn. All these works are lost as integral books; surviving fragments are preserved chiefly in 陸德明 Lù Démíng’s Jīngdiǎn shìwén 經典釋文, in the Táng zhèngyì 正義, and in Yùhán shānfáng jíyì shū and CHANT-tradition reconstructions. He died in 563 aged 61. Biography: Chén shū 陳書 juàn 33 (Rúlín liè zhuàn).