Five ancient Chinese men known for their looks: Pan An

Pan An caused the extermination of three generations of his family members.

Pan An (247-300), also known as Pan Anren, was a writer during China's Western Jin Dynasty. Born in Yingyang, Henan, he had outstanding looks and an elegant disposition. As a representative of literature in the Western Jin Dynasty, Pan An also has a certain status in the history of literature. He was gifted with a silver tongue and was talented at detailed narration and neat sentence composition, so he was known to some people at that time as a beautiful, melancholy writer.

Five ancient Chinese men known for their  looks: Pan An

Although historical records contain no detailed description of Pan An's facial features or height, his beauty is undoubted because he already had numerous "fans" at that time. Whenever Pan went out sightseeing, he was always followed by a number of young girls, just like a current superstar is chased by fans. His fans, who were both young and old women, bought him flowers and fruit. The "Biography of Pan An within the Book of Jin" records a story in which Pan was envied by others as he could bring back a carriage full of fruits after going out for a ride, while Zhang Zai who was very ugly had to return home with children throwing stones at him when he appeared on the street. Zuo Si received even worse treatment - he was often punched by women in the street. Both were famous writers at that time, yet met with either stones or fists in the street, while Pan was greeted with fruits. The contrast increased Pan's fame.

Although Pan was a gifted scholar with an elegant character and super talent, he repeatedly suffered from frustrations in his official career. After Sima Yan founded the Western Jin Dynasty, 22-year-old Pan became a subordinate under Jia Chong, who was the highest-ranking military official. A poetic essay by Pan was highly praised by Sima Yan, yet caused him to be envied by high-ranking officials. Pan was not promoted for a decade because of the obstructions created by the officials. The highest official position he served in his entire life was undersecretary of the Yellow Gate. He was also a seventh-rank official as county magistrate for many years.