HUÁNG Xiāng 黄香 = a filial son without a mother
LIÚ Hù 刘护 = an influential prefect
HUÁNG Xiāng 黄香 of the Hàn 汉 dynasty (period 06) lived in Ānlù 安陆 county in Húběi 湖北 province, a region once called Jiāngxià 江夏. His nickname was Wénjiāng 文疆 (“boundary of literature”). When he was nine years old, he lost his mother. He continued to think of her so much and with such love that the neighbors praised his filial devotion. Huáng Xiāng did diligent and painful work, and his one thought was to serve his father. In summer, when the weather was hot, he cooled his father’s pillow and mat with a fan before his father went to bed. In winter, when the weather turned cold, he warmed his father’s quilts and cushions with his body.
The prefect LIÚ Hù 刘护 publicly honored and recognized Huáng Xiāng for his rare filiality and accepted him as his pupil when Huáng Xiāng was only 12. It was said of him, “There is no match under heaven for the Huáng lad of Jiāngxià” (Tiānxià wú shuāng: Jiāngxià Huáng tóng 天下无双江夏黄童). He later became a famous scholar, recognized by the emperor himself.