Xu Gan (Chinese: 徐幹, pinyin Xú Gàn, 171 – March or April 218?
[1]), courtesy name Weichang (偉長), was a Chinese philosopher and poet of the late Eastern Han dynasty.
Born in Ju County, Beihai Commandery (east of present-day Lechang, Shandong), Xu Gan developed a reputation for good memory and diligent studies as a youth.
Although living in tumultuous times, and seeking at causes of decline, his work's introduction, written from the viewpoint of a reverent disciple, suggests his exile more self-imposed for the sake of Confucianist study than any outcast status, even if some his politics might have been at variance.
He seems to have been familiar with the "Legalists", but is not that unusual for his time and advocated that reward and punishment should be consistent rather than extreme, fitting alongside his other "Balanced Discourses."