Qin and Han · Official and Courtier

Dong Xian 董賢

Dǒng Xián

c. BC 23 - BC 1

Passages
65
Chapters
8
Histories
3

Overview

Dong Xian was an official and Courtier.

IdentityHistorical · Male

Other names

TypeEnglishChinesePinyin
Courtesy name Shengqing 聖卿 Shengqing

Life and dates

Death

Age

Attested activity

Show 10 more source-backed claims

Family

Immediate relationships attested in the translated histories.

Key source chapters

  1. Book of Han, Chapter 105 Volume 93: Flatterers 48 passages
  2. Book of Later Han, Chapter 31 Volume 28a: Biographies of Huan Tan; Feng Yan 5 passages
  3. Book of Han, Chapter 12 Volume 11: Annals of Emperor Ai 3 passages
  4. Book of Han, Chapter 88 Volume 77: Gai, Zhuge, Liu, Zheng, Sun, Wujiang and He 3 passages
  5. Book of Han, Chapter 99 Volume 87b: Yang Xiong 2 3 passages

Career and standing

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Places and affiliations

Show 4 more source-backed claims

Works and attributed material

Events and relationships

Show 11 more source-backed claims

Assessments and attributes

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Source notes

References in the histories

65 passages

Book of Han, Chapter 12Volume 11: Annals of Emperor Ai · 3 passages
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Book of Han, Chapter 26Volume 24a: Treatise on Trade 1 · 1 passage
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Book of Han, Chapter 88Volume 77: Gai, Zhuge, Liu, Zheng, Sun, Wujiang and He · 3 passages
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Book of Han, Chapter 91Volume 80: The Six Sons of Emperors Xuan and Yuan · 1 passage
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Book of Han, Chapter 99Volume 87b: Yang Xiong 2 · 3 passages
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Book of Han, Chapter 105Volume 93: Flatterers · 48 passages
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上浸重賢，欲極其位，而恨明如此，遂冊免明曰：「前東平王雲貪慾上位，祠祭祝詛，雲後舅伍宏以醫待詔，與校秘書郎楊閎結謀反逆，禍甚迫切。 The emperor increasingly valued Dong Xian and wanted to raise him to the highest office, but he resented Ding Ming's attitude. He therefore dismissed Ming by written rescript: "Previously Yun, King of Dongping, coveted the throne and performed sacrifices with curse-prayers. Wu Hong, the maternal uncle of Yun's queen, was awaiting appointment as a physician and plotted rebellion with Yang Hong, Gentleman for Collating the Palace Library. The danger was extremely urgent.
將軍位尊任重，既不能明威立義，折消未萌，又不深疾雲、宏之惡，而懷非君上，阿為宣、吳，反痛恨雲等揚言為群下所冤，又親見言伍宏善醫，死可惜也，賢等獲封極幸。 You, General, hold an honored and weighty office, yet you neither displayed authority and established justice to extinguish the plot before it sprouted, nor deeply abhorred the crimes of Yun and Hong. Instead you harbored thoughts unworthy of your ruler, sided with Xuan and Wu, and even claimed aloud that Yun and the others had been wronged by subordinates. You also personally said that Wu Hong was a good physician and that his death was regrettable, while Dong Xian and the others had received enfeoffment only through extraordinary good fortune.
閎為賢弟駙馬都尉寬信求咸女為婦，咸惶恐不敢當，私謂閎曰：「董公為大司馬，冊文言『允執其中』，此乃堯禪舜之文，非三公故事，長老見者，莫不心懼。 Wang Hong asked Xiao Xian for his daughter as wife for Dong Kuanxin; Xiao Xian panicked and whispered back, "The grand marshal's patent cited 'hold the mean'—words from the Yao-Shun abdication, not a normal appointment for one of the three excellencies. Elders who read it were inwardly afraid.
莽復風大司徒光奏：「賢質性巧佞，翼奸以獲封侯，父子專朝，兄弟並寵，多受賞賜，治第宅，造塚壙，放效無極，不異王制，費以萬萬計，國家為空虛。 Wang Mang also prompted Kong Guang, Grand Minister over the Masses, to memorialize: "Dong Xian was by nature crafty and fawning. He assisted treachery and thereby won a marquisate; father and son monopolized the court, and brothers shared favor side by side. They received lavish gifts, built mansions and tomb chambers, and imitated royal scale without limit, no differently from the institutions of kings. Their expenses ran into the hundreds of millions and emptied the state.
賢自殺伏辜，死後父恭等不悔過，乃復以沙畫棺四時之色，左蒼龍，右白虎，上著金銀日月，玉衣珠璧以棺，至尊無以加。 Dong Xian killed himself and submitted to guilt, yet after his death his father Gong and the others showed no repentance. They painted the coffin with the colors of the four seasons, set the azure dragon on the left and the white tiger on the right, placed gold and silver sun and moon above, and put jade garments, pearls, and disks inside the coffin. Even the highest sovereign could add nothing more.
Book of Later Han, Chapter 31Volume 28a: Biographies of Huan Tan; Feng Yan · 5 passages
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Book of Liang, Chapter 14Volume 14: Jiang Yan; Ren Fang · 1 passage
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