Qin and Han · Official and Writer

Dongfang Shuo 東方朔

Attested BC 141 - BC 87

Passages: 79
Chapters: 8
Histories: 3

Overview

Dongfang Shuo was an official and Writer.

Other names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Courtesy name	Manqian	曼倩	Manqian
Alternate name	Master Dongfang	東方生	Dōngfāng shēng

Life and dates

Age

Years 22 · Reckoning Sui
Directly stated · Book of Han 76, passage 11

Attested activity

BC 120 夫藺先生收功於章台…
Dated from the passage context · Book of Han 99, passage 107
BC 140 to BC 90 東方朔
Dated from the passage context · Records of the Three Kingdoms 62, passage 109
BC 140 to BC 87 東方朔自諭
Strongly inferred · Book of Han 117, passage 225
BC 140 to BC 87 漢武帝時
Strongly inferred · Book of Han 75, passage 287
BC 141 to BC 87 漢興六十餘載
Dated from the passage context · Book of Han 68, passages 254, 258; Records of the Grand Historian 112, passages 277, 282

Family

Immediate relationships attested in the translated histories.

Spouse of Wife of Dongfang Shuo (東方朔妻)
wife 細君
Directly stated · Book of Han 99, passage 107

Key source chapters

Career and standing

wit and humor 滑稽
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 112, passage 282
awaiting edict at the Golden Horse Gate 待詔金馬門
Directly stated · Book of Han 76, passage 28
awaiting edict at the Public Carriage office 待詔公車
Directly stated · Book of Han 76, passage 14
gentleman of the palace 中郎
Directly stated · Book of Han 76, passage 136
Grand Counsellor with Palace Attendance 太中大夫給事中
Directly stated · Book of Han 76, passage 114
regular palace gentleman 常侍郎
Directly stated · Book of Han 76, passage 64

Show 1 more source-backed claim

demoted to commoner, awaiting edict at eunuchs' office 免為庶人，待詔宦者署
Directly stated · Book of Han 76, passage 135

Places and affiliations

Han 漢
Directly stated · Book of Han 76, passage 104
Western Han 漢
Relation Served
Directly stated · Book of Han 68, passage 258
Polity Han 漢 · Relation Served
Strongly inferred · Book of Han 75, passage 287; Book of Han 117, passage 225
Polity Han 漢 · Relation Served
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 112, passages 277, 282
Yanci in Pingyuan commandery 平原厭次
Directly stated · Book of Han 76, passage 2

Works and attributed material

dialogue treatise (guest rebuke) 客難
Directly stated · Book of Han 76, passages 233, 235
Works Mr. Never-Was disquisition and other recorded writings 非有先生之論等
Directly stated · Book of Han 76, passages 280, 337-338
excused obscurity by missing the age of Su Qin, Zhang Yi, Fan Ju, and Cai Ze
Self explication · Author · Mode hearsay Witness Person Id Ban Gu (班固)
Directly stated · Book of Han 117, passage 225

Events and relationships

Listed among Han talents of the era
Career · Exemplar · Mode quotation Speaker Ban Gu (班固)
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 112, passage 282
Type wife · Person 細君
Directly stated · Book of Han 76, passages 77, 79

Assessments and attributes

Assessment failed to refute opportunism with the correct Way or clarify what the gentleman guards · Mode named-person-judgment Speaker Ban Gu (班固)
Directly stated · Book of Han 117, passage 225
Assessment jest / wit (滑稽) · Mode historian-judgment
Directly stated · Book of Han 68, passage 258

Source notes

Historicity historical
Directly stated · Book of Han 75, passage 287
Value historical
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 112, passage 282

References in the histories

Search passages

History

79 passages

Book of Han, Chapter 68Volume 58: Gongsun Hong, Bu Shi and Er Kuan · 1 passage

漢之得人，於茲為盛，儒雅則公孫弘、董仲舒、兒寬，篤行則石建、石慶，質直則汲黯、卜式，推賢則韓安國、鄭當時，定令則趙禹、張湯，文章則司馬遷、相如，滑稽則東方朔、枚皋，應對則嚴助、硃買臣，歷數則唐都、洛下閎，協律則李延年，運籌則桑弘羊，奉使則張騫、蘇武，將率則衛青、霍去病，受遺則霍光、金日磾，其餘不可勝紀。 Never did the dynasty gather talent so thickly: Hong, Dong, and Kuan for classical breadth; the Shi brothers for steadfast service; Ji An and Bu Shi for blunt loyalty; Han Anguo and Zheng Dangshi for lifting others; Zhao Yu and Zhang Tang for codifying law; Sima Qian and Xiangru for voice; jesters Dongfang Shuo and Mei Gao; debaters Yan Zhu and Zhu Maichen; calendar-makers Tang Du and Luoxia Hong; the harmonist Li Yan'nian; the reckoner Sang Hongyang; envoys Zhang Qian and Su Wu; blades Wei Qing and Huo Qubing; regents Huo Guang and Jin Midi—and a cloud of names besides.

Book of Han, Chapter 74Volume 64a: Yan, Zhu, Wuqiu, Zhufu, Xu, Yan, Zhong, Wang, and Jia 1 · 3 passages

後得朱買臣、吾丘壽王、司馬相如、主父偃、徐樂嚴安、東方朔、枚皋、膠倉、終軍、嚴蔥奇等，並在左右。 He soon gathered Zhu Maichen, Wuqiu Shouwang, Sima Xiangru, Zhufu Yan, Xu Le, Yan An, Dongfang Shuo, Mei Gao, Jiao Cang, Zhong Jun, Yan Congqi, and the rest in his inner circle.

其尤親幸者，東方朔、枚皋、嚴助、吾丘壽王、司馬相如。 Those he favored most were Dongfang Shuo, Mei Gao, Yan Zhu, Wuqiu Shouwang, and Sima Xiangru.

朔、皋不根持論，上頗俳優畜之。 Shuo and Mei Gao traded in wit rather than weighty argument, so the emperor treated them much like court entertainers.

Book of Han, Chapter 75Volume 64b: Yan, Zhu, Wuqiu, Zhufu, Xu, Yan, Zhong, Wang, and Jia 2 · 1 passage

進談動辭，則東方生； listen to his wit in conversation and you hear Dongfang Shuo;

Book of Han, Chapter 76Volume 65: Dongfang Shuo · 70 passages

卷六十五東方朔傳第三十五 Volume 65: the thirty-fifth biography—Dongfang Shuo.

東方朔字曼倩，平原厭次人也。 Dongfang Shuo, whose courtesy name was Manqian, came from Yanci in Pingyuan commandery.

朔初來，上書曰：「臣朔少失父母，長養兄嫂。 In his first memorial Dongfang Shuo wrote, "I lost my parents while young and was raised by my brother and his wife.

凡臣朔固已誦四十四萬言。 In sum I have four hundred forty thousand characters by heart.

臣朔年二十二，長九尺三寸，目若懸珠，齒若編貝，勇若孟賁，捷若慶忌，廉若鮑叔，信若尾生。 I am twenty-two, stand nine feet three inches, my eyes shine like pearls and my teeth line up like shells; in courage I match Meng Ben, in agility Qingji, in integrity Bao Shu, in good faith Weisheng.

臣朔昧死再拜以聞。」 I risk execution to lay this before you twice over."

朔文辭不遜，高自稱譽，上偉之，令待詔公車，奉祿薄，未得省見。 Dongfang Shuo's memorial was immodest and his self-praise extravagant, yet the emperor was impressed and rostered him at the Public Carriage office—meager pay and no audience in the inner palace.

久之，朔紿騶硃儒，曰：「上以若曹無益於縣官，耕田力作固不及人，臨眾處官不能治民，從軍擊虜不任兵事，無益於國用，徒索衣食，今欲盡殺若曹。」 After long neglect Dongfang Shuo hoaxed the court dwarfs, saying, "His Majesty says you people are useless to the treasury—you cannot outwork farmers, cannot govern if given office, cannot fight if sent to the army; you only eat and wear what the state provides, so he means to execute the lot of you."

朔教曰：「上即過，叩頭請罪。」 Dongfang Shuo told them, "When he comes by, throw yourselves on the ground and plead for mercy."

對曰：「東方朔言上欲盡誅臣等。」 They said, "Dongfang Shuo told us Your Majesty planned to slaughter every dwarf."

上知朔多端，召問朔：「何恐硃儒為？」 The emperor knew Dongfang Shuo's tricks and called him in, "Why did you terrify my dwarfs?"

對曰：「臣朔生亦言，死亦言。 He answered, "I speak my mind in life and in death.

臣朔長九尺餘，亦奉一囊粟，錢二百四十。 I stand well over nine feet and am paid the same sack and the same two hundred forty cash.

朱儒飽欲死，臣朔飢欲死。 They are bloated to bursting while I starve on the same ration.

朔自讚曰：「臣嘗受《易》，請射之。」 Dongfang Shuo stepped forward and said, "I have studied the Book of Changes; let me try."

復使射他物，連中，輒賜帛。 Further riddles followed; each time Dongfang Shuo hit the mark and silk was piled into his hands.

時，有幸倡郭舍人，滑稽不窮，常侍左右，曰：「朔狂，幸中耳，非至數也。 At that time there was a favored entertainer, Guo Sheren, inexhaustibly witty, who constantly attended left and right, saying: "Shuo is mad—he hit by luck, not by ultimate reckoning.

臣願令朔復射，朔中之，臣榜百，不能中，臣賜帛。」 Let him guess again: if he succeeds I take a hundred lashes; if he fails I claim the silk."

乃覆樹上寄生，令朔射之。 They hid a mistletoe sprig from a tree and challenged him to name it.

朔曰：「是寠藪也。」 Shuo said: "It is a nest-thicket (wordplay)."

舍人曰：「果知朔不能中也。」 Sheren said: "As expected, I knew Shuo could not hit."

朔曰：「生肉為膾，乾肉為脯； Shuo said: "Raw meat is mince; dried meat is jerky;

朔笑之曰：「咄！ Shuo laughed at him and said: "Tut!

舍人恚曰：「朔擅詆欺天子從官，當棄市。」 Sheren angrily said: "Shuo presumptuously slanders and deceives the Son of Heaven's attendants—he should be executed in the market."

上問朔：「何故詆之？」 The emperor asked Shuo: "Why did you slander him?"

朔曰：「夫口無毛者，狗竇也； Dongfang Shuo said, "No hair around the mouth is a dog's burrow;

舍人不服，因曰：「臣願復問朔隱語，不知，亦當榜。」 Sheren was not convinced and therefore said: "Your servant wishes again to question Shuo with a riddle; if he does not know, he too should be flogged."

朔曰：「令者，命也。 Shuo said: "Order means mandate.

舍人所問，朔應聲輒對，變詐鋒出，莫能窮者，左右大驚。 Whatever Guo Sheren threw at him, Dongfang Shuo answered in the same breath with wit that never flagged; the whole court stared.

上以朔為常侍郎，遂得愛幸。 The emperor named him a regular palace gentleman, and from then on he basked in imperial favor.

大官丞日晏下來，朔獨拔劍割肉，謂其同官曰：「伏日當蚤歸，請受賜。」 The grand provisioner's assistant came down late in the day; Shuo alone drew his sword and carved meat, saying to his fellow officials: "On dog-days one should return early—allow me to accept the gift."

朔入，上曰：「昨賜肉，不待詔，以劍割肉而去之，何也？」 When Shuo entered, the emperor said: "Yesterday when meat was granted, without awaiting edict you carved meat with a sword and left—why?"

朔免冠謝。 Dongfang Shuo doffed his cap and apologized.

朔再拜曰：「朔來！ Dongfang Shuo bowed twice and said, "Shuo, come forward! Shuo, come forward!

朔來！ Shuo, come forward!

時朔在傍，進諫曰： Dongfang Shuo, standing by, offered remonstrance:

是日因奏《泰階》之事，上乃拜朔為太中大夫給事中，賜黃金百斤。 That day he lectured on the Grand Steps; the emperor named him Grand Counsellor with access to the inner palace and sent a hundred jin of gold.

朔前上壽，曰：「臣聞聖王為政，賞不避仇讎，誅不擇骨肉。 Dongfang Shuo stepped up with a toast: "The sage king rewards even his foes and punishes even his kin.

臣朔奉觴，昧死再拜上萬歲壽。」 I raise my cup and wish Your Majesty ten thousand years of life."

上乃起，入省中，夕時召讓朔，曰：「傳曰『時然後言，人不厭其言』。 The emperor then rose and entered the private chambers. That evening he summoned Dongfang Shuo and rebuked him, saying, "The tradition says, 'Speak only when the time is right, and people will not weary of your words.'

朔免冠頓首曰：「臣聞樂太盛則陽溢，哀太盛則陰損，陰陽變則心氣動，心氣動則精神散，精神散而邪氣及。 Dongfang Shuo kowtowed bareheaded and said, "Your servant has heard that extreme joy floods the yang ether; extreme grief drains the yin. When yin and yang reel, the heart loses its anchor, the spirit frays, and evil humors invade the body.

銷憂者莫若酒，臣朔所以上壽者，明陛下正而不阿，因以止哀也。 Wine best drives care away. I raised a cup to show that Your Majesty holds straight to justice without favoritism, and to help you set grief aside.

先是，朔嘗醉入殿中，小遺殿上，劾不敬。 Earlier, drunk in the palace, he had relieved himself on the hall floor and was charged with lèse-majesté.

是時，朔陛戟殿下，辟戟而前曰：「董偃有斬罪三，安得入乎？」 At that time Shuo with hall halberds below the steps, parted the halberds and stepped forward, saying: "Dong Yan has three beheading crimes—how may he enter?"

朔曰：「偃以人臣私侍公主，其罪一也。 Dongfang Shuo said, "First, as a subject he has privately bedded a princess.

朔曰：「不可。 Shuo said: "It cannot.

賜朔黃金三十斤。 Dongfang Shuo received thirty jin of gold.

上從容問朔：「吾欲化民，豈有道乎？」 The emperor asked Shuo in a relaxed tone, "I want to improve the people's ways. Is there a right path to that?"

朔對曰：「堯、舜、禹、湯、文、武、成、康上古之事，經歷數千載，尚難言也，臣不敢陳。 Shuo answered, "The deeds of Yao, Shun, Yu, Tang, Wen, Wu, Cheng, and Kang lie so far back in time that even after millennia they are hard to discuss clearly; I would not presume to rehearse them here.

陛下誠能用臣朔之計，推甲乙之帳燔之於四通之衢，卻走馬示不復用，則堯、舜之隆宜可與比治矣。 If Your Majesty would truly adopt my plan — haul those ranked curtains into the open crossroads and burn them, retire the racehorses and show the realm they will not be raced again — then Your government might stand comparison with the golden ages of Yao and Shun.

朔雖詼笑，然時觀察顏色，直言切諫，上常用之。 Shuo might banter and joke, but he read the emperor's mood and spoke bluntly when remonstrance was needed; the ruler often took his advice.

自公卿在位，朔皆敖弄，無所為屈。 From the highest ministers on down, he teased and needled everyone in power and never humbled himself before them.

上以朔口諧辭給，好作問之。 The emperor enjoyed quizzing him, for Shuo had a nimble tongue and a ready wit.

嘗問朔曰：「先生視朕何如主也？」 On one occasion he asked, "Sir, what kind of sovereign do you take me to be?"

朔對曰：「自唐、虞之隆，成、康之際，未足以諭當世。 Shuo answered, "Not even the heights of Yao and Shun's age, nor the peace of King Cheng and King Kang, gives us a fair yardstick for today.

是時，朝廷多賢材，上復問朔：「方今公孫丞相，兒大夫、董仲舒、夏侯始昌、司馬相如、吾丘壽王、主父偃、硃買臣、嚴助、汲黯、膠倉、終軍、嚴安、徐樂、司馬遷之倫，皆辯知閎達，溢於文辭，先生自視，何與比哉？」 The court at that time teemed with talent, and the emperor pressed Shuo again: "Consider Chancellor Gongsun Hong, Censor-in-Chief Er Kuan, Dong Zhongshu, Xiahou Shichang, Sima Xiangru, Wuqiu Shouwang, Zhufu Yan, Zhu Maichen, Yan Zhu, Ji An, Jiao Cang, Zhong Jun, Yan An, Xu Le, Sima Qian, and men of that stamp. They are learned, articulate, and prolific writers. How do you measure yourself against such company?"

朔對曰：「臣觀其□齒牙，樹頰胲，吐脣吻，擢項頤，結股腳，連脽尻，遺蛇其跡，行步偊旅，臣朔雖不肖，尚兼此數子者。」 Shuo answered, "What I see in them is (lacuna) bared teeth and gums, cheeks swollen like bellows, lips forever flapping, necks craning and chins wagging, legs tangled like knotted cord, rumps welded to haunches, footprints that zigzag like a snake's trail, and a shambling, knock-kneed walk. Unworthy as I am, I flatter myself that I already embody every one of those fine qualities."

朔之進對澹辭，皆此類也。 As for Shuo's advancing replies, his placid phrases — all were of this kind.

時方外事胡、越，內興制度，國家多事，自公孫弘以下至司馬遷，皆奉使方外，或為郡國守相至公卿，而朔嘗至太中大夫，後常為郎，與枚皋、郭舍人俱在左右，詼啁而已。 While the empire was busy with the Xiongnu and the Yue on the frontier and with new institutions at home, everyone from Gongsun Hong down to Sima Qian was dispatched abroad or made a regional governor or rose to the highest offices. Shuo had briefly reached grand counselor of the palace, but he usually held only the modest rank of gentleman-attendant and, with Mei Gao and Guo Sheren, hovered at the ruler's elbow cracking jokes.

久之，朔上書陳農戰強國之計，因自訟獨不得大官，欲求試用。 In time he memorialized with schemes for agriculture, war, and national strength, lamenting that he alone had never been given a weighty post and asking to be tried in a serious role.

朔因著論，設客難己，用位卑以自慰諭。 So he wrote a philosophical dialogue, inventing a guest who rebuked him, to console himself for his low rank.

客難東方朔曰：「蘇秦、張儀一當萬乘之主，而都卿相之位，澤及後世。 The guest reproached Dongfang Shuo: "Su Qin and Zhang Yi each won an audience with a great king and walked away as chief minister; their good fortune lasted for generations.

東方先生喟然長息，仰而應之曰：「是固非子之所能備也。 Master Dongfang drew a long breath, lifted his eyes, and said, "That is something you simply are not in a position to understand.

朔之文辭，此二篇最善。 Of Dongfang Shuo's writings, these two essays are the finest.

其餘《封泰山》、《責和氏璧》及《皇太子生禖》、《屏風》、《殿上柏柱》、《平樂觀賦獵》，八言、七言上下，《從公孫弘借車》，凡劉向所錄朔書具是矣。 The remainder—his pieces on the Feng sacrifice at Mount Tai, the rebuke to the He-family jade, the birth prayer for the crown prince, the screen, the hall cypress pillars, the Pingle hunt rhapsody, suites of eight- and seven-syllable lines, and the skit on borrowing a carriage from Gongsun Hong—comprise everything Liu Xiang catalogued under Dongfang Shuo's name.

贊曰：劉向言少時數問長老賢人通於事及朔時者，皆曰朔口諧倡辯，不能持論，喜為庸人誦說，故令後世多傳聞者。 The encomium says: Liu Xiang reported that when he was young he often asked elders and worthies who knew affairs and Shuo's day; all agreed Shuo was quick with jokes and songs but could not hold a serious argument, loved spinning yarns for ordinary people, and so left the world awash in hearsay.

而楊雄亦以為朔言不純師，行不純德，其流風遺書蔑如也。 Yang Xiong likewise judged that Shuo followed no true teacher in speech and no pure virtue in conduct; his literary legacy scarcely survives.

然朔名過實者，以其詼達多端，不名一行，應諧似優，不窮似智，正諫似直，穢德似隱。 Yet his reputation outran his substance: he was endlessly witty and hard to pin to one calling—bantering like a jester, seeming clever when unchallenged, sounding blunt in remonstrance, masking vice as modest withdrawal.

朔之詼諧，逢占射覆，其事浮淺，行於眾庶，童兒牧豎莫不眩燿。 His humor—fortune-telling and riddle-guessing—was slight in substance yet ran through the common folk; even children and herdboys were dazzled.

而後世好事者因取奇言怪語附著之朔，故詳錄焉。 Later enthusiasts pinned odd sayings and marvel tales to his name, and so they are recorded here in full.

Book of Han, Chapter 99Volume 87b: Yang Xiong 2 · 1 passage

夫藺先生收功於章台，四皓采榮於南山，公孫創業於金馬，票騎發跡於祁連，司馬長卿竊訾於卓氏，東方朔割炙於細君。 Lord Lin won his fame on the Zhangtai terrace; the Four Whiteheads took honor on Mount Shang; Gongsun Hong built a career from the Golden Horse gate; Huo Qubing made his name beyond Qilian; Sima Xiangru wangled a fortune from the Zhuos; Dongfang Shuo carved a roast for his bride.

Book of Han, Chapter 117Volume 100a: Afterword and Family History 1 · 1 passage

或譏以無功，又感東方朔、揚雄自諭以不遭蘇、張、范、蔡之時，曾不折之以正道，明君子之所守，故聊復應焉。 Critics mocked his want of deeds; remembering how Dongfang Shuo and Yang Xiong excused their obscurity by the absence of Su or Zhang, yet never rebuked opportunism with the true Way, he felt compelled to answer.

Records of the Three Kingdoms, Chapter 62Volume 62: Book of Wu 17: Biographies of Shi Yi and Hu Zong · 1 passage

綜對曰："蕃上書，大語有似東方朔，巧捷詭辯有似彌衡。 Hu Zong said, His memorial sounds like Dongfang Shuo at his broadest and like Mi Heng at his sharpest.

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 112Biographies of the Marquis of Pingjin and Zhufu · 1 passage

儒雅則公孫弘、董仲舒、兒寬，篤行則石建、石慶，質直則汲黯、卜式，推賢則韓安國、鄭當時，定令則趙禹、張湯，文章則司馬遷、相如，滑稽則東方朔、枚皋，應對則嚴助、朱買臣，歷數則唐都、落下閎，協律則李延年，運籌則桑弘羊，奉使則張騫、蘇武，將帥則衛青、霍去病，受遺則霍光、金日磾。 In Confucian scholarship, there were Gongsun Hong, Dong Zhongshu, and Er Kuan. In steadfast conduct, Shi Jian and Shi Qing. In forthright character, Ji An and Bu Shi. In advancing the worthy, Han Anguo and Zheng Dangshi. In codifying laws, Zhao Yu and Zhang Tang. In literary achievement, Sima Qian and Sima Xiangru. In wit and humor, Dongfang Shuo and Mei Gao. In eloquent debate, Yan Zhu and Zhu Maichen. In astronomy and calendrical science, Tang Du and Luoxia Hong. In harmonizing music, Li Yannian. In strategic finance, Sang Hongyang. In diplomatic missions, Zhang Qian and Su Wu. In military command, Wei Qing and Huo Qubing. In receiving the imperial testamentary charge, Huo Guang and Jin Midi.