Qin and Han · Scholar

Gongsun Chen 公孫臣

Gōngsūn Chén

Attested BC 209 - BC 141

Passages: 7
Chapters: 4
Histories: 2

Overview

Gongsun Chen was a scholar.

Life and dates

Attested activity

BC 166 公孫臣等言正朔服色
Strongly inferred · Records of the Grand Historian 96, passage 163
BC 180 to BC 157 孝文時
Dated from the passage context · Records of the Grand Historian 26, passage 44
BC 209 to BC 141 漢初
Dated from the passage context · Book of Han 51, passage 153
BC 165 黃龍見成紀…以為博士
Dated from the passage context · Records of the Grand Historian 96, passages 105, 107

Key source chapters

Career and standing

Erudite 博士
BC 165 其後黃龍見成紀 · Appointed
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 96, passage 107

Places and affiliations

Polity Han · Relation Served
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 26, passage 44
Polity Han 漢 · Relation Served
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 96, passage 105
Polity Han 漢 · Relation Served
Strongly inferred · Records of the Grand Historian 96, passage 163
At Lu 魯
Directly stated · Book of Han 51, passage 153; Records of the Grand Historian 26, passage 44; Records of the Grand Historian 96, passage 105
BC 165 黃龍見成紀
At Chengji 成紀 · Relation Omen associated
Dated from the passage context · Records of the Grand Historian 96, passage 107

Works and attributed material

Memorial · Author · Direct quotation
Directly stated · Book of Han 51, passage 153; Records of the Grand Historian 26, passages 44-45
Memorial · Author · Summary argued Han corresponded to Earth phase with yellow-dragon omen
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 96, passage 105

Events and relationships

Argued for correcting calendar and ritual colors
Scholarly · Proposer
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 96, passage 163
Drafted earth virtue calendar
BC 165 草土德之歷制度，更元年 · Calendar reform · Drafter
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 96, passage 107
Proposed earth virtue calendar reform
Intellectual · Memorialist
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 26, passages 44-45

Source notes

Historicity historical
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 96, passage 105

References in the histories

Book of Han, Chapter 5Volume 4: Annals of Emperor Wen · 1 passage

公孫臣明服色，新垣平設五廟。 Gongsun Chen clarified the ritual vestments and colors, while Xin Yuanping established the five ancestral temples.

Book of Han, Chapter 51Volume 42: Zhang, Zhou, Zhao, Ren and Shentu · 2 passages

蒼為丞相十餘年，魯人公孫臣上書，陳終始五德傳，言「漢土德時，其符黃龍見，當改正朔，易服色」。 Zhang Cang had been chancellor for more than ten years when Gongsun Chen of Lu submitted a memorial on the cycle of the Five Phases, saying, "When Han enters the era of Earth, the omen will be the appearance of a yellow dragon; the calendar and court colors must be changed."

其後黃龍見成紀，於是文帝召公孫臣以為博士，草立土德時曆制度，更元年。 Later, when a yellow dragon was sighted at Chengji, Emperor Wen summoned Gongsun Chen, appointed him an erudite, and had him draft the calendar and institutions for the Earth era and proclaim a new inaugural year.

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 26Treatise on the Calendar · 1 passage

至孝文時，魯人公孫臣以終始五德上書，言「漢得土德，宜更元，改正朔，易服色。 By the time of Emperor Xiaowen, Gongsun Chen of Lu memorialized on the succession of the Five Virtues, saying, “Han has obtained earth virtue. It should change the era, reform the calendar, and alter the clothing colors.

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 96Biography of Chancellor Zhang · 3 passages

蒼為丞相十餘年，魯人公孫臣上書言漢土德時，其符有黃龍當見。 After Cang had served as chancellor for more than ten years, a man from Lu named Gongsun Chen submitted a memorial arguing that Han corresponded to the phase of Earth, and that its confirming omen would be the appearance of a yellow dragon.

其後黃龍見成紀，於是文帝召公孫臣以為博士，草土德之歷制度，更元年。 Later, a yellow dragon was sighted at Chengji. Emperor Wen thereupon summoned Gongsun Chen and appointed him an Erudite, directing him to draft a new calendar and institutional system based on the phase of Earth, and proclaimed a new first year.

太史公曰：「張蒼文學律歷，為漢名相，而絀賈生、公孫臣等言正朔服色事而不遵，明用秦之顓頊歷，何哉？ The Grand Historian says: "Zhang Cang was learned in texts, law, and calendrics, and became a famous chancellor of Han. Yet when Jia Yi, Gongsun Chen, and others argued for correcting the calendar's starting point and the ritual colors, he rejected their proposals and did not follow them, plainly continuing to use Qin's Zhuanxu calendar. Why?