Dates uncertain · Literary Character

Great Man 大人

Attested BC 141 - BC 117

Passages: 4
Chapters: 1
Histories: 1

Overview

Great Man was a Literary Character.

Life and dates

Attested activity

BC 141 to BC 117 武帝朝相如作賦
Strongly inferred · Book of Han 67, passages 120, 123

Works and attributed material

Rhapsody for the Great Man 大人賦
Relation Depicted in
Directly stated · Book of Han 67, passages 120, 172

Source notes

Historicity literary
Directly stated · Book of Han 67, passage 123

References in the histories

Book of Han, Chapter 67Volume 57b: Sima Xiangru · 4 passages

臣嘗為《大人賦》，未就，請具而奏之。」 I have drafted a "Rhapsody for the Great Man" but never finished it; allow me to polish it and lay it before you."

相如以為列仙之儒居山澤間，形容甚□，此非帝王之仙意也，乃遂奏《大人賦》。 He thought the common picture of immortals—emaciated recluses in hills and swamps—beneath an emperor's dignity, and so he offered the "Rhapsody for the Great Man" instead.

世有大人兮，在乎中州。 There walks among us a Great Man, and his seat is the Middle Kingdom.

相如既奏《大人賦》，天子大說，飄飄有陵雲氣游天地之間意。 After Xiangru recited the "Rhapsody for the Great Man," the emperor was transported; he felt light enough to ride the wind between heaven and earth.