Liu Xiahui (柳下惠) | 24 Histories

Overview

Liu Xiahui was an official and Moral Exemplar.

PeriodAncient China

IdentityHistorical · Male

Roles

Found in

Life and dates

Attested activity

BC 659 to BC 627 昔者魯君問柳下惠
Dated from the passage context · Book of Han 65, passages 337-339
BC 700 to BC 600 柳下惠
Directly stated · History of Jin 127, passage 49
BC 620 to BC 550 柳下惠（引述）
Directly stated · Records of the Three Kingdoms 37, passage 111
BC 650 to BC 609 柳下惠之類
Strongly inferred · Book of Later Han 75, passage 41
BC 600 柳下惠膺盜跖之誅
Strongly inferred · Draft History of Qing 143, passage 163
c. BC 600 量交
Dated from the passage context · Book of Liang 14, passage 245

Family

Sibling of Robber Zhi (盜跖)
brother 兄弟 · Uncertain parentage · Uncertain siblings
Uncertain · Draft History of Qing 143, passage 163

Key source chapters

Book of Han, Chapter 65 Volume 56: Dong Zhongshu 2 passages
Book of Han, Chapter 76 Volume 65: Dongfang Shuo 2 passages
Book of Han, Chapter 117 Volume 100a: Afterword and Family History 1 2 passages
Book of Northern Qi, Chapter 5 Volume 5 Annals 5: Emperor Fei 1 passage
Book of Later Han, Chapter 75 Volume 68: Biographies of Guo, Fu, Xu 1 passage

Career and standing

once held office 嘗仕於當世
Directly stated · History of Jin 127, passage 49
a humiliating / dishonorable post 辱仕
Accepted
Directly stated · Book of Han 117, passage 262

Places and affiliations

Polity Lu 魯 · Relation Served
Directly stated · Book of Han 65, passage 337

Works and attributed material

Oral reply · Speaker · With Lord of Lu (魯君) · Direct quotation · Units s0338 · Mode quoted-speech Speaker Liu Xiahui (柳下惠)
Directly stated · Book of Han 65, passage 338
Self speech · Speaker · Direct quotation · Units s0339 · Mode quoted-speech Speaker Liu Xiahui (柳下惠)
Directly stated · Book of Han 65, passage 339

Events and relationships

Humbled his aspirations to accept a humiliating post
Career · Actor
Directly stated · Book of Han 117, passage 262
Refused to endorse attack on Qi
Ethical · Adviser
Directly stated · Book of Han 65, passages 338-339

Assessments and attributes

Assessment differed in conduct from Bo Yi yet shared one moral voice · Mode historian-judgment
Directly stated · Book of Han 117, passage 204
Assessment exemplar of integrity that does not abandon the world · Mode commentator-judgment
Directly stated · Book of Later Han 75, passages 40-41
Assessment praised as recluse by Confucius · Mode named-source-report Speaker Confucius (孔子)
Directly stated · History of Jin 127, passage 49
Assessment true exemplar · Mode speaker-judgment Speaker Host (主人)
Directly stated · Book of Han 117, passage 262

Source notes

Historicity historical
Directly stated · Book of Northern Qi 5, passage 17

References in the histories

Search passages

History

12 passages

Book of Northern Qi, Chapter 5Volume 5 Annals 5: Emperor Fei · 1 passage

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太子曰：「顏子縮屋稱貞，柳下嫗而不亂，未若此翁白首不娶者也。」 The crown prince said, "Yan Hui was praised for chastity though he lived in a hovel, and Liu Xiahui kept his integrity though he shared a blanket with a woman—but neither can match this old man who has never married even to white hair."

Book of Han, Chapter 65Volume 56: Dong Zhongshu · 2 passages

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聞昔者魯君問柳下惠：『吾欲伐齊，何如？』 I recall the lord of Lu asking Liuxia Hui whether he should attack Qi.

柳下惠曰：『不可。』 Liuxia Hui said no.

Book of Han, Chapter 76Volume 65: Dongfang Shuo · 2 passages

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譬若以周、邵為丞相，孔丘為御史大夫，太公為將軍，畢公高拾遺於後，弁嚴子為衛尉，皋陶為大理，後稷為司農，伊尹為少府，子贛使外國，顏、閔為博士，子夏為太常，益為右扶風，季路為執金吾，契為鴻臚，龍逢為宗正，伯夷為京兆，管仲為馮翊，魯般為將作，仲山甫為光祿，申伯為太僕，延陵季子為水衡，百里奚為典屬國，柳下惠為大長秋，史魚為司直，蘧伯玉為太傅，孔父為詹事，孫叔敖為諸侯相，子產為郡守，王慶忌為期門，夏育為鼎官，羿為旄頭，宋萬為式道候。」 Imagine the Duke of Zhou and the Duke of Shao as your chancellors; Confucius as chief censor; the Grand Duke as commander; Duke Bi Gao as court remonstrant; Bian Zhuangzi as captain of the guard; Gao Yao as chief judge; Hou Ji as minister of agriculture; Yi Yin as palace treasurer; Zigong as foreign envoy; Yan Hui and Min Ziqian as court scholars; Zixia as master of rites; Yi as western capital intendant; Zilu as capital commandant; Xie as master of guest ceremonies; Guan Longpeng as keeper of the imperial genealogy; the minister Boyi as metropolitan governor; Guan Zhong as northern capital intendant; Lu Ban as chief engineer; Zhong Shanfu as palace chamberlain; the Earl of Shen as master of the horse; Prince Jizi of Yanling as keeper of parks and waters; Baili Xi as commissioner for dependent peoples; Liuxia Hui as chamberlain to the empress; Shi Yu as censor of conduct; Qu Boyu as grand tutor; Kong Fu as supervisor of the heir apparent's household; Sunshu Ao as chancellor to the feudal lords; Zichan as commandery governor; Prince Qingji as a palace gate guard; Xia Yu as cauldron officer; Yi the Archer as vanguard officer; and Song Wan as road-clearing scout."

非夷齊而是柳下惠，戒其子以上容：「首陽為拙，柱下為工； He rejected Bo Yi and Shu Qi's example in favor of Liuxia Hui's, counseling his son to bend with the times: "Retreat to Mount Shouyang was clumsy; service beneath the pillar was skillful;

Book of Han, Chapter 117Volume 100a: Afterword and Family History 1 · 2 passages

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三仁殊而一致兮，夷、惠舛而齊聲。 The three benevolent worthies walked different paths to the same goal; Yi and Hui clashed in style yet harmonized in purpose.

若乃夷抗行於首陽，惠降志於辱仕，顏耽樂於簞瓢，孔終篇於西狩，聲盈塞於天淵，真吾徒之師表也。 Then there were Boyi, who upheld his conduct on Mount Shouyang; Liuxia Hui, who humbled his aspirations to take a dishonorable post; Yan Hui, who delighted in his basket of rice and gourd of water; and Confucius, who brought his classic to an end with the hunt in the west. Their fame fills the space between heaven and the abyss; they are truly exemplars for men such as us.

Book of Later Han, Chapter 75Volume 68: Biographies of Guo, Fu, Xu · 1 passage

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〈柳下惠之類。〉〈(like Liuxia Hui.)〉

History of Jin, Chapter 127Volume 127 Biographies 65: Xiao You, Wendihanwolubu, Chen Yan, Liu Yu, Meng Xing, Wang Zhen, Liu Zheng, Yin Yi, Chu Chengliang, Wang Qufei, Zhao Zhi, Du Shisheng, Hao Tianting, Xue Jiyuan, Gao Zhongzhen, Zhang Qian, Wang Rumei, Song Ke, Xin Yuan, Wang Yuke · 1 passage

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孔子稱逸民伯夷、叔齊、夷逸、硃張、柳下惠、少連，其立心造行之異同，各有所稱謂，而柳下惠則又嘗仕於當世者也。 Confucius praised the recluses Boyi, Shuqi, Yiyi, Zhuzhang, Liuxiahui, and Shaolian; though their purposes and conduct differed in ways that earned each his own epithet, Liuxiahui had also once held office in his own time.

Book of Liang, Chapter 14Volume 14: Jiang Yan; Ren Fang · 1 passage

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故輪蓋所遊，必非夷、惠之室； Thus wherever carriage wheels travel, it is not Bo Yi and Liu Xiahui's house;

Draft History of Qing, Chapter 143Volume 143 Treatises 118: Penal Law 2 · 1 passage

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夫以一人之故而波及全家，以無罪之人而科以重罪，漢文帝以為不正之法反害於民，北魏崔挺嘗曰『一人有罪，延及闔門，則司馬牛受桓魋之罰，柳下惠膺盜跖之誅，不亦哀哉』，其言皆篤論也。 Punishing an entire family for one person's crime and imposing heavy penalties on the innocent—Emperor Wen of Han called such law harmful to the people; Cui Ting of Northern Wei wrote that when one person's guilt reaches the whole household, "Sima Niu would suffer Huan Tui's punishment and Liu Xiahui would bear Zhi's execution—is this not lamentable?"—sound judgment all.

Records of the Three Kingdoms, Chapter 37Volume 37: Book of Shu 7: Biographies of Pang Tong and Fa Zheng · 1 passage

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常幅巾見扶風守，守曰：「哀公雖不肖，猶臣仲尼，柳下惠不去父母之邦，欲相屈為功曹何如？」 He presented himself informally to the prefect of Fufeng, who urged him: “Even a flawed lord like Duke Ai retained Confucius; Liuxia Hui refused to abandon his homeland—might you accept appointment as Clerk of Merit?”