Qin and Han · Statesman and Writer

Lu Jia 陸賈

Lù Jiǎ

Attested BC 206 - BC 170

Passages: 14
Chapters: 7
Histories: 3

Overview

Lu Jia was a statesman and Writer.

Life and dates

Attested activity

BC 179 孝文帝元年
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 113, passages 25-26
BC 196 漢十一年
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 113, passage 13
BC 200 漢興
Dated from the passage context · Book of Han 25, passage 105
BC 206 to BC 170 萬石、陸賈
Strongly inferred · Book of Liang 12, passage 211
c. BC 196 西都
Dated from the passage context · Book of Liang 14, passage 229
BC 206 to BC 180 陆子优繇，新语以兴
Dated from the passage context · Book of Han 117, passage 258

Key source chapters

Career and standing

Grand Palace Grandee 太中大夫
Appointed
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 113, passage 26

Places and affiliations

Polity Han 汉 · Relation Served
Strongly inferred · Book of Han 117, passage 258
Polity Western Han 西漢 · Relation Served
Strongly inferred · Book of Liang 12, passage 211
At Haozhi 好畤
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 113, passage 25

Works and attributed material

陸賈造新語
Directly stated · Book of Han 2, passage 364
New Discourses 新语
Directly stated · Book of Han 117, passage 258
New Discourses 新语
Relation Author
Directly stated · Book of Han 117, passage 258

Events and relationships

Feasted
Social · Host · At western capital 西都
Directly stated · Book of Liang 14, passage 229
Installed king
Diplomatic · Envoy · With Zhao Tuo (趙佗)
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 113, passage 13
Reproached
Diplomatic · Envoy · With Zhao Tuo (趙佗)
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 113, passages 27-28
Relation Employed by · Person Emperor Gaozu of Han (高祖) · Function persuasion
Directly stated · Book of Han 25, passage 105

Assessments and attributes

BC 206 to BC 170 萬石、陸賈
Assessment conduct-admired-by-Wei-Rui · Mode named-person-judgment Speaker Wei Rui (韋叡)
Directly stated · Book of Liang 12, passage 211
Assessment prized by nobles; gentry envied his ascent among immortals · Mode quoted-source Speaker Liu Jun (劉峻)
Directly stated · Book of Liang 14, passage 229

Source notes

Historicity historical
Directly stated · Book of Liang 12, passage 211

References in the histories

Search passages

History

14 passages

Book of Han, Chapter 1Volume 1: Annals of Emperor Gaozu 1 · 2 passages

願先遣人益張旗幟於山上為疑兵，使酈食其、陸賈往說秦將，啗以利。」 I would first send men to set up more banners on the mountains as decoy troops, while Li Yiji and Lu Jia go to persuade the Qin generals and entice them with advantage."

漢遣陸賈說羽，請太公，羽弗聽。 Han sent Lu Jia to persuade Xiang Yu to return the Duke of Tai. Xiang Yu did not listen.

Book of Han, Chapter 2Volume 1: Annals of Emperor Gaozu 2 · 2 passages

使陸賈即授璽綬。 He sent Lu Jia to personally confer the seal and tassels.

天下既定，命蕭何次律令，韓信申軍法，張蒼定章程，叔孫通制禮儀，陸賈造新語。 After the world was settled, he commanded Xiao He to arrange the statutes and commands, Han Xin to explain military law, Zhang Cang to establish procedures, Shusun Tong to create rituals and ceremonies, Lu Jia to compose new discourses.

Book of Han, Chapter 25Volume 23: Treatise on Punishment and Law · 1 passage

任蕭、曹之文，用良、平之謀，騁陸、酈之辯，明叔孫通之儀，文武相配，大略舉焉。 Gaozu employed Xiao He and Cao Shen in civil administration, used Zhang Liang and Chen Ping for strategy, gave free rein to Lu Jia and Li Yiji in persuasion, and established Shusun Tong’s ceremonial system; civil and military complemented each other, and the broad program was realized.

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

近者陸子優繇，新語以興； Lu Jia, calm and unhurried, raised the New Discourses;

Book of Liang, Chapter 12Volume 12: Liu Tan; Liu Chen; Xi Chanwen; Wei Rui; Wei Ai · 1 passage

後爲護軍，居家無事，慕萬石、陸賈之爲人，因畫之於壁以自玩。 Later, idle at home as Protector of the Army, he admired the Wan Shi and Lu Jia and painted them on his wall for amusement.

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

陸大夫燕喜西都，郭有道人倫東國，公卿貴其籍甚，搢紳羨其登仙。 Grand Master Lu feasted in the western capital; Guo the Worthy ranked men in the eastern state; nobles prized his fame, gentry envied his ascent among immortals.

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 113Treatise on the Nanyue · 6 passages

漢十一年，遣陸賈因立佗為南越王，與剖符通使，和集百越，毋為南邊患害，與長沙接境。 In the eleventh year of the Han dynasty, the emperor dispatched Lu Jia to formally install Tuo as the King of Nanyue. The two sides exchanged tallies and established diplomatic relations, with the goal of pacifying the various Yue peoples so they would not cause trouble along the southern border, where Nanyue adjoined the Kingdom of Changsha.

詔丞相陳平等舉可使南越者，平言好畤陸賈，先帝時習使南越。 The emperor ordered Chancellor Chen Ping and others to recommend a suitable envoy to Nanyue. Chen Ping put forward Lu Jia of Haozhi, who had previously served as envoy to Nanyue under the former emperor.

乃召賈以為太中大夫，往使。 Lu Jia was accordingly summoned, appointed to the rank of Grand Palace Grandee, and dispatched as envoy.

因讓佗自立為帝，曾無一介之使報者。 Lu Jia also reproached Tuo for having proclaimed himself emperor without ever sending so much as a single envoy to inform the Han court.

陸賈至南越，王甚恐，為書謝，稱曰：「蠻夷大長老夫臣佗，前日高后隔異南越，竊疑長沙王讒臣，又遙聞高后盡誅佗宗族，掘燒先人冢，以故自棄，犯長沙邊境。 When Lu Jia reached Nanyue, the king was deeply alarmed. He composed a letter of apology, which read: "Your humble barbarian subject, the Great Elder Tuo: when Empress Dowager Gao cut off relations with Nanyue, I privately suspected the King of Changsha of slandering me at court. Then I heard from afar that the Empress Dowager had executed all of my kinsmen and dug up and burned the ancestral tombs. In my despair, I cast aside all restraint and raided the Changsha border.

陸賈還報，孝文帝大說。 When Lu Jia returned with this report, Emperor Wen was greatly pleased.