Robber Zhi (盜跖) | 24 Histories

Overview

Robber Zhi was a Legendary Bandit.

IdentityUncertain · Male

Roles

Found in

Other names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Epithet	great knave of the eastern mound	東陵之巨猾	Dongling zhi juxia

Life and dates

Death

Died of old age
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 61, passage 42

Attested activity

跖、蹻暴戾
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 124, passage 14
legendary antiquity
Dated from the passage context · Book of Northern Qi 47, passage 74
legendary antiquity
Directly stated · Book of Han 104, passage 113; Book of Later Han 43, passage 119; Book of Liang 14, passage 244; Draft History of Qing 143, passage 163; Records of the Grand Historian 84, passage 155; Book of Song 62, passage 167
c. BC 500 undated contrast with Bo Yi and Shu Qi
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 61, passage 42

Family

Sibling of Liu Xiahui (柳下惠)
brother 兄弟 · Uncertain parentage · Uncertain siblings
Uncertain · Draft History of Qing 143, passage 163

Key source chapters

Places and affiliations

At Dongling 東陵 · Relation Associated with
Directly stated · Book of Liang 14, passage 244

Events and relationships

Killed innocent ate human flesh gathered thousands rampaged
Criminal · Bandit leader
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 61, passage 42

Assessments and attributes

Assessment archetypal bandit used as comparison for later knights · Mode historian-judgment
Directly stated · Book of Han 104, passage 113
Assessment clearest counterexample to heaven rewarding the good · Mode historian-judgment Speaker Sima Qian (司馬遷)
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 61, passages 42-44
Assessment exemplar-of-villainy · Mode quotation Speaker Feng Gun (馮緄)
Directly stated · Book of Later Han 43, passage 119
Assessment violent and cruel yet praised by followers · Mode historian-judgment Speaker Sima Qian (司馬遷)
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 124, passage 14

Source notes

Historicity legendary
Directly stated · Book of Han 104, passage 113; Book of Later Han 43, passage 119; Book of Liang 14, passage 244
Historicity uncertain
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 61, passage 42

References in the histories

Search passages

History

9 passages

Book of Northern Qi, Chapter 47Volume 47 Biographies 39: Cruel Officials · 1 passage

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對捍使者尚得死坐，況遊道吐不臣之言，犯慢上之罪，口稱夷、齊，心懷盜跖，欺公賣法，受納苞苴，產隨官厚，財與位積，雖贓汚未露，而姦詐如是。 Resisting an envoy earns death; how much more unministered words, slighting superiors, mouth naming Yi and Qi while heart harbors robbers, deceiving the public, taking bribes—wealth piled with rank though bribery was not yet exposed.

Book of Han, Chapter 104Volume 92: Youxias · 1 passage

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至若北道姚氏，西道諸杜，南道仇景，東道趙佗羽公子，南陽趙調之徒，盜跖而居民間者耳，曷足道哉！ As for the Yao gang on the northern road, the Du clans on the western, Qiu Jing in the south, the so-called Zhao Tuo princeling in the east, Zhao Diao in Nanyang—they were bandits in broad daylight, hardly worth ink.

Book of Later Han, Chapter 43Volume 38: Biographies of Zhang, Fa, Teng, Feng, Du, Yang · 1 passage

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苟曰無猜，盜跖可信。 if you insist there is no bias, then even Robber Zhi would pass for honest.

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

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若衡重錙銖，纊微彯撇，雖共工之蒐慝，驩兜之掩義，南荊之跋扈，東陵之巨猾，皆爲匍匐委蛇，折枝舐痔，金膏翠羽將其意，脂韋便辟導其誠。 If the scale weighs heavy as a cash-weight and the gossamer stirs the slightest breath, though Gong Gong's evil, Huan Dou's masked righteousness, southern Jing's arrogance, eastern mound's great knavery—all crawl and writhe, break branches and lick hemorrhoids; gold paste and kingfisher plumes suit their intent, grease and rush smooth their sincerity.

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 Grand Historian, Chapter 61Biographies: Biography of Bo Yi · 1 passage

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盜蹠日殺不辜，肝人之肉，暴戾恣睢，聚黨數千人橫行天下，竟以壽終。 Robber Zhi daily killed the innocent and ate human flesh. Violent and arrogant, he gathered a band of several thousand men and rampaged across the realm, yet in the end died of old age.

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 84Biographies of Qu Yuan and Master Jia · 1 passage

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世謂伯夷貪兮，謂盜跖廉； The world calls Bo Yi greedy and Robber Zhi virtuous;

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 124Biographies of Knight-errants · 1 passage

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跖、蹻暴戾，其徒誦義無窮。 Robber Zhi and Zhuang Qiao were violent and cruel, yet their followers sang praises to their righteousness without end.

Book of Song, Chapter 62Volume 62 Biographies 22: Yang Xin, Zhang Fu, Wang Wei · 1 passage

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家本貧餧，至於惡衣蔬食，設使盜蹠居此，亦不能兩展其足，妄意珍藏也。 Our family was originally poor, to the point of coarse clothes and plain food; even Robber Zhi dwelling here could not stretch both feet twice, vainly dreaming of hoarded treasure.