Qin and Han · Official

Shi Jian 石建

First attested BC 157; died BC 123 to BC 122

Passages: 25
Chapters: 7
Histories: 4

Overview

Shi Jian was an official.

Life and dates

Death

BC 123 to BC 122 歲餘 after 元朔五年
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 103, passages 45, 47
died 卒
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 109, passage 84
died 死
Directly stated · Book of Han 55, passage 48

Attested activity

BC 124 元朔五年
Dated from the passage context · Book of Han 55, passages 47-48
BC 123 元朔五年後歲餘
Dated from the passage context · Records of the Grand Historian 103, passage 47
BC 124 居頃之
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 109, passage 84
BC 139 建元二年
Dated from the passage context · Book of Han 55, passages 33-34; Records of the Grand Historian 103, passage 32
BC 157 景帝時
Dated from the passage context · Records of the Grand Historian 103, passage 17
BC 140 to BC 120 西漢石建仕宦
Strongly inferred · Book of Liang 26, passage 188

Family

Immediate relationships attested in the translated histories.

Sibling of Shi Qing (石慶)
elder brother 兄 · Full siblings
Directly stated · Book of Han 55, passage 44; Records of the Grand Historian 103, passage 42
Child of Shi Fen (石奮)
eldest son 長子
Directly stated · Book of Han 55, passage 21; Records of the Grand Historian 103, passage 17

Key source chapters

Career and standing

steadfast conduct 篤行
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 112, passage 282
Palace Commandant 郎中令
Appointed
Directly stated · Book of Han 55, passage 34
Palace Steward 郎中令
Appointed
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 103, passage 32

Places and affiliations

Western Han 漢
Relation Served
Directly stated · Book of Han 68, passage 258
Polity Han 漢 · Relation Served
Directly stated · Book of Han 55, passage 21; Records of the Grand Historian 112, passages 277, 282
Polity Western Han 西漢 · Relation Served
Strongly inferred · Book of Liang 26, passage 188; Book of Southern Qi 34, passage 42

Works and attributed material

Speech · Speaker
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 103, passages 49-51

Events and relationships

Listed among Han talents of the era
Career · Exemplar · Mode quotation Speaker Ban Gu (班固)
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 112, passage 282
Washed father clothes secretly
Domestic · Actor · With Shi Fen (石奮)
Directly stated · Book of Han 55, passage 36
Washed parents clothes secretly
Filial service · Son
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 103, passage 34

Assessments and attributes

Assessment exemplar of caution · Mode quoted-allusion Speaker Yu Wanzhi (虞玩之)
Directly stated · Book of Southern Qi 34, passage 42
Assessment gentlemen mocked him for washing clothes · Mode historian-judgment
Directly stated · Book of Han 55, passage 160
Assessment most filial of the household · Mode historian-judgment
Directly stated · Book of Han 55, passage 49
Assessment most-filial-surpassing-even-Wanshi · Mode historian-judgment
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 103, passage 48
Assessment steadfast conduct (篤行) · Mode historian-judgment
Directly stated · Book of Han 68, passage 258

Source notes

Historicity historical
Directly stated · Book of Liang 26, passage 188; Book of Southern Qi 34, passage 42
Value historical
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 112, passage 282

References in the histories

Search passages

History

25 passages

Book of Han, Chapter 55Volume 46: The Lords of Wan, Wei, Zhi, Zhou and Zhang · 10 passages

奮長子建，次甲，次乙，次慶，皆以馴行孝謹，官至二千石。 His sons Jian, Jia, Yi, and Qing—every one dutiful, filial, and careful—each rose to two-thousand-picul office.

太后以為儒者文多質少，今萬石君家不言而躬行，乃以長子建為郎中令，少子慶為內史。 She distrusted bookish rhetoric and prized the Shis’ silent example, so she named Jian Palace Commandant and Qing Secretary of the Capital.

建老白首，萬石君尚無恙。 Jian’s hair had turned white while his father remained vigorous.

建奏事於上前，即有可言，屏人乃言極切； Before the throne he spoke his mind bluntly once the room was cleared;

舉宗及兄建肉袒，萬石君讓曰：「內史貴人，入閭里，里中長老皆走匿，而內史坐車中自如，固當！」 The whole family, with Jian, bared their shoulders until the patriarch cried, “A capital secretary is a grandee: the elders scatter when you enter the lane, yet you ride through at ease—how fitting!”

萬石君元朔五年卒，建哭泣哀思，杖乃能行。 He died in the fifth year of Yuanshuo; Jian mourned until he could barely walk without a staff.

歲餘，建亦死。 A year later Jian followed him.

諸子孫咸孝，然建最甚，甚於萬石君。 Every descendant was dutiful, yet none surpassed Jian—not even the old lord himself.

建為郎中令，奏事下，建讀之，驚恐曰：「書『馬』者與尾而五，今乃四，不足一，獲譴死矣！」 As Palace Commandant he once read an edict and panicked: “The character ma ‘horse’ should have five strokes; this copy has four—I am a dead man for the blunder!”

至石建之澣衣，周仁為垢汙，君子譏之。 Still, later moralists have smiled at Shi Jian scrubbing bedpans and Zhou Ren’s studied squalor.

Book of Han, Chapter 68Volume 58: Gongsun Hong, Bu Shi and Er Kuan · 1 passage

漢之得人，於茲為盛，儒雅則公孫弘、董仲舒、兒寬，篤行則石建、石慶，質直則汲黯、卜式，推賢則韓安國、鄭當時，定令則趙禹、張湯，文章則司馬遷、相如，滑稽則東方朔、枚皋，應對則嚴助、硃買臣，歷數則唐都、洛下閎，協律則李延年，運籌則桑弘羊，奉使則張騫、蘇武，將率則衛青、霍去病，受遺則霍光、金日磾，其餘不可勝紀。 Never did the dynasty gather talent so thickly: Hong, Dong, and Kuan for classical breadth; the Shi brothers for steadfast service; Ji An and Bu Shi for blunt loyalty; Han Anguo and Zheng Dangshi for lifting others; Zhao Yu and Zhang Tang for codifying law; Sima Qian and Xiangru for voice; jesters Dongfang Shuo and Mei Gao; debaters Yan Zhu and Zhu Maichen; calendar-makers Tang Du and Luoxia Hong; the harmonist Li Yan'nian; the reckoner Sang Hongyang; envoys Zhang Qian and Su Wu; blades Wei Qing and Huo Qubing; regents Huo Guang and Jin Midi—and a cloud of names besides.

Book of Liang, Chapter 26Volume 26: Fan Xiu; Fu Zhao; Fu Ying; Xiao Chen; Lu Gao · 1 passage

史臣曰：范岫、傅昭，並篤行清慎，善始令終，斯石建、石慶之徒矣。 The historian writes: Fan Xiu and Fu Zhao were alike in steadfast conduct, purity, and caution, admirable from first to last—men in the mold of Shi Jian and Shi Qing.

Book of Southern Qi, Chapter 34Volume 34 Biographies 15: Yu Wanzhi, Liu Xiu, Shen Chong, Yu Gaozhi, Wang Chen · 1 passage

隆何必有石建之愼，高柔之勤，蓋以世屬休明，服道脩身故耳。 Did Long need Shi Jian's caution or Gao Rou's diligence? It was only that the age belonged to radiant peace and he cultivated the Way and his person.

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 103Biographies of Wan Shi and Zhang Shu · 10 passages

奮長子建，次子甲，次子乙，次子慶，皆以馴行孝謹，官皆至二千石。 Fen's eldest son Jian, second son Jia, third son Yi, and fourth son Qing all attained the rank of two-thousand-bushel official through their disciplined conduct, filial piety, and caution.

皇太后以為儒者文多質少，今萬石君家不言而躬行，乃以長子建為郎中令，少子慶為內史。 The Empress Dowager considered that Confucian scholars were long on rhetoric but short on substance, whereas the household of the Marquis of Wanshi spoke little but practiced virtue in person. She therefore appointed the eldest son Jian as Palace Steward and the youngest son Qing as Interior Minister.

建老白首，萬石君尚無恙。 By the time Jian had grown old and white-haired, the Marquis of Wanshi was still in good health.

建為郎中令，每五日洗沐歸謁親，入子舍，竊問侍者，取親中帬廁牏，身自浣滌，復與侍者，不敢令萬石君知，以為常。 While serving as Palace Steward, Jian would return home every five days during his rest period to visit his parents. He would slip into the servants' quarters, secretly ask for his father's undergarments and chamber-pot linings, wash them himself, then return them to the servants—never daring to let the Marquis of Wanshi know. This became his constant practice.

建為郎中令，事有可言，屏人恣言，極切； While serving as Palace Steward, when there was something worth saying on state affairs, he would dismiss attendants and speak with utmost frankness and force;

舉宗及兄建肉袒，萬石君讓曰：「內史貴人，入閭里，里中長老皆走匿，而內史坐車中自如，固當！」 The whole clan, together with his elder brother Jian, bared their shoulders. The Marquis of Wanshi rebuked him, saying, "The Interior Minister is an exalted man: when he enters the lane, the elders there all run and hide, while the Interior Minister sits calmly in his carriage. Quite proper!"

長子郎中令建哭泣哀思，扶杖乃能行。 His eldest son, the Palace Steward Jian, wept so piteously in his grief that he could walk only by leaning on a staff.

歲餘，建亦死。 A little over a year later, Jian too died.

諸子孫咸孝，然建最甚，甚於萬石君。 All the sons and grandsons were filial, but Jian was the most extreme of all—surpassing even the Marquis of Wanshi himself.

建為郎中令，書奏事，事下，建讀之，曰：「誤書！ While Jian was serving as Palace Steward, memorials on affairs came down to him. He read one and said, "There is an error in the writing!

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 109Biography of General Li · 1 passage

居頃之，石建卒，於是上召廣代建為郎中令。 Shortly afterward, Shi Jian died, and the Emperor summoned Guang to replace him as Superintendent of the Imperial Household.

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 112Biographies of the Marquis of Pingjin and Zhufu · 1 passage

儒雅則公孫弘、董仲舒、兒寬，篤行則石建、石慶，質直則汲黯、卜式，推賢則韓安國、鄭當時，定令則趙禹、張湯，文章則司馬遷、相如，滑稽則東方朔、枚皋，應對則嚴助、朱買臣，歷數則唐都、落下閎，協律則李延年，運籌則桑弘羊，奉使則張騫、蘇武，將帥則衛青、霍去病，受遺則霍光、金日磾。 In Confucian scholarship, there were Gongsun Hong, Dong Zhongshu, and Er Kuan. In steadfast conduct, Shi Jian and Shi Qing. In forthright character, Ji An and Bu Shi. In advancing the worthy, Han Anguo and Zheng Dangshi. In codifying laws, Zhao Yu and Zhang Tang. In literary achievement, Sima Qian and Sima Xiangru. In wit and humor, Dongfang Shuo and Mei Gao. In eloquent debate, Yan Zhu and Zhu Maichen. In astronomy and calendrical science, Tang Du and Luoxia Hong. In harmonizing music, Li Yannian. In strategic finance, Sang Hongyang. In diplomatic missions, Zhang Qian and Su Wu. In military command, Wei Qing and Huo Qubing. In receiving the imperial testamentary charge, Huo Guang and Jin Midi.