Ancient China · Wei magistrate and hydraulic engineer

Ximen Bao 西門豹

Attested BC 445 - BC 396

Passages: 7
Chapters: 4
Histories: 4

Overview

Ximen Bao was a Wei magistrate and hydraulic engineer.

Life and dates

Attested activity

BC 445 to BC 396 西門豹
Strongly inferred · Old Book of Tang 127, passages 249-250
c. BC 400 西門豹引漳水溉鄴
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 29, passage 17
c. BC 400 西門豹為鄴令
Strongly inferred · Book of Han 38, passage 16

Key source chapters

Career and standing

canal engineer 引漳水
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 29, passage 17
Magistrate of Ye 鄴令
Held
Directly stated · Book of Han 38, passage 16

Places and affiliations

Polity Wei 魏 · Relation Served
Strongly inferred · Book of Han 38, passage 16; Old Book of Tang 127, passage 249
Polity Wei 魏 · Relation Served
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 29, passage 17
At He Nei 河內 · Relation Associated with
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 29, passage 17
At Ye 鄴 · Relation Worked at
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 29, passage 17

Events and relationships

Diverted the Zhang River to irrigate Ye
Hydraulic · Magistrate
Directly stated · Book of Han 38, passages 16-17
Diverted Zhang to irrigate Ye
Hydraulic · Director · At Ye 鄴
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 29, passage 17

Assessments and attributes

Assessment clerks did not dare cheat him; a sage of old · Mode historian-judgment
Directly stated · Old Book of Tang 127, passages 249-250

References in the histories

Book of Han, Chapter 38Volume 29: Treatise on Rivers and Canals · 4 passages

魏文侯時，西門豹為鄴令，有令名。 Under Marquis Wen of Wei, Ximen Bao governed Ye and earned an excellent reputation.

至文侯曾孫襄王時，與群臣飲酒，王為群臣祝曰：「今吾臣皆西門豹之為人臣也！」 By the reign of King Xiang, Marquis Wen's great-grandson, the king drank with his court and toasted his ministers: "Would that all my ministers served as Ximen Bao did!"

漳水在其旁，西門豹不知用，是不智也。 The Zhang River lies right beside it, and Ximen Bao did not exploit it. That was not wisdom.

仁智豹未之盡，何足法也！」 So Bao did not fully realize either wisdom or benevolence. Why should he be our standard?"

Old Book of Tang, Chapter 127Volume 123 Biographies 73: Liu Yan, Di Wuqi, Ban Hong, Ban Shao, Li Xun · 1 passage

或問曰：鄭子產吏不能欺，宓子賤吏不忍欺，西門豹吏不敢欺。 One might ask: "With Zichan of Zheng, clerks could not cheat him; with Master Fu Ziqian, they could not bear to cheat him; with Ximen Bao, they did not dare cheat him."

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 29Treatise on Rivers and Canals · 1 passage

西門豹引漳水溉鄴，以富魏之河內。 Ximen Bao diverted the Zhang River to irrigate Ye, thereby enriching Wei’s He Nei commandery.

Book of Wei, Chapter 110Volume 104: Author's Preface · 1 passage

四年，獻武於西門豹祠宴集，謂司馬子如曰：「魏收為史官，書吾善惡。 In the fourth year Xianwu hosted a banquet at the Shrine of Ximen Bao and said to Sima Ziru: "Wei Shou, as historiographer, will record my virtues and faults.