Xu Fu (許負) | 24 Histories

Overview

Xu Fu was a Diviner.

PeriodQin and Han

IdentityUncertain

Roles

Found in

Life and dates

Attested activity

legendary antiquity
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 71, passage 172
BC 200 to BC 170 善相人者許負外孫也
Dated from the passage context · Records of the Grand Historian 124, passage 51
BC 171 條侯亞夫自未侯為河內守時
Dated from the passage context · Records of the Grand Historian 57, passage 116
BC 200 to BC 180 溫善相人許負外孫也
Dated from the passage context · Book of Han 104, passage 52
BC 200 to BC 180 袁、許之術
Strongly inferred · Old History of the Five Dynasties 129, passage 54
BC 200 to BC 170 許相理（漢初許負）
Strongly inferred · Book of Han 117, passage 195

Show 1 more source-backed claim

BC 205 許負
Directly stated · Records of the Three Kingdoms 31, passages 118-119

Family

Immediate relationships attested in the translated histories.

Ancestor of Guo Xie (郭解)
maternal grandmother 外祖母 · maternal line · 2 generations · Through Mother of Guo Xie (郭解母)
maternal grandson 外孫 · maternal line · 2 generations · Through Mother of Guo Xie (郭解母)
maternal grandson 外孫 · maternal line · 2 generations
Directly stated · Book of Han 104, passage 52; Records of the Grand Historian 124, passage 51
Parent of Mother of Guo Xie (郭解母)
daughter 女
mother 母 · maternal line
Strongly inferred · Book of Han 104, passage 52
Parent of Mother of Guo Jie (郭解母)
parent 親
daughter 女
Strongly inferred · Records of the Grand Historian 124, passage 51

Key source chapters

Career and standing

physiognomist 善相人
Directly stated · Book of Han 104, passage 52
physiognomist 善相人者
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 124, passage 51
Village Mistress of Mingci 明雌亭侯
BC 202 漢高祖封為明雌亭侯 · Enfeoffed · Authority Liu Bang (劉邦)
Directly stated · Records of the Three Kingdoms 31, passage 119

Places and affiliations

At Wen County in Henei 河內溫縣
Directly stated · Records of the Three Kingdoms 31, passage 119
At Wen 溫
Directly stated · Book of Han 104, passage 52

Learning and skills

Skill physiognomy 術 · Level namesake-of-tradition
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 129, passages 54, 98

Works and attributed material

Speech · Speaker · With Zhou Yafu (周亞夫) · Direct quotation
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 57, passages 116-118, 122

Events and relationships

Read fate in twisted twigs
Divinatory · Diviner
Directly stated · Book of Han 117, passage 195
Relation Adviser of · Person Wei Bao (魏豹) · Wei Bao heard Xu Fu's words
Directly stated · Records of the Three Kingdoms 31, passage 118

Source notes

Pei Songzhi doubts Han Gaozu enfeoffed Xu Fu as Mingci village mistress, since Gaozu only created full marquises, not village-hamlet ranks
Field enfeoffment · Witness Person Id Pei Songzhi (裴松之)
Directly stated · Records of the Three Kingdoms 31, passage 120
Pei notes eastern dialects call mother fu, so Kong Yan's taking Xu Fu as a woman may be only resemblance, not certainty
Field sex · Witness Person Id Pei Songzhi (裴松之)
Directly stated · Records of the Three Kingdoms 31, passage 120

References in the histories

Search passages

History

12 passages

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

Open chapter

郭解，河內軹人也，溫善相人許負外孫也。 Guo Xie of Zhi in Henei was the maternal grandson of Xu Fu, the famous face-reader from Wen.

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

Open chapter

妣聆呱而刻石兮，許相理而鞠條。 An ancestress heard a newborn wail and set it in stone; Xu read fate in twisted twigs.

Old History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 71Volume 71 Book of Later Tang 47: Biographies 23: Ma Yu, Si Kongting, Cao Tingyin, Xiao Xifu, Yao Zongzhi, Jia Fu, Ma Gao, Luo Guan, Chun Yuyan, Zhang Ge, Xu Ji, Zhou Xuanbao · 2 passages

Open chapter

元豹少為僧，其師有知人之鑒，從遊十年餘，苦辛無憚，師知其可教，遂以袁、許之術授之。 As a youth Yuanbao became a monk; his teacher, skilled at reading men, trained him for more than ten years of hard service and then taught him the physiognomy of Yuan Tian gang and Xu Fu.

趙鳳奏曰：「袁、許之事，元豹所長者，以陛下貴不可言，今既驗矣，餘無可問。 Zhao Feng objected, "Yuanbao excels at the arts of Yuan and Xu; he said Your Majesty's destiny was beyond words, and that has been proved—there is nothing left to ask.

Old History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 129Volume 129 Book of Later Zhou 31: Biographies 9: Chang Si, Di Guangye, Cao Ying, Li Yanyun, Li Hui, Li Jianchong, Wang Zhongyi, Sun Hanyin, Xu Qian, Zhao Feng, Qi Cangzhen, Wang Huan, Zhang Yanchao, Zhang Ying, Liu Renshan · 2 passages

Open chapter

光鄴膚革肥皙，善於攝養，故司天監趙延乂有袁、許之術，嘗謂人曰：「翟君外厚而內薄，雖貴而無壽。」 Guangye's skin was plump and fair and he was skilled at tending his health; the Astronomical Commissioner Zhao Yanyi, versed in the arts of Yuan and Xu, once told others, "Master Di is thick outside but thin within; though he rises high he will not live long."

暉之儀貌不及於常人，而位極將相，年登耳順，袁、許之術，夫何恃哉！ Hui's looks fell short of the ordinary, yet he rose to the summit of general and minister and lived to sixty—what need had he of the arts of Yuan and Xu!

Records of the Three Kingdoms, Chapter 31Volume 31: Book of Shu 1: Biographies of the Two Governor Lius · 3 passages

Open chapter

評曰：昔魏豹聞許負之言則納薄姬於室， The historian’s judgment runs: Long ago Wei Bao listened to the soothsayer Xu Fu and welcomed Lady Bo into his harem,

〈孔衍《漢魏春秋》曰：許負，河內溫縣之婦人，漢高祖封為明雌亭侯。〈Kong Yan’s Springs and Autumns of Han and Wei identifies Xu Fu as a woman of Wen county in Henei whom Han Gaozu supposedly ennobled as mistress of Mingci village.

臣松之以為今東人呼母為負，衍以許負為婦人，如為有似，然漢高祖時封皆列侯，未有鄉亭之爵，疑此封為不然。〉 Pei Songzhi notes that eastern dialects used fu for “mother,” which may explain Kong Yan’s treating Xu Fu as a woman—yet Gaozu’s reign ennobled only full marquises, never mere village titles, so that fief is almost certainly wrong.

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 57House of Zhou Bo, Marquis of Jiang · 2 passages

Open chapter

條侯亞夫自未侯為河內守時，許負相之，曰：「君後三歲而侯。 When the Marquis of Tiao, Yafu, was not yet a marquis and was still serving as Governor of Henei, the physiognomist Xu Fu read his face and said: "In three years you will become a marquis.

許負指其口曰：「有從理入口，此餓死法也。」 Xu Fu pointed to his mouth and said: "There is a vertical crease running into the mouth. This is the mark of death by starvation."

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

Open chapter

郭解，軹人也，字翁伯，善相人者許負外孫也。 Guo Jie was a native of Zhi, with the courtesy name Wengbo. He was the maternal grandson of the famous physiognomist Xu Fu.