Overview
Xue Xuan was an official and Chancellor.
IdentityHistorical · Male
Other names
| Type | English | Chinese | Pinyin |
|---|
| Courtesy name |
Gan Jun |
贛君 |
Gan Jun |
Life and dates
Death
Attested activity
c. BC 20 to c. BC 7 薛宣
BC 32 to BC 7 黃、薛之流亞
Career and standing
- chancellor 丞相
- clerk under the commandant of justice 廷尉書佐
- governor of Chenliu 陳留太守
- governor of Linhuai 臨淮太守
- guardian of Left Fengyi 左馮翊
- imperial secretary 御史大夫
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- magistrate of Chang'an 長安令
- privy treasurer 少府
- vice-imperial secretary 御史中丞
chancellor 宰相
左馮翊
Text En Zuo Fengyi
- fief of a thousand households 食邑千戶
- Marquis of Gaoyang 高陽侯
- dismissed by edict 冊免
Places and affiliations
- Polity Western Han 西漢 · Relation Served
- Tan in Donghai 東海郯
References in the histories
No matching passages.
Book of Han, Chapter 70Volume 60: Du Zhou · 1 passage
Book of Han, Chapter 94Volume 83: Xue Xuan and Zhu Bo · 62 passages
卷八十三 薛宣朱博傳第五十三
Volume 83: Biographies of Xue Xuan and Zhu Bo (chapter fifty-three).
薛宣字贛君，東海郯人也。
Xue Xuan, whose courtesy name was Gan Jun, came from Tan in Donghai Commandery.
琅邪太守趙貢行縣，見宣，甚說其能。
When the governor of Langye, Zhao Gong, toured his districts and met Xue Xuan, he was so impressed by his talent that he took him along.
從宣歷行屬縣，還至府，令妻子與相見，戒曰：「贛君至丞相，我兩子亦中丞相史。」
He brought Xue Xuan on his rounds of the dependent counties, and back at the yamen introduced him to his wife and children with the words: "If Gan Jun rises to be chancellor, I expect my sons to earn places among the chancellor's secretaries."
察宣廉，遷樂浪都尉丞。
Nominated as incorrupt, Xue Xuan was promoted to assistant commandant of Lelang.
大將軍王鳳聞其能，薦宣為長安令，治果有名，以明習文法詔補御史中丞。
When Grand General Wang Feng heard of his reputation, he recommended Xue Xuan for magistrate of Chang'an. His governance made a name, and his mastery of the code earned him an appointment as vice-imperial secretary.
是時，成帝初即位，宣為中丞，執法殿中，外總部刺史，上疏曰：「陛下至德仁厚，哀閔元元，躬有日仄之勞，而亡佚豫之樂，允執聖道，刑罰惟中，然而嘉氣尚凝，陰陽不和，是臣下未稱，而聖化獨有不洽者也。
Emperor Cheng had only just taken the throne. As vice-imperial secretary, Xue Xuan upheld the law inside the halls and coordinated the regional inspectors outside. He wrote: "Your Majesty's kindness is boundless: you grieve for the people, labor past sunset without thought of rest, and hold true to the sage's path so penalties stay even—yet good omens remain scarce and yin and yang stay out of tune. The fault lies with officials who fall short of your example, not with your own transforming power.
宣數言政事便宜，舉奏部刺史郡國二千石，所貶退稱進，白黑分明，繇是知名。
Xue Xuan often proposed practical reforms and impeached regional inspectors and two-thousand-dan officials; his promotions and demotions were never murky, and his reputation spread.
會陳留郡有大賊廢亂，上徙宣為陳留太守，盜賊禁止，吏民敬其威信。
When Chenliu was overrun by large outlaw bands, the court moved Xue Xuan there as governor; he stamped out the raiders, and officials and commoners alike deferred to his authority.
及宣視事，詣府謁，宣設酒飯與相對，接待甚備。
When Xue Xuan assumed office, both men reported to the yamen. He entertained them with wine and food and treated them with elaborate courtesy.
宣察湛有改節敬宣之效，乃手自牒書，條其奸臧，封與湛曰：「吏民條言君如牒，或議以為疑於主守盜。
Seeing that Yang Zhan might yet reform and defer to him, Xue Xuan drew up a private memorandum detailing his corruption, sealed it, and handed it over with the message: "Petitions from clerks and people match this list; some advisers think the sums approach the crime of a custodial official stealing state property.
湛自知罪臧皆應記，而宣辭語溫潤，無傷害意。
Yang Zhan knew every charge was true, yet the tone stayed gentle, without malice.
湛即時解印綬付吏，為記謝宣，終無怨言。
He surrendered his seal at once, sent a courteous note of thanks, and never spoke a word of bitterness.
而櫟陽令游自以大儒有名，輕宣。
Magistrate Xie You of Liyang, fancying himself a famous scholar, treated Xue Xuan with contempt.
宣獨移書顯，責之曰：「告櫟陽令：吏民言令治行煩苛，適罰作使千人以上；
Xue Xuan issued a blunt public letter: "To the magistrate of Liyang: complaints say your rule is cruel and petty, that you have pressed more than a thousand men into corvée labor beyond what the law allows;
宣即以令奏賞與恭換縣。
Xue Xuan memorialized to swap the two magistrates.
宣因移書勞勉之曰：「昔孟公綽優於趙魏而不宜滕薛，故或以德顯，或以功舉，『君子之道，焉可憮也！』
He wrote to encourage them: "Meng Gongchuo excelled in great states yet faltered in small ones—some shine through virtue, others through deeds. A gentleman's path admits more than one shape.
宣得郡中吏民罪名，輒召告其縣長吏，使自行罰。
Whenever he learned of wrongdoing among officials or commoners, he notified their county magistrates and left them to punish their own subordinates.
長吏莫不喜懼，免冠謝宣歸恩受戒者。
Every magistrate felt gratitude and awe, doffed his cap to thank him, and accepted his lesson.
宣為吏賞罰明，用法平而必行，所居皆有條教可紀，多仁恕愛利。
In office his rewards and penalties were clear, his law even-handed and firm; every place he served gained workable rules, and he was remembered for mercy and practical kindness.
宣責讓縣，縣案驗獄掾，乃其妻獨受系者錢萬六千，受之再宿，獄掾實不知。
Xue Xuan rebuked the county; their inquiry showed that Wang Li's wife alone had accepted sixteen thousand cash from a detainee's family for two nights, while Wang himself knew nothing.
宣聞之，移書池陽曰：「縣所舉廉吏獄掾王立，傢俬受賕，而立不知，殺身以自明，立誠廉士，甚可閔惜！
Hearing this, Xue Xuan wrote to Chiyang: "Wang Li was nominated as incorrupt, yet someone in his household secretly took a bribe without his knowledge; he died to prove his innocence—a truly honest man, and deeply to be mourned!
宣出教曰：「蓋禮貫和，人道尚通。
Xue Xuan issued a notice: "Ritual prizes harmony; human relations need breathing room.
宣為人好威儀，進止雍容，甚可觀也。
Xue Xuan loved ceremony; his bearing in motion was stately and impressive.
竊見少府宣，材茂行潔，達於從政，前為御史中丞，執憲轂下，不吐剛茹柔，舉錯時當；
I have watched Privy Treasurer Xue Xuan: able, upright, and seasoned in administration. As vice-imperial secretary he enforced the law at the capital without flinching from power or crushing the weak, and every personnel move was timely;
宣考績功課，簡在兩府，不敢過稱以奸欺誣之罪。
Xue Xuan's performance reviews stand in the files of both chancellery and censorate; I dare not flatter him and risk the charge of false praise.
臣聞賢材莫大於治人，宣已有效。
The greatest talent is the ability to govern others, and Xue Xuan has already proved he has it.
宣無私黨遊說之助，臣恐陛下忽於《羔羊》之詩，捨公實之臣，任華虛之譽，是用越職，陳宣行能，唯陛下留神考察。
He has no clique to tout him. I fear Your Majesty might neglect the lesson of "The Lamb" and set aside a man of proven weight for one with hollow fame—so I overstep my rank to commend Xue Xuan's record and beg you to examine it closely.
上然之，遂以宣為御史大夫。
The emperor agreed and appointed Xue Xuan imperial secretary.
數月，代張禹為丞相，封高陽侯，食邑千戶。
Months later he succeeded Zhang Yu as chancellor, was enfeoffed as Marquis of Gaoyang with a thousand-household fief.
宣除趙貢兩子為史。
He took Zhao Gong's two sons onto his staff as secretaries.
宣為相，府辭訟例不滿萬錢不為移書，後皆遵用薛侯故事。
As chancellor he ruled that the yamen would not transmit suits involving less than ten thousand cash; later offices copied Marquis Xue's precedent.
時天子好儒雅，宣經術又淺，上亦輕焉。
The emperor favored literary Confucians, and Xue Xuan's scholarship was thin, so the throne cooled toward him as well.
其後上聞之，以過丞相、御史，遂冊免宣曰：「君為丞相，出入六年，忠孝之行，率先百僚，朕無聞焉。
When the emperor learned what had happened, he blamed the chancellor and the censor, then issued an edict dismissing Xue Xuan: "Six years you have been chancellor, yet I have heard nothing of you leading the bureaucracy in loyalty or filial duty.
不忍致君於理，其上丞相、高陽侯印綬，罷歸。」
I will not drag you through a criminal trial. Surrender the seals of the chancellorship and of the Marquis of Gaoyang and go home."
初，宣為丞相，而翟方進為司直。
When Xue Xuan first became chancellor, Zhai Fangjin held the post of rectifier.
宣知方進名儒，有宰相器，深結厚焉。
Xue Xuan knew Zhai Fangjin was a noted scholar with chancellor timber and cultivated him warmly.
後方進竟代為丞相，思宣舊恩，宣免後二歲，薦宣明習文法，練國制度，前所坐過薄，可復進用。
When Zhai Fangjin eventually succeeded him, he remembered that debt; two years after Xue Xuan's dismissal he recommended him as a master of statute and state institutions whose earlier fault had been small and who deserved another chance.
上征宣復爵高陽侯，加寵特進，位次師安昌侯，給事中，視尚書事。
The emperor recalled Xue Xuan, restored his title as Marquis of Gaoyang, advanced him to specially advanced rank just below his tutor, Zhang Yu, Marquis of Anchang, gave him a palace attendant post, and assigned him to oversee secretariat business.
宣復尊重。
Xue Xuan regained prestige and influence.
初，宣有兩弟，明、修：明至南陽太守；
Xue Xuan had two younger brothers, Ming and Xiu; Ming rose to be governor of Nanyang;
宣為丞相時，修為臨菑令，宣迎後母，修不遣。
While Xue Xuan was chancellor, Xiu was magistrate of Linzi; when Xuan asked to bring the stepmother to the capital, Xiu refused to let her go.
宣謂修三年服少能行之者，兄弟相駁不可，修遂竟服，繇是兄弟不和。
Xue Xuan argued that few men truly kept the full three-year mourning and tried to talk his brother out of it; Xiu insisted on completing the full term anyway, and the two fell out.
事下有司，御史中丞眾等奏：「況朝臣，父故宰相，再封列侯，不相敕丞化，而骨肉相疑，疑咸受修言以謗毀宣。
The case went to the regular judiciary. Vice-Imperial Secretary Zhong and colleagues memorialized: "Xue Kuang is a court official whose father was twice a chancellor and a marquis, yet instead of setting a moral example he let kin turn on kin; Shen Xian is thought to have taken Xue Xiu's stories and used them to defame Xue Xuan.
咸所言皆宣行跡，眾人所共見，公家所宜聞。
What Shen Xian said was common knowledge about Xue Xuan's conduct—facts the court should already have heard.
況知咸給事中，恐為司隸舉奏宣，而公令明等迫切宮闕，要遮創戮近臣於大道人眾中，欲以隔塞聰明，杜絕論議之端。
Kuang knew Shen Xian served in palace attendance and feared he would impeach Xue Xuan once metropolitan superintendent; he therefore sent Ming and others to crowd the palace approaches, waylay a senior minister in broad daylight in a public street, hoping to deafen the throne to criticism.
咸厚善修，而數稱宣惡，流聞不誼，不可謂直。
Shen Xian was Xiu's intimate and kept retailing scandal about Xue Xuan; the talk that spread was hardly honorable—so his conduct was not "straight" either.
宣坐免為庶人，歸故郡，卒於家。
Stripped of office for his connection to the affair, Xue Xuan went home to his native commandery and died there.
久之，哀帝初即位，博士申咸給事中，亦東海人也，毀宣不供養行喪服，薄於骨肉，前以不忠孝免，不宜復列封侯在朝省。
Some time after Emperor Ai came to the throne, Erudit Shen Xian of Donghai served in palace attendance. He attacked Xue Xuan for failing to wear mourning while supporting the living and for coldness toward kin. Having once been dismissed for disloyalty and unfilial conduct, he ought not again to hold marquis rank and office at court.
宣子況為右曹侍郎，數聞其語，賕客楊明，欲令創咸面目，使不居位。
Xue Xuan's son Kuang served as gentleman of the right bureau. Hearing Shen Xian's talk again and again, he bribed retainer Yang Ming to maim Shen Xian's face and drive him from office.
宣子惠亦至二千石。
His son Xue Hui likewise rose to two-thousand-dan rank.
始惠為彭城令，宣從臨淮遷至陳留，過其縣，橋梁、郵亭不修。
When Xue Hui was magistrate of Pengcheng, his father passed through on transfer from Linhuai to Chenliu and noticed bridges and relay stations left unrepaired.
宣心知惠不能，留彭城數日，案行捨中，處置什器，觀視園菜，終不問惠以吏事。
Xue Xuan knew his son was not up to the job; he lingered several days in Pengcheng, inspected the guest quarters, rearranged the household gear, and toured the kitchen garden—yet never mentioned administration.
惠自知治縣不稱宣意，遣門下掾送宣至陳留，令掾進見，自從其所問宣不教戒惠吏職之意。
Hui guessed he had failed his father's expectations; he sent a gate clerk to accompany Xuan toward Chenliu, then had the clerk ask, in his stead, why his father offered no word of guidance on magisterial duty.
宣笑曰：「吏道以法令為師，可問而知。
Xue Xuan laughed and said, "The clerk's art is spelled out in the code—read it and you will know.
眾人傳稱，以宣言為然。
Onlookers repeated the story and agreed the father was right.
初，宣復封為侯時，妻死，而敬武長公主寡居，上令宣尚焉。
When Xue Xuan regained his marquisate, his wife had died, and the widowed Princess Jingwu was available; the emperor ordered him to marry her.
及宣免歸故郡，公主留京師。
After he was stripped of office and sent back to his home commandery, the princess remained in the capital.
後宣卒，主上書願還宣葬延陵，奏可。
When Xue Xuan died, she petitioned to bury him at Yanling, and the throne consented.
其治左馮翊，文理聰明殊不及薛宣，而多武譎，網絡張設，少愛利，敢誅殺。
As guardian of Left Fengyi he lacked Xue Xuan's polish and subtlety but relied on military wiles, tight surveillance, scant mercy, and a readiness to kill.
贊曰：薛宣、朱博皆起佐史，歷位以登宰相。
The historian concludes: Xue Xuan and Zhu Bo climbed from petty clerks to the chancellorship.
宣所在而治，為世吏師，及居大位，以苛察失名，器誠有極也。
Xue Xuan governed every post well and taught a generation how to administer, but at the summit his nit-picking cost him his good name—talent has its ceiling.
Book of Han, Chapter 102Volume 90: Cruel Officials · 1 passage
Records of the Three Kingdoms, Chapter 39Volume 39: Book of Shu 9: Biographies of Dong, Liu, Ma, Chen, Dong, and Lü · 1 passage