Overview
Zhang Chang was a Metropolitan Governor and Official.
IdentityHistorical · Male
Life and dates
Attested activity
BC 74 to BC 49 孝宣
BC 74 to BC 48 孝宣承統
Places and affiliations
Western Han 漢
Relation Served
Works and attributed material
Assessments and attributes
- Assessment governed the people (治民) · Mode historian-judgment
- Assessment had achievements recounted in their age · Mode historian-judgment
References in the histories
No matching passages.
Book of Han, Chapter 68Volume 58: Gongsun Hong, Bu Shi and Er Kuan · 1 passage
孝宣承統，纂修洪業，亦講論六藝，招選茂異，而蕭望之、梁丘賀、夏侯勝、韋玄成、嚴彭祖，尹更始以儒術進，劉向，王褒以文章顯，將相則張安世、趙充國、魏相、丙吉、於定國、杜延年，治民則黃霸、王成、龔遂、鄭弘、召信臣、韓延壽、尹翁歸、趙廣漢、嚴延年、張敞之屬，皆有功跡見述於世。
Emperor Xuan inherited the succession and carried forward the great enterprise. He too expounded the Six Arts and recruited outstanding men. Xiao Wangzhi, Liangqiu He, Xiahou Sheng, Wei Xuancheng, Yan Pengzu, and Yin Gengshi advanced through Confucian learning; Liu Xiang and Wang Bao gained distinction for their writing; among the generals and chancellors were Zhang Anshi, Zhao Chongguo, Wei Xiang, Bing Ji, Yu Dingguo, and Du Yannian; and among those who governed the people were Huang Ba, Wang Cheng, Gong Sui, Zheng Hong, Shao Xinchen, Han Yanshou, Yin Wengui, Zhao Guanghan, Yan Yannian, Zhang Chang, and others. All left achievements celebrated in their age.
Book of Han, Chapter 101Volume 89: Upright Officials · 10 passages
若趙廣漢、韓延壽、尹翁歸、嚴延年、張敞之屬，皆稱其位，然任刑罰，或抵罪誅。
Men like Zhao Guanghan, Han Yanshou, Yin Wenggui, Yan Yannian, and Zhang Chang filled their offices competently, yet built their reputations on harsh law; several ended condemned and put to death.
時，京兆尹張敞捨鶡雀飛集丞相府，霸以為神雀，議欲以聞。
Once sparrowhawks from Metropolitan Governor Zhang Chang's aviary settled on the chancellor's roof. Huang Ba mistook them for auspicious "divine sparrows" and prepared a memorial to the throne.
敞奏霸曰：「竊見丞相請與中二千石博士雜問郡國上計長吏、守丞為民興利除害、成大化，條其對，有耕者讓畔，男女異路，道不拾遺，及舉孝子貞婦者為一輩，先上殿，舉而不知其人數者次之，不為條教者在後叩頭謝。
Zhang Chang reported to the throne: "I observed the chancellor convene ministers and academicians to examine each fiscal officer on what good he had done for the people. Those who could claim that farmers yielded boundary strips, men and women kept separate paths, and lost articles stayed on the ground, and who could name exemplary sons and wives, were invited forward; those who cited miracles without head counts came next; anyone with no local regulations to show knelt in apology at the rear.
長吏、守丞對時，臣敞捨有鶡雀飛止丞相府屋上，丞相以下見者數百人。
While those officers gave their answers, hawks from my own compound settled on the chancellor's roof before an audience of hundreds from the chancellor down.
後知從臣敞舍來，乃止。
Once he learned the birds had flown from my compound, he dropped the idea.
臣敞非敢毀丞相也，誠恐群臣莫白，而長吏、守丞畏丞相指，歸捨法令，各為私教，務相增加，澆淳散樸，並行偽貌，有名亡實，傾搖解怠，甚者為妖。
I do not mean to malign the chancellor, but I dread a court where no one speaks plainly. Magistrates may fear his hints, abandon the written law, invent private "teachings," and compete to exaggerate—thinning honest custom, encouraging hollow shows, trading substance for reputation until government wobbles and slackens, and in the worst case breeds outright sorcery.
天子嘉納敞言，召上計吏，使侍中臨飭如敞指意。
The emperor approved Zhang Chang's memorial, summoned the fiscal officers from the commanderies, and sent palace attendants to relay his orders exactly as Zhang had urged.
是時，張敞為膠東相，與邑書曰：「明主游心太古，廣延茂士，此誠忠臣竭思之時也。
Zhang Chang, then chancellor of Jiaodong, wrote to Zhu Yi: "Our discerning ruler looks back to high antiquity and casts a wide net for talent. This is the moment for loyal servants to give everything they have.
直敞遠守劇郡，馭於繩墨，匈臆約結，固亡奇也。
I am stuck governing a difficult frontier commandery, hemmed in by rules until my chest feels bound—hardly the place for brilliance.
邑感敞言，貢薦賢士大夫，多得其助者。
Zhu Yi took Zhang Chang's words to heart, forwarded worthy candidates to court, and many men owed their breaks to him.