Qin and Han · Official and Judge

Zhang Tang 張湯

Died BC 141 to BC 87

Passages
144
Chapters
18
Histories
3

Overview

Zhang Tang was an official and Judge.

IdentityHistorical · Male

Life and dates

Death

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Attested activity

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Family

Immediate relationships attested in the translated histories.

Key source chapters

  1. Book of Han, Chapter 69 Volume 59: Zhang Tang 61 passages
  2. Book of Han, Chapter 59 Volume 50: Zhang, Feng, Ji and Zheng 11 passages
  3. Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 120 Biographies of Ji and Zheng 12 passages
  4. Book of Han, Chapter 102 Volume 90: Cruel Officials 9 passages
  5. Book of Han, Chapter 68 Volume 58: Gongsun Hong, Bu Shi and Er Kuan 8 passages

Origins and identity

Career and standing

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Places and affiliations

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Learning and skills

Works and attributed material

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Events and relationships

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Assessments and attributes

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Source notes

References in the histories

144 passages

Book of Han, Chapter 25Volume 23: Treatise on Punishment and Law · 1 passage
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Book of Han, Chapter 27Volume 24b: Treatise on Trade 2 · 6 passages
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Book of Han, Chapter 38Volume 29: Treatise on Rivers and Canals · 3 passages
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Book of Han, Chapter 59Volume 50: Zhang, Feng, Ji and Zheng · 11 passages
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張湯以更定律令為廷尉，黯質責湯於上前，曰：「公為正卿，上不能褒先帝之功業，下不能化天下之邪心，安國富民，使囹圄空虛，何空取高皇帝約束紛更之為？ When Zhang Tang rewrote the code and became commandant of justice, Ji An cornered him in open court: "As chief minister you neither celebrate the founder's legacy nor reform public morals, bring peace to the realm, fill the granaries, nor clear the jails—why do you busy yourself tearing apart the statutes Gaozu left behind?
Book of Han, Chapter 65Volume 56: Dong Zhongshu · 1 passage
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Book of Han, Chapter 68Volume 58: Gongsun Hong, Bu Shi and Er Kuan · 8 passages
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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 Han, Chapter 69Volume 59: Zhang Tang · 61 passages
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湯掘熏得鼠及余肉，劾鼠掠治，傳爰書，訊鞫論報，並取鼠與肉，具獄磔堂下。 Tang excavated the burrow, smoked the rat out, recovered the leftover meat, then drew up a formal accusation against the creature. He subjected it to interrogation under torture, filed the written record of the inquest, examined it, passed sentence, and reported the outcome. He produced the rat and the meat as evidence, closed the entire case, and had the convict torn apart alive in the courtyard.
嚴助、伍被，上欲釋之，湯爭曰：「伍被本造反謀，而助親幸出入禁闥，腹心之臣，乃交私諸侯如此，弗誅，後不可治。」 The emperor wanted to pardon Yan Zhu and Wu Bei. Tang objected: "Wu Bei helped lay the plot from the beginning, and Yan Zhu enjoyed intimate access to the inner apartments—he was a minister of the ruler's inmost counsels—yet he secretly conspired with the kings. If they are not put to death, the law will never again command respect."
湯承上指，請造白金及五銖錢，籠天下鹽鐵，排富商大賈，出告緡令，鋤豪強並兼之家，舞文巧詆以輔法。 Reading the emperor's wishes, Tang proposed minting the white-metal currency and the five-zhu coin, bringing the empire's salt and iron under state monopoly, squeezing the great merchant houses, promulgating the "report-your-neighbor's-wealth" statute, and breaking up powerful clans that engrossed land and labor—all the while bending the statutes to give the policy a legal veneer.
會人有盜發孝文園瘞錢，丞相青翟朝，與湯約俱謝，至前，湯念獨丞相以四時行園，當謝，湯無與也，不謝。 Then robbers broke into the burial mound in Emperor Wen's mausoleum park and stole the consecrated coins. At court Chancellor Zhuang Qingzhai agreed with Tang that they would both apologize. When they came before the throne, Tang reflected that only the chancellor made the seasonal rounds of the shrines and therefore bore responsibility; he himself had nothing to do with it, so he offered no apology.
Book of Han, Chapter 70Volume 60: Du Zhou · 3 passages
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Book of Han, Chapter 74Volume 64a: Yan, Zhu, Wuqiu, Zhufu, Xu, Yan, Zhong, Wang, and Jia 1 · 7 passages
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Book of Han, Chapter 75Volume 64b: Yan, Zhu, Wuqiu, Zhufu, Xu, Yan, Zhong, Wang, and Jia 2 · 4 passages
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世稱公孫弘排主父，張湯陷嚴助，石顯譖捐之，察其行跡，主父求欲鼎亨而得族，嚴、賈出入禁門招權利，死皆其所也，亦何排陷之恨哉！ Posterity blames Gongsun Hong for sidelining Zhufu Yan, Zhang Tang for ruining Yan Zhu, and Shi Xian for destroying Jia Juanzhi—yet examine how these men lived. Zhufu Yan clawed after the honors of the high minister's tripod and instead won the execution of his entire kin; Yan Zhu and Jia Juanzhi used their passes through the forbidden gates to peddle influence and line their pockets. Each fell by his own doing; there is little cause to nurse a grudge against those who merely 'squeezed' or 'framed' them.
Book of Han, Chapter 101Volume 89: Upright Officials · 3 passages
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Book of Han, Chapter 102Volume 90: Cruel Officials · 9 passages
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Draft History of Qing, Chapter 142Volume 142 Treatises 117: Penal Law 1 · 1 passage
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Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 29Treatise on Rivers and Canals · 3 passages
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Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 30Treatise on the Balanced Standard · 6 passages
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自公孫弘以春秋之義繩臣下取漢相，張湯用唆文決理為廷尉，於是見知之法生，而廢格沮誹窮治之獄用矣。 After Gongsun Hong used the principles of the Spring and Autumn Annals to discipline his subordinates and attain the Han chancellorship, and Zhang Tang used severe legal arguments to decide cases and become Commandant of Justice, the law punishing officials who saw and knew of crimes without reporting them arose, and prosecutions for neglect, obstruction, disparagement, and slander were pursued exhaustively.
而御史大夫張湯方隆貴用事，減宣、杜周等為中丞，義縱、尹齊、王溫舒等用慘急刻深為九卿，而直指夏蘭之屬始出矣。 At this time, Imperial Censor Zhang Tang was rising in power and controlling affairs. Jian Xuan, Du Zhou, and others were appointed assistant censors; Yi Zong, Yin Qi, Wang Wenshu, and others used cruel, urgent, harsh, and searching methods as ministers among the Nine Ministers. Officials such as the Direct Commissioner Xia Lan began to appear.
Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 112Biographies of the Marquis of Pingjin and Zhufu · 1 passage
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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.
Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 120Biographies of Ji and Zheng · 12 passages
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張湯方以更定律令為廷尉，黯數質責湯於上前，曰：「公為正卿，上不能褒先帝之功業，下不能抑天下之邪心，安國富民，使囹圄空虛，二者無一焉。 Zhang Tang had recently been appointed Commandant of Justice, tasked with revising the laws. Ji An repeatedly challenged him before the Emperor, declaring: 'You serve as Chief Justice, yet you have neither upheld the legacy of the former emperors above nor suppressed the wickedness in the hearts of the people below. You have failed to bring peace and prosperity to the nation, and the prisons remain full—you have accomplished neither of these goals.
Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 121Biographies of Confucian Scholars · 4 passages
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