Qin and Han · Official and Judge

Zhao Yu 趙禹

Attested BC 141 - BC 87

Passages: 24
Chapters: 7
Histories: 3

Overview

Zhao Yu was an official and Judge.

Life and dates

Death

後十餘年，以壽卒於家
Natural
Directly stated · Book of Han 102, passage 98

Attested activity

BC 120 孝武時
Dated from the passage context · Book of Han 25, passage 182
BC 140 to BC 120 少府趙禹
Dated from the passage context · Records of the Grand Historian 104, passage 93
BC 120 漢…趙禹
Dated from the passage context · Draft History of Qing 142, passage 19
BC 141 to BC 87 漢興六十餘載
Dated from the passage context · Book of Han 68, passages 254, 258; Records of the Grand Historian 112, passages 277, 282
BC 120 趙禹為御史
Directly stated · Book of Han 69, passage 12

Key source chapters

Book of Han, Chapter 102 Volume 90: Cruel Officials 10 passages
Book of Han, Chapter 69 Volume 59: Zhang Tang 5 passages
Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 104 Biography of Tian Shu 5 passages
Book of Han, Chapter 25 Volume 23: Treatise on Punishment and Law 1 passage
Book of Han, Chapter 68 Volume 58: Gongsun Hong, Bu Shi and Er Kuan 1 passage

Career and standing

codifying laws 定令
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 112, passage 282
Privy Treasurer 少府
Held
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 104, passage 93
chamberlain for the palace revenues 少府
Directly stated · Book of Han 69, passage 13
commandant of justice 廷尉
Directly stated · Book of Han 102, passage 92
imperial clerk 御史
Directly stated · Book of Han 102, passage 86
imperial envoy 使
Directly stated · Book of Han 69, passage 100

Show 2 more source-backed claims

Privy Treasurer 少府
Directly stated · Book of Han 102, passage 93
Yan kingdom chancellor 燕相
Directly stated · Book of Han 102, passage 97

Places and affiliations

Western Han 漢
Relation Served
Directly stated · Book of Han 68, passage 258
Polity Han 漢 · Relation Served
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 142, passage 19; Records of the Grand Historian 112, passages 277, 282
Polity Han 漢
Directly stated · Book of Han 69, passage 100
At Tai 斄
Directly stated · Book of Han 102, passage 82

Works and attributed material

the revised statutes and regulations 諸律令
Coauthor Person Id Zhang Tang (張湯)
Directly stated · Book of Han 69, passage 12
Speech · Speaker · With Wei Qing (韋)
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 104, passages 95-99
Speech · Speaker · Mode quotation Speaker Zhao Yu (趙禹)
Directly stated · Book of Han 69, passages 101-103

Events and relationships

Listed among Han talents of the era
Career · Exemplar · Mode quotation Speaker Ban Gu (班固)
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 112, passage 282
Recruited to classify and fix laws and ordinances
Legal codification · Legal official
Directly stated · Book of Han 25, passage 182
Selected Tian Ren and Ren An among retainers
Personnel · Examiner
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 104, passage 99

Assessments and attributes

Assessment fixing statutes (定令) · Mode historian-judgment
Directly stated · Book of Han 68, passage 258
Assessment 深文慘刻 / twisted law into cruel severity · Mode historian-judgment
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 142, passage 19

Source notes

Value historical
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 112, passage 282

References in the histories

Search passages

History

24 passages

Book of Han, Chapter 25Volume 23: Treatise on Punishment and Law · 1 passage

於是招進張湯、趙禹之屬，條定法令，作見知故縱、監臨部主之法，緩深故之罪，急縱出之誅。 Legal technocrats expanded doctrinal categories and tightened accountability frameworks, especially around supervisory responsibility.

Book of Han, Chapter 68Volume 58: Gongsun Hong, Bu Shi and Er Kuan · 1 passage

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 · 5 passages

與趙禹共定諸律令，務在深文，拘守職之吏。 He and Zhao Yu rewrote the statutes and regulations, aiming for severe, tight legal language that would keep petty officials from shirking their responsibilities.

已而禹至少府，湯為廷尉，兩人交歡，兄事禹。 Zhao Yu later rose to chamberlain for the palace revenues while Tang became commandant of justice. The two remained on excellent terms, and Tang deferred to Yu as he would to an older brother.

禹志在奉公孤立，而湯舞知以御人。 Zhao Yu set his heart on impartial public service and stood aloof from intrigue; Tang, by contrast, traded on his wits to manipulate those around him.

於是上使趙禹責湯。 The emperor then sent Zhao Yu to confront him.

禹至，讓湯曰：「君何不知分也！ When Zhao Yu arrived, he rebuked Tang. "Have you no sense of proportion?

Book of Han, Chapter 102Volume 90: Cruel Officials · 10 passages

趙禹，斄人也。 Zhao Yu hailed from Tai (in Fufeng).

亞夫為丞相，禹為丞相史，府中皆稱其廉平。 When Zhou Yafu became chancellor, Zhao Yu served as his bureau clerk and won praise for integrity.

然亞夫弗任，曰：「極知禹無害，然文深，不可以居大府。」 Yet Yafu hesitated: "I know Zhao Yu is upright, but his legal prose is merciless—not fit for the main office."

武帝時，禹以刀筆吏積勞，遷為御史。 Under Emperor Wu he climbed from scribal clerk to imperial clerk.

禹為人廉裾，為吏以來，捨無食客。 Aloof and clean, he kept no hangers-on after entering office.

始條侯以禹賊深，及禹為少府九卿，酷急。 Marquis Zhou Yafu had called him dangerously subtle; as privy treasurer among the nine ministers he proved fierce and relentless.

吏務為嚴峻，而禹治加緩，名為平。 Underlings chased ever harsher methods while Zhao Yu deliberately eased his touch and earned a reputation for balance.

禹以老，徙為燕相，數歲，悖亂有罪，免歸。 Advanced age won him the chancellorship of Yan; within a few years he was implicated in disorder and sent home in disgrace.

是時，趙禹、張湯為九卿矣，然其治尚寬，輔法而行，縱以鷹擊毛摯為治。 Zhao Yu and Zhang Tang were harsh ministers already, but next to Yi Zong's eagle tactics they looked almost moderate.

趙禹據法守正。 Zhao Yu held fast to statute.

Draft History of Qing, Chapter 142Volume 142 Treatises 117: Penal Law 1 · 1 passage

治獄者雖不盡仁恕，然如漢、唐之張湯、趙禹、周興、來俊臣輩，深文慘刻，無有也。 Those who ran the prisons were not always humane, yet there were none like Zhang Tang and Zhao Yu of Han or Zhou Xing and Lai Junchen of Tang, who twisted the law into cruel severity.

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 104Biography of Tian Shu · 5 passages

會賢大夫少府趙禹來過衛將軍，將軍呼所舉舍人以示趙禹。 It happened that the esteemed official Zhao Yu, who served as Privy Treasurer, paid a visit to the General of the Guard. The general summoned the retainers he had selected and presented them for Zhao Yu's inspection.

趙禹以次問之，十餘人無一人習事有智略者。 Zhao Yu questioned them one by one, and among the ten or more candidates, not a single one showed any experience in administration or possessed any measure of wit and strategic ability.

趙禹曰：「吾聞之，將門之下必有將類。 Zhao Yu said: "I have always heard it said that under the roof of a great general, one is sure to find men of a general's caliber.

於是趙禹悉召衛將軍舍人百餘人，以次問之，得田仁、任安，曰：「獨此兩人可耳，餘無可用者。」 Zhao Yu then summoned all the general's retainers—over a hundred—and questioned them one after another. He singled out Tian Ren and Ren An, declaring: "Only these two are fit for service. The rest are of no use whatsoever."

趙禹去，謂兩人曰：「各自具樾象絳衣。」 After Zhao Yu departed, the general told the two men: "Each of you must furnish your own saddled horses and crimson robes yourselves."

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 112Biographies of the Marquis of Pingjin and Zhufu · 1 passage

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.