Qin and Han · Official and Scholar

Er Kuan 兒寬

Died BC 103

Passages
30
Chapters
6
Histories
2

Overview

The translated histories identify Er Kuan as an administrator, official, scholar, and statesman. This record brings together 30 passages from 6 chapters across 2 histories, with names, dates, relationships, offices, and events preserved as source-backed claims.

Names

TypeEnglishChinesePinyin
Personal Er Kuan 兒寬 Er Kuan
Title Censor-in-Chief Er Kuan 兒大夫 Er dafu
Personal name Er Kuan 兒寬 Er Kuan
Personal name Er Kuan 兒寬 Ní Kuān
Given Kuan 寬 Kuan
Personal name Kuan 寬 Kuan
Given name Kuan 寬
Personal name Ni Kuan 兒寬 Ní Kuān
Personal name Ni Kuan 兒寬 Ni Kuan
Surname 兒 Er
Given 寬 Kuan

Identity

Historicity
Historical
Identification
Named
Sex
Male

Roles

  • Administrator
  • Official
  • Scholar
  • Statesman
  • Student

Life and dates

Death

  • Manner: died in office / 以官卒 · Date: Source Date: Text: 以官卒 · Western Year: BC 103
    Explicit event contextual date · hanshu:068:s0252

Attested activity

  • Source Date: Text: 元鼎中 · Western Interval: Start: BC 116 · End: BC 111
    Explicit event contextual date · hanshu:068:s0192, hanshu:068:s0195
  • Source Date: Text: 元鼎五年至元封 · Western Interval: Start: BC 112 · End: BC 107
    Explicit event contextual date · hanshu:055:s0056, hanshu:055:s0059
  • Source Date: Text: 元鼎至太初 · Western Year: BC 112
    Explicit event contextual date · shiji:103:s0062
  • Source Date: Text: 太初曆 · Western Year: BC 104
    Explicit · hanshu:068:s0245
  • Source Date: Text: 孝武之世 · Western Interval: Start: BC 141 · End: BC 87
    Explicit event contextual date · hanshu:101:s0007
  • Source Date: Text: 居位九歲，以官卒 · Western Interval: Start: BC 110 · End: BC 103
    Explicit event contextual date · hanshu:068:s0251, hanshu:068:s0252
  • Source Date: Text: 漢興六十餘載 · Western Interval: Start: BC 141 · End: BC 87
    Explicit event contextual date · hanshu:068:s0253, hanshu:068:s0254, hanshu:068:s0258
  • Source Date: Text: 與寬議封禪於上前 · Western Year: BC 110
    Explicit event contextual date · hanshu:068:s0250

Career and standing

  • Label: disciples' cook / 弟子都養
    Explicit · hanshu:068:s0200
  • Label: clerk for memorials and judgments / 奏讞掾 · Action: appointed
    Explicit · hanshu:068:s0214
  • Label: imperial counselor / 御史大夫 · Action: appointed
    Explicit · hanshu:068:s0195, hanshu:068:s0235
  • Label: literary clerk to the commandant of justice / 廷尉文學卒史 · Action: appointed
    Explicit · hanshu:068:s0202
  • Label: palm antiquarian / 掌故 · Action: appointed
    Explicit · hanshu:068:s0202
  • Label: imperial counselor / 御史大夫 · Action: held · Start Date: Source Date: Text: 寬為御史大夫 · Western Year: BC 110 · End Date: Source Date: Text: 以官卒 · Western Year: BC 103
    Explicit event contextual date · hanshu:068:s0251, hanshu:068:s0252
  • Label: grand counsellor of the palace / 中大夫 · Action: promoted
    Explicit · hanshu:068:s0217
  • Label: attendant censor / 侍御史 · Action: recommended
    Explicit · hanshu:068:s0215
  • Label: Left Metropolitan Superintendent / 左內史 · Action: transferred
    Explicit · hanshu:068:s0217
  • Name: Left Inner Historian / 左內史
    Explicit · hanshu:038:s0097
  • Status: rose-from-humble-circumstances · Statement: had the great swan's pinions yet trapped among sparrows, tracks among sheep and pigs / 鴻漸之翼困於燕爵，遠跡羊豕之間
    Explicit · hanshu:068:s0253

Places and affiliations

Learning and skills

  • Subject: Book of Documents / 尚書 · Relation: studied
    Explicit · hanshu:068:s0198

Works and attributed material

Events and relationships

Assessments and attributes

  • Assessment: Confucian elegance (儒雅) · Provenance: Mode: historian-judgment
    Explicit · hanshu:068:s0258
  • Assessment: pleased the emperor in office and long offered no remonstrance; subordinates looked down on him · Provenance: Mode: historian-judgment
    Explicit · hanshu:068:s0251
  • Assessment: second rank beside later famous ministers · Other Person Ids: Gongsun Hong (公孫弘), Bu Shi (卜式) · Provenance: Mode: historian-judgment
    Explicit · hanshu:068:s0261
  • Kind: character · Statement: mild, frugal, skilled writer, weak in martial speech
    Explicit · hanshu:068:s0203

References in the histories

Open any source group to read the Chinese and English passage in context.

Book of Han, Chapter 38Volume 29: Treatise on Rivers and Canals · 1 passage
Open chapter
Book of Han, Chapter 55Volume 46: The Lords of Wan, Wei, Zhi, Zhou and Zhang · 1 passage
Open chapter
Book of Han, Chapter 68Volume 58: Gongsun Hong, Bu Shi and Er Kuan · 24 passages
Open chapter
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 76Volume 65: Dongfang Shuo · 1 passage
Open chapter
是時，朝廷多賢材，上復問朔：「方今公孫丞相，兒大夫、董仲舒、夏侯始昌、司馬相如、吾丘壽王、主父偃、硃買臣、嚴助、汲黯、膠倉、終軍、嚴安、徐樂、司馬遷之倫，皆辯知閎達，溢於文辭，先生自視，何與比哉？」 The court at that time teemed with talent, and the emperor pressed Shuo again: "Consider Chancellor Gongsun Hong, Censor-in-Chief Er Kuan, Dong Zhongshu, Xiahou Shichang, Sima Xiangru, Wuqiu Shouwang, Zhufu Yan, Zhu Maichen, Yan Zhu, Ji An, Jiao Cang, Zhong Jun, Yan An, Xu Le, Sima Qian, and men of that stamp. They are learned, articulate, and prolific writers. How do you measure yourself against such company?"
Book of Han, Chapter 101Volume 89: Upright Officials · 2 passages
Open chapter
Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 103Biographies of Wan Shi and Zhang Shu · 1 passage
Open chapter
公家用少，桑弘羊等致利，王溫舒之屬峻法，兒寬等推文學至九卿，更進用事，事不關決於丞相，丞相醇謹而已。 The state coffers were running low. Sang Hongyang and his like raised revenue, Wang Wenshu and his sort enforced harsh laws, and Er Kuan and others advanced through scholarship to the rank of the Nine Ministers. Those who handled affairs were the ones promoted, and decisions were no longer referred to the Chancellor. The Chancellor was simply upright and cautious, nothing more.