Qin and Han · Chancellor and Model Local Official

Huang Ba 黃霸

First attested BC 87; died BC 55

Passages
59
Chapters
15
Histories
6

Overview

Huang Ba was a Chancellor and Model Local Official.

IdentityHistorical · Male

Other names

TypeEnglishChinesePinyin
Courtesy name Cigong 次公 Cigong
Posthumous name Marquis Ding 定侯

Life and dates

Death

Attested activity

Show 9 more source-backed claims

Family

Immediate relationships attested in the translated histories.

Key source chapters

  1. Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 112 Biographies of the Marquis of Pingjin and Zhufu 1 passage
  2. Book of Han, Chapter 101 Volume 89: Upright Officials 38 passages
  3. Book of Han, Chapter 89 Volume 78: Xiao Wangzhi 4 passages
  4. Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 96 Biography of Chancellor Zhang 3 passages
  5. Book of Han, Chapter 85 Volume 74: Wei Xiang and Bing Ji 2 passages

Career and standing

Show 21 more source-backed claims

Places and affiliations

Show 5 more source-backed claims

Works and attributed material

Events and relationships

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Assessments and attributes

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Source notes

References in the histories

59 passages

Book of Northern Qi, Chapter 46Volume 46 Biographies 38: Good Officials · 1 passage
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Book of Han, Chapter 25Volume 23: Treatise on Punishment and Law · 1 passage
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Book of Han, Chapter 68Volume 58: Gongsun Hong, Bu Shi and Er Kuan · 1 passage
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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 82Volume 71: Jun, Shu, Yu, Xue, Ping and Peng · 1 passage
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Book of Han, Chapter 85Volume 74: Wei Xiang and Bing Ji · 2 passages
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Book of Han, Chapter 88Volume 77: Gai, Zhuge, Liu, Zheng, Sun, Wujiang and He · 1 passage
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Book of Han, Chapter 89Volume 78: Xiao Wangzhi · 4 passages
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初，匈奴呼韓邪單于來朝，詔公卿議其儀，丞相霸、御史大夫定國議曰：「聖王之制，施德行禮，先京師而後諸夏，先諸夏而後夷狄。 Earlier, when Huhanye Chanyu of the Xiongnu came to court, an edict ordered the dukes and ministers to discuss the proper ritual. Chancellor Huang Ba and Imperial Counselor Yu Dingguo proposed, "In the institutions of the sage kings, virtue is extended and ritual performed first in the capital, then among the central states; first among the central states, then among the Yi and Di peoples.
Book of Han, Chapter 101Volume 89: Upright Officials · 38 passages
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昭帝立，幼，大將軍霍光秉政，大臣爭權，上官桀等與燕王謀作亂，光既誅之，遂遵武帝法度，以刑罰痛繩群下，由是俗吏上嚴酷以為能，而霸獨用寬和為名。 Emperor Zhao came to the throne as a child while Huo Guang held power. Court factions clashed until Huo executed Shangguan Jie and his allies in the plot with the Prince of Yan. Thereafter the regime clung to Emperor Wu's harsh precedents, and petty bureaucrats climbed by proving how cruel they could be—except Huang Ba, who made his name with lenience.
守丞相長史，坐公卿大議廷中知長信少府夏侯勝非議詔書大不敬，霸阿從不舉劾，皆下廷尉，繫獄當死。 While serving as chief clerk to the chancellor, he was implicated when, at a grand conference of court nobles, he learned that Xiahou Sheng, director of the Palace of Everlasting Faith, had criticized an imperial edict—a capital offense of great irreverence. Huang Ba connived and failed to impeach him; all were sent to the minister of justice, imprisoned, and sentenced to death.
三歲，宣帝下詔曰：「制詔御史：其以賢良高第揚州刺史霸為潁川太守，秩比二千石，居官賜車蓋，特高一丈，別駕主簿車，緹油屏泥於軾前，以章有德。」 After three years Emperor Xuan issued an edict: "By imperial command to the imperial clerk: appoint Huang Ba, inspector of Yang Province and top-ranked worthy, as governor of Yingchuan at the salary rank of two thousand bushels. Grant him a carriage canopy in office, one foot taller than usual, with chariots for his chief aide and registrar, and apply tiji oil to the screen and mudguards before the crossbar, to display his virtue."
或問其故，霸曰：「數易長吏，送故迎新之費及奸吏緣絕簿書盜財物，公私費耗甚多，皆當出於民，所易新吏又未必賢，或不如其故，徒相益為亂。 When someone pressed him for a rationale, he answered: "Every time you swap magistrates you force costly farewells and welcomes, give crooked clerks a chance to doctor the accounts and pocket funds, and pile losses on both treasury and populace. The replacement may be no better than the man you removed—often worse—and you only breed chaos.
天子以霸治行終長者，下詔稱揚曰：「穎川太守霸，宣佈詔令，百姓向化，孝子弟弟貞婦順孫日以眾多，田者讓畔，道不拾遣，養視鰥寡，贍助貧窮，獄或八年亡重罪囚，吏民向於教化，興於行誼，可謂賢人君子矣。 The emperor, deeming Huang Ba's career that of a true elder statesman, issued an edict of praise: "Governor Ba of Yingchuan has broadcast my decrees until the people have turned to virtue. Filial sons, dutiful younger brothers, chaste wives, and obedient grandsons multiply by the day. Farmers yield the boundary strips to one another; no one pockets what others drop on the road. Widows and orphans are cared for, the poor relieved. Some jails have seen no serious offender in eight years. Officials and subjects alike respond to moral instruction and prize honorable conduct. He is every inch the worthy gentleman.
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.
Book of Han, Chapter 102Volume 90: Cruel Officials · 2 passages
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Book of Later Han, Chapter 85Volume 77: Biographies of Cruel Officials · 1 passage
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Records of the Three Kingdoms, Chapter 39Volume 39: Book of Shu 9: Biographies of Dong, Liu, Ma, Chen, Dong, and Lü · 1 passage
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Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 96Biography of Chancellor Zhang · 3 passages
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Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 112Biographies of the Marquis of Pingjin and Zhufu · 1 passage
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將相則張安世、趙充國、魏相、邴吉、于定國、杜延年，治民則黃霸、王成、龔遂、鄭弘、邵信臣、韓延壽、尹翁歸、趙廣漢之屬，皆有功跡見述於後。 Among the generals and chief ministers were Zhang Anshi, Zhao Chongguo, Wei Xiang, Bing Ji, Yu Dingguo, and Du Yannian. Among those skilled in governing the people were Huang Ba, Wang Cheng, Gong Sui, Zheng Hong, Shao Xinchen, Han Yanshou, Yin Wenggui, Zhao Guanghan, and others. All had notable achievements recorded in later accounts.
Book of Song, Chapter 54Volume 54 Biographies 14: Kong Jigong, Yang Xuanbao, Shen Tanqing · 1 passage
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Book of Song, Chapter 92Volume 92 Biographies 52: Liang Li · 1 passage
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