Qin and Han · Official

Huang Ba 黃霸

Died BC 51

Passages: 52
Chapters: 10
Histories: 3

Overview

The translated histories identify Huang Ba as an administrator, judge, official, and statesman. This record brings together 52 passages from 10 chapters across 3 histories, with names, dates, relationships, offices, and events preserved as source-backed claims.

Names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Personal	Huang Ba	黃霸	Huang Ba
Given	Ba	霸	Ba
Given name	Ba	霸
Courtesy name	Cigong	次公	Cigong
Surname	Huang	黃
Surname	Huang	黄	Huang
Personal name	Huang Ba	黃霸	Huang Ba
Personal	Huang Ba	黃霸	Huáng Bà
Personal name	Huang Ba	黃霸	Huáng Bà
Personal name	Huang Ba	黄霸	Huang Ba
Title	Imperial Censor	御史大夫
Posthumous name	Marquis Ding	定侯
Given		霸	Ba
Surname		黃	Huang

Identity

Historicity: Historical
Identification: Named
Sex: Male

Sex: male
Strongly inferred · beiqishu:046:s0181
Sex: male
Explicit · hanshu:068:s0260, hanshu:082:s0213, hanshu:085:s0217, hanshu:101:s0044, houhanshu:085:s0275

Roles

Administrator
Judge
Official
Statesman

Life and dates

Death

Date Context: Source Date: Text: 甘露三年 · Western Year: BC 51
Explicit · hanshu:101:s0230
Explicit · hanshu:085:s0219

Attested activity

Source Date: Text: 丙吉薨後 · Western Year: BC 55
Explicit event contextual date · hanshu:085:s0217
Source Date: Text: 严君蚩黄霸之术 · Western Year: c. BC 55
Strongly inferred · houhanshu:085:s0275
Source Date: Text: 五鳳三年 · Western Year: BC 55
Explicit · hanshu:101:s0084
Source Date: Text: 孝宣承統 · Western Interval: Start: BC 74 · End: BC 48
Explicit · hanshu:068:s0260
Source Date: Text: 宣帝時 · Western Year: BC 70
Explicit event contextual date · hanshu:025:s0194
Source Date: Text: 武帝末 · Western Year: BC 87
Explicit event contextual date · hanshu:101:s0045
Source Date: Text: 甘露三年 · Western Year: BC 51
Explicit · hanshu:101:s0230
Source Date: Text: 甘露中 · Western Interval: Start: BC 53 · End: BC 50
Explicit · hanshu:082:s0213
Source Date: Text: 黃霸 · Western Interval: Start: BC 73 · End: BC 49
Explicit · beiqishu:046:s0181

Family

Immediate source-linked family. Drag to pan, scroll or pinch to zoom, and select a person to open their record.

Sibling of Full Brother of Huang Ba (黃霸同產)
Kinship Term: full brother / 同產 · Shared Parentage: full · Parentage: biological
Parent of Huang Shang (黃賞)
Kinship Term: son / 子 · Parentage: biological · Subject Role: father · Object Role: son
Spouse of Wife of Huang Ba (黃霸妻)
Kinship Term: wife / 妻 · Union Category: marriage · Relationship State: active

Kinship Role: descendants · Count: 5 · Count Modifier: or-six · Note: 二千石者五六人
Explicit · hanshu:101:s0235

Career and standing

Label: clerk / official / 吏
Explicit · hanshu:101:s0045
Label: Court Equalizer / 廷平 · Action: appointed · Authority Person Id: Emperor Xuan of Han (宣帝)
Explicit · hanshu:025:s0194
Label: Chancellor / 丞相 · Action: appointed · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 五鳳三年 · Western Year: BC 55
Explicit · hanshu:101:s0084
Label: Assistant governor of Henan / 河南太守丞 · Action: appointed
Explicit · hanshu:101:s0048
Label: chancellor / 丞相 · Action: appointed
Explicit · hanshu:085:s0217
Label: Director of convicts / 廷尉正 · Action: appointed
Explicit · hanshu:101:s0224
Label: Gentleman-attendant usher / 侍郎謁者 · Action: appointed
Explicit · hanshu:101:s0045
Label: Governor of Yingchuan / 潁川太守 · Action: appointed
Explicit · hanshu:101:s0229
Label: Imperial Clerk / 御史大夫 · Action: appointed
Explicit · hanshu:101:s0083
Label: Inspector of Yang Province / 揚州刺史 · Action: appointed
Explicit · hanshu:101:s0228
Label: Metropolitan Governor / 京兆尹 · Action: appointed
Explicit · hanshu:101:s0073
Label: Tutor to the heir apparent / 太子太傅 · Action: appointed
Explicit · hanshu:101:s0083
Label: imperial censor / 御史大夫 · Action: held
Explicit · hanshu:085:s0217
Office: Chancellor / 丞相 · Action: held
Explicit · hanshu:082:s0213
Text: 穎川太守 · Text En: governor of Yingchuan
Strongly inferred · hanshu:102:s0329
Title: Marquis of Jiancheng / 建成侯 · Households: 600 · Action: enfeoffed
Explicit · hanshu:101:s0084
Title: Marquis within the passes / 關內侯 · Action: granted
Explicit · hanshu:101:s0081
Status: dismissed · Action: impeached · Reason: full brother committed crime
Explicit · hanshu:101:s0045
Status: imprisoned · Action: sentenced-to-death · Commuted: true · Co Accused Person Id: Xiahou Sheng (夏侯勝)
Explicit · hanshu:101:s0225

Places and affiliations

Label: Han / 漢 · Relation: served
Explicit · hanshu:085:s0217
Label: Western Han / 漢 · Relation: served
Explicit · hanshu:068:s0260, hanshu:101:s0044
Polity: Han · Relation: official-of
Explicit · hanshu:082:s0213
Polity: Western Han / 西汉 · Relation: served
Strongly inferred · houhanshu:085:s0275
Place: Yangxia in Huaiyang / 淮陽陽夏
Explicit · hanshu:101:s0044
Place: Duling / 杜陵 · Relation: moved-registry-to
Explicit · hanshu:101:s0117
Place: Yunling / 雲陵 · Relation: relocated-to
Explicit · hanshu:101:s0044

Works and attributed material

Kind: speech · Role: speaker · Quote: true
Explicit · hanshu:101:s0068, hanshu:101:s0069, hanshu:101:s0070, hanshu:101:s0071

Events and relationships

Kind: political · Role: subject · Action: reprimanded-for-recommending-Shi-Gao · Other Person Id: Shi Gao (史高)
Explicit · hanshu:101:s0105, hanshu:101:s0110
Relation: student-of · Person Id: Xiahou Sheng (夏侯勝) · Context: studied Documents in prison
Explicit · hanshu:101:s0226
Relation: recommended-by · Person Id: Xiahou Sheng (夏侯勝)
Explicit · hanshu:101:s0228

Assessments and attributes

Assessment: clear-sighted, observant, lenient, and forgiving · Provenance: Mode: historian-narrative
Explicit · hanshu:025:s0194
Assessment: foremost among Han officials famed for governing the people · Provenance: Mode: historian-judgment
Explicit · hanshu:101:s0113
Assessment: governed the people (治民) · Provenance: Mode: historian-judgment
Explicit · hanshu:068:s0260
Assessment: had achievements recounted in their age · Provenance: Mode: historian-judgment
Explicit · hanshu:068:s0260
Assessment: soft / lenient methods mocked by Lord Yan · Provenance: Mode: historian-judgment
Explicit · houhanshu:085:s0275

References in the histories

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

Book of Northern Qi, Chapter 46Volume 46 Biographies 38: Good Officials · 1 passage

佑答言：「若爾，黃霸、龔遂君之罪人也。」 You replied, "If that is so, then Huang Ba and Gong Sui were criminals by your standard."

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

於是選于定國為廷尉，求明察寬恕黃霸等以為廷平，季秋後請讞。 He appointed capable judicial leadership and staffed equalizer roles with officials known for careful and lenient judgment.

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 82Volume 71: Jun, Shu, Yu, Xue, Ping and Peng · 1 passage

甘露中，代黃霸為丞相，封西平侯。 During the Ganlu era he replaced Huang Ba as chancellor and was enfeoffed as Marquis of Xiping.

Book of Han, Chapter 85Volume 74: Wei Xiang and Bing Ji · 2 passages

及吉薨，御史大夫黃霸為丞相，徵西河太守杜延年為御史大夫，會其年老，乞骸骨，病免。 When Bing Ji died, Imperial Censor Huang Ba became chancellor and Governor of Xihe Du Yannian was summoned as imperial censor, but he was already old, begged to retire, and was dismissed on account of illness.

黃霸薨，而定國為丞相，太僕陳萬年代定國為御史大夫，居位皆稱職，上稱吉為知人。 When Huang Ba died, Yu Dingguo became chancellor and Superintendent of Transport Chen Wannian succeeded him as imperial censor. All performed their offices well, and the emperor praised Bing Ji as a judge of men.

Book of Han, Chapter 88Volume 77: Gai, Zhuge, Liu, Zheng, Sun, Wujiang and He · 1 passage

郡中清靜，表善好士，見紀穎川，名次黃霸。 Yingchuan ranked him beside Huang Ba.

Book of Han, Chapter 89Volume 78: Xiao Wangzhi · 4 passages

望之既左遷，而黃霸代為御史大夫。 Wangzhi's demotion opened the path for Huang Ba as imperial counselor.

數月間，丙吉薨，霸為丞相。 Bing Ji died within months, and Ba stepped up to the chancellorship.

霸薨，於定國復代焉。 When Ba in turn died, Yu Dingguo inherited the post.

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

王成、黃霸、朱邑、龔遂、鄭弘、召信臣等，所居民富，所去見思，生有榮號，死見奉祀，此廩廩庶幾德讓君子之遺風矣。 Wang Cheng, Huang Ba, Zhu Yi, Gong Sui, Zheng Hong, Shao Xinchen, and their peers left districts wealthier than they found them and were mourned when they left. Honored in life and worshipped after death, they came closest to the old ideal of the gentleman who leads by deference and virtue.

黃霸字次公，淮陽陽夏人也，以豪傑役使徙雲陵。 Huang Ba, courtesy name Cigong, was a native of Yangxia in Huaiyang Commandery; powerful local families had pressed him into forced labor, and he was banished with them to Yunling.

霸少學律令，喜為吏，武帝末以待詔入錢賞官，補侍郎謁者，坐同產有罪劾免。 As a youth Huang Ba studied the legal codes and wanted a bureaucratic career. Late in Emperor Wu's reign he bought an expectancy appointment, became a palace usher, then lost the post when impeached because a full brother had committed a crime.

馮翊以霸入財為官，不署右職，使領郡錢谷計。 The governor of Fengyi, noting that Huang Ba had bought his way in, refused him a senior title and put him in charge of the commandery budget ledgers instead.

霸為人明察內敏，又習文法，然溫良有讓，足知，善御眾。 Huang Ba combined sharp judgment with a quiet, nimble mind; he knew the statutes cold yet remained courteous and modest, wise enough to win respect and skilled at handling men.

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.

會宣帝即位，在民間時知百姓苦吏急也，聞霸持法平，召以為廷尉正，數決疑獄，庭中稱平。 When Emperor Xuan ascended the throne, he already knew from his years among commoners how the people suffered under overbearing officials. Hearing that Huang Ba applied the law evenhandedly, he summoned him as director of convicts; Ba repeatedly resolved doubtful cases until the whole court praised his fairness.

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.

霸因從勝受尚書獄中，再隃冬，積三歲乃出，語在勝傳。 Huang Ba therefore studied the Documents in prison under Sheng. He endured two winters and three full years before release; the fuller account appears in Sheng's biography.

勝出，復為諫大夫，令左馮翊宋畸舉霸賢良。 After Sheng was released he became remonstrating grandee and had Song Ji, governor of Zuo Fengyi, recommend Huang Ba as worthy and good.

勝又口薦霸於上，上擢霸為揚州刺史。 Sheng also recommended Huang Ba orally to the emperor, who promoted him to inspector of Yang Province.

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."

太守霸為選擇良吏，分部宣佈詔令，令民咸知上意，使郵亭鄉官皆畜雞豚，以贍鰥寡貧窮者。 Governor Huang Ba picked reliable subordinates, sent them district by district to proclaim every decree, and saw to it that ordinary subjects understood the throne's intent. He ordered every postal station and rural outpost to keep flocks of chickens and pigs for feeding widows, orphans, and the destitute.

米鹽靡密，初若煩碎，然霸精力能推行之。 The rules covered everything down to rice and salt and looked tiresomely fussy at first, yet Huang Ba had the stamina to enforce them everywhere.

民有欲詣府口言事者適見之，霸與語，道此。 A farmer on his way to lodge a complaint witnessed the scene; Huang Ba chatted with him and mentioned what had happened.

後日吏還謁霸，霸見迎勞之，曰：「甚苦！ When the clerk returned to report, Huang Ba greeted him warmly and said, "You have had a hard time of it!

吏大驚，以霸具知其起居，所問豪猾不敢有所隱。 The officer was thunderstruck, convinced that Huang Ba knew his every move; thereafter the powerful families he questioned dared hide nothing.

鰥寡孤獨有死無以葬者，鄉部書言，霸具為區處，某所大木可以為棺，某亭豬子可以祭，吏往皆如言。 When a report came in that a destitute widower, widow, or orphan had died with no one to pay for the funeral, Huang Ba worked out the details: this grove would supply timbers for a coffin, that post-station could spare a piglet for the rites. He sent men, and every detail matched his instructions.

霸力行教化而後誅罰，務在成就全安長吏。 Huang Ba insisted on moral suasion before punishment and aimed above all to help senior subordinates succeed and keep them secure in their posts.

許丞老，病聾，督郵白欲逐之，霸曰：「許丞廉吏，雖老，尚能拜起送迎，正頗重聽，何傷？ County magistrate Xu was old and going deaf. The touring inspector wanted him dismissed, but Huang Ba replied: "Xu is an honest man. He can still rise and bow and manage formalities; he is merely hard of hearing—what is wrong with that?

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.

霸以外寬內明得吏民心，戶口歲增，治為天下第一。 Outwardly indulgent but inwardly acute, Huang Ba won the trust of officials and commoners alike. His registers swelled year by year until his district ranked first in the empire.

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.

後數月，征霸為太子太傅，遷御史大夫。 A few months later Huang Ba was summoned to be tutor to the heir apparent, then promoted to imperial clerk.

霸材長於治民，及為丞相，總綱紀號令，風采不及丙、魏、於定國，功名損於治郡。 Huang Ba's gifts lay in managing common folk. Once he took the chancellorship and had to orchestrate the whole bureaucracy, he lacked the presence of Bing Ji, Wei Xiang, or Yu Dingguo, and his renown dimmed beside what he had earned as a governor.

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.

霸甚慚。 Huang Ba was deeply embarrassed.

又樂陵侯史高以外屬舊恩侍中貴重，霸薦高可太尉。 Meanwhile Shi Gao, marquis of Leling, enjoyed influence at court as a maternal relative rewarded for past loyalty. Huang Ba nominated him for the vacant post of grand commandant.

天子使尚書召問霸：「太尉官罷久矣，丞相兼之，所以偃武興文也。 The emperor had the Secretariat summon Huang Ba and demand: "The grand commandantship has been dormant for years; the chancellor holds those duties so we may shift from war to civil rule.

尚書令受丞相對，霸免冠謝罪，數日乃決。 The director of the Secretariat took Huang Ba's answer back to the throne. Huang Ba doffed his cap and begged forgiveness; several days passed before the matter was closed.

然自漢興，言治民吏，以霸為首。 Still, from the founding of Han down to his day, no name ranked above Huang Ba's among officials famed for governing common people.

為丞相五歲，甘露三年薨，諡曰定侯。 He served as chancellor for five years and died in the third year of Ganlu (51 BCE); his posthumous title was Marquis Ding.

霸死後，樂陵侯高竟為大司馬。 After Huang Ba's death, Shi Gao, Marquis of Leling, eventually became grand marshal.

霸子思侯賞嗣，為關都尉。 Huang Ba's son Shang, Marquis Si, succeeded him and served as colonel guarding the passes.

始，霸少為陽夏游徼，與善相人者共載出，見一婦人，相者言：「此婦人當富貴，不然，相書不可用也。」 Earlier, when Huang Ba was young and serving as a patrol officer in Yangxia, he rode out with a man skilled in physiognomy. They saw a woman, and the physiognomist said, "This woman is destined for wealth and honor. If she is not, then the physiognomy books are useless."

霸推問之，乃其鄉里巫家女也。 Huang Ba investigated and learned she was the daughter of a village diviner.

霸即娶為妻，與之終身。 He married her at once and kept her for life.

Book of Han, Chapter 102Volume 90: Cruel Officials · 2 passages

時，黃霸在穎川以寬恕為治，郡中亦平，屢蒙豐年，鳳皇下，上賢焉，下詔稱揚其行，加金爵之賞。 Meanwhile Huang Ba's gentle Yingchuan drew phoenix omens and imperial gold.

延年素輕霸為人，及比郡為守，褒賞反在己前，心內不服。 Yan despised Huang Ba yet watched him praised ahead of himself.

Book of Later Han, Chapter 85Volume 77: Biographies of Cruel Officials · 1 passage

故严君蚩黄霸之术，密人笑卓茂之政，猛既穷矣，而犹或未胜。 So Lord Yan sneered at Huang Ba’s soft ways, and Mi county mocked Zhuo Mao’s kindness—yet even the harshest rule could not win the day.