Ancient China · Official and Diplomat

Lin Xiangru 藺相如

Attested BC 300 - BC 260

Passages: 8
Chapters: 8
Histories: 5

Overview

The translated histories identify Lin Xiangru as a diplomat, named individual, official, and statesman. This record brings together 8 passages from 8 chapters across 5 histories, with names, dates, relationships, offices, and events preserved as source-backed claims.

Names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Personal	Lin Xiangru	藺相如	Lin Xiangru
Surname	Lin	藺	Lìn
Personal name	Lin Xiangru	藺相如	Lin Xiangru
Personal name	Lin Xiangru	藺相如	Lìn Xiāngrú
Personal name	Lin Xiangru	藺相如
Title	Lord Lin	藺子	Linzi
Title	Lord Lin	藺先生
Alternate	Master Lin	藺子	Lìn Zǐ
Epithet	young Lan	藺生

Identity

Historicity: Historical
Identification: Named
Sex: Male

Sex: male
Explicit · beishi:088:s0144, hanshu:066:s0005, songshu:058:s0052
Sex: male
Strongly inferred · liangshu:047:s0258, suishu:077:s0112
Value: male
Strongly inferred · hanshu:022:s0021

Roles

Diplomat
Named Individual
Official
Statesman

Life and dates

Attested activity

Source Date: Text: 夫藺先生收功於章台… · Western Year: BC 280
Explicit event contextual date · hanshu:099:s0107
Source Date: Text: 慕藺 · Western Year: BC 283
Explicit · beishi:088:s0144
Source Date: Text: 慕藺相如之為人也 · Western Year: BC 283
Strongly inferred · hanshu:066:s0005
Source Date: Text: 戰國趙 · Western Interval: Start: BC 283 · End: BC 279
Strongly inferred · songshu:058:s0052
Source Date: Text: 藺子申威秦王 · Western Interval: Start: BC 283 · End: BC 279
Explicit event contextual date · hanshu:022:s0021
Source Date: Text: 藺生 · Western Interval: Start: BC 300 · End: BC 260
Strongly inferred · liangshu:047:s0258
Source Date: Text: 豫章王書 / 賾答書 · Western Interval: Start: AD 581 · End: AD 604
Explicit event contextual date · suishu:077:s0111, suishu:077:s0129

Events and relationships

Kind: diplomatic · Role: envoy · Action: overawed · Other Person Id: King of Qin (秦王) · Outcome: demonstrated authority before the King of Qin
Explicit · hanshu:022:s0021
Kind: political · Role: statesman · Action: yielded-place · Other Person Id: Lian Po (廉頗) · Outcome: yielded to Lian Po
Explicit · hanshu:022:s0021
Relation: rival-reconciled-with · Person Id: Lian Po (廉頗)
Explicit · hanshu:022:s0021

Assessments and attributes

Assessment: model for serving a lord · Provenance: Mode: named-speaker · Speaker Person Id: Ruan Xiaoxu (阮孝緒)
Explicit · liangshu:047:s0258
Assessment: overawed the King of Qin and yielded to Lian Po, yet ranked fifth class · Provenance: Mode: commentator-judgment · Speaker Person Id: Zhang Yan (張晏)
Explicit · hanshu:022:s0021

References in the histories

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

History of the Northern Dynasties, Chapter 88Volume 88 Biographies 76: Recluses · 1 passage

祖浚燕南贅客，河朔惰游，本無意于希顏，豈有心于慕藺。 Zujun is a superfluous guest south of Yan, an idle wanderer of the northern Yellow River region; I never intended to emulate Yan Hui, nor had any mind to admire Lin Xiangru.

Book of Han, Chapter 20Table of Ancient and Modern Persons · 1 passage

張晏曰：「老子玄默，仲尼所師，雖不在聖，要為大賢，文伯之母達於禮典，動為聖人所歎，言為後世所則，而在第四。田單以即墨孤城復強齊之大，魯連之博通，忽於榮利，藺子申威秦王，退讓廉頗，乃在第五。大姬巫怪，好祭鬼神，陳人化之，國多淫祀，寺人孟子違於大雅，以保其身，旣被宮刑，怨刺而作，乃在第三。嫪毐上烝，昬亂禮度，惡不忍聞，乃在第七。其餘差違紛錯不少，略舉揚較，以起失謬。獨馳騖於數千歲之中，旁觀諸子，事業未究，而尋遇竇氏之難，使之然乎？」 Zhang Yan said, "Laozi was deep and silent, and Confucius regarded him as a teacher. Though not ranked among sages, he surely counts as a great worthy. Wenbo's mother mastered the ritual classics; the sage praised her conduct and later ages took her words as a model—yet she appears in the fourth grade. Tian Dan restored great Qi from the isolated city of Jimo; Lu Lian was broadly learned yet disdained fame and profit; Lord Lin awed the King of Qin and yielded to Lian Po—yet they are placed in the fifth grade. Great Ji practiced sorcery and loved sacrificing to ghosts and spirits; the people of Chen were transformed by her and the state was full of improper cults. The eunuch Mengzi, turning from the great elegant style to preserve himself—after castration, wrote in resentment—yet is placed in the third grade. Lao Ai committed incest at court and threw ritual order into chaos, in deeds too foul to bear hearing—yet he is placed in the seventh grade. Discrepancies and errors are many; I have cited a few to expose the faults. Did he gallop alone across thousands of years, looking on at the various masters while his work remained unfinished, then soon meet the Dou family's disaster—and did that make it turn out this way?"

Book of Han, Chapter 22Volume 20: Prominent People from the Past Until the Present · 1 passage

田單以即墨孤城復強齊之大，魯連之博通，忽於榮利，藺子申威秦王，退讓廉頗，乃在第五。 Tian Dan revived powerful Qi from the isolated city of Jimo; Lu Zhonglian was widely learned and dismissed fame and gain; Lin Xiangru overawed the king of Qin and later yielded place to Lian Po, yet all are ranked only in the fifth class.

Book of Han, Chapter 66Volume 57a: Sima Xiangru · 1 passage

相如既學，慕藺相如之為人也，更名相如。 Once his schooling was done, he so admired the conduct of Lin Xiangru that he adopted the name Xiangru for himself.

Book of Han, Chapter 99Volume 87b: Yang Xiong 2 · 1 passage

夫藺先生收功於章台，四皓采榮於南山，公孫創業於金馬，票騎發跡於祁連，司馬長卿竊訾於卓氏，東方朔割炙於細君。 Lord Lin won his fame on the Zhangtai terrace; the Four Whiteheads took honor on Mount Shang; Gongsun Hong built a career from the Golden Horse gate; Huo Qubing made his name beyond Qilian; Sima Xiangru wangled a fortune from the Zhuos; Dongfang Shuo carved a roast for his bride.

Book of Liang, Chapter 47Volume 47: Filial Acts · 1 passage

舅阮孝緒聞之，歎曰：「此兒在家則曾子之流，事君則藺生之匹。」 His uncle Ruan Xiaoxu sighed, "At home this boy is like Zengzi; in serving a lord he would match young Lan."

Book of Song, Chapter 58Volume 58 Biographies 18: Wang Hui, Xie Hongwei, Wang Qiu · 1 passage

微子基微尚，無勌由慕藺，勿輕一簣少，進往將千仞。 Master Wei rests on quiet excellence; tireless, he emulates Lin Xiangru; do not despise a single basket's lack—the climb ahead will reach a thousand ren.

Book of Sui, Chapter 77Volume 77 Biographies 42: Recluses · 1 passage

祖浚燕南贅客，河朔惰游，本無意于希顏，豈有心于慕藺！ Zujun is but an extra guest in the south and a lazy wanderer in the north; I never aspired to emulate Yan Hui—how could I dream of admiring Lin Xiangru!