Qin and Han · Historian and Commentator

Master Chu 褚先生

Chu Xiansheng

Attested c. BC 100 - BC 33

Passages: 5
Chapters: 4
Histories: 1

Overview

The translated histories identify Master Chu as a commentator, courtier, historian, and official. This record brings together 5 passages from 4 chapters across 1 history, with names, dates, relationships, offices, and events preserved as source-backed claims.

Names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Personal	Master Chu	褚先生	Chu Xiansheng
Title	Master Chu	褚先生	Chu Xiansheng
Title	Master Chu	褚先生	Chǔ Xiānshēng
Title	Master Chu	褚先生	Chǔ Xiānsheng

Identity

Historicity: Historical
Identification: Title only
Sex: Male

Sex: male
Strongly inferred · shiji:013:s0038, shiji:104:s0074
Sex: male
Explicit · shiji:048:s0154, shiji:127:s0109

Roles

Commentator
Courtier
Historian
Official
Scholar

Life and dates

Attested activity

Source Date: Text: 臣為郎時 · Western Interval: Start: BC 80 · End: BC 40
Explicit · shiji:013:s0092
Source Date: Text: 褚先生曰：臣為郎時 · Western Interval: Start: BC 74 · End: BC 49
Explicit · shiji:127:s0109
Source Date: Text: 褚先生曰 · Western Interval: Start: BC 74 · End: BC 33
Explicit · shiji:104:s0074
Source Date: Text: 褚先生曰 · Western Year: c. BC 100
Explicit event contextual date · shiji:048:s0154

Career and standing

Label: Gentleman of the Palace / 郎
Explicit · shiji:104:s0074
Label: gentleman-attendant / 郎 · Action: held
Explicit · shiji:013:s0092
Label: Palace Gentleman / 郎 · Action: held
Explicit · shiji:127:s0109, shiji:127:s0128

Places and affiliations

Polity: Western Han / 漢 · Relation: served
Explicit · shiji:127:s0109

Works and attributed material

Kind: commentary · Role: speaker · Speaker Person Id: Master Chu (褚先生)
Explicit · shiji:127:s0109, shiji:127:s0110, shiji:127:s0111, shiji:127:s0112, shiji:127:s0113, shiji:127:s0114, shiji:127:s0115, shiji:127:s0116, shiji:127:s0117, shiji:127:s0118, shiji:127:s0119, shiji:127:s0120, shiji:127:s0121, shiji:127:s0122, shiji:127:s0123, shiji:127:s0124, shiji:127:s0125, shiji:127:s0126, shiji:127:s0127, shiji:127:s0128, shiji:127:s0129, shiji:127:s0130, shiji:127:s0131, shiji:127:s0132
Kind: commentary · Role: speaker · Topic: benevolence and righteousness as the basis of rule and introduction of Jia Yi’s words
Explicit · shiji:048:s0154, shiji:048:s0155, shiji:048:s0156, shiji:048:s0157, shiji:048:s0158
Kind: commentary · Role: speaker
Explicit · shiji:104:s0074
Kind: speech · Role: speaker · Quoted: true
Explicit · shiji:013:s0040, shiji:013:s0041, shiji:013:s0042, shiji:013:s0043, shiji:013:s0044, shiji:013:s0045, shiji:013:s0046, shiji:013:s0047, shiji:013:s0048, shiji:013:s0049, shiji:013:s0050, shiji:013:s0051, shiji:013:s0052, shiji:013:s0053, shiji:013:s0054, shiji:013:s0055, shiji:013:s0056, shiji:013:s0057, shiji:013:s0058, shiji:013:s0059, shiji:013:s0060, shiji:013:s0061, shiji:013:s0062, shiji:013:s0063, shiji:013:s0064, shiji:013:s0065, shiji:013:s0066, shiji:013:s0067, shiji:013:s0068, shiji:013:s0069, shiji:013:s0070, shiji:013:s0071, shiji:013:s0073, shiji:013:s0074, shiji:013:s0075, shiji:013:s0076, shiji:013:s0077, shiji:013:s0078, shiji:013:s0079, shiji:013:s0080, shiji:013:s0081, shiji:013:s0082, shiji:013:s0083, shiji:013:s0084, shiji:013:s0085, shiji:013:s0086, shiji:013:s0087, shiji:013:s0088, shiji:013:s0089, shiji:013:s0090, shiji:013:s0091, shiji:013:s0092, shiji:013:s0093

Events and relationships

Relation: interlocutor-of · Person Id: Master Zhang (張夫子)
Explicit · shiji:013:s0038, shiji:013:s0040

Source notes

Statement: Shared office with a Gentleman-in-Waiting under the Grand Diviner who reported Emperor Wu anecdote / 與太卜待詔為郎者同署
Explicit · shiji:127:s0128

References in the histories

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

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 13Genealogical Tables of the Three Dynasties · 2 passages

張夫子問褚先生曰：「詩言契、后稷皆無父而生。 Master Zhang asked Master Chu, saying, "The Poetry says that Qi and Hou Ji were both born without fathers.

褚先生曰：「不然。 Master Chu replied, "No, that is not so.

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 48House of Chen She · 1 passage

褚先生曰：地形險阻，所以為固也； Master Chu remarked: Rugged terrain is what provides a state with its defenses;

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 104Biography of Tian Shu · 1 passage

褚先生曰：臣為郎時，聞之曰田仁故與任安相善。 Master Chu says: When I served as a Gentleman of the Palace, I heard that Tian Ren had once been close friends with Ren An.

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 127Biographies of Soothsayers · 1 passage

褚先生曰：臣為郎時，游觀長安中，見卜筮之賢大夫，觀其起居行步，坐起自動，誓正其衣冠而當鄉人也，有君子之風。 Master Chu says: When I served as a Palace Gentleman, I wandered through Chang'an observing its sights. I encountered worthy gentlemen among the diviners and observed their daily conduct: how they walked, how they rose and sat with natural composure, and how they straightened their caps and robes when greeting their neighbors. They had the bearing of true gentlemen.