Peng Xuan (彭宣) | 24 Histories

Overview

The translated histories identify Peng Xuan as an aristocrat, official, and statesman. This record brings together 8 passages from 2 chapters across 1 history, with names, dates, relationships, offices, and events preserved as source-backed claims.

Names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Personal	Peng Xuan	彭宣	Péng Xuān
Title	Marquis of Changping	長平侯
Title	Marquis of Changping	長平侯	Changping Hou
Posthumous	Marquis Qing	頃侯	Qing Hou
Surname	Peng	彭
Personal	Peng Xuan	彭宣	Peng Xuan
Given	Xuan	宣

Identity

Historicity: Historical
Identification: Named
Sex: Male

Sex: male
Explicit · hanshu:082:s0189
Value: male
Strongly inferred · hanshu:012:s0130

Roles

Aristocrat
Official
Statesman

Life and dates

Death

Manner: died / 薨 · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 宣居國數年，薨 · Western Interval: Start: BC 1 · End: AD 5
Explicit · hanshu:082:s0194

Attested activity

Source Date: Text: 元壽二年五月 · Western Year: BC 1
Explicit event contextual date · hanshu:012:s0130
Source Date: Text: 宣居國數年，薨 · Western Interval: Start: BC 1 · End: AD 5
Explicit event contextual date · hanshu:082:s0188, hanshu:082:s0194
Source Date: Text: 彭宣見險而止 · Western Year: BC 1
Strongly inferred · hanshu:082:s0199
Source Date: Text: 會哀帝崩…宣上書 · Western Year: BC 1
Explicit event contextual date · hanshu:082:s0188, hanshu:082:s0189

Family

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

Ancestor of Grandson of Peng Xuan
Kinship Term: grandson / 孫 · Generation Distance: 2 · Line: paternal
Parent of Son of Peng Xuan
Kinship Term: son / 子 · Parentage: biological · Subject Role: son · Object Role: father

Kinship Role: male-line-heirs · Count: 2 · Note: marquisate passed through son and grandson until cut off
Explicit · hanshu:082:s0195

Career and standing

Label: Grand Minister of Works / 大司空 · Action: appointed · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 元壽二年五月 · Western Year: BC 1
Explicit · hanshu:012:s0130
Label: Grand Minister of Works / 大司空 · Action: held
Explicit · hanshu:082:s0190, hanshu:082:s0192
Label: Grand Minister of Works / 大司空 · Action: resigned · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 願上大司空、長平侯印綬 · Western Year: BC 1
Explicit · hanshu:082:s0190, hanshu:082:s0192
Title: Marquis of Changping / 長平侯 · Action: transmitted · Note: passed to son and grandson then ended when Wang Mang fell
Explicit · hanshu:082:s0195
Label: posthumous title Marquis Qing / 謚曰頃侯 · Action: bestowed
Explicit · hanshu:082:s0194
Title: Marquis of Changping / 長平侯 · Action: enfeoffed · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 元壽二年五月 · Western Year: BC 1
Explicit · hanshu:012:s0130
Title: Marquis of Changping / 長平侯 · Action: held
Explicit · hanshu:082:s0190
Title: Marquis Qing / 頃侯 · Action: posthumously-granted
Explicit · hanshu:082:s0194

Places and affiliations

Place: his fief / 國 · Relation: resided-at · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 宣居國數年 · Western Interval: Start: BC 1 · End: AD 5
Explicit · hanshu:082:s0192, hanshu:082:s0194

Works and attributed material

Kind: memorial · Role: author
Explicit · hanshu:082:s0189, hanshu:082:s0190

Events and relationships

Kind: political · Role: petitioner · Action: requested-retirement · Other Person Id: Wang Mang (王莽) · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 宣上書 · Western Year: BC 1
Explicit · hanshu:082:s0189, hanshu:082:s0190
Kind: political · Role: retiree · Action: stopped-when-seeing-danger
Explicit · hanshu:082:s0199

Assessments and attributes

Assessment: stopped when he saw danger; unlike those anxious only over losing office · Provenance: Mode: historian-judgment
Explicit · hanshu:082:s0199
Kind: age-health · Statement: old, dim-sighted, often ill, confused and forgetful
Explicit · hanshu:082:s0190
Item: gold, comfortable carriage, and four horses / 黃金、安車駟馬 · Relation: withheld · Negated: true
Explicit · hanshu:082:s0193

References in the histories

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

Book of Han, Chapter 12Volume 11: Annals of Emperor Ai · 1 passage

Open chapter

大司馬衛將軍董賢為大司馬，丞相孔光為大司徒，御史大夫彭宣為大司空，封長平侯。 Dong Xian, formerly Grand Commandant and General of the Guard, became Grand Commandant; Chancellor Kong Guang became Grand Minister over the Masses; Censor-in-Chief Peng Xuan became Grand Minister of Works and was enfeoffed as Marquis of Changping.

Book of Han, Chapter 82Volume 71: Jun, Shu, Yu, Xue, Ping and Peng · 7 passages

Open chapter

宣上書言：「三公鼎足承君，一足不任，則覆亂美實。 Peng Xuan submitted a memorial: "The Three Excellencies support the ruler like the legs of a tripod. If one leg cannot bear its weight, the vessel overturns and its precious contents are spoiled.

臣資性淺薄，年齒老眊，數伏疾病，昏亂遺忘，願上大司空、長平侯印綬，乞骸骨歸鄉里，俟置溝壑。」 Your servant's nature and abilities are shallow; I am old and dim, often laid low by illness, confused, and forgetful. I wish to return the seals and ribbons of Grand Minister of Works and Marquis of Changping, beg leave to take my old bones back to my village, and wait there to be laid in a ditch or ravine."

莽白太后，策宣曰：「惟君視事日寡，功德未效，迫於老眊昏亂，非所以輔國家、綏海內也。 Wang Mang informed the Empress Dowager and issued a rescript: "You have held office briefly and shown little merit; age and infirmity unfit you to steady the state within the four seas.

使光祿勳豐冊詔君，其上大司空印綬，便就國。」 We are sending Feng, Superintendent of the Imperial Household, with this written summons. Return the seals and ribbons of Grand Minister of Works and proceed at once to your fief."

莽恨宣求退，故不賜黃金、安車駟馬。 Mang resented his asking to withdraw and withheld the usual gift of gold, carriage, and four horses.

宣居國數年，薨，謚曰頃侯。 Peng Xuan lived on his fief a few years, died, and was posthumously titled Marquis Qing.

薛廣德保縣車之榮，平當逡遁有恥，彭宣見險而止，異乎「苟患失之」者矣。 Xue Guangde preserved the honor of retiring his carriage; Ping Dang withdrew with a sense of shame; and Peng Xuan stopped when he saw danger. They were unlike those who "are anxious only over losing office."