Qin and Han · Merchant and Landowner

Ren of Xuanqu 任氏

Ren Shi

Attested BC 205

Passages: 6
Chapters: 1
Histories: 1

Overview

Ren of Xuanqu was a Merchant and Landowner.

Life and dates

Attested activity

BC 205 楚漢相距滎陽也
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 129, passages 256, 258

Origins and identity

forebears were Dudao granary officials
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 129, passage 256

Career and standing

granary grain storage and farming-husbandry 窖倉粟…力田畜
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 129, passages 257, 259

Events and relationships

Profited during Chu Han war at Xingyang
Economic · Grain hoarder
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 129, passage 258

Assessments and attributes

Assessment wealthy and esteemed by the sovereign · Mode historian-judgment
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 129, passage 263
frugal family rules; only farm products for food and clothing
Character
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 129, passage 262

References in the histories

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 129Biographies of Money-Makers · 6 passages

宣曲任氏之先，為督道倉吏。 The forebears of the Ren family of Xuanqu served as granary officials on the Dudao route.

秦之敗也，豪傑皆爭取金玉，而任氏獨窖倉粟。 When Qin collapsed, every man of power scrambled to seize gold and jade. The Ren family alone stored granary grain in underground cellars.

楚漢相距滎陽也，民不得耕種，米石至萬，而豪傑金玉盡歸任氏，任氏以此起富。 When the armies of Chu and Han faced each other at Xingyang and the people could not farm, the price of grain soared to ten thousand per shi. All the gold and jade of the powerful flowed into the Ren family's hands, and they built their fortune upon it.

富人爭奢侈，而任氏折節為儉，力田畜。 While the other rich families competed in extravagance, the Ren family exercised restraint and lived frugally, devoting themselves to farming and animal husbandry.

田畜人爭取賤賈，任氏獨取貴善。 In farming and animal husbandry, while others competed to buy cheap, the Ren family alone chose to invest in expensive but high-quality stock.

然任公家約，非田畜所出弗衣食，公事不畢則身不得飲酒食肉。 The Ren patriarch enforced strict family rules: they would not wear or eat anything that did not come from their own farms and herds, and until public duties were completed, no one was permitted to drink wine or eat meat.