Qin and Han · Official

Shentu Jia 申屠嘉

Shēntú Jiā

Died BC 155

Passages: 39
Chapters: 5
Histories: 2

Overview

The translated histories identify Shentu Jia as an aristocrat, official, soldier, and statesman. This record brings together 39 passages from 5 chapters across 2 histories, with names, dates, relationships, offices, and events preserved as source-backed claims.

Names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Personal	Shentu Jia	申屠嘉	Shēntú Jiā
Title	Chancellor	丞相
Title	Chancellor	丞相	Chengxiang
Title	governor of Huaiyang	淮陽守
Given	Jia	嘉	Jia
Given name	Jia	嘉
Posthumous	Marquis Jie	節侯
Title	Marquis of Gu'an	故安侯
Personal	Shen Tu Jia
Surname	Shentu	申屠	Shentu
Personal name	Shentu Jia	申屠嘉	Shentu Jia
Personal	Shentu Jia	申屠嘉	Shentu Jia
Personal name	Shentu Jia	申屠嘉	Shēntú Jiā

Identity

Historicity: Historical
Identification: Named
Sex: Male

Sex: male
Explicit · hanshu:051:s0103, shiji:011:s0013
Sex: male
Strongly inferred · hanshu:058:s0070
Value: male
Strongly inferred · shiji:101:s0079

Roles

Aristocrat
Official
Soldier
Statesman

Life and dates

Death

Date Context: Source Date: Text: 二年 · Western Year: BC 155
Explicit · shiji:011:s0013
Manner: vomited blood
Explicit · hanshu:051:s0136
Manner: fell ill and died / 發病死
Explicit · shiji:101:s0171
Text: fell ill with anger and died
Explicit · hanshu:058:s0396

Attested activity

Source Date: Text: 二年 · Western Year: BC 155
Explicit · hanshu:051:s0128, shiji:011:s0013
Source Date: Text: 十六年 · Western Year: BC 164
Explicit · hanshu:051:s0109
Source Date: Text: 孝文元年 · Western Year: BC 179
Explicit · hanshu:051:s0108
Source Date: Text: 文景之世 · Western Interval: Start: BC 180 · End: BC 141
Explicit event contextual date · shiji:101:s0079

Family

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

Parent of Son of Shentu Jia (申屠嘉子)
Kinship Term: son / 子 · Parentage: biological · Subject Role: father · Object Role: son

Career and standing

Label: chancellor / 丞相 · Action: appointed
Explicit · hanshu:051:s0111
Label: Chancellor / 丞相 · Action: held
Explicit · shiji:011:s0013, shiji:101:s0079
Chancellor / 丞相
Explicit · hanshu:058:s0070
governor of Huaiyang / 淮陽守
Explicit · hanshu:058:s0080
Office: Chancellor / 丞相
Explicit · hanshu:058:s0388
Title: Marquis of Gu'an / 故安侯 · Action: enfeoffed
Explicit · hanshu:051:s0111

Places and affiliations

Place: Liang / 梁
Explicit · hanshu:051:s0104

Works and attributed material

Kind: speech · Role: speaker · Quoted: true
Explicit · hanshu:051:s0116, hanshu:051:s0122, hanshu:051:s0123

Assessments and attributes

Assessment: resolute and upright but lacking strategic learning · Provenance: Mode: historian-judgment
Explicit · hanshu:051:s0143

References in the histories

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

Book of Han, Chapter 5Volume 4: Annals of Emperor Wen · 1 passage

吏二千石以上從高帝潁川守尊等十人食邑六百戶，淮陽守申屠嘉等十人五百戶，衛尉足等十人四百戶。」 For officials of two thousand shi rank and above who followed Emperor Gaozu: Governor Zun of Yingchuan and nine others shall receive food revenues of six hundred households each; Governor Shentu Jia of Huaiyang and nine others shall receive five hundred households each; Guard Commander Zu and nine others shall receive four hundred households each.'

Book of Han, Chapter 51Volume 42: Zhang, Zhou, Zhao, Ren and Shentu · 20 passages

申屠嘉 Shentu Jia

申屠嘉，梁人也。 Shentu Jia was a native of Liang.

孝文元年，舉故以二千石從高祖者，悉以為關內侯，食邑二十四人，而嘉食邑五百戶。 In the first year of Emperor Wen's reign, every former official at the two-thousand-dan level who had served the High Ancestor was ennobled as a noble within the passes; twenty-four were granted revenue from estates, among them Jia, with five hundred households.

久念不可，而高帝時大臣余見無可者，乃以御史大夫嘉為丞相，因故邑封為故安侯。 After long reflection he gave the idea up, and among the surviving senior ministers who had served the founder he could find no one equal to the task. He therefore elevated Imperial Counsellor Shentu Jia to chancellor and, building on the old enfeoffment, created him marquis of Gu'an.

嘉為人廉直，門不受私謁。 Shentu Jia was honest and blunt; he would not receive private callers at his gate.

是時，嘉入朝而通居上旁，有怠慢之禮。 Once, when Shentu Jia came to court, Deng Tong was lounging at the emperor's side with a slovenly disregard for protocol.

嘉奏事畢，因言曰：「陛下幸愛群臣則富貴之，至於朝廷之禮，不可以不肅！」 When Shentu Jia had finished his report, he added, "If Your Majesty wishes to show love to your ministers, wealth and rank are the way to do it—but the dignity of the court must be kept inviolate."

罷朝坐府中，嘉為檄召通詣丞相府，不來，且斬通。 After court Shentu Jia returned to his compound and issued a written summons ordering Deng Tong to report to the chancellor's residence, warning that if he failed to appear he would be executed.

通至丞相府，免冠，徒跣，頓首謝嘉。 Deng Tong presented himself at the chancellor's gate bareheaded and barefoot, kowtowing in apology to Shentu Jia.

嘉坐自如，弗為禮，責曰：「夫朝廷者，高皇帝之朝廷也，通小臣，戲殿上，大不敬，當斬。 Shentu Jia remained seated and did not return the courtesy. "This court," he said, "is the court of the High Emperor. Deng Tong is a minor official who has made a mockery of the throne—a capital offense.

通頓首，首盡出血，不解。 Deng Tong kowtowed until his forehead bled, but Shentu Jia would not relent.

上度丞相已困通，使使持節召通，而謝丞相：「此語弄臣，君釋之。」 When the emperor judged that the chancellor had Deng Tong sufficiently frightened, he dispatched an envoy with imperial credentials to recall him and sent word to Shentu Jia: "He is my household fool; let him go."

嘉為丞相五歲，文帝崩，孝景即位。 Shentu Jia had been chancellor five years when Emperor Wen died and Emperor Jing came to the throne.

二年，晁錯為內史，貴幸用事，諸法令多所請變更，議以適罰侵削諸侯，而丞相嘉自絀所言不用，疾錯。 In the second year of the reign Chao Cuo held the post of inner scribe; favored and powerful, he pushed through wholesale revisions of the law and urged fines and legal pressure to whittle away the princes' domains. Chancellor Shentu Jia found his own counsel ignored and came to detest Chao Cuo.

嘉聞錯穿宗廟垣，為奏請誅錯。 When Shentu Jia learned that Chao Cuo had breached a wall of the imperial temple precinct, he memorialized for Chao Cuo's death.

至朝，嘉請誅內史錯。 At the next court session Shentu Jia demanded the execution of Inner Scribe Chao Cuo.

罷朝，嘉謂長史曰：「吾悔不先斬錯乃請之，為錯所賣！」 After court Shentu Jia told his chief clerk, "I should have cut Chao Cuo's throat before I ever brought the matter to the throne—he has made a fool of me."

諡曰節侯。 His posthumous title was Jie—the Steadfast Marquis.

自嘉死後，開封侯陶青、桃侯劉舍及武帝時柏至侯許昌、平棘侯薛澤、武強侯莊青翟、商陵侯趙周，皆以列侯繼踵，娖娖廉謹，為丞相備員而已，無所能發明功名著於世者。 After Shentu Jia's death came Tao Qing of Kaifeng and Liu She of Tao, and under Emperor Wu, Xu Chang of Bozhi, Xue Ze of Pingji, Zhuang Qingdi of Wuqiang, and Zhao Zhou of Shangling—each a full marquis who stepped into the chancellorship in turn. They were honest, cautious placeholders, none of whom left a mark on the age.

申屠嘉可謂剛毅守節，然無術學，殆與蕭、曹、陳平異矣。 Shentu Jia was resolute and held fast to principle, but he lacked the strategic breadth of learning that set Xiao He, Cao Shen, and Chen Ping apart.

Book of Han, Chapter 58Volume 49: Yuan Ang and Chao Cuo · 13 passages

盎告歸，道逢丞相申屠嘉，下車拜謁，丞相從車上謝。 On leave bound for home he met Chancellor Shentu Jia, dismounted to pay his respects, and received only a nod from the passing carriage.

盎還，愧其吏，乃之丞相捨上謁，求見丞相。 Mortified before his own staff, he went to the chancellor's gate and asked for a formal interview.

丞相良久乃見。 He was kept waiting a long time before being admitted.

丞相曰：「使君所言公事，之曹與長史掾議之，吾且奏之； The chancellor said: "If this is state business, take it to my office and let the senior clerks hear it; I will memorialize whatever they endorse;

盎即起說曰：「君為相，自度孰與陳平、絳侯？」 Yuan Ang rose and said: "You sit as chancellor—how do you rank yourself beside Chen Ping and the Marquis of Jiang?"

丞相曰：「不如。」 "I am not in their class," said the chancellor.

丞相乃再拜曰：「嘉鄙人，乃不知，將軍幸教。」 Shentu Jia bowed twice and said, "I am a boor; I did not understand—thank you for the lesson, general."

文帝嘉之，乃賜錯璽書寵答焉，曰：「皇帝問太子家令：上書言兵體三章，聞之。 Wen praised the memorial and answered with an edict under the imperial seal: "The throne acknowledges your three-part essay on the nature of war.

丞相申屠嘉心弗便，力未有以傷。 Chancellor Shentu Jia bridled but could not strike.

丞相大怒，欲因此過為奏請誅錯。 The chancellor meant to hang the sacrilege charge on him and demand his head.

丞相奏事，因言錯擅鑿廟垣為門，請下廷尉誅。 At the next audience Shentu Jia accused him of breaching the temple wall and asked the Minister of Justice to behead him.

丞相謝。 The chancellor withdrew his charge.

丞相遂發病死。 He sickened with rage and died.

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 11Annals of the Xiaojing Emperor · 1 passage

丞相申屠嘉卒。 Chancellor Shentu Jia passed away.

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 101Biographies of Yuan Ang and Chao Cuo · 4 passages

盎告歸，道逢丞相申屠嘉，下車拜謁，丞相從車上謝袁盎。 When Ang took leave to return home, he met Chancellor Shentu Jia on the road. Ang descended from his carriage and bowed formally, but the Chancellor returned the greeting from his carriage without getting down.

丞相乃再拜曰：「嘉鄙野人，乃不知，將軍幸教。」 The Chancellor bowed twice and said, 'I, Jia, am but a crude and rustic man who did not understand. I am fortunate that the General has deigned to instruct me.'

丞相申屠嘉心弗便，力未有以傷。 Chancellor Shentu Jia resented this but lacked the means to bring Cuo down.

丞相嘉聞，大怒，欲因此過為奏請誅錯。 When Chancellor Jia heard of this, he was furious and resolved to use the offense as grounds for a memorial requesting Cuo's execution.