Tang Lin (唐臨) | 24 Histories

Overview

The translated histories identify Tang Lin as a judge and official. This record brings together 14 passages from 1 chapter across 1 history, with names, dates, relationships, offices, and events preserved as source-backed claims.

Names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Personal	Tang Lin	唐臨	Tang Lin
Given	Lin	臨	Lin
Surname	Tang	唐	Tang
Personal name	Tang Lin	唐臨	Tang Lin

Identity

Historicity: Historical
Identification: Named
Sex: Male

Sex: male
Explicit · jiutangshu:085:s0001

Roles

Judge
Official

Life and dates

Death

Place: Chaozhou / 潮州 · Age: 60
Explicit · jiutangshu:085:s0035

Age

Age: 60 · Reckoning: sui
Explicit · jiutangshu:085:s0035

Attested activity

Source Date: Text: 武德初 · Western Year: AD 618
Explicit event contextual date · jiutangshu:085:s0005
Source Date: Text: 永徽元年 · Western Year: AD 650
Explicit · jiutangshu:085:s0028
Source Date: Text: 顯慶四年 · Western Year: AD 659
Explicit · jiutangshu:085:s0034
Source Date: Text: 高宗即位 · Western Year: AD 649
Explicit event contextual date · jiutangshu:085:s0019

Family

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

Ancestor of Tang Shao (唐紹)
Kinship Term: grandson / 孫 · Generation Distance: 2 · Line: paternal · Intermediary Person Ids: Parent of Tang Shao
Descendant of Tang Jin (唐瑾)
Kinship Term: grandfather / 孫 · Generation Distance: 2 · Line: paternal · Subject Role: grandfather · Object Role: grandson
Kin of Tang Lingze (唐令則)
Kinship Term: paternal uncle / 伯父 · Line: paternal · Subject Role: paternal-uncle · Object Role: nephew · Intermediary Person Ids: Father of Tang Lin
Sibling of Tang Jiao (唐皎)
Kinship Term: elder brother / 兄 · Shared Parentage: full · Subject Relative Age: elder · Subject Role: elder-brother · Object Role: younger-brother
Parent of Parent of Tang Shao
Kinship Term: father / 父 · Parentage: biological · Subject Role: father · Object Role: child
Child of Father of Tang Lin
Kinship Term: father / 父 · Parentage: biological · Subject Role: father · Object Role: son

Career and standing

Label: staff officer in the Right Guard armor bureau / 右衛率府鎧曹參軍 · Action: appointed · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 武德初 · Western Year: AD 618
Explicit · jiutangshu:085:s0005
Label: Censor-in-Chief / 御史大夫 · Action: appointed · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 永徽元年 · Western Year: AD 650
Explicit · jiutangshu:085:s0028
Label: acting Vice Minister of Personnel / 檢校吏部侍郎 · Action: appointed · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 高宗即位 · Western Year: AD 649
Explicit · jiutangshu:085:s0019
Label: Minister of Justice / 大理卿 · Action: appointed · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 高宗即位同年 · Western Year: AD 649
Explicit · jiutangshu:085:s0020
Label: assistant magistrate of Wanquan / 萬泉丞 · Action: appointed
Explicit · jiutangshu:085:s0006
Label: Attending Censor / 侍御史 · Action: appointed
Explicit · jiutangshu:085:s0011
Label: Minister of Punishments / 刑部尚書 · Action: appointed
Explicit · jiutangshu:085:s0033
Label: Vice Minister of the Yellow Gate / 黃門侍郎 · Action: appointed
Explicit · jiutangshu:085:s0012
Label: Prefect of Chaozhou / 潮州刺史 · Action: demoted · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 顯慶四年 · Western Year: AD 659
Explicit · jiutangshu:085:s0034
Label: Gold-Purple Glory Grand Master / 金紫光祿大夫 · Action: granted
Explicit · jiutangshu:085:s0033
Label: Silver-Green Glory Grand Master / 銀青光祿大夫 · Action: granted
Explicit · jiutangshu:085:s0012

Places and affiliations

Polity: Tang / 唐 · Relation: served
Explicit · jiutangshu:085:s0005
Place: Chang'an in Jingzhao / 京兆長安
Explicit · jiutangshu:085:s0001
Place: Beihai / 北海 · Relation: ancestral-origin
Explicit · jiutangshu:085:s0002
Place: Guanzhong / 關中 · Relation: migrated-to
Explicit · jiutangshu:085:s0002

Works and attributed material

Work: Records of Netherworld Retribution / 冥報記 · Relation: author
Explicit · jiutangshu:085:s0036
Kind: memorial · Role: author · Other Person Id: Gaozong (高宗)
Explicit · jiutangshu:085:s0221, jiutangshu:085:s0222, jiutangshu:085:s0223, jiutangshu:085:s0224, jiutangshu:085:s0225, jiutangshu:085:s0226, jiutangshu:085:s0227, jiutangshu:085:s0228, jiutangshu:085:s0229, jiutangshu:085:s0230, jiutangshu:085:s0231, jiutangshu:085:s0232, jiutangshu:085:s0233, jiutangshu:085:s0234

Events and relationships

Kind: legal · Role: advocate · Action: secured-exile-instead-of-death · Other Person Id: Xiao Lingzhi (蕭齡之) · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 永徽二年 · Western Year: AD 651
Explicit · jiutangshu:085:s0032

Assessments and attributes

Assessment: lenient and forbearing · Provenance: Mode: historian-judgment
Explicit · jiutangshu:085:s0013, jiutangshu:085:s0018

References in the histories

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

Old Book of Tang, Chapter 85Volume 81 Biographies 31: Cui Dunli, Lu Chengqin, Liu Xiangdao, Li Jingxuan, Li Yiyan, Sun Chuyue, Le Yanwei, Zhao Renben · 14 passages

Open chapter

唐臨，京兆長安人，周內史瑾孫也。 Tang Lin, a native of Chang'an in the capital district of Jingzhao, was the grandson of Tang Jin, who had served Zhou as Interior Secretary.

臨少與兄皎俱有令名。 In youth, Lin and his elder brother Jiao were both famed for their character.

武德初，隱太子總兵東征，臨詣軍獻平王世充之策，太子引直典書坊，尋授右衛率府鎧曹參軍。 Early in the Wude era, when the crown prince led the eastern campaign, Lin went to the camp and offered a plan to defeat Wang Shichong. The prince installed him in the crown prince's document office, and he was soon made a staff officer in the Right Guard's armor bureau.

縣有輕囚十數人，會春暮時雨，臨白令請出之，令不許。 The county held a dozen-odd light offenders. Late spring brought seasonal rains, and Lin asked the magistrate to release them for planting; the magistrate refused.

臨曰：“明公若有所疑，臨請自當其罪。” Lin said, "If you have doubts, I will answer for this myself."

令因請假，臨召囚悉令歸家耕種，與之約，令歸係所。 The magistrate took leave, and Lin sent every prisoner home to farm under bond to return when called.

囚等皆感恩貸，至時畢集詣獄，臨因是知名。 The prisoners were grateful for the trust; when the deadline came they all presented themselves at the jail, and Lin's name spread.

臨察知之，使召謂曰：“今日氣逆，不宜哀泣，向取白衫，且止之也。” Lin noticed, called him in, and said, "The air is unsteady today—no use weeping. Forget the white robe for now."

高宗即位，檢校吏部侍郎。 When Emperor Gaozong succeeded, Lin was appointed acting Vice Minister of Personnel.

高宗嚐問臨在獄係囚之數，臨對詔稱旨。 Gaozong once asked how many prisoners the courts held; Lin's reply pleased him.

高宗又嚐親錄死囚，前卿所斷者號叫稱冤，臨所入者獨無言。 Gaozong once reviewed death-row cases in person. Prisoners judged by his predecessor cried out their innocence; those Lin had tried were silent.

帝怪問狀，囚曰：“罪實自犯，唐卿所斷，既非冤濫，所以絕意耳。” Asked why, one man said, "I am guilty as charged. Minister Tang's sentence was fair, so I have nothing left to plead."

臨奏曰：臣聞國家大典，在於賞刑，古先聖王，惟刑是釁。 Lin submitted a memorial, saying, I have heard that the great canon of the state lies in reward and punishment, and that the ancient sage kings treated punishment as a sacred charge.

如臨之守法，文瓘之議刑，時屬哲王，可以理奪。 Men such as Lin, who upheld the law, and Wenjun, who weighed punishments, flourished under wise rulers who could be swayed by reason.