Tang Tan (唐檀) | 24 Histories

Overview

The translated histories identify Tang Tan as an astrologer, diviner, official, and scholar. This record brings together 7 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 Tan	唐檀	Tang Tan
Personal name	Tang Tan	唐檀	Tang Tan
Courtesy name	Zichan	子产	Zichan

Identity

Historicity: Historical
Identification: Named
Sex: Male

Sex: male
Strongly inferred · houhanshu:093:s0001

Roles

Astrologer
Diviner
Official
Scholar
Teacher
Writer

Life and dates

Death

Place: at home / 家 · Manner: natural
Explicit · houhanshu:093:s0014

Attested activity

Source Date: Text: 永宁元年 · Regnal Year: 1 · Reign Name: 永宁 · Western Year: AD 120
Explicit · houhanshu:093:s0007, houhanshu:093:s0008
Source Date: Text: 延光四年 · Regnal Year: 4 · Reign Name: 延光 · Western Year: AD 125
Explicit event contextual date · houhanshu:093:s0009
Source Date: Text: 永建五年 · Regnal Year: 5 · Reign Name: 永建 · Western Year: AD 130
Explicit · houhanshu:093:s0010
Source Date: Text: 元初七年 · Regnal Year: 7 · Reign Name: 元初 · Western Year: AD 120
Explicit · houhanshu:093:s0004, houhanshu:093:s0005

Career and standing

Label: teacher / 教授
Explicit · houhanshu:093:s0003
Label: gentleman of the palace / 郎中 · Action: appointed · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 永建五年 · Regnal Year: 5 · Reign Name: 永建 · Western Year: AD 130
Explicit · houhanshu:093:s0010
Label: gentleman of the palace / 郎中 · Action: resigned · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 永建五年 · Regnal Year: 5 · Reign Name: 永建 · Western Year: AD 130
Explicit · houhanshu:093:s0012

Places and affiliations

Place: Nanchang, Yuzhang commandery / 豫章南昌 · Relation: native-of
Explicit · houhanshu:093:s0001
Place: his home region in Yuzhang / 乡里 · Relation: returned-to
Explicit · houhanshu:093:s0003

Learning and skills

Institution: Imperial Academy / 太学 · Action: studied-at · Life Stage: youth · Subjects: the Jing family's Book of Changes / 京氏易, the Han Poetry / 韩诗, the Yan clan's Spring and Autumn Annals / 颜氏春秋
Explicit · houhanshu:093:s0002
Credential: Filial and Incorrupt / 孝廉 · Action: nominated · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 永建五年 · Regnal Year: 5 · Reign Name: 永建 · Western Year: AD 130
Explicit · houhanshu:093:s0010
Skill: portent interpretation and astrological divination / 灾异星占 · Level: especially devoted
Explicit · houhanshu:093:s0002

Works and attributed material

Work: Master Tang / 唐子 · Relation: author · Extent: twenty-eight pieces
Explicit · houhanshu:093:s0013
Kind: prediction · Role: author · Status: paraphrased · Summary: the capital would see an aura of warfare and the disaster would break out within the palace walls · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 永宁元年 · Regnal Year: 1 · Reign Name: 永宁 · Western Year: AD 120
Explicit · houhanshu:093:s0008
Kind: memorial · Role: author · Status: paraphrased · Summary: three items of timely advice setting out the ominous signs implied by a white rainbow piercing the sun · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 永建五年 · Regnal Year: 5 · Reign Name: 永建 · Western Year: AD 130
Explicit · houhanshu:093:s0011
Kind: speech · Role: speaker · Other Person Id: Liu Zhi (刘祗) · Status: quoted · Summary: denied that the fungus was an auspicious omen, since the imperial in-laws were overbearing and the way of yang weak · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 元初七年 · Regnal Year: 7 · Reign Name: 元初 · Western Year: AD 120
Explicit · houhanshu:093:s0005

Events and relationships

Kind: divinatory-consultation · Role: consulted expert · Other Person Id: Liu Zhi (刘祗) · Action: asked to interpret the lingzhi fungus that sprouted in Yuzhang · Outcome: Liu Zhi abandoned his plan to memorialize the throne · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 元初七年 · Regnal Year: 7 · Reign Name: 元初 · Western Year: AD 120
Explicit · houhanshu:093:s0004, houhanshu:093:s0005, houhanshu:093:s0006
Kind: divinatory-consultation · Role: consulted expert · Other Person Id: Liu Zhi (刘祗) · Action: asked what the Nanchang woman's birth of four sons portended · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 永宁元年 · Regnal Year: 1 · Reign Name: 永宁 · Western Year: AD 120
Explicit · houhanshu:093:s0007
Kind: prophecy-fulfilment · Role: prognosticator · Action: his prediction of strife inside the palace was verified by Sun Cheng's coup · Other Person Id: Sun Cheng (孙程) · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 延光四年 · Regnal Year: 4 · Reign Name: 延光 · Western Year: AD 125
Explicit · houhanshu:093:s0009

Source notes

Kind: teaching · Statement: regularly instructed more than a hundred students at home · Count: 100+ · Source Text: 教授常百余人
Explicit · houhanshu:093:s0003

References in the histories

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

Book of Later Han, Chapter 93Volume 82b: Biographies of Alchemists 2 · 7 passages

Open chapter

唐檀字子产，豫章南昌人也。 Tang Tan, styled Zichan, came from Nanchang in Yuzhang.

元初七年，郡界有芝草生，太守刘祗欲上言之，以问檀。 In Yuanchu 7, auspicious fungus appeared inside the commandery. Prefect Liu Zhi wanted to report it to the court and consulted Tang Tan.

檀对曰：“方今外戚豪盛，阳道微弱，斯岂嘉瑞乎？” Tan answered, "The imperial in-laws are rampant and the masculine principle is enfeebled—can this really count as an auspicious sign?"

永宁元年，南昌有妇人生四子，祗复问檀变异之应。 In Yongning 1 a Nanchang woman bore four sons at once. Liu Zhi again pressed Tan on what such a prodigy foretold.

檀以为京师当有兵气，其祸发于萧墙。 Tan believed the capital would soon see the shadow of civil strife, with the harm arising inside the court itself.

至延光四年，中黄门孙程扬兵殿省，诛皇后兄车骑将军阎显等，立济阴王为天子，果如所占。 In Yanguang 4 the Yellow Gate eunuch Sun Cheng mobilized forces in the palace, killed the empress's brother, the chariots-and-cavalry general Yan Xian, and his faction, and enthroned the prince of Jiyin—exactly as Tan had predicted.

是时白虹贯日，檀因上便宜三事，陈其咎征。 When a white rainbow spanned the sun, Tan memorialized three practical proposals, spelling out the ominous portents they implied.