Wenbo's mother (文伯之母)

Overview

The translated histories identify Wenbo's mother as a family member and scholar. This record brings together 2 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	Wenbo's mother	文伯之母	Wenbo zhi mu
Descriptive kinship	Mother of Wenbo	文伯之母
Title	Wenbo's mother	文伯之母	Wenbo zhi mu
Descriptive kinship	Wenbo's mother	文伯之母

Identity

Historicity: Historical
Identification: Named
Sex: Female

Value: female
Explicit · hanshu:020:s0019, hanshu:022:s0020

Roles

Family Member
Scholar

Life and dates

Attested activity

Source Date: Text: 文伯之母 · Western Interval: Start: c. BC 550 · End: c. BC 450
Explicit event contextual date · hanshu:022:s0020

Family

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

Parent of Wenbo (文伯)
Kinship Term: son / 子 · Parentage: biological · Subject Role: son · Object Role: mother
Kinship Term: mother / 母 · Parentage: biological · Subject Role: mother · Object Role: son

Learning and skills

Skill: ritual learning / 禮典 · Level: thoroughly versed
Explicit · hanshu:022:s0020

Events and relationships

Type: mother-of · Person Id: Wenbo (文伯)
Explicit · hanshu:020:s0019

Assessments and attributes

Assessment: versed in ritual; conduct praised by sages; words taken as models; yet ranked only fourth class in Ban Gu's table · Provenance: Mode: commentator-judgment · Speaker Person Id: Zhang Yan (張晏)
Explicit · hanshu:022:s0020

References in the histories

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

Book of Han, Chapter 20Table of Ancient and Modern Persons · 1 passage

Open chapter

張晏曰：「老子玄默，仲尼所師，雖不在聖，要為大賢，文伯之母達於禮典，動為聖人所歎，言為後世所則，而在第四。田單以即墨孤城復強齊之大，魯連之博通，忽於榮利，藺子申威秦王，退讓廉頗，乃在第五。大姬巫怪，好祭鬼神，陳人化之，國多淫祀，寺人孟子違於大雅，以保其身，旣被宮刑，怨刺而作，乃在第三。嫪毐上烝，昬亂禮度，惡不忍聞，乃在第七。其餘差違紛錯不少，略舉揚較，以起失謬。獨馳騖於數千歲之中，旁觀諸子，事業未究，而尋遇竇氏之難，使之然乎？」 Zhang Yan said, "Laozi was deep and silent, and Confucius regarded him as a teacher. Though not ranked among sages, he surely counts as a great worthy. Wenbo's mother mastered the ritual classics; the sage praised her conduct and later ages took her words as a model—yet she appears in the fourth grade. Tian Dan restored great Qi from the isolated city of Jimo; Lu Lian was broadly learned yet disdained fame and profit; Lord Lin awed the King of Qin and yielded to Lian Po—yet they are placed in the fifth grade. Great Ji practiced sorcery and loved sacrificing to ghosts and spirits; the people of Chen were transformed by her and the state was full of improper cults. The eunuch Mengzi, turning from the great elegant style to preserve himself—after castration, wrote in resentment—yet is placed in the third grade. Lao Ai committed incest at court and threw ritual order into chaos, in deeds too foul to bear hearing—yet he is placed in the seventh grade. Discrepancies and errors are many; I have cited a few to expose the faults. Did he gallop alone across thousands of years, looking on at the various masters while his work remained unfinished, then soon meet the Dou family's disaster—and did that make it turn out this way?"

Book of Han, Chapter 22Volume 20: Prominent People from the Past Until the Present · 1 passage

Open chapter

〈張晏曰：「老子玄默，仲尼所師，雖不在聖，要為大賢，文伯之母達於禮典，動為聖人所歎，言為後世所則，而在第四。〈Zhang Yan comments: "Laozi was deep and reserved, and even Confucius learned from him. Though not classed as a sage, he was certainly a great worthy. Wenbo's mother was thoroughly versed in ritual, praised by sages for her conduct, and imitated by later generations for her words, yet she is only placed in the fourth class.