Three Kingdoms and Six Dynasties · Envoy and Official

Yu Jian 于簡

Yú Jiǎn

Attested AD 414 - AD 434

Passages: 13
Chapters: 1
Histories: 1

Overview

The translated histories identify Yu Jian as a diplomat, envoy, and official. This record brings together 13 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	Yu Jian	于簡	Yú Jiǎn
Courtesy name	Shenmen	什門	Shímén
Personal name	Yu Jian	于簡	Yú Jiǎn
Alternate name	Yu Shenmen	于什門	Yú Shímén
Surname		于
Given		簡

Identity

Historicity: Historical
Identification: Named
Sex: Male

Sex: male
Strongly inferred · weishu:093:s0006

Roles

Diplomat
Envoy
Official

Life and dates

Attested activity

Source Date: Text: 太宗時使喻馮跋；歷二十四年歸；延和三年/元嘉十一年 · Western Interval: Start: AD 414 · End: AD 434
Explicit event contextual date · weishu:093:s0007, weishu:093:s0017, weishu:093:s0180, weishu:093:s0190

Career and standing

Label: attendant imperial censor / 治書侍御史 · Action: appointed
Explicit · weishu:093:s0018
Label: usher / 謁者 · Action: held
Explicit · weishu:093:s0007
Label: senior grand master / 上大夫 · Action: promoted
Explicit · weishu:093:s0020
Status: captivity · Action: entered
Explicit · weishu:093:s0012, weishu:093:s0014

Places and affiliations

Polity: Northern Wei / 大魏 · Relation: served
Explicit · weishu:093:s0008
Place: Dai / 代
Explicit · weishu:093:s0006

Works and attributed material

Kind: speech · Role: speaker · Quoted: true
Explicit · weishu:093:s0010

Events and relationships

Kind: diplomatic · Role: envoy · Action: sent to instruct Feng Ba · Other Person Id: Feng Ba (馮跋) · Place: Helong / 和龍
Explicit · weishu:093:s0007, weishu:093:s0008

Assessments and attributes

Assessment: courage and integrity not surpassed by Su Wu · Provenance: Mode: edict · Source Person Id: Emperor Taiwu of Wei (魏太武皇帝)
Explicit · weishu:093:s0019
Item: thousand sheep and thousand bolts of silk / 羊千口、帛千匹 · Relation: bestowed
Explicit · weishu:093:s0020

Source notes

Field: years-in-captivity · Statement: 二十四 vs 二十一; return Yanhe 3 / Yuanjia 11 = AD 434 · Witness: Zizhi tongjian Kaoyi
Explicit · weishu:093:s0183, weishu:093:s0191

References in the histories

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

Book of Wei, Chapter 93Volume 87: Morality and Righteousness: Yu Shenmen, Duan Jin, Shi Wende, Ji Gu, Wang Xuanwei, Lou Ti, Liu Kehou · 13 passages

于什門段進石文德汲固王玄威婁提劉渴侯朱長生于提馬八龍門文愛晁清劉侯仁石祖興邵洪哲王榮世胡小虎孫道登李几張安祖王閭 Yu Shenmen, Duan Jin, Shi Wende, Ji Gu, Wang Xuanwei, Lou Ti, Liu Kehou, Zhu Changsheng, Yu Ti, Ma Balong, Men Wen'ai, Chao Qing, Liu Houran, Shi Zuxing, Shao Hongzhe, Wang Rongshi, Hu Xiaohu, Sun Daodeng, Li Ji, Zhang Anzu, and Wang Lü.

于簡，字什門，代人也。 Yu Jian, whose courtesy name was Shenmen, came from Dai.

什門曰：「馮主拜受詔，吾自以賓主致敬，何須苦見逼也！」 Shenmen said, "When my lord of Feng bows to receive the edict, I will offer the respect proper between host and guest. Why torment me like this?"

既而跋止什門。 In the end Feng Ba held Shenmen prisoner.

什門於羣眾之中，回身背跋，被袴後襠以辱之。 Before the assembled crowd Shenmen turned his back on Feng Ba, pulled on his trousers with the seat to the front, and presented his backside to insult him.

跋遺以衣服，什門拒而不受。 Feng Ba sent him clothing, but Shenmen refused to take it.

歷二十四年，[3]後馮文通上表稱臣，乃送什門歸。 Twenty-four years passed. When Feng Wentong at last submitted a memorial professing vassalage, Shenmen was sent back.

世祖下詔曰：「什門奉使和龍，值狂豎肆虐，勇志壯厲，不為屈節，雖昔蘇武何以加之。」 Emperor Taiwu issued an edict: "Shenmen served as envoy at Helong when a reckless usurper ran riot. His courage and resolve were magnificent, and he would not bend his integrity. Not even Su Wu of old could have done more."

史臣曰：于什門等或臨危不撓，視死如歸； The historian writes: Yu Shenmen and his companions—some faced peril without flinching and met death as though going home;

諸傳中只于什門傳稍詳於北史，王玄威傳所載詔書有溢出北史所載的文句，其他諸傳偶有一二字溢出，大抵全同北史。 Of the biographies, only Yu Shenmen's is somewhat fuller than in the Beishi; Wang Xuanwei's includes edict language not found there; others differ by a word or two at most. On the whole they match the Beishi almost entirely.

記于什門還魏於元嘉十一年 records Yu Shenmen's return to Wei in the eleventh year of Yuanjia

八月遣于什門招諭馮跋，至此年二十一年矣。 In the eighth month Yu Shenmen was sent to summon Feng Ba; by this year twenty-one years had elapsed.

按傳稱「馮文通上表稱臣，乃送什門歸」，卷四上世祖紀上延和三年三月記「文通遣尚書高顒上表稱藩」，故通鑑置於是年。 The biography says that "Feng Wentong submitted a memorial declaring himself a subject, and only then was Shenmen sent home." Shizu annals, juan 4A, Yanhe third year, third month, records that "Wentong sent Master of Writing Gao Yong to submit a memorial declaring himself a vassal"; hence the Zizhi tongjian places the return in that year.