Zilu (子路) | 24 Histories

Overview

The translated histories identify Zilu as a named individual, official, philosopher, and scholar. This record brings together 16 passages from 12 chapters across 8 histories, with names, dates, relationships, offices, and events preserved as source-backed claims.

Names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Personal	Zilu	子路	Zilu
Alternate	Jilu	季路	Jilu
Given	You	由	You
Personal name	You	由
Personal name	You	由	You
Personal	Zhong You	仲由	Zhong You
Personal name	Zhong You	仲由	Zhong You
Personal name	Zhong You	仲由
Personal	Zhong You	仲由	Zhòng Yóu
Personal	Zhong You	由	Zhòng Yóu
Courtesy	Zilu	子路	Zilu
Courtesy	Zilu		Zilu
Personal	Zilu		Zilu
Courtesy name	Zilu	子路	Zilu
Courtesy	Zilu	子路	Zǐlù
Personal	Zilu	由	You
Personal	Zilu	子路

Identity

Historicity: Uncertain
Identification: Named
Sex: Male

Sex: male
Strongly inferred · houhanshu:031:s0196, liangshu:047:s0274
Sex: male
Explicit · jiutangshu:027:s0135, nanqishu:055:s0006, qingshigao:483:s0073, yuanshi:171:s0060

Roles

Named Individual
Official
Philosopher
Scholar
Student

Life and dates

Attested activity

Qualitative: legendary antiquity
Explicit · yuanshi:171:s0060
Source Date: Text: classical exemplum · Western Interval: Start: BC 542 · End: BC 480
Strongly inferred · nanqishu:055:s0006
Source Date: Text: 仲由 · Western Interval: Start: BC 542 · End: BC 480
Explicit · liangshu:047:s0274
Source Date: Text: 元嘉三年後庭誥引述 · Western Interval: Start: AD 426 · End: AD 433
Explicit event contextual date · songshu:073:s0041, songshu:073:s0062, songshu:073:s0087
Source Date: Text: 古 · Western Interval: Start: BC 542 · End: BC 480
Explicit · liangshu:031:s0029
Source Date: Text: 子路 · Western Interval: Start: BC 542 · End: BC 480
Explicit · jiutangshu:027:s0135, qingshigao:483:s0117
Source Date: Text: 孔門之世 · Western Interval: Start: BC 542 · End: BC 480
Explicit event contextual date · houhanshu:031:s0196
Source Date: Text: 春秋之後 · Western Year: BC 500
Explicit event contextual date · hanshu:025:s0053
Source Date: Text: 由 · Western Interval: Start: BC 542 · End: BC 480
Explicit · qingshigao:483:s0073

Works and attributed material

Kind: speech · Role: speaker · Quoted: true · Statement: Within three years he could make a beleaguered state brave and properly directed.
Explicit · hanshu:025:s0054

Events and relationships

Relation: student-of · Person Id: Confucius (孔子)
Strongly inferred · liangshu:047:s0274
Type: disciple-of · Person Id: Confucius (孔子)
Strongly inferred · hanshu:094:s0333

Assessments and attributes

Assessment: excessive deceit in acting as if he had a minister · Provenance: Mode: quoted-source · Speaker Person Id: Confucius (孔子)
Explicit · qingshigao:483:s0073
Assessment: exemplary filial figure invoked in Household Admonitions · Provenance: Mode: quoted-document · Source Person Id: Yan Yanzhi (顏延年)
Explicit · songshu:073:s0087
Assessment: filial exemplar under the sage's teaching · Provenance: Mode: historian-judgment
Explicit · liangshu:047:s0274

References in the histories

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

Book of Han, Chapter 25Volume 23: Treatise on Punishment and Law · 2 passages

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故稱子路曰：「由也，千乘之國，可使治其賦也。」 So he praised Zilu: 'You, You, in a thousand-chariot state, can be made to govern its levies.'

而子路亦曰：「千乘之國，攝虖大國之間，加之以師旅，因之以饑饉，由也為之，比及三年，可使有勇，且知方也。」 And Zilu also said: 'In a state of a thousand chariots, hemmed in among great states, oppressed by armies and then afflicted by famine, if I governed it, by the end of three years I could make the people brave and also know the proper direction.'

Book of Han, Chapter 76Volume 65: Dongfang Shuo · 2 passages

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又常服子路之言。 I try always to live by what Zilu taught.

譬若以周、邵為丞相，孔丘為御史大夫，太公為將軍，畢公高拾遺於後，弁嚴子為衛尉，皋陶為大理，後稷為司農，伊尹為少府，子贛使外國，顏、閔為博士，子夏為太常，益為右扶風，季路為執金吾，契為鴻臚，龍逢為宗正，伯夷為京兆，管仲為馮翊，魯般為將作，仲山甫為光祿，申伯為太僕，延陵季子為水衡，百里奚為典屬國，柳下惠為大長秋，史魚為司直，蘧伯玉為太傅，孔父為詹事，孫叔敖為諸侯相，子產為郡守，王慶忌為期門，夏育為鼎官，羿為旄頭，宋萬為式道候。」 Imagine the Duke of Zhou and the Duke of Shao as your chancellors; Confucius as chief censor; the Grand Duke as commander; Duke Bi Gao as court remonstrant; Bian Zhuangzi as captain of the guard; Gao Yao as chief judge; Hou Ji as minister of agriculture; Yi Yin as palace treasurer; Zigong as foreign envoy; Yan Hui and Min Ziqian as court scholars; Zixia as master of rites; Yi as western capital intendant; Zilu as capital commandant; Xie as master of guest ceremonies; Guan Longpeng as keeper of the imperial genealogy; the minister Boyi as metropolitan governor; Guan Zhong as northern capital intendant; Lu Ban as chief engineer; Zhong Shanfu as palace chamberlain; the Earl of Shen as master of the horse; Prince Jizi of Yanling as keeper of parks and waters; Baili Xi as commissioner for dependent peoples; Liuxia Hui as chamberlain to the empress; Shi Yu as censor of conduct; Qu Boyu as grand tutor; Kong Fu as supervisor of the heir apparent's household; Sunshu Ao as chancellor to the feudal lords; Zichan as commandery governor; Prince Qingji as a palace gate guard; Xia Yu as cauldron officer; Yi the Archer as vanguard officer; and Song Wan as road-clearing scout."

Book of Han, Chapter 94Volume 83: Xue Xuan and Zhu Bo · 1 passage

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孔子曰：「久矣哉，由之行詐也！」 Confucius said of Zilu, "His tricks have gone on far too long!"

Book of Han, Chapter 104Volume 92: Youxias · 1 passage

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雖其陷於刑辟，自與殺身成名，若季路、仇牧，死而不悔也。 Even when the law caught them, they styled themselves martyrs like Zilu or Qiu Mu—ready to die unrepentant for a famous end.

Book of Later Han, Chapter 31Volume 28a: Biographies of Huan Tan; Feng Yan · 1 passage

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蓋仲由使門人為臣，孔子譏其欺天。 That is Zhong You styling his pupils as ministers—Confucius called it cheating Heaven.

Old Book of Tang, Chapter 27Volume 23 Treatises 3: Rites 3 · 2 passages

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昔子路有姊之喪而不除，孔子問之，子路對曰：『吾寡兄弟而不忍也。』 Long ago Zilu mourned a sister but would not leave off the garments; Confucius asked him, and Zilu said, 'I have few siblings and cannot bear to do so.'

子路聞而除之。 Zilu heard and removed the mourning.

Book of Liang, Chapter 31Volume 31: Yuan Ang; Yuan Junzheng · 1 passage

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由也之不除喪，亦緣情而致制，雖識不及古，誠懷感慕。 When You did not leave off mourning, that too was a rule born of feeling; though my learning falls short of the ancients, my heart is full of true devotion.

Book of Liang, Chapter 47Volume 47: Filial Acts · 1 passage

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高柴、仲由伏膺聖教，曾參、閔損虔恭孝道，或水漿不入口，泣血終年，豈不知創鉅痛深，《蓼莪》慕切？ Gao Chai and Zhong You followed the sage; Zeng Shen and Min Sun were reverently filial—some took no food, some wept blood a year: did they not know wound and longing in "Luxuriant Reeds"?

Book of Southern Qi, Chapter 55Volume 55 Biographies 36: Filial Piety · 1 passage

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夫色養盡力，行義致身，甘心壟畝，不求聞達，斯即孟氏三樂之辭，仲由負米之歎也。 To serve one's parents with a joyful face and every ounce of strength, to live by righteousness even at risk to oneself, and to be content tilling the soil without seeking renown—this is the joy Mencius praised and the devotion Zhong You expressed when he carried rice for his parents.

Draft History of Qing, Chapter 483Volume 483 Biographies 270: Confucian Scholars 4: Kong Yinzhi Son: Xing Xie, Yu Qi Son: Chuan Duo, Guang Qi Son: Zhao Huan, Sun :Xianpei, Zeng Sun : Qing Rong, Zeng Sun : Fan Hao, Xuan Sun : Xiang Ke, Lai Sun : Ling Yi · 2 passages

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子不云乎：'甚矣由之行詐，無臣而為有臣。 Did not the Master say, 'How excessive was You in his deceit—having no minister yet acting as if he had one'?

顏氏复聖後，曾氏宗聖後，孟氏亞聖後，仲氏子路後，各一人。 One each was appointed for the Yan house, heirs of the Restoring Sage; the Zeng house, heirs of the Transmitting Sage; the Meng house, heirs of the Second Sage; and the Zhong house, heirs of Zilu.

Book of Song, Chapter 73Volume 73 Biographies 33: Yan Yanzhi · 1 passage

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儻知恩意相生，情理相出，可使家有參、柴，人皆由、損。 If you grasp that kindness and intent breed one another and that principle and feeling arise together, your household may hold men like Zeng Shen and Gao Chai, and every man be a Zhong You or Min Sun.

History of Yuan, Chapter 171Volume 171 Biographies 58: Liu Yin, Wu Cheng · 1 passage

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資由之勇，而無北鄙鼓瑟之聲。 the courage of Zilu, yet without the sound of drumming at the northern frontier.