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Gongsun Hong (公孫弘; Wade–Giles: Kung-sun Hung; 200 – 7 April 121 BCE[1]) was a senior official in the Western Han dynasty under Emperor Wu. Together with the more famous Confucian scholar Dong Zhongshu, Gongsun was one of the earliest proponents of Confucianism, setting in motion its emergence under the Han court. The ideals and decrees both promoted would come to be seen as values-in-themselves, becoming the "basic elements, or even hallmarks" of Confucianism, although not necessarily officially during his lifetime. While first proposed and more ardently promoted by Dong, the national academy and Imperial examination, then considered radical, did not come into existence until they were supported by the more successful Gongsun. Their establishment set a precedent that would last into the twentieth century.[2]
Gongsun was born in Zichuan within the Kingdom of Lu, part of present-day Shandong province. Beginning his political career at age sixty, he rapidly advanced from commoner to attain a senior appointment in 130BC when he was seventy, becoming grand secretary and 'censor-in-chief' in 126, and chancellor in 124.[3][4] One of the Three Dukes,[5] in recognition of canonical mastery he was probably the first Han Confucian to be appointed to high office,[6] the first commoner and first (and only, out of twelve of the time) Confucian to be made chancellor,[7] as well as the first chancellor to be made marquis.[8] He set a precedent for Confucianism as interpreter of portents.[9]
According to the Xijing Zaji, he was the author of the Gong-Sun Zi, a work on Xing-Ming, while the Book of Han listed a work called Gongsun Hong. With one passage quoted by the Taiping Yulan, the work was likely still extant in the tenth century but is now lost.[10]
- ^ wuyin day of the 3rd month of the 2nd year of the Yuan'shou era, per Emperor Wu's biography in Book of Han
- ^ Creel 1949, pp. 239–241; Creel 1960, pp. 239–241; Creel 1970, pp. 86–87; Dillon 1998, p. 79; Vankeerberghen 2001, pp. 20, 173; Loewe 2011, p. 145–148; Xinzhong 2015, pp. 218, 231.
- ^ Queen 1996, p. 30,31; Loewe 2011, p. 103; Xinzhong 2015, p. 14; Liang 2015.
- ^ Hong Yuan 2018 p587 The Sinitic Civilization Book II https://books.google.com/books?id=Nay8DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA587
- ^ Vankeerberghen 2001, p. 26.
- ^ Roy & Tsien 1978, p. 225; Gentz 2015, p. 107.
- ^ Hsiung 1985, p. 8; Gentz 2015, p. 107; Liang 2015, p. 14.
- ^ Creel 1949, pp. 239–241; Creel 1960, pp. 239–241; Vankeerberghen 2001, p. 176.
- ^ Dillon 1998, p. 349.
- ^ Creel 1970, p. 89.