Dong Zhongshu董仲舒

Where the histories differ

Records of the Grand Historian places Dong Zhongshu in the Biographies of the Forest of Scholars, while History of Han gives him a separate biography and records his statecraft proposals in detail.

• histories differDong Zhongshu's status and statecraft proposals in the official histories

  In Records of the Grand Historian, Biographies of the Forest of Scholars, he is not given a separate biography but is only attached to the section on the forest of scholars, focusing on his lecturing and being ostracized by colleagues: "Dong Zhongshu was honest and upright... Gongsun Hong studied the Spring and Autumn Annals but was not as good as Dong Zhongshu, yet Hong catered to the times and held high office. Dong Zhongshu considered Hong a sycophant. Hong resented him and said to the emperor: 'Only Dong Zhongshu can be sent to be the minister of King Miao of Xi.'" In History of Han, Biography of Dong Zhongshu, he is given a separate biography, recording his policy responses in detail, saying: "When Zhongshu responded to the policy questions, he promoted Confucius and suppressed the Hundred Schools." On one side, he is a pure Confucian who suffered from slander despite his learning; on the other, he is the founder of Han dynasty's civil governance.