公叔 / Gongshu (Wei chancellor)
公叔 / Gongshu is the 魏国 chancellor who succeeds 田文 in 《资治通鉴·周纪》08丨一代名将吴起惨死（1）. The source presents him as a court competitor who fears 吴起 because Wu Qi has ability, achievements, and ambition.
Gongshu’s importance is not policy but maneuver. A servant advises him to make 魏武侯 test Wu Qi’s willingness to stay by offering him a princess in marriage. Because Gongshu himself is married to a Wei princess, he then stages a scene where his wife publicly humiliates him in front of Wu Qi. The intended effect is to make Wu Qi refuse a similar marriage and thereby look uncommitted to Wei.
The episode uses Gongshu to shift from open argument over merit to hidden court manipulation. He extends the source’s organization-politics reading: once Wu Qi cannot be beaten on record, rivals can target trust between ruler and minister.
《资治通鉴·周纪》09丨战国时代的世界大战 names 公叔痤 as the person to whom 子思 privately criticizes Wei court habits. This ingest keeps that under the existing Wei chancellor page, while recording the new role as a listener in the Court Feedback Collapse / 君臣反馈失灵 branch rather than as the earlier Wu Qi intrigue case.
《资治通鉴·周纪》11丨 世界风起云涌（2） likely preserves the same figure through a capture notice rendered as 公孙措 in the transcript. Qin defeats 魏国 at 少梁 in 362 BCE and captures him. Because the broader wiki already uses 公叔痤 / Gongshu for this Wei chancellor, the notice is kept here as a name-variant issue rather than split into a new person page.
《资治通鉴·周纪》12丨 公孙鞅求职路上的拉关系 走后门 gives Gongshu his most consequential recommendation. While dying, he tells 魏惠王 / 梁惠王 that 公孙鞅 / 商鞅 has exceptional talent despite youth and should be entrusted with government. When he sees the king will not accept that, he gives the harsher state-interest advice: if Wei will not use Shang Yang, it should kill him before he leaves.
The episode makes Gongshu ethically divided rather than merely treacherous. He first speaks as Wei’s chancellor, then warns Shang Yang because Shang Yang served him. That double obligation turns him into a bridge between 荐才层级质量 and the later Wei regret: he recognizes the talent, but his recommendation cannot overcome Liang Hui Wang’s low trust in an unfamiliar young subordinate.
《资治通鉴·周纪》23丨魏惠王 悔不用公叔之言 brings back Gongshu as the absent advice behind 魏惠王’s regret. After 公孙鞅 / 商鞅 defeats Wei and forces the Hexi cession, Liang Hui Wang says he regrets not following Gongshu’s earlier warning about Shang Yang. The page keeps this as the same Gongshu / 公叔痤 branch already used by the wiki.
Connections
- 魏国 and 魏武侯 - court setting and ruler being influenced.
- 吴起 - rival whose position Gongshu tries to undermine.
- 田文 - previous chancellor.
- Transition Fit Over Merit / 过渡期适任优先于功劳 - adjacent chancellor-selection concept.
- Spring-Autumn to Warring States Political Violence / 春秋战国政治暴力转型 and Political Assassination Ethics / 政治刺杀伦理 - broader elite-conflict branch, though this source uses intrigue rather than direct killing.
- 子思 and Court Feedback Collapse / 君臣反馈失灵 - Zhouji 09 remonstrance branch.
- 少梁, 秦国, and 秦国东进压力 - Zhouji 11 part 2 capture notice.
- 公孙鞅 / 商鞅, 魏惠王 / 梁惠王, 荐才层级质量, and 私人进身通道 - Zhouji 12 use-or-kill recommendation and failed talent retention.
- 魏惠王, 公孙鞅 / 商鞅, and Qin Eastward Pressure / 秦国东进压力 - Zhouji 23 regret branch.