姜公 / Jiang Gong (late Han)

Overview

姜公 / Jiang Gong is a late-Han Pengcheng recluse in Hanji 849. The episode places him among five scholars recommended by 陈蕃 to 汉桓帝, but his distinctive profile is fraternal and filial conduct joined to refusal of office.

Current Profile

Jiang Gong’s current evidence is source-bounded but vivid. He and his brothers Jiang Zhonghai and Jiang Jijiang are poor, sleep under one quilt, and gain local fame for filial and fraternal conduct. When Jiang Gong and Jiang Jijiang meet robbers, each asks to die in place of the other; the robbers spare them, later repent, return the stolen property, and receive Jiang Gong’s hospitality rather than prosecution.

The same source uses Jiang Gong’s refusal to make reclusion concrete. Official invitations do not move the brothers, and Huan’s wish to see or depict Jiang Gong is thwarted when Jiang Gong hides in a dark room under bedding and prevents a painter from seeing his face.

Key Characteristics

• Late-Han recluse whose worth is shown through filial and fraternal conduct rather than office.
• Poor household figure whose brothers share hardship without breaking family solidarity.
• Non-retaliatory victim whose conduct makes robbers repent instead of producing a prosecution story.
• Imperial-summons refuser who avoids even portrait capture when Huan tries indirect recognition.
• Source case for reclusion as moral independence rather than social isolation.

Evidence

• Filial and fraternal reputation: Hanji 849 says Jiang Gong and his two brothers are poor but locally known for filial piety and brotherly affection.
• Mutual self-sacrifice: Hanji 849 says Jiang Gong and Jiang Jijiang each asks robbers to kill himself instead of the other.
• Non-retaliatory repair: Hanji 849 says Jiang Gong does not report the robbery, and the robbers later return the goods and are treated courteously.
• Office and portrait refusal: Hanji 849 says Jiang Gong refuses official recruitment and prevents Huan’s painter from capturing his likeness.

Qualifications

This page is bounded to Hanji 849. Jiang Zhonghai and Jiang Jijiang are kept source-scoped rather than made into separate canonical pages because the current evidence centers Jiang Gong’s recluse profile.

What Changed

• Created this page from Hanji 849 to capture Jiang Gong’s filial-fraternal reclusion and imperial portrait refusal.

Relationships

• 原则性拒仕 - concept represented by Jiang Gong’s refusal of office and imperial visibility.
• 陈蕃 - recommender who includes Jiang Gong among five reclusive scholars.
• 汉桓帝 - ruler whose summons and portrait attempt Jiang Gong avoids.
• Filial Piety Story Afterlife - adjacent reception frame for filial exempla, though Jiang Gong’s page remains source-bounded to Hanji 849.
• 道德名望政治资本 - broader concept for reputation created through visible moral conduct.