叶公 / Ye Gong

叶公 / Ye Gong enters the wiki through 《资治通鉴·秦纪》119-1｜拆解荆轲刺秦必败的秘密 as the judgment figure in the 白公胜 comparison. The episode uses his view to clarify why a person can look trustworthy or brave and still fail the moral standard that 司马光 applies to 荆轲.

《资治通鉴·秦纪》119-2｜咱们都冤枉了背负2000多年黑锅的“叶公好龙” then gives the biographical branch that Qinji 119-1 only invoked. Ye Gong is identified as Shen Zhuliang, courtesy name Zigao, a Chu official associated with Ye county. When 子西 wants to recall 白公胜, Ye Gong warns that Bai’s visible 信 and 勇 are not genuine unless governed by 仁 and 义.

The episode makes Ye Gong’s judgment practical rather than abstract. Bai Gong Sheng later kills Zi Xi, seizes 楚惠王, and kills 管修 in the 白公胜之乱. Ye Gong reads Bai’s initial success as accidental and the killing of Guan Xiu as proof that the people will not attach to him, then raises troops, suppresses the rebellion, and restores Chu Hui Wang.

Qinji 119-2 also turns Ye Gong into a positive exit case. After being granted both lingyin and sima authority, he later hands the offices to successors and returns to his fief, making him an example of power used for a task and relinquished before it becomes self-protective possession.

The source contrasts this record with 叶公好龙, the later idiom attributed to 刘向’s 《新序》. The episode argues that the idiom’s hypocrite image is a reputation-distorting afterlife rather than a reliable account of Ye Gong’s character.

Connections

• 白公胜 - comparison case attached to Ye Gong’s judgment.
• 太子建 and 伍子胥 - backstory figures in the source’s comparison chain.
• 仁义为本的信勇 - concept extracted from Ye Gong’s standard.
• 司马光, 荆轲, and 燕太子丹 - later judgment branch the comparison illuminates.
• 子西, 楚惠王, 管修, and 白公胜之乱 - Qinji 119-2 narrative context.
• 言语作为德行信号 and 权力退场困境 - speech-ethics and retirement frames added by Qinji 119-2.
• 叶公好龙, 刘向, and 《新序》 - later idiom reception that the episode disputes.