直不疑 / Zhi Buyi (Western Han)

Overview

直不疑 / Zhi Buyi is a Western Han official whom Hanji 244 presents as rising from palace guard service to 御史大夫 while maintaining a deliberately low-profile, non-contentious style.

Current Profile

The current profile rests on two conduct anecdotes and one administrative characterization. When wrongly accused of taking a colleague’s money, Zhi reportedly reimburses the loss instead of contesting the charge; when later accused of adultery with a nonexistent sister-in-law, he does not seek imperial vindication. The source connects this accusation-response restraint to Huang-Lao learning, routine continuity, reluctance to advertise merit, and the honorific image of a “长者.”

This pattern is narrower than passive submission. The episode depicts Zhi as continuing to hold office and being promoted under 汉景帝, but it gives little information about his substantive decisions as 御史大夫 or the institutional consequences of his silence.

Key Characteristics

• Western Han official promoted from palace guard service through 中大夫 to 御史大夫 in the episode’s account.
• Absorbs a mistaken theft accusation by compensating the loss before the truth emerges.
• Declines to answer an impossible accusation that he committed adultery with a sister-in-law despite reportedly having no elder brother.
• Associated by the host with Huang-Lao learning and low-profile non-forcing conduct.
• Presented as preserving established administrative practice and avoiding publicity for his own achievements.
• Remembered in the source as a “长者,” meaning a person of restrained and modest character.

Evidence

Restraint under accusation:

• Hanji 244 narrates the mistaken-money case and the later sexual slander, emphasizing that Zhi does not immediately defend himself in either case.

Official style and promotion:

• Hanji 244 says Zhi follows inherited procedures, conceals rather than advertises merit, dislikes being addressed by official title, and is promoted to 御史大夫.

Qualifications

The page follows a single popular-history episode rather than a full biography. The source does not establish whether silence caused Zhi’s reputation, protected his career, harmed anyone else, or would be prudent under accusations involving public safety, legal liability, or unequal power. The Huang-Lao explanation, exact office sequence, inner thoughts, dialogue, and “长者” interpretation remain source-scoped.

What Changed

• Created the page with a bounded profile joining accusation restraint, low-visibility administration, and the episode’s Huang-Lao interpretation.

Relationships

• 汉景帝 / Emperor Jing of Han - ruler under whom the episode places Zhi’s promotion to 御史大夫.
• Accusation Response Restraint / 诬陷回应克制 - conduct pattern extracted from Zhi’s two accusation anecdotes.
• Moral Slander Reframing / 道德诬陷焦点转移 - contrasting response that answers a smear by returning attention to evidence and role criteria.
• Daoist Natural Wuwei / 道家自然无为 - philosophical frame the host uses to explain Zhi’s non-contentious official style.
• 周亚夫 / Zhou Yafu - senior contemporary whose dismissal story frames the episode before Zhi’s profile begins.