班固受贿写史辨疑

Discrimination on Ban Gu’s Bribery-Taking for His Historiography

前人对班固“受金”写史之事说法不一,或信其为实,或疑其所无,或不置可否,但皆语焉不详。而如果班固在撰修《汉书》时受贿,则天子不宥,律令不许,士林不齿,怨家不饶,但这些事情却无一发生。合理的解释应当是:班固未曾在修史过程中收受过贿赂。而所谓“受金”写史之说,其最大的可能是班固“受命”写史之事在辗转传抄过程中形成的讹误。

There were different versions of Ban Gu’s bribery taking for his historiography among predecessors. Some believed it, some doubted it and some were noncommittal. But none of them elaborated on it. If Ban Gu had taken bribes when he wrote History of Han Dynasty, the emperors of Han Dynast would not have forgiven him, he would have violated the law, the scholars would have despised him and the foes would have retaliated him. But nothing happened. The reasonable explanation is that Ban Gu didn’t take bribes. The great possibility of the version of Ban Gu’s bribery is an error. The error resulted from the account of Ban Gu who was “instructed”, not “bribed”, to write History of Han Dynasty.