Kong Guang

Kong Guang (孔光, 65 BCE – 5 CE) was a scholar and statesman of late Former Han, with the courtesy name Zixia (子夏). Well versed in the institutions and statutes of the Han, he served twice as Imperial Secretary and as chancellor.

Life

He was a fourteenth-generation descendant of Confucius and the son of Kong Ba (孔覇). He was well versed in the classics and was recommended for office before he turned twenty, becoming a Gentleman Attendant (議郎). Guanglu Xun Kuang Heng recommended him as a man of upright character, and he became Remonstrating Grand Master (諫大夫). He was then demoted to chief of Hong (虹長) because his opinions did not accord with those of the court, so he resigned and returned to his home district, where he taught the classics to people. When Emperor Cheng ascended the throne, he was recommended again and became an Erudite (博士). Although he did not fully accomplish his duties of investigating the cases of those unjustly punished, inspecting the customs of various regions, and providing relief to displaced people, he gained a good reputation. When Kong Guang became Secretary of the Imperial Secretariat (尙書), the emperor trusted him in particular, and he was promoted to Deputy Director (尚書僕射) and then Director (尚書令) of the Secretariat. He was further promoted to Gentleman Attendant (給事中) and Grand Master of the Palace Counselors (Grand Master of the Palace Counselors), and concurrently served as head of Secretariat affairs. Later, while holding the posts of head of Secretariat affairs and Gentleman Attendant, he became Guanglu Xun.

When answering the emperor's questions, he did not flatter with words but based his replies on the classics, and even when there were matters he did not agree with, he did not remonstrate forcefully. Moreover, when recommending someone, he feared that it would become known that he had been the one to do so. It is said that even when he was on leave and talking with his family, he never spoke of politics, and that he did not let slip even the slightest matter of court affairs. This became the origin of the allusion known as "questioning the wood" (問木).

In the second year of the Yongshi era (15 BCE), he was promoted to Imperial Secretary in place of Zhai Fangjin. During the Suihe era, when Emperor Cheng, who had no heir, sought to choose a successor between his younger brother Prince Xiao of Zhongshan and his nephew Liu Xin, Prince of Dingtao, he summoned the chancellor Zhai Fangjin, Grand Commandant and Standard-Bearing General Wang Gen, Right General Yan Pu, Rear General Zhu Bo, and Kong Guang, and consulted with them. All of them supported Liu Xin, but Kong Guang alone supported Prince Xiao of Zhongshan. When the emperor chose Liu Xin as heir, Kong Guang was demoted to Commandant of Justice on the grounds that his opinion had not accorded with the emperor's will.

As Commandant of Justice, Kong Guang was well versed in statutes and earned a reputation for fairness. Yan Pu and Zhu Bo were dismissed in connection with the case of Shunyu Chang, and in their place Kong Guang became Left General. In the second year of Suihe (7 BCE), Zhai Fangjin committed suicide, and Kong Guang was chosen as his successor as the new chancellor. When all the preparations for the investiture ceremony were complete and he needed only to receive the seal and ribbon, the emperor died suddenly, so that very night he had to receive the seal and ribbon of chancellor and Marquis of Boshan (博山侯) before the emperor's body.

After Liu Xin, who had been established as crown prince, ascended the throne as emperor (Emperor Ai), Kong Guang personally practiced frugality, and the emperor himself handled government affairs. However, he was often threatened by the emperor's grandmother, Empress Dowager Fu. When Empress Dowager Fu sought the title of empress dowager, Kong Guang opposed her together with Grand Minister of Works Shi Dan, but Shi Dan was dismissed, and Zhu Bo, who was secretly linked with Empress Dowager Fu, was appointed in his place. Kong Guang was stripped of his marquis rank and dismissed due to slander. Kong Guang returned home and closed his door.

After the next chancellor, Zhu Bo, incurred guilt and committed suicide, Ping Dang, who became the following chancellor, died of illness soon after. The next, Wang Jia, came into conflict with Emperor Ai. Both were said not to measure up to Kong Guang, and the emperor himself thought so as well.

On the first day of the first month of the first year of Yuanshou (2 BCE), a solar eclipse occurred, and about ten days later Empress Dowager Fu died. Kong Guang was then summoned, and when the emperor asked him about the eclipse, Kong Guang advised that such portents should be taken as a lesson and that the emperor should devote himself even more to government affairs. The emperor was pleased and made Kong Guang Grand Master of the Palace Counselors and Gentleman Attendant. Less than a month later, Chancellor Wang Jia died in prison, and Imperial Secretary Jia Yan was also dismissed, so Kong Guang again became Imperial Secretary, then returned to the post of chancellor and was enfeoffed as Marquis of Boshan.

In the following year, the second year of Yuanshou (1 BCE), the posts of the Three Excellencies were fixed, and the office of chancellor was renamed Grand Minister of Works (大司徒). Shortly afterward, Emperor Ai died, and through the Grand Empress Dowager (太皇太后) Wang Zhengjun and Wang Mang, the Prince of Zhongshan was enthroned as emperor (Emperor Ping), and political power passed to Wang Mang. Wang Mang knew that the Empress Dowager Wang held Kong Guang in high regard, and whenever he wished to attack someone, he would hint that Kong Guang should submit such a memorial. Seeing that Wang Mang's power grew stronger day by day, Kong Guang requested to resign, but Wang Mang told Empress Dowager Wang that the emperor was young and needed a tutor. Kong Guang was appointed Grand Tutor (太傅), became Gentleman Attendant, and was in charge of guarding the palace interior and its gates. In the first year of Yuanshi (1 CE), he was promoted to Grand Mentor (太師), and Wang Mang became Grand Tutor. Kong Guang habitually claimed illness and did not stand side by side with Wang Mang. Wang Mang hinted that Kong Guang should submit a memorial praising his virtue and proposing that he be made zaiheng (宰衡, grand chancellor). Kong Guang, fearful, requested to resign, but Empress Dowager Wang did not accept this and kept him in his post.

Kong Guang died in the fifth year of Yuanshi (5 CE) at the age of seventy. His funeral was conducted on the same scale as that of Wang Feng, and he received the posthumous name Marquis JianLie (簡烈侯). The Marquis of Boshan title was inherited by his son Kong Fang (孔放).