Fan Pang, a man of noble character and fierce hatred for evil during the Eastern Han Dynasty, was well-known in his province. When famine struck Jizhou and starving people rose in rebellion, the court appointed him as an Imperial Inspector to investigate. As he took up the reins before departure, he silently vowed to cleanse the world of corruption. Before he even reached Jizhou, corrupt officials, hearing of his approach, abandoned their seals of office and fled.
When Fan Pang was later sent by the imperial court to investigate the people's hardships and the conduct of local officials, he gathered evidence and immediately impeached over twenty people, including governors, inspectors, and powerful aristocratic families. A high minister criticized him for impeaching too many, accusing him of having personal motives. Fan Pang replied, "What I am doing is like a farmer weeding the fields to help the crops grow stronger. If I had any selfish intent, I would willingly accept public execution."
During the Eastern Han Dynasty, when court corruption ran rampant, the upright official Fan Pang resigned in frustration after realizing he could not fulfill his ambitions. The governor of Runan, Zong Zi, who had long admired Fan Pang's reputation, invited him to serve as acting chief of personnel, entrusting him with the county's administrative affairs. In office, Fan Pang rigorously reformed the bureaucracy, publicly recommending virtuous men and elevating overlooked talents to official positions. He also befriended Imperial Academy students, openly critiquing court policies and opposing the eunuchs' monopoly on power. This led to false accusations of forming a faction, and he was caught in the first "Partisan Prohibition" purge, thrown into prison. Three years after his release, when eunuchs Hou Lan and Cao Jie launched a mass slaughter of partisans, Fan Pang was arrested again in the second purge and died in prison at just 33 years old.
Later, the idiom "Grasping the Reins to Clear the Chaos" came to describe an official who, upon first taking office, immediately seeks to reform politics and purify the government.
Source: *Book of the Later Han*, "Biography of Fan Pang"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "揽辔澄清" came to describe an official who upon first taking office immediately seeks to reform politics and purify the government.