1
神武婁后
Empress Lou of Shenwu
2
神武明皇后婁氏，諱昭君，贈司徒內干之女也。 少明悟，強族多聘之，並不肯行。 及見神武於城上執役，驚曰：「此真吾夫也。」 乃使婢通意，又數致私財，使以聘己，父母不得已而許焉。 神武既有澄清之志，傾產以結英豪，密謀秘策，后恒參預。 及拜渤海王妃，閫闈之事悉決焉。
Empress Ming, née Lou, whose personal name was Zhaojun, was the daughter of Neigan, posthumously appointed Minister of the Masters of Writing. From girlhood she was bright and perceptive. Powerful clans sought her hand again and again, yet she would not consent. When she saw Gao Huan laboring on the city wall, she started and said, "This is truly my husband." She sent a maid to convey her feelings and repeatedly sent private funds so that he might betroth her; her parents, having no choice, consented. Once Gao Huan resolved to restore order, he spent his estate to win over heroes; in secret plots and hidden stratagems Empress Lou always took part. When he was enfeoffed Princess Consort of Bohai, all affairs of the inner quarters were decided by her.
3
后高明嚴斷，雅遵儉約，往來外舍，侍從不過十人。 性寬厚，不妒忌，神武姬侍，咸加恩待。 神武嘗將西討出師，後夜孿生一男一女，左右以危急，請追告神武。 后弗聽曰：「王出統大兵，何得以我故輕離軍幕。 死生命也，來復何為！」 神武聞之，嗟歎良久。 沙苑敗後，侯景屢言請精騎二萬，必能取之。 神武悅，以告于后。 后曰：「若如其言，豈有還理，得獺失景，亦有何利。」 乃止。 神武逼於茹茹，欲娶其女而未決。 后曰：「國家大計，願不疑也。」 及茹茹公主至，后避正室處之。 神武愧而拜謝焉，曰：「彼將有覺，願絕勿顧。」 慈愛諸子，不異己出，躬自紡績，人賜一袍一袴。 手縫戎服，以帥左右。 弟昭，以功名自達，其餘親屬，未嘗為請爵位。 每言有材當用，義不以私亂公。 文襄嗣位，進為太妃。 文宣將受魏禪，后固執不許，帝所以中止。 天保初，尊為皇太后，宮曰宣訓。 濟南即位，尊為太皇太后。 尚書令楊愔等受遺詔輔政，疏忌諸王。 太皇太后密與孝昭及諸大將定策誅之，下令廢立。 孝昭即位，復為皇太后。 孝昭帝崩，太后又下詔立武成帝。 大寧二年春，太后寢疾，衣忽自舉，用巫媼言改姓石氏。 四月辛丑，崩於北宮，時年六十二。 五月甲申，合葬義平陵。
The empress was lofty in judgment, clear-minded, and stern; she always observed thrift, and when she went out to external residences her attendants never exceeded ten. Her nature was generous and free of jealousy; Gao Huan's concubines and attendants she treated with equal favor. Once, as Gao Huan was about to march west on campaign, the empress gave birth at night to twins, a boy and a girl. Those beside her, finding the situation perilous, asked to send word after him. The empress would not hear of it. "The king has gone forth to command a great army," she said. "How can he lightly leave the command tent on my account? Life and death are fate — what use is it if he comes back!" When Gao Huan heard of it, he sighed in admiration for a long while. After the defeat at Shaya, Hou Jing repeatedly asked for twenty thousand picked cavalry, saying he could certainly recover the lost ground. Gao Huan was pleased and told the empress. The empress said, "If things go as he promises, do you suppose he would ever return? You would gain some paltry conquest and lose Hou Jing — what profit is there in that?" Thereupon he desisted. Gao Huan, pressed by the Rouran, wished to marry their princess but had not yet decided. The empress said, "This is a great plan for the state — do not hesitate." When the Rouran princess arrived, the empress vacated the main chamber to lodge her. Gao Huan, ashamed, bowed and apologized to her, saying, "She will notice — please sever all ties and do not look back." She loved all the sons as if they were her own; she personally spun and wove, giving each man one robe and one pair of trousers. With her own hands she sewed military garments to set an example for those beside her. Her younger brother Zhao attained distinction through merit; as for the rest of her kin, she never once asked for noble rank on their behalf. She always said that talent should be employed when found, and that righteousness must not let private feeling disorder public duty. When Gao Cheng succeeded to the throne, she was advanced to Grand Consort. When Gao Yang was about to receive the Wei abdication, the empress firmly refused to permit it, and the emperor therefore desisted. At the opening of the Tianbao era, she was honored as Empress Dowager; her palace was named Xuanxun. When the Emperor of Jinan succeeded, she was honored as Grand Empress Dowager. Chief Minister Yang Yin and others received the testamentary edict to assist in government and kept the princes at a distance in suspicion. The Grand Empress Dowager secretly joined Gao Yan and the great generals in fixing a plan to execute them, and issued an edict deposing one ruler and enthroning another. When Gao Yan succeeded, she again became Empress Dowager. When Emperor Xiaozhao died, the empress dowager again issued an edict enthroning Emperor Wucheng. In the spring of the second year of Daning, the empress dowager fell ill; her garments suddenly lifted of themselves, and following a sorceress's words she changed her surname to Shi. On the xinchou day of the fourth month she died at the Northern Palace, aged sixty-two. On the jiashen day of the fifth month she was interred with Gao Huan at Yiping Tomb.
4
太后凡孕六男二女，皆感夢：孕文襄則夢一斷龍； 孕文宣則夢大龍，首尾屬天地，張口動目，勢狀驚人； 孕孝昭則夢蠕龍於地； 孕武成則夢龍浴於海； 孕魏二后並夢月入懷； 孕襄城、博陵二王夢鼠入衣下。 后未崩，有童謠曰「九龍母死不作孝」。 及后崩，武成不改服，緋袍如故。 未幾，登三臺，置酒作樂。 帝女進白袍，帝怒，投諸臺下。 和士開請止樂，帝大怒，撻之。 帝於昆季次實九，蓋其徵驗也。
The empress dowager in all bore six sons and two daughters, each pregnancy attended by a dream: when she conceived Gao Cheng she dreamed of a severed dragon; when she conceived Gao Yang she dreamed of a great dragon whose head and tail joined heaven and earth, mouth open and eyes moving, its aspect terrifying; when she conceived Gao Yan she dreamed of a writhing dragon upon the ground; when she conceived Gao Zhan she dreamed of a dragon bathing in the sea; when she conceived the two Wei empresses she both dreamed of the moon entering the bosom; when she conceived the Princes of Xiangcheng and Boling she dreamed of rats entering beneath the garments. Before the empress dowager died, a children's rhyme ran: "Nine dragons — when the mother dies, no mourning." When the empress dowager died, Wucheng did not change his garments and kept his crimson robe as before. Before long he ascended the Three Towers, set out wine, and made music. The emperor's daughter brought a white robe; the emperor was angry and cast it down from the tower. He Shikai asked that the music be stopped; the emperor was greatly angered and beat him. The emperor among his brothers by birth was actually ninth — surely this was the omen's fulfillment.
5
文襄元后
Empress Yuan of Wenxiang
6
文襄敬皇后元氏，魏孝靜帝之姊也。 孝武帝時，封馮翊公主而歸於文襄。 容德兼美，曲盡和敬。 初生河間王孝琬，時文襄為世子，三日而孝靜帝幸世子第，贈錦彩及布帛萬匹。 世子辭，求通受諸貴禮遺，於是十屋皆滿。 次生兩公主。 文宣受禪，尊為文襄皇后，居靜德宮。 及天保六年，文宣漸致昏狂，乃移居于高陽之宅，而取其府庫，曰：「吾兄昔奸我婦，我今須報。」 乃淫於后。 其高氏女婦無親疏，皆使左右亂交之於前。 以葛為絙，令魏安德主騎上，使人推引之，又命胡人苦辱之。 帝又自呈露，以示群下。 武平中，后崩，祔葬義平陵。
Reverent Empress Yuan of Wenxiang was the elder sister of Emperor Xiaojing of Wei. In the time of Emperor Xiaowu of Wei she was enfeoffed Princess of Fengyi and given in marriage to Gao Cheng. Her bearing and virtue were both beautiful; in harmony and reverence she exhausted every measure. When she first bore Prince Xiaowan of Hejian, Gao Cheng was then heir; on the third day Emperor Xiaojing visited the heir's residence and bestowed brocades, silks, and cloth in ten thousand bolts. The heir declined and asked instead to receive the gifts and presents of the nobles; thereupon ten rooms were filled. Next she bore two princesses. When Gao Yang received the abdication, she was honored as Empress of Wenxiang and dwelt in Jingde Palace. By the sixth year of Tianbao, Gao Yang gradually fell into madness; he then moved her to a residence at Gaoyang and seized her storehouses, saying, "My elder brother once violated my wife — now I must repay him." Thereupon he violated the empress. Every woman of the Gao clan, close or distant in kinship, he had those beside him violate in turn before her. He made a rope of hemp and had Princess Andrade of Wei mount it, with men pushing and pulling her; he also ordered barbarians to humiliate her cruelly. The emperor also exposed himself and displayed his nakedness before the assembled officials. In the Wuping era the empress died and was given joint burial at Yiping Tomb.
7
文宣李后
Empress Li of Wenxuan
8
文宣皇后李氏，諱祖娥，趙郡李希宗女也。 容德甚美。 初為太原公夫人。 及帝將建中宮，高隆之、高德正言漢婦人不可為天下母，宜更擇美配。 楊愔固請依漢、魏故事，不改元妃。 而德正猶固請廢后而立段昭儀，欲以結勳貴之援，帝竟不從而立后焉。 帝好捶撻嬪御，乃至有殺戮者，唯後后蒙禮敬。 天保十年，改為可賀敦皇后。 孝昭即位，降居昭信宮，號昭信皇后。 武成踐祚，逼后淫亂，云：「若不許，我當殺爾兒。」 后懼，從之。 後有娠，太原王紹德至閣，不得見，慍曰：「兒豈不知耶，姊姊腹大，故不見兒。」 後聞之，大慚，由是生女不舉。 帝橫刀詬曰：「爾殺我女，我何不殺爾兒！」 對后前築殺紹德。 后大哭，帝愈怒，裸后亂撾撻之，號天不已。 盛以絹囊，流血淋漉，投諸渠水，良久乃蘇，犢車載送妙勝尼寺。 后性愛佛法，因此為尼。 齊亡入關。 隋時得還趙郡。
Empress Li of Wenxuan, whose personal name was Zu'e, was the daughter of Li Xizong of Zhao Commandery. Her bearing and virtue were exceedingly beautiful. At first she was Lady of the Duke of Taiyuan. When the emperor was about to establish the central palace, Gao Longzhi and Gao Dezheng said a Han woman could not be mother to the realm and that a more beautiful match should be chosen. Yang Yin firmly requested following the Han and Wei precedents and not changing the original consort. Yet Dezheng still firmly asked to depose the empress and install Lady Duan as Honored Consort, wishing thereby to win the support of meritorious nobles; the emperor in the end did not follow him and established the empress. The emperor loved to beat and flog the palace women, even to the point of killing some; only toward Empress Li did he show ritual respect. In the tenth year of Tianbao she was renamed Khedun Empress. When Gao Yan succeeded, she was reduced to Zhaoxin Palace and styled Empress of Zhaoxin. When Wucheng took the throne, he forced the empress into illicit relations, saying, "If you do not consent, I shall kill your son." The empress, in fear, complied. Later she became pregnant; Prince Shao of Taiyuan came to her gate but could not see her, and angrily said, "Does the boy not know? My elder sister's belly is great — that is why she will not see the boy." When the empress heard it, she was deeply ashamed; from this she bore daughters and did not rear them. The emperor drew his blade and cursed, saying, "You killed my daughter — why should I not kill your son!" Before the empress he beat Shao to death. The empress wept greatly; the emperor grew angrier still, stripped her naked, and beat her at random; she cried to heaven without cease. She was placed in a silk sack; blood dripped and soaked through; she was cast into the canal water; only after a long while did she revive, and an ox-cart carried her to Miaosheng Nunnery. The empress by nature loved the Buddhist Law; on this account she became a nun. When Qi fell she entered the Pass. In the Sui era she was able to return to Zhao Commandery.
9
孝昭元后
Empress Yuan of Xiaozhao
10
武成胡后
Empress Hu of Wucheng
11
武成皇后胡氏，安定胡延之女。 其母范陽盧道約女，初懷孕，有胡僧詣門曰：「此宅瓠蘆中有月」，既而生后。 天保初，選為長廣王妃。 產後主日，號鳴於產帳上。 武成崩，尊為皇太后，陸媼及和士開密謀殺趙郡王叡，出婁定遠、高文遙為刺史。 和、陸諂事太后，無所不至。 初武成時，後與諸閹人褻狎。 武成寵倖和士開，每與后握槊，因此與后姦通。 自武成崩後，數出詣佛寺，又與沙門曇獻通。 布金錢於獻席下，又挂寶裝胡床於獻屋壁，武成平生之所御也。 乃置百僧於內殿，托以聽講，日夜與曇獻寢處。 以獻為昭玄統。 僧徒遙指太后以弄曇獻，乃至謂之為太上者。 帝聞太后不謹而未之信，後朝太后，見二少尼，悅而召之，乃男子也，於是曇獻事亦發，皆伏法，並殺元、山、王三郡君，皆太后之所昵也。 帝自晉陽奉太后還鄴，至紫陌，卒遇大風。 舍人魏僧伽明風角，奏言即時當有暴逆事。 帝詐云鄴中有急，彎弓緾槊，馳入南城，令鄧長顒幽太后北宮，仍有敕內外諸親一不得與太后相見。 久之，帝復迎太后。 太后初聞使者至，大驚，慮有不測。 每太后設食，帝亦不敢嘗。 周使元偉來聘，作《述行賦》，敘鄭莊公克段而遷姜氏，文雖不工，當時深以為愧。 齊亡入周，恣行姦穢。 隋開皇中殂。
Empress Hu of Wucheng was the daughter of Hu Yan of Anding. Her mother was a daughter of Lu Daoyue of Fanyang; when she first conceived, a barbarian monk came to the gate and said, "In this house's gourd-reeds there is a moon"; thereupon the empress was born. At the opening of the Tianbao era she was selected as Princess Consort of Changguang. On the day she bore the Last Emperor, a bird cried above the birthing pavilion. When Wucheng died she was honored as Empress Dowager; Nurse Lu and He Shikai secretly plotted to kill Prince Rui of Zhao Commandery and sent out Lou Dingyuan and Gao Wenyao as governors. He and Lu fawned upon the empress dowager to every extreme. In Wucheng's time the empress had been familiar with the eunuchs. Wucheng favored He Shikai; he often played polo with the empress, and through this came to commit adultery with her. After Wucheng's death she often went out to Buddhist temples, and again had relations with the monk Tanxian. She spread gold coins beneath Tanxian's mat and hung upon the wall of Tanxian's room a precious decorated barbarian couch that Wucheng had used in life. She then placed a hundred monks in the inner hall, using the pretext of listening to lectures, and day and night shared Tanxian's bed. She made Tanxian Director of Buddhist Affairs. Monks from afar pointed at the empress dowager while jesting with Tanxian, even calling her the Grand Sovereign. The emperor heard that the empress dowager was unrestrained but did not yet believe it; later, attending upon the empress dowager at court, he saw two young nuns, was pleased and summoned them — they were men; thereupon Tanxian's affair also came to light; all were executed by law, and the three Ladies of Yuan, Shan, and Wang were also killed — all were favorites of the empress dowager. The emperor himself escorted the empress dowager from Jinyang back to Ye; at Zimo they suddenly encountered a great wind. Attendant Wei Sengqie, skilled in wind augury, reported that treason was imminent. The emperor feigned an emergency in Ye, strung his bow and wrapped his spear, galloped into the southern city, and ordered Deng Changyang to confine the Empress Dowager in the Northern Palace, with an edict forbidding all kin, near or distant, from seeing her. After some time the emperor welcomed the Empress Dowager back. When the Empress Dowager first heard that an envoy had come, she was terrified, fearing the worst. Whenever the Empress Dowager set out a meal, the emperor dared not taste it. Yuan Wei, an envoy from Zhou, came on a diplomatic visit and composed the "Rhapsody on a Journey," recounting how Duke Zhuang of Zheng crushed his brother Duan and banished their mother Lady Jiang; though the prose was crude, the court felt deeply shamed. When Qi fell she entered Zhou and gave herself over to debauchery. She died during the Kaihuang era of Sui.
12
後主斛律后
Houzhu, Empress Hulu
13
後主皇后斛律氏，左丞相光之女也。 初為皇太子妃。 後主受禪，立為皇后。 武平三年正月生女，帝欲悅光，詐稱生男，為之大赦。 光誅，后廢在別宮，後令為尼。 齊滅，嫁為開府元仁妻。
Empress Hulu of Houzhu, née Hulu, was the daughter of Left Chancellor Hulu Guang. At first she was the crown prince's consort. When Houzhu accepted the abdication, she was installed as empress. In the first month of the third year of the Wuping era she bore a girl; the emperor, wishing to please Guang, falsely announced a boy and proclaimed a general amnesty. When Guang was executed the empress was deposed to a separate palace, and afterward was ordered to take the tonsure. When Qi fell she remarried as the wife of Kaifu Yuan Ren.
14
後主胡后
Houzhu, Empress Hu
15
後主皇后胡氏，隴東王長仁女也。 胡太后失母儀之道，深以為愧，欲求悅後主，故飾后於宮中，令帝見之。 帝果悅，立為弘德夫人，進左昭儀，大被寵愛。 斛律后廢，陸媼欲以穆夫人代之，太后不許。 祖孝徵請立胡昭儀，遂登為皇后。 陸媼既非勸立，又意在穆夫人，其後於太后前作色而言曰：「何物親侄女，作如此語言！」 太后問有何言，曰：「不可道。」 固問之，乃曰：「語大家云，太后行多非法，不可以訓。」 太后大怒，喚後出，立剃其髮，送令還家。 帝思之，每致物以通意。 後與斛律廢后俱召入內，數日而鄴不守。 後亦改嫁。
Empress Hu of Houzhu was the daughter of Prince Longdong Changren. Empress Dowager Hu, ashamed at having failed as mother to the realm, wished to please Houzhu; she had the girl dressed and presented in the palace for the emperor to see. The emperor was pleased, made her Lady of Hongde, promoted her to senior lady of brilliant beauty, and greatly favored her. When Empress Hulu was deposed, Lu Aun wished to install Lady Mu in her place, but the Empress Dowager refused. Zu Xiaozheng petitioned to make Lady Hu empress, and she was thereupon elevated. Lu Aun, who had not supported the elevation and still favored Lady Mu, later appeared before the Empress Dowager with a dark look and said, "What sort of niece is this, to speak such words! The Empress Dowager asked what had been said. Lu replied, "It cannot be spoken. Pressed again, she finally said, "She told His Majesty that the Empress Dowager's conduct is mostly unlawful and cannot serve as an example. The Empress Dowager flew into a rage, summoned the empress, had her head shaved on the spot, and sent her home. The emperor missed her and repeatedly sent gifts to convey his regard. Later both she and the deposed Empress Hulu were summoned back into the palace; within days Ye fell. She too remarried afterward.
16
後主穆后
Houzhu, Empress Mu
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後主皇后穆氏，名邪利，本斛律後從婢也。 母名輕霄，本穆子倫婢也，轉入侍中宋欽道家，姦私而生后，莫知氏族，或云后即欽道女子也。 小字黃花，後字舍利。 欽道婦妬，黥輕霄面為「宋」字。 欽道伏誅，黃花因此入宮，有幸於後主，宮內稱為舍利太監。 女侍中陸太姬知其寵，養以為女，薦為弘德夫人。 武平元年六月，生皇子恒。 於時後主未有儲嗣，陸陰結待，以監撫之任不可無主，時皇后斛律氏，丞相光之女也，慮其懷恨，先令母養之，立為皇太子。 陸以國姓之重，穆、陸相對，又奏賜姓穆氏。 胡庶人之廢也，陸有助焉，胡遂立為皇后，大赦。 初，有折衝將軍元正烈於鄴城東水中得璽以獻，文曰「天王后璽」，蓋石氏所作。 詔書頒告，以為穆后之瑞焉。 武成時，為胡后造真珠裙袴，所費不可稱計，被火所燒。 後主既立穆皇后，復為營之。 屬周武遭太后喪，詔侍中薛孤、康買等為弔使，又遣商胡齎錦彩三萬疋與使同往，欲市真珠為皇后造七寶車，周人不與交易，然而竟造焉。 先是童謠曰：「黃華勢欲落，清觴滿杯酌。」 言黃花不久也，後主自立穆后以後，昏飲無度，故云清觴滿杯酌。 陸息駱提婆詔改姓為穆，陸。 太姬，皆以皇后故也。 后既以陸為母，提婆為家，更不采輕霄。 輕霄後自療面，欲求見，太后、陸媼使禁掌之，竟不得見。
Empress Mu of Houzhu, named Yeli, had originally been an attendant in Empress Hulu's household. Her mother Qingxiao had been a maid to Muzilun, then entered the household of Attendant-in-Ordinary Song Qindao, where an illicit affair produced the future empress; her lineage was unknown, though some said she was Song Qindao's own daughter. Her pet name was Huanghua; later she was styled Sheli. Song Qindao's wife, in jealousy, branded Qingxiao's face with the character for Song. After Song was executed, Huanghua entered the palace by that connection, won Houzhu's favor, and was known within the inner quarters as Director Sheli. Lady Attendant Lu Taiji, knowing of her favor, adopted her as a daughter and recommended her as Lady of Hongde. In the sixth month of the first year of the Wuping era she bore Prince Heng. The emperor still had no heir; Lu maneuvered in secret, arguing that the regency could not stand empty—the reigning empress, Guang's daughter, might resent it—so she had the child raised by the empress and established as crown prince. Lu cited the weight of the dynastic surname—Mu paired with Lu—and petitioned that she be granted the surname Mu. When Lady Hu was deposed, Lu had helped; Hu was then raised to empress and a general amnesty was proclaimed. Earlier, Breakthrough General Yuan Zhenglie had retrieved a seal from the waters east of Ye inscribed "Seal of the Heaven-King's Consort"—said to be a relic of the Shi clan. An edict proclaimed the find far and wide as an auspicious portent for Empress Mu. Under Wucheng a pearl-embroidered skirt and trousers had been made for Empress Hu at immeasurable cost, only to be consumed by fire. After Houzhu installed Empress Mu, such garments were commissioned again. When Emperor Wu of Zhou was in mourning for his mother, envoys Xue Gu and Kang Mai were sent as condolence missions; merchant envoys carried thirty thousand bolts of brocade to buy pearls for a seven-treasure carriage for the empress—the Zhou people refused to trade, yet the carriage was built anyway. A children's rhyme had run: "Yellow blossom's vigor will fade; brim the clear cup and pour." It meant Huanghua would not endure; after Houzhu made Mu empress, he drank without measure—hence "brim the clear cup and pour." Lu ordered Mu Tipo by edict to take the surnames Mu and Lu. Taiji too—all on account of the empress. Having taken Lu as her mother and Tipo as her kin, the empress no longer acknowledged Qingxiao. Qingxiao later healed her face and sought to see her daughter; the Empress Dowager and Lu Aun had her imprisoned, and she never gained an audience.
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全文以中華書局、一九七二年十一月、第一版《北齊書》為本校。
This text was collated against the Zhonghua Shuju first edition of the Book of Northern Qi (November 1972).