1
高皇帝八男：呂后生孝惠帝，曹夫人生齊悼惠王肥，薄姬生孝文帝，戚夫人生趙隱王如意，趙姬生淮南厲王長，諸姬生趙幽王友、趙共王恢、燕靈王建。 淮南厲王長自有傳。
Emperor Gao fathered eight sons: Empress Lü gave him Emperor Xiaohui; Lady Cao gave him Prince Daohui of Qi, Liu Fei; Consort Bo bore the future Emperor Wen; Lady Qi bore Liu Ruyi, later titled the Hidden Prince of Zhao; Lady Zhao bore Liu Chang, the Fierce Prince of Huainan; and lesser consorts bore Liu You, Liu Hui, and Liu Jian, the Obscure Prince of Zhao, the Joint Prince of Zhao, and the Numinous Prince of Yan respectively. Liu Chang, the Fierce Prince of Huainan, is treated in a separate biography.
2
齊悼惠王肥，其母高祖微時外婦也。 高祖六年立，食七十餘城。 諸民能齊言者皆與齊。 孝惠二年，入朝。 帝與齊王燕飲太后前，置齊王上坐，如家人禮。 太后怒，乃令人酌兩卮鴆酒置前，令齊王為壽。 齊王起，帝亦起，欲俱為壽。 太后恐，自起反卮。 齊王怪之，因不敢飲，陽醉去。 問知其鴆，乃憂，自以為不得脫長安。 內史士曰：「太后獨有帝與魯元公主，今王有七十餘城，而公主乃食數城。 王誠以一郡上太后為公主湯沐邑，太后必喜，王無患矣。」 於是齊王獻城陽郡以尊公主為王太后。 呂太后喜而許之。 乃置酒齊邸，樂飲，遣王歸國。 後十三年薨，子襄嗣。
Liu Fei, Prince Daohui of Qi, was born to a woman who had been Gaozu's mistress in his humble early days. Gaozu invested him as king in the sixth year of his reign, granting him a domain of more than seventy cities. Every household that spoke the Qi dialect was placed within his kingdom. In the second year of Emperor Hui's reign he came to the capital on audience. At a banquet before Empress Dowager Lü, Emperor Hui seated his half-brother, the king of Qi, in the place of honor, treating him with the easy familiarity of kin. The empress dowager was furious. She had two cups of poisoned wine poured and set before the king, ordering him to offer a toast. The king of Qi rose to comply, and the emperor rose as well, intending to drink with him. Alarmed, the empress dowager rose and overturned the cups herself. The king of Qi found the scene strange, dared not drink, and left under the pretense of drunkenness. When he learned the wine had been poisoned, he grew fearful and believed he would never leave Chang'an alive. A clerk of the inner administration said, "The empress dowager values only the emperor and the Princess of Lu. You hold more than seventy cities, while the princess has barely a handful. If you present one commandery to the empress dowager as a bath-town fief for the princess, she will be pleased and you will be safe." The king of Qi then offered Chengyang commandery to have the princess honored as queen dowager. Empress Dowager Lü accepted with pleasure. She held a feast at the Qi residence, drank in good spirits, and sent the king home. He died thirteen years later, and his son Liu Xiang succeeded him.
3
趙隱王如意，九年立。 四年，高祖崩，呂太后徵王到長安，鴆殺之。 無子，絕。
Liu Ruyi, posthumously known as the Hidden Prince of Zhao, was invested as king in the ninth year of Gaozu's reign. In the fourth year of Emperor Hui's reign, after Gaozu had died, Empress Dowager Lü summoned Prince Ruyi to Chang'an and murdered him with poisoned wine. He left no heir, and his house came to an end.
4
趙幽王友，十一年立為淮陽王。 趙隱王如意死，孝惠元年，徙友王趙，凡立十四年。 友以諸呂女為后，不愛，愛它姬。 諸呂女怒去，讒之於太后曰：「王曰『呂氏安得王？ 太后百歲後，吾必擊之。』」 太后怒，以故召趙王。 趙王至，置邸不見，令衛圍守之，不得食。 其群臣或竊饋之，輒捕論之。 趙王餓，乃歌曰：「諸呂用事兮，劉氏微； 迫脅王侯兮，彊授我妃。 我妃既妒兮，誣我以惡； 讒女亂國兮，上曾不寤。 我無忠臣兮，何故棄國？ 自快中野兮，蒼天與直！ 于嗟不可悔兮，寧早自賊！ 為王餓死兮，誰者憐之？ 呂氏絕理兮，託天報仇！」 遂幽死。 以民禮葬之長安。 高后崩，孝文即位，立幽王子遂為趙王。 二年，有司請立皇子為王。 上曰：「趙幽王幽死，朕甚憐之。 已立其長子遂為趙王。 遂弟辟彊及齊悼惠王子朱虛侯章、東牟侯興居有功，皆可王。」 於是取趙之河間立辟彊，是為河間文王。 文王立十三年薨，子哀王福嗣。 一年薨。 無子，國除。
Liu You, later known as Prince You of Zhao the Obscure, was invested as king of Huaiyang in the eleventh year. After Liu Ruyi, the Hidden Prince of Zhao, was killed, Liu You was transferred to Zhao in the first year of Emperor Hui's reign and ruled there for fourteen years in all. He took a Lü clanswoman as queen but favored another consort instead. The queen stormed off and denounced him to the empress dowager, saying, "The king declared, 'How can the Lü clan hold royal titles? When the empress dowager is gone, I will attack them.'" Enraged, the empress dowager summoned the king of Zhao. When he arrived, he was lodged at a residence but denied audience; guards surrounded the building and cut off his food. Officials who tried to smuggle food to him were seized and punished. Starving, the king of Zhao sang: "The Lü clan holds power; the house of Liu grows weak; They coerce kings and marquises and force a queen upon me. My queen, jealous, slanders me with false crimes; a slandering woman throws the realm into chaos, yet the throne never awakens. I have no loyal ministers—why must I be driven from my kingdom? Let me find release in the open wilds; may Heaven grant me justice! Alas, what cannot be undone—better to die by my own hand! To die of hunger as a king—who will pity me? The Lü clan violates all right principle; I entrust vengeance to Heaven!" He died under confinement. He was buried in Chang'an with the rites due a commoner. After Empress Dowager Lü died and Emperor Wen took the throne, Liu You's son Liu Sui was invested as king of Zhao. In the second year the responsible offices petitioned to invest the emperor's sons as kings. The emperor said, "Prince You of Zhao died under confinement, and We are deeply grieved. We have already invested his eldest son Liu Sui as king of Zhao. His younger brother Liu Pijiang, together with Liu Zhang, Marquis of Zhuxu, and Liu Xingju, Marquis of Dongmou—sons of Prince Daohui of Qi—have all earned the right to royal investiture." Hejian was carved from Zhao and given to Liu Pijiang, who became Prince Wen of Hejian. Prince Wen ruled thirteen years and died; his son Liu Fu, Prince Ai, succeeded him. He died after one year. He left no heir, and the kingdom was abolished.
5
趙王遂立二十六年，孝景時晁錯以過削趙常山郡，諸侯怨，吳楚反，遂與合謀起兵。 其相建德、內史王悍諫，不聽。 遂燒殺德、悍，發兵住其西界，欲待吳楚俱進，北使匈奴與連和。 漢使曲周侯酈寄擊之，趙王城守邯鄲，相距七月。 吳楚敗，匈奴聞之，亦不肯入邊。 欒布自破齊還，并兵引水灌趙城。 城壞，王遂自殺，國除。 景帝憐趙相、內史守正死，皆封其子為列侯。
Liu Sui had been king of Zhao for twenty-six years when, under Emperor Jing, Chao Cuo seized the Changshan commandery from Zhao as punishment for alleged wrongdoing. The kingdoms were already smoldering with resentment; when Wu and Chu rose in revolt, Liu Sui conspired with them and mobilized his own forces. His chancellor Jiande and interior secretary Wang Han urged him to reconsider, but he refused to heed them. He had Jiande and Wang Han executed by fire, deployed troops along his western border to await a joint advance with Wu and Chu, and sent a mission north to court an alliance with the Xiongnu. The court sent Marquis of Quzhou Li Ji against him. The king of Zhao shut himself inside Handan, and the siege lasted seven months. After Wu and Chu collapsed, the Xiongnu, learning the outcome, likewise declined to cross the frontier. Luan Bo, returning from the campaign that had broken Qi, joined his command with others, diverted a river, and inundated the Zhao capital. The ramparts failed; Liu Sui took his own life, and the kingdom was abolished. Touched by the loyalty of the Zhao chancellor and interior secretary who had died for their principles, Emperor Jing made each man's son a full marquis.
6
趙共王
Prince Hui of Zhao the Joint
7
趙共王恢。 十一年，梁王彭越誅，立恢為梁王。 十六年，趙幽王死，呂后徙恢王趙，恢心不樂。 太后以呂產女為趙王后，王后從官皆諸呂也，內擅權，微司趙王，王不得自恣。 王有愛姬，王后鴆殺之。 王乃為歌詩四章，令樂人歌之。 王悲思，六月自殺。 太后聞之，以為用婦人故自殺，無思奉宗廟禮，廢其嗣。
Liu Hui, the Joint Prince of Zhao. In the eleventh year of Gaozu's reign, after Peng Yue, king of Liang, was put to death, Liu Hui was transferred to Liang and invested there. In the sixteenth year, when Prince You of Zhao died, Empress Lü reassigned Liu Hui to Zhao. He went unwillingly, his heart heavy at the move. She married him to a daughter of Lü Chan, whose entire household staff were Lü partisans. They seized the inner court, spied on the king at every turn, and left him unable to live as he pleased. When he favored another woman, his Lü queen poisoned her. In his grief he wrote four songs and had the court musicians perform them. Brokenhearted, he took his own life in the sixth month. The empress dowager dismissed his death as the act of a man who had killed himself over a woman and showed no regard for his duty to the imperial ancestors; she struck his line from the succession.
8
燕靈王建。
Liu Jian, Prince Jian of Yan the Numinous.
9
十一年，燕王盧綰亡入匈奴，明年，立建為燕王。 十五年薨，有美人子，太后使人殺之，絕後。
In the eleventh year Lu Wan, king of Yan, fled to the Xiongnu; the following year Liu Jian was invested as king of Yan. He died in the fifteenth year. He had left a son by a favored consort, but the empress dowager had the child killed, and the line ended.
10
齊悼惠王子，前後凡九人為王：太子襄為齊哀王，次子章為城陽景王，興居為濟北王，將閭為齊王，志為濟北王，辟光為濟南王，賢為菑川王，卬為膠西王，雄渠為膠東王。
Prince Daohui of Qi left nine sons who in turn received royal titles: the crown prince Xiang became Prince Ai of Qi; Liu Zhang became Prince Jing of Chengyang; Liu Xingju, king of Jibei; Liu Jianglü, king of Qi; Liu Zhi, again king of Jibei; Liu Piguang of Jinan; Liu Xian of Zichuan; Liu Ang of Jiaoxi; and Liu Xiongqu of Jiaodong.
11
齊哀王襄，孝惠六年嗣立。 明年，惠帝崩，呂太后稱制。 元年，以其兄子鄜侯呂台為呂王，割齊之濟南郡為呂王奉邑。 明年，哀王弟章入宿衛於漢，高后封為朱虛侯，以呂祿女妻之。 後四年，封章弟興居為東牟侯，皆宿衛長安。 高后七年，割齊琅邪郡，立營陵侯劉澤為琅邪王。 是歲，趙王友幽死于邸。 三趙王既廢，高后立諸呂為三王，擅權用事。
Liu Xiang, Prince Ai of Qi, succeeded in the sixth year of Emperor Hui's reign. The following year Emperor Hui died, and Empress Dowager Lü assumed regency. In the first year of her regency she made her nephew Lü Tai, Marquis of Fu, king of Lü and carved Jinan commandery from Qi as his fief. The next year Liu Zhang, the prince's younger brother, entered guard service at the Han court; Empress Dowager Lü enfeoffed him as Marquis of Zhuxu and married him to Lü Lu's daughter. Four years later she enfeoffed Liu Xingju, Zhang's younger brother, as Marquis of Dongmou; both brothers served on guard duty in Chang'an. In the seventh year of her regency she carved Langye commandery from Qi and made Liu Ze, Marquis of Yingling, king of Langye. That same year Liu You, king of Zhao, died under confinement at his lodging. After the three Zhao kings had been eliminated, she invested three Lü clansmen as kings and seized power for her kin.
12
章年二十，有氣力，忿劉氏不得職。 嘗入侍燕飲，高后令章為酒吏。 章自請曰：「臣，將種也，請得以軍法行酒。」 高后曰：「可。」 酒酣，章進歌舞，已而曰：「請為太后言耕田。」 高后兒子畜之，笑曰：「顧乃父知田耳，若生而為王子，安知田乎？」 章曰：「臣知之。」 太后曰：「試為我言田意。」 章曰：「深耕穊種，立苗欲疏； 非其種者，鉏而去之。」 太后默然。 頃之，諸呂有一人醉，亡酒，章追，拔劍斬之，而還報曰：「有亡酒一人，臣謹行軍法斬之。」 太后左右大驚。 業已許其軍法，亡以罪也。 因罷酒。 自是後，諸呂憚章，雖大臣皆依朱虛侯。 劉氏為彊。
Liu Zhang was twenty, strong and hot-tempered, and bitter that real power lay not with the house of Liu. On one occasion he attended one of Empress Lü's feasts, and she put him in charge of the wine. He volunteered: "I am a soldier's son. Permit me to enforce the drinking rules as if we were under military law." "Very well," said Empress Lü. When the wine was warm, Zhang advanced song and dance, and afterward said: "I beg to speak to the empress dowager of plowing fields." She doted on him like a son and laughed. "Your father knew the plow; you were born a prince of the blood. What could you know of the soil?" "I know it," said Liu Zhang. "Then tell me what you know of the field," she said. "Plow deep and sow thick," he began; "set the seedlings far apart— —and whatever is not your own strain, hoe it up and cast it away." The empress dowager fell silent. Presently one of the Lü guests broke the rules and tried to slip away. Liu Zhang ran him down, cut off his head, and reported back: "One man deserted his cup. I have executed him under military law." The empress dowager's attendants cried out in alarm. She had already authorized military discipline; there was no honest pretext on which to punish him. The banquet broke up at once. After that the Lü clan feared Liu Zhang, and even senior ministers looked to the Marquis of Zhuxu for leadership. The house of Liu gathered strength again.
13
其明年，高后崩。 趙王呂祿為上將軍，呂王產為相國，皆居長安中，聚兵以威大臣，欲為亂。 章以呂祿女為婦，知其謀，乃使人陰出告其兄齊王，欲令發兵西，朱虛侯、東牟侯欲從中與大臣為內應，以誅諸呂，因立齊王為帝。
The following year Empress Lü died. Lü Lu, king of Zhao, held the post of senior general; Lü Chan, king of Lü, was chancellor. Both remained in Chang'an, massed troops to overawe the ministers, and plotted revolt. Because Zhang was married to Lü Lu's daughter, he learned of the conspiracy and secretly warned his brother, the king of Qi, urging him to march west while he and his cousin, the Marquis of Dongmou, coordinated with loyal ministers inside the capital to extirpate the Lü and set the king of Qi on the throne.
14
齊王聞此計，與其舅駟鈞、郎中令祝午、中尉魏勃陰謀發兵。 齊相召平聞之，乃發兵入衛王宮。 魏勃紿平曰：「王欲發兵，非有漢虎符驗也。 而相君圍王，固善。 勃請為君將兵衛衛王。」 召平信之，乃使魏勃將。 勃既將，以兵圍相府。 召平曰：「嗟乎！ 道家之言『當斷不斷，反受其亂』。」 遂自殺。 於是齊王以駟鈞為相，魏勃為將軍，祝午為內史，悉發國中兵。 使祝午紿琅邪王曰：「呂氏為亂，齊王發兵欲西誅之。 齊王自以兒子，年少，不習兵革之事，願舉國委大王。 大王自高帝將也，習戰事。 齊王不敢離兵，使臣請大王幸之臨菑見齊王計事，并將齊兵以西平關中之亂。」 琅邪王信之，以為然，乃馳見齊王。 齊王與魏勃等因留琅邪王，而使祝午盡發琅邪國而并將其兵。
The king of Qi took counsel in secret with his uncle Si Jun, his palace superintendent Zhu Wu, and commandant Wei Bo, and plotted to raise troops. When Chancellor Shao Ping of Qi got wind of it, he called out the guard and sealed the royal palace. Wei Bo lied to him: "The king means to rebel without the court's tiger tallies. You have wisely surrounded him. Let me relieve you: give me the troops, and I will garrison the palace in your stead." Shao Ping believed him and handed over the command. Wei Bo at once turned the same troops against the chancellor's compound and besieged it. "Alas," cried Shao Ping, the Daoists had it right: hesitate when you must act, and chaos finds you instead." He killed himself on the spot. The king of Qi then named Si Jun chancellor, Wei Bo general, and Zhu Wu interior secretary, and mobilized every able-bodied man in the kingdom. Zhu Wu was sent with a tale for the king of Langye: "The Lü have turned traitor; the king of Qi is marching west to punish them. The king of Qi, declaring himself young and untried in war, begs to place the entire army under your command. You commanded troops for Emperor Gao and know the field. He cannot leave his host, so he asks you to ride to Linzi, meet with him, plan affairs, and lead the troops of Qi west to settle the turmoil in Guanzhong." The king of Langye believed him, thought it was so, and galloped off to see the king of Qi. The king of Qi and his confederates held him fast while Zhu Wu stripped Langye of its remaining troops and brought them under Qi's banner.
15
琅邪王劉澤既欺，不得反國，乃說齊王曰：「齊悼惠王，高皇帝長子也，推本言之，大王高皇帝適長孫也，當立。 今諸大臣狐疑未有所定，而澤於劉氏最為長年，大臣固待澤決計。 今大王留臣無為也，不如使我入關計事。」 齊王以為然，乃益具車送琅邪王。
Liu Ze, king of Langye, was trapped in Qi and argued: "Prince Daohui was Gaozu's eldest son; by strict descent you are Gaozu's senior grandson by the main line and have the strongest claim to the throne. The ministers in Chang'an still waver, and I am the oldest living prince of the blood; they will listen when I speak. Keeping me here serves no purpose. Send me through the passes to settle the succession in your favor." The king of Qi thought this was so, then furnished additional carriages and escorted the king of Langye on his way.
16
琅邪王既行，齊遂舉兵西攻呂國之濟南。 於是齊王遺諸侯王書曰：「高帝平定天下，王諸子弟。 悼惠王薨，惠帝使留侯張良立臣為齊王。 惠帝崩，高后用事，春秋高，聽諸呂擅廢帝更立，又殺三趙王，滅梁、趙、燕，以王諸呂，分齊國為四。 忠臣進諫，上或亂不聽。 今高后崩，皇帝春秋富，未能治天下，固待大臣諸侯。 今諸呂又擅自尊官，聚官嚴威，劫列侯忠臣，撟制以令天下，宗廟以危。 寡人帥兵入誅不當為王者。」
After the king of Langye had set out, Qi raised troops and marched west against Jinan, the fief of the Lü king. The king of Qi then sent a letter to the other feudal kings, saying, "The High Emperor pacified the realm and enfeoffed his sons and younger brothers as kings. When Prince Daohui died, Emperor Hui sent Zhang Liang, Marquis of Liuhou, to invest me as king of Qi. After Emperor Hui died, Empress Dowager Lü took power. Though advanced in years, she allowed the Lü clan to depose emperors and set up others, killed the three Zhao kings, extinguished Liang, Zhao, and Yan, invested Lü clansmen as kings, and carved Qi into four parts. Loyal ministers remonstrated, but the throne, perhaps confused, would not listen. Now that the empress dowager is dead, the emperor is still young and cannot yet govern the realm; he surely relies on great ministers and the feudal kings. Now the Lü clan again arrogates offices to themselves, amasses power, coerces ranked marquises and loyal ministers, and falsifies commands to rule the realm, putting the ancestral temple in peril. I shall lead troops within the passes to execute those who ought not to be kings."
17
漢聞之，相國呂產等遣大將軍潁陰侯灌嬰將兵擊之。 嬰至滎陽，乃謀曰：「諸呂舉兵關中，欲危劉氏而自立，今我破齊還報，是益呂氏資也。」 乃留兵屯滎陽，使人諭齊王及諸侯，與連和，以待呂氏之變而共誅之。 齊王聞之，乃屯兵西界待約。
The court learned of the rising and ordered Grand General Guan Ying, Marquis of Yingyin, to take the field against Qi. At Xingyang he halted and reasoned with his officers: "The Lü hold Guanzhong and mean to supplant the Liu. If I crush Qi and march home, I only strengthen their hand." He camped at Xingyang, sent envoys to the king of Qi and the other kings, and forged a common front to wait for the Lü to move, then strike them down together. The king of Qi drew up his army on his western frontier to await the signal.
18
呂祿、呂產欲作亂，朱虛侯章與太尉勃、丞相平等誅之。 章首先斬呂產，太尉勃等乃盡誅諸呂。 而琅邪王亦從齊至長安。
When Lü Lu and Lü Chan moved toward open revolt, Liu Zhang joined Zhou Bo, Chen Ping, and the loyal ministers in cutting them down. Liu Zhang struck the first blow, killing Lü Chan; Zhou Bo and the rest then wiped out the entire Lü faction. Meanwhile Liu Ze had traveled from Qi to Chang'an as well.
19
大臣議欲立齊王，皆曰：「母家駟鈞惡戾，虎而冠者也。 訪以呂氏故，幾亂天下，今又立齊王，是欲復為呂氏也。 代王母家薄氏，君子長者，且代王，高帝子，於今見在，最為長。 以子則順，以善人則大臣安。」 於是大臣乃謀迎代王，而遣章以誅呂氏事告齊王，令罷兵。
The ministers first considered the king of Qi, but objected in one voice: "His uncle Si Jun is vicious and overbearing—a man with a tiger's heart beneath a courtier's hat. The Lü rose from a mother's clan and nearly destroyed the dynasty; to enthrone Qi now would be to invite another Lü. The king of Dai’s maternal family, the Bo clan, are gentlemen and elders; moreover the king of Dai is a son of the High Emperor, is still living today, and is the eldest. Succession among the sons would be orderly, and a worthy prince would put the ministers at ease." They therefore resolved to welcome Liu Heng of Dai, sent Liu Zhang to tell his brother in Qi that the Lü were dead, and ordered him to stand down.
20
灌嬰在滎陽，聞魏勃本教齊王反，既誅呂氏，罷齊兵，使使召責問魏勃。 勃曰：「失火之家，豈暇先言丈人後救火乎！」 因退立，股戰而栗。 恐不能言者，終無他語。 灌將軍孰視，笑曰：「人謂魏勃勇，妄庸人耳，何能為乎！」 乃罷勃。 勃父以善鼓琴見秦皇帝。 及勃少時，欲求見齊相曹參，家貧無以自通，乃常獨早埽齊相舍人門外。 舍人怪之，以為物而司之，得勃。 勃曰：「願見相君，無因，故為子埽，欲以求見。」
Guan Ying, still at Xingyang, had heard that Wei Bo had instigated the king of Qi's revolt. Once the Lü were gone and Qi's army sent home, he summoned Wei Bo to account for himself. "When the roof is burning," Wei Bo replied, "do you first bow to your elders or grab a bucket?" He stepped back, legs trembling, unable to steady himself. Too frightened to say more, he offered no further defense. Guan Ying studied him a long moment, then laughed. "They say Wei Bo is bold. The man is a panicky fool—harmless." He let Wei Bo go. Wei Bo's father had won an audience with the First Emperor of Qin by his skill on the zither. In his youth, wanting to meet Chancellor Cao Shen of Qi but too poor for an introduction, he rose before dawn day after day to sweep the doorstep of one of the chancellor's retainers. The retainer thought some ghost was at work and lay in wait until he caught Wei Bo in the act. Wei Bo said, "I beg an audience with the chancellor, but I have no way in. That is why I have been sweeping your doorstep—to earn a chance to meet him."
21
於是舍人見勃，曹參因以為舍人。 壹為參御言事，以為賢，言之悼惠王。 王召見，拜為內史。 始悼惠王得自置二千石。 及悼惠王薨，哀王嗣，勃用事重於相。
The retainer then received Wei Bo, and Cao Can took him on as a retainer. Once, while attending Cao Can in reporting affairs, he impressed the chancellor as capable, and Cao Can recommended him to Prince Daohui. The prince summoned him and appointed him Director of the Palace. This was when Prince Daohui first gained the right to appoint officials of two-thousand-bushel rank on his own authority. When Prince Daohui died and Prince Ai succeeded, Wei Bo wielded power greater than the chancellor's.
22
齊王既罷兵歸，而代王立，是為孝文帝。
The king of Qi sent his men home; Liu Heng of Dai ascended the throne as Emperor Wen.
23
文帝元年，盡以高后時所割齊之城陽、琅邪、濟南郡復予齊，而徙琅邪王王燕。 益封朱虛侯、東牟侯各二千戶，黃金千斤。 是歲，齊哀王薨，子文王則嗣。 十四年薨，無子，國除。
In the first year of Emperor Wen's reign, Chengyang, Langye, and Jinan—the commanderies carved from Qi under Empress Dowager Lü—were all restored to Qi, and the king of Langye was transferred to rule Yan. The Marquis of Zhuxu and the Marquis of Dongmou each received an additional two thousand households and a thousand jin of gold. That year Prince Ai of Qi died, and his son Liu Ze, Prince Wen, succeeded him. He ruled fourteen years, left no heir, and the kingdom was abolished.
24
城陽景王章，孝文二年以朱虛侯與東牟侯興居俱立，二年薨。 子共王喜嗣。 孝文十二年，徙王淮南，五年，復還王城陽，凡立三十三年薨。 子頃王延嗣，二十六年薨。 子敬王義嗣，九年薨。 子惠王武嗣，十一年薨。 子荒王順嗣，四十六年薨。 子戴王恢嗣，八年薨。 子孝王景嗣，二十四年薨。 子哀王雲嗣，一年薨，無子，國絕。 成帝復立雲兄俚為城陽王，王莽時絕。
Liu Zhang, Prince Jing of Chengyang, was enfeoffed in the second year of Emperor Wen together with his brother Xingju, Marquis of Dongmou; he died two years later. His son Liu Xi, Prince Gong of Chengyang, succeeded him. In the twelfth year of Emperor Wen he was transferred to Huainan; five years after that he was brought back to Chengyang. He reigned thirty-three years in all before he died. His son Liu Yan, Prince Qing of Chengyang, reigned twenty-six years. Liu Yi, Prince Jing, followed and reigned nine years. Liu Wu, Prince Hui, held the throne eleven years. Liu Shun, Prince Huang, ruled forty-six years. Liu Hui, Prince Dai, succeeded him and died after eight years. His son Liu Jing, Prince Xiao of Chengyang, reigned twenty-four years. Liu Yun, Prince Ai, lasted only a year and left no heir; the kingdom lapsed. Emperor Cheng revived the title for Liu Li, Prince Yun's elder brother, but the line died out under Wang Mang.
25
濟北王興居初以東牟侯與大臣共立文帝於代邸，曰：「誅呂氏，臣無功，請與太僕滕公俱入清宮。」 遂將少帝出，迎皇帝入宮。
Liu Xingju of Jibei had been Marquis of Dongmou when he helped the ministers enthrone Emperor Wen at the princely residence in Dai. "We slew the Lü," he said then, "yet I had no share in the glory. Let me join Grand Coachman Xiahou Ying in clearing the palace." He escorted the boy emperor out and brought the new sovereign in.
26
始誅諸呂時，朱虛侯章功尤大，大臣許盡以趙地王章，盡以梁地王興居。 及文帝立，聞朱虛、東牟之初欲立齊王，故黜其功。 二年，王諸子，乃割齊二郡以王章、興居。 章、興居意自以失職奪功。 歲餘，章薨，而匈奴大入邊，漢多發兵，丞相灌嬰將擊之，文帝親幸太原。 興居以為天子自擊胡，遂發兵反。 上聞之，罷兵歸長安，使棘蒲侯柴將軍擊破，虜濟北王。 王自殺，國除。 文帝憫濟北王逆亂以自滅，明年，盡封悼惠王諸子罷軍等七人為列侯。 至十五年，齊文王又薨，無子。 時悼惠王後尚有城陽王在，文帝憐悼惠王適嗣之絕，於是乃分齊為六國，盡立前所封悼惠王子列侯見在者六人為王。 齊孝王將閭以楊虛侯立，濟北王志以安都侯立，菑川王賢以武成侯立，膠東王雄渠以白石侯立，膠西王卬以平昌侯立，濟南王辟光以扐侯立。 孝文十六年，六王同日俱立。
When the Lü clan was first being destroyed, Liu Zhang, Marquis of Zhuxu, had done the greatest service; the great ministers agreed to make Zhang king of Zhao and Xingju king of Liang. When Emperor Wen took the throne, he learned that the Marquis of Zhuxu and the Marquis of Dongmou had at first wished to make the king of Qi emperor, and therefore diminished their rewards. In the second year, when imperial sons were invested as kings, two commanderies were carved from Qi to enfeoff Zhang and Xingju. Zhang and Xingju both felt they had been stripped of deserved rank and robbed of their merit. A little more than a year later Zhang died. The Xiongnu raided deeply along the frontier; the Han mobilized large forces; Chancellor Guan Ying took command; and Emperor Wen personally went to Taiyuan. Xingju assumed the emperor had left the capital to fight the barbarians in person and therefore raised troops in rebellion. When the emperor heard of it, he recalled his forces to Chang'an and sent General Chai, Marquis of Jipo, to defeat him and capture the king of Jibei. The king killed himself, and the kingdom was abolished. Pitying the king of Jibei for destroying himself through rebellion, the next year Emperor Wen enfeoffed seven sons of Prince Daohui, including Liu Bagun, as ranked marquises. By the fifteenth year Prince Wen of Qi had died again, leaving no heir. The king of Chengyang still survived among Prince Daohui's descendants; pitying the extinction of the legitimate Qi succession, Emperor Wen divided Qi into six kingdoms and invested all six of Prince Daohui's living sons who had previously held marquisates as kings. Liu Jianglü became Prince Xiao of Qi from the Marquisate of Yangxu; Liu Zhi, king of Jibei, from Andu; Liu Xian of Zichuan from Wucheng; Liu Xiongqu of Jiaodong from Baishi; Liu Ang of Jiaoxi from Pingchang; and Liu Piguang of Jinan from Zhi. In the sixteenth year of Emperor Wen all six were invested on the same day.
27
立十一年，孝景三年，吳楚反，膠東、膠西、菑川、濟南王皆發兵應吳楚。 欲與齊，齊孝王狐疑，城守不聽。 三國兵共圍齊，齊王使路中大夫告於天子。 天子復令路中大夫還報，告齊王堅守，漢兵今破吳楚矣。 路中大夫至，三國兵圍臨菑數重，無從入。 三國將與路中大夫盟曰：「若反言漢已破矣，齊趣下三國，不且見屠。」 路中大夫既許，至城下，望見齊王，曰：「漢已發兵百萬，使太尉亞夫擊破吳楚，方引兵救齊，齊必堅守無下！」 三國將誅路中大夫。
Eleven years into his reign came the third year of Emperor Jing, when Wu and Chu rose in revolt. The kings of Jiaodong, Jiaoxi, Zichuan, and Jinan all mobilized in their support. They tried to bring Qi in, but Prince Xiao of Qi wavered, kept his walls manned, and refused their summons. The three rebel hosts ringed Qi, so the king dispatched his courier—the official styled "grandee in the middle of the road"—to appeal to the emperor. The court sent the same envoy back with orders for the king to stand fast: imperial forces had already crushed Wu and Chu. But Linzi was wrapped in layer upon layer of siege lines, and he could not get through. The rebel generals cornered him and extorted a pledge: "Tell the king the Han is finished and urge him to yield to us—or we kill you." After the Grandee of the Road had promised them, he reached the foot of the walls, caught sight of the king of Qi, and cried, "Han has already raised a million troops and sent Grand Commandant Zhou Yafu to defeat Wu and Chu. The army is now on its way to rescue Qi. Qi must hold firm and must not surrender!" The three generals put him to death for his treachery.
28
齊初圍急，陰與三國通謀，約未定，會路中大夫從漢來，其大臣乃復勸王無下三國。 會漢將欒布、平陽侯等兵至齊，擊破三國兵，解圍。 已後聞齊初與三國有謀，將欲移兵伐齊。 齊孝王懼，飲藥自殺。 而膠東、膠西、濟南、菑川王皆伏誅，國除。 獨濟北王在。
Early in the siege Qi had secretly dealt with the rebels, though no firm pact was sealed. When the courier returned from the capital with the emperor's message, Qi's ministers pressed the king anew to hold out against the three kingdoms. Soon Luan Bo and the Marquis of Pingyang arrived with other imperial columns, routed the besiegers, and raised the siege. Afterward the court learned of Qi's first overtures to the rebels and prepared to turn the army against Linzi. Prince Xiao of Qi, terrified at the prospect, took his own life with poison. The kings of Jiaodong, Jiaoxi, Jinan, and Zichuan were executed to a man and their kingdoms struck from the rolls. Only the king of Jibei survived among them.
29
齊孝王之自殺也，景帝聞之，以為齊首善，以迫劫有謀，非其罪也，召立孝王太子壽，是為懿王。 二十三年薨，子厲王次昌嗣。
When Prince Xiao of Qi killed himself, Emperor Jing judged that Qi had been foremost in loyalty, that coercion and plotting had not been his true crime, and invested Prince Xiao's heir Liu Shou as king—Prince Yi. He ruled twenty-three years and died; his son Liu Cichang, Prince Li, succeeded him.
30
其母曰紀太后。 太后取其弟紀氏女為王后，王不愛。 紀太后欲其家重寵，令其長女紀翁主入王宮正其後宮無令得近王，欲令愛紀氏女。 王因與其姊翁主姦。
His mother was known as Empress Dowager Ji. She married him to a niece of her own Ji clan, but the king cared nothing for his Ji queen. Empress Dowager Ji meant to keep power in her kin: she installed her eldest daughter, a princess by the Ji surname, inside the palace to police the harem and keep other women from the king's bed, hoping to force his affection onto the Ji girl. Instead the king took his sister, that same princess, as his secret lover.
31
齊有宦者徐甲，入事漢皇太后。 皇太后有愛女曰脩成君，脩成君非劉氏子，太后憐之。 脩成君有女娥，太后欲嫁之於諸侯。 宦者甲乃請使齊，必令王上書請娥。 皇太后大喜，使甲之齊。 時主父偃知甲之使齊以取后事，亦因謂甲：「即事成，幸言偃女願得充王後宮。」 甲至齊，風以此事。 紀太后怒曰：「王有后，後宮備具。 且甲，齊貧人，及為宦者入事漢，初無補益，乃欲亂吾王家！ 且主父偃何為者？ 乃欲以女充後宮！」 甲大窮，還報皇太后曰：「王已願尚娥，然事有所害，恐如燕王。」 燕王者，與其子昆弟姦，坐死。 故以燕感太后。 太后曰：「毋復言嫁女齊事。」 事寖淫聞於上。 主父偃由此與齊有隙。
Among Qi's eunuchs was Xu Jia, who had gone to Chang'an to wait on the empress dowager. The empress dowager doted on a daughter named the Princess of Xiucheng—no child of the imperial Liu line—and showered her with tenderness. The princess had a daughter, E, whom her mother hoped to marry off to a feudal king. Xu Jia volunteered for a mission to Qi, promising to bring back a formal request from the king for the girl's hand. Delighted, she dispatched him north. Zhufu Yan, seeing a chance for his own daughter, pulled Xu Jia aside: "If you pull this off, put in a word for my girl as a secondary consort." In Linzi, Xu Jia sounded out the court on the match. Empress Dowager Ji exploded: "The king already has a queen and a full harem. As for Xu Jia—a pauper from Qi who bought his way into the Han palace—he has never done us a scrap of good, and now he would sow chaos in our house! And who is this Zhufu Yan? He thinks his daughter belongs in the inner apartments!" Xu Jia, badly cornered, returned and reported to the empress dowager: "The king was willing to marry E, but there was danger in the matter; he feared it would be like the case of the king of Yan." He meant the scandal of the king of Yan, who had lain with his kindred and was executed for it. He used the example of Yan to dissuade the empress dowager. "Say no more of wedding a girl to Qi," she said. Whispers of the incest spread until they reached the emperor's ear. From that day Zhufu Yan nursed a grudge against Qi.
32
偃方幸用事，因言：「齊臨菑十萬戶，巿租千金，人眾殷富，鉅於長安，非天子親弟愛子不得王此。 今齊王於親屬益疏。」 乃從容言呂太后時齊欲反，及吳楚時孝王幾為亂。 今聞齊王與其姊亂。 於是武帝拜偃為齊相，且正其事。 偃至齊，急治王後宮宦者為王通於姊翁主所者，辭及王。 王年少，懼以罪為吏所執誅，乃飲藥自殺。
Zhufu Yan was then favored and in power, so he said, "Linzi in Qi has one hundred thousand households, and its market rents are worth a thousand in gold. Its people are numerous, prosperous, and wealthier than Chang'an. No one but the Son of Heaven's own brother or beloved son should be king there. Now the king of Qi is ever more distant in kinship." He reminded the throne how Qi had flirted with rebellion under Empress Lü and how Prince Xiao had nearly joined the Seven Kingdoms revolt. He added the fresh rumor that the king was sleeping with his own sister. The emperor named Zhufu Yan chancellor of Qi with orders to get to the bottom of it. Zhufu Yan reached Linzi and turned the screws on the harem eunuchs who had facilitated the king's visits to the princess; their testimony pointed straight at the king. Young and terrified of arrest and public execution, the king drank poison.
33
是時趙王懼主父偃壹出敗齊，恐其漸疏骨肉，乃上書言偃受金及輕重之短，天子亦因囚偃。 公孫弘曰：「齊王以憂死，無後，非誅偃無以塞天下之望。」 偃遂坐誅。
The king of Zhao, alarmed that one vindictive minister could destroy a princely house and set kin against kin, memorialized that Zhufu Yan had taken bribes and committed other offenses; the emperor had him thrown in prison. Gongsun Hong urged: "The king of Qi died heirless and broken-hearted; only Zhufu Yan's death will satisfy the realm." Zhufu Yan was condemned and put to death.
34
濟北王
The king of Jibei
35
濟北王志，吳楚反時初亦與通謀，後堅守不發兵，故得不誅，徙王菑川。 元朔中，齊國絕。
Liu Zhi of Jibei had toyed with the rebels at first but never marched; spared execution, he was transferred to the throne of Zichuan. During Yuanshuo the kingdom of Qi ceased to exist.
36
悼惠王後唯有二國：城陽、菑川。 菑川地比齊，武帝為悼惠王冢園在齊，乃割臨菑東圜悼惠王冢園邑盡以予菑川，令奉祭祀。
Of Prince Daohui's line only Chengyang and Zichuan remained. Because Prince Daohui's mausoleum park lay east of Linzi inside old Qi territory, Emperor Wu carved that enclave out and annexed it to Zichuan so his descendant could tend the sacrifices.
37
志立三十五年薨，是為懿王。 子靖王建嗣，二十年薨。 子頃王遺嗣，三十五年薨。 子思王終古嗣。 五鳳中，青州刺史奏終古使所愛奴與八子及諸御婢姦，終古或參與被席，或白晝使羸伏，犬馬交接，終古親臨觀。 產子，輒曰：「亂不可知，使去其子。」 事下丞相御史，奏終古位諸侯王，以令置八子，秩比六百石，所以廣嗣重祖也。 而終古禽獸行，亂君臣夫婦之別，悖逆人倫，請逮捕。 有詔削四縣。 二十八年薨。 子考王尚嗣，五年薨。 子孝王橫嗣，三十一年薨。 子懷王交嗣，六年薨。 子永嗣，王莽時絕。
Liu Zhi reigned thirty-five years and is remembered posthumously as Prince Yi of Zichuan. His son Liu Jian, Prince Jing, ruled twenty years. Liu Yi, Prince Qing, held the throne thirty-five years. Liu Zhonggu, Prince Si, succeeded him. During Wufeng the governor of Qingzhou charged Liu Zhonggu with forcing his favorite male slaves on concubines of the statutory bazhong rank—the grade called 'Eight Sons'—and on other palace women, taking part himself, and—in broad daylight—making frail attendants submit to bestial coupling while he watched. When children resulted, he ordered them destroyed: "We cannot tell whose seed this is—get rid of it." The case went to the chancellor and the censorate, who observed that the statutes allow a king to take bazhong concubines at six hundred bushels' stipend precisely to multiply heirs and honor his line. Yet Zhonggu had conducted himself like a beast, blurring every bond of ruler and subject, husband and wife, and human decency; they demanded his arrest. An edict stripped him of four counties. He died in the twenty-eighth year of his reign. His son Liu Shang, Prince Kao, reigned five years. Liu Heng, Prince Xiao, ruled thirty-one years. Liu Jiao, Prince Huai, died after six years. His son Liu Yong inherited the title until Wang Mang extinguished the house.
38
贊曰：悼惠之王齊，最為大國。 以海內初定，子弟少，激秦孤立亡藩輔，故大封同姓，以填天下。 時諸侯得自除御史大夫群卿以下眾官，如漢朝，漢獨為置丞相。 自吳楚誅後，稍奪諸侯權，左官附益阿黨之法設。 其後諸侯唯得衣食租稅，貧者或乘牛車。
The historian's judgment: Of all the great fiefs, Prince Daohui's Qi was the mightiest. The empire was newly pacified, imperial sons were few, and the lesson of Qin's lonely fall was fresh; the court therefore lavished territory on Liu kinsmen to ring the realm with bulwarks. Each kingdom could staff its own bureaucracy down to the clerks, mirroring the capital, save that the crown alone named each kingdom's chancellor. After Wu and Chu were crushed, the throne steadily pared princely power—through statutes against serving princes as a "left-hand" career, against unauthorized enlargement of fiefs, and against clique loyalty. In time the kings kept little more than the income from their tax rolls; the poorer among them went about in ox-drawn carts.