1
卷九十七上外戚傳第六十七上
Volume 97a: Biography of the Empresses and Imperial In-Laws, Part One.
2
自古受命帝王及繼體守文之君，非獨內德茂也，蓋亦有外戚之助焉。 夏之興也以塗山，而桀之放也用末喜； 殷之興也以有娀又有榇，而紂之滅也嬖妲己； 周之興也以姜嫄及太任、太姒，而幽王之禽也淫褒姒。 故易基乾坤，詩首關雎，書美釐降，春秋譏不親迎。 夫婦之際，人道之大倫也。 禮之用，唯昏姻為兢兢。 夫樂調而四時和，陰陽之變，萬物之統也，可不慎與！ 人能弘道，末如命何。 甚哉妃匹之愛，君不能得之臣，父不能得之子，況卑下乎！ 既驩合矣，或不能成子姓，成子姓矣，而不能要其終，豈非命也哉！ 孔子罕言命，蓋難言之。 非通幽明之變，惡能識乎性命！
Since ancient times, founders who have received Heaven's mandate to rule, and heirs who have taken the throne while preserving the institutions of their line, have owed their success not to inward virtue alone; they have also, as a rule, been aided by affinal kin at court. Xia rose on the strength of its marriage alliance with Tushan, while Jie was cast out for his obsession with Mo Xi. The house of Shang rose from the women of You-song and from the line of Xie its royal forebear, while the last king of Shang was ruined by his infatuation with Daji. Zhou rose on the virtue of Jiang Yuan, Tai Ren, and Tai Si, while King You fell captive because he abandoned himself to Bao Si. Hence the Classic of Changes grounds itself in Qian and Kun; the Odes open with "Guanju"; the Documents celebrate Yao's bestowal of his daughters in marriage; the Spring and Autumn Annals fault rulers who did not go themselves to meet the bride. The bond between husband and wife is the chief ethical relation among human beings. In the practice of ritual, nothing is handled with greater scruple than marriage. When music is in tune, the seasons fall into harmony; the interplay of yin and yang orders the whole of creation—how could one treat it lightly? Human beings may enlarge the Way, yet in the end what can they do against what Heaven has decreed? How fierce is the love between wedded partners: a ruler cannot command it of a subject, a father cannot command it of a son—still less can it be expected among those of humbler station. Some couples, though happily united, never bear heirs; others raise children yet cannot keep the marriage to its natural close—is this not the work of fate? Confucius rarely spoke of destiny, no doubt because it admits of no easy explanation. Without grasping how the seen and unseen worlds turn into one another, who can truly fathom life and destiny?
3
漢興，因秦之稱號，帝母稱皇太后，祖母稱太皇太后，適稱皇后，妾皆稱夫人。 又有美人、良人、八子、七子、長使、少使之號焉。 至武帝制婕妤、娙娥、傛華、充依，各有爵位，而元帝加昭儀之號，凡十四等云。 昭儀位視丞相，爵比諸侯王。 婕妤視上卿，比列侯。 娙娥視中二千石，比關內侯。 傛華視真二千石，比大上造。 美人視二千石，比少上造。 八子視千石，比中更。 充依視千石，比左更。 七子視八百石，比右庶長。 良人視八百石，比左庶長。 長使視六百石，比五大夫。 少使視四百石，比公乘。 五官視三百石。 順常視二百石。 無涓、共和、娛靈、保林、良使、夜者皆視百石。 上家人子、中家人子視有秩斗食云。 五官以下，葬司馬門外。
At the founding of Han, the court kept Qin's nomenclature: the sovereign's mother was styled Empress Dowager, his grandmother Grand Empress Dowager, his chief wife Empress, and every lesser consort bore the title Lady. Further ranks were established—Beauty, Good Woman, Eighth Son, Seventh Son, Chief Attendant, and Junior Attendant. Emperor Wu created the ranks of Jieyu, Xinge, Ronghua, and Chongyi, each with its own stipend and noble parallel, and Emperor Yuan added the title Exalted Companion, bringing the total to fourteen grades. The Exalted Companion ranked with the chancellor in precedence and was paired in nobility with a feudal king. A Jieyu was treated as a senior minister of state and matched to a full marquis. An Xinge held the salary grade of a middle two-thousand-bushel official and was paired with a marquis within the passes. A Ronghua drew a full two-thousand-bushel stipend and was ranked with the Grand Chief of Multitude. A Beauty was salaried at two thousand bushels and paired with the Junior Chief of Multitude. An Eighth Son received one thousand bushels and was matched to the Central Renewal rank. A Chongyi likewise drew one thousand bushels and was paired with the Left Renewal rank. A Seventh Son was paid eight hundred bushels and ranked with the Right Chief of Multitude. A Good Woman received eight hundred bushels and was matched to the Left Chief of Multitude. A Chief Attendant drew six hundred bushels and was paired with the fifth-order grandee. A Junior Attendant was salaried at four hundred bushels and ranked with the Public Rider. The Wu-guan rank carried a stipend of three hundred bushels. The Shun-chang rank was paid two hundred bushels. The ranks of Wu-juan, Gong-he, Yu-ling, Bao-lin, Liang-shi, and Ye-zhe each received one hundred bushels. Upper and Middle Family Sons were paid at the dou-shi level, the lowest salaried grade. Women of rank below Wu-guan were interred outside the Sima Gate of the palace.
4
高祖呂皇后
Empress Lü, consort of Emperor Gaozu.
5
後漢王得定陶戚姬，愛幸，生趙隱王如意。 太子為人仁弱，高祖以為不類己，常欲廢之而立如意，「如意類我」。 戚姬常從上之關東，日夜啼泣，欲立其子。 呂后年長，常留守，希見，益疏。 如意且立為趙王，留長安，幾代太子者數。 賴公卿大臣爭之，及叔孫通諫，用留侯之策，得無易。
After Gaozu became King of Han, he took the Lady Qi of Dingtao as a favorite, and she bore Liu Ruyi, who would be enfeoffed as Prince Yin of Zhao. The crown prince was gentle to a fault; Gaozu felt he was nothing like himself and repeatedly wanted to replace him with Ruyi, declaring that Ruyi was the son who took after him. Lady Qi accompanied the emperor on his campaigns beyond the passes and wept without cease, pressing him to make her son heir. Empress Lü was older and usually stayed behind in the capital; she rarely saw the emperor and drifted ever further from his favor. Ruyi was soon made king of Zhao but stayed in Chang'an, and on more than one occasion he came within a hair's breadth of supplanting the crown prince. Only the remonstrance of high ministers, Shu Sun Tong's blunt advice, and Zhang Liang's stratagem kept Gaozu from carrying the change through.
6
呂后為人剛毅，佐高帝定天下，兄二人皆為列將，從征伐。 長兄澤為周呂侯，次兄釋之為建成侯，逮高祖而侯者三人。 高祖四年，臨泗侯呂公薨。
Empress Lü was stern and capable; she helped Gaozu win the empire, while both her brothers served as generals of independent columns and fought in his wars. Her eldest brother Lü Ze was enfeoffed as Marquis of Zhou-lü, her second brother Lü Shi-zhi as Marquis of Jian-cheng, and by Gaozu's reign three members of the clan held marquisates. In Gaozu's fourth year, Lü Gong, Marquis of Lin-si, died.
7
高祖崩，惠帝立，呂后為皇太后，乃令永巷囚戚夫人，髡鉗衣赭衣，令舂。 戚夫人舂且歌曰：「子為王，母為虜，終日舂薄暮，常與死為伍！ 相離三千里，當誰使告女？ 」太后聞之大怒，曰：「乃欲倚女子邪？ 」乃召趙王誅之。 使者三反，趙相周昌不遣。 太后召趙相，相徵至長安。 使人復召趙王，王來。 惠帝慈仁，知太后怒，自迎趙王霸上，入宮，挾與起居飲食。 數月，帝晨出射，趙王不能蚤起，太后伺其獨居，使人持鴆飲之。 遲帝還，趙王死。 太后遂斷戚夫人手足，去眼熏耳，飲瘖藥，使居鞠域中，名曰「人彘」。 居數月，乃召惠帝視「人彘」。 帝視而問知其戚夫人，乃大哭，因病，歲餘不能起。 使人請太后曰：「此非人所為。 臣為太后子，終不能復治天下！ 」以此日飲為淫樂，不聽政，七年而崩。
After Gaozu's death Hui succeeded, and Empress Lü, now empress dowager, had Lady Qi thrown into the palace prison called the Everlasting Lane, shorn and collared like a convict in russet, and set to grinding grain. As she worked the mortar Lady Qi sang: "My son is a king while I am a slave; from dawn to dusk I pound grain, and death is ever at my side." Three thousand li lie between us—who will carry word to you for me? When the empress dowager heard the song she flew into a rage. "So she thinks to lean on her son, does she?" She summoned Prince Ruyi of Zhao to the capital and had him killed. Three times couriers came from the capital, and each time Chancellor Zhou Chang of Zhao refused to let the prince go. The empress dowager summoned Zhou Chang to Chang'an. She sent for Prince Ruyi again, and this time the boy came. Emperor Hui, kind-hearted and aware of his mother's fury, rode out to Ba-shang to meet his half-brother and brought him into the palace, never letting him out of sight at meals or sleep. Months passed; one dawn Hui went hunting, and Ruyi, still a child, could not rise so early. The empress dowager seized the moment when he was alone and sent a servant to force poisoned wine down his throat. By the time Hui returned, Ruyi was dead. She then had Lady Qi's limbs struck off, her eyes put out, her ears ruined, her voice silenced with drugs, and cast her into a latrine pit, naming the thing she had made "the human pig." Some months later she called Hui to look upon "the human pig." When he realized what had been done to Lady Qi, he broke down weeping and sickened; for more than a year he could not leave his bed. He sent word to his mother: "This is not something a human being would do." As your son I can never again take up the government of the empire!" Thereafter he gave himself to wine and dissipation, ceased to govern, and died within seven years.
8
太后發喪，哭而泣不下。 留侯子張辟彊為侍中，年十五，謂丞相陳平曰：「太后獨有帝，今哭而不悲，君知其解未？ 」陳平曰：「何解？ 」辟彊曰：「帝無壯子，太后畏君等。 今請拜呂台、呂產為將，將兵居南北軍，及諸呂皆官，居中用事。 如此則太后心安，君等幸脫禍矣！ 」丞相如辟彊計請之，太后說，其哭乃哀。 呂氏權由此起。 乃立孝惠後宮子為帝，太后臨朝稱制。 復殺高祖子趙幽王友、共王恢及燕靈王建。 遂立周呂侯子台為呂王，台弟產為梁王，建城侯釋之子祿為趙王，台子通為燕王，又封諸呂凡六人皆為列侯，追尊父呂公為呂宣王，兄周呂侯為悼武王。
At the funeral the empress dowager wailed, yet no tears fell. Zhang Pi-jiang, son of the Marquis of Liu, was a palace attendant at fifteen. He said to Chancellor Chen Ping, "The empress dowager's only son is the late emperor; she cries yet shows no true grief—do you understand why?" Chen Ping asked, "What do you mean?" Pi-jiang replied, "Hui left no adult heir; your empress dowager fears you ministers. Ask her to put Lü Tai and Lü Chan in command of the northern and southern palace armies and to give every Lü kinsman a post at court so they hold real power in the capital." If you do that she will feel secure, and you may yet escape disaster." Chen Ping did as Pi-jiang advised; the empress dowager was pleased, and her lamentation at last became genuine grief. From that moment the house of Lü began its rise to dominance. They enthroned a boy from Hui's harem as emperor while the empress dowager took the reins of government in her own hands. She then had Gaozu's sons Liu You, Prince You of Zhao, Liu Hui, Prince Gong of Liang, and Liu Jian, Prince Ling of Yan, put to death. Lü Tai, son of the Marquis of Zhou-lü, was made king of Lü; his brother Lü Chan became king of Liang; Lü Lu, son of the Marquis of Jian-cheng, king of Zhao; Lü Tong, Tai's son, king of Yan; six other Lü men were raised to marquisates; Lü the elder was posthumously titled King Xuan of Lü, and the Marquis of Zhou-lü became King Dao the Martial.
9
太后持天下八年，病犬禍而崩，語在五行志。 病困，以趙王祿為上將軍居北軍，梁王產為相國居南軍，戒產、祿曰：「高祖與大臣約，非劉氏王者天下共擊之，今王呂氏，大臣不平。 我即崩，恐其為變，必據兵衛宮，慎毋送喪，為人所制。 」太后崩，太尉周勃、丞相陳平、朱虛侯劉章等共誅產、祿，悉捕諸呂男女，無少長皆斬之。 而迎立代王，是為孝文皇帝。
For eight years the empress dowager held the empire; she sickened with what the omen treatise calls the dog curse and died, as recorded in the "Treatise on the Five Phases." On her deathbed she put Lü Lu, king of Zhao, in command of the northern army as senior general and Lü Chan, king of Liang, in charge of the southern army as chancellor of state, warning them: "Your founder swore with his ministers that any king not of the house of Liu would be attacked by all the realm; now that Lü bear royal titles the ministers are seething. When I am gone they may rise against you; keep your soldiers in the palaces and do not leave your posts to follow my bier, or others will seize the advantage." After her death Grand Commandant Zhou Bo, Chancellor Chen Ping, and Liu Zhang the Marquis of Zhu-xu struck down Lü Chan and Lü Lu, rounded up every member of the clan, and put them to the sword, young and old alike. They then welcomed the king of Dai to the throne as Emperor Wen.
10
孝惠張皇后
Empress Zhang, consort of Emperor Hui.
11
惠帝崩，太子立為帝，四年，乃自知非皇后子，出言曰：「太后安能殺吾母而名我！ 我壯即為所為。 」太后聞而患之，恐其作亂，乃幽之永巷，言帝病甚，左右莫得見。 太后下詔廢之，語在高后紀。 遂幽死，更立恆山王弘為皇帝，而以呂祿女為皇后。 欲連根固本牢甚，然而無益也。 呂太后崩，大臣正之，卒滅呂氏。 少帝恆山、淮南、濟川王，皆以非孝惠子誅。 獨置孝惠皇后，廢處北宮，孝文後元年薨，葬安陵，不起墳。
After Hui's death the crown prince was enthroned; in his fourth year he learned that he was not Empress Zhang's child and cried out, "How could the empress dowager murder my mother and pass me off as hers! When I come of age I will repay her in kind." The empress dowager, alarmed that he might stir revolt, had him locked in the Everlasting Lane and spread word that the boy emperor was deathly ill, admitting no one to his side. She then issued an edict deposing him, as told in the annals of Empress Gao. The child died in confinement; Liu Hong, king of Hengshan, was set on the throne, and a daughter of Lü Lu was made empress. They meant to bind the dynasty root and branch, yet none of it availed them. When the empress dowager died the high ministers set matters right and wiped out the house of Lü. The boy emperors and the kings of Hengshan, Huainan, and Jichuan were all killed on the charge that they were not Hui's true sons. Empress Zhang alone was spared, set aside in the Northern Palace, where she died in the first year of Wen's reign; she was buried at Anling with no tumulus raised over her.
12
高祖薄姬
Lady Bo, consort of Emperor Gaozu.
13
高祖薄姬，文帝母也。 父吳人，秦時與故魏王宗女魏媼通，生薄姬。 而薄姬父死山陰，因葬焉。 及諸侯畔秦，魏豹立為王，而魏媼內其女於魏宮。 許負相薄姬，當生天子。 是時項羽方與漢王相距滎陽，天下未有所定。 豹初與漢擊楚，及聞許負言，心喜，因背漢而中立，與楚連和。 漢使曹參等虜魏王豹，以其國為郡，而薄姬輸織室。 豹已死，漢王入織室，見薄姬，有詔內後宮，歲餘不得幸。
Lady Bo of Gaozu was the mother of Emperor Wen. Her father came from Wu; in Qin days he lay with Wei Ao, a woman of the royal Wei line, and she gave birth to Lady Bo. Lady Bo's father died at Shanyin and was buried there. When the lords rose against Qin, Wei Bao made himself king of Wei, and Wei Ao placed her daughter in his harem. The physiognomist Xu Fu read Lady Bo's face and foretold that she would bear a future emperor. Xiang Yu and the king of Han were locked in stalemate at Yingyang, and the empire's fate still hung in the balance. Wei Bao had first sided with Han against Chu, but Xu Fu's prophecy delighted him; he broke with Han, declared neutrality, and allied with Chu. Han sent Cao Shen to take Wei Bao prisoner, annexed his kingdom as commanderies, and consigned Lady Bo to the imperial weaving house. After Bao's death Gaozu visited the weaving quarters, noticed Lady Bo, and ordered her taken into the harem, yet for more than a year he never called her to his bed.
14
始姬少時，與管夫人、趙子兒相愛，約曰：「先貴毋相忘！ 」已而管夫人、趙子兒先幸漢王。 漢王四年，坐河南成皋靈臺，此兩美人侍，相與笑薄姬初時約。 漢王問其故，兩人俱以實告。 漢王心悽然憐薄姬，是日召欲幸之。 對曰：「昨暮夢龍據妾胸。 」上曰：「是貴徵也，吾為汝成之。 」遂幸，有身。 歲中生文帝，年八歲立為代王。 自有子後，希見。 高祖崩，諸幸姬戚夫人之屬，呂后怒，皆幽之不得出宮。 而薄姬以希見故，得出從子之代，為代太后。 太后弟薄昭從如代。
In girlhood Lady Bo had been close to Lady Guan and Zhao Zi'er, and they had sworn, "Whichever of us rises first must not forget the rest." In time Guan and Zhao won the king of Han's favor before she did. In the fourth year of Han's struggle for the throne Gaozu was at the Ling Terrace at Chenggao in Henan with these two favorites at his side; they joked together about the old vow Lady Bo had made. When Gaozu asked what amused them, they told him the whole story. Touched with pity for Lady Bo, Gaozu called her to his bed that same evening. She answered, "Last night I dreamed a dragon had settled on my breast." The king said, "That is an omen of greatness; I shall bring it to pass for you." He lay with her, and she conceived a child. Before the year was out she gave birth to the future Emperor Wen, who at eight was enfeoffed as king of Dai. After the birth she rarely saw the emperor again. When Gaozu died, Empress Lü, in her fury at his favorites such as Lady Qi, had every one of them locked inside the palace and forbidden to leave. Lady Bo, forgotten in her obscurity, was allowed to follow her son to his fief and became dowager of Dai. Her brother Bo Zhao went with her to Dai.
15
代王立十七年，高后崩。 大臣議立後，疾外家呂氏彊暴，皆稱薄氏仁善，故迎立代王為皇帝，尊太后為皇太后，封弟昭為軹侯。 太后母亦前死，葬櫟陽北。 乃追尊太后父為靈文侯，會稽郡致園邑三百家，長丞以下使奉守寢廟，上食祠如法。 櫟陽亦置靈文夫人園，令如靈文侯園儀。 太后蚤失父，其奉太后外家魏氏有力，乃召復魏氏，賞賜各以親疏受之。 薄氏侯者一人。
Seventeen years after Liu Heng became king of Dai, Empress Lü died. The ministers, choosing a new sovereign, loathed the tyranny of the Lü in-laws and praised the Bo family for their kindness; they therefore summoned the king of Dai to the throne, raised his mother to empress dowager, and made her brother Bo Zhao marquis of Zhi. The empress dowager's mother had already died and lay buried north of Yueyang. They posthumously titled her father Marquis Lingwen, settled three hundred households in Guiji to tend his tomb, and ordered local officials to maintain his shrine and sacrifices by statute. At Yueyang they likewise endowed a tomb park for Lady Lingwen, on the same model as her husband's. Having lost her father in youth, she remembered how the Wei kin had stood by her mother's people; she recalled the Wei to court and rewarded them according to the closeness of the tie. Only one member of the Bo family was raised to a marquisate.
16
太后後文帝二歲，孝景前二年崩，葬南陵。 用呂后不合葬長陵，故特自起陵，近文帝。
She survived her son by two years, died in the second year of Jing's reign, and was buried at Nanling. She was not laid beside Gaozu at Changling with Empress Lü, so a separate mausoleum was built for her near Emperor Wen's tomb.
17
孝文竇皇后
Empress Dou, consort of Emperor Wen.
18
孝文竇皇后，景帝母也，呂太后時以良家子選入宮。 太后出宮人以賜諸王各五人，竇姬與在行中。 家在清河，願如趙，近家，請其主遣宦者吏「必置我籍趙之伍乃」。 宦者忘之，誤置籍代伍中。 籍奏，詔可。 當行，竇姬涕泣，怨其宦者，不欲往，相彊乃肯行。 至代，代王獨幸竇姬，生女嫖。 孝惠七年，生景帝。
Empress Dou of Wen was the mother of Emperor Jing; in Empress Lü's day she had entered the palace as a maiden of respectable family. When Empress Lü released palace ladies to the kings, five apiece, Dou was one of those on the list. Her people lived in Qinghe; she begged to be sent to Zhao, nearer home, and bribed the steward to tell the clerk, "Put my name on the roll for Zhao." The eunuch forgot and listed her by mistake among those bound for Dai. The roster went up to the throne and received imperial approval. When the time came to leave she wept and blamed the eunuch, refusing to go until she was coerced onto the road. At Dai the king singled her out for favor, and she bore him a daughter named Piao. In the seventh year of Hui's reign she gave birth to the future Emperor Jing.
19
代王王后生四男，先代王未入立為帝而王后卒，及代王為帝後，王后所生四男更病死。 文帝立數月，公卿請立太子，而竇姬男最長，立為太子。 竇姬為皇后，女為館陶長公主。 明年，封少子武為代王，後徙梁，是為梁孝王。
The king's first wife had borne him four sons; she died before he took the throne, and after his accession those four boys sickened and died in succession. Within months of Wen's accession the ministers asked for a crown prince; Dou's son was the eldest surviving boy and was named heir. Dou became empress, and her daughter was created elder princess of Guantao. The following year her youngest son, Wu, was made king of Dai, then transferred to Liang as King Xiao of Liang.
20
竇皇后親蚤卒，葬觀津。 於是薄太后乃詔有司追封竇后父為安成侯，母曰安成夫人，令清河置園邑二百家，長丞奉守，比靈文園法。
The empress's parents had died young and lay buried at Guanjin. Empress Dowager Bo then ordered Dou's father posthumously enfeoffed as Marquis of Ancheng and her mother titled Lady of Ancheng, with two hundred households in Qinghe to tend the tombs on the model of the Lingwen shrines.
21
竇后兄長君。 弟廣國字少君，年四五歲時，家貧，為人所略賣，其家不知處。 傳十餘家至宜陽，為其主人入山作炭。 暮臥岸下百餘人，岸崩，盡厭殺臥者，少君獨脫不死。 自卜，數日當為侯。 從其家之長安，聞皇后新立，家在觀津，姓竇氏。 廣國去時雖少，識其縣名及姓，又嘗與其姊采桑，墮，用為符信，上書自陳。 皇后言帝，召見問之，具言其故，果是。 復問其所識，曰：「姊去我西時，與我決傳舍中，饨沐沐我，已，飯我，乃去。 」於是竇皇后持之而泣，侍御左右皆悲。 乃厚賜之，家於長安。 絳侯、灌將軍等曰：「吾屬不死，命乃且縣此兩人。 此兩人所出微，不可不為擇師傅，又復放呂氏大事也。 」於是乃選長者之有節行者與居。 竇長君、少君由此為退讓君子，不敢以富貴驕人。
The empress had an elder brother known as Lord Chang. Her younger brother Guangguo, called Shaojun, was sold into slavery at four or five when the family was poor, and they lost all trace of him. He passed through a dozen masters until he reached Yiyang, where his owner sent him into the hills to burn charcoal. One night over a hundred laborers slept beneath a cliff; the cliff gave way and buried them all, but Shaojun alone crawled out alive. He cast the stalks for himself and learned that within days he would be ennobled as a marquis. He made his way to Chang'an with his master's household and learned that a new empress from the Dou clan of Guanjin had just been chosen. Though he had been a child when taken, he remembered the county, the family name, and how he had once fallen from a mulberry tree while picking leaves with his sister—details he offered as proof in a memorial to the throne. The empress told Wen; the emperor summoned Shaojun, questioned him, and found every word true. Asked for further proof, he said, "When my sister parted from me in the west, she said goodbye at a post station, washed my hair and bathed me, then fed me before she left." The empress clung to him and wept, and every attendant wept with her. The court showered gifts on him and established his household in the capital. The Marquis of Jiang (Zhou Bo) and General Guan Ying said among themselves, "So long as we live, the fate of the realm will turn on these two brothers." They come from humble stock; we must choose their teachers with care, or we risk another disaster like the Lü ascendancy." Venerable men of proven integrity were appointed to live with them and guide their conduct. Lord Chang and Shaojun became models of modesty and never presumed on their new rank.
22
竇皇后疾，失明。 文帝幸邯鄲慎夫人、尹姬，皆無子。 文帝崩，景帝立，皇后為皇太后，乃封廣國為章武侯。 長君先死，封其子彭祖為南皮侯。 吳楚反時，太后從昆弟子竇嬰俠，喜士，為大將軍，破吳楚，封魏其侯。 竇氏侯者凡三人。
Empress Dou went blind in her illness. Wen favored Lady Shen of Handan and Lady Yin, but neither bore him a son. When Wen died and Jing succeeded, Dou became empress dowager and her brother Guangguo was made marquis of Zhangwu. Lord Chang died before her; his son Pengzu received the marquisate of Nanpi. During the revolt of Wu and Chu her nephew Dou Ying, a knight-errant who loved men of talent, served as grand general, crushed the rebels, and was enfeoffed as marquis of Weiqu. Three members of the Dou family in all held marquisates.
23
竇太后好黃帝、老子言，景帝及諸竇不得不讀老子尊其術。 太后後景帝六歲，凡立五十一年，元光六年崩，合葬霸陵。 遺詔盡以東宮金錢財物賜長公主嫖。 至武帝時，魏其侯竇嬰為丞相，後誅。
The empress dowager doted on Huang-Lao teaching, so Jing and every Dou kinsman had to study the Laozi and defer to her creed. She survived Jing by six years, having held her titles fifty-one years in all; she died in the sixth year of Yuanguang and was laid beside Wen at Baling. By her final edict she left the entire treasure of the Eastern Palace to her daughter, Elder Princess Piao. Under Emperor Wu, Dou Ying, marquis of Weiqu, rose to chancellor and was later put to death.
24
孝景薄皇后
Empress Bo, consort of Emperor Jing.
25
孝景薄皇后，孝文薄太后家女也。 景帝為太子時，薄太后取以為太子妃。 景帝立，立薄妃為皇后，無子無寵。 立六年，薄太后崩，皇后廢。 廢後四年薨，葬長安城東平望亭南。
Empress Bo of Jing was a kinswoman from Empress Dowager Bo's family. While Jing was still crown prince, Empress Dowager Bo had chosen her as his principal consort. When Jing took the throne she became empress, but she bore no children and won no affection from him. Six years later, when Empress Dowager Bo died, Jing cast his wife aside. The discarded empress died four years later and was buried south of the Pingwang pavilion east of Chang'an.
26
孝景王皇后
Empress Wang, consort of Emperor Jing.
27
長公主嫖有女，欲與太子為妃，栗姬妒，而景帝諸美人皆因長公主見得貴幸，栗姬日怨怒，謝長主，不許。 長主欲與王夫人，王夫人許之。 會薄皇后廢，長公主日譖栗姬短。 景帝嘗屬諸姬子，曰：「吾百歲後，善視之。 」栗姬怒不肯應，言不遜，景帝心銜之而未發也。
Elder Princess Piao wished to marry her daughter to the crown prince, but Consort Li, jealous of the favors the princess had won for other ladies, refused the match with growing rancor. The princess then offered the girl to Lady Wang, who gladly agreed. After Empress Bo was cast aside, the elder princess poured daily slander on Consort Li into Jing's ear. Jing once asked Consort Li to look kindly on his other sons after his death, saying, "When I am gone, be good to them." Li flared with anger and refused, answering with insolence; Jing swallowed the insult but never forgave her.
28
長公主日譽王夫人男之美，帝亦自賢之。 又耳曩者所夢日符，計未有所定。 王夫人又陰使人趣大臣立栗姬為皇后。 大行奏事，文曰：「『子以母貴，母以子貴。 』今太子母號宜為皇后。 」帝怒曰：「是乃所當言邪！ 」遂案誅大行，而廢太子為臨江王。 栗姬愈恚，不得見，以憂死。 卒立王夫人為皇后，男為太子。 封皇后兄信為蓋侯。
Day after day the elder princess praised Lady Wang's son, and the emperor came to think the boy exceptional. He remembered, too, the omen of the sun in Lady Wang's dream, yet still hesitated to decide the succession. Lady Wang secretly prompted a minister to memorialize for the elevation of Consort Li. The minister of grand coaches submitted a memorial quoting the classic line, "The son is ennobled with the mother, the mother with the son." The crown prince's mother should therefore be named empress." Jing exploded: "Who gave you leave to speak of that!" He had the minister executed for intrigue and degraded the crown prince to prince of Linjiang. Consort Li sank deeper into rage, was denied all access to the emperor, and died of despair. Lady Wang was at last made empress and her son crown prince. Her brother Wang Xin was enfeoffed as marquis of Gai.
29
初，皇后始入太子家，後女弟兒姁亦復入，生四男。 兒姁蚤卒，四子皆為王。 皇后長女為平陽公主，次南宮公主，次隆慮公主。
When Lady Wang first entered the heir's household, her younger sister Erxu followed her in and bore him four sons. Erxu died young, but each of her four sons received a kingship. The empress's daughters were the princesses of Pingyang, Nangong, and Longlü in order of birth.
30
皇后立九年，景帝崩。 武帝即位，為皇太后，尊太后母臧兒為平原君，封田蚡為武安侯，勝為周陽侯。 王氏、田氏侯者凡三人。 蓋侯信好酒，田蚡、勝貪，巧於文辭。 蚡至丞相，追尊王仲為共侯，槐里起園邑二百家，長丞奉守。 及平原君薨，從田氏葬長陵，亦置園邑如共侯法。
Nine years after her enthronement as empress, Jing died. When Wu succeeded, she became empress dowager; her mother Zang Er was titled lord of Pingyuan, her half-brothers Tian Fen and Tian Sheng were made marquises of Wu'an and Zhouyang. Three men of the Wang and Tian families held marquisates. Wang Xin of Gai loved his cup; Tian Fen and Tian Sheng were grasping but glib. When Fen rose to chancellor, Wang Zhong was posthumously titled Marquis Gong, with two hundred households at Huaili to tend his tomb. When the lord of Pingyuan died she was buried at Changling with the Tian kindred, her tomb endowed like Marquis Gong's.
31
初，皇太后微時所謂金王孫生女俗，在民間，蓋諱之也。 武帝始立，韓嫣白之。 帝曰：「何為不蚤言？ 」乃車駕自往迎之。 其家在長陵小市，直至其門，使左右入求之。 家人驚恐，女逃匿。 扶將出拜，帝下車立曰：「大姊，何藏之深也？ 」載至長樂宮，與俱謁太后，太后垂涕，女亦悲泣。 帝奉酒，前為壽。 錢千萬，奴婢三百人，公田百頃，甲第，以賜姊。 太后謝曰：「為帝費。 」因賜湯沐邑，號修成君。 男女各一人，女嫁諸侯，男號修成子仲，以太后故，橫於京師。 太后凡立二十五年，後景帝十五歲，元朔三年崩，合葬陽陵。
In her obscure days the future empress dowager had borne a daughter to one Jin Wangsun, a child who grew up among commoners and whose existence the palace preferred not to mention. As soon as Wu took the throne, Han Yan told him the story. The emperor cried, "Why was I not told before?" He ordered his chariot and went himself to fetch her. Her home stood in the market quarter east of Changling; he drove straight to the door and sent attendants inside to find her. The household panicked and the daughter tried to hide. They coaxed her out to kneel before him; Wu stepped down from his chariot and said, "Sister, why hide yourself away?" He brought her to Changle Palace to meet the empress dowager; mother and daughter wept in each other's arms. The emperor raised a cup and wished them long life. He gave his half-sister ten million cash, three hundred slaves, a hundred qing of imperial land, and a great mansion. The empress dowager protested, "You should not spend so much on our account." He thereupon endowed her with a revenue estate and created her Lady Xiucheng. She had a son and a daughter; the daughter married a feudal prince, while the son, known as Xiucheng Zhong, threw his weight about the capital on his mother's account. She held the title of empress dowager twenty-five years, survived Jing by fifteen, died in the third year of Yuanshuo, and was laid to rest with him at Yangling.
32
孝武陳皇后
Empress Chen, consort of Emperor Wu.
33
孝武陳皇后，長公主嫖女也。 曾祖父陳嬰與項羽俱起，後歸漢，為堂邑侯。 傳子至孫午，午尚長公主，生女。
Empress Chen of Wu was the daughter of Elder Princess Piao. Her great-grandfather Chen Ying had risen with Xiang Yu, then gone over to Han and been enfeoffed as marquis of Tangyi. The title passed to a grandson, Chen Wu, who married Elder Princess Piao; their daughter was this empress.
34
明年，堂邑侯午薨，主男須嗣侯。 主寡居，私近董偃。 十餘年，主薨。 須坐淫亂，兄弟爭財，當死，自殺，國除。 後數年，廢后乃薨，葬霸陵郎官亭東。
The year after, Chen Wu died; the princess's son Chen Xu inherited the marquisate. The princess, widowed, took Dong Yan as a secret lover. More than a decade later she died. Chen Xu was convicted of incestuous scandal and a quarrel over inheritance with his brothers; facing execution, he killed himself and the marquisate was struck off. Some years afterward the deposed empress died and was interred east of the Langguan post station at Baling.
35
孝武衛皇后
Empress Wei, consort of Emperor Wu.
36
先是衛長君死，乃以青為將軍，擊匈奴有功，封長平侯。 青三子皆襁褓中，皆為列侯。 及皇后姊子霍去病亦以軍功為冠軍侯，至大司馬票騎將軍。 青為大司馬大將軍。 衛氏支屬侯者五人。 青還，尚平陽主。
After her elder brother Wei Chang died, Wei Qing was made a general; his victories over the Xiongnu earned him the marquisate of Changping. All three of Qing's sons, still in the cradle, received marquisates. Her nephew Huo Qubing likewise won the marquisate of Champion for his campaigns and rose to grand marshal and general of agile cavalry. Wei Qing became grand marshal and grand general. Five cadet members of the Wei clan held marquisates. On his return Qing married the Princess of Pingyang.
37
皇后立七年，而男立為太子。 後色衰，趙之王夫人、中山李夫人有寵，皆蚤卒。 後有尹婕妤、鉤弋夫人更幸。 衛后立三十八年，遭巫蠱事起，江充為姦，太子懼不能自明，遂與皇后共誅充，發兵，兵敗，太子亡走。 詔遣宗正劉長樂、執金吾劉敢奉策收皇后璽綬，自殺。 黃門蘇文、姚定漢輿置公車令空舍，盛以小棺，瘞之城南桐柏。 衛氏悉滅。 宣帝立，及改葬衛后，追諡曰思后，置園邑三百家，長丞周衛奉守焉。
Seven years after her enthronement as empress her son was named crown prince. As her looks faded, Lady Wang of Zhao and Lady Li of Zhongshan won Wu's heart, but both died young. Later Jieyu Yin and Lady Gouyi succeeded to his favor in turn. Thirty-eight years after she became empress came the witchcraft scandal; Jiang Chong's intrigue terrified the crown prince, who could not clear his name; with the empress he struck down Jiang Chong and raised arms, was defeated, and fled for his life. Imperial order sent Liu Changle of the imperial clan and Liu Gan of the Bearer of the Mace with the edict to take her seals; she took her own life. The eunuchs Su Wen and Yao Dinghan laid her in a small coffin in an empty shed of the public carriage office and buried her south of the city near Tongbai. The whole Wei clan was destroyed. When Emperor Xuan came to the throne he had her reburied with the posthumous title Empress Si, settled three hundred households to tend the tomb, and set officials to keep perpetual watch.
38
孝武李夫人
Lady Li, favorite of Emperor Wu.
39
孝武李夫人，本以倡進。 初，夫人兄延年性知音，善歌舞，武帝愛之。 每為新聲變曲，聞者莫不感動。 延年侍上起舞，歌曰：「北方有佳人，絕世而獨立，一顧傾人城，再顧傾人國。 寧不知傾城與傾國，佳人難再得！ 」上嘆息曰：「善！ 世豈有此人乎？ 」平陽主因言延年有女弟，上乃召見之，實妙麗善舞。 由是得幸，生一男，是為昌邑哀王。 李夫人少而蚤卒，上憐閔焉，圖畫其形於甘泉宮。 及衛思后廢後四年，武帝崩，大將軍霍光緣上雅意，以李夫人配食，追上尊號曰孝武皇后。
Lady Li of Wu had first entered the palace as a professional entertainer. Her brother Li Yannian had a gift for music and dance, and the emperor doted on him. Whatever new airs he composed moved every listener. One evening Yannian danced for the emperor and sang: "There is a beauty in the north, peerless in this world; one look fells a citadel, a second look fells a realm." Though cities and realms may fall for her, such a woman never comes twice!" The emperor sighed and said, "Well sung!" Can there truly be such a woman in the world?" The Princess of Pingyang said Yannian had a younger sister; Wu summoned her and found her ravishing and a superb dancer. She won his favor and bore a son who became Prince Ai of Changyi. Lady Li died in youth; the emperor mourned her and had her portrait hung in Ganquan Palace. Four years after Empress Wei was deposed, Wu died; Grand General Huo Guang, knowing his late sovereign's wishes, gave Lady Li joint offerings at the ancestral temple and posthumously titled her Empress Wu.
40
初，李夫人病篤，上自臨候之，夫人蒙被謝曰：「妾久寢病，形貌毀壞，不可以見帝。 願以王及兄弟為託。 」上曰：「夫人病甚，殆將不起，一見我屬託王及兄弟，豈不快哉？ 」夫人曰：「婦人貌不修飾，不見君父。 妾不敢以燕惰見帝。 」上曰：「夫人弟一見我，將加賜千金，而予兄弟尊官。 」夫人曰：「尊官在帝，不在一見。 」上復言欲必見之，夫人遂轉鄉歔欷而不復言。 於是上不說而起。 夫人姊妹讓之曰：「貴人獨不可一見上屬託兄弟邪？ 何為恨上如此？ 」夫人曰：「所以不欲見帝者，乃欲以深託兄弟也。 我以容貌之好，得從微賤愛幸於上。 夫以色事人者，色衰而愛弛，愛弛則恩絕。 上所以攣攣顧念我者，乃以平生容貌也。 今見我毀壞，顏色非故，必畏惡吐棄我，意尚肯復追思閔錄其兄弟哉！ 」及夫人卒，上以后禮葬焉。 其後，上以夫人兄李廣利為貳師將軍，封海西侯，延年為協律都尉。
When Lady Li lay dying, Wu came to her bedside; she drew the cover over her face and said, "I have been ill so long that my looks are ruined; I cannot let you see me." Only entrust my son the prince and my brothers to your care." Wu said, "You are near death; let me look on you once while you charge me with your son and brothers—would that not comfort us both?" She answered, "A woman does not show herself unadorned to her lord or father." I will not meet my sovereign in the slovenly dress of a convalescent." He urged, "Show your face but once and I will heap a thousand pounds of gold on you and raise your brothers to high office." She replied, "Their rank rests with your decree, not with my looks." When he insisted, she turned her face to the wall and wept in silence. Angered, Wu rose and left. Her sisters scolded her: "Will you not show yourself once to win the emperor's promise for your brothers?" Why defy him so bitterly?" Lady Li answered, "I refused his gaze precisely to bind him more firmly to my kin." My face lifted me from obscurity to his favor. He who is loved for beauty is forgotten when beauty fades, and favor dies with it. What chains his heart to me is the memory of the face he knew in health. If he saw me disfigured he would recoil in disgust—do you think he would then remember pity and advance my brothers?" When she died he buried her with the honors due an empress. Later he made her brother Li Guangli general of Ershi and marquis of Haixi, and Yannian director of pitch.
41
上思念李夫人不已，方士齊人少翁言能致其神。 乃夜張燈燭，設帷帳，陳酒肉，而令上居他帳，遙望好女如李夫人之貌，還幄坐而步。 又不得就視，上愈益相思悲感，為作詩曰：「是邪，非邪？ 立而望之，偏何姍姍其來遲！ 」令樂府諸音家絃歌之。 上又自為作賦，以傷悼夫人，其辭曰：
Wu could not forget her; the Qi magician Shao Weng claimed he could conjure her spirit. One night he lit the hall, spread curtains and a feast, and had the emperor watch from a second tent while a veiled figure that seemed Lady Li moved within, sitting and pacing. Forbidden to draw near, Wu only longed the more and wrote: "Is it she, is it not she?" I stand and strain my eyes—why does she linger, why so late!" He had the Music Bureau set the lines to strings and voice. He also wrote an elegy in her memory, which begins:
42
美連娟以脩嫮兮，命樔絕而不長，飾新宮以延貯兮，泯不歸乎故鄉。 慘鬱鬱其蕪穢兮，隱處幽而懷傷，釋輿馬於山椒兮，奄修夜之不陽。 秋氣潛以淒淚兮，桂枝落而銷亡，神煢煢以遙思兮，精浮游而出谗。 託沈陰以壙久兮，惜蕃華之未央，念窮極之不還兮，惟幼眇之相羊。 函荾荴以俟風兮，芳雜襲以彌章，的容與以猗靡兮，縹飄姚虖愈莊。 燕淫衍而撫楹兮，連流視而娥揚，既激感而心逐兮，包紅顏而弗明。 驩接狎以離別兮，宵寤夢之芒芒，忽遷化而不反兮，魄放逸以飛揚。 何靈魂之紛紛兮，哀裴回以躊躇，勢路日以遠兮，遂荒忽而辭去。 超兮西征，屑兮不見。 寢淫敞胧，寂兮無音，思若流波，怛兮在心。
Slender grace, matchless beauty—yet Heaven cut her thread too soon; we deck a new hall to keep her memory, but she will never walk her homeland again. Grief chokes the overgrown court where she hides in shadow; her hearse climbs the ridge, and the endless night will not break into day. Autumn steals in with tears; the cassia sheds and dies; her lonely soul reaches toward me, her vital spark drifting beyond the body's light. She lies in the long dark vault while spring's glory withers untimely; she cannot come back, and I wander lost in helpless longing. She was pollen sealed for the wind, fragrance redoubled; her bearing lingered, soft and swaying, then seemed to gather into solemn distance. She leaned on the column like a swallow at play, her glance chaining mine; passion leapt between us, yet her bright face stayed veiled in shadow. We knew the joy of closeness, then parting; I wake at midnight to dreams without edge; she has changed and will not return, her spirit loosed on the wind. Her soul flickers in my sight; I pace in grief as the road between us lengthens until she fades and is gone. She speeds westward and thins to nothing before my eyes. Mist fills the empty room where no voice answers; longing rolls on like water, pain knotted in my breast.
43
亂曰：佳俠函光，隕朱榮兮，嫉妒闟葺，將安程兮！ 方時隆盛，年夭傷兮，弟子增欷，洿沬悵兮。 悲愁於邑，喧不可止兮。 嚮不虛應，亦云己兮。 嫶妍太息，嘆稚子兮，懰慄不言，倚所恃兮。 仁者不誓，豈約親兮？ 既往不來，申以信兮。 去彼昭昭，就冥冥兮，既下新宮，不復故庭兮。 嗚呼哀哉，想魂靈兮！
Envoi: Her splendor is sealed in light, her crimson bloom fallen; what measure can malice find against her now? In the height of her glory Heaven stole her youth; her household weeps, faces wet with foamy tears. Grief chokes the throat and will not be silenced. The spirits do not answer in vain; they say only, "It is done." Beauty sighs for the little prince; trembling, she cannot speak, clinging to the one she trusted. The humane bind kin without oaths—need love swear a vow? What is past will not return; I seal my grief in steadfast faith. She has left the sunlit world for darkness; she dwells in a new hall and will never tread her old court again. Alas—may her soul know my longing!
44
其後李延年弟季坐姦亂後宮，廣利降匈奴，家族滅矣。
Later Li Yannian's brother Li Ji was executed for debauching the harem, Li Guangli went over to the Xiongnu, and the whole Li clan was destroyed.
45
孝武鉤弋趙婕妤
Jieyu Zhao of the Gouyi seal, consort of Emperor Wu.
46
孝武鉤弋趙婕妤，昭帝母也，家在河間。 武帝巡狩過河間，望氣者言此有奇女，天子亟使使召之。 既至，女兩手皆拳，上自披之，手即時伸。 由是得幸，號曰拳夫人。 先是其父坐法宮刑，為中黃門，死長安，葬雍門。
Jieyu Zhao of Gouyi was the mother of Emperor Zhao; her people came from Hejian. On a progress through Hejian a diviner of vapors told Wu that a prodigious maiden lived there; the emperor sent couriers at once to fetch her. When she arrived her fists were clenched; Wu pried them open himself and her fingers straightened at his touch. She won his favor and was called the Lady of the Clenched Fist. Her father had suffered castration for a crime and served as a palace eunuch; he died in Chang'an and was buried at Yongmen.
47
鉤弋婕妤從幸甘泉，有過見譴，以憂死，因葬雲陽。 後上疾病，乃立鉤弋子為皇太子。 拜奉車都尉霍光為大司馬大將軍，輔少主。 明日，帝崩。 昭帝即位，追尊鉤弋婕妤為皇太后，發卒二萬人起雲陵，邑三千戶。 追尊外祖趙父為順成侯，詔右扶風置園邑二百家，長丞奉守如法。 順成侯有姊君姁，賜錢二百萬，奴婢第宅以充實焉。 諸昆弟各以親疏受賞賜。 趙氏無在位者，唯趙父追封。
Jieyu Zhao accompanied Wu to Ganquan, was accused of some fault, and died of shame or poison; she was buried at Yunyang. When Wu fell mortally ill he named her son crown prince. He appointed Huo Guang, bearer of the chariot, grand marshal and grand general to guide the boy emperor. The next day Wu died. When Zhao ascended the throne he posthumously titled his mother empress dowager, drafted twenty thousand laborers to build her Yunling mausoleum, and settled three thousand households to tend it. Her grandfather on the mother's side was posthumously titled Marquis Shuncheng, with two hundred households in Youfufeng to maintain his tomb by statute. The marquis's sister Junxu received two million cash, slaves, and a mansion. Her brothers were rewarded according to the closeness of kinship. No Zhao kinsman held office at court except the posthumous title for her grandfather.
48
孝昭上官皇后
Empress Shangguan, consort of Emperor Zhao.
49
孝昭上官皇后。 祖父桀，隴西上邽人也。 少時為羽林期門郎，從武帝上甘泉，天大風，車不得行，解蓋授桀。 桀奉蓋，雖風常屬車； 雨下，蓋輒御。 上奇其材力，遷未央廄令。 上嘗體不安，及愈，見馬，馬多瘦，上大怒：「令以我不復見馬邪！ 」欲下吏，桀頓首曰：「臣聞聖體不安，日夜憂懼，意誠不在馬。 」言未卒，泣數行下。 上以為忠，由是親近，為侍中，稍遷至太僕。 武帝疾病，以霍光為大將軍，太僕桀為左將軍，皆受遺詔輔少主。 以前捕斬反者莽通功，封桀為安陽侯。
The following treats Empress Shangguan, consort of Emperor Zhao. Her grandfather Shangguan Jie came from Shanggui in Longxi. As a young guardsman he rode with Wu to Ganquan; when a gale halted the train, the emperor gave him the imperial awning to hold. Jie kept the canopy fixed to the coach despite the wind. When rain came the canopy still sheltered the party. Wu admired his strength and made him overseer of the Weiyang stables. After an illness Wu inspected the stables, saw the horses wasted, and roared that the steward must think him too frail ever to ride again. Jie kowtowed and said he had thought of nothing but the sovereign's health and had neglected the mounts. He wept before he had finished his plea. Wu judged him faithful, kept him at court as attendant, and raised him step by step to grand coachman. On his deathbed Wu named Huo Guang grand general and Shangguan Jie left general to govern for the young Zhao. He was made marquis of Anyang for helping capture the rebel Mang Tong.
50
初，桀子安取霍光女，結婚相親，光每休沐出，桀常代光入決事。 昭帝始立，年八歲，帝長姊鄂邑蓋長公主居禁中，共養帝。 蓋主私近子客河間丁外人。 上與大將軍聞之，不絕主驩，有詔外人侍長主。 長主內周陽氏女，令配耦帝。 時上官安有女，即霍光外孫，安因光欲內之。 光以為尚幼，不聽。 安素與丁外人善，說外人曰：「聞長主內女，安子容貌端正，誠因長主時得入為后，以臣父子在朝而有椒房之重，成之在於足下，漢家故事常以列侯尚主，足下何憂不封侯乎？ 」外人喜，言於長主。 長主以為然，詔召安女入為婕妤，安為騎都尉。 月餘，遂立為皇后，年甫六歲。
Jie's son An married Guang's daughter; while Guang was away on leave Jie often sat for him at court. The eight-year-old Zhao was raised inside the palace by his eldest sister, the Princess of Eyi. The princess took Ding Wairen of Hejian as a secret paramour. Zhao and Huo Guang winked at the affair and formally allowed Wairen to wait on her. She planned to give the emperor a Zhouyang girl as consort. Shangguan An wanted his daughter, Guang's granddaughter, sent in instead. Guang refused, saying the child was too young. An, who was friendly with Wairen, promised him a marquisate if he would persuade the princess to prefer An's beautiful daughter for the throne. Wairen agreed and pleaded with the princess. She assented; the girl entered as Jieyu and An became chief of cavalry. Within a month the six-year-old was made empress.
51
安以后父封桑樂侯，食邑千五百戶，遷車騎將軍，日以驕淫。 受賜殿中，出對賓客言：「與我婿飲，大樂！ 」見其服飾，使人歸，欲自燒物。 安醉則裸行內，與後母及父諸良人、侍御皆亂。 子病死，仰而罵天。 數守大將軍光，為丁外人求侯，及桀欲妄官祿外人，光執正，皆不聽。 又桀妻父所幸充國為太醫監，闌入殿中，下獄當死。 冬月且盡，蓋主為充國入馬二十匹贖罪，乃得減死論。 於是桀、安父子深怨光而重德蓋主。 知燕王旦帝兄，不得立，亦怨望，桀、安即記光過失予燕王，令上書告之，又為丁外人求侯。 燕王大喜，上書稱：「子路喪姊，期而不除，孔子非之。 子路曰：『由不幸寡兄弟，不忍除之。 』故曰：『觀過知仁』。 今臣與陛下獨有長公主為姊，陛下幸使丁外人侍之，外人宜蒙爵號。 」書奏，上以問光，光執不許。 及告光罪過，上又疑之，愈親光而疏桀、安。 桀、安寖恚，遂結黨與謀殺光，誘徵燕王至而誅之，因廢帝而立桀。 或曰：「當如皇后何？ 」安曰：「逐麋之狗，當顧菟邪！ 且用皇后為尊，一旦人主意有所移，雖欲為家人亦不可得，此百世之一時也。 」事發覺，燕王、蓋主皆自殺。 語在霍光傳。 桀、安宗族既滅，皇后以年少不與謀，亦光外孫，故得不廢。 皇后母前死，葬茂陵郭東，追尊曰敬夫人，置園邑二百家，長丞奉守如法。 皇后自使私奴婢守桀、安冢。
An was enfeoffed as marquis of Sangle with fifteen hundred households and rose to chariot-and-cavalry general, then sank into arrogance and debauchery. Feasting in the palace he boasted to visitors how merry he was drinking with the emperor. Their splendor made him send servants to burn his wardrobe in envy. Drunk, he roamed the harem naked and lay with his stepmother, his father's concubines, and maids. When his son died he railed at Heaven. He and Jie repeatedly pressed Guang to make Wairen a marquis and to give him salary; Guang stood firm and refused. Jie's wife's favorite, Superintendent of Physicians Chongguo, broke into the hall and faced execution. The princess ransomed him with twenty horses at year's end, commuting the death sentence. Father and son nursed a bitter grudge against Guang and bound themselves closer to the princess. They courted Prince Dan of Yan, who resented being passed over, fed him Guang's supposed crimes for a memorial, and again pushed Wairen's enfeoffment. Dan gladly memorialized, quoting how Confucius had criticized Zilu for prolonging mourning for a sister. Zilu's reply: 'I have few brothers; I could not bear to lay mourning aside.'" Hence the saying, 'Know benevolence by studying a man's faults.'" Dan argued that he and the emperor shared only the princess as kin, that Wairen served her with imperial leave, and deserved a noble title. Zhao consulted Guang, who again refused. When the attack on Guang seemed false, the boy clung to Guang and shunned the Shangguans. They plotted to kill Guang, trap Dan, depose Zhao, and enthrone Jie. A confederate asked what would become of the child empress. An answered, "A dog chasing a stag does not glance at a rabbit." They needed her for legitimacy, he said, but if the emperor's favor shifted they would lose everything—this was their one moment. Exposed, Dan and the princess killed themselves. The full story is told in the biography of Huo Guang. The girl-empress was spared as Guang's granddaughter and because she had not conspired. Her late mother was posthumously honored as Lady Jing east of Maoling with a two-hundred-household shrine. She sent her private slaves to watch over her grandfather's and father's graves.
52
光欲皇后擅寵有子，帝時體不安，左右及醫皆阿意，言宜禁內，雖宮人使令皆為窮恊，多其帶，後宮莫有進者。
Guang hoped she would bear an heir; while Zhao was ill his attendants and doctors, echoing Guang, sealed the harem so tightly that even women were trussed with extra sashes and no consort reached the emperor's bed.
53
皇后立十歲而昭帝崩，后年十四五云。 昌邑王賀徵即位，尊皇后為皇太后。 光與太后共廢王賀，立孝宣帝。 宣帝即位，為太皇太后。 凡立四十七年，年五十二，建昭二年崩，合葬平陵。
Zhao died ten years after her enthronement; she was perhaps fourteen or fifteen. When Liu He of Changyi was summoned, she was styled empress dowager. She joined Guang in deposing Liu He and raising Liu Xun. Under Xuan she became grand empress dowager. She held titles forty-seven years, died at fifty-two in Jianzhao 2, and was laid with Zhao at Pingling.
54
衛太子史良娣
Lady Shi Liangdi, consort of Crown Prince Wei.
55
衛太子史良娣，宣帝祖母也。 太子有妃，有良娣，有孺子，妻妾凡三等，子皆稱皇孫。 史良娣家本魯國，有母貞君，兄恭。 以元鼎四年入為良娣，生男進，號史皇孫。
Lady Shi was Emperor Xuan's grandmother. A crown prince's women ranked consort, liangdi, and ruzi; their sons were called imperial grandsons. The Shi family came from Lu; her mother was Lady Zhen and her brother Gong. In Yuanding 4 she became liangdi and bore a son Jin, known as the Shi imperial grandson.
56
武帝末，巫蠱事起，衛太子及良娣、史皇孫皆遭害。 史皇孫有一男，號皇曾孫，時生數月，猶坐太子繫獄，積五歲乃遭赦。 治獄使者邴吉憐皇曾孫無所歸，載以附史恭。 恭母貞君年老，見孫孤，甚哀之，自養視焉。
In the witchcraft terror at the end of Wu's reign the crown prince, Lady Shi, and her son were killed. Her grandson Liu Jin left an infant Xun, jailed for five years as kin of the disgraced heir before amnesty came. Bing Ji pitied the child and delivered him to Shi Gong. Lady Zhen raised the motherless boy.
57
後曾孫收養於掖庭，遂登至尊位，是為宣帝。 而貞君及恭已死，恭三子皆以舊恩封。 長子高為樂陵侯，曾為將陵侯，玄為平臺侯，及高子丹以功德封武陽侯，侯者凡四人。 高至大司馬車騎將軍，丹左將軍，自有傳。
The boy grew up in the Ye court and became Emperor Xuan. Lady Zhen and Gong were dead; each of Gong's three sons received a fief for past service. Gao, Zeng, Xuan, and Gao's son Dan held four marquisates between them. Gao became grand marshal and chariot-and-cavalry general, Dan left general; both have biographies.
58
史皇孫王夫人
Lady Wang, mother of the Shi imperial grandson.
59
史皇孫王夫人，宣帝母也，名翁須，太始中得幸於史皇孫。 皇孫妻妾無號位，皆稱家人子。 征和二年，生宣帝。 帝生數月，衛太子、皇孫敗，家人子皆坐誅，莫有收葬者，唯宣帝得全。 即尊位後，追尊母王夫人諡曰悼后，祖母史良娣曰戾后，皆改葬，起園邑，長丞奉守。 語在戾太子傳。 地節三年，求得外祖母王媼，媼男無故，無故弟武皆隨使者詣闕。 時乘黃牛車，故百姓謂之黃牛嫗。
Wang Wengxu became Xuan's mother after winning the Shi imperial grandson's favor in Taishi. His women bore only the humble title "family son." She bore Liu Xun in Zhenghe 2. When the witchcraft coup struck, every "family son" was executed and left unburied save the infant who would be Xuan. He posthumously honored his mother as Empress Dao and his grandmother as Empress Li, reburied them, and endowed their shrines. See the biography of Crown Prince Li. In Dijie 3 they located Wang Ao; her sons Wugu and Wu came to court with the envoys. She arrived in a yellow ox cart and folk called her the Yellow Ox Granny.
60
初，上即位，數遣使者求外家，久遠，多似類而非是。 既得王媼，令太中大夫任宣與丞相御史屬雜考問鄉里識知者，皆曰王嫗。 嫗言名妄人，家本涿郡蠡吾平鄉。 年十四嫁為同鄉王更得妻。 更得死，嫁為廣望王迺始婦，產子男無故、武，女翁須。 翁須年八九歲時，寄居廣望節侯子劉仲卿宅，仲卿謂迺始曰：「予我翁須，自養長之。 」媼為翁須作縑單衣，送仲卿家。 仲卿教翁須歌舞，往來歸取冬夏衣。 居四五歲，翁須來言「邯鄲賈長兒求歌舞者，仲卿欲以我與之。 」媼即與翁須逃走，之平鄉。 仲卿載迺始共求媼，媼惶急，將翁須歸，曰：「兒居君家，非受一錢也，奈何欲予它人？ 」仲卿詐曰：「不也。 」後數日，翁須乘長兒車馬過門，呼曰：「我果見行，當之柳宿。 」媼與迺始之柳宿，見翁須相對涕泣，謂曰：「我欲為汝自言。 」翁須曰：「母置之，何家不可以居？ 自言無益也。 」媼與迺始還求錢用，隨逐至中山盧奴，見翁須與歌舞等比五人同處，媼與翁須共宿。 明日，迺始留視翁須，媼還求錢，欲隨至邯鄲。 媼歸，糶買未具，迺始來歸曰：「翁須已去，我無錢用隨也。 」因絕至今，不聞其問。 賈長兒妻貞及從者師遂辭：「往二十歲，太子舍人侯明從長安來求歌舞者，請翁須等五人。 長兒使遂送至長安，皆入太子家。 」及廣望三老更始、劉仲卿妻其等四十五人辭，皆驗。 宣奏王媼悼后母明白，上皆召見，賜無故、武爵關內侯，旬月間，賞賜以鉅萬計。 頃之，制詔御史賜外祖母號為博平君，以博平、蠡吾兩縣戶萬一千為湯沐邑。 封舅無故為平昌侯，武為樂昌侯，食邑各六千戶。
Early in his reign he had sought his mother's family in vain amid many false claimants. Ren Xuan and officials cross-examined neighbors who confirmed the woman as Wang Ao. She gave her name as Wang Wangren and said she came from Ping village in Liwu, Zhuo. At fourteen she married Wang Gengde of her village. Widowed, she married Wang Naishi of Guangwang and bore Wugu, Wu, and Wengxu. Zhongqing asked to raise Wengxu from childhood. Her mother sewed her a silk coat and sent her. Zhongqing trained her in music and dance while her mother supplied clothes. Wengxu reported that Zhongqing would sell her to Jia Chang'er of Handan. Mother and daughter fled to Ping village. Zhongqing pursued them; the mother protested that he had never paid a coin for the girl. Zhongqing lied that he would not sell her. Days later she cried from Chang'er's cart that they should meet her at Liuxiu if she were taken. At Liuxiu the parents wept and offered to intercede. Wengxu told them not to bother. She said protest would do no good. They raised funds and trailed her to Lunu in Zhongshan, where they lodged with her among five trainee singers. Naishi watched her while the mother went for silver to reach Handan. Before funds were ready Naishi reported that Wengxu had left without him. They never heard from her again. Jia's wife and retainer swore that twenty years earlier Hou Ming had bought five girls including Wengxu for the heir apparent's household. Chang'er sent them to the heir's palace in Chang'an. Forty-five witnesses from Guangwang corroborated the tale. Ren Xuan confirmed her identity; Xuan enfeoffed her sons and showered tens of millions in gifts within the month. He then titled her Lady of Boping with eleven thousand households from Boping and Liwu for her upkeep. Wugu became marquis of Pingchang and Wu marquis of Lechang, each with six thousand households.
61
初，迺始以本始四年病死，後三歲，家乃富貴，追賜諡曰思成侯。 詔涿郡治冢室，置園邑四百家，長丞奉守如法。 歲餘，博平君薨，諡曰思成夫人。 詔徙思成侯合葬奉明顧成廟南，置園邑長丞，罷涿郡思成園。 王氏侯者二人，無故子接為大司馬車騎將軍，而武子商至丞相，自有傳。
Wang Naishi died in Ben shi 4; three years later, when the family flourished, he was posthumously honored as Marquis Sicheng. Zhuo commandery was ordered to tend his tomb with four hundred households. The Lady of Boping died a year later with the posthumous title Lady Sicheng. Naishi was reburied south of Fengming beside Gucheng; the Zhuo park was closed. Jie and Shang, sons of the Wang uncles, rose to the highest offices and have separate biographies.
62
孝宣許皇后
Empress Xu, consort of Emperor Xuan.
63
孝宣許皇后，元帝母也。 父廣漢，昌邑人，少時為昌邑王郎。 從武帝上甘泉，誤取它郎鞍以被其馬，發覺，吏劾從行而盜，當死，有詔募下蠶室。 後為宦者丞。 上官桀謀反時，廣漢部索，其殿中廬有索長數尺可以縛人者數千杖，滿一篋緘封，廣漢索不得，它吏往得之。 廣漢坐論為鬼薪，輸掖庭，後為暴室嗇夫。 時宣帝養於掖庭，號皇曾孫，與廣漢同寺居。 時掖庭令張賀，本衛太子家吏，及太子敗，賀坐下刑，以舊恩養視皇曾孫甚厚。 及曾孫壯大，賀欲以女孫妻之。 是時，昭帝始冠，長八尺二寸。 賀弟安世為右將軍，與霍將軍同心輔政，聞賀稱譽皇曾孫，欲妻以女，安世怒曰：「曾孫乃衛太子後也，幸得以庶人衣食縣官，足矣，勿復言予女事。 」於是賀止。 時許廣漢有女平君，年十四五，當為內者令歐侯氏子婦。 臨當入，歐侯氏子死。 其母將行卜相，言當大貴，母獨喜。 賀聞許嗇夫有女，乃置酒請之，酒酣，為言「曾孫體近，下人，乃關內侯，可妻也。 」廣漢許諾。 明日嫗聞之，怒。 廣漢重令為介，遂與曾孫，一歲生元帝。 數月，曾孫立為帝，平君為婕妤。 是時，霍將軍有小女，與皇太后有親。 公卿議更立皇后，皆心儀霍將軍女，亦未有言。 上乃詔求微時故劍，大臣知指，白立許婕妤為皇后。 既立，霍光以后父廣漢刑人不宜君國，歲餘乃封為昌成君。
Empress Xu was Yuan's mother. Her father Xu Guanghan came from Changyi and had served the Changyi king as a court gentleman. On a trip to Ganquan he stole another rider's saddle for his mount, faced execution, and was ransomed into castration instead. He later served as eunuch assistant. During Jie's coup searchers found ropes hidden in Guanghan's quarters that his own search had missed. He was sentenced to convict labor, sent to the Ye court, and became overseer of the harsh-ward. Xuan grew up in the Ye court as the imperial great-grandson, lodging with Guanghan. Zhang He, once a servant of the disgraced heir, raised Xuan with great care after his own punishment. When Xuan came of age Zhang He wished to marry him to his granddaughter. Zhao had just reached his capping year and stood eight feet two inches. Zhang Anshi forbade the match, saying Xuan was the disgraced heir's blood and should not marry into their line. Zhang He dropped the plan. Guanghan's daughter Pingjun was betrothed to the Ou-hou family's son. The bridegroom died before the wedding. Her mother had her fortune told and heard she would rise to greatness. Zhang He feasted Guanghan and proposed Xuan as husband for Pingjun. Guanghan agreed. Pingjun's mother was furious when she learned. A second match was brokered; she married Xuan and bore Yuan within the year. Months later Xuan was enthroned and Pingjun became Jieyu. Huo Guang had a young niece tied to the empress dowager. The court silently favored Guang's daughter for empress. Xuan asked for his old sword from common days; the ministers understood and made Pingjun empress. Guang blocked Xu Guanghan's enfeoffment as a mutilated man until he was finally titled Lord of Changcheng a year later.
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霍光夫人顯欲貴其小女，道無從。 明年，許皇后當娠，病。 女醫淳于衍者，霍氏所愛，嘗入宮侍皇后疾。 衍夫賞為掖庭戶衛，謂衍「可過辭霍夫人行，為我求安池監。 」衍如言報顯。 顯因生心，辟左右，字謂衍：「少夫幸報我以事，我亦欲報少夫，可乎？ 」衍曰：「夫人所言，何等不可者！ 」顯曰：「將軍素愛小女成君，欲奇貴之，願以累少夫。 」衍曰：「何謂邪？ 」顯曰：「婦人免乳大故，十死一生。 今皇后當免身，可因投毒藥去也，成君即得為皇后矣。 如蒙力事成，富貴與少夫共之。 」衍曰：「藥雜治，當先嘗，安可？ 」顯曰：「在少夫為之耳。 將軍領天下，誰敢言者？ 緩急相護，但恐少夫無意耳！ 」衍良久曰：「願盡力。 」即擣附子，齎入長定宮。 皇后免身後，衍取附子并合大醫大丸以飲皇后。 有頃曰：「我頭岑岑也，藥中得無有毒？ 」對曰：「無有。 」遂加煩懣，崩。 衍出，過見顯，相勞問，亦未敢重謝衍。 後人有上書告諸醫侍疾無狀者，皆收繫詔獄，劾不道。 顯恐事急，即以狀具語光，因曰：「既失計為之，無令吏急衍！ 」光驚鄂，默然不應。 其後奏上，署衍勿論。
Lady Xian schemed to make her daughter empress but lacked an opening. The next year the pregnant empress sickened. The Huos' favorite midwife Chunyu Yan attended her. Her husband asked her to beg Lady Huo for a sinecure on her visit. Yan relayed this to Xian. Xian sent servants away and whispered to Yan. Yan said she would do whatever was asked. Xian asked Yan to poison Xu so Chengjun could be empress. Yan asked what she meant. Xian said childbirth kills many women. She told Yan to poison Xu at delivery so Chengjun could replace her. Xian promised to share the Huos' fortune with her. Yan feared the poison would be detected when tasted. Xian said Yan must find a way. She said Guang could silence any inquiry. She pressed Yan to agree. Yan at length consented. She prepared aconite and brought it to the birthing hall. She mixed aconite into the palace physician's draught for the new mother. The empress complained of dizziness and suspected poison. Yan denied it. Xu sickened and died. Yan met Xian afterward but received no open reward. A round-up of doctors who had attended Xu followed. Xian confessed to Guang and begged him to spare Yan. Guang was struck dumb. He then signed a memorial excusing Yan.
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許后立三年而崩，諡曰恭哀皇后，葬杜南，是為杜陵南園。 後五年，立皇太子，乃封太子外祖父昌成君廣漢為平恩侯，位特進。 後四年，復封廣漢兩弟，舜為博望侯，延壽為樂成侯。 許氏侯者凡三人。 廣漢薨，諡曰戴侯，無子，絕。 葬南園旁，置邑三百家，長丞奉守如法。 宣帝以延壽為大司馬車騎將軍，輔政。 元帝即位，復封延壽中子嘉為平恩侯，奉戴侯後，亦為大司馬車騎將軍。
Xu died in her third year as empress with the title Gong-ai, buried south of Du. Five years later the crown prince was named and Guanghan was made marquis of Ping'en with specially advanced rank. Four years later Shun and Yanshou received marquisates. Three Xus held marquisates. Guanghan died as Marquis Dai without male heir. He was buried by the southern park with three hundred tending households. Yanshou became grand marshal and guided the state. Yuan made Jia marquis of Ping'en to continue the line; Jia also reached grand marshal.
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孝宣霍皇后
Empress Huo, consort of Emperor Xuan.
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孝宣霍皇后，大司馬大將軍博陸侯光女也。 母顯，既使淳于衍陰殺許后，顯因為成君衣補，治入宮具，勸光內之，果立為皇后。
She was Huo Guang's daughter. Lady Xian murdered Xu through Yan, dressed Chengjun for court, and pushed Guang until Huo Chengjun became empress.
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初許后起微賤，登至尊日淺，從官車服甚節儉，五日一朝皇太后於長樂宮，親奉案上食，以婦道共養。 及霍后立，亦修許后故事。 而皇太后親霍后之姊子，故常竦體，敬而禮之。 皇后轝駕侍從甚盛，賞賜官屬以千萬計，與許后時縣絕矣。 上亦寵之，顓房燕。 立三歲而光薨。 後一歲，上立許后男為太子，昌成君者為平恩侯。 顯怒恚不食，歐血，曰：「此乃民間時子，安得立？ 即后有子，反為王邪！ 」復教皇后令毒太子。 皇后數召太子賜食，保阿輒先嘗之，后挾毒不得行。 後殺許后事頗泄，顯遂與諸婿昆弟謀反，發覺，皆誅滅。 使有司賜皇后策曰：「皇后熒惑失道，懷不德，挾毒與母博陸宣成侯夫人顯謀欲危太子，無人母之恩，不宜奉宗廟衣服，不可以承天命。 烏呼傷哉！ 其退避宮，上璽綬有司。 」霍后立五年，廢處昭臺宮。 後十二歲，徙雲林館，乃自殺，葬昆吾亭東。
Xu had been modest, dutiful to the empress dowager, and frugal. Huo Chengjun mimicked Xu's modest ritual. The empress dowager was Chengjun's aunt by marriage and treated her with stiff formality. Chengjun's train and gifts dwarfed Xu's reign. Xuan favored her to the exclusion of others. Guang died three years after her enthronement. The next year Xu's son became heir and Guanghan was titled Ping'en. Xian raged that a commoner's child was made heir. She cried that Huo's future son would rank below Xu's. She ordered Chengjun to kill the crown prince. Chengjun tried to poison the boy but nurses tasted every dish first. When the murder leaked the Huo clan rebelled and was wiped out. Xuan's edict deposed her for plotting with her mother to kill the heir. Alas for her fall! She was ordered to yield her seals and withdraw. After five years as empress she was confined to Zhaotai. Twelve years later she was moved to Yunlin and killed herself, buried east of Kunwu.
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初，霍光及兄驃騎將軍去病皆自以功伐封侯居位，宣帝以光故，封去病孫山、山弟雲皆為列侯，侯者前後四人。
Xuan enfeoffed Huo Qubing's descendants for Guang's sake; four Huos held marquisates.
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孝宣王皇后
Empress Wang, Xuan's second empress.
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霍皇后廢後，上憐許太子蚤失母，幾為霍氏所害，於是乃選後宮素謹慎而無子者，遂立王婕妤為皇后，令母養太子。 自為后後，希見無寵。 封父奉光為邛成侯。 立十六年，宣帝崩，元帝即位，為皇太后。 封太后兄舜為安平侯。 後二年，奉光薨，諡曰共侯，葬長門南，置園邑二百家，長丞奉守如法。 元帝崩，成帝即位，為太皇太后。 復爵太皇太后弟駿為關內侯，食邑千戶。 王氏列侯二人，關內侯一人。 舜子章，章從弟咸，皆至左右將軍。 時成帝母亦姓王氏，故世號太皇太后為邛成太后。
After Huo's fall Xuan chose a childless, careful Jieyu Wang to raise the Xu heir. As empress she rarely saw the emperor and had no intimacy. Her father Wang Fengguang was made marquis of Qiongcheng. Sixteen years later Xuan died; she became empress dowager under Yuan. Her brother Shun was made marquis of Anping. Fengguang died two years later as Marquis Gong south of Changmen with a two-hundred-household shrine. Under Cheng she became grand empress dowager. Her brother Jun was restored as marquis within the passes with a thousand households. The Wangs held two marquisates and one marquis-within-the-passes. Zhang and cousin Xian rose to left and right generals. Because Cheng's mother was also a Wang, she was called the Qiongcheng Grand Empress Dowager.
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邛成太后凡立四十九年，年七十餘，永始元年崩，合葬杜陵，稱東園。 奉光孫勳坐法免。 元始中，成帝太后下詔曰：「孝宣王皇后，朕之姑，深念奉質共脩之義，恩結于心。 惟邛成共侯國廢祀絕，朕甚閔焉。 其封共侯曾孫堅固為邛成侯。 」至王莽乃絕。
She held rank forty-nine years, died past seventy in Yongshi 1, and was buried with Xuan at Duling in the eastern precinct. Wang Fengguang's grandson Wang Xun lost his office for a legal offense. During Yuanshi, Cheng's empress dowager issued an edict: "Empress Wang of Emperor Xuan, once honored as Grand Empress Dowager of Qiongcheng, was a senior kinswoman of Our house; We hold fast to the bond of kinship and instruction she embodied, and gratitude fills Our heart." Yet the marquisate of Qiongcheng has lapsed and its line no longer receives sacrifice—this grieves me deeply." Let Jiangu, great-grandson of Marquis Gong, be restored as marquis of Qiongcheng." The line ended when Wang Mang seized power.