1
安思閻皇后諱姬，《謚法》曰：「謀慮不愆曰思。」
Empress Yan Ji was honored as Ansi; the Posthumous Law says, "Planning that does not go astray is called si."
2
河南滎陽人也。 祖父章，永平中為尚書，以二妹為貴人。 章精力曉舊典，久次，當遷以重職，顯宗為後宮親屬，竟不用，出為步兵校尉。 章生暢，暢生后。
She came from Xingyang in Henan. Her grandfather Yan Zhang had served as Minister of Writing under Yongping; two of his younger daughters had entered the harem as noble ladies. Zhang was capable and steeped in statute and precedent; after long seniority he was due for a senior appointment, yet Emperor Ming, reluctant to empower his consorts’ kin, never gave him the post and instead sent him out as colonel of the infantry. Zhang was father to Yan Chang, and Chang in turn was the empress’s father.
3
后有才色。 元初元年，以選入掖庭，甚見寵愛，為貴人。 二年，立為皇后。 后專房妒忌，帝幸宮人李氏，生皇子保，遂鴆殺李氏。 三年，以后父侍中暢為長水校尉，封北宜春侯，食邑五千戶。 四年，暢卒，謚曰文侯，子顯嗣。
She was gifted and strikingly beautiful. In 114 she was chosen for the imperial harem, won the emperor’s deep affection, and was raised to noble lady. The next year she was invested as empress. She dominated the emperor’s attentions and grew viciously jealous: when he lay with a chamber attendant surnamed Li who bore Prince Bao, the empress had Lady Li murdered with poisoned wine. In 115 her father Yan Chang, a palace attendant, was appointed colonel of the Long Waters army and created marquis of Northern Yichun with a fief of five thousand households. The following year Yan Chang died and was posthumously titled the Cultured Marquis; his son Yan Xian inherited the marquisate.
4
建光元年，鄧太后崩，帝始親政事。 顯及弟景、耀、晏並為卿校，典禁兵。 延光元年，更封顯長社縣侯，食邑萬三千五百戶，追尊后母宗為滎陽君。 顯、景諸子年皆童齔，並為黃門侍郎。 后寵既盛，而兄弟頗與朝權，后遂與大長秋江京、中常侍樊豐等共譖皇太子保，廢為濟陰王。
When Empress Dowager Deng died in 121, Emperor An at last took the reins of government himself. Yan Xian and his brothers Jing, Yao, and Yan all held senior posts and colonelcies and commanded the palace guard. In 122 Yan Xian was transferred to the county marquisate of Changshe, worth thirteen thousand five hundred households, and the empress dowager’s mother, née Zong, was given the noble title Lady of Xingyang. Even the sons of Yan Xian and Yan Jing—still little boys—were all appointed gentlemen at the Yellow Gates. As her influence grew and her brothers muscled into state affairs, she joined Chief Steward Jiang Jing, eunuch Fan Feng, and their faction in framing Crown Prince Liu Bao; he was stripped of the succession and demoted to prince of Jiyin.
5
四年春，后從帝幸章陵，帝道疾，崩於葉縣。 后、顯兄弟及江京、樊豐等謀曰：『今晏駕道次，濟陰王在內，邂逅公卿立之，還為大害。』 乃偽云帝疾甚，徙御臥車。 行四日，驅馳還宮。 明日，詐遣司徒劉熹詣郊廟社稷，告天請命。 其夕，乃發喪。 尊后曰皇太后。 皇太后臨朝，以顯為車騎將軍儀同三司。
In the spring of 125 she accompanied the emperor on a visit to the imperial tombs at Zhangling; he took ill en route and died at Ye. She and the Yan brothers, Jiang Jing, Fan Feng, and their circle conspired: “The sovereign has just died on the road; Liu Bao, the deposed heir, is still in the capital—if ministers seize the moment and put him on the throne, we are ruined.” They spread word that the emperor was gravely ill and had him carried in the closed imperial litter. For four days they raced back to Luoyang without pausing for a proper lying-in-state. The next morning they staged a mission: Grand Commandant Liu Xi was sent to the suburban and ancestral shrines to perform a bogus prayer for the emperor’s life. Only that evening did they announce his death. She was proclaimed empress dowager. She assumed the regency and appointed Yan Xian general-in-chief of chariots and cavalry with honors equal to the three highest ministers.
6
太后欲久專國政，貪立幼年，與顯等定策禁中，迎濟北惠王子北鄉侯懿，立為皇帝。 顯忌大將軍耿寶位尊權重，威行前朝，乃風有司奏寶及其黨與中常侍樊豐、虎賁中郎將謝惲、惲弟侍中篤、篤弟大將軍長史宓、侍中周廣、阿母野王君王聖、聖女永、永壻黃門侍郎樊嚴等，更相阿黨，互作威福，探刺禁省，更為唱和，皆大不道。 豐、惲、廣皆下獄死，家屬徙比景； 宓、嚴減死，髡鉗； 貶寶為則亭侯，遣就國，自殺； 王聖母子徙雁門。 於是景為衛尉，耀城門校尉，晏執金吾，兄弟權要，威福自由。
Determined to prolong her grip on power, she wanted a child on the throne: inside the palace she and Yan Xian settled on Liu Yi, the young prince of Beixiang and grandson of Prince Hui of Jibei, and had him enthroned. Yan Xian feared Grand General Geng Bao, whose prestige still overshadowed the old regime, and prompted officials to impeach Bao and his allies—Fan Feng, Xie Yun and his brother Xie Du, Du’s brother Mi as chief clerk to the grand general, Zhou Guang, the emperor’s wet nurse Wang Sheng of Yewang, her daughter Yong, Yong’s husband Fan Yan, and the rest—for forming a cabal, abusing power, eavesdropping on palace secrets, and covering for one another, charging them all with grave disloyalty. Fan Feng, Xie Yun, and Zhou Guang were jailed and executed; their kin were banished to the far south at Bijin; Mi and Fan Yan were spared execution but sentenced to shave their heads and wear the cangue; Geng Bao was stripped to a minor marquisate, ordered to his fief, and took his own life; Wang Sheng and her son were exiled to Yanmen. Yan Jing was made commandant of the guards, Yan Yao colonel of the city gates, and Yan Yan bearer of the golden mace; the brothers now ran the court and did as they pleased.
7
少帝立二百餘日而疾篤，顯兄弟及江京等皆在左右。 京引顯屏語曰：『北鄉侯病不解，國嗣宜時有定。 前不用濟陰王，今若立之，後必當怨，又何不早徵諸王子，簡所置乎？』 顯以為然。 及少帝薨，京白太后，徵濟北、河間王子。 未至，而中黃門孫程合謀殺江京等，立濟陰王，是為順帝。 顯、景、晏及黨與皆伏誅，遷太后於離宮，家屬徙比景。 明年，太后崩。 在位十二年，合葬恭陵。
After little more than seven months on the throne the boy emperor lay dying; Yan Xian, his brothers, Jiang Jing, and their followers kept vigil at his bedside. Jiang Jing drew Yan Xian aside and whispered: "The prince of Beixiang is not recovering from his illness, and the succession should be settled without delay. We passed over the king of Jiyin before; if he is enthroned now, he will surely resent it. Why not summon eligible princes from the provinces early and choose whom to install?" Yan Xian agreed. When the child emperor died, Jiang Jing informed the empress dowager and issued summonses for young princes from Jibei and Hejian. Before those boys reached the capital, the eunuch Sun Cheng and his confederates struck, killed Jiang Jing and his faction, and enthroned Liu Bao of Jiyin as Emperor Shun. Yan Xian, Yan Jing, Yan Yan, and their accomplices were put to death; the empress dowager was confined to a secondary palace; and their relatives were banished to Bijin. She died the following year. She had reigned as empress or empress dowager for twelve years and was buried with Emperor An at the Gong mausoleum.
8
帝母李氏瘞在洛陽城北，帝初不知，莫敢以聞。 及太后崩，左右白之，帝感悟發哀，親到瘞所，更以禮殯，上尊謚曰恭愍皇后，葬恭北陵，為策書金匱，藏於世祖廟。
Emperor Shun’s mother, Lady Li, had been given a secret grave north of the city; he grew up unaware of it, for no one dared tell him. After the empress dowager’s death his attendants finally spoke; stricken with grief, he visited the site, gave her a proper state funeral, and posthumously titled her Empress Gongmin (“respectful and pitied”); she was interred at the northern adjunct of the Gong mausoleum, and the patent of ennoblement was sealed in a golden casket in Emperor Guangwu’s temple.
9
順烈梁皇后
Empress Liang of Emperor Shun (posthumously titled Shunlie, “compliant and ardent”)
10
順烈梁皇后諱妠，大將軍商之女，恭懷皇后弟之孫也。 后生，有光景之祥。 少善女工。 好《史書》，九歲能誦《論語》，治《韓詩》，大義略舉。 常以列女圖畫置於左右，以自監戒。 劉向撰《列女傳》八篇，圖畫其象。 父商深異之，竊謂諸弟曰：『我先人全濟河西，所活者不可勝數。 雖大位不究，而積德必報。 若慶流子孫者，倘興此女乎？』
Empress Liang Na, honored after death as Shunlie, was the daughter of Grand General Liang Shang and a granddaughter of Empress Gonghuai’s younger brother (Liang Na was thus of the same Liang clan line that had produced an earlier empress). Her birth was said to have been marked by an unearthly glow. As a girl she excelled at needlework and weaving. She loved calligraphy in clerical script, had the Analects by heart at nine, and studied the Han-school Book of Odes until she had mastered its main themes. She kept portraits of exemplary women always in view as a private mirror for her conduct. Liu Xiang compiled the eight chapters of Biographies of Exemplary Women and had their images painted. Her father Liang Shang marveled at her and once said privately to his brothers, “Our forebears brought relief west of the Yellow River and saved more lives than anyone could count. They never reached the highest offices themselves, yet stored-up virtue is always rewarded in time. If fortune is to pass to our descendants, perhaps it will begin with this girl.”
11
永建三年，與姑俱選入掖庭，時年十三，相工茅通見后，驚，再拜賀曰：『此所謂日角偃月，相之極貴，臣所未嘗見也。』 太史卜兆得壽房，又筮得《坤》之《比》，遂以為貴人。 常特被引御，從容辭於帝曰：『夫陽以博施為德，陰以不專為義，螽斯則百，福之所由興也。 願陛下思雲雨之均澤，識貫魚之次序，使小妾得免罪謗之累。』 由是帝加敬焉。
In 128 she entered the harem with an aunt, aged thirteen; the face-reader Mao Tong took one look, bowed twice, and exclaimed, “The sun-horn and crescent-moon pattern—the mark of supreme eminence. I have never seen its like.” The court astrologers divined an auspicious burial site at Shoufang and cast the stalks to Kun turning into Bi—both highly favorable—so she was raised to noble lady. The emperor often singled her out for his bed; she spoke to him with quiet firmness: “In nature the male principle spreads its favor widely; the female principle does not hoard exclusivity—that is how the Odes praise many heirs and how fortune grows. I beg Your Majesty to remember that rain should fall on all alike and that consorts have their proper order, so that your humble servant may be spared the burden of blame and slander." The emperor respected her all the more for it.
12
陽嘉元年春，有司奏立長秋宮，以乘氏侯商先帝外戚，《春秋》之義，娶先大國，梁小貴人宜配天祚，正位坤極。 帝從之，乃於壽安殿立貴人為皇后。 后既少聰惠，深覽前世得失，雖以德進，不敢有驕專之心，每日月見讁，輒降服求愆。
In the spring of 132 officials petitioned to fill the empress’s seat: by Spring and Autumn precedent a ruler should marry from a great house, and Lady Liang—daughter of the Marquis of Chengsi and Liang Shang, a maternal relative of the late emperor—was fit to receive Heaven’s mandate as mistress of the inner palace. Emperor Shun agreed and, in the Hall of Longevity and Peace, invested her as empress. Clever from girlhood and steeped in the lessons of history, she never let virtue go to her head: whenever the court almanac recorded an eclipse or other ominous sign in sun or moon, she would lay aside her finery and ask whether she had offended Heaven.
13
建康元年，帝崩。 后無子，美人虞氏子炳立，是為沖帝。 尊后為皇太后，太后臨朝。 沖帝尋崩，復立質帝，猶秉朝政。
Emperor Shun died in 144. She had borne no heir, so Liu Bing, son of Lady Yu the Beauty of the Bedchamber, succeeded as Emperor Chong. She was named empress dowager and assumed the regency. When Chong died within months, she enthroned Emperor Zhi and kept hold of the government.
14
時，楊、徐劇賊寇擾州郡，西羌、鮮卑及日南蠻夷攻城暴掠，賦斂煩數，官民困竭。 太后夙夜勤勞，推心杖賢，委任太尉李固等，拔用忠良，務崇節儉。 其貪叨罪慝，多見誅廢。 分兵討伐，群寇消夷。 故海內肅然，宗廟以寧。 而兄大將軍冀鴆殺質帝，專權暴濫，忌害忠良，數以邪說疑誤太后，遂立桓帝而誅李固。 太后又溺於宦官，多所封寵，以此天下失望。
The age was one of turmoil: bandit armies ravaged Yang and Xu, Qiang and Xianbei raiders and tribesmen from Rinan stormed towns, and relentless taxation left officials and people alike destitute. The empress dowager rose early and worked late, put her trust in able men, gave Grand Commandant Li Gu and other loyal ministers real authority, promoted the upright, and pressed for austerity at court. The corrupt and vicious were purged or cashiered in large numbers. Troops were sent on several fronts until the rebel hosts were broken. For a time the realm grew quiet again and the imperial house seemed secure. Then her brother, Grand General Liang Ji, poisoned Emperor Zhi, seized unchecked power, persecuted good men, fed the empress dowager a stream of lies, set Emperor Huan on the throne, and had Li Gu put to death. She also indulged the eunuchs with lavish enfeoffments, and the empire’s hopes in her rule faded.
15
和平元年春，歸政於帝，太后寢疾遂篤，乃御輦幸宣德殿，見宮省官屬及諸梁兄弟。 詔曰：『朕素有心下結氣，從間以來，加以浮腫，逆害飲食，寖以沈困，比使內外勞心請禱。 私自忖度，日夜虛劣，不能復與群公卿士共相終竟。 援立聖嗣，恨不久育養，見其終始。 今以皇帝、將軍兄弟委付股肱，其各自勉焉。』 後二日而崩。 在位十九年，年四十五。 合葬憲陵。
In the spring of 150 she formally handed power back to Emperor Huan; as her illness worsened she was carried by litter to Xuande Hall for a last audience with palace staff and the men of the Liang clan. She issued an edict: "For years I have suffered from a painful knot below the heart; recently edema has set in, I cannot keep food down, and I grow weaker by the day, while the whole court wears itself out in prayer on my behalf. I judge privately that I am ebbing hour by hour and cannot again bring matters to completion together with the ministers at my side. I established the sacred heir and regret only that I cannot long nurture him and see his course through from beginning to end. I now entrust the emperor and the general's brothers to you, my chief ministers. Let each of you strive to the utmost." Two days later she was gone. She had held empress or empress dowager rank for nineteen years and died at forty-five. She was buried with Emperor Shun at the Xian mausoleum.
16
〈附〉 虞美人、陳夫人
〈Supplement〉 Lady Yu the Beauty and Lady Chen
17
虞美人者，以良家子年十三選入掖庭，又生女舞陽長公主。 自漢興，母氏莫不尊寵。 順帝既未加美人爵號，而沖帝早夭，大將軍梁冀秉政，忌惡佗族，故虞氏抑而不登，但稱『大家』而已。
Lady Yu the Beauty had entered the harem at thirteen as a girl from a respectable family and later bore a daughter who became the senior princess of Wuyang. Since the founding of Han, mothers of emperors had invariably been honored. Emperor Shun had never raised her to a titled consort; Emperor Chong died in infancy; and under Grand General Liang Ji, who loathed any rival kin, the Yu family was kept down—she was known only by the informal honorific “madam” (dajia).
18
陳夫人者，家本魏郡，少以聲伎入孝王宮，得幸，生質帝。 亦以梁氏故，榮寵不及焉。
Lady Chen came from Wei commandery; as a girl she had joined Prince Xiao’s household as a singer and entertainer, won his favor, and bore Emperor Zhi. For the same reason—the Liang stranglehold on the court—she too received no honors.
19
熹平四年，小黃門趙祐、議郎卑整上言：『《春秋》之義，母以子貴。 隆漢盛典，尊崇母氏，凡在外戚，莫不加寵。 今沖帝母虞大家，質帝母陳夫人，皆誕生聖皇，而未有稱號。 夫臣子雖賤，尚有追贈之典，況二母見在，不蒙崇顯之次，無以述遵先世，垂示後世也。』 帝感其言，乃拜虞大家為憲陵貴人，陳夫人為渤海孝王妃，使中常侍持節授印綬，遣太常以三牲告憲陵、懷陵、靜陵焉。
In 175 the junior eunuch Zhao You and the consultant Bei Zheng memorialized: "According to the meaning of the Spring and Autumn, a mother is honored by her son. The grand precedents that exalt Han honor imperial mothers and extend favor to all maternal kin. Yet Emperor Chong's mother, Lady Yu, and Emperor Zhi's mother, Lady Chen, who each bore a Son of Heaven, still lack formal titles. Even humble subjects may be honored after death; how much more two living mothers of emperors? Leaving them without rank fails both to follow our ancestors' example and to show instruction to posterity." Moved by this, Emperor Ling created Lady Yu noble lady of the Xian mausoleum (Emperor Shun’s tomb) and titled Lady Chen consort to the late Prince Xiao of Bohai; a eunuch minister carried the imperial staff to invest them, and the Grand Master of Ceremonies offered sacrifice at the three imperial tombs to report the act.
20
孝崇匽皇后
Empress Yan of Emperor Huan (posthumously titled Xiaochong)
21
孝崇匽皇后諱明，為蠡吾侯翼媵妾。 生桓帝。 桓帝即位，明年，追尊翼為孝崇皇，陵曰博陵，以后為博園貴人。 和平元年，梁太后崩，乃就博陵尊后為孝崇皇后。 遣司徒持節奉策授璽綬，齎乘輿器服，備法物。 宮曰永樂。 置太僕、少府以下，皆如長樂宮故事。 又置虎賁、羽林衞士，起宮室，分鉅鹿九縣為后湯沐邑。 在位三年，元嘉二年崩。 以帝弟平原王石為喪主。 斂以東園畫梓壽器、玉匣、飯含之具，禮儀制度比恭懷皇后。 使司徒持節，大長秋奉弔祠，賻錢四千萬，布四萬匹，中謁者僕射典護喪事，侍御史護大駕鹵簿。 詔安平王豹、河閒王建、勃海王悝，長社、益陽二長公主，與諸國侯三百里內者，及中二千石、二千石、令、長、相，皆會葬。 將作大匠復土，繕廟，合葬博陵。
Empress Yan Ming, posthumously titled Xiaochong, was a secondary consort of Liu Yi, marquis of Liwu. She gave birth to Emperor Huan. After Emperor Huan took the throne, the next year he posthumously honored Liu Yi as Emperor Xiaochong, named his mausoleum Bo Mausoleum, and titled Yan Ming noble lady of Bo Park. In Heping 1, after Empress Dowager Liang died, Yan Ming was honored at Bo Mausoleum as Empress Xiaochong. The Minister over the Masses was sent with credentials to present the formal appointment and confer the seal and cord, bringing imperial vessels and garments and the full ritual regalia. Her palace was called Yongle. A grand coachman, lesser treasurer, and subordinate offices were established, all following the precedent of Changle Palace. They also assigned Huben and Yulin guards, built palace quarters, and set apart nine counties of Julu as her bath fief. She held her position for three years and died in Yuanjia 2. The emperor's younger brother Liu Shi, king of Pingyuan, was made chief mourner. She was laid out with an Eastern Park painted catalpa coffin, jade casing, and mouth-jade implements, and the rites and institutions matched those for Empress Gonghuai. The Minister over the Masses was sent with credentials, the grand chamberlain for the empress offered condolences and sacrifice, funeral gifts of forty million cash and forty thousand bolts of cloth were given, the palace audience director supervised the funeral, and an attendant censor guarded the grand imperial procession. An edict ordered Liu Bao, king of Anping, Liu Jian, king of Hejian, Liu Kui, king of Bohai, the senior princesses of Changshe and Yiyang, the marquises of the various kingdoms within three hundred li, and officials ranked at middle two-thousand-stone and two-thousand-stone, together with magistrates, chiefs, and chancellors, all to attend the burial. The grand artisan restored the tomb mound and repaired the temple, and she was buried together with Liu Yi at Bo Mausoleum.
22
懿獻梁皇后
Empress Liang of Emperor Huan (posthumously titled Yixian, “kind and worthy”)
23
桓帝懿獻梁皇后諱女瑩，順烈皇后之女弟也。 帝初為蠡吾侯，梁太后徵，欲與后為婚，未及嘉禮，會質帝崩，因以立帝。 明年，有司奏太后曰：『《春秋》迎王后于紀，在塗則稱后。 今大將軍冀女弟，膺紹聖善。 結婚之際，有命既集，宜備禮章，時進徵幣。 請下三公、太常案禮儀。』 奏可。 於是悉依孝惠皇帝納后故事，聘黃金二萬斤，納采鴈、璧、乘馬、束帛，一如舊典。 建和元年六月始入掖庭，八月立為皇后。
Empress Liang Nüying, honored after death as Yixian, was the younger sister of Empress Liang Na (Shunlie). While Liu Zhi was still only marquis of Liwu, Empress Dowager Liang had summoned him to the capital intending to betroth him to her sister; before the wedding could be held Emperor Zhi died, and the Liang faction used the moment to enthrone him as Emperor Huan. The following year officials told the empress dowager: "The Spring and Autumn records that when a king's bride was brought from the state of Ji, she was already addressed as queen while still on the journey. The grand general's younger sister is of proven virtue and fit to continue the sacred line. The match is decreed; the full betrothal rites should be observed and the bride-price sent without delay. We ask that the Three Excellencies and the Grand Master of Ceremonies be ordered to review the canonical forms." The memorial was approved. Everything then followed the precedent of Emperor Hui’s empress-taking: twenty thousand jin of gold as bride-price, with geese, bi jades, a four-horse team, and silks for the na cai ceremony, exactly as the old statutes prescribed. She entered the harem in the sixth month of 147 and was crowned empress that August.
24
時，太后秉政而梁冀專朝，故后獨得寵幸，自下莫得進見。 后藉姊兄廕勢，恣極奢靡，宮幄彫麗，服御珍華，巧飾制度，兼倍前世。 及皇太后崩，恩愛稍衰。 后既無子，潛懷怨忌，每宮人孕育，鮮得全者。 帝雖迫畏梁冀，不敢譴怒，然見御轉稀。 至延熹二年，后以憂恚崩，在位十三年，葬懿陵。 其歲，誅梁冀，廢懿陵為貴人冢焉。
With Empress Dowager Liang regent and Liang Ji running the court, the new empress alone held the emperor’s heart; no other woman could reach him. Backed by her sister and brother, she spent without limit: chambers hung with carved silks, gowns and gems rivaling an emperor’s, and every mark of rank contrived to outshine any earlier empress twice over. After the empress dowager died, the emperor’s ardor cooled. Childless and secretly vicious, she saw to it that few pregnant concubines bore a living child. Emperor Huan still dared not defy Liang Ji openly, but he visited her bedchamber less and less. In 159 she died, broken by anxiety and spite, after thirteen years as empress, and was buried at the Yi mausoleum. The same year Liang Ji was executed and her grand tomb was reduced to the scale proper for a concubine’s grave.
25
桓帝鄧皇后
Empress Deng of Emperor Huan
26
桓帝鄧皇后諱猛女，和熹皇后從兄子鄧香之女也。 母宣，初適香，生后。 改嫁梁紀，紀者，大將軍梁冀妻孫壽之舅也。 后少孤，隨母為居，因冒姓梁氏。 冀妻見后貌美，永興中進入掖庭，為采女，絕幸。 采，擇也，以因采擇而立名。 明年，封兄鄧演為南頓侯，位特進。 演卒，子康嗣。 及懿獻后崩，梁冀誅，立后為皇后。 帝惡梁氏，改姓為薄，封后母宣為長安君。 四年，有司奏后本郎中鄧香之女，不宜改易它姓，於是復為鄧氏。 追封贈香車騎將軍安陽侯印綬，更封宣、康大縣，宣為昆陽君，康為沘陽侯，賞賜巨萬計。 宣卒，賵贈葬禮，皆依后母舊儀。 以康弟統襲封昆陽侯，位侍中； 統從兄會襲安陽侯，為虎賁中郎將； 又封統弟秉為淯陽侯。 宗族皆列校、郎將。
Empress Deng Mengnü was the daughter of Deng Xiang, a nephew of the great Empress Deng Sui (Hexi) on the male line. Her mother, née Xuan, had first been married to Deng Xiang and bore her there. Xuan then remarried a different man also named Liang Ji, not the grand general; he was the maternal uncle of Sun Shou, the grand general Liang Ji’s wife. The girl was left fatherless early and lived with her mother, passing herself off under the Liang surname. Sun Shou, struck by her looks, had her sent to the harem during Yongxing as a low-ranking chosen girl; the emperor favored her above all others. Cai means “to select”; the title was established because women were selected. The next year her brother Deng Yan was created marquis of Nandun with the honorary rank of specially advanced. When Yan died, his son Kang inherited the title. After Empress Liang Nüying died and Liang Ji was put to death, Deng Mengnü was raised to empress. To erase the taint of the Liangs he had her registered as Bo instead of Liang and created Lady Xuan noblewoman of Chang’an. In 161 officials pointed out that she was truly the daughter of Deng Xiang, a court gentleman, and that the false surname should be dropped; she was restored as Deng. Her dead father Xiang was posthumously titled general of chariots and cavalry and marquis of Anyang; Lady Xuan and Kang received rich new fiefs—she as lady of Kunyang, he as marquis of Biyang—along with gifts worth untold millions. When Lady Xuan died, her obsequies matched those laid down for an empress dowager’s mother. Kang’s brother Tong inherited the Kunyang marquisate and was appointed palace attendant; Tong’s cousin Hui took over the Anyang title as gentleman of the household for rapid as a tiger; and Tong’s younger brother Bing was made marquis of Yuyang. The whole Deng kindred was packed into colonelcies and generalships.
27
帝多內幸，博采宮女至五六千人，及驅役從使，復兼倍於此。 而后恃尊驕忌，與帝所幸郭貴人更相譖訴。 八年，詔廢后，送暴室，以憂死。 立七年。 葬於北邙。 從父河南尹萬世及會皆下獄死。 統等亦繫暴室，免官爵，歸本郡，財物沒入縣官。
The emperor kept a vast harem—five or six thousand palace women—and more than twice as many servants and attendants to wait on them. The empress grew arrogant and jealous in her rank and traded accusations with Lady Guo, the emperor’s favorite. In 165 she was deposed by edict, confined to the palace dye-works prison, and died of grief there. She had been empress for seven years. She was buried on Mount Mang north of Luoyang. Her kinsman Deng Wanshi, governor of Henan, and Deng Hui were jailed and died. Tong and his brothers were imprisoned too, stripped of rank, sent home to their commanderies, and their property seized for the treasury.
28
桓思竇皇后
Empress Dou of Emperor Huan (posthumously titled Huansi)
29
桓思竇皇后諱妙，章德皇后從祖弟之孫女也。 父諱武。 延熹八年，鄧皇后廢，后以選入掖庭為貴人，其冬，立為皇后，而御見甚稀，帝所寵唯采女田聖等。 永康元年冬，帝寢疾，遂以聖等九女皆為貴人。 及崩，無嗣，后為皇太后。 太后臨朝定策，立解犢亭侯宏，是為靈帝。
Empress Dou Miao, honored after death as Huansi, was a granddaughter of a male cousin of Empress Dou the Zhangde (and-Empress Dowager). Her father was Dou Wu. When Empress Deng fell in 165, Dou Miao entered the harem as a noble lady and was made empress that winter, yet the emperor rarely came to her; his heart belonged to chosen girls like Tian Sheng. In the winter of 167, as Emperor Huan lay dying, he raised Tian Sheng and eight other favorites to noble lady in a single stroke. He left no son; Dou Miao became empress dowager. She took the regency, chose Liu Hong, marquis of Jieduting, as heir, and enthroned him as Emperor Ling.
30
太后素忌忍，積怒田聖等，桓帝梓宮尚在前殿，遂殺田聖。 又欲盡誅諸貴人，中常侍管霸、蘇康苦諫，乃止。 時太后父大將軍武謀誅宦官，而中常侍曹節等矯詔殺武，遷太后於南宮雲臺，家屬徙比景。
Jealous and ruthless by nature, she had long hated Tian Sheng; while Emperor Huan’s bier still stood in the main hall she had Tian Sheng executed. She would have slaughtered every noble lady the late emperor had favored had not eunuchs Guan Ba and Su Kang pleaded until she relented. When her father Dou Wu moved against the eunuchs, Cao Jie and his faction forged an edict, killed Dou Wu, confined the empress dowager to the Cloud Terrace in the southern palace, and banished her kin to Bijin.
31
竇氏雖誅，帝猶以太后有援立之功，建寧四年十月朔，率群臣朝於南宮，親饋上壽。 黃門令董萌因此數為太后訴怨，帝深納之，供養資奉有加於前。 中常侍曹節、王甫疾萌附助太后，誣以謗訕永樂宮，萌坐下獄死。 熹平元年，太后母卒於比景，太后感疾而崩。 立七年。 合葬宣陵。
Although the Dou clan had been executed, the emperor still remembered that the empress dowager had helped establish him. On the first day of the tenth month of Jianning 4, he led the ministers to the Southern Palace and personally presented food and birthday felicitations. Because of this, Yellow Gate Director Dong Meng repeatedly pleaded the empress dowager's grievances, and the emperor accepted his words deeply, increasing her support and provisions beyond what she had received before. Regular Palace Attendants Cao Jie and Wang Fu hated Meng for supporting the empress dowager and falsely accused him of slandering Yongle Palace; Meng was imprisoned for it and died. In Xiping 1 the empress dowager's mother died at Bijing; grief brought illness on the empress dowager, and she died. She had been in her position for seven years. She was buried together with the emperor at Xuan Mausoleum.
32
孝仁董皇后
Empress Dong, mother of Emperor Ling (posthumously titled Xiaoren, “filial and benevolent”)
33
孝仁董皇后諱某，河間人。 為解犢亭侯萇夫人，生靈帝。 建寧元年，帝即位，追尊萇為孝仁皇，陵曰慎陵，以后為慎園貴人。 及竇氏誅，明年，帝使中常侍迎貴人，並徵貴人兄寵到京師，上尊號曰孝仁皇后，居南宮嘉德殿，宮稱永樂。 拜寵執金吾。 後坐矯稱永樂后屬請，下獄死。
Empress Dong’s personal name was not recorded in the histories; she came from Hejian. She was the wife of Liu Chang, marquis of Jieduting, and bore Liu Hong, who became Emperor Ling. When her son mounted the throne in 168, Liu Chang was posthumously titled Emperor Xiaoren with a mausoleum named Shen; she herself was given the title noble lady of the Shen park estate. After the Dou purge in 169 the emperor summoned her to the capital along with her brother Dong Chong, invested her as Empress Xiaoren, and installed her in the Jiade Hall of the southern palace in a compound known as Yongle. Dong Chong was appointed bearer of the golden mace. Later he was jailed and died for falsely claiming connections to the Yongle empress’s household to solicit favors.
34
及竇太后崩，始與朝政，使帝賣官求貨，自納金錢，盈滿堂室。 中平五年，以后兄子衛尉脩侯重為票騎將軍，領兵千餘人。 初，后自養皇子協，數勸帝立為太子，而何皇后恨之，議未及定而帝崩。 何太后臨朝，重與太后兄大將軍進權勢相害，后每欲參幹政事，太后輒相禁塞。 后忿恚詈言曰：『汝今輈張，怙汝兄耶？ 當勑票騎斷何進頭來。』 何太后聞，以告進。 進與三公及弟車騎將軍苗等奏：『孝仁皇后使故中常侍夏惲、永樂太僕封諝等交通州郡，辜較在所珍寶貨賂，悉入西省。 蕃后故事不得留京師，輿服有章，膳羞有品。 請永樂后遷宮本國。』 奏可。 何進遂舉兵圍驃騎府，收重，重免官自殺。 后憂怖，疾病暴崩，在位二十二年。 民間歸咎何氏。 喪還河間，合葬慎陵。
After Empress Dowager Dou’s death she began to meddle in government, pushed Emperor Ling to sell offices for cash, and pocketed so much gold and silver that her rooms overflowed. In 188 her nephew Dong Chong, marquis of Xiu and commandant of the guards, was named general of agile cavalry with a personal guard of over a thousand. She had raised Prince Xie herself and repeatedly urged Emperor Ling to make him crown prince; Empress He bitterly opposed the idea, and before it could be settled the emperor died. Under Empress Dowager He’s regency Dong Chong clashed with her brother He Jin; whenever Empress Dong tried to intervene in state affairs, the empress dowager blocked her. Furious, Empress Dong shouted: "You strut about now because you rely on your brother, do you? I shall order the general of agile cavalry to bring me He Jin's head." Empress Dowager He heard and told He Jin. He Jin and the Three Excellencies, with his brother He Miao the general of chariots and cavalry, memorialized: "Empress Dong used the former eunuch Xia Yun, the Yongle grand coachman Feng Xu, and others to collude with local officials, extort treasure and bribes, and funnel everything into her private treasury at the Western Bureau. By precedent, a king's mother may not reside in the capital; her carriages, robes, and fare have fixed ranks. We ask that the Yongle empress be sent back to her palace in her original fief." The throne approved. He Jin then surrounded Dong Chong’s mansion with troops, arrested him, and Chong killed himself after being dismissed. Stricken with fear and illness, she died suddenly after twenty-two years as empress dowager. Popular opinion blamed the He family. Her remains were returned to Hejian for burial with Liu Chang at the Shen mausoleum.
35
靈帝宋皇后
Empress Song of Emperor Ling
36
靈帝宋皇后諱某，扶風平陵人也，肅宗宋貴人之從曾孫也。 建寧三年，選入掖庭為貴人。 明年，立為皇后。 父酆，執金吾，封不其鄉侯。
Empress Song’s given name was not preserved; she came from Pingling in Fufeng and was a collateral descendant of Emperor Zhang’s Lady Song. In 170 she was chosen for the harem as a noble lady. The following year she became empress. Her father Song Feng served as bearer of the golden mace and held the village marquisate of Buqi.
37
后無寵而居正位，後宮幸姬眾，共譖毀。 初，中常侍王甫枉誅勃海王悝及妃宋氏。 妃即后之姑也。 甫恐后怨之，及與太中大夫程阿共構言皇后挾左道祝詛，帝信之。 光和元年，遂策收璽綬。 后自致暴室，以憂死。 在位八年。 父及兄弟並被誅。 諸常侍、小黃門在省闥者，皆憐宋氏無辜，共合錢物，收葬廢后及酆父子，歸宋氏舊塋皐門亭。
The empress held the rightful position without enjoying favor, and the many favored women of the harem joined in slandering her. Earlier, Regular Palace Attendant Wang Fu had wrongfully executed Liu Kui, king of Bohai, and his consort Lady Song. That consort was the empress's aunt. Wang Fu feared the empress would resent him, so he and Grand Master of Remonstrance Cheng A fabricated a charge that the empress practiced illicit curses. The emperor believed them. In Guanghe 1 an order was issued taking back her seal and cord. The empress went herself to the palace prison and died of grief. She had been empress for eight years. Her father and brothers were all executed. The regular attendants and junior yellow-gate attendants serving inside the palace all pitied the innocence of the Songs, pooled money and goods, recovered and buried the deposed empress and Song Feng with his sons, and returned them to the old Song cemetery at Gaomen Pavilion.
38
帝後夢見桓帝怒曰：『宋皇后有何罪過，而聽用邪孽，使絕其命？ 勃海王悝既已自貶，又受誅斃。 今宋氏及悝自訴於天，上帝震怒，罪在難救。』 夢殊明察。 帝既覺而恐，以事問於羽林左監許永曰：『此何祥？ 其可攘乎？』 永對曰：『宋皇后親與陛下共承宗廟，母臨萬國，歷年已久，海內蒙化，過惡無聞。 而虛聽讒妒之說，以致無辜之罪，身嬰極誅，禍及家族，天下臣妾，咸為怨痛。 勃海王悝，桓帝母弟也。 處國奉藩，未嘗有過。 陛下曾不證審，遂伏其辜。 昔晉侯失刑，亦夢大厲被發屬地。 天道明察，鬼神難誣。 宜並改葬，以安冤魂。 反宋后之徙家，復勃海之先封，以消厥咎。』 帝弗能用，尋亦崩焉。
Emperor Ling later dreamed that Emperor Huan angrily said: "What crime did Empress Song commit, that you listened to villains and cut off her life? Prince Liu Kui of Bohai had already humbled himself in submission, yet you still had him killed. Now the Song family and Liu Kui cry their wrongs to Heaven; the Lord on High is enraged, and your guilt may be beyond remedy." The dream was vivid as waking sight. He woke in terror and asked Xu Yong, left supervisor of the household guard: "What omen is this? Can it be turned aside?" Xu Yong answered: "Empress Song personally shared with Your Majesty the charge of the ancestral shrines and stood as mother over all states for many years; the empire heard of no fault or wrongdoing in her. Yet you listened credulously to slander born of jealousy, brought a guiltless charge on her, inflicted the extreme punishment on her person, and brought disaster on her clan, so that every subject in the realm grieved and resented it. Liu Kui, prince of Bohai, was Emperor Huan’s full brother. He held his fief as a vassal king and gave no cause for offense. Your Majesty never examined the facts, and so he suffered punishment. When the marquis of Jin misused punishment in antiquity, he dreamed of a vengeful ghost with disheveled hair dragging on the ground. Heaven sees clearly; the dead are not easily mocked. They should both be reburied properly, so that their wronged spirits may be put at peace. Recall Empress Song's exiled kin, restore Bohai's former fief, and thus dispel this blame." Emperor Ling did not act on the advice; before long he too was dead.
39
靈思何皇后
Empress He of Emperor Ling (posthumously titled Lingsi)
40
靈思何皇后諱某，南陽宛人。 家本屠者，以選入掖庭。 長七尺一寸。 生皇子辯，養於史道人家，號曰史侯。 拜后為貴人，甚有寵幸。 性彊忌，後宮莫不震懾。
Empress He’s given name was not recorded; she came from Wan in Nanyang commandery. Her family were butchers by trade; she was chosen for the harem. She stood seven feet one inch tall by Han measure. She bore Prince Bian, who was fostered in the household of a Taoist surnamed Shi and nicknamed the Marquis of Shi. She was raised to noble lady and became a great favorite. Fierce and jealous by nature, she terrified every woman in the harem.
41
光和三年，立為皇后。 明年，追號后父真為車騎將軍、舞陽宣德侯，因封后母興為舞陽君。 時王美人任娠，畏后，乃服藥欲除之，而胎安不動，又數夢負日而行。 四年，生皇子協，后遂酖殺美人。 帝大怒，欲廢后，諸宦官固請得止。 董太后自養協，號曰董侯。
In 180 she was made empress. The next year her late father He Zhen was posthumously titled general of chariots and cavalry and marquis Xuande of Wuyang, and her mother Xing was created lady of Wuyang. Lady Wang the Beauty, pregnant and afraid of the empress, took drugs to abort the child, but the pregnancy held; she dreamed more than once that she was walking with the sun on her back. In 181 she bore Prince Xie; the empress then poisoned Lady Wang to death. Emperor Ling was furious and meant to depose her, but the eunuchs begged him until he relented. Empress Dowager Dong took the boy in and he was known as the Marquis of Dong.
42
王美人，趙國人也。 祖父苞，五官中郎將。 美人豐姿色，聰敏有才明，能書會計，以良家子應法相選入掖庭。 帝愍協早失母，又思美人，作《追德賦》、《令儀頌》。
Lady Wang the Beauty came from the princedom of Zhao. Her grandfather Wang Bao had been a gentleman of the household for all purposes at court. Lady Wang was lovely and quick-witted, literate and good with figures; as a girl from a respectable house she passed the court’s face-reading selection for the harem. Grieving that Liu Xie had lost his mother so young and longing for Lady Wang, Emperor Ling wrote the Rhapsody on Pursuing Virtue and the Ode to Exemplary Bearing.
43
中平六年，帝崩，皇子辯即位，尊后為皇太后。 太后臨朝。 后兄大將軍進欲誅宦官，反為所害； 舞陽君亦為亂兵所殺。 幷州牧董卓被徵，將兵入洛陽，陵虐朝廷，遂廢少帝為弘農王而立協，是為獻帝。 扶弘農王下殿，北面稱臣。 太后鯁涕，群臣含悲，莫敢言。 董卓又議太后踧迫永樂宮，至令憂死，逆婦姑之禮，乃遷於永安宮，因進酖，弒而崩。 在位十年。 董卓令帝出奉常亭舉哀，公卿皆白衣會，不成喪也。 合葬文昭陵。
When Emperor Ling died in 189, Liu Bian succeeded and his mother became empress dowager. She assumed the regency. Her brother He Jin tried to destroy the eunuchs and was killed by them instead; and Lady He of Wuyang, the empress dowager’s mother, fell to the same mutiny. Dong Zhuo, governor of Bing, marched on Luoyang, cowed the court, deposed Emperor Shao as prince of Hongnong, and set Liu Xie on the throne as Emperor Xian. The deposed emperor was led from the dais to kowtow as a subject facing north. The empress dowager wept silently; the ministers grieved but none dared speak. Dong Zhuo accused her of hounding Empress Dowager Dong at Yongle to her death—a breach of duty between daughter- and mother-in-law—had her moved to Yong’an Palace, and sent poisoned wine; she was murdered. She had held power for ten years. Dong Zhuo made Emperor Xian hold a sham wake for her at Fengchang Pavilion, with the high ministers in white—it was no proper funeral. She was buried with Emperor Ling at the Wenzhao mausoleum.
44
初，太后新立，當竭二祖廟，欲齋，輒有變故，如此者數，竟不克。 時有識之士心獨怪之，後遂因何氏傾沒漢祚焉。
When she first became empress dowager she was to perform the great sacrifice at the shrines of the two founder emperors; each time she prepared to fast, some mishap intervened, and after several attempts the rite was never completed. Thoughtful observers took it for an ill omen—and in the end the He clan did bring down the house of Han.
45
明年，山東義兵大起，討董卓之亂。 卓乃置弘農王於閣上，使郎中令李儒進酖，曰：『服此藥，可以辟惡。』 王曰：『我無疾，是欲殺我耳！』 不肯飲。 強飲之，不得已，乃與妻唐姬及宮人飲宴別。 酒行，王悲歌曰：『天道易兮我何艱！ 棄萬乘兮退守蕃。 逆臣見迫兮命不延，逝將去汝兮適幽玄！』 因令唐姬起舞，姬抗袖而歌曰：『皇天崩兮后土穨，身為帝兮命夭摧。 死生路異兮從此乖，奈我煢獨兮心中哀！』 因泣下嗚咽，坐者皆歔欷。 王謂姬曰：『卿王者妃，勢不復為吏民妻。 自愛，從此長辭！』 遂飲藥而死。 時年十八。
The next year the eastern lords raised armies against Dong Zhuo. Dong Zhuo had the prince taken to a pavilion and sent Li Ru with poisoned wine, claiming it was medicine to ward off ill vapors. The prince replied that he was not sick and that they meant to murder him. He would not drink. They forced the cup on him; he gave way and held a last feast with his consort Lady Tang and her attendants. Mid-cup he sang: "Heaven's way turns easy, while I am crushed with hardship! Stripped of the throne, I am cast back to a prince’s narrow domain! Rebel ministers hound me, and my life will not be prolonged; I leave you now for the dark world below!" He bade Lady Tang dance; lifting her sleeves she sang: "The sky has fallen, the earth gives way; I was wife to a Son of Heaven, yet fate breaks me in youth. Living and dead walk separate roads, and from here we part; what can I do, alone and desolate, with grief filling my breast!" She wept aloud; every guest wept with her. He told her: "You have been a prince's consort; by circumstance you cannot again become the wife of an official or commoner. Take care of yourself; from this moment we part forever!" He drained the poison and died. He was eighteen years old.
46
唐姬，潁川人也。 王薨，歸鄉里。 父會稽太守瑁欲嫁之，姬誓不許。 及李傕破長安，遣兵鈔關東，略得姬。 傕因欲妻之，固不聽，而終不自名。 尚書賈詡知之，以狀白獻帝。 帝聞感愴，乃下詔迎姬，置園中，使侍中持節拜為弘農王妃。
Lady Tang came from Yingchuan. After the prince’s death she went home to her family. Her father Tang Mao, governor of Kuaiji, tried to remarry her; she swore she would not. When Li Jue sacked Chang’an he sent raiders east of the passes who carried her off. Li Jue meant to make her his concubine; she refused steadfastly and never revealed who she was. Minister Jia Xu learned her story and told Emperor Xian. Moved, Emperor Xian summoned her to the capital, housed her in a palace garden, and sent a palace attendant with the imperial staff to invest her formally as the late prince’s consort.
47
初平元年二月，葬弘農王於故中常侍趙忠成壙中，謚曰懷王。
In February 190 he was buried in the tomb vault prepared for the eunuch Zhao Zhong and posthumously titled Prince Huai, “the pitied.”
48
帝求母王美人兄斌，斌將妻子詣長安，賜第宅田業，拜奉車都尉。
Emperor Xian sought out Lady Wang’s brother Wang Bin, who came to Chang’an with his family; the emperor gave him a mansion, land, and the title colonel director of the imperial carriages.
49
興平元年，帝加元服。 有司奏立長秋宮。 詔曰：『朕稟受不弘，遭值禍亂，未能紹先，以光故典。 皇母前薨，未卜宅兆，禮章有闕，中心如結。 三歲之慼，蓋不言吉，且須其後。』 於是有司乃奏追尊王美人為靈懷皇后，改葬文昭陵，儀比敬、恭二陵，使光祿大夫持節行司空事奉璽綬，斌與河南尹駱業復土。
In 194 Emperor Xian underwent the capping ceremony and came of age. Officials petitioned to install an empress. His edict read: "My endowment is not great; I have encountered rebellion and disorder and have not been able to carry forward my forebears and glorify the old statutes. My imperial mother previously died, her tomb site was not yet divined, and the ritual forms have deficiencies; my heart is knotted with grief. During the sorrow of three years' mourning, one does not speak of auspicious matters, so let this wait until afterward." Officials then memorialized to posthumously title Lady Wang Empress Linghuai, reinter her at the Wenzhao mausoleum with rites matching the Jing and Gong imperial tombs; a grand counsellor acting as minister of works carried the seals and ribbons, while Wang Bin and Henan governor Luo Ye oversaw the reburial.
50
斌還，遷執金吾，封都亭侯，食邑五百戶。 病卒，贈前將軍印綬，謁者監護喪事。 長子端襲爵。
On his return Wang Bin was promoted bearer of the golden mace and created marquis of Duting with five hundred households. He died in office and was posthumously awarded general of the van; court heralds supervised his obsequies. His eldest son Wang Duan inherited the title.
51
獻帝伏皇后
Empress Fu of Emperor Xian
52
獻帝伏皇后諱壽，瑯邪東武人，大司徒湛之八世孫也。 父完，沈深有大度，襲爵不其侯，尚桓帝女陽安公主，為侍中。
Empress Fu Shou came from Dongwu in Langye and was the eighth-generation descendant of the Eastern Han grand minister Fu Zhan. Her father Fu Wan, a man of depth and judgment, inherited the Buqi marquisate, married Emperor Huan’s daughter the princess of Yang’an, and served as palace attendant.
53
初平元年，從大駕西遷長安，后時入掖庭為貴人。 興平二年，立為皇后，完遷執金吾。 帝尋而東歸，李傕、郭汜等追敗乘輿於曹陽，帝乃潛夜度河走。 六宮皆步行出營。 后手持縑數匹，董承使符節令孫徽以刃脅奪之，殺傍侍者，血濺后衣。 既至安邑，御服穿敝，唯以棗栗為糧。 建安元年，拜完輔國將軍，儀比三司。 完以政在曹操，自嫌尊戚，乃上印綬，拜中散大夫，尋遷屯騎校尉。 十四年卒，子典嗣。
In Chuping 1 she followed the imperial carriage west to Chang'an and entered the Yeting as an honored lady. In Xingping 2 she was established as empress, and Fu Wan was promoted to bearer of the golden mace. The emperor soon returned east, but Li Jue, Guo Si, and the others pursued him and defeated the imperial carriage at Caoyang; the emperor then secretly crossed the river by night and fled. The women of the six palaces all left the camp on foot. The empress carried several bolts of silk in her hands. Dong Cheng sent Sun Hui, director of tallies and credentials, to threaten her with a blade and seize them; he killed an attendant beside her, and blood splashed onto the empress's robes. When they reached Anyi, the imperial garments were torn and worn through, and dates and chestnuts were their only food. In Jian'an 1 Fu Wan was appointed General Who Supports the State, with ceremonial status equal to the Three Excellencies. Because power lay with Cao Cao, Fu Wan felt uneasy about his own standing as an honored in-law, submitted his seal and cord, was appointed grand master for palace leisure, and was soon transferred to colonel of garrison cavalry. He died in the fourteenth year, and his son Fu Dian succeeded him.
54
自帝都許，守位而已，宿衛兵侍，莫非曹氏黨舊姻戚。 議郎趙彥嘗為帝陳言時策，曹操惡而殺之。 其餘內外，多見誅戮。 操後以事入見殿中，帝不任其憤，因曰：『君若能相輔，則厚； 不爾，幸垂恩相捨。』 操失色，俛仰求出。 舊儀，三公領兵朝見，令虎賁執刃挾之。 操出，顧左右，汗流浹背，自後不敢復朝請。 董承女為貴人，操誅承而求貴人殺之。 帝以貴人有妊，累為請，不能得。 後自是懷懼，乃與父完書，言曹操殘逼之狀，令密圖之。 完不敢發，至十九年，事乃露泄。 操追大怒，遂逼帝廢後，假為策曰：『皇後壽，得由卑賤，登顯尊極，自處椒房，二紀於茲。 既無任、姒徽音之美，又乏謹身養己之福，而陰懷妒害，苞藏禍心，弗可以承天命，奉祖宗。 今使禦史大夫郗慮持節策詔，其上皇後璽綬，退避中宮，遷於它館。 嗚呼傷哉！ 自壽取之，未致於理，為幸多焉。』 又以尚書令華歆為郗慮副，勒兵入宮收後。 閉戶藏壁中，歆就牽後出。 時帝在外殿，引慮於坐。 後被發徒跣行泣過訣曰：『不能復相活邪？』 帝曰：『我亦不知命在何時！』 顧謂慮曰：『郗公，天下寧有是邪？』 遂將後下暴室，以幽崩。 所生二皇子，皆鴆殺之。 後在位二十年，兄弟及宗族死者百餘人，母盈等十九人徙涿郡。
After the court moved to Xu the Son of Heaven held a hollow title: every man at arms in the palace was a Cao partisan or kinsman by marriage. Consultant Zhao Yan had urged timely policies on the emperor; Cao Cao resented it and had him executed. Scores of others at court and in the provinces shared the same fate. Once when Cao Cao came to audience the emperor could not hold back his anger and said: "If you can assist me, be generous; if not, may you show mercy and let me go." Cao Cao turned pale and begged leave to withdraw. By old rule, high ministers who commanded troops entered audience flanked by guards with drawn blades. He left drenched in sweat, glancing at the guards, and never again attended a personal audience with the emperor. When Cao Cao executed Dong Cheng he also demanded the life of Dong’s daughter, who was a consort of the emperor. The emperor pleaded repeatedly because she was pregnant, but Cao Cao would not relent. The empress grew afraid and wrote secretly to Fu Wan describing Cao Cao’s cruelty and urging him to plot against him in secret. Fu Wan did not dare act; in the nineteenth year of Jian’an the plot leaked out. Cao Cao, enraged, forced Emperor Xian to depose her and forged an edict: "Empress Shou rose from humble rank to the height of manifest honor and has occupied the Pepper Chamber for twenty-four years. She lacks the lovely renown of the ancient consorts Ren and Si and lacks the fortune that comes from guarding and cultivating oneself; instead she secretly harbors jealousy and harm, concealing a heart of disaster, and cannot receive Heaven's mandate or serve the ancestors. I now send Imperial Counsellor Xi Lu, holding the staff of authority, to deliver this written edict, receive the empress's seals and ribbons, remove her from the Central Palace, and transfer her to another residence. Alas, how painful! Shou brought this on herself; that she has not been brought to judgment is already great fortune." Minister Hua Xin was named Xi Lu’s deputy; armed men entered the palace to arrest the empress. She had barred her door and hidden inside a wall cavity; Hua Xin pulled her out. The emperor waited in the outer hall and had Xi Lu sit with him. Disheveled and barefoot, she wept as she passed him, begging whether he could not save her life. He answered that he did not even know how long he himself might live. He turned to Xi Lu and asked whether such things could happen under Heaven. They took her to the palace prison and killed her in secret. The two princes she had borne were poisoned as well. She had been empress twenty years; over a hundred of her kin were executed, and nineteen people including her mother were banished to Zhuo commandery.
55
獻穆曹皇后
Empress Cao of Emperor Xian, posthumously titled Xianmu
56
獻穆曹皇后諱節，魏公曹操之中女也。 建安十八年，操進三女憲、節、華為夫人，聘以束帛玄纁五萬匹，小者待年於國。 十九年，並拜為貴人。 及伏皇后被弒，明年，立節為皇后。 魏受禪，遣使求璽綬，后怒不與。 如此數輩，后乃呼使者入，親數讓之，以璽抵軒下。 因涕泣橫流曰：『天不祚爾！』 左右皆莫能仰視。 后在位七年。 魏氏既立，以后為山陽公夫人。 自後四十一年，魏景初元年薨，合葬禪陵，車服禮儀皆依漢制。
Empress Cao Jie, posthumously titled Xianmu, was the middle daughter of Cao Cao, duke of Wei. In Jian'an 18 Cao Cao presented his three daughters, Xian, Jie, and Hua, as consorts, with betrothal gifts of fifty thousand bolts of dark and pale silk; the youngest remained in his state until she came of age. In the nineteenth year they were all appointed honored ladies. After Empress Fu was murdered, Jie was established as empress the following year. When Wei received the abdication, envoys were sent to demand the seal and cord, but the empress angrily refused to hand them over. After this happened several times, the empress called the envoys in, rebuked them herself, and hurled the seal beneath the railing. Tears streaming down, she said, "Heaven will not bless you!" None of those around her could raise their eyes. She was empress for seven years. After the Wei house was established, she became wife of the Duke of Shanyang. Forty-one years later, in Wei Jingchu 1, she died and was buried together with the emperor at Chan Mausoleum; her carriages, dress, and rites all followed Han institutions.
57
論曰：漢世皇后無謚，皆因帝謚以為稱。 雖呂氏專政，上官臨制，亦無殊號。 中興，明帝始建光烈之稱，其後並以德為配，至於賢愚優劣，混同一貫，故馬、竇二後俱稱德焉。 其餘唯帝之庶母及蕃王承統，以追尊之重，特為其號，如恭懷、孝崇之比是也。 初平中，蔡邕始追正和熹之謚，其安思、順烈以下，皆依而加焉。
The historian remarks: Han empresses were not given posthumous titles of their own; they were known by the same posthumous phrase as their husband. Even under the Lü regency and the Shangguan dictatorship no separate honorific was added. After the restoration Emperor Ming was the first to give his empress a distinct posthumous epithet, Guanglie; later rulers paired empresses with a virtue character regardless of merit, so both Empress Ma and Empress Dou received the word de in their titles. Only imperial concubines raised posthumously or mothers of kings who inherited the throne received special titles such as Gonghuai or Xiaochong. During Chuping Cai Yong corrected Empress Deng Sui’s posthumous title; empresses from Empress Yan (Ansi) and Empress Liang (Shunlie) onward were given similar additions.
58
贊曰：坤惟厚載，陰正乎內《詩》美好逑，《易》稱歸妹。 祁祁皇孋，言觀貞淑。 媚茲良哲，承我天祿。 班政蘭閨，宣禮椒屋。 既雲德升，亦曰幸進。 身當隆極，族漸河潤。 視景爭暉，方山並峻。 乘剛多阻，行地必順。 咎集驕滿，福協貞信。 慶延自己，禍成誰釁。
The verse encomium: Earth bears all in its breadth; the feminine principle rightfully rules within. The Book of Odes praises the good match; the Book of Changes names the Returning Maiden hexagram. Stately and radiant, their words and demeanor showed chaste virtue. Cherishing wise consorts, the throne received Heaven’s blessing. They ordered the inner chambers and taught ritual in the harem. Some rose through merit; others through the emperor’s whim. When a woman reached the highest rank, her whole clan drank from that stream of favor. They vied with the sun in splendor; their kin rose beside them like peaks in a range. To press hard against strength invites peril; to move on earth one must yield and follow. Disaster clings to arrogance; fortune favors constancy and trust. Good fortune springs from one’s own conduct; when ruin comes, who else is to blame?
59
附：公主
Supplement: imperial princesses
60
漢制，皇女皆封縣公主，儀服同列侯。 其尊崇者，加號長公主，儀服同蕃王。 諸王女皆封鄉、亭公主，儀服同鄉、亭侯。 鄉、亭侯視中二千石。 肅宗唯特封東平憲王蒼、瑯邪孝王京女為縣公主。 其後安帝、桓帝妹亦封長公主，同之皇女。 其皇女封公主者，所生之子襲母封為列侯，皆傳國於後。 鄉、亭之封，則不傳襲。 其職僚品秩，事在《百官誌》。 不足別載，故附於後紀末。
Under Han law every daughter of the emperor was titled princess of a county, with insignia equal to a full marquis. The most honored bore the additional title senior princess, with regalia like a vassal king’s. Daughters of kings were princesses of a village or pavilion, ranked like village or pavilion marquises. Marquises of townships and pavilions were treated as equivalent to officials of two thousand shi. Emperor Zhang alone made exceptions, enfeoffing the daughters of Liu Cang, the accomplished king of Eastern Ping, and Liu Jing, the filial king of Langye, as county princesses. Later the younger sisters of Emperors An and Huan were also titled senior princesses, on a par with the emperor’s own daughters. When an imperial daughter held a princess title, her son could inherit her rank as a full marquis and pass the fief to his heirs. Village- and pavilion-level princess titles were not inherited. Their offices and salary grades are set out in the Treatise on Officials. They do not warrant a separate chapter, so they are appended here at the end of the empresses’ annals.
61
世祖五女
The five daughters of Emperor Guangwu (Shizu)
62
皇女義王，建武十五年封舞陽長公主，適延陵鄉侯太僕梁松。 松坐誹謗誅。
The princess Yiwang was created senior princess of Wuyang in 39 and married Liang Song, grand coachman and marquis of Yanling Township. Liang Song was executed for slander.
63
皇女中禮，十五年封涅陽公主，適顯親侯大鴻臚竇固，肅宗尊為長公主。
The princess Zhongli became princess of Neyang in 39 and married Grand Herald Dou Gu, marquis of Xianqin; Emperor Zhang later raised her to senior princess.
64
皇女紅夫，十五年封館陶公主，適駙馬都尉韓光。 光坐與淮陽王延謀反誅。
The princess Hongfu was created princess of Guantao in 39 and married Han Guang, commandant of attendant cavalry. Han Guang was executed for plotting rebellion with Liu Yan, prince of Huaiyang.
65
皇女禮劉，十七年封淯陽公主，適陽安侯長樂少府郭璜。 璜坐與竇憲謀反誅。
The princess Liliu was created princess of Yuyang in 41 and married Guo Huang, chamberlain for the Changle palace and marquis of Yang’an. Guo Huang was executed for joining Dou Xian’s rebellion.
66
皇女綬，二十一年封酈邑公主，適新陽侯世子陰豐。 豐害主，誅死。
The princess Shou was created princess of Liyi in 45 and married Yin Feng, heir to the marquisate of Xinyang. Yin Feng murdered her and was put to death.
67
世祖五女。
Such were Emperor Guangwu’s five daughters.
68
顯宗十一女
The eleven daughters of Emperor Ming (Xianzong)
69
皇女姬，永平二年封獲嘉長公主，適楊邑侯將作大匠馮柱。
The princess Ji was created senior princess of Huojia in 59 and married Feng Zhu, master of works and marquis of Yangyi.
70
皇女奴，三年封平陽公主，適大鴻臚馮順。
The princess Nu became princess of Pingyang in 60 and married Grand Herald Feng Shun.
71
皇女迎，三年封隆慮公主，適牟平侯耿襲。
The princess Ying was created princess of Longlu in 60 and married Geng Xi, marquis of Mouping.
72
皇女次，二年封平氏公主。
The princess Ci was created princess of Pingshi in 59.
73
皇女致，三年封沁水公主。 適高密侯鄧乾。
The princess Zhi was created princess of Qinshui in 60. She married Deng Qian, marquis of Gaomi.
74
皇女小姬，十二年封平臯公主，適昌安侯侍中鄧蕃。
The princess Xiao Ji was created princess of Pinggao in 69 and married Deng Fan, palace attendant and marquis of Chang’an.
75
皇女仲，十七年封浚儀公主，適軮侯黃門侍郎王度。
The princess Zhong became princess of Junyi in 74 and married Wang Du, gentleman at the Yellow Gates and marquis of Yang.
76
皇女惠，十七年封武安公主，適征羌侯世子黃門侍郎來棱，安帝尊為長公主。
The princess Hui was created princess of Wu’an in 74 and married Lai Leng, heir to the Zhengqiang marquisate and gentleman at the Yellow Gates; Emperor An later elevated her to senior princess.
77
皇女小迎，元年封樂平公主。
The princess Xiao Ying was created princess of Leping in the first year of the reign (76 CE).
78
皇女小民，元年封成安公主。 皇女臣，建初元年封魯陽公主。
The princess Xiao Min was created princess of Cheng’an in the first year of the reign (76 CE). The princess Chen was created princess of Luyang in 76.
79
成安，縣，屬潁川郡。 顯宗十一女。 肅宗三女
Cheng’an county belonged to Yingchuan Commandery. Such were Emperor Ming's eleven daughters. The three daughters of Emperor Zhang (Suzong)
80
皇女男，建初四年封武德長公主。
The princess Nan became senior princess of Wude in 79.
81
皇女王，四年封平邑公主，平邑，縣，屬代郡，今魏郡昌樂東北又有平邑城。
Princess Wang was made Princess of Pingyi in 79; the note identifies Pingyi in Dai Commandery and another Pingyi city northeast of Changle in Wei.
82
適黃門侍郎馮由。
She married Feng You, a gentleman at the Yellow Gates.
83
皇女吉，永元五年封陰安公主。
The princess Ji was created princess of Yin’an in 93.
84
肅宗三女。
Such were Emperor Zhang’s three daughters.
85
和帝四女
The four daughters of Emperor He
86
皇女保，延平元年封脩武長公主。
The princess Bao was created senior princess of Xiuwu in 106.
87
皇女成，元年封共邑公主。
The princess Cheng was created princess of Gongyi in 106.
88
皇女利，元年封臨潁公主，適即墨侯侍中賈建。
The princess Li became princess of Linying in 106 and married Jia Jian, palace attendant and marquis of Jimo.
89
皇女興，元年封聞喜公主。
The princess Xing was created princess of Wenxi in 106.
90
和帝四女。
Such were Emperor He’s four daughters.
91
順帝三女
The three daughters of Emperor Shun
92
皇女生，永和三年封舞陽長公主。
The princess Sheng was created senior princess of Wuyang in 128.
93
皇女成男，三年封冠軍長公主。
The princess Chengnan was created senior princess of Guanjun in 128.
94
皇女廣，永和六年封汝陽長公主。
The princess Guang was created senior princess of Ruyang in 131.
95
順帝三女。
Such were Emperor Shun’s three daughters.
96
桓帝三女
The three daughters of Emperor Huan
97
皇女華，延熹元年封陽安長公主，適不其侯輔國將軍伏完。
The princess Hua was created senior princess of Yang’an in 158 and married Fu Wan, supporting-state general and marquis of Buqi.
98
皇女堅，七年封潁陰長公主。
The princess Jian was created senior princess of Yingyin in 164.
99
皇女脩，九年封陽翟長公主。
The princess Xiu was created senior princess of Yangzhai in 166.
100
桓帝三女。
Such were Emperor Huan’s three daughters.
101
靈帝一女
The one daughter of Emperor Ling
102
皇女某，光和三年封萬年公主。
A princess whose name was not recorded was created princess of Wannian in 180.
103
靈帝一女。
Such was Emperor Ling’s only daughter.