1
三代宮禁之職,《周官》最詳。 自周已降,彤史沿革,各載本書,此不備述。 唐因隋制,皇后之下,有貴妃、淑妃、德妃、賢妃各一人,為夫人,正一品; 昭儀、昭容、昭媛、修儀、修容、修媛、充儀、充容、充媛各一人,為九嬪,正二品; 婕妤九人,正三品; 美人九人,正四品; 才人九人,正五品; 寶林二十七人,正六品; 御女二十七人,正七品; 采女二十七人,正八品; 其餘六尚諸司,分典乘輿服御。 ,官名改易,內職皆更舊號。 復舊。 開元中,玄宗以皇后之下立四妃,法帝嚳也。 而后妃四星,一為正后; 今既立正后,復有四妃,非典法也。 乃於皇后之下立惠妃、麗妃、華妃等三位,以代三夫人,為正一品; 又置芳儀六人,為正二品; 美人四人,為正三品; 才人七人,為正四品; 尚宮、尚儀、尚服各二人,為正五品; 自六品至九品,即諸司諸典職員品第而序之,後亦參用前號。
The duties of the inner palaces in the Three Dynasties are set out most fully in the Rites of Zhou. From the Zhou period onward, changes in the inner-palace registers appear in each dynasty's own histories and are not rehearsed here. The Tang adopted Sui practice: beneath the empress stood one each of Noble, Virtuous, Moral, and Worthy Consort, styled Ladies of the first rank; the nine posts of Bright, Cultivated, and Fulfilling Consorts, Beauties, and Ladies — one holder each — formed the Nine Concubines of the second rank; nine Fair Ladies of the third rank; nine Beauties of the fourth rank; nine Talented Ladies of the fifth rank; twenty-seven Treasured Forest Ladies of the sixth rank; twenty-seven Imperial Maidens of the seventh rank; twenty-seven Selected Maidens of the eighth rank; The remaining Six Directorates and their bureaus separately oversaw the imperial equipage, wardrobe, and furnishings. In Longshuo year 2 (656), office titles were revised and every inner-court post was renamed. In Xianheng year 2 (671), the old titles were restored. During the Kaiyuan reign, Xuanzong placed four consorts beneath the empress, taking Emperor Ku as his precedent. Yet in the tradition of the four consort stars, only one is the principal empress; to install a principal empress and also four consorts is not proper precedent. He therefore placed Favored, Beautiful, and Splendid Consorts beneath the empress in place of the three Ladies of the first rank; and added six Fragrant Attendants of the second rank; four Beauties of the third rank; seven Talented Ladies of the fourth rank; two each for the Directors of Palace, Ceremonies, and Apparel of the fifth rank; From the sixth through the ninth rank, posts in the various offices were ranked accordingly, and later the earlier titles were partly revived.
2
然而三代之政,莫不以賢妃開國,嬖寵傾邦。 秦、漢已還,其流浸盛。 大至移國,小則臨朝,煥車服以王宗枝,裂土壤而侯肺腑,洎末塗淪敗,赤族夷宗。 高祖龍飛,宮無正寢,而婦言是用,釁起維城。 大帝孝和,仁而不武,但恣池臺之賞,寧顧衽席之嫌? 武室、韋宗,幾危運祚。 東京帝后,歿從夫謚,光烈、和熹之類是也。 高宗自號天皇,武氏自稱天后,而韋庶人生有翌聖之名,肅宗欲后張氏,此不經之甚,皆以凶終。 玄宗以惠妃之愛,擯斥椒宮,繼以太真,幾喪天下。 歷觀前古邦家喪敗之由,多基於子弟召禍。 子弟之亂,必始於宮闈不正。 故息隱鬩墻,秦王謀歸東洛; 馬嵬塗地,太子不敢西行。 若中有聖善之慈,胡能若是? 《易》曰「家道正而天下定」,不其然歟! 自後累朝,長秋虛位,或以旁宗入繼,母屬皆微,徒有冊拜之文,諒乏「關雎」之德。 今錄其存於史冊者,為《后妃傳》云。 高祖太穆皇后竇氏高祖太穆皇后竇氏,京兆始平人,隋定州總管、神武公毅之女也。 后母,周武帝姊襄陽長公主。
Yet across the Three Dynasties, worthy consorts had helped found realms even as favored women brought states to ruin. From Qin and Han onward, the trend only deepened. At their worst they moved the throne itself; at their mildest they ruled from behind the curtain — decking kin in state regalia, carving out fiefs for in-laws, until in the final collapse entire clans were wiped out. When Gaozu took the throne, the palace lacked a settled principal consort, yet he heeded women's counsel, and strife broke out among the imperial sons. Emperor Xiaozong of the Eastern Han was humane but not forceful, lavishing rewards on pools and terraces while ignoring the jealousies of his consorts. The Wu and Wei clans nearly brought down the dynasty. Eastern Han empresses took their husbands' posthumous titles after death, as with Guanglie and Hexi. Gaozong took the title Heavenly Emperor and Wu Zetian called herself Heavenly Empress; Consort Wei gave birth to a child styled Sage of the Morrow; Suzong wished to elevate Lady Zhang — such gross improprieties all ended in violent ruin. Xuanzong, infatuated with Consort Wu, sidelined the principal palace, then elevated Yang Guifei, and nearly lost the empire. Looking back at fallen dynasties, one finds that ruin usually began with trouble among the emperor's sons. Strife among imperial sons always begins with disorder in the inner palace. Hence the feud between Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji, and the Prince of Qin's plan to withdraw to Luoyang; at Mawei the road ran with blood, and the crown prince dared not press westward. Had a truly virtuous mother presided within, how could matters have reached such a pass? The Book of Changes says, "When the household is in order, the realm is secure" — and so it is! In later reigns the empress's seat often stood empty; when collateral branches succeeded, the mothers' families were weak — investiture ceremonies remained, but the virtue praised in "Guan Ju" was lacking. Those whose names survive in the histories are recorded here in the Biography of Empresses and Consorts. Empress Taimu of Gaozu, née Dou, came from Shiping in Jingzhao. She was the daughter of Dou Yi, Sui regional inspector of Dingzhou and Duke of Shenwu. Her mother was the Princess of Xiangyang, a sister of Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou.
3
后生而髮垂過頸,三歲與身齊。 周武帝特愛重之,養於宮中。 時武帝納突厥女為后,無寵,后尚幼,竊言於帝曰:「四邊未靜,突厥尚強,願舅抑情撫慰,以蒼生為念。 但須突厥之助,則江南、關東不能為患矣。」 武帝深納之。 毅聞之,謂長公主曰:「此女才貌如此,不可妄以許人,當為求賢夫。」 乃於門屏畫二孔雀,諸公子有求婚者,輒與兩箭射之,潛約中目者許之。 前後數十輩莫能中,高祖後至,兩發各中一目。 毅大悅,遂歸於我帝。
At birth her hair reached below her neck; by age three it matched her height. Emperor Wu of Zhou doted on her and raised her within the palace. The emperor had taken a Turkic woman as empress but showed her no favor. Still a child, the future empress whispered to him, "The borders are unsettled and the Turks remain strong. I beg you, Uncle, to restrain your feelings and treat her kindly for the people's sake. With Turkic support secured, the south and the eastern provinces cannot threaten us. The emperor took her counsel to heart. When Dou Yi heard of this, he told the princess, "A girl of such talent and beauty must not be given away lightly; we must find a worthy husband for her. He painted two peacocks on the door screen. Each suitor was given two arrows; secretly, whoever struck both eyes would win her hand. Dozens of suitors missed the mark. Gaozu came last and with two shots struck one eye each. Dou Yi was delighted and gave her to our emperor in marriage.
4
及周武帝崩,后追思如喪所生。 隋文帝受禪,后聞而流涕,自投於床曰:「恨我不為男,以救舅氏之難。」 毅與長公主遽掩口曰:「汝勿妄言,滅吾族矣!」
When Emperor Wu of Zhou died, she grieved for him as for her own father. When Emperor Wen of Sui took the throne, she wept and threw herself on the bed, crying, "I wish I were a man, that I might save my uncle from this disaster. Dou Yi and the princess clapped a hand over her mouth: "Do not speak rashly — you will destroy our whole clan!"
5
后事元貞太后,以孝聞。 太后素有羸疾,時或危篤。 諸姒以太后性嚴懼譴,皆稱疾而退,惟后晝夜扶侍,不脫衣履者,動淹旬月焉。 善書學,類高祖之書,人不能辯。 工篇章,而好存規戒。 大業中,高祖為扶風太守,有駿馬數匹。 常言於高祖曰:「上好鷹愛馬,公之所知,此堪進御,不可久留,人或言者,必為身累,願熟思之。」 高祖未決,竟以此獲譴。 未幾,后崩於涿郡,時年四十五。 高祖追思后言,方為自安之計,數求鷹犬以進之,俄而擢拜將軍,因流涕謂諸子曰:「我早從汝母之言,居此官久矣。」 初葬壽安陵,後祔葬獻陵。 上元元年八月,改上尊號曰太穆順聖皇后。 太宗文德皇后長孫氏太宗文德順聖皇后長孫氏,長安人,隋右驍衛將軍晟之女也。 晟妻,隋揚州刺史高敬德女,生后。 少好讀書,造次必循禮則。 年十三,嬪於太宗。 隋大業中,常歸寧於永興里,后舅高士廉媵張氏,於后所宿舍外見大馬,高二丈,鞍勒皆具,以告士廉。 命筮之,遇《坤》之《泰》,筮者曰:「至哉坤元,萬物資生,乃順承天。 坤厚載物,德合無疆。 牝馬地類,行地無疆。 變而之《泰》,內陽而外陰,內健而外順,是天地交而萬物通也。 《象》曰:后以輔相天地之宜而左右人也。 龍,《乾》之象也。 馬,《坤》之象也。 變而為《泰》,天地交也。 繇協於《歸妹》,婦人之兆也。 女處尊位,履中居順也。 此女貴不可言。」 武德元年,冊為秦王妃。 時太宗功業既高,隱太子猜忌滋甚。 后孝事高祖,恭順妃嬪,盡力彌縫,以存內助。 及難作,太宗在玄武門,方引將士入宮授甲,后親慰勉之,左右莫不感激。 九年,冊拜皇太子妃。
She served Empress Dowager Yuanzhen and won renown for her filial devotion. The dowager had long been frail and sometimes hovered near death. The other daughters-in-law, fearing the dowager's severity, all pleaded illness and withdrew; she alone nursed her day and night without removing shoes or gown, often for a month at a time. She wrote beautifully; her hand so resembled Gaozu's that none could tell them apart. She was accomplished in letters and fond of preserving moral counsel. During the Daye reign Gaozu served as prefect of Fufeng and kept several fine horses. She often warned Gaozu, "The emperor loves hawks and horses — you know that. These are fit for the throne and must not be kept. If word reaches the court, you will be ruined. Think on this carefully. He hesitated, and in the end was punished for keeping them. Soon afterward she died in Zhuo Commandery at the age of forty-five. Gaozu recalled her warning and set about securing his position, repeatedly sending hawks and hounds to the throne; soon he was promoted to general. Weeping, he told his sons, "Had I heeded your mother sooner, I would have held this rank long ago. She was first buried at Shou'an Mausoleum and later removed to Xian Mausoleum. In the eighth month of Shangyuan year 1 (674), her posthumous title was raised to Empress Taimu the Sagely and Accomplished. Empress Wende of Taizong, née Zhangsun, came from Chang'an. She was the daughter of Sheng, general of the Right Valiant Cavalry under the Sui. Sheng's wife was the daughter of Gao Jingde, Sui inspector of Yangzhou, and bore the empress. From childhood she loved books and observed propriety in every action. At thirteen she entered Taizong's household as a consort. During the Sui Daye reign she often visited her family in Yongxing Lane. Her uncle Gao Shilian's concubine Lady Zhang saw outside her quarters a great horse two zhang tall, fully saddled and bridled, and told Shilian. He had the omen divined and obtained Kun changing to Tai. The diviner said, "How supreme is the Earth, mother of all things! All life springs from it in obedience to Heaven. The Earth is vast and bears all things; its virtue knows no limit. The mare belongs to the earth and ranges across it without end. Changing to Tai — yang within, yin without; strength within, compliance without — Heaven and Earth unite and all things flow freely. The Image says: The queen assists Heaven and Earth in their proper roles and thereby guides the people. The dragon is the symbol of Qian. The horse is the symbol of Kun. Changing to Tai — Heaven and Earth unite. The judgment aligns with Marrying the Younger Sister — a woman's omen. A woman in an honored place, centered and compliant in her conduct. This woman's eminence is beyond words. In Wude year 1 (618) she was invested as Princess of Qin. By then Taizong's achievements were great and the crown prince Li Jiancheng's suspicions deepened. She served Gaozu filially, treated the consorts with respect, and worked to mend palace relations, preserving harmony within. When crisis came, Taizong was at Xuanwu Gate arming his officers. She went out in person to encourage them, and all were deeply moved. In year 9 (626) she was invested as consort of the crown prince.
6
太宗即位,立為皇后。 贈后父晟司空、齊獻公。 后性尤儉約,凡所服御,取給而已。 太宗彌加禮待,常與后論及賞罰之事,對曰:「牝雞之晨,惟家之索。 妾以婦人,豈敢豫聞政事?」 太宗固與之言,竟不之答。 時后兄無忌,夙與太宗為布衣之交,又以佐命元勛,委以腹心,出入臥內,將任之朝政。 后固言不可,每乘間奏曰:「妾既托身紫宮,尊貴已極,實不願兄弟子侄布列朝廷。 漢之呂、霍可為切骨之誡,特願聖朝勿以妾兄為宰執。」 太宗不聽,竟用無忌為左武候大將軍、吏部尚書、右僕射。 后又密遣無忌苦求遜職,太宗不獲已而許焉,改授開府儀同三司,后意乃懌。 有異母兄安業,好酒無賴。 獻公之薨也,后及無忌並幼,安業斥還舅氏,后殊不以介意,每請太宗厚加恩禮,位至監門將軍。 及預劉德裕逆謀,太宗將殺之,后叩頭流涕為請命曰:「安業之罪,萬死無赦。 然不慈於妾,天下知之,今置以極刑,人必謂妾恃寵以復其兄,無乃為聖朝累乎!」 遂得減死。
When Taizong ascended the throne, she was made empress. Her father Sheng was posthumously made Minister of Works and Duke of Qixian. The empress was notably frugal, taking only what she needed for dress and daily use. Taizong treated her with growing respect and often discussed rewards and punishments with her. She replied, "When the hen crows at dawn, the household is ruined. I am only a woman — how dare I meddle in government? Taizong pressed her, but she would not reply. Her elder brother Zhangsun Wuji had long been Taizong's close friend and, as a founding merit-holder, was trusted as a confidant who entered the inner quarters freely; Taizong meant to place him at the head of government. The empress firmly opposed this and whenever she could said to him, "Having entered the Purple Palace, my honor is already complete; I do not wish my brothers and nephews spread through the court. The Lü and Huo clans of Han are warnings carved in bone; I beg Your Majesty not to make my brother chief minister. Taizong would not listen and appointed Wuji general of the Left Martial Guard, minister of personnel, and vice director of the left. She then secretly had Wuji plead to resign. Taizong reluctantly agreed and made him honorary grand master with golden seal and purple ribbon; only then was she satisfied. She had a half-brother, Anye, a drunkard and wastrel. When Duke Xian died, she and Wuji were children; Anye drove away their mother's family. She bore no grudge and repeatedly asked Taizong to treat him generously, until he rose to gate-guard general. When he became implicated in Liu Deyu's treason plot, Taizong was about to put him to death. The empress knelt, weeping, and pleaded for his life, saying, "Anye's crime deserves death ten thousand times over and admits no pardon. Yet his lack of kindness toward me is known throughout the realm. If you now impose the death penalty, people will surely say I used my favor to avenge my brother — would that not be a burden on the sacred court!" He was spared execution.
7
后所生長樂公主,太宗特所鐘愛,及將出降,敕所司資送倍於長公主。 魏徵諫曰:「昔漢明帝時,將封皇子,帝曰:『朕子安得同於先帝子乎!』 然謂長主者,良以尊於公主也,情雖有差,義無等別。 若令公主之禮有過長主,理恐不可,願陛下思之。」 太宗以其言退而告后,后嘆曰:「嘗聞陛下重魏徵,殊未知其故。 今聞其諫,實乃能以義制主之情,可謂正直社稷之臣矣。 妾與陛下結髮為夫婦,曲蒙禮待,情義深重,每言必候顏色,尚不敢輕犯威嚴,況在臣下,情疏禮隔,故韓非為之說難,東方稱其不易,良有以也。 忠言逆於耳而利於行,有國有家者急務,納之則俗寧,杜之則政亂,誠願陛下詳之,則天下幸甚。」 后因請遣中使賫帛五百匹,詣徵宅以賜之。 太子承乾乳母遂安夫人常白后曰:「東宮器用闕少,欲有奏請。」 后不聽,曰:「為太子,所患德不立而名不揚,何憂少於器物也!」
The empress bore Princess Changle, whom Taizong especially cherished. When she was about to marry, he ordered the relevant offices to supply a dowry twice that given to elder princesses. Wei Zheng remonstrated, "In the reign of Emperor Ming of Han, when he was about to enfeoff his sons, the emperor said, 'How can my sons be treated the same as the former emperor's sons! Yet when one speaks of an elder princess, it is precisely because she outranks a princess in honor; though affection may differ, ritual principle admits no equality of rank. If a princess's rites exceed those of an elder princess, reason says it cannot stand — I beg Your Majesty to consider this." Taizong withdrew on his words and told the empress. She sighed, "I had heard Your Majesty valued Wei Zheng but never knew why. Now that I hear this remonstrance, I see he can indeed use principle to restrain the sovereign's feelings — he may truly be called a minister upright for the altars of state. You and I bound our hair as husband and wife, and I have been graciously treated; our bond runs deep. With every word I still watch your expression and dare not lightly offend your majesty — how much more for subjects below, where feeling is distant and ritual stands between! Hence Han Fei wrote of the difficulty, and Dongfang Shuo said it was not easy — and they had good reason. Straight talk grates on the ear yet benefits conduct; rulers of states and households should treat it as urgent. Accept it and the realm is at peace; shut it out and government falls into disorder. I truly wish Your Majesty to weigh this carefully — then the realm will be greatly blessed." The empress then asked that an inner envoy be sent with five hundred bolts of silk to Wei Zheng's residence as a gift. The crown prince Chenggan's wet nurse, Lady Suian, often told the empress, "The Eastern Palace's furnishings are in short supply; I wish to submit a request." The empress would not listen and said, "As crown prince, what you should fear is that virtue is not established and your name does not spread — why worry about having too few furnishings!"
8
八年,從幸九成宮,染疾危惙,太子承乾入侍,密啟后曰:「醫藥備盡,尊體不瘳,請奏赦囚徒,並度人入道,冀蒙福助。」 后曰:「死生有命,非人力所加。 若修福可延,吾素非為惡。 若行善無效,何福可求? 赦者,國之大事; 佛道者,示存異方之教耳,非惟政體靡弊,又是上所不為,豈以吾一婦人而亂天下法?」 承乾不敢奏,以告左僕射房玄齡,玄齡以聞,太宗及侍臣莫不噓唏。 朝臣咸請肆赦,太宗從之; 后聞之,固爭,乃止。 將大漸,與太宗辭訣,時玄齡以譴歸第,后固言:「玄齡事陛下最久,小心謹慎,奇謀秘計,皆所預聞,竟無一言漏泄,非有大故,願勿棄之。 又妾之本宗,幸緣姻戚,既非德舉,易履危機,其保全永久,慎勿處之權要,但以外戚奉朝請,則為幸矣。 妾生既無益於時,今死不可厚費。 且葬者,藏也,欲人之不見。 自古聖賢,皆崇儉薄,惟無道之世,大起山陵,勞費天下,為有識者笑。 但請因山而葬,不須起墳,無用棺槨,所須器服,皆以木瓦,儉薄送終,則是不忘妾也。」 十年六月己卯,崩於立政殿,時年三十六。 其年十一月庚寅,葬於昭陵。
In year 8 (634), when she accompanied him to Jiucheng Palace, she fell gravely ill. Crown Prince Chenggan came to attend her and secretly told the empress, "Medicine has been exhausted and you do not recover. I beg that amnesty for prisoners be memorialized and people ordained into the Way, hoping for blessed aid." The empress said, "Life and death have their allotted span; no human power can alter them. If cultivating merit could extend life, I have never done evil. If doing good is without effect, what merit can be sought? Amnesty is a great matter of state; Buddhism and Daoism merely display teachings from other regions — they are not only for when government is failing, and moreover they are what the sovereign will not do. How could I, one woman, disorder the laws of the realm?" Chenggan did not dare memorialize this but told the left vice director Fang Xuanling, who reported it. Taizong and the attending officials all sighed and wept. The courtiers all asked for a general amnesty, and Taizong agreed; when the empress heard of it, she firmly opposed it, and the amnesty was stopped. As she was near death, she took leave of Taizong. At that time Xuanling had been sent home under reprimand, and the empress firmly said, "Xuanling has served Your Majesty longest, cautious and careful; his subtle stratagems and secret plans have all been heard by him, yet not a word has leaked — unless there is grave cause, I beg you not to abandon him. Also my own clan, fortunate through marriage ties, was raised not for virtue and easily walks into peril; for their lasting preservation, be careful not to place them in positions of power — only let them attend court as maternal kin, and that will be enough. While living I was already of no benefit to the age; now in death I must not be richly supplied. Moreover, burial means to store away — one wishes that people do not see. Since antiquity sage and worthy rulers have all honored thrift; only in lawless ages are great mounds raised, exhausting the realm and becoming a laughingstock to the discerning. Only request burial in the mountains, with no need to raise a mound; do not use inner and outer coffins; whatever vessels and dress are needed, let all be of wood and tile; a thrifty send-off — that is not forgetting me." On the day jimao of the sixth month of year 10 (636) she died in Lizheng Hall, aged thirty-six. On the day gengyin of the eleventh month of that year she was buried at Zhaoling.
9
后嘗撰古婦人善事,勒成十卷,名曰《女則》,自為之序。 又著論駁漢明德馬皇后,以為不能抑退外戚,令其當朝貴盛,乃戒其龍馬水車,此乃開其禍源而防其末事耳。 且戒主守者曰:「此吾以自防閑耳。 婦人著述無條貫,不欲至尊見之,慎勿言。」 崩後,宮司以聞,太宗覽而增慟,以示近臣曰:「皇后此書,足可垂於後代。 我豈不達天命而不能割情乎! 以其每能規諫,補朕之闕,今不復聞善言,是內失一良佐,以此令人哀耳!」 上元元年八月,改上尊號曰文德順聖皇后。 賢妃徐氏太宗賢妃徐氏,名惠,右散騎常侍堅之姑也。 生五月而能言,四歲誦《論語》、《毛詩》,八歲好屬文。 其父孝德試擬《楚辭》,云「山中不可以久留」,詞甚典美。 自此遍涉經史,手不釋卷。 太宗聞之,納為才人。 其所屬文,揮翰立成,詞華綺贍。 俄拜婕妤,再遷充容。 時軍旅亟動,宮室互興,百姓頗倦勞役,上疏諫曰:
The empress once compiled good deeds of ancient women, bound them into ten scrolls entitled Regulations for Women, and wrote the preface herself. She also wrote a discourse refuting Empress Ma of Han Mingde, holding that she could not restrain and push back maternal kin, letting them hold noble rank at court — warning them against dragon carriages and water wheels was only to open the source of disaster and guard against the last matter. And she warned the keeper of the main seal, "This is for my own guard and restraint. A woman's writings lack orderly scope; I do not wish the Sovereign to see them — do not speak of it." After her death the palace office reported it. Taizong read it and his grief deepened; he showed it to his close ministers and said, "The empress's book can indeed be handed down to later generations. Do I not comprehend Heaven's mandate yet cannot cut off affection! Because she could always remonstrate and remedy my deficiencies, I no longer hear good words — this is losing a fine assistant within; that is what makes one mourn!" In the eighth month of Shangyuan year 1 (674), her honorific title was changed to Empress Wende the Sagely and Accomplished. Noble Consort Xu, favored consort of Taizong, named Hui, was a niece of Xu Jian, right attendant cavalier-at-large. At five months she could speak; at four she could recite the Analects and Mao's Odes; at eight she delighted in literary composition. Her father Xiaode once composed verses in the manner of the Songs of Chu, writing "one cannot long remain in the mountains," with wording very classical and beautiful. From then on she ranged through the classics and histories, never setting a book aside. When Taizong heard of her, he took her in as a talented lady. Whatever prose she composed, she finished at the stroke of the brush, her wording ornate and rich. Soon she was promoted to Shining Lady, then again to Fulfilling Presence. At that time the army marched often and palaces rose one after another; the people grew weary of labor service. She submitted a memorial to remonstrate, saying:
10
:「自貞觀已來,二十有二載,風調雨順,年登歲稔,人無水旱之弊,國無饑饉之災。 昔漢武守文之常主,猶登刻玉之符; 齊桓小國之庸君,尚圖泥金之事。 望陛下推功損己,讓德不居。 億兆傾心,猶闕告成之禮; 雲亭佇謁,未展升中之儀。 此之功德,足以咀嚼百王,網羅千代者矣。 古人有云:「雖休勿休」,良有以也。 守初保末,聖哲罕兼。 是知業大者易驕,願陛下難之; 善始者難終,願陛下易之。
"Since the Zhenguan era, twenty-two years have passed: winds have been temperate and rains timely, harvests full year after year, the people without harm from flood or drought, the state without famine. Even Emperor Wu of Han, a ruler who kept to the written tradition, still mounted the jade-inscribed tablet; Duke Huan of Qi, a mediocre lord of a small state, still aspired to the clay-and-gold rite. I hope Your Majesty will push merit aside and diminish yourself, yielding virtue and not resting in it. The hundreds of millions bend their hearts, yet the rite of announcing completion is still lacking; At Yun and Ting they wait to attend, yet the ceremony of ascending and offering at the central peak is still not performed. With such merit and virtue, one could surpass the hundred kings and encompass the thousand generations. The ancients said, "Though at ease, do not rest" — and they had solid reason. Guarding the beginning and preserving the end — sage and worthy rulers rarely unite both. Thus we know that when one's enterprise is great, pride comes easily — I hope Your Majesty will find it difficult; when one is good at starting, finishing is hard — I hope Your Majesty will find it easy.
11
:「竊見頃年已來,力役兼總,東有遼海之軍,西有昆丘之役,士馬疲於甲胄,舟車倦於轉輸。 且召募役戍,去留懷死生之痛; 因風阻浪,人米有漂溺之危。 一夫力耕,卒無數十之獲; 一船致損,則傾數百之糧。 是猶運有盡之農功,填無窮之巨浪,圖未獲之他眾,喪已成之我軍。 雖除凶伐暴,有國常規; 然黷武玩兵,先哲所戒。 昔秦皇並吞六國,反速危亡之基; 晉武奄有三方,翻成覆敗之業。 豈非矜功恃大,棄德而輕邦; 圖利忘害,肆情而縱欲? 遂使悠悠六合,雖廣不救其亡; 嗷嗷黎庶,因弊以成其禍。 是知地廣非常安之術,人勞乃易亂之源。 願陛下布澤流人,矜弊恤乏,減行役之煩,增湛露之惠。 妾又聞為政之本,貴在無為。 竊見土木之功,不可兼遂。 此闕初建,南營翠微,曾未逾時,玉華創制。 雖復因山藉水,非無架築之勞; 損之又損,頗有工力之費。 終以茅茨示約,猶興木石之疲; 假使和雇取人,不無煩擾之弊。 是以卑宮菲食,聖主之所安; 金屋瑤臺,驕主之為麗。 故有道之君,以逸逸人; 無道之君,以樂樂身。 願陛下使之以時,則力無竭矣; 用而息之,則人斯悅矣。
"I observe that in recent years labor levies have been combined: in the east, armies on the Liaodong sea; in the west, campaigns at Kunqiu Mound. Soldiers and horses grow weary in armor; boats and carts grow weary in transport. Moreover, recruiting conscripts for garrison duty — whether they go or stay, they bear the pain of life and death; wind and waves intervene — men and grain alike face the peril of drifting and drowning. One man's plowing yields at most a few tens; one ship lost overturns several hundreds' worth of grain. This is like transporting finite farming labor to fill endless waves, plotting to gain an enemy not yet won while losing our army already formed. Though eliminating the vicious and punishing the violent are regular duties of a state, yet indulging in arms and playing with war are what former sages warned against. In the past Qin Shihuang swallowed the six states, yet swiftly laid the foundation for peril and ruin; Jin Wudi embraced three regions, yet turned into the enterprise of overturn and defeat. Was it not pride in merit and reliance on greatness, abandoning virtue and slighting the realm; scheming profit and forgetting harm, indulging feeling and giving free rein to desire? Thus the far-reaching six realms, though vast, could not save them from ruin; the wailing common people, through exhaustion, were made to complete their disaster. From this one knows that broad territory is not a technique for lasting peace, and human toil is the source of easy disorder. I hope Your Majesty will spread favors and ease the people, pity the weary and succor the needy, reduce the troubles of corvée travel, and increase the grace of generous dew. Your servant also hears that the root of governing lies in valuing non-action. I observe that earth-and-timber projects cannot all be completed at once. While this palace was first raised, the south was building Cuiwei; before a season had passed, Yuhua was newly founded. Though they followed mountains and borrowed water, it was not without labor of framing and building; diminish again and again — still there was cost in craftsmen's strength. In the end, showing restraint with thatched huts still stirred weariness in wood and stone; even if hired labor were used, there would still be trouble of harassment. Hence low palaces and meager food are what sagely rulers rest in; golden houses and jasper terraces are what arrogant rulers take as splendor. Thus rulers who have the Way ease their people; rulers without the Way take joy for themselves. I hope Your Majesty will use the people seasonally — then strength will not be exhausted; use them and let them rest — then the people will be pleased.
12
:「夫珍玩伎巧,乃喪國之斧斤; 珠玉錦繡,實迷心之鴆毒。 竊見服玩纖靡,如變化於自然; 織貢珍奇,若神仙之所制。 雖馳華於季俗,實敗素於淳風。 是知漆器非延叛之方,桀造之而人叛; 玉杯豈招亡之術,紂用之而國亡。 方驗侈麗之源,不可不遏。 作法於儉,猶恐其奢; 作法於奢,何以制後? 伏惟陛下明鑒未形,智周無際,窮奧秘於麟閣,盡探賾於儒林。 千王治亂之蹤,百代安危之跡,興衰禍福之數,得失成敗之機,故亦苞吞心府之中,循環目圍之內,乃宸衷之久察,無假一二言焉。 惟恐知之非難,行之不易,志驕於業泰,體逸於時安。 伏願抑志裁心,慎終如始,削輕過以添重德,循今是以替前非,則令名與日月無窮,盛業與乾坤永大。」
"Trinkets, curios, and clever craft are the axes that destroy a state; pearls, jade, brocade, and embroidery are truly the poison that bewilders the heart. I observe dress and play refined to fineness, as if transformed by nature; woven tribute of strange wonders, as if made by immortals. Though they race with splendor in the fashion of the day, they truly spoil simplicity and ruin pure custom. From this one knows lacquer vessels are not a way to postpone rebellion — Jie made them and people rebelled; jade cups are hardly a method to summon ruin — Zhou used them and the state perished. One is just verifying that the source of extravagance and beauty must not go unchecked. When one makes policy in thrift, one still fears it will become extravagant; when one makes policy in extravagance, how can one control those who come after? Your servant considers that Your Majesty's bright discernment reaches what is not yet formed, wisdom encircles what has no boundary, exhausts mysteries in the Qilin Pavilion, and thoroughly plumbs the depths in the forest of ru. The tracks of a thousand kings' order and disorder, the traces of a hundred generations' safety and peril, the numbers of rise and fall with blessing and calamity, the mechanisms of gain and loss with success and failure — thus they are all embraced within the heart's chambers, circling within the scope of the eyes; they are what Your Majesty's inner mind has long scrutinized, with no need for one or two words. My sole worry is that while recognizing the right path may be easy, walking it is hard: resolve turns arrogant when great works succeed, and discipline slackens when peace lasts too long. I humbly beg you to hold your spirit in check, guard your heart, and treat the finish as you did the start: shed small faults to gain greater virtue, and use the present course to atone for the past. Then your renown will outlast the sun and moon, and your achievements will endure as wide as heaven and earth."
13
太宗善其言,優賜甚厚。 及太宗崩,追思顧遇之恩,哀慕愈甚,發疾不自醫。 病甚,謂所親曰:「吾荷顧實深,志在早歿,魂其有靈,得侍園寢,吾之志也。」 因為七言詩及連珠以見其志。 永徽元年卒,時年二十四,詔贈賢妃,陪葬於昭陵之石室。 高宗廢后王氏高宗廢后王氏,并州祁人也。 父仁祐,貞觀中羅山令。 同安長公主,即后之從祖母也。 公主以后有美色,言於太宗,遂納為晉王妃。 高宗登儲,冊為皇太子妃,以父仁祐為陳州刺史。 永徽初,立為皇后,以仁祐為特進、魏國公,母柳氏為魏國夫人。 仁祐尋卒,贈司空。
Emperor Taizong approved her counsel and rewarded her generously. After Taizong's death, as she brooded on the kindness he had shown her, her grief deepened; she fell ill and refused medical care. As her illness worsened, she told her intimates: "The favor I owe is profound; my heart's wish is to die young. If my spirit lives, to serve in the park-tomb enclosure—that is what I desire." She then wrote a heptasyllabic poem and a linked-verse piece to express that wish. She died in the first year of Yonghui (650), at twenty-four. An edict granted her posthumously the title Worthy Consort, and she was buried at Zhaoling in its stone chamber. Deposed Empress Wang of Emperor Gaozong—hereafter Deposed Empress Wang of Emperor Gaozong—was from Qi in Bingzhou. Her father Ren You served as magistrate of Luoshan during the Zhenguan period. Princess Chang of Tong'an was her great-aunt. Because the future empress was beautiful, the princess spoke of her to Emperor Taizong, and she was given in marriage to the Prince of Jin. When Gaozong became crown prince, she was named crown princess, and her father Ren You was appointed prefect of Chenzhou. Early in Yonghui she was made empress; Ren You was promoted to supernumerary grand counselor and created Duke of Wei, and her mother Lady Liu was enfeoffed as Dame of Wei. Ren You died shortly afterward and was posthumously honored as Grand Counselor of State.
14
初,武皇后貞觀末隨太宗嬪御居於感業寺,后及左右數為之言,高宗由是復召入宮,立為昭儀。 俄而漸承恩寵,遂與后及良娣蕭氏遞相譖毀。 帝終不納后言,而昭儀寵遇日厚。 后懼不自安,密與母柳氏求巫祝厭勝。 事發,帝大怒,斷柳氏不許入宮中,后舅中書令柳奭罷知政事,並將廢后,長孫無忌、褚遂良等固諫,乃止。 俄又納李義府之策,永徽六年十月,廢后及蕭良娣皆為庶人,囚之別院。 武昭儀令人皆縊殺之。 后母柳氏、兄尚衣奉御全信及蕭氏兄弟,並配流嶺外。 遂立昭儀為皇后。 尋又追改后姓為蟒氏,蕭良娣為梟氏。 良娣蕭氏庶人良娣初囚,大罵曰:「願阿武為老鼠,吾作貓兒,生生扼其喉!」 武后怒,自是宮中不畜貓。 初囚,高宗念之,閑行至其所,見其室封閉極密,惟開一竅通食器出入。 高宗惻然,呼曰:「皇后、淑妃安在?」 庶人泣而對曰:「妾等得罪,廢棄為宮婢,何得更有尊稱,名為皇后?」 言訖悲咽,又曰:「今至尊思及疇昔,使妾等再見日月,出入院中,望改此院名為『回心院』,妾等再生之幸。」 高宗曰:「朕即有處置。」 武后知之,令人杖庶人及蕭氏各一百,截去手足,投於酒甕中,曰:「令此二嫗骨醉!」 數日而卒。
Earlier, in the late Zhenguan years, the future Empress Wu had lived at Ganye Temple as one of Taizong's consorts. The empress and her circle spoke for her repeatedly, and Gaozong recalled her to court and made her Shining Countenance. She soon won the emperor's favor, and she, the empress, and Worthy Lady Xiao traded accusations in turn. The emperor would no longer heed the empress, while the Shining Countenance's favor grew stronger day by day. Fearful and uneasy, the empress secretly joined her mother Lady Liu in hiring sorcerers for malign rites. When the plot was exposed, the emperor was furious. He barred Lady Liu from the palace, removed the empress's uncle Liu Shi from his post as chief minister, and was on the verge of deposing the empress. Zhangsun Wuji, Chu Suiliang, and others argued fiercely against it, and he relented. He soon took Li Yifu's advice. In the tenth month of the sixth year of Yonghui (655), the empress and Worthy Lady Xiao were reduced to commoners and confined in a separate residence. Consort Wu sent men to strangle them. The empress's mother Lady Liu, her brother Quanxin of the Palace Wardrobe, and the Xiao brothers were all exiled beyond the Nanling range. Consort Wu was then enthroned as empress. Shortly afterward the deposed empress's clan name was changed to Mang ("python"), and Lady Xiao's to Xiao ("owl-kite"). When Worthy Lady Xiao was first imprisoned as a commoner, she screamed: "May that witch Wu be a mouse and I the cat—I would tear out her throat in every life to come!" Wu was furious. From that day the palace kept no cats. Early in their confinement Gaozong still thought of them and strolled to their quarters. The rooms were sealed tight; only a small aperture allowed food to pass through. Moved to pity, Gaozong called out: "Empress! Honored Consort! Are you well?" They wept and answered: "We are guilty offenders, discarded as palace slaves. How can we still bear the title of empress?" Their voices broke in grief. They went on: "That Your Majesty remembers the past and lets us see daylight again—if we might walk freely in this courtyard, we beg you rename it the 'Courtyard of the Turning Heart.' That would be rebirth for us." Gaozong said, "I will see to it." When Wu heard, she had each of them flogged a hundred strokes, cut off their hands and feet, and thrown into wine vats, saying, "Let these two hags' bones soak drunk!" They died within days.
15
後則天頻見王、蕭二庶人披髮瀝血,如死時狀。 武后惡之,禱以巫祝,又移居蓬萊宮,復見,故多在東都。
Later Wu Zetian often saw Wang and Xiao as they had been at death—hair undone, blood streaming. She loathed the visions and sought shamans to exorcise them. She moved to Penglai Palace but still saw the ghosts, and thereafter spent much of her time in the eastern capital.
16
中宗即位,復后姓為王氏,梟氏還為蕭氏。 中宗和思皇后趙氏中宗和思皇后趙氏,京兆長安人。 祖綽,武德中以戰功至右領軍衛將軍。 父瑰,尚高祖女常樂公主,歷遷左千牛將軍。 中宗為英王時,納后為妃。 既而妃母公主得罪,妃亦坐廢,幽死於內侍省。 則天臨朝,瑰為壽州刺史,坐與越王貞連謀被誅,公主亦坐死。 神龍元年,贈后謚為恭皇后,贈瑰左衛大將軍。 及中宗崩,將葬於定陵,議者以韋后得罪,不宜祔葬,於是追謚后為和思,莫知瘞所,行招魂祔葬之禮。 太常博士彭景直上言:「古無招魂葬之禮,不可備棺槨,置轀鬻輬。 宜據《漢書郊祀志》葬黃帝衣冠於橋山故事,以皇后禕衣於陵所寢宮招魂,置衣於魂輿,以太牢告祭,遷衣於寢宮,舒於御榻之右,覆以夷衾而祔葬焉。」 從之。 韋庶人中宗韋庶人,京兆萬年人也。 祖弘表,貞觀中為曹王府典軍。 中宗為太子時,納后為妃,仍擢后父普州參軍玄貞為豫州刺史。 嗣聖元年,立為皇后。 其年,中宗見廢,后隨從房州。 時中宗懼不自安,每聞制使至,惶恐欲自殺。 后勸王曰:「禍福倚伏,何常之有? 豈失一死,何遽如是也!」 累年同艱危,情義甚篤。 所生懿德太子、永泰、永壽、長寧、安樂四公主,安樂最幼,生於房州,帝自脫衣裹之,遂名曰裹兒,特寵異焉。 及中宗復立為太子,又立后為妃。 時昭容上官氏常勸后行則天故事,乃上表請天下士庶為出母服喪三年; 又請百姓以年二十三為丁,五十九免役,改易制度,以收時望。 制皆許之。
When Emperor Zhongzong took the throne, the Wang surname was restored and the Xiao clan name as well. Empress He-si ("Harmonious Thought") Zhao of Emperor Zhongzong—hereafter Empress He-si Zhao—was from Chang'an in the capital district. Her grandfather Chuo rose to general of the Right Wing Army on his battlefield record during the Wude years. Her father Gui married Princess Changle, a daughter of Emperor Gaozu, and eventually served as general of the Left Palace Reins Guard. When Zhongzong was Prince of Ying, he made her his princess-consort. When her mother the princess fell from favor, the consort was implicated, deposed, and secretly killed in the palace eunuchs' quarters. Under Wu Zetian's regency, Gui was prefect of Shouzhou but was executed for plotting with Prince Zhen of Yue; the princess died as well. In the first year of Shenlong (705) she was posthumously honored as Empress Gong ("Respectful"), and Gui as commander of the Left Guard. After Zhongzong's death, as burial at Dingling was planned, court opinion held that the convicted Empress Wei should not be enshrined beside him. The late Empress Zhao was therefore given the posthumous title He-si, but since no one knew where she lay, officials performed a soul-summoning rite for joint burial. Court of Sacrifices academician Peng Jingzhi memorialized: "Antiquity knew no soul-summoning burial. One cannot furnish inner and outer coffins or lay out the full funerary train. Follow instead the precedent in the Monograph on Sacrifices in the Book of Han, where the Yellow Emperor's robes were interred at Mount Qiao: bring the empress's spirit robe to the tomb-chamber to summon her soul, place it in the soul carriage, sacrifice with the grand offerings, then lay the robe on the right of the imperial bed, cover it with the funeral pall, and thus complete the joint burial." The court adopted his proposal. Empress Wei of Emperor Zhongzong—hereafter Consort Wei—was from Wannian in the capital district. Her grandfather Hongbiao was a staff officer in the household of the Prince of Cao during Zhenguan. While Zhongzong was crown prince he took her as consort and promoted her father Xuanzhen, a militia officer in Pu Prefecture, to prefect of Yuzhou. In the first year of Sisheng (684) she was made empress. That same year Zhongzong was deposed, and the empress accompanied him into exile at Fangzhou. In those years Zhongzong lived in constant fear. Whenever an imperial envoy was reported, he panicked and was ready to take his own life. The empress comforted him: "Fortune and misfortune turn on each other—what in life is ever fixed? Death comes once—why be in such haste to meet it!" Year after year they shared hardship, and their bond grew very close. She bore Crown Prince Yide and the princesses Yongtai, Yongshou, Changning, and Anle. Anle, the youngest, was born in exile at Fangzhou; the emperor wrapped her in his own robe, hence her nickname "Little Bundle," and she became his especial darling. When Zhongzong was restored as heir apparent, she was again named crown princess. Lady Shangguan, as shining attendant, often urged the empress to follow Wu Zetian's example. She memorialized that all subjects should mourn a divorced birth mother for three full years; and that corvée duty should begin at twenty-three and end at fifty-nine—reforms meant to win popular approval. The emperor approved every proposal.
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帝在房州時,常謂后曰:「一朝見天日,誓不相禁忌。」 及得志,受上官昭容邪說,引武三思入宮中,升御床,與后雙陸,帝為點籌,以為歡笑,醜聲日聞於外。 乃大出宮女,雖左右內職,亦許時出禁中。 上官氏及宮人貴幸者,皆立外宅,出入不節,朝官邪佞者候之,恣為狎遊,祈其賞秩,以至要官。 時侍中敬暉謀去諸武,武三思患之,乃結上官氏以為援,因得幸於后,潛入宮中謀議,乃諷百官上帝尊號為應天皇帝,后為順天皇后。 帝與后親謁太廟,告謝受尊號之意。 於是三思驕橫用事,敬暉、王同皎相次夷滅,天下咸歸咎於后。 后方優寵親屬,內外封拜,遍列清要。 又欲寵樹安樂公主,乃制公主開府,置官屬。 太平公主儀比親王。 長寧、安樂二府不置長史而已。 宜城公主等以非后所生,各減太平之半。 安樂恃寵驕恣,賣官鬻獄,勢傾朝廷,常自草制敕,掩其文而請帝書焉,帝笑而從之,竟不省視。 又請自立為皇太女,帝雖不從,亦不加譴。 所署府僚,皆猥濫非才。 又廣營第宅,侈靡過甚。 長寧及諸公主叠相仿效,天下咸嗟怨之。
During the Fangzhou exile he often told her: "When we see daylight again, I swear we shall put no restraints on each other. But once restored he heeded the corrupt counsel of Lady Shangguan. He brought Wu Sansi into the palace, where the empress played backgammon with him on the imperial bed while the emperor kept score—all for amusement. Scandalous tales spread daily beyond the walls. He released vast numbers of palace women and even allowed inner attendants to leave the palace grounds from time to time. Lady Shangguan and favored palace women maintained houses outside the palace and came and went without restraint. Sycophantic officials courted them, carousing freely to win favors and promotions, even to the highest posts. Chief minister Jing Hui then sought to purge the Wu clan. Wu Sansi, alarmed, allied with the Shangguans, won access to the empress, and met her secretly in the palace. He prompted the bureaucracy to style the emperor "Emperor Who Responds to Heaven" and the empress "Empress Who Aligns with Heaven." Emperor and empress went in person to the Imperial Ancestors' Temple to announce and give thanks for the new titles. Sansi then ruled arrogantly. Jing Hui and Wang Tongjiao were eliminated in turn, and the realm blamed the empress. She showered preferment on her kin, ennobling relatives inside and outside the palace until they filled every important office. She wished to exalt Princess Anle and decreed that the princess might maintain her own bureau with a full staff. Princess Taiping's privileges equaled those of an imperial prince. Only the bureaus of Changning and Anle lacked a chief secretary. Princesses such as Yicheng, not born to Empress Wei, received half Taiping's allotment. Anle, spoiled and insolent, sold offices and judgments until her power eclipsed the court. She often drafted edicts herself, hid the text, and asked the emperor only to sign. He smiled and agreed without ever reading them. She even asked to be named heir grand-princess; the emperor refused but did not punish her. The officials she appointed were uniformly unworthy. She built mansions on a lavish scale. Changning and the other princesses vied to imitate her, and public resentment spread across the realm.
18
神龍三年,節湣太子死後,宗楚客率百僚上表,加后號為順天翊聖皇后。 景龍二年春,宮中希旨,妄稱后衣箱中有五色雲出,帝使畫工圖之,出示於朝,乃大赦天下,百僚母妻各加邑號。 右驍衛將軍、知太史事迦葉誌忠上表曰:
In the third year of Shenlong (707), after Crown Prince Jiemin's death, Zong Chuke led the ministers in memorializing an enhanced title for the empress: "Empress Who Aligns with Heaven and Assists the Sage." In the spring of the second year of Jinglong (708), courtiers currying favor claimed that five-colored clouds had risen from the empress's wardrobe. The emperor had artists paint the scene and showed it at court, then declared a general amnesty and raised the noble titles of every official's mother and wife. General of the Right Martial Tiger Guard and acting director of the Astronomical Bureau Yeshi Zhizhong memorialized:
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:「昔高祖未受命時,天下歌《桃李子》; 太宗未受命時,天下歌《秦王破陣樂》; 高宗未受命時,天下歌《側堂堂》; 天后未受命時,天下歌《武媚娘》。 伏惟應天皇帝未受命時,天下歌《英王石州》; 順天皇后未受命時,天下歌《桑條韋也》。 女行六合之內,齊首蹀足,應四時八節之會,歌舞同歡。 豈與夫《簫韶》九成、百獸率舞同年而語哉! 伏惟皇后降帝女之精,合為國母,主蠶桑以安天下,后妃之德,於斯為盛。 謹進《桑條歌》十二篇,伏請宣布中外,進入樂府,皇后先蠶之時,以享宗廟。」
"In former times, before Gaozu received the Mandate, the realm sang 'Peach and Plum'; before Taizong received the Mandate, 'Prince of Qin Breaks the Array'; before Gaozong received the Mandate, 'Leaning Grand and High'; before the Celestial Empress received the Mandate, 'Lady Wu the Alluring.' Your servant reflects: before the Emperor Who Responds to Heaven received the Mandate, the realm sang 'Prince of Ying's Stonezhou Ballad'; before the Empress Who Aligns with Heaven received the Mandate, 'Mulberry Switch—Wei Too.' Women across the six directions march in step, stamping together at the four seasons and eight festivals, singing and dancing as one. Surely this cannot be mentioned in the same breath as the Ninefold Xiao-shao, when even the beasts led the dance! Your servant reflects: the empress embodies the essence of an emperor's daughter, unites the realm as mother of the state, presides over sericulture to settle the world—among consorts her virtue is supreme. I respectfully submit twelve stanzas of the 'Mulberry Branch Songs' and beg that they be proclaimed throughout the empire, entered in the Music Bureau, and performed at the empress's First Silkworm ceremony when she offers to the ancestral temple."
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帝悅而許之,特賜誌忠莊一區、雜彩七百段。 太常少卿鄭愔又引而申之,播於舞詠,亦受厚賞。 兵部尚書宗楚客又諷補闕趙延禧表陳符命,解《桑條》以為十八代之符,請頒示天下,編諸史冊。 帝大悅,擢延禧為諫議大夫。 時上官昭容與其母鄭氏及尚宮柴氏、賀婁氏,樹用親黨,廣納貨賂,別降墨敕,斜封授官,或出臧獲屠販之類,累居榮秩。 又引女巫趙氏出入禁中,封為隴西夫人,勢與上官氏為比。
The emperor was pleased and agreed, specially granting Zhizhong an entire estate and seven hundred bolts of colored silk. Vice director of the Court of Sacrifices Zheng Yin elaborated the theme in dance-songs and was richly rewarded as well. Minister of war Zong Chuke urged remonstrance archivist Zhao Yanxi to memorialize on omens, interpreting 'Mulberry Branch' as the token of eighteen reigns, and asked that it be proclaimed empire-wide and entered in the histories. The emperor was delighted and promoted Zhao to remonstrance counselor. Lady Shangguan, her mother Lady Zheng, and palace matrons Chai and Helou promoted their kin, took bribes on a vast scale, and issued sealed edicts of their own to sell offices. Slaves, butchers, and peddlers were elevated to honorable rank. She also admitted the sorceress Lady Zhao into the inner palace, enfeoffed her as Dame of Longxi, and gave her influence equal to the Shangguans.
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三年冬,帝將親祠南郊,國子祭酒祝欽明、司業郭山惲建議云:「皇后亦合助祭。」 太常博士唐紹、蔣欽緒上疏爭之。 尚書右僕射韋巨源詳定儀注,遂希旨協同欽明之議。 帝納其言,以后為亞獻,仍以宰相女為齊娘,以執籩豆。 欽明又欲請安樂公主為終獻,迫於時議而止。 四年正月望夜,帝與后微行市裏,以觀燒燈。 又放宮女數千,夜遊縱觀,因與外人陰通,逃逸不還。 時國子祭酒葉靜能善符禁小術,散騎常侍馬秦客頗閑醫藥,光祿少卿楊均以調膳侍奉,皆出入宮掖。 均與秦客皆得幸於后,相次丁母憂,旬日悉起復舊職。 時安樂公主與駙馬武延秀、侍中紀處訥、中書令宗楚客、司農卿趙履溫互相猜貳,叠為朋黨。
In the winter of the third year the emperor was to offer sacrifice at the Southern Altar himself. Directorate of Education libationer Zhu Qinming and vice director Guo Shanyun proposed: "The empress should share in the subsidiary rites as well. Masters of Ceremonies Tang Shao and Jiang Qinxu submitted memorials in protest. Vice Director of the Right at the Department of State Affairs Wei Juyuan drafted the ritual code and, eager to please, fell in with Qinming's scheme. The emperor took their advice: the empress would serve as secondary offerer, and daughters of chief ministers would be appointed "Imperial maidens" to bear the ritual vessels. Qinming went further, proposing Princess Anle as final offerer, but public outcry made him abandon the idea. On the full-moon night of the first month in the fourth year, the emperor and empress slipped out in disguise to wander the streets and watch the lantern festival. He released several thousand palace women to roam the city at night. Some took illicit lovers among commoners and never came back. Libationer Ye Jingneng practiced petty talismanic arts; Attendant-in-Ordinary Ma Qinke knew medicine; Vice Minister Yang Jun managed the imperial kitchen—all passed freely in and out of the inner quarters. Jun and Qinke both won the empress's favor. Each briefly entered mourning for his mother—and within ten days both were back at their posts. Princess Anle, her consort Wu Yanxiu, Attendant-in-Chief Ji Chune, Grand Counselor Zong Chuke, and Minister Zhao Lüwen distrusted one another even as they formed rival cliques.
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六月,帝遇毒暴崩。 時馬秦客侍疾,議者歸罪於秦客及安樂公主。 后懼,秘不發喪,引所親入禁中,謀自安之策。 以刑部尚書裴談、工部尚書張錫知政事,留守東都; 又命左金吾大將軍趙承恩及宦者左監門衛大將軍薛崇簡帥兵五百人往筠州,以備譙王重福。 后與兄太子少保溫定策,立溫王重茂為皇太子,召諸府兵五萬人屯京城,分為左右營,然後發喪。 少帝即位,尊后為皇太后,臨朝攝政。 韋溫總知內外兵馬,守援宮掖; 駙馬韋捷、韋濯分掌左右屯營; 武延秀及溫從子播、族弟璿、外甥高崇,共典左右羽林軍及飛騎、萬騎。 播、璿欲先樹威嚴,拜官日先鞭萬騎數人,眾皆怨,不為之用。 時京城恐懼,相傳將有革命之事,往往偶語,人情不安。 臨淄王率薛崇簡、鐘紹京、劉幽求領萬騎及總監,丁未,入自玄武門,至左羽林軍,斬將軍韋璿、韋播及中郎將高崇於寢帳。 遂斬關而入,至太極殿。 后惶駭遁入殿前飛騎營,及武延秀、安樂公主皆為亂兵所殺。 分遣萬騎誅其黨與韋溫、溫從子捷,及族弟嬰; 宗楚客、弟晉卿,紀處訥,馬秦客,葉靜能,楊均,趙履溫,衛尉卿王哲,太常卿李,將作少匠李守質及韋氏武氏宗族,無少長皆斬之。 梟后及安樂公主首於東市。 翌日,敕收后屍,葬以一品之禮,追貶為庶人; 安樂公主葬以三品之禮,追貶為悖逆庶人。 上官昭容中宗上官昭容,名婉兒,西臺侍郎儀之孫也。 父庭芝,與儀同被誅,婉兒時在繈褓,隨母配入掖庭。 及長,有文詞,明習吏事。 則天時,婉兒忤旨當誅,則天惜其才不殺,但黥其面而已。 自聖歷已後,百司表奏,多令參決。 中宗即位,又令專掌制命,深被信任。 尋拜為昭容,封其母鄭氏為沛國夫人。 婉兒既與武三思淫亂,每下制敕,多因事推尊武后而排抑皇家。 節湣太子深惡之,及舉兵,至肅章門,扣閣索婉兒。 婉兒大言曰:「觀其此意,即當次索皇后以及大家。」 帝與后遂激怒,並將婉兒登玄武門樓以避兵鋒,俄而事定。 婉兒常勸廣置昭文學士,盛引當朝詞學之臣,數賜遊宴,賦詩唱和。 婉兒每代帝及后、長寧安樂二公主,數首並作,辭甚綺麗,時人咸諷誦之。 婉兒又通於吏部侍郎崔湜,引知政事。 湜嘗充使開商山新路,功未半而中宗崩,婉兒草遺制,曲敘其功而加褒賞。 及韋庶人敗,婉兒亦斬於旗下。 玄宗令收其詩筆,撰成文集二十卷,令張說為之序。 初,婉兒在孕時,其母夢人遺己大秤,占者曰:「當生貴子,而秉國權衡。」 既生女,聞者嗤其無效,及婉兒專秉內政,果如占者之言。 睿宗肅明皇后劉氏睿宗肅明順聖皇后劉氏,刑部尚書德威之孫也。 父延景,陜州刺史,景雲元年,追贈尚書右僕射、沛國公。 儀鳳中,睿宗居籓,納后為孺人,尋立為妃,生寧王憲、壽昌代國二公主。 文明元年睿宗即位,冊為皇后; 及降為皇嗣,后從降為妃。 長壽中,與昭成皇后同被譴,為則天所殺。 景雲元年,追謚肅明皇后,招魂葬於東都城南,陵曰惠陵。 睿宗崩,遷祔橋陵。 以昭成太后故,不得入太廟配饗,常別祀於儀坤廟。 開元二十年,始祔太廟。 昭成皇后竇氏睿宗昭成順聖皇后竇氏,將作大匠抗曾孫也。 祖誕,大理卿、莘國公。 父孝諶,潤州刺史,景雲元年,追贈太尉、邠國公。 后姿容婉順,動循禮則,睿宗為相王時為孺人,甚見禮異。 光宅元年,立為德妃。 生玄宗及金仙、玉真二公主。 長壽二年,為戶婢團兒誣譖與肅明皇后厭蠱咒詛。 正月二日,朝則天皇后於嘉豫殿,既退而同時遇害。 梓宮秘密,莫知所在。 睿宗即位,謚曰昭成皇后,招魂葬於都城之南,陵曰靖陵。 又立廟於京師,號為儀坤廟。 睿宗崩,后以帝母之重,追尊為皇太后,謚仍舊,祔葬橋陵,遷神主於太廟。 玄宗廢后王氏玄宗廢后王氏,同州下邽人,梁冀州刺史神念之後。 上為臨淄王時,納后為妃。 上將起事,頗預密謀,贊成大業。 先天元年,為皇后,以父仁皎為太僕卿,累加開府儀同三司、邠國公。 后兄守一以后無子,常懼有廢立,導以符厭之事。 有左道僧明悟為祭南北斗,刻霹靂木,書天地字及上諱,合而佩之,且祝曰:「佩此有子,當與則天皇后為比。」 事發,上親究之,皆驗。 開元十二年秋七月己卯,下制曰:「皇后王氏,天命不祐,華而不實。 造起獄訟,朋扇朝廷,見無將之心,有可諱之惡。 焉得敬承宗廟,母儀天下? 可廢為庶人,別院安置。 刑於家室,有愧昔王,為國大計,蓋非獲已。」 守一賜死。 其年十月,庶人卒,以一品禮葬於無相寺。 寶應元年,雪免,復尊為皇后。 貞順皇后武氏玄宗貞順皇后武氏,則天從父兄子恆安王攸止女也。 攸止卒後,后尚幼,隨例入宮。 上即位,漸承恩寵。 及王庶人廢後,特賜號為惠妃,宮中禮秩,一同皇后。 所生母楊氏,封為鄭國夫人。 同母弟忠,累遷國子祭酒; 信,秘書監。 惠妃開元初產夏悼王及懷哀王、上仙公主,並繈褓不育,上特垂傷悼。 及生壽王瑁,不敢養於宮中,命寧王憲於外養之。 又生盛王琦,咸宜、太華二公主。 惠妃以開元二十五年十二月薨,年四十餘。 下制曰:「存有懿範,沒有寵章,豈獨被於朝班,故乃施於亞政,可以垂裕,斯為通典。 故惠妃武氏,少而婉順,長而賢明,行合禮經,言應圖史。 承戚里之華胄,升後庭之峻秩,貴而不恃,謙而益光。 以道飭躬,以和逮下,四德粲其兼備,六宮咨而是則。 法度在己,靡資珩佩; 躬儉化人,率先絺纮。 夙有奇表,將加正位,前後固讓,辭而不受,奄至淪歿,載深感悼,遂使玉衣之慶,不及於生前; 象服之榮,徒增於身後。 可贈貞順皇后,宜令所司擇日冊命。」 葬於敬陵。 時慶王琮等請制齊衰之服,有司請以忌日廢務,上皆不許之。 立廟於京中昊天觀南,乾元之後,祠享亦絕。 楊貴妃玄宗楊貴妃,高祖令本,金州刺史。 父玄琰,蜀州司戶。 妃早孤,養於叔父河南府士曹玄璬。 開元初,武惠妃特承寵遇,故王皇后廢黜。 二十四年惠妃薨,帝悼惜久之,後庭數千,無可意者。 或奏玄琰女姿色冠代,宜蒙召見。 時妃衣道士服,號曰太真。 既進見,玄宗大悅。 不期歲,禮遇如惠妃。 太真姿質豐艷,善歌舞,通音律,智算過人。 每倩盼承迎,動移上意。 宮中呼為「娘子」,禮數實同皇后。 有姊三人,皆有才貌,玄宗並封國夫人之號:長曰大姨,封韓國; 三姨,封虢國; 八姨,封秦國。 並承恩澤,出入宮掖,勢傾天下。 妃父玄琰,累贈太尉、齊國公; 母封涼國夫人; 叔玄珪,光祿卿。 再從兄銛,鴻臚卿。 锜,侍御史,尚武惠妃女太華公主,以母愛,禮遇過於諸公主,賜甲第,連於宮禁。 韓、虢、秦三夫人與銛、锜等五家,每有請托,府縣承迎,峻如詔敕,四方賂遺,其門如市。
In the sixth month the emperor was poisoned and died suddenly. Ma Qinke had been at his bedside; rumor soon blamed Qinke and Princess Anle. Terrified, the empress concealed his death and summoned her confidants into the inner palace to plot her own survival. She appointed Pei Tan and Zhang Xi to oversee affairs while she remained at the Eastern Capital; and dispatched General Zhao Cheng'en and eunuch general Xue Chongjian with five hundred men to Junzhou to block the Prince of Qiao Zhongfu. She and her brother Wei Wen installed Prince Chongmao as heir apparent, mustered fifty thousand troops in the capital in two camps, and only then announced the emperor's death. The boy emperor ascended the throne; she became empress dowager and ruled from behind the curtain. Wei Wen commanded all palace and capital forces; his kinsmen by marriage Wei Jie and Wei Zhuo held the left and right camps; Wu Yanxiu, nephews Bo and Xuan, and Gao Chong controlled the Imperial Guard and the elite cavalry units. Bo and Xuan tried to assert authority by flogging guardsmen on their first day in office. The men hated them and refused to fight. Fear spread through the capital. Whispers of revolution grew; unease ran everywhere. On dingwei day the Prince of Linzi led Xue Chongjian, Zhong Shaojing, and Liu Youqiu with the guard through the Xuanwu Gate into the Left Forest Army camp and cut down Wei Xuan, Wei Bo, and Gao Chong in their quarters. They forced the gates and advanced to the Hall of Supreme Ultimate. The empress fled in panic to the Flying Cavalry camp before the hall; mutinous troops killed her, Wu Yanxiu, and Princess Anle. Separate detachments hunted down Wei Wen, his nephew Jie, and his clansman Ying; together with Zong Chuke, his brother Jinqing, Ji Chune, Ma Qinke, Ye Jingneng, Yang Jun, Zhao Lüwen, Wang Zhe, Li [Director of Sacrifices], Li Shouzhi, and every member of the Wei and Wu lineages, young and old alike. All were beheaded. Their heads were displayed at the Eastern Market. The next day an edict ordered her body retrieved and buried with first-rank honors, while posthumously degrading her to commoner status; Princess Anle received third-rank burial but was posthumously branded Rebellious Commoner. Shangguan Wan'er, styled Zhaorong under Emperor Zhongzong, was granddaughter of Vice Director Shangguan Yi. Her father Tingzhi was executed with Yi; Wan'er was an infant and entered the palace with her mother. She grew skilled in letters and well versed in court business. Under Wu Zetian she once faced execution for an offense; the empress spared her for her talent and only branded her face. After the Shengli era she was regularly consulted on memorials from every department. Zhongzong put her in charge of drafting edicts and trusted her completely. She was soon made Zhaorong; her mother Lady Zheng was created Lady of Pei. After her affair with Wu Sansi, her edicts routinely exalted the Wu clan and slighted the Li imperial house. Crown Prince Chongjun despised her; when he rebelled he hammered at the Suozhang Gate demanding her surrender. Wan'er cried out, "Judging by this, next they will demand the empress—and then Your Majesty himself. The emperor and empress, enraged, escorted her to the Xuanwu Gate tower to escape the fighting. The crisis soon passed. She urged expanding the Zhaowen Academy, gathering the court's finest writers, and hosting endless banquets of poetry. She often wrote for the emperor, empress, and the Princesses of Changning and Anle—several poems at once, all of exquisite verse that the age loved to recite. She took Vice Director Cui Shi as lover and secured him a role in government. Shi had been sent to open a new road through Shangshan; the work was unfinished when Zhongzong died. Wan'er drafted the death edict, exaggerating his achievement and heaping rewards upon him. When Empress Wei fell, Wan'er was beheaded beneath the rebel standard. Xuanzong gathered her writings into a twenty-scroll collection and had Zhang Yue compose the preface. While Wan'er was in the womb her mother dreamed of receiving a great balance-scale; the diviner said, "You will bear a noble child who will wield the nation's scales. When a girl was born, all laughed—the prophecy had failed. Yet when Wan'er dominated inner government, the omen proved true. Empress Suming Shunsheng, née Liu, consort of Ruizong, was granddaughter of Minister Liu Dewei. Her father Yanjing had been prefect of Shan; in 710 he was posthumously made Right Vice Director and Duke of Pei. While Ruizong was a prince in the Yifeng era he took her as consort; she bore Prince Xian of Ning and the Princesses of Shouchang and Daiguo. When Ruizong became emperor in 684 she was made empress; when he was demoted to heir apparent she was reduced to consort. During the Changshou era she and Empress Dou were both condemned and executed by Wu Zetian. In 710 she was posthumously titled Empress Suming and given a burial of summoned soul south of Luoyang at Huiling. When Ruizong died her spirit was moved to share Qiaoling. Because of Empress Dowager Dou she was not enshrined in the Grand Ancestral Temple but worshipped separately at Yikun Shrine. In 732 she was at last admitted to the Grand Temple. Empress Zhaocheng Shunsheng, née Dou, consort of Ruizong, was great-granddaughter of the master craftsman Dou Kang. Her grandfather Dan was Grand Justice and Duke of Shen. Her father Xiaochen had been prefect of Run; in 710 he was posthumously made Grand Preceptor and Duke of Bin. Gentle and observant of ritual, she won singular honor when Ruizong was Prince of Xiang. In 684 she was made Virtuous Consort. She bore Xuanzong and the Princesses Jinxian and Yuzhen. In 693 palace maid Tuan'er accused her and Empress Liu of witchcraft and curses. On the second day of the first month they attended Wu Zetian at the Hall of Abundant Joy—and were both slain upon leaving. No one knew where their bodies lay. When Ruizong took the throne he titled her Empress Zhaocheng and gave her a summoned-soul burial south of the capital at Jingling. He also founded the Yikun Shrine in the capital. After Ruizong's death she was honored as empress dowager, reburied at Qiaoling, and her tablet installed in the Grand Temple. Deposed Empress Wang of Xuanzong, of Xia_gui in Tongzhou, descended from Liang inspector Sheinian. He married her when he was Prince of Linzi. She took part in the secret plotting of his coup and helped bring it to success. In 712 she became empress; her father Renjiao rose to Grand Stablemaster, then Kaifu yitong sansi, then Duke of Bin. Her brother Shouyi, fearing her childlessness would cost her the throne, led her into talismanic sorcery. The heterodox monk Mingwu sacrificed to the Dippers, carved thunder-wood talismans inscribed with heaven-and-earth characters and the emperor's name, and prayed: "Who wears this shall bear a son and match Empress Wu. When the plot was exposed the emperor investigated personally—and every charge proved true. On jimao day in the seventh month of 724 an edict declared: "Empress Wang lacks Heaven's favor—splendid appearance, hollow substance. She stirred lawsuits and faction in court, showed a rebellious heart, and committed unspeakable crimes. How could she tend the ancestral shrines or mother the realm? Depose her to commoner rank and house her in a separate palace. Family discipline shames the ancient kings; for the state's sake the throne acts with deepest reluctance. Shouyi was ordered to take his own life. She died that October and was buried with first-rank honors at Wuxiang Temple. In 762 her conviction was cleared and she was restored as empress. Empress Zhenshun, née Wu, consort of Xuanzong, was daughter of Prince Youzhi of Heng'an, Wu Zetian's clansman. After Youzhi's death she was still a child and entered the palace by custom. After his accession she gradually won his favor. After Empress Wang's fall she was titled Exalted Consort (Huifei), with ritual standing equal to the empress. Her mother Lady Yang was created Lady of Zheng. Her half-brother Zhong rose to libationer of the Directorate of Education; her half-brother Xin became Director of the Palace Library. Early in Kaiyuan she bore three children who died in infancy; the emperor mourned each deeply. When Prince Shou (Mao) was born he dared not raise him in the palace and had Prince of Ning Xian rear him outside. She later bore Prince Qi of Sheng and the Princesses Xianyi and Taihua. Huifei died in the twelfth month of 737, aged over forty. An edict declared: "The living deserve exemplary virtue; the dead honor in title—not for courtiers alone but for those who shaped inner governance—such is enduring custom. Exalted Consort Wu was gentle in youth and wise in maturity; her conduct matched the classics, her words the chronicles. Born to imperial kin, she rose to the palace's highest rank—proud rank yet not arrogant, modesty only increasing her luster. She governed herself by the Way, harmonized those beneath her, embodied all four virtues, and set the standard for the six palaces. She upheld propriety through her own conduct, not through the ornaments of rank; Her personal austerity set the example, leading others even to wear plain hemp. Of singular grace, she was to be elevated to chief consort, yet repeatedly declined the honor. When she died suddenly, the emperor's grief was profound: the rites of the jade garment never crowned her in life; only the posthumous honors of her rank remained to exalt her memory. Let her be posthumously styled Empress Zhenshun, with the proper offices to choose a day for the enshrinement rites. She was buried at Jingling." Princes Qing and others asked to wear full mourning for her; officials proposed suspending court business on her death anniversary—the emperor refused both. A shrine was built south of Haotian Abbey in Chang'an; after the Qianyuan era (758–760), even memorial offerings ceased. Consort Yang, favorite of Emperor Xuanzong: her ancestor Yang Lingben had served as governor of Jinzhou. Her father Yang Xuanyan was registrar of Shu Prefecture. Orphaned young, she was raised by her uncle Xuanjiong, a registrar in the Henan prefectural government. Early in the Kaiyuan reign, Consort Wu Huifei enjoyed exceptional favor, and Empress Wang was deposed. When Huifei died in 736, the emperor mourned her for a long while; among the thousands in the inner palace, none could please him. Someone reported that Xuanyan's daughter was the most beautiful woman of the age and ought to be summoned to court. At the time she wore Taoist robes and was known as Taizhen. After she was presented, Xuanzong was delighted. Within a year she received honors equal to those once granted Huifei. Taizhen was voluptuous and radiant, skilled in song and dance, versed in music, and sharper in mind than most. Her every glance and gesture swayed the emperor's mood. The palace called her "My Lady," and in ceremony she was treated virtually as empress. She had three sisters, all gifted and beautiful; Xuanzong ennobled them as State Ladies: the eldest, called Big Aunt, became Lady of Han; the third sister as Lady of Guo; and the eighth sister as Lady of Qin. They all shared her favor, moved freely in and out of the palace, and their influence dominated the empire. Her father Xuanyan was posthumously promoted to Grand Commandant and Duke of Qi; her mother was styled Lady of Liang; her uncle Xuangui became Director of the Imperial Household. Her cousin Xian was appointed Grand Master of Splendid Happiness. Qi, a palace censor, married Princess Taihua, daughter of Huifei; through his mother's favor he outranked other imperial sons-in-law and received a grand residence adjoining the palace walls. Whenever the three State Ladies and the five Yang households made a request, local officials obeyed as if it were an edict; gifts poured in from every quarter until their gates resembled a marketplace.
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皇場五載七月,貴妃以微譴送歸楊銛宅。 比至亭午,上思之,不食。 高力士探知上旨,請送貴妃院供帳、器玩、廩餼等辦具百餘車,上又分御饌以送之。 帝動不稱旨,暴怒笞撻左右。 力士伏奏請迎貴妃歸院。 是夜,開安興里門入內,妃伏地謝罪,上歡然慰撫。 翌日,韓、虢進食,上作樂終日,左右暴有賜與。 自是寵遇愈隆。 韓、虢、秦三夫人歲給錢千貫,為脂粉之資。 銛授三品、上柱國,私第立戟。 姊妹昆仲五家,甲第洞開,僭擬宮掖,車馬僕禦,照耀京邑,遞相誇尚。 每構一堂,費逾千萬計,見制度宏壯於己者,即撤而復造,土木之工,不舍晝夜。 玄宗頒賜及四方獻遺,五家如一,中使不絕。 開元已來,豪貴雄盛,無如楊氏之比也。 玄宗凡有遊幸,貴妃無不隨侍,乘馬則高力士執轡授鞭。 宮中供貴妃院織錦刺繡之工,凡七百人,其雕刻熔造,又數百人。 揚、益、嶺表刺史,必求良工造作奇器異服,以奉貴妃獻賀,因致擢居顯位。 玄宗每年十月幸華清宮,國忠姊妹五家扈從,每家為一隊,著一色衣,五家合隊,照映如百花之煥發,而遺鈿墜舄,瑟瑟珠翠,燦爛芳馥於路。 而國忠私於虢國而不避雄狐之刺,每入朝或聯鑣方駕,不施帷幔。 每三朝慶賀,五鼓待漏,艷妝盈巷,蠟炬如晝。 而十宅諸王百孫院婚嫁,皆因韓、虢為紹介,仍先納賂千貫而奏請,罔不稱旨。 天寶九載,貴妃復忤旨,送歸外第。 時吉溫與中貴人善,溫入奏曰:「婦人智識不遠,有忤聖情,然貴妃久承恩顧,何惜宮中一席之地,使其就戮,安忍取辱於外哉!」 上即令中使張韜光賜御饌,妃附韜光泣奏曰:「妾忤聖顏,罪當萬死。 衣服之外,皆聖恩所賜,無可遺留,然髮膚是父母所有。」 乃引刀翦髮一繚附獻。 玄宗見之驚惋,即使力士召還。
In the seventh month of Kaiyuan 5 (717), the consort was briefly banished to Yang Xian's house for a minor offense. By noon the emperor was pining for her and would not eat. Gao Lishi, sensing the emperor's mood, sent more than a hundred cartloads of bedding, furnishings, and provisions to her quarters, and the emperor shared his own meals with her. The slightest displeasure sent him into a rage, and he beat his attendants. Lishi knelt and asked permission to bring the consort back to the palace. That night the Anxing Lane gate opened to admit her; she prostrated herself in apology, and the emperor received her with joy. The next day the Ladies of Han and Guo sent delicacies; music played all day, and attendants received sudden largesse. From then on her favor only deepened. The three State Ladies received a thousand strings of cash yearly for cosmetics. Xian was made a third-rank Pillar of the State, with ceremonial halberds set before his mansion. The five Yang households built mansions rivaling the palace itself; their carriages and retinues blazed through the capital as each strove to outshine the others. Each hall cost more than ten million cash; if they saw a finer building elsewhere, they tore theirs down and rebuilt, with construction crews laboring day and night. Imperial gifts and tribute from every region were divided equally among the five households, with palace envoys arriving without pause. Since the Kaiyuan era began, no clan had matched the Yang in wealth and power. On every imperial outing the consort accompanied him; when she rode, Gao Lishi held her reins and offered her whip. Seven hundred artisans in the palace wove brocades and embroidery for her quarters; several hundred more did carving and metalwork. Governors of Yangzhou, Yizhou, and the far south vied to commission exotic goods as gifts to the consort, and many were promoted for it. Each October Xuanzong visited Huaqing Palace with Guozhong and the five Yang households in train. Each family marched in a single color; together they bloomed like a garden in procession, shedding hairpins, shoes, pearls, and kingfisher ornaments that scented the road. Guozhong carried on an affair with the Lady of Guo with scandalous openness; they sometimes rode paired chariots to court without even drawing curtains. At the thrice-monthly court celebrations they arrived before dawn in full regalia, filling the streets with torchlight bright as day. Marriages among the imperial clansmen in the Ten Residences and Hundred Grandsons Academy all passed through the Ladies of Han and Guo as brokers; a thousand strings of cash secured each petition, and none was refused. In 750 the consort again offended the emperor and was sent to her family's house. Ji Wen, who was close to the chief eunuchs, memorialized: "Women lack foresight and may offend Your Majesty, yet the consort has long enjoyed your favor. Why deny her a place in the palace? To let her face death abroad—how could you bear such shame for her! The emperor sent the eunuch Zhang Taoguang with imperial food. The consort, weeping, sent word through him: "I have offended Your Majesty and deserve death. Apart from these garments, all I own is your gift and I can leave nothing behind—yet my hair and skin were given by my parents. She cut a lock of her hair and sent it with her message. Xuanzong was stricken with remorse and ordered Lishi to bring her back at once.
24
國忠既居宰執,兼領劍南節度,勢漸恣橫。 十載正月望夜,楊家五宅夜遊,與廣平公主騎從爭西市門。 楊氏奴揮鞭及公主衣,公主墮馬,駙馬程昌裔扶主,因及數撾。 公主泣奏之,上令殺楊氏奴,昌裔亦停官。 國忠二男昢、暄,妃弟鑒,皆尚公主,楊氏一門尚二公主、二郡主。 貴妃父祖立私廟,玄宗御制家廟碑文並書。 玄珪累遷至兵部尚書。 天寶中,范陽節度使安祿山大立邊功,上深寵之。 祿山來朝,帝令貴妃姊妹與祿山結為兄弟。 祿山母事貴妃,每宴賜,錫賚稠沓。 及祿山叛,露檄數國忠之罪。 河北盜起,玄宗以皇太子為天下兵馬元帥,監撫軍國事。 國忠大懼,諸楊聚哭,貴妃銜土陳請,帝遂不行內禪。 及潼關失守,從幸至馬嵬,禁軍大將陳玄禮密啟太子,誅國忠父子。 既而四軍不散,玄宗遣力士宣問,對曰「賊本尚在」,蓋指貴妃也。 力士復奏,帝不獲已,與妃詔,遂縊死於佛室。 時年三十八,瘞於驛西道側。
Once Guozhong became chief minister and also held the Jiannan command, his power grew insolent. On the Lantern Night of the first month in 751, the five Yang households rode out and clashed at the West Market gate with Princess Guangping's escort. A Yang servant's whip struck the princess's robe; she fell from her horse. Her husband Cheng Changyi helped her up and was beaten several times himself. The princess wept and reported the affair; the emperor ordered the Yang servant executed and stripped Changyi of his post. Guozhong's sons Can and Xuan and the consort's brother Jian all married imperial women; the Yang clan thus wed two princesses and two commandery princesses. A private ancestral temple was built for her forebears; Xuanzong composed and personally inscribed its stele. Xuangui rose to Minister of War. During the Tianbao era, An Lushan, military commissioner of Fanyang, won great victories on the frontier and earned the emperor's deep favor. When Lushan came to court, the emperor had the consort's sisters and Lushan swear brotherhood. Lushan addressed the consort as his mother; at every feast the emperor showered him with gifts. When Lushan rebelled, his public manifesto listed Guozhong's crimes. With rebellion spreading in Hebei, Xuanzong named the crown prince commander of all forces to oversee military affairs. Guozhong was terrified; the Yang clan wept together while the consort begged on bended knee, and the emperor abandoned the planned abdication. After Tong Pass fell, the court fled to Mawei, where Imperial Guard general Chen Xuanli secretly urged the crown prince to execute Guozhong and his sons. The troops still would not disperse. Xuanzong sent Lishi to ask their grievance; they answered, "The root of the rebellion remains"—meaning the consort. Lishi reported again; the emperor, left no choice, gave the order, and she was strangled in a chapel. She was thirty-eight; her body was buried beside the post road.
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上皇自蜀還,令中使祭奠,詔令改葬。 禮部侍郎李揆曰:「龍武將士誅國忠,以其負國兆亂。 今改葬故妃,恐將士疑懼,葬禮未可行。」 乃止。 上皇密令中使改葬於他所。 初瘞時以紫褥裹之,肌膚已壞,而香囊仍在。 內官以獻,上皇視之淒惋,乃令圖其形於別殿,朝夕視之。
After the retired emperor returned from Shu, he sent eunuchs to offer sacrifices and ordered her reburial. Vice Minister of Rites Li Kui said: "The Longwu guards killed Guozhong for betraying the state and bringing on rebellion. To rebury the former consort now may alarm the troops; the funeral cannot proceed. The plan was halted. The retired emperor secretly ordered eunuchs to rebury her elsewhere. At the first burial she had been wrapped in a purple quilt; though her flesh had decayed, her perfumed sachet remained intact. When the eunuchs presented it, the retired emperor wept in grief and had her portrait painted in a side hall, which he gazed upon morning and night.
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馬嵬之誅國忠也,虢國夫人聞難作,奔馬至陳倉。 縣令薛景仙率人吏追之,走入竹林。 先殺其男裴徽及一女。 國忠妻裴柔曰:「娘子為我盡命。」 即刺殺之。 已而自刎,不死,縣吏載之,閉於獄中。 猶謂吏曰:「國家乎? 賊乎?」 吏曰:「互有之。」 血凝至喉而卒,遂瘞於郭外。 韓國夫人婿秘書少監崔峋,女為代宗妃。 虢國男裴徽尚代宗女延安公主,女嫁讓帝男。 秦國夫人婿柳澄先死,男鈞尚長清縣主,澄弟潭尚肅宗女和政公主。
When Guozhong was killed at Mawei, the Lady of Guo fled on horseback toward Chencang. Magistrate Xue Jingxian pursued her with his officers into a bamboo grove. They killed her son Pei Hui and a daughter first. Guozhong's wife Pei Rou said, "My lady, end my life for me. The Lady of Guo stabbed her dead. She then tried to cut her own throat but survived; the officers took her to jail. She still asked the jailer, "Are you the state? Or rebels? He answered, "A bit of both." Blood clogged her throat and she died; they buried her outside the city wall. The Lady of Han's son-in-law Cui Xun, vice director of the Secretariat, had a daughter who became a consort of Emperor Daizong. The Lady of Guo's son Pei Hui had married Princess Yan'an, daughter of Daizong; a daughter married a son of the retired emperor. The Lady of Qin's son-in-law Liu Cheng died early; her son Jun married a commandery princess of Changqing, and Cheng's brother Tan married Princess Hezheng, daughter of Suzong.