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南齊書卷二十‧列傳第一
Book of the Southern Qi, Volume 20 — Biographies 1
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六宮位號，漢、魏以來，因襲增置，世不同矣。 建元元年，有司奏置貴嬪、夫人、貴人爲三夫人，脩華、脩儀、脩容、淑妃、淑媛、淑儀、婕妤、容華、充華爲九嬪，美人、中才人、才人爲散職。 永明元年，有司奏貴妃、淑妃竝加金章紫綬，佩于窴玉。 淑妃舊擬九棘，以淑爲溫恭之稱，妃爲亞后之名，進同貴妃，以比三司。 夫人之號，不殊蕃國。 降淑媛以比九卿。 七年，復置昭容，位在九嬪。 建元三年，太子宮置三內職，良娣比開國侯，保林比五等侯，才人比駙馬都尉。
Palace ranks in the six inner quarters, from Han and Wei on, were carried forward and added to—no two reigns alike. In the first year of Jianyuan the relevant offices proposed the Three Ladies—Noble Consort, Lady, and Honored Person—and the Nine Consorts: Cultivated Elegance, Cultivated Comportment, Cultivated Bearing, Pure Consort, Pure Lady, Pure Rite, Talented Lady, Radiant Splendor, and Fulfilling Splendor, with Beauty, Middle Talent, and Talent as unattached offices. In the first year of Yongming the relevant offices proposed that Honored Consort and Pure Consort alike receive gold seals and purple cords and wear Khotan jade pendants. Pure Consort had once been equated with the Nine Ministers; shu denotes warmth and deference, fei the title of one who stands below the empress—she was raised to Honored Consort's level, on a par with the Three Excellencies. The title Lady differed in no way from titles used in feudatory states. Pure Lady was demoted to rank with the Nine Ministers. In year 7 Shining Countenance was reinstated, with standing among the Nine Consorts. In the third year of Jianyuan the crown prince's household set up three inner offices: Lady of Excellence, equal to a founding marquis; Guardian of the Grove, to a fifth-rank marquis; and Talented Lady, to the commandant of horses for imperial sons-in-law.
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Empress Xuanxiao Chen Daozhi came from Dongyang in Linhuai commandery and was descended from Chen Jiao, minister of works of Wei. Her father Chen Zhaozhi had been a commandery filial-and-incorrupt nominee.
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后少家貧，勤織作，家人矜其勞，或止之，后終不改。 嫁于宣帝，庶生衡陽元王道度、始安貞王道生，后生太祖。 太祖年二歲，乳人乏乳，后夢人以兩甌麻粥與之，覺而乳大出，異而說之。 宣帝從任在外，后常留家治事教子孫。 有相者謂后曰：「夫人有貴子而不見也。」 后歎曰：「我三兒誰當應之。」 呼太祖小字曰：「正應是汝耳。」 宣帝殂後，后親自執勤，婢使有過誤，恕不問也。 太祖雖從官，而家業本貧，爲建康令時，高宗等冬月猶無縑纊，而奉膳甚厚，后每撤去兼肉，曰：「於我過足矣。」 殂于縣舍，年七十三。 昇明三年，追贈竟陵公國太夫人，蜜印，畫青綬，祠以太牢。 建元元年，追尊孝皇后。 贈外祖父肇之金紫光祿大夫，諡曰敬侯。 后母胡氏為永昌縣靖君。
The family was poor in her girlhood, and she wove and worked without rest. Relatives pitied her toil and tried to make her stop; she never changed her ways. She married Emperor Xuan. By concubines he already had Prince Daodu of Hengyang and Prince Daosheng of Shi'an; afterward she bore Xiao Daocheng, the Grand Ancestor. When Xiao Daocheng was two, his wet nurse could not supply enough milk. The empress dreamed that someone handed her two bowls of hemp porridge; she awoke to find her milk abundant, and she wondered at the omen. Emperor Xuan was posted away from home while the empress stayed behind to run the household and instruct the children and grandchildren. A physiognomist told the empress, "My lady has a son of great rank, yet I have not laid eyes on him." She sighed. "I have three sons—which of them can it be?" She called the Grand Ancestor by his childhood name and said, "It must be you." After Emperor Xuan's death she herself saw to the work of the household; when maidservants blundered, she pardoned them without question. Though Xiao Daocheng held office, the family had always been poor. When he was magistrate of Jiankang, Gaozong and the others still went without padded silk in winter, while the food sent in was lavish—the empress would remove the extra meat and say, "For me this is already too much." She died in the magistrate's quarters, aged seventy-three. In Shengming year 3 she was posthumously enfeoffed Grand Lady of the Duke of Jingling's state, with honey seal and painted green cord, and honored with the great offering. In the first year of Jianyuan she was posthumously honored as Empress Xiao. His maternal grandfather Chen Zhaozhi was made household minister with the purple-gold seal and posthumously titled Marquis Jing. Her mother, née Hu, was made Village Lady Jing of Yongchang county.
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Empress Gaozhao Liu Zhirong came from Guangling. Her grandfather Liu Xuanzhi and father Liu Shouzhi had both served as supernumerary gentlemen.
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The empress's mother, née Huan, dreamed she swallowed a jade ornament when bearing her; purple light filled the room. She told Liu Shouzhi, who said, "I regret it was not a boy." Huan replied, "Though a girl, she is enough to raise the family." Whenever she slept, her family often saw cloudlike vapor above her. In her teens she entered the Grand Ancestor's household; stern, correct, and observant of ritual, she kept the family in awe. In the first year of Taiyu of Song she died, aged fifty. She was buried beside Emperor Xuan's tomb, at what is now Taian Mausoleum. When her student Wang Qing and the grave workers first dug, a white hare leaped up; they searched in vain, and when the mound was finished the hare returned to nest on it. In Shengming year 2 she was posthumously made Lady of the Duke of Jingling's state. In year 3 she was made princess consort of Qi, with seals and cords like a grand consort. In the first year of Jianyuan she was posthumously honored as Empress Zhao. In year 3 her father was made household minister with the purple-gold seal, and her mother, née Huan, Chief Village Lady of Duxiang in Shangyu; Shouzhi's sons Xingdao, clerk of the minister of works; Wenwei, interior secretary of Yuzhang; Yihui, household minister; and Yilun, regular attendant in the transmission office.
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In youth she was sisters-in-law with Lady Yu, consort of the Prince of Yuzhang; Yu worked diligently at women's crafts and served the Grand Ancestor and Empress Zhao with tireless reverence. The empress could not match her, so her husband's parents did not value her, and Shizong's regard for the household was slight as well. She was stern and strict by nature; when Yuan, consort of Prince of Jingling Ziliang, blundered while still a commoner, the empress rebuked and punished her. In Shengming year 3 she became consort to the Qi heir apparent. In the first year of Jianyuan she became consort to the crown prince. In year 3 the empress died. She was posthumously titled Consort Mu and buried at Xiu'an Mausoleum. When Shizong acceded she was posthumously honored as empress. Pei Jizhi was made household minister with the purple-gold seal, and the empress's mother, née Tan, Village Lady of Guangchang in Yuhang.
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The Xianyang and Zhaoyang halls had long been the residences of empress dowager and empress. In the Yongming era there was no empress dowager or empress: Noble Consort Yang lived west of Zhaoyang Hall, Honored Consort Fan to the east, and the favored Xun Zhaohua in the Phoenix Splendor Cypress Hall. In the south gallery of the Shouchang Painted Hall, the emperor's inner quarters, two companies of egret-reed pipes were stationed; at the east and west ends of Qianguang Hall, bell and stone galleries on either flank—all were halls for feasting and music. The emperor often toured the royal parks with palace women in the train behind his carriage. Deep inside the palace the drum and clepsydra at the Duan Gate could not be heard, so a bell was hung on Jingyang Tower. At its stroke the women rose early to dress—to this day it sounds only at the fifth watch and the third. The court often went to Langya walled town, palace women in attendance. They left at first light and reached Hubei landing at the first cockcrow.
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Han Linying of Wu commandery was a woman of literary gifts. Under Emperor Xiaowu of Song she submitted the "Rhapsody on Restoration" and, rewarded, was admitted to the palace. Under Emperor Ming of Song she served on the palace staff. Shizong appointed her erudite to instruct the six palaces in writing and learning; in her great age and wide knowledge they called her "Lord Han."
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Empress Wen'an Wang Baoming came from Linyi in Langya commandery. Her grandfather Wang Shaozhi had been administrator of Wuxing. Her father Wang Yezhi had been libationer to the grand minister of ceremonies.
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宋世，太祖為文惠太子納后，桂陽賊至，太祖在新亭，傳言已沒，宅復為人所抄掠，文惠太子、竟陵王子良奉穆后、庾妃及后挺身送后兄昺之家，事平乃出。 建元元年，為南郡王妃。 四年，為皇太子妃，無寵。 太子為宮人製新麗衣裳及首飾，而后牀帷陳設故舊，釵鑷十餘枚。 永明十一年，為皇太孫太妃。 鬱林即位，尊為皇太后，稱宣德宮。 贈后父金紫光祿大夫，母桓氏豐安縣君。 其年十二月，備法駕謁太廟。 高宗即位，出居鄱陽王故第，為宣德宮。 永元三年，梁王定京邑，迎后入宮稱制，至禪位。 天監十一年，薨，年五十八。 葬崇安陵。 諡曰安后。 兄晃義興太守。 鬱林王何妃名婧英，廬江灊人，撫軍將軍戢之女也。 永明二年，納爲南郡王妃。 十一年，爲皇太孫妃。 鬱林王卽位，爲皇后。 嫡母劉氏爲高昌縣都鄉君，所生母宋氏，爲餘杭廣昌鄉君。 將拜，鏡在牀無故墮地。 其冬，與太后同日謁太廟。
In the Song era the Grand Ancestor took her in marriage for Crown Prince Wenhui. When the Guiyang rebels came, the Grand Ancestor was at Xinting; rumor said he had perished, and the residence was plundered again. Crown Prince Wenhui and Prince of Jingling Ziliang, escorting Empress Mu, Lady Yu, and the empress, risked themselves to take them to the empress's brother Bing's house; when order was restored they came out. In the first year of Jianyuan she became consort to the Prince of Nan commandery. In year 4 she became consort to the crown prince, without favor. The crown prince had new splendid garments and ornaments made for palace women, while the empress's bed curtains and furnishings stayed old, with only a dozen or so hairpins and tweezers. In Yongming year 11 she became grand consort to the imperial grandson's heir. When Yulin acceded she was honored as empress dowager, styled Xuande Palace. Her father was made household minister with the purple-gold seal, and her mother, née Huan, County Lady of Feng'an. That year, in the twelfth month, with full imperial equipage she visited the Great Temple. When Gaozong acceded she moved to the former residence of the Prince of Poyang, styled Xuande Palace. In Yongyuan year 3 the Prince of Liang secured the capital, welcomed the empress into the palace to rule in regency, and held power until the abdication. In Tianjian year 11 she died, aged fifty-eight. She was buried at Chong'an Mausoleum. She was posthumously titled Empress An. Her elder brother Huang was administrator of Yixing. Consort He Jingying of Prince Yulin came from Qian in Lujiang commandery and was the daughter of General Who Pacifies the Army He Ji. In Yongming year 2 she entered the household as consort to the Prince of Nan commandery. In year 11 she became consort to the heir apparent of the imperial grandson. When Prince Yulin acceded, she was made empress. Her foster mother, née Liu, was made Chief Village Lady of Duxiang in Gaochang county; her birth mother, née Song, Village Lady of Guangchang in Yuhang. On the eve of her investiture a mirror on the bed fell to the floor without cause. That winter she and the empress dowager visited the Great Temple on the same day.
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The empress was wanton by nature; even as a princess consort she took lovers from outside the palace. In the inner quarters she took up with Yang Minzhi, a favorite at the emperor's side, and they slept and lived together like husband and wife. Minzhi was likewise intimate with the emperor, and the emperor let them have their way. She summoned the empress's kin into the palace and lavished rewards running into hundreds of thousands. Shizu's Yaoling Hall was set aside to lodge the empress's kin. When the emperor was deposed, the empress was reduced to princess consort.
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The consort of the prince of Hailing, named Shaoming, came from Linyi in Langya commandery and was the daughter of Grandee of Ceremonies Ci. In the eighth year of Yongming she was married to the lord of Linru as his lady. When Yulin took the throne, she became princess consort of Xin'an. In the first year of Yanxing she was raised to empress. That same year she was reduced to consort of the prince of Hailing.
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Empress Mingjing Liu, whose personal name was Huiduan, came from Pengcheng and was the granddaughter of Household Minister Liu Daohong. The Grand Progenitor arranged her marriage to Gaozong. In the third year of Jianyuan she was made lady to the marquis of Xichang. In the seventh year of Yongming she died and was buried at Zhang Mountain in Jiangcheng county. In the first year of Yanxing she was posthumously titled princess consort of Xuancheng. When Gaozong acceded, she was posthumously honored as Empress Jing. Her father Jingyou, a regular attendant in the transmission office, was posthumously made household minister with the golden seal and purple cord; her mother, Lady Wang, was made lady of Pingyang township. In the first year of Yongtai, when Gaozong died, she was reinterred and laid beside him in Xing'an Mausoleum.
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Empress Chu of Dong Hun, named Lingque, came from Yangdi in Henan commandery and was the daughter of Grandee of Ceremonies Chu Cheng. In the second year of Jianwu she was married to the crown prince as his consort. The following year she worshipped at Empress Jing's temple. When Dong Hun took the throne, she was made empress. The emperor doted on Consort Pan, and the empress went unvisited. Honored Lady Huang had borne Crown Prince Song; when Dong Hun was deposed, mother and son were both reduced to commoners.
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Empress Wang of Emperor He, named Shunhua, came from Linyi in Langya commandery and was the granddaughter of Grand Commandant Wang Jian. At first she was princess consort of Sui. In the first year of Zhongxing she was raised to empress. When the emperor yielded the throne, the empress was reduced to consort.
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史臣曰：后妃之德，著自風謠，義起閨房，而道化天下。 繰盆獻種，罔非耕織，佩管晨興，與子同事，可以光熙閫業，作儷公侯。 孝、昭二后，竝有賢明之訓，不得母臨萬國。 寶命方昌，椒庭虛位，有婦人焉，空慕周興，禎符顯瑞，徒萃徽名。 若使掖作同休，陰教遠燮，則馬、鄧風流，復存乎此。 太祖創命，宮禁貶約，毀宋明之紫極，革前代之踰奢，衣不文繡，色無紅采，永巷貧空，有同素室。 世祖嗣位，運藉休平，壽昌前興，鳳華晚搆，香柏文檉，花梁繡柱，雕金鏤寶，頗用房帷，趙瑟吳趨，承閑奏曲，歲費傍恩，足使充牣，事由私蓄，無損國儲。 高宗仗數矯情，外行儉陋，內奉宮業，曾莫云改。 東昏喪道，侈風大扇，銷糜海內，以贍浮飾，哲婦傾城，同符殷、夏。 嗚呼！ 所以垂戒於方來也。
The historian writes: The virtue of empresses and consorts shines in folk song; their righteousness begins behind closed doors and spreads until it reshapes the world. They reel the cocoon basin and offer seed—nothing but spinning and weaving; they gird the reed and rise at dawn, working beside their sons—thus the inner household glows and they stand as equals to dukes and marquises. The Xiao and Gao empresses both bore wise instruction, yet never ruled the realm as mothers of the state. While the sacred mandate was rising, the empress's courts stood vacant; some women only dreamed of a Zhou restoration—bright omens and lucky signs heaped up nothing but hollow fame. Had the side palaces rested in one accord and the women's teaching steadied the realm from within, the elegance of the Ma and Deng empresses might have returned here. At the Grand Progenitor's founding, the palace was pared to austerity: he razed Emperor Ming of Song's Purple Ultimate Hall and cut the extravagance of earlier reigns—garments without figured embroidery, colors without red; the long alleys were empty and poor as plain chambers. When Shizu succeeded, the age rested on peace—Shouchang rose early, Fenghua late; fragrant cypress and patterned rafters, painted beams and embroidered pillars, carved gold and set gems crowded the curtained halls; Zhao zithers and Wu songs filled idle hours; yearly outlays from side revenues overflowed the vaults—paid from private stores, never touching the state coffers. Gaozong trusted omens and played at austerity—plain and mean in public, yet he kept the palace estate as before and never breathed a word of reform. Dong Hun abandoned the Way; luxury blazed across the land; he melted the empire to pay for idle display—wise women toppled cities, in the manner of Yin and Xia. Alas! So a warning is set down for ages still to come.
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In praise: Empress Xuanxiao, filial and correct—she saw what was coming before it came. Gao Zhao bore the martial emperor; her motherly measure passed down the line. Reverent Pei kept the inner palace—and her station fell with its fall. Mingjing's rites and writ—joined to the imperial house. The autumn palace too was cut short; the chariot sun waned before its season. Wen'an and the deposed sovereign, grief already behind them; at Zhongxing she took the seals, then yielded the throne in great ceremony. [1] Endnote marker.