Qin and Han · Ruler of Han

Emperor Gao 高帝

Gao Di

Attested BC 201 - BC 196

Passages: 27
Chapters: 1
Histories: 1

Overview

Emperor Gao was a ruler of Han.

Life and dates

Attested activity

BC 201 ［六年］
Dated from the passage context · Records of the Grand Historian 55, passages 174-175
BC 201 漢六年正月
Dated from the passage context · Records of the Grand Historian 55, passages 168-169
BC 201 漢六年正月後
Dated from the passage context · Records of the Grand Historian 55, passages 168, 190, 198
BC 200 to BC 196 留侯杜門不出歲餘之後，上欲廢太子
Dated from the passage context · Records of the Grand Historian 55, passages 200-201

Family

Immediate relationships attested in the translated histories.

Spouse of Empress Lü (呂后)
empress 后 · Primary marriage
Strongly inferred · Records of the Grand Historian 55, passage 203
Parent of Crown Prince (太子)
father and son 骨肉 · paternal line
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 55, passages 201, 207
Spouse of Lady Qi (戚夫人)
Lady / consort 夫人 · Concubinage
Strongly inferred · Records of the Grand Historian 55, passage 201
Parent of Ruyi (如意)
son 子 · paternal line
Strongly inferred · Records of the Grand Historian 55, passage 201

Career and standing

Held
Son of Heaven
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 55, passage 180

Places and affiliations

Polity Han 漢 · Relation Served
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 55, passage 169
BC 201 ［六年］
At Luoyang Southern Palace 雒陽南宮 · Relation Resided at
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 55, passage 175
BC 201 漢六年正月後
At Guanzhong 關中 · Relation Established capital at
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 55, passage 198

Works and attributed material

Speech · Speaker · With Zhang Liang (張良)
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 55, passages 169-170, 176, 179, 182, 184-185

Events and relationships

Doubted proposal to capital in Guanzhong
BC 201 漢六年正月後 · Political · Sovereign
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 55, passage 191
Enfeoffed meritorious officials
BC 201 漢六年正月 · Political · Sovereign
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 55, passages 168, 173-174
Held banquet and enfeoffed Yong Chi to reassure ministers
BC 201 ［六年］ · Political · Sovereign · With Yong Chi (雍齒)
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 55, passages 187-188
Moved capital west to Guanzhong the same day
BC 201 漢六年正月後 · Political · Sovereign
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 55, passage 198
Urged chancellor and imperial secretary to finalize merit rankings
BC 201 ［六年］ · Political · Sovereign
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 55, passage 187
Wished to depose crown prince and install Ruyi
BC 200 to BC 196 留侯杜門不出歲餘之後，上欲廢太子 · Political · Sovereign · With Crown Prince (太子)
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 55, passages 201-202

Show 1 more source-backed claim

Wished to kill but spared for merit
BC 201 ［六年］ · Political · Sovereign · With Yong Chi (雍齒)
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 55, passage 185

Source notes

Historicity historical
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 55, passage 169
rose from commoner / humble origins
Field origin
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 55, passage 180

References in the histories

Search passages

History

27 passages

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 55House of Marquis of Liu · 27 passages

良未嘗有戰鬬功，高帝曰：「運籌策帷帳中，決勝千里外，子房功也。 Zhang Liang had never won distinction on the battlefield, yet Emperor Gao declared, "To devise strategies within the command tent and determine victory a thousand leagues away — that is Zifang's achievement.

良曰：「始臣起下邳，與上會留，此天以臣授陛下。 Zhang Liang replied, "When your servant first set out from Xiapi and met Your Majesty at Liu, it was heaven itself that placed me in your service.

陛下用臣計，幸而時中，臣願封留足矣，不敢當三萬戶。」 Your Majesty has used my plans, and by good fortune they sometimes proved right. I wish only to be enfeoffed at Liu — that is more than enough. I would not dare accept thirty thousand households."

［六年］上已封大功臣二十餘人，其餘日夜爭功不決，未得行封。 By this time the emperor had enfeoffed more than twenty of the greatest contributors, but the rest quarreled day and night over their respective merits, and no further grants could be made.

上在雒陽南宮，從複道望見諸將往往相與坐沙中語。 While residing in the Southern Palace at Luoyang, the emperor looked down from the covered walkway and observed groups of generals sitting together on the sand, deep in conversation.

上曰：「此何語？」 The emperor asked, "What are they talking about?"

留侯曰：「陛下不知乎？ The Marquis of Liu replied, "Does Your Majesty not realize?

上曰：「天下屬安定，何故反乎？」 The emperor said, "The empire has only just been pacified. Why would they rebel?"

留侯曰：「陛下起布衣，以此屬取天下，今陛下為天子，而所封皆蕭、曹故人所親愛，而所誅者皆生平所仇怨。 The Marquis of Liu explained, "Your Majesty rose from humble origins and used these very men to conquer the empire. Now that you are Son of Heaven, every title has gone to old friends like Xiao He and Cao Shen, while every execution has fallen on men you bore private grudges against.

今軍吏計功，以天下不足遍封，此屬畏陛下不能盡封，恐又見疑平生過失及誅，故即相聚謀反耳。」 Now the officers tally up their merits and conclude that the whole empire is not large enough to reward them all. They fear Your Majesty cannot possibly enfeoff everyone, and they dread being called to account for past offenses and put to death. So they gather together and plot rebellion."

上乃憂曰：「為之奈何？」 The emperor grew anxious and asked, "What should I do?"

留侯曰：「上平生所憎，群臣所共知，誰最甚者？」 The Marquis of Liu asked, "Among all those whom Your Majesty has hated most, and whom every minister knows you despise — who stands foremost?"

上曰：「雍齒與我故，數嘗窘辱我。 The emperor said, "Yong Chi and I go back many years, yet time and again, he has put me to shame and humiliated me.

於是上乃置酒，封雍齒為什方侯，而急趣丞相、御史定功行封。 The emperor at once held a banquet, enfeoffed Yong Chi as Marquis of Shifang, and pressed the Chancellor and the Imperial Secretary to finalize the merit rankings and proceed with the remaining grants.

劉敬說高帝曰：「都關中。」 Liu Jing advised Emperor Gao, "Establish the capital within the passes."

上疑之。 The emperor was uncertain.

左右大臣皆山東人，多勸上都雒陽：「雒陽東有成皋，西有殽黽，倍河，向伊雒，其固亦足恃。」 Most of the senior ministers around him hailed from east of the mountains, and they urged him to make Luoyang the capital: "Luoyang has Chenggao to the east and the Xiao and Mian passes to the west, with the Yellow River at its back and the Yi and Luo rivers before it — its defenses are more than adequate."

於是高帝即日駕，西都關中。 That very day Emperor Gao set out westward and established the capital within the passes.

上欲廢太子，立戚夫人子趙王如意。 The emperor wished to depose the crown prince and enthrone Ruyi, the King of Zhao and son of Lady Qi, in his place.

人或謂呂后曰：「留侯善畫計筴，上信用之。」 Someone advised Empress Lu, "The Marquis of Liu is a master strategist, and the emperor trusts him completely."

呂后乃使建成侯呂澤劫留侯，曰：「君常為上謀臣，今上欲易太子，君安得高枕而臥乎？」 Empress Lu then sent the Marquis of Jiancheng, Lu Ze, to press the Marquis of Liu, saying, "You have always been the emperor's chief counselor. Now the emperor intends to replace the heir — how can you rest easy?"

留侯曰：「始上數在困急之中，幸用臣筴。 The Marquis of Liu replied, "In the old days, when the emperor found himself in desperate straits time and again, he was kind enough to take my advice.

顧上有不能致者，天下有四人。 But there are four men in the empire whom the emperor has never been able to summon.

四人者年老矣，皆以為上慢侮人，故逃匿山中，義不為漢臣。 These four are elderly men who consider the emperor rude and dismissive. They have hidden themselves in the mountains, on principle refusing to serve the Han.

然上高此四人。 Yet the emperor holds them in the highest regard.

來，以為客，時時從入朝，令上見之，則必異而問之。 Once they arrive, treat them as honored guests and have them accompany the crown prince to court from time to time. When the emperor sees them, he will surely be astonished and ask who they are.

問之，上知此四人賢，則一助也。」 When he learns that these four worthies have attached themselves to the crown prince, it will strengthen the heir's position."