Three Kingdoms and Six Dynasties · Ruler

Emperor Taizu 太祖

Tàizǔ

Attested AD 426 - AD 450

Passages: 35
Chapters: 2
Histories: 1

Overview

The translated histories identify Emperor Taizu as a ruler. This record brings together 35 passages from 2 chapters across 1 history, with names, dates, relationships, offices, and events preserved as source-backed claims.

Names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Personal	Emperor Taizu	太祖	Tàizǔ
Temple	Emperor Taizu	太祖	Tàizǔ
Temple name	Emperor Taizu	太祖

Identity

Historicity: Historical
Identification: Named
Sex: Male

Sex: male
Explicit · songshu:096:s0066

Roles

Ruler

Life and dates

Death

Description: proclamation refers to the late emperor/sacred person suffering cruel death
Explicit · songshu:069:s0192, songshu:069:s0204
Description: Xixian predicted Taizu would die unnaturally
Explicit · songshu:069:s0157

Attested activity

Source Date: Text: 元嘉二十七年 · Reign Id: liu-song-yuanjia · Regnal Year: 27 · Western Year: AD 450
Explicit · songshu:096:s0094
Source Date: Text: 元嘉三年 · Reign Id: liu-song-yuanjia · Regnal Year: 3 · Western Year: AD 426
Explicit · songshu:096:s0066
Source Date: Text: 元嘉九年 · Reign Id: liu-song-yuanjia · Regnal Year: 9 · Western Year: AD 432
Explicit · songshu:096:s0082

Places and affiliations

Polity Id: liu-song · Relation: ruled
Explicit · songshu:096:s0066

Works and attributed material

Kind: edict · Role: issuer · Mode: official-document
Explicit · songshu:096:s0064, songshu:096:s0065, songshu:096:s0066, songshu:096:s0072, songshu:096:s0073, songshu:096:s0082, songshu:096:s0084, songshu:096:s0094

Events and relationships

Type: brother · Target Temp Person Key: liu-yigong · Note: Unknown
Explicit · songshu:069:s0043

References in the histories

Open any source group to read the Chinese and English passage in context.

Book of Song, Chapter 69Volume 69 Biographies 29: Liu Zhan, Fan Ye · 32 passages

太祖答義恭曰：「吾亦得湛啟事，為之酸懷，乃不欲苟違所請。 Emperor Taizu replied to Yigong, "I too have received Zhan's memorial, and it pains me; I do not wish lightly to refuse his request.

太祖聞之，密遣使詰讓義恭，并使深加諧緝。 When Taizu heard of this, he secretly sent an envoy to rebuke Yigong and ordered him to restore harmony with Zhan.

上友于素篤，欲加酬順，乃詔之曰：「事至於此，甚為可歎。 The emperor had always been deeply affectionate toward his brothers and wished to placate Yigong, so he issued an edict saying, "Matters have come to this point—it is deeply regrettable.

先是，王華既亡，曇首又卒，領軍將軍殷景仁以時賢零落，白太祖徴湛。 Earlier, after Wang Hua died and Wang Tanshou passed away as well, General of the Palace Guard Yin Jingren, seeing that talented men were dying off, reported to Taizu recommending that Zhan be summoned to court.

義康屢構之於太祖，其事不行。 Yikang repeatedly slandered Jingren to Taizu, but the effort failed.

義康擅勢專朝，威傾內外，湛愈推崇之，無復人臣之禮，上稍不能平。 Yikang usurped power and dominated the court, his authority overwhelming both court and realm. Zhan flattered him ever more extravagantly and no longer observed the deference owed by a subject, and the emperor grew increasingly displeased.

湛初入朝，委任甚重，日夕引接，恩禮綢繆。 When Zhan first came to court, he was entrusted with weighty responsibilities; the emperor received him morning and evening with thick favor and courtesy.

及至晚節，驅煽義康，凌轢朝廷，上意雖內離，而接遇不改。 In his later years he incited Yikang and rode roughshod over the court. Though the emperor inwardly turned against him, his outward treatment of Zhan did not change.

上嘗謂所親曰：「劉班初自西還，吾與語，常看日早晚，慮其當去。 The emperor once said to his intimates, "When Liu Zhan, whom I called Ban, first returned from the west, whenever I talked with him I kept watching the sun, afraid he would leave.

時上與義康形跡既乖，釁難將結，湛亦知無復全地。 By then the emperor and Yikang had already grown estranged, and disaster was imminent; Zhan too knew he could no longer survive unscathed.

道濟北征，曄憚行，辭以腳疾，上不許，使由水道統載器仗部伍。 When Daoji marched north, Ye dreaded the campaign and pleaded foot ailment; the emperor refused and ordered him to travel by waterway to oversee the transport of weapons, equipment, and troops.

十六年，母亡，報之以疾，曄不時奔赴，及行，又攜妓妾自隨，為御史中丞劉損所奏，太祖愛其才，不罪也。 In the sixteenth year, she died. Her death was reported to Ye as an illness, but he did not promptly hurry to her side; when he finally set out, he even brought singing girls and concubines with him. Liu Sun, Palace Aide to the Censor-in-Chief, impeached him, but Taizu valued his talent and did not punish him.

上欲聞之，屢諷以微旨，曄偽若不曉，終不肯為上彈。 The emperor wished to hear him play and repeatedly dropped hints, but Ye feigned not to understand and ultimately refused to perform for him.

上嘗宴飲歡適，謂曄曰：「我欲歌，卿可彈。」 Once at a merry feast the emperor said to Ye, "I wish to sing—you play accompaniment."

上歌既畢，曄亦止弦。 As soon as the emperor finished singing, Ye stopped playing as well.

時曄與沈演之並為上所知待，每被見多同。 At that time Ye and Shen Yanzhi were both favored by the emperor and were usually summoned to audience together.

曄既有逆謀，欲探時旨，乃言於上曰：「臣歷觀前史二漢故事，諸蕃王政以訞詛幸災，便正大逆之罰。 Ye, already plotting rebellion, wished to test the emperor's mood and said, "Your servant has reviewed the precedents of the Former and Later Han: whenever feudal princes practiced sorcery and rejoiced at the ruler's misfortunes, they were immediately punished for great treason.

上不納。 The emperor did not accept his counsel.

熙先素善天文，云：「太祖必以非道晏駕，當由骨肉相殘。 Xixian, skilled in astronomy, said, "Taizu is sure to die an unnatural death, brought about by mutual slaughter among kin.

綜父述亦為義康所遇，綜弟約又是義康女夫，故太祖使綜隨從南上，既為熙先所獎說，亦有酬報之心。 Xie Zong's father Xie Shu had also been favored by Yikang, and Zong's younger brother Xie Yue was Yikang's son-in-law; Taizu therefore sent Zong south with Yikang. Having been won over by Xixian, Zong too harbored a wish to repay old kindness.

自景平肇始，皇室多故，大行皇帝天誕英姿，聰明睿哲，拔自藩國，嗣位統天，憂勞萬機，垂心庶務，是以邦內安逸，四海同風。 From the beginning of the Jingping era the imperial house suffered many troubles. The late emperor was heaven-born in heroic bearing, bright and wise; raised from a feudal domain to succeed the throne and rule all under Heaven, he toiled over myriad affairs and devoted himself to governance—so that the realm was at ease and the four seas shared one purpose.

昔年使反，湛之奉賜手敕，逆誡禍亂，預睹斯萌，令宣示朝賢，共拯危溺，無斷謀事，失於後機，遂使聖躬濫酷，大變奄集，哀恨崩裂，撫心摧哽，不知何地，可以厝身。 In former years when the envoy returned, Zhanzhi received the emperor's handwritten edict warning against disaster and disorder and foreseeing this danger, ordering him to proclaim to court worthies to rescue the realm together—but lacking resolve in plotting he missed the crucial moment, so that the sacred person suffered cruel death and great calamity suddenly fell. Grief and hatred split his heart; stroking his breast he choked with anguish, not knowing where he might place himself.

二十二年九月，征北將軍衡陽王義季、右將軍南平王鑠出鎮，上於武帳岡祖道，曄等期以其日為亂，而差互不得發。 In the ninth month of the twenty-second year, the Northern Expedition General, Prince of Hengyang Yiji, and the Right General, Prince of Nanping Shuo, departed to take up their provincial commands. The Emperor held a farewell ceremony for them at Wuzhang Mound. Ye and his co-conspirators had planned to launch their rebellion on that day, but mishaps prevented them from acting.

于時上在延賢堂，遣使問曄曰：「以卿觕有文翰，故相任擢，名爵期懷，於例非少。 At that time the Emperor was in the Yanxian Hall and sent a messenger to question Ye: "Because you have some literary talent, you were entrusted and promoted; the titles and ranks you hoped for were not few by precedent.

上重遣問曰：「卿與謝綜、徐湛之、孔熙先謀逆，竝已答款，猶尚未死，徵據見存，何不依實。」 The Emperor sent again to ask: "You plotted rebellion with Xie Zong, Xu Zhanzhi, and Kong Xixian—all have confessed, are not yet dead, and documentary evidence still exists. Why not speak according to the facts?"

上復遣問曰：「熙先近在華林門外，寧欲面辨之乎？」 The Emperor sent again to ask: "Xixian is presently just outside the Hualin gate—would you care to confront him face to face?"

上示以墨跡，曄乃具陳本末，曰：「久欲上聞，逆謀未著。 The Emperor showed him the handwriting; Ye then fully narrated the sequence, saying: "Long I wished to report upward, but the treason had not yet appeared.

其夜，上使尚書僕射何尚之視之，問曰：「卿事何得至此？」 That night the Emperor had the Vice Director of the Masters of Writing, He Shangzhi, visit and question him: "How did your affair come to this?"

熙先望風吐款，辭氣不橈，上奇其才，遣人慰勞之曰：「以卿之才，而滯於集書省，理應有異志。 Xixian, sensing which way the wind blew, confessed fully; his words and bearing did not bend. The Emperor marveled at his talent and sent someone to comfort him: "With your talents, yet stagnant in the Secretariat—naturally you would harbor different ambitions.

陛下大明含弘，量苞天海，錄其一介之節，猥垂優逮之詔。 Your Majesty, broad and tolerant, measuring to embrace sea and sky, recording a single particle of my integrity, graciously bestowed a favoring edict.

曄本意謂入獄便死，而上窮治其獄，遂經二旬，曄更有生望。 Ye's original intent was that entering prison meant immediate death; yet the Emperor thoroughly prosecuted the case, and after twenty days Ye again had hope of life.

設令今時賜以性命，人臣圖主，何顏可以生存？」 Supposing the Emperor now granted his life—as a minister who plotted against his lord, with what face could one live?"

Book of Song, Chapter 96Volume 96 Biographies 56: Xianbei and Tuyuhun Peoples · 3 passages

未及拜受，太祖元嘉三年，又詔加除命。 Before he could receive and accept these offices, in the third year of Emperor Taizu's Yuanjia reign a further edict added new appointments.

太祖加其使持節、散騎常侍、都督西秦河沙三州諸軍事、征西大將軍、西秦河二州刺史、領護羌校尉，進爵隴西王。 Emperor Taizu further appointed him Bearer of the Staff of Authority, Regular Attendant of the Scattered Cavalry, Commander-in-Chief of Military Affairs in Western Qin, He, and Sha, Grand General Who Conquers the West, Governor of Western Qin and He, Colonel Protecting the Qiang, and advanced him to King of Longxi.

太祖賜以牽車，若虜至不自立，聽入越嶲。 Emperor Taizu granted him a carriage and permission to enter through Yuexi if the barbarians came and he could not hold his ground.